I visited Silver Dollar City. I actually visited Silver Dollar City. Excuse me whilst I just sit here and stare at that sentence because oh my god. After stumbling upon a vlog a few years back, this park became a dream for me. One of those dreams you know will never actually happen, but you like to think about it from time to time anyway. Because to get to a place as far from any major transatlantic route as Silver Dollar City you’d have to do something absolutely bananas like find some very good friends who agree to do a two-week road trip across the country.
With our trip mostly engineered to shift the majority of driving to the evenings, this was the only morning we had to get a truly early start. Even after a whole day of driving the day before, we still had 2 and a half hours to go and the earliest park open of the trip with a 09:30 rope drop! So 06:30 found me sitting outside wearing shorts and a vest and being perfectly comfortable – it was going to be a hot day – saying goodbye to our motel’s resident pup – what a way to start the day!
For the next few hours, we snaked our way through the Ozark mountains sipping energy drinks as we went, before finally pulling into the town of Branson, Missouri and the car park of Silver Dollar City. The park had quite a unique parking situation with both free and premium paid parking options available. With our paid parking, we were able to pull straight into the lot adjacent to the entrance and walk immediately into the park – perfect!
Entering the park, you pass through a multi-use building that serves both as the park’s major gift shop as well as the starting point for tours around the legendary Marvel Cave. Walking past the signs for the tours on our way in, I had the first major ‘I’m actually here!’ moment of the day. But the cave was an adventure for later, first, we had some rides to attend to!
One thing that I heard a lot about this park before we arrived was that the layout can be very confusing and well, they weren’t wrong. With the whole park designed to be an immersive Ozark town experience, situated on a heavily wooded and quite steep hill, many of the routes through the park are designed to fit the land, not necessarily to offer the most carefree navigation. By the end of the day we had the layout well and truly sussed, but finding those initial rides did take a little bit of time.
Having done some research about wait times at all of the parks on our trip prior to arriving, we knew there was one ride that absolutely had to be our rope drop go-to. Whilst Silver Dollar City is known for handling a crowd very well – even on it’s busiest days long waits are very rare – there was one ride that was known for getting completely slammed. Unsurprisingly, this is the newest ride at the park: the new for 2020 Mystic River Falls. Just look at these stats from the always wonderful queue-times.com!
Normally, hitting a water ride first would be a pretty big no for me, but with a 38oC day forecast I truly did not care one bit. And once on the ride I really didn’t care, because this was one of the best rapids I have ever done. With gorgeous theming throughout, rapids that were actually rapid, a vertical lift and a 45ft final drop finale, this ride had about everything you could possibly want from a modern river rapids ride. You don’t even get too wet, which is a huge plus (most of the time at least). 10/10 would recommend starting your day here!
Just incase we weren’t 100% sold on what rid to hit up next, some handy signage nearby sent us on our way. (You know the park has a confusing layout when you start seeing signs like this!)
So we did indeed make sure not to miss Outlaw Run, making this highly-anticipated ride our first coaster of the day. Upon opening in 2013, Outlaw Run had the steepest drop of any wooden coaster in the world at 81°, and remains to this day the fifth fastest wooden coaster and the one to feature the most inversions (3). So, safe to say this thing does not mess around!
The first thing that struck me about Outlaw Run was how incredible themed the station building, and general ride area was. Immaculately themed to a stagecoach depot, with gorgeous signage – just look at that attraction sign – and whole themed rooms lurking behind windows, this is a station that any theme park in the world would be proud of. I was almost sad the ride was a walk-on. Well, not that sad. So on to my first full wooden RMC we hopped and oh boy, I was not ready. This thing is mad! From a ridiculous airtime-loaded first drop, you spend the rest of the layout either hugging the terrain, being thrown from your seat, or twisting through inversions that feel like they should be illegal. All of this, whilst still having that wooden coaster roughness, makes for one of the most unique and insane ride experiences I’ve had. Heartbreakingly, I only got to experience this coaster once. It was too intense for me to walk back on (just a little too rough for me to be honest), but I fully intended to grab some re-rides later in the day. If only a nearby thunderstorm hadn’t had other ideas! Whilst I’m happy to have ridden it, and had a fantastic time, I do wonder if it would have managed to make my top tier of coasters had I had another ride. Maybe one day I’ll find out!
The next stop on our tour of the fine city of Silver Dollar was one of the most unique coasters I’ve ever experienced: Powder Keg. A 2005 S&S conversion of a Premier Rides water coaster (yup, you read that correctly), featuring a transfer-track lift, a compressed air launch and a traditional lift hill, we truly had no idea what to expect from this. Honestly, I was a little concerned. Typically, when a coaster is unusual it’s unusual for a reason. But you know what? This was a lot of fun! With a fun launch – including a fire effect, it is a powder keg after all – long layout and surprisingly smooth experience, this ride may not make it in to the upper echelons of my rankings, but it’s a good time that I’d happy ride on every visit! Plus that transfer track is just such a unique experience! Love it.
Wandering through the park, looking for our next attraction, I just took a moment to appreciate the atmosphere and flawless design of this theme park. I can’t think of anywhere within the whole park where immersion was broken. I really was in an 1880s Ozarks city, and I was absolutely loving it. There was even a full saloon, selling drinks and all to you as you watched live musicians and dancers! I’ll admit, I didn’t stick around for much of the show – there were a few too many references to Christianity for me – but I adored the space, and the fact that you could grab a drink just like a proper saloon!
The next coaster on our hitlist was Wildfire, a 2001 B&M Sitting Coaster, with a station elaborately themed to an inventor’s workshop. By this point, a theme was becoming apparent with the park’s coasters. Each coaster so far had had a beautifully themed station, with no theming at all during the actual ride experience. At most parks, I’d say this was undoubtedly a bad thing. But at Silver Dollar City, the coasters didn’t need theming, they had something even better. The Ozark mountains. In place of theming, each coaster utilised the terrain and offered some of the most stunning lift-hill views I’ve ever seen. I mention this now because I think Wildfire was perhaps the most stunning of all.
The park clearly know exactly how special a view like this is, as they provide a large viewing area to the rear of the station for guests to soak it all in. Photos simply do not do the endless mountains justice. As a coaster, Wildfire wasn’t really anything special for me, it was fun – albeit a little janky – and occasionally intense, but not one I felt any desperate need to re-ride. But those views, oh boy, those are something special.
The Wildfire gift shop was our first introduction to the chaos that was Silver Dollar City’s merchandise range. Featuring shirts and hoodies heavily… ‘inspired by’ major brands, and complete eye sores like the shirt below, it’s safe to say there wasn’t much that caught my eye, at least not in a good way.
Whilst Outlaw Run was up there, after riding The Ride to Happiness over at Plopsaland de Panne earlier in the year, Time Traveller was, without doubt, my most anticipated ride at Silver Dollar City. RTH currently sits happily up in my top 5 coasters and is probably still number 1 for pure insanity, and I just couldn’t wait to see what the prototype had in store. As the first Mack Xtreme Spinner, I was expecting this to be a bit of a downgrade on its Belgian successor, and honestly? That’s pretty much exactly what I got. For those that have ridden Ride to Happiness, the way I’ve been describing it is: you know how Ride to Happiness is sustained insanity throughout the entire layout? How it constantly feels like you’re about to be hurled out of the train? How you have absolutely no idea where you are? Time Traveller has moments of that. Just moments, sprinkled in amongst an otherwise fun, thrilling, but controlled ride experience. Don’t get me wrong, the inversions particularly were wild, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed in comparison to its younger sibling. Honestly though, why compare? The first drop directly out of the station was incredible and I still had a blast riding it. We’re just spoiled really, aren’t we?
Knowing I’d be riding a lot of coasters on this trip, I decided to try to be sensible and cull anything I knew would absolutely destroy me. This left rides like Wildcat at Hershey and Vortex at Carowinds firmly on the chopping block. Alas, one slipped my net. Time Traveller’s next-door neighbour, Thunderation. We actually rode six Arrow Mine Trains on this trip and I had absolutely no issue with any of the others, so why this was the single most painful ride experience of the trip for me I do not know. All I know is that between painful transitions, unbanked turns and just general roughness, I was ready to wave my white flag by the time we reached the lift hill (the ride begins elevated, so this is toward the end of the experience). I came away bruised, rattled and in need of rest. If, like me, you find yourself coming off of Time Traveller and see a sign for another coaster right next door, just ignore it. Loop around, go straight back on Time Traveller and thank me later. Your spine deserves it.
By this point in the day, it was hot. 38oC hot. We were just about coping thanks entirely to the park’s dense foliage but simply could not face the idea of eating out in the heat. We checked the map, and looked around but couldn’t find a single place that offered indoor, air-conditioned eating. In desperation, I went into the Time Traveller shop and chatted with a member of staff to see if they knew of anywhere we could go, but were informed that there was nowhere. Not a single air-conditioned restaurant in the whole park. Our best bet would be a shaded area with a ceiling fan. So, that’s what we went for. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this wasn’t a park overflowing with vegetarian meal options either so I ended up grabbing a grilled cheese from a stand near The Flooded Mine and ducking into the shade. The ‘gourmet’ grilled cheese itself was extremely tasty, stuffed with cheddar and American cheese and fried in garlic butter, this was about as good as a grilled cheese gets! I just wish we could have eaten it somewhere cool.
Desperate for anything that would get us in the cool, our next ride was one of the more unique (I’m using that word a lot to describe this park!) dark rides I’ve experienced: The Flooded Mine. A shooting dark ride, but in a boat, surrounded by water effects, this was a weird one! I wonder if this ride always had guns because honestly, I put mine down after a few minutes. With a solid five minutes of scenes packed with old animatronics depicting a flooded prison mine, it’s an outstanding dark ride as it is, the guns are just so unnecessary really and the boat isn’t built for them at all!
And so, the time had come for Silver Dollar City’s headline attraction. The entire reason the park exists. The Marvel Cave. Opened as a visitor attraction way back in 1894, The Marvel Cave operated as a tourist show cave for fifty years before the foundations were laid for a theme park, situated at the cave’s entrance and built on the ruins of a real 19th-century mining town. Free tours of the cave depart regularly from the entrance building and are very substantial, lasting a whole hour. In an ingenious bit of design, to get into the queue for a tour you must pass through a mock-up of the smallest space you will be required to crawl through in the cave!
Though this passage may be small, the cave’s Cathedral Room is the largest cave entry room in the United States and is really something to behold. The scale of this room is impossible to grasp without being there in person, but the way the park has lit this space, the whole cave, in fact, made for an awe-inspiring experience.
Whilst moving through a good number of spaces within the cave, our very knowledgeable guide stopped the group at regular intervals to tell us all about the history of this incredible place. And what a history it was! Between Spanish explorers, mining companies, vigilantes and a whole load of bats, I could have listened to our guide’s stories for hours. Thankfully, after descending 300ft of stairs into the cave, the route out was less strenuous with a 1957 cable train ready and waiting to take us back to the surface! Boarding an immensely angular train in a tiny cave space was quite the memorable experience!
The Marvel Cave is an absolute must-do on any visit to Silver Dollar City, and was, without doubt, one of the most impressive – and definitely the most unique – attractions I’ve ever seen included with theme park admission. Being the USA, do ensure to take a few dollars cash with you to tip the tour guide, they do an incredible job after all.
With all of the must-dos under our belts, it was time to wrap up the last few areas of the park. Namely, those aimed at the younger guest. The park has two wonderful family areas: Grand Exposition 1882 and Fireman’s Landing.
Grand Exposition 1882 is themed to – you guessed it – an exposition fair in 1882! Home to the park’s smallest coaster, a janky Zamperla, and a good number of classic family flat rides including a wave swinger, bouncing frogs, teacups and more, this was a lovely area. Plus, it had oodles of shade, oodles! Perfect if you’re stuck with a friend like me who loves a good family flat ride!
Where Grand Exposition had sepia tones and natural beauty, Fireman’s Landing popped with bright reds, whites and blues making for a beautiful family area! Again, there were plenty of family attractions to be found here including a surprisingly excellent mini S&S shot tower that pops right out the top of one of the firehouses! The real E-Ticket here however was the splash pad. It’s not often you’ll find me celebrating an attraction solely designed for kids in their swimming costumes, but this was a lifesaver. It really did bring all of us back to life after a solid day of heat with no escape.
And this is where our day ended somewhat abruptly. Newly refreshed and ready for rides, we were on the walk back to Outlaw Run, ready for as many re-rides as we could stomach before park close. However, when we got there, we were greeted – for the first time in the trip – by a dreaded sandwich board. The ride was closed.
Though the park remained hot and dry, there was a storm in the area leading to the closure of almost every ride in the entire park. For anyone who’s been to the Orlando theme parks, this will almost definitely be a familiar scenario. It was 5pm at this point, with a 7pm park close, so we didn’t give up hope immediately. Instead, whilst the others took up a seat in some of the many rocking chairs available (can we make this a thing at UK parks too please?) I headed up for a quick walk-through of the still-open Grandfather’s Mansion. And I mean quick. Normally, I’m a big fan of this kind of wacky walk-through but this really shook me up for some reason. Maybe it was the heat? I don’t know, but walking through these upside-down spaces I felt so disorientated that I couldn’t bare to stay in any room for a moment longer than I had to. That was an entirely new feeling for me, and not one I’m anxious to repeat.
To pep me up on my way back to Outlaw Run Watch, I stopped in at the DIY Coke Float stand. This was such a cool concept to me, I bloody love a coke float! Unfortunately, I honestly don’t know what I did wrong but I managed to create what can only be referred to as a Coke Sink. In fact, when I went to pay the cashier took one look at it and said ‘you can try again if you want’. Not wanting to create any waste, I paid up and left with both my coke sink and the remaining shreds of my dignity.
Sadly, it hit 6pm with the rides still closed and the weather report showing no sign of improving conditions, making it time to call it a day. Whilst it was a shame to lose the end of our day to the weather, I’m just grateful that we were able to ride everything before the shutdown. Thankfully, not too much heartbreak was caused!
Silver Dollar City is an astonishing theme park. It may well be the park I’ve visited with the most complete overarching theme throughout the park. There is nowhere here that would have you suggest you are anywhere other than a 19th-century mining town, and that’s complemented beautifully by the staggering natural beauty both above and below ground. Between a very strong line-up of attractions, and one of the best shopping and dining offerings I’ve seen – the park is known for its craftsmen after all – this is a park that stands proudly amongst the best in the world, whilst being somewhere completely unique.
There are few parks out there better designed for people of all ages to come along, kick back and have a good time, even – perhaps especially – without riding anything! The strength of entertainment, dining and relaxation offerings mean that even on a busy day, the rides never get too busy (except you Mystic River Falls) as crowds are spread across the park’s many, many alternative attractions. With rides easily accessible, the park is given a slower pace than many others, just enhancing that 19th century vibe. Now, that’s theme park magic.
Speak again soon,
Claire
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