Silver Dollar City (SDC) Discussion Thread

[Shavethewhales2]

They are definitely doing this the right way. Love that they are pulling out all the history and even brought back the ride's theme song. The park really does well putting these things together when they want to, I just hope the new ride is given as much care after it opens. Time Traveler's 'theme' of being a clock factory with a dad/daughter inventor duo is basically forgotten now unless you really go searching for the details, and Wildfire's famous inventor character has been missing for years. The best thing about FITH (and flooded mine) is that it smacks you in the face with rich history and details. So unique and interesting, and so much more than just a coaster in a box. 

The outpouring of attention they are receiving over this proves they have something special here, and they obviously know it. 

[Danrarbc]

20 hours ago, cfc said:

I like Fire in the Hole and its Dollywood cousin, but the ride is very old, and I imagine it's difficult and expensive to maintain.  I hope they replace with a nice updated version (like Knott's did with their mine train and log ride).

It's interesting that Blazing Fury received a refurbishment very recently but FITH is getting replaced rather than its own refurb.

[tinaalsgirl]

I'm pretty sure FITH is just too far gone structurally to be just refurbed. That building is a mess.

[mwg]

- Duplicate post.

[mwg]

3 hours ago, Danrarbc said:

It's interesting that Blazing Fury received a refurbishment very recently but FITH is getting replaced rather than its own refurb.

Blazing Fury is also 6 years newer than Fire in the Hole. I'm sure they learned quite a bit in those years of Fire in the Hole and did some things differently in the construction of Blazing Fury. 

Also, Blazing Fury removed the water from the final drop in 2011. So it ran with water for around 33 years compared to the now 50+ years of Fire in the Hole. Maintenance workers at Dollywood have said that they had to basically choose to remove the water or face removing the ride due to the issues that the water caused for the entire building.

[Shavethewhales2]

It's honestly amazing that they made this ride last over 50 years with the water and mold constantly waging war against it. I'm sure they "could" have revamped it, but it's a cost/value decision. Obviously building a fancy new ride will provide more ROI vs spending the same or more to "fix" an old ride that people won't really notice. Still hard as a fan to watch something you've grown up with disappear, especially something that spans generations. I hope Blazing Fury lives on forever. I'll probably make a trip out to DW next year or so for it. 

[tndank]

Grew up near Dollywood and finally did the 10 hour drive to SDC to ride FITH last year with all the rumors.  Something I've always wanted to ride.  Might do it again now that it's official.   (full disclosure, Flooded Mine was the #2 reason since ours shut down long ago)

 

[ytterbiumanalyst]

USA Today Named Silver Dollar City the Best Theme Park

 

No. 1: Silver Dollar City - Branson, Missouri

Silver Dollar City, with its 1880s mining town theme, attracts some two million visitors annually with its combination of entertainment, festivals, 100 resident craftsmen and more than 40 rides and attractions. The park is also home to Time Traveler, the world's fastest, steepest and tallest spinning coaster.

 

https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-theme-park-2023/

[SharkTums]

^Remember Robb is on the 10Best Panel so you're welcome!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Awesome! The list was pretty solid this year. All 10 of those parks deserved to be there.

[prozach626]

That's about the best list I've seen from a popular publisher for a while. There wasn't like a random Six Flags New England thrown in or anything.

[Zand]

Finally getting a chance to take a trip out to this bucket list park the week of July 10th. I found it kind of odd that the park still closes at 7pm during this time period and extends to 10pm the week of July 17th. A real bummer as I was looking forward to the many tremendous night rides this park has. Any reason why they close so early at that point? I'd understand if it were mid June, but I've never seen a park that doesn't expand to full summer hours of operation by July 4th week. Even on Friday night they close at 7 and I fly out on Saturday. It makes no sense to me.

[prozach626]

probably staffing, as usual

[tinaalsgirl]

Most shows in Branson start at 7pm, so the park closes with the assumption that a big chunk of the crowd is going to be headed to shows.

[prozach626]

Just spent like over $300 for fucking Dixie Stampede tickets. Kids.

Front row upcharge so I can smell the animal shit.

[Chiselphane]

Ugh I feel your pain.   We do like Stampede but I'm cheap so it's a very very rare visit.  I'm always genuinely entertained by the slight insult of pig noises when they bring the main course out.

[teacherkim]

On 6/20/2023 at 7:32 PM, Zand said:

Finally getting a chance to take a trip out to this bucket list park the week of July 10th. I found it kind of odd that the park still closes at 7pm during this time period and extends to 10pm the week of July 17th. A real bummer as I was looking forward to the many tremendous night rides this park has. Any reason why they close so early at that point? I'd understand if it were mid June, but I've never seen a park that doesn't expand to full summer hours of operation by July 4th week. Even on Friday night they close at 7 and I fly out on Saturday. It makes no sense to me.

The 10 pm close is just something they usually do for a couple weeks in July, special "late night" hours. If you look at the calendar it only lasts for two weeks. There is so much other stuff going on in Branson I don't think they really need the late hours all the time to draw in the crowds.

[prozach626]

How close does the Trailblazer pass get you to the front of the line? I'd like to get the basic pass so I can ride just a few coasters without making my family wait long when we visit in a couple weeks.

[MidwestThemeParks]

On 7/11/2023 at 2:36 PM, prozach626 said:

How close does the Trailblazer pass get you to the front of the line? I'd like to get the basic pass so I can ride just a few coasters without making my family wait long when we visit in a couple weeks.

Basically right to the front. I don’t think you would ever wait more than a couple trains when using a Trailblazer pass.

[teacherkim]

On 7/11/2023 at 2:36 PM, prozach626 said:

How close does the Trailblazer pass get you to the front of the line? I'd like to get the basic pass so I can ride just a few coasters without making my family wait long when we visit in a couple weeks.

And they are usually cheaper than most SF and CF fastpasses, so based on your past posts, I'm pretty sure you will find it totally worth it.

[prozach626]

Thanks

[teacherkim]

We swung by last Wednesday to use free tickets we had from the mostly snowed out Coaster Christmas event. Since we really had no priorities and knew on such a hot day we would just stick to our favorites we took our sweet time driving from STL, stopped for lunch at Lamberts, swung by the hotel to dump our stuff, etc. We were at the park from about 3-10,  and other than the raft ride we never waited more than 15 min. OR and WF were walk on. MRF had a posted wait time of 95 min at the hottest part of the day, actual wait was about an hour, which we did having never caught it open or been there when it was warm enough to be open. Nice covered, breezy queue line. It is a unique and fun ride, whomever is going backwards down the big hill will be the one to get really soaked but of course no way to control that. If I am going to risk getting super wet, I do prefer a ride that has something worth getting wet for, like this one with lots of drops and rapids in addition to the lift and hill. I actually enjoyed seeing the park lit up at night without the Christmas lights. I mean they are spectacular and all but I much prefer warm, summer night rides.

[mwg]

Riding Outlaw Run at night in the summer is a little different than riding it at night in December and freezing your face off. 

[teacherkim]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:47 AM, mwg said:

Riding Outlaw Run at night in the summer is a little different than riding it at night in December and freezing your face off. 

And having done both.................give me summer everytime. Every. Single. Time.

[prozach626]

American Dad review:

My wife, three-year-old daughter, and I went to the park two days last week. Eve is just over 37", and SDC was perfect for her. It was hot as hell, but we didn't mind. The park has a ton of shade. Emily and I had been to the park multiple times prior to this. Eve came with us last year, but was too small to ride anything outside of the rides for very small children.

She's still too little to tackle those hills and we didn't want to bring our stroller from home. It takes up a shit ton of space in our Forester. We rented one for around $20.00 at the park. It was fine.

Fireman's landing is great. Mostly, because Emily and I could drink Nitro Coffee from the nearby Starbucks while sitting in the shade, while Eve was entertained by the splash pad. She was tall enough for several rides in that area. All of the kids loved the Dalmatian ride and the swings. The ride operators were enthusiastic. We never had a chance to mess around in the firehouse ball play area.

Be prepared, the balloon spinning ride nearby is no joke when riding backwards. I wanted to puke. I'm now being subjected to all of the spinning rides I've been avoiding over the years. It's worth it, but damn. I think I am starting to build up a tolerance again, thank God. Sometimes Emily and I take turns, which helps a lot.

Flooded mine was great. The guns didn't work for shit, but Eve wanted to just look at everything, anyway.

The train was good. She called one of the robbers "Trash," just like I told her to. It was appropriate given the circumstances, so I had to take advantage of it. I also made sure to ask my wife if the people who did a barrel roll had to pay extra. It was not appropriate given the circumstances, but I hope at least a few people heard me.

Pilgrim's Plunge scared the hell out of Eve, but she said she liked it. I don't think she wanted to ride it, but we did it anyway. This might offend people, but it clearly worked with me.

As per usual, "I liked it, but it was scary." She was proud of herself for being brave, but she didn't want to ride it again. Still a win. I told her we'd never have to ride it again if she didn't want to. It's like trying food. You don't have to eat it again, but I want you to at least try it.

However, that did NOT work with the kiddie roller coaster in the Grand Exposition area. She had a bad taste in her mouth from Howler at HW, which was her first roller coaster ever. It was brutally rough, and I was hoping it was isolated to that ride. Now, I officially hate these roller skaters. It beat the shit out of us, and I'm afraid Eve will never want to ride a roller coaster again. Because of this, on day two we let her ride whatever the hell she wanted to with zero pressure to ride anything she didn't want to.

After she got the shit beat out of her on day one by the roller skater, I was surprised on day two when she decided to ride the elephant flying/spinning thing ride and the spinning pirate ships, which hauled ass. Unfortunately, we had to take turns and ride those multiple times. She wouldn't say a word on the pirate ship ride, which was by far the fastest thing she's ever been on, but as soon as we were done she wanted to ride again.

We rode the splash battle and got totally screwed. No one sat behind us, which left our flank completely vulnerable. This park has an almost complete lack of shitty people, so no one sprayed Eve and everyone pretty much concentrated on me. As much as it made the next hour a miserable sopping wet shit show, I really appreciated it. One dad even made sure to tell his two little boys, "Don't spray the girl!" 

We did a lot of re-rides on the spinning crap over our two days. We closed out our time at the park in the Grand Exposition area, while crunched for time due to dinner reservations. We knew we were screwed when she saw the hopping frog ride, or whatever it was. We thought the other rides were closed, until the butterfly/caterpillar ride started going, which CRUSHED my legs. I'm a fit guy, but I have no idea how I got in that thing.

I was staring at my watch and thought we were all done and ready to run for the exit when the God damned lady bug spinning ride started making loud beeps and whistling sounds. There was no escape, and Eve really wanted to ride it.

After that, we had to double-time it while I carried her on our way to the car in order to make our dinner reservation. Both days Eve was passed out before we left the parking lot, leaving me carrying her into the restaurants with her sleeping on my shoulder at first.

I rode Wildfire and Outlaw Run once during our visit. The lines were non-existent, so I went for it. Both were awesome. Outlaw run remains one of my favorite wooden coasters, and my favorite RMC. I didn't care to ride more coasters, as it would have taken time away from my family. Honestly, at this point it isn't about us at all anymore, and it's way more fun just to let Eve experience new things.

We still try to eat healthy(er) during the day at parks. You can't find anything that great for you, but you can at least do better than chicken strips/burgers/pizza/etc. We had wraps at Buckshots day one. (wraps love pretending to be health food) Day two we ate at the BBQ place, which was decent. (meat/vegetables)

 

 

We were in the area five days, so we also did the Dixie Stampede. I was bored out of my mind, but the kid was mesmerized, which is all that matters. We got the VIP seats in the front and my lap was numb by the time we left. Try eating food with your fingers with a kid propped up on your lap. At least we were able to eat 'kind of' healthy.

We also did a Top of the Rock attraction where you could ride golf carts on a path through the woods. It went through several caves and down steep kills. There were also a few points near the waterfalls, where a few inches of water flowed over the path. Of course we went full throttle through it. The carts had a large mounted tablet on the dashboard. It had integrated GPS which told you where you were on the path and what was coming next.

F*** the guy who decided having bear sounds in the first tunnel would be a good idea. We were frightfully asked the remainder of the time, "Is there a bear here?" I had to repeat countless time, "Eve, there's no bear here."

The best part was when a bar menu popped up on the screen. Along the path you pulled up a bar in a cave and could buy a drink for the rest of the ride. After that, I let Eve control the accelerator.

10/10 would recommend the golf cart tour. It lasted about an hour.

 

We stayed at a Hyatt resort in the past. This time they decided summer would be a good time to renovate their splash pad and pool area, so we stayed at Stormy Point. It's about ten minutes from SDC. It consists of mostly two bedroom cottages, and everything is themed to Nantucket. Ours was two-stories with an open living room area, full kitchen, shaded porch, etc. It had a massive pool/splash pad area with a pretty big water slide. It was too big for Eve, but luckily she only made me go down it twice. As a result, I also made her ask Emily to go down it, as well. The place also had a full bar and restaurant pool-side, with wait staff. We spent two days by the pool.

 

We took Eve to the strip to ride in the go-karts on the last night. You can tell the shitty crowd rolls in at night, so I wish we'd gone during the day. It was fun for her.

 

Emily did some research on local places to eat, instead of tourist traps. Here's what we ended up with:

Downing Street Pour House, 20 minutes away in Hollister. It had some traditional English (I think) food, and other common bar foods.  I got a pastrami platter, with cabbage and potatoes. I wanted to try something different, and it paid off huge.

Little Hacienda: This was kind of a gourmet Mexican restaurant. The atmosphere was nice and the food was as good as I can remember it being in the southwest. I got a margarita flight. The guacamole was fresh and outstanding. The place wasn't your typical copy/paste quick serve Mexican restaurant that every town has. We did this place twice. Don't go in sweaty park clothes. We made that mistake the first night. It's not an upscale restaurant, but it is on the nicer side compared to a typical place on the strip.

Mr. Gilberti's Place: I had no idea what this place is doing in the middle of the sticks in Hollister, Missouri. It's traditional Italian food with true authentic Chicago style pizza being the main focus. The Chicago style pan pizza was incredible. It's out of the way, but a must visit. We did it last year, and it was just as good. Call ahead, because it's a small place and it gets packed. It has the old style red/white striped table cloth dive atmosphere.

 

We ended up leaving with several stuffed animals, because Dad buys her way too much crap.

 

Next year we're doing Dollywood, as long as she's 39" for the family coasters. A quick trip to Great America is coming up in a couple weeks. I'm hoping Whizzer and Little Dipper will build some faith in roller coasters for Eve, if she will even get on them after the f***ing trash roller skaters.

 

Cheers.