Canobie Coaster

^ People are posting Superman Tower of Power was removed from the Six Flags St. Louis website. When I was there last year, it was only running one or two sides, so it seemed to be having some trouble. I'm wondering if that's one of the 15 rides Six Flags is removing.

Wonderland Wonderland in Amarillo, Texas was a park that had always been on my radar. While the park didn't have any award-winning coasters, the park did win the prestigious Golden Ticket Award Park of the Year in 2009. Wait...what? I'm not kidding. It actually won that award. All kidding aside, I genuinely wanted to visit Wonderland since the park had a very weird collection of rides. This park should be called Hopkins-Land. The park owners installed a Hopkins Sky Ride in the 1970s and it was the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship for both sides. When Wonderland wanted to install a log flume a few years later, they wanted a more affordable option than the Arrow models. So they approached Hopkins, who agreed to build the park a log flume. The Big Splash Log Flume was the prototype log flume for Hopkins and it would go on to be the company's most successful model. Big Splash has a relatively simple layout, but without this ride, the log flumes I grew up riding in Northern New England may not exist. This flume also has a weird quirk. The logs often stall out on the elevated section leading up to the final drop, so the employee monitoring the drop had to manually pull every other drop along. 5 out of 10 Hopkins also delivered the park's signature attraction in 1985, Texas Tornado. The story is that the park approached Hopkins at an industry event to build them a roller coaster. Hopkins sketched the initial design on a cocktail napkin and the company's prototype coaster required some onsite modifications. This is why the loops have such a bizarre appearance. It's important to visit Wonderland on a busy day. I intentionally visited on a weekend. Texas Tornado requires at least half the train to be filled, which can be problematic if you visit on a weekday. Wonderland is open just 7-10 pm most weekdays, which makes it challenging to ride Texas Tornado between the short hours and reduced crowds. Texas Tornado has PTC trains for a steel coaster, which is odd, but this ride tracks much better than you'd expect. This coaster has no airtime, but it has some intense positive Gs. Hopkins designed the drops on this coaster backwards. Most drops have tight starts and more gradual pullouts. Hopkins reversed this. So you get slammed with heavy Gs on every pullout. You also get some crazy Gs on the vertical loops as well. The coaster does crawl atop most of the hills, but if you love positive Gs, this ride is for you. 8 out of 10 Hopkins also provided the Pipeline Plunge water slide you can see in the above image. This was their prototype water slide. The slide itself is just ok. My favorite part of the slide was the views it offered of Texas Tornado and the back half of the park. 5 out of 10 The park also has three other Hopkins prototype water rides. You have the first shoot the chute with two across seating. This made the ride more compact. You also have the Rattlesnake River Rapids, the company's first river rapids ride. Unfortunately, both these attractions were closed. It was a bummer on a day when the temperature approached 100 degrees. Thunder Jet Racers was open, but I skipped this one. It's an Aqua Drag attraction targeted towards kids. A jet of water shoots dinghies down a straightaway. I grew up riding the one at Santa's Village, so I knew what the ride experience was like. The last Hopkins prototype is Skyrider, not to be confused with Sky Ride. Skyrider is a monorail that circles around the front half of the park. It gives some great views of the log flume and Cyclone wild mouse. Speaking of Cyclone, it was a really neat and rare Miler wild mouse. This ride has no restraints. It feels like you're riding in a padded bath tub. This means you really get thrown around on the ride's hairpin turns, especially since the wheels are set quite a bit back from the front of the cars. The ride doesn't really offer any airtime, but the laterals are great and the ride is smoother than you'd expect. It's just a bummer more Miler wild mice weren't built since they're among the best of the genre. Cyclone should not be confused with Mouse Trap, the park's Pinfari Zyklon. I originally wasn't too excited for Moues Trap, but this ride had some crazy airtime on the first two drops if you rode in the back car. This Zyklon has 3 car trains and loose lap bars, so it generates a lot of power on those first two drops. The rest of the ride is uneventful, but I kept riding it for those two drops. 6.5 out of 10 The last operating coaster was Hornet, an odd Vekoma coaster that previously operated indoors at Boblo Island and Mayan Mindbender. Wonderland put the ride outdoors, so the slow twisted layout is quite odd. The ride was smooth; it was just dull, as it never built up any speed. 3 out of 10 The park also had a SBF Visa spinner called Spin-O-Saurus. These rides are everywhere now and they're extremely reliable from what I've seen. However, this one has yet to operate since it has been waiting for a part per the park. Maybe it will finally open in 2021? Beyond the coasters and Hopkins prototypes, you had a really interesting dark ride in Fantastic Journey. Unfortunately, this ride was restricted to just one ride even with the highest tier wristband, which is a shame since it's a great ride. It feels similar to Waldameer's Wacky Shack in terms of the ride system and aesthetic. And there were one or two very effective jump scares. 8 out of 10 The park's best non-coaster was Drop of Fear, one of the most intense drop towers I've ridden. This one is a rare adult Moser tower and you drop like a rock. It's just a hair less intense than an ARM/Larson tower. The drop is gut-wrenching and delivers some great floater airtime the whole way down, especially since the OSTRs were rather loose. 9 out of 10 This tower also felt a bit sketchy between those OSTRs and this odd operational policy. After each cycle, the operator would unload the carriage and lock the restraints before loading guests. The operator would then climb atop the seat and yank the ride's cables and catch car with their bare hands. They would then unlock the restraints and load guests. Has anyone ever seen a ride operated like this before? I included a video of this since I couldn't believe it Drop of Fear Check.MP4 Texas Intimidator was another rare flat. This is a Moser Action Flipping Arm and it is a very disorienting ride. The ride had a lot of downtime; it kept getting stuck when it tried to lower. But I was able to ride it once and it offered a mix of fast flips and drawn out flips with hangtime. 9 out of 10 The park also had a rare Huss Rainbow. I loved the one at Great Escape when I was younger. And the one at Lake Winnepesaukah was great too. Both those ones delivered incredible sustained airtime. The one at Wonderland was run slower, so while there was no airtime, the ride still delivered some nice laterals. 6 out of 10 One of the other underrated attractions at Wonderland is the park's classic miniature golf course. This one is loaded with obstacles and this is the type of course I enjoy. It's not only the best mini golf course I've found inside a theme park, but it's one of the best mini golf courses I have done anywhere. The final odd thing about this park is when the 10 pm closing time hit, the park immediately cut out the music and turned off most of the lights in the park. It transformed the park from a lively place to feeling like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Wonderland is off the beaten path for most coaster trips. It required a 4 hour sidetrip each way to visit after Frontier City. And I think it's 5.5-7 hours from the major parks in Texas, but I'm glad I visited this park since it has such a weird ride lineup.

Since they aren't in Phase 4 Step 1, the earliest they can open is Phase 4 Step 2. Phase 4 Step 1 starts later this month. MA has said each step has to occur at least one month after the prior. They've announced reopening phases/steps a month in advance, so we should know a month in advance before the park is allowed to open. The earliest it can happen is the end of April.

You're welcome!

Frontier City Frontier City was the final Six Flags park for me to visit and I finally accomplished that in 2020 not once, but twice. While the park may have the weakest ride lineup of all the Six Flags parks, it's among the best-themed parks in the chain. While most parks have just a small western area, Frontier City maintains that western theme through the entire park. And it offers a lot of shade for a Six Flags park, which is great considering how hot Oklahoma gets in the summer. My first visit occurred in the summer and it was marred by ride closures. Let's run through the list. Diamond Back. This was the one that stung the most considering how rare Arrow shuttle loops are. Mystery River looked like a neat log flume with an extended indoor section, but the maintenance team was working atop the lift all day. Renegade Rapids was closed as well. That one was closed for the entirety of the 2020 season for some work. Gunslinger was also closed. I also think that one was closed for all of 2020. Power Surges are weird. Half seem to run without a hitch, but the other half are extremely unreliable. Frontier City's is in the latter group. I was stunned Frontier City had a rotor. Those rides are extremely rare and I was stunned a Six Flags park still had one. Turns out the website was outdated and the ride will never run again. It was a mask relaxation zone for 2020 and all of the ride's signage had been removed. The signage had not been removed for the park's former Nightmare Mine, even after 2 decades. The most popular ride in the park is Wildcat, the park's classic wooden roller coaster that was relocated from Kansas City's Fairyland Park. This ride is smoother than you'd expect for an older wood coaster at a Six Flags park and it has a great setting in the woods, but the reprofiling in the late 1990s appears to have really neutered the ride. Now, the ride has no airtime in the back car and only a few meager pops in the front row. But maybe the new RMC trains the ride is getting for the 2021 season will help the ride run faster. 5 out of 10 Silver Bullet is the original Schwarzkopf looping star. It bounced around before finding a long-term home at Frontier City. This Schwarzkopf is still remarkably smooth and it dabbles in a little bit of everything. It has some strong laterals at points, a few spots of strong positive Gs, and even a pop of airtime. 6 out of 10 Steel Lasso is one of the first newer Vekomas. This was when the company began its transition from building coasters that would crush you to rides enthusiasts would have a crush on. Steel Lasso has a rather tame layout, but the ride is glass smooth and great for families. 5 out of 10 The last operating coaster was Frankie's Mine Train, a Zamperla kiddie coaster I had no shame riding. These Zamperla kiddie coasters vary wildly in quality. Some are quite shaky. Others are decently smooth. This one fell into the latter group. I ended up leaving the park early due to all the closed attractions and instead made my way to Wonderland. But flash forward to December 2020. I was driving between Silver Dollar City and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. My route would take me right past Oklahoma City, so I decided to give Frontier City a shot for redemption. I figured the water rides would be closed for Holiday in the Park, but my goal was to ride Diamond Back. But I was admittedly nervous leading up to my visit since temperatures were expected to hover around 40-45 degrees. I wouldn't think twice visiting a park like Great Adventure in temperatures like that, but I was more nervous about a southern Six Flags park. Thankfully, the park opened for their very short hours (5-9). And the park had a nice collection of lights throughout the park. All of the rides closed in my summer visit were again closed except for one, Diamond Back. It was a refreshing sight seeing this Arrow launched loop operating. I had ridden Revolution at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but that one only had a 4 car train. By all accounts, those who had ridden both Revolution and the remaining US launched loops said the US ones had more power. Backwards ejector airtime is exceedingly rare and Diamond Back delivers it. Riding in the front car delivers one of the most intense moments of any coaster on that backwards drop. The vertical loop also caused me to start greying out going both forwards and backwards. This coaster was short, but it packed a punch. I spent half the day riding this coaster. The ride was down for the other half of the day. If you haven't been able to tell from my summer trip and this visit, Diamond Back is notoriously unreliable. 8 out of 10 Wildcat was the coaster most sensitive to the cold. The park didn't start testing until an hour after the park opened and it was crawling, even more than it was in the summer. It did open for the last two hours and the ride's setting resulted in a pitch black night ride. The ride had even less airtime than it did over the summer though due to the cold. Frontier City is probably the weakest Six Flags park due to the ride lineup, but it is a nice looking park. I don't know when I'll be back since the uptime of the park's best ride is an issue, but if my route takes me past Oklahoma City, I'll be sure to pop in for a few hours.

I had two pleasant visits to Six Flags America last year. The front of the park looks really good. The back half is awkward, but it has the park's good steel coasters so I prefer to focus on those over the lack of trees and facilities.

Considering Lightning Rod was running at 0 mph for a large amount of its life, I don't care if it's 1-2 mph slower if it means the ride is open more often. That being said, this POV was probably taken in the worst possible conditions (empty train, not warmed up, cold day) and it's still hauling by the end.

Hopefully the profiled drop still gives a nice burst of airtime. The other outdoor elements in the first half never did anything for me.

Does this make Massachusetts the only state that isn't allowed to open amusement parks at this point?

Massachusetts announced they will move into Phase 4 Step 1 starting March 22. I believe theme parks are the step that follows. From March 22 onwards, the only other items closed along with theme parks will be ball pits, saunas/hot tubs, bars, and nightclubs. If the positive trends continue, hopefully Phase 4 Step 2 will start by the end of April, which should include theme parks.

The last SCAD tower in America closed a few days ago. Zero Gravity announced on their website they closed since their landlord sold the park's land and cancelled the park's lease. The park would like to rebuild, so hopefully this SCAD tower can be saved. I rode it after a trip to Six Flags Over Texas last fall and it was the scariest ride I've ever experienced. I think it was scarier than skydiving. The anticipation and freefall was incredible. I think the scariest thing was how a pain-free fall was contingent upon you maintaining the proper riding position. I did that on my first two rides, but I think I moved my leg on my third ride (supposed to keep it still) and injured my knee on the landing. It was entirely may fault, but my knee healed after a few months. The pain was temporary, but the memory of this ride will last forever. It was an absolute adrenaline rush.

They progressed faster on this than I expected!

For me, it was probably skipping Hypersonic XLC. I had two days at Kings Dominion in 2006. The first day was a busy Sunday and Hypersonic had a long line, so I figured I could ride it the next day. It never opened the following day and the ride was gone by the time I returned to the park.

The town looked nice, but I didn't feel comfortable doing them with the town's lax covid precautions and indoor environments. I did enjoy the nearby lookout tower though!

I agree I prefer boring to rough. That's why I don't think CGA's Grizzly is nearly as bad as people say. That ride is rather smooth. It just does nothing. Some of the mine trains are pretty rough though. Carolina Goldrusher is among the worst.

Magic Springs The largest amusement park in Arkansas is a bit off the beaten path, but I was intrigued to visit this park. They had an odd coaster lineup and by all accounts, the park was beautiful. The park met both those expectations. But more importantly, it surprised me in the customer satisfaction department for reasons I'll get into. The day I visited had a 100% chance of rain. I was skeptical the park would even open, so to say I was nervous driving through the middle-of-nowhere when I could have been at Silver Dollar City was an understatement. But the park reassured me they would open when I contacted them over Facebook and said they would run their rides in rain as long as there was no thunder and lightning. I was just worried they'd pull the old Six Flags and close at the first drop of rain. So my top priority was to make a whirlwind tour of the park's coasters if that happened. My first stop was X-Coaster. I had previously ridden two of these X-Car coasters, a clone at Skyline Park and the extended model in Abismo at Parque de Attraciones de Madrid. These rides are awkward, but they offer some freaky hangtime. I wanted to prioritize this coaster since I've heard it's the red-headed stepchild of the park; it has a lot of mechanical issues and the park even tried selling it a decade ago but they couldn't when they realized it was welded together. The park had the ride ready to go at opening even though I was the only one back there and it was enjoyable. I dislike how the restraints dig into your stomach, but the hangtime was excellent on the upside-down lift, the barrel roll, and the rocking back-and-forth. 6 out of 10 Surprisingly, my favorite ride at the park was Big Bad John. The name may have helped, but it was one of the better mine trains out there. This one was quite smooth. And with all the trees around it, you'd think this was custom-made for Magic Springs, but it was relocated to this park from Dollywood. But most importantly, this one had a shocking final drop. If you rode in the back car, you got a powerful pop of ejector airtime. 6.5 out of 10 On the way to the next major coaster, I passed Diamond Mine Run, the park's nice-looking Miler kiddie coaster. I couldn't help myself since it was a walk-on. Miler is the king of the kiddie coaster genre if you ask me and the ride was about as fun as a coaster of this size can be. Then came Gauntlet, the park's newest roller coaster and Vekoma SLC. This one had a redesigned wheel assembly, so it was supposed to be smoother. It was better than the ones built in the 1990s, but it was still a headbanging mess since you have the same bulky over-the-shoulder restraint. You just got smacked in the head every other second as opposed to every second. 2 out of 10 At this point, the heavens opened up and booms of thunder could be heard. While I got on four of the five coasters, the last one was Arkansas Twister, the park's wooden roller coaster. I thought about hitting this ride first, but it didn't open until an hour after the park because of where it's located. For those unfamiliar, Arkansas Twister is located all by itself next to the park's amphitheater. You have to walk through the entire water park to reach this ride and there aren't any other attractions or food stands near it. It rained hard for the next 2-2.5 hours. I was expecting an announcement over the PA saying the park would close. Because while the rain was supposed to subside in the early afternoon, it was expected to pick back up. But the park never closed. They patiently waited out the storm. And it may have been because the park only got busier as it continued to rain, which goes against everything I've seen visiting amusement parks. Maybe it's because this park is in Hot Springs, a tourist town? Eventually, Arkansas Twister started testing and it was a comical sight to see. The return run has an extremely drawn out camelback that runs parallel to the lift hill. And I have no clue how an empty train can possibly clear this hill. If you watch any POV of this coaster, it looks like someone screwed with the video's speed but the train really travels that slowly over this hill. Even with a loaded train on a rainy day, the hill took 7 seconds to crest. After several test runs, the ride finally opened and it was pretty forgettable outside of that infamous hill on the return run. There were a few laterals and maybe 2 hills with weak airtime, but it was mostly a dull and somewhat bumpy coaster. All of the hills are too drawn out for their own good. The ride does have a nice setting tucked in the woods though and both the lift and far turnaround give great views. 4 out of 10 Arkansas Twister Camelback.MP4 With the coasters knocked out, I wanted to hit a few of the park's non-coasters. And to be honest, this is the park's biggest weakness. Their flat collection is shockingly bad for a park of this size. They do not have a single adult spinning flat ride. For adults, you just have an awesome drop tower, a swinging ship, a Zamperla Hawk, and bumper cars. The rest of the flats are for the kids. The park does have a scenic antique car ride though and their log flume looked great too. Both travel through the woods, but unfortunately the latter was closed in 2020. That left the only options to get wet (outside of the rain) was Plummet Summit, the awkwardly named shoot the chutes ride, or the Crystal Falls Water Park, which seemed to be the park's biggest draw. Later that afternoon, the rain returned in full force, but because there was no thunder or lightning, everything continued to run. So I had plenty of time to get rerides on the coasters. I mostly rode Big Bad John and X-Coaster, especially since they're right next to each other. But I did go back to Arkansas Twister to see if it sped up. It did not. Magic Springs was a beautiful park and the service was much better than I expected. I am stunned they stayed open all day to give people their money's worth. But I don't think I'll be back anytime soon due to the high price and the ride lineup. If this park ever added a great coaster, I wouldn't hesitate to include this on a Silver Dollar City trip. But to be honest, I think this park would be best-served focusing on their almost non-existent adult flat ride lineup and expanding their water park. Fast Lane Entertainment Magic Springs wasn't the only park I hit in the Razorback State. I also stopped at Fast Lane Entertainment, an indoor family entertainment center. This complex was much bigger than I expected. The primary focus was a giant bowling alley and a modern arcade, but there were a few amusement rides. The one that drew me in was the Python Pit Miler kiddie coaster. The ride was your typical kiddie coaster, but it ran a long cycle. And the ride was in a really weird part of the building. Most of the complex looks really nice, but this coaster is in the back corner in what looks like a warehouse with some random colored stripes on the wall.

^ I'm mostly surprised it placed behind Nitro. I also found it interesting how high Orion placed considering some of the lackluster reviews it got after it opened, but I really enjoyed it. Also, why is the Valleyfair Mad Mouse ranked so low in the Steel Bottom 10? I actually thought that was one of the better wild mice and I'm stunned it's ranked around some notoriously rough steel coasters.

If the mid-course doesn't trim you on Superman, I think it's definitely better than Copperhead Strike. But if it slows you down, the return run can be a dud on that ride and then I think it's a much closer fight.

Coaster Express earned that spot as the worst coaster in the world. I agree wholeheartedly with that selection. Looks like RMC dominated the top of the rankings again. Hopefully more people can get on Hakugei and Zadra so they can get a clearer ranking since it looks like they would have been top 5 rides as well.

The other good thing with how the park is set-up is that you can see all the coasters from the edge of the balcony.

I'm definitely not a fruitcake fan. The only thing in that bakery that I liked were the pretzels.

Everything at Silver Dollar City tastes great. The worst item I've had there was a steak and cheese sub that was decent. It was better than most theme park items still.

They just said rides. They didn't say amusement rides. This could mean a nice drive thru event where you ride in your car. All kidding aside, I hope they get permission to actually reopen.

If you ride things other than Voyage, it's a walk-on. But everyone knows how special night rides on Voyage are, especially with the trims off. How long does the line for Steel Vengeance typically get during CoasterMania?

Silver Dollar City I was a proud Silver Dollar City season passholder in 2020 and took full advantage of it, visiting four times- twice in the summer and twice for their Olde Time Christmas event. After Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, this may be my favorite park in the world. I love the way this park blends theming, atmosphere, service, and thrills into one park. And unlike a lot of other major parks, wait times always seem to be manageable here. Their best ride is always a walk-on. I have never had to wait more than one train for Outlaw Run. I'm guessing a lot of it has to do with the ride's location (it's in the very back of the park at a dead end with poor signage), but I'm not complaining. I rode this coaster over 100 times in 2020 and loved it more with each ride. I especially loved my night rides. The ride is really secluded in the woods (although more of it becomes visible when the leaves fall). There is zero light along the course so it feels like your rumbling through outer space. The ride's pacing and sense of speed is flawless. Every hill delivers powerful ejector airtime and the inversions deliver hangtime, particularly the double barrel roll finale. I know some people have started to call this coaster rough, but it's extremely reridable for me. It's about on par with El Toro in terms of roughness. 10 out of 10 Time Traveler seems to be the crowd favorite for most guests. For me, it's a great compliment to Outlaw Run. It has an epic first drop if you're in the back car. Any time you can get ejector airtime on your side or backwards is a special moment. The rest of the ride has a lot of great elements from the airtime hills to the inversions and the rotation gives it a lot of reride value. The launches are weak in terms of power, but if you spin during them, you get some odd centripetal forces more reminiscent of a flat ride. 9 out of 10 Powder Keg was the trickiest ride for me to get on in 2020. In my summer visits, it was only running one train and skipping every other row. So it boasted a 45-60 minute wait when the other coasters were walk-ons. In my winter visits, the ride was running at full capacity, but I had to cope with rain and cold temperatures shutting it down. Fortunately, I was able to get a few rides on this underrated launch coaster. This launch packs a serious punch. Don't be fooled by the ride's modest stats. It's about as powerful as a hydraulic launch for me. The rest of the ride has some good airtime on the hills and the old Buzzsaw Falls section delivers some nice laterals since it's way underbanked. The ride also has a great setting in the woods, which is a theme for pretty much every coaster at this park. 8 out of 10 Wildfire has a beautiful setting, but I find this ride a bit overrated. The first drop delivers some great airtime in the back; it feels more like a B&M hyper drop. But the inversions aren't really forceful for me. The ride is glass smooth though. 7 out of 10 Fire in the Hole is a ride I gained a new appreciation for in 2020. The dark ride scenes are similar to Blazing Fury at Dollywood- old but fun. But the drops at the end really surprised me. They were giving some abrupt airtime I don't recall Blazing Fury ever offering. 8 out of 10 Thunderation was running really rough in 2020. It's a shame because I otherwise like this mine train. It has a really unique layout and has some good speed as you carve your way down the hillside. 5 out of 10 One of the weaker areas of Silver Dollar City is the flat ride department. You have the Grand Exposition Area with most of them and then you have a few others scattered throughout the park. And that's fine by me since I'd rather the park focus on unique attractions. The two flats I do enjoy though are Firefall, a small S&S double shot with two strong pops of airtime, and the Giant Barn Swing, a screamin' swing with the obligatory short cycle and some nice floater airtime. American Plunge is one of my favorite log flumes out there and it never gets any recognition. The ride has a great layout through the woods with some tunnels and figures along the course. The ride also has a surprisingly tall and steep drop for an Arrow log flume. Just know this one is a soaker though. 9 out of 10 Unfortunately, I missed Mystic River Falls in my visits. I saw it test in my summer visits and then it was closed for their Christmas event. The ride looks amazing with the mesmerizing elevator lift and landscaping, so I hope to experience it on a future visit. Mystic River Falls Drop (Front).MP4 The park also has a great shooting dark ride in Flooded Mine. While it's definitely dated, I like the soundtrack, overall aesthetic, and the amount of figures. The set pieces are huge for this type of ride. All of the targets seemed to work, although the triggers on the guns are a bit rigid so your finger will be in agony by the end of the ride. 9 out of 10 One of the unfortunate things about visiting Silver Dollar City in 2020 was that the Marvel Cave walkthrough was closed. I understand why since there would be no way to distance in there. I enjoyed my tour in 2018 and hope to try it again on a future visit. This cave is the reason Silver Dollar City even exists so it's the heart and soul of the park. The Christmas event was similar to Smoky Mountain Christmas event at Dollywood. The park is very transparent about the operating temperatures on their attractions and will run everything except the water rides assuming temperatures are high enough. In general, you want it to be at least 41 degrees if you want to see everything open. Their train ride had a special overlay for Christmas. The train always stops mid-ride for a show scene. Usually it's a hold-up, but for the holidays it was a story of the nativity. But for me, the highlight of the train were the views of Outlaw Run. The park also had a ton of dazzling lights with the Christmas in Midtown area and the fancy Christmas tree standing out. The park also had a nightly parade. It was short- just 3 minutes in length- but the cheerful music, bright floats, and character interactions made it extremely enjoyable. The food at Silver Dollar City is excellent too. I committed what many of you would call a mortal sin and skipped the cinnamon bread, but remember, I hate sweets. For me, the best food items at this park are the sausage and potato skillets, the brisket, and the homemade pretzels from the Mark Twain stand. However, the latter was only open during my visit on a summer weekday. It was closed every other visit. Do any locals know if I just got unlucky or is this stand often closed? Silver Dollar City is a park I could visit for a week straight and not get bored. It excels in almost every area. Really the only criticism I have for the park is that the layout is extremely confusing, but I finally got a grip on it after my 2020 visits. I can't wait to visit this park again.