Silver Dollar City attendance strong

BRANSON, Mo. -- Branson's Silver Dollar City is bucking a national trend of declining attendance at amusement parks since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Attendance at the 1800s-themed park is on pace to exceed last year's total by about 5 percent, park spokeswoman Lisa Rau said Sunday.

And crowds since the attacks have surpassed those from the same period last year by about 10 percent, she said.

"We feel blessed," Rau said.

Attendance at the park for the year so far is just over 2 million, compared with 1.86 million by early December last year, she said.

"Clearly the public is responding to the product we offer, but we can't ignore the weather," Rau said. "That's been a huge factor for us."

Temperatures this fall have been unseasonably warm, providing a boon to tourism in general in Branson. This year's attendance numbers for the park are compared to last year's, which were reduced by ice and snowstorms during the holiday season.

Another reason for Silver Dollar City's success is that more than 90 percent of its customers live in the region.

That's not the case for other theme parks, like Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla, which was eerily deserted in the days after the attacks. Attendance at Disney's four parks, which had fallen by about 25 percent, has since crept steadily upward, returning to a near normal pace by Thanksgiving.