Updated: Silver Dollar City announces $500M investment, including resort plans 

Last edited 10:55 a.m., Oct. 18, 2024 [Editor's note: Additional details have been included.]

Silver Dollar City is beginning to develop 1,200 acres of land on the west side of the park into Silver Dollar City Parks and Resorts.  

At the heart of the planned $500 million development is a seven-story resort hotel with 262 themed rooms, plus priority park access and ample amenities, according to Silver Dollar City President Brad Thomas. Plans call for the hotel to include 17,000 square feet of meeting space.  

The investment also will include new additions to the theme park to enhance it as a draw to the region, Thomas said.  

“The half-billion dollars – $500 million – that we’re investing in the next 10 years will not only transform this place, this park, but hopefully have such an impact on our region and attract visitors right here in the Ozarks,” Thomas said.  

The resort is slated to be completed by the end of 2026.  

“It’s an aggressive construction schedule, but we’re excited about that,” he said.  

Thomas said the resort hotel will be the first of its type in the central U.S., drawing visitors from an area that has been defined as spanning from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Houston, Texas, and from Denver to Memphis, Tennessee. 

The announcement was made to media Thursday at the park.  

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was present for the announcement, and afterwards, he touted the benefits the development would have for the Show Me State. 

“When you think of the economic impact this is going to have for our state, it’s just going to be second to none,” he said. “Nowhere in the middle of the United States is there a resort like this going to be built for anybody to have a destination to.” 

Parson praised the Herschend family, founders of Herschend Enterprises, the parent company of Silver Dollar City, both for their vision in establishing the park 65 years ago and for their foresight in taking it to the next level with the resort announcement. 

“Keep in mind this is a family-oriented, family business, when you talk about making a half-billion-dollar investment and what that’s going to do for tourism in general for our state, but what it’s going to do for Missouri to showcase all over the United States, and not only the United States, but all over the world,” Parson said. 

Andrew Wexler, CEO of Herschend Enterprises, also spoke after the announcement and confirmed that the development would be funded entirely by the company over the decade of development. After the resort hotel is established, he noted more announcements of plans would be rolled out throughout the project. 

Wexler placed the cost of the hotel project at $100 million, and the rest of the planned investment will be in other areas, including improvements to the theme park. 

Asked for a preview of what may be coming, Wexler declined to give specifics, but said, “We’re going to continue to create authentic experiences for families.” 

He said this is an exciting time for the company. 

“The Herschend family came here 70 years ago – 1950 – on a vacation, and they fell in love with this region,” he said. “What they have done is now made a contract or a covenant with this region to continue to create opportunities for families to come here and vacation and find that special place. This is just an extension of that covenant.” 

Wexler said the theme park is drawing more people to Branson. He said growth is being seen with visitors from east Tennessee, north Georgia and North Carolina, with people coming and deciding they want to return to explore more of the area. 

“As the draw radius expands, areas all around that region start to create opportunity,” he said. “You have people who may be driving from Colorado, and so they’re going to drive through Oklahoma, right, to get here – and what you start to do is you start to create opportunities, whether it be on the drive here or after they get here.” 

The opportunities will extend beyond southwest Missouri, he said, and will easily incorporate northwest Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and more. 

Wexler also declined to share research numbers on anticipated tourism. In a news release from Silver Dollar City, Parson predicted a boom. 

“We are excited to see this project bring thousands of new jobs and millions of new visitors to our great state,” he said in the release.  

In an interview after the announcement, Thomas also predicted growth in visitation. 

“As we look at that investment and what we will be able to generate, we believe that this park will be able to do a whole lot more in attendance in the coming years,” he said. “As we continue to grow that number, we’ll continue to invest and continue to build, even beyond the 10 years.” 

He added that the resort is going to be special in part because of how it showcases the beauty of the Ozarks. 

“You can look out on the lake and you can look out on the hillsides – this resort has incredible views,” he said. “You put that with Silver Dollar City, you put that with our Showboat (Branson Belle), you put that with our water park – you place that with all the things there are to do throughout Branson. That’s the reason folks are going to visit, and that’s what gets us really excited.” 

The development abuts the park to the west, and the entrance to the hotel site is directly across from the Branson West water tower off State Highway 76. The top of a hill has already been leveled to make way for the new building, and a window frame was set up to allow media and VIP guests to experience the view of Table Rock Lake below.  

Officials hinted at the announcement in August 2023, when media guests learned about the second generation of the park’s Fire in the Hole indoor, history-themed roller coaster, a $30 million project that had already been the subject of two years of planning and construction at the time it was announced.  

Thomas said at the time that the park had recently purchased more land and had 1,200 connected acres ready for future development, to be announced later.