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Silver Dollar City (SDC) Discussion Thread

p. 274: New Fire in the Hole announced for 2024!

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I've done the cave tour and seen people with small children but it is fairly strenuous with all the hundreds of stairs and there are definitely a lot of places to fall/hit your head so I imagine it would be difficult with children, but not impossible. It is VERY IMPORTANT you show up to the cave tour 30 minutes early if the park is busy. It fills in VERY fast and it is first come first serve. If you don't make it through with the group, you have the wait until the next one. We went 30 minutes early and barely made it on a busy day.

 

The most important thing is, if you are visiting for one day only, get the unlimited Trailblazer Pass unless it is surprisingly dead. I went on a late summer Saturday and Sunday and the lines for some coasters were over an hour. Arrive to the park 30 minutes before opening if possible. Study the map ahead of time (I would suggest trying Google Maps to do a virtual walk through the park if that doesn't ruin the surprise for you). The layout can get a bit confusing and you will save time if you know your way around and the side paths you can use to avoid crowds. There is a great cut through in the middle of the park but I can't recall where exactly. I would also suggest doing the after 3pm deal the day before.

 

It is a great park and I could spend 3 days there easily without being bored, so the more time you have, the better.

 

 

 

Oh and I found the cinnamon bread at Dollywood to be significantly better, but both are amazing.

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The biggest difficulty with children is that it's an hour of walking near lakes, rivers, waterfalls, dripping rocks...and no bathrooms.The hike itself is not bad; I have many memories of doing it with my dad when I was very small.

 

Fastest way to Outlaw Run at opening:

Between the ice cream parlor on the square and Grandfather's Mansion is a set of stairs. Go straight down those and you'll get to a waterfall of sorts. The path winds around and goes under itself. Keep following it until it ends next to Crossroads Pizza and the railroad bridge.

 

And yes, absolutely get the after 3 if you can. There's a reason they close at 7 most days; the park absolutely clears out starting around 5. The last couple of hours of the day is great time for riding, especially for the water rides and Thunderation.

 

I absolutely concur woth SFOG1991 in that summer weekends are atrociously busy and should be avoided, but that's true of every theme park. All my suggestions have been based on the assumption that you're going on a weekday.

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If your child isn't afraid of the dark, the end-of-day handheld lantern tour can be helpful as it's less crowded and easier to take your time. Another plus to that is you might see increased bat activity depending on the time of year you do it. And other than the initial big chamber it isn't all that much darker than normal, especially once you're in the narrower sections.

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Uhg. Mason, Ohio weather looks like sh*t on Saturday, along with most everywhere else within a few hours east of STL. Branson, on the other hand, looks like it's going to be beautiful. Would it be a day of waiting in line if we went to SDC this Satuday, considering the Blue Grass festival? (which, btw, should not be allowed to happen without the presence of moonshine)

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Uhg. Mason, Ohio weather looks like sh*t on Saturday, along with most everywhere else within a few hours east of STL. Branson, on the other hand, looks like it's going to be beautiful. Would it be a day of waiting in line if we went to SDC this Satuday, considering the Blue Grass festival? (which, btw, should not be allowed to happen without the presence of moonshine)

 

Pros and cons, I stopped at SDC for kickoff weekend during blue grass festival on a road trip from LA to NYC and can say:

 

Yes, the first weekend is fairly busy but deservingly so. There were more families and elders than the younger coaster-riding crowds I found on my second visit during the summer. The park was packed but crowds arrived fairly later (around 11:30-12noon). Get there early, grab a Trailblazer pass, and you should be fine. I finished all credits in the morning with the line actually being longest for the family coasters (PowderKeg was ~ 60 minutes, Thunderation was about ~45 minutes, Outlaw Run was under 20 minutes at opening, and Wildfire was near walk on). All that being said, Blue Grass and BBQ Festival is the reason I fell in love with Silver Dollar City (the food and spirit in the park is on a level I could only equate to Dollywood Christmas, Knoebel's during Covered Bridge Festival/Phoenix Phall Phunfest, or Epcot Food and Wine Festival --- folks who have been to any of the three know what I mean). Even if you're hardcore hip-hop fan like me, the crowds during this time of year are pleasant/festive, the staff/service unparalleled, and music/food gets you in the mood (ride operations are also top notch during these events). It made what was supposed to be a credit run one of my most memorable days as any theme park.

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An fyi for those going soon. SDC is up and going along with Branson but the area around it has received an ocean's worth of rain recently. So, lake and river levels in the area are high. I-44 was shut down for a while earlier this week.

 

That said this coming weekend looks like the best weather for weekend visit so far this year. I'd plan for sizable crowds as the past two weekends have been frog stranglers.

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If your child isn't afraid of the dark, the end-of-day handheld lantern tour can be helpful as it's less crowded and easier to take your time. Another plus to that is you might see increased bat activity depending on the time of year you do it. And other than the initial big chamber it isn't all that much darker than normal, especially once you're in the narrower sections.

Sorry, the park doesn't allow children under 8 on the lantern tour. Guests of all ages are allowed on all other tours.

 

Uhg. Mason, Ohio weather looks like sh*t on Saturday, along with most everywhere else within a few hours east of STL. Branson, on the other hand, looks like it's going to be beautiful. Would it be a day of waiting in line if we went to SDC this Satuday, considering the Blue Grass festival? (which, btw, should not be allowed to happen without the presence of moonshine)

This weekend is beautiful, but I-44's Gasconade River bridge has been closed the last couple of days because it's underwater. With heavy rains today, I doubt it will recede enough to reopen by this weekend.

 

Looking at MoDOT's map (traveler.modot.org/map), it looks like 63 is clear. You'll get off in Rolla and take 63 to Cabool, then 60 west to Springfield and can pick up 65 from there. Keep in mind that 60 is flooded only on the westbound lanes between Rogersville and Springfield, and you'll be routed to the eastbound lanes. One lane in each direction is open. Prepare for a traffic jam (10mph or less, and you may be stopped for a time), but you can get through. I'd allot 4.5 hours to get to Branson this weekend.

 

EDIT: And about 20 minutes after I wrote this, MoDOT announced the Gasconade River bridge is open again! Hopefully the rain today doesn't force it to close again. I'll leave my detour instructions up in case it does re-close.

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I would like to add hundreds of roads in Northeast Arkansas are closed as rivers hit All Time Record flood levels. Many from the southeast use US 63 to get to US 412, it is now closed as of today west of Jonesboro.

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Not to mention the fact that many roads have been severely damaged. Asphalt layers were picked up and carried away in some areas. It's going to be a mess for a long time, and we're still not out of the rainy season yet. Hope it doesn't hurt the park too much with visitor count.

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If your child isn't afraid of the dark, the end-of-day handheld lantern tour can be helpful as it's less crowded and easier to take your time. Another plus to that is you might see increased bat activity depending on the time of year you do it. And other than the initial big chamber it isn't all that much darker than normal, especially once you're in the narrower sections.

Sorry, the park doesn't allow children under 8 on the lantern tour. Guests of all ages are allowed on all other tours.

 

Oh that's great to know, thanks very much. My youngest son (5) loves bats so I was planning on taking him on that next visit but now I know not to talk it up for him. He's been in the cave many times, including one trip riding on my back (which was certainly a workout)

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Bluegrass & BBQ (but no moonshine)

 

Summer's here and it's time for good music and good food, and Silver Dollar City is the place to be for both. The park was fairly busy today, but as so often happens, the ride queues were short. The longest we waited for any ride was 20 minutes for Powder Keg.

 

The reason for going today was Rhonda Vincent & the Rage. If you're familiar with the bluegrass scene, I need say no more. If not, she has the nickname "Queen of Bluegrass" and for good reason. She is supremely talented and put on an amazing 45 minute set. She led with Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" and then went on to several of her own songs.

 

A personal note here: Vincent's banjoist, Aaron McDaris, is from Hartsville, Missouri, roughly an hour northeast of Branson. I used to work with his brother and sister-in-law several years ago and got to meet him. They're very nice people.

 

On to the BBQ! There were many things to choose from, including some new entries out in the plaza. Lots of good smokin' goin' on in these parts.

 

I had the Pulled Pork Mason Jar Sundae. This was a layered meal with baked beans on the bottom, then pulled pork, cole slaw, more pulled pork, then topped with bacon and garnished with a tomato, pickle, and pepperoncini on a stick. It was great, and I thought I had taken a picture of it, but it's not there now that I'm going through them. Oh well. Trust me, it's awesome.

 

Progress is being made on Roller Coaster 9, still mainly on the station. The framing appears to be nearly complete and the roof is really looking good now. Enjoy the photos!

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Rhonda Vincent & the Rage. It was hard to get a photo due to the blinding paleness of the performers, but that's bluegrass for ya.

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Let's look behind the fence!

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The Frisco Barn has all the smokin' and grillin' supplies you need.

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The Red Gold Heritage Hall can't handle all the awesomeness, and the festival is taking over the plaza too!

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It's maize madness, I tell you, madness!

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Grillin' demonstrations

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Ah, now that's the house I'm looking for.

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Yup. This is the place.

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It's a huge room with several vendors. Everything looked good--how to choose?

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Ooh, desserts! Not to be confused with deserts. You don't want to eat a mason jar desert.

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For those who like their BBQ sammichy.

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Ooh...ribs.... I don't make ribs money, but that looks good.

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Now this is something I haven't seen before. And I do make mason jar money!

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They also had full plates, which of course had the longest line, because Branson.

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Live shows going on all day at one end of the room. Great atmosphere, and air conditioned too! Come out to Bluegrass & BBQ if you get the chance!

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So something neat I learned today is that any Cinnamon bread that is not sold an hour before closing is marked down 75 percent. This means I got mine for a whole $1.88. LOL

 

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So something neat I learned today is that any Cinnamon bread that is not sold an hour before closing is marked down 75 percent. This means I got mine for a whole $1.88. LOL

 

 

Why would you tell me this!?!?! Now I'm going to develop diabetes!!!

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That Crazy Corn on the Cob looks very unique and interesting.

 

But having BBQ without beer...there is just something morally wrong about that.

 

It's like having pizza or wings without beer, for God's sake - it, it just shouldn't be!

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But having BBQ without beer...there is just something morally wrong about that.

 

It's like having pizza or wings without beer, for God's sake - it, it just shouldn't be!

 

The first half (roughly) of my life was spent eating BBQ and pizza w/o beer. No need to change it. Certainly not morally wrong.

 

(Probably more than half for a lot here...)

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That Crazy Corn on the Cob looks very unique and interesting.

 

But having BBQ without beer...there is just something morally wrong about that.

 

It's like having pizza or wings without beer, for God's sake - it, it just shouldn't be!

I'm with you on that. Having grown up around here, I've come to terms that SDC will never serve alcohol. I'm honestly impressed that Branson has a winery and a distillery. Plus Springfield just opened its third brewery. For an area that actually still has dry towns, this is progress.

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Hey, quick question:

 

2 months ago I noticed that Wildfire felt more like a floorless coaster than a sitdown. Just now, I noticed that Wildfire's car design is different than the other Sitdown cars. Wildfire's car looks more like a mix of a Floorless and a Hyper car. How come it's like that on Wildfire only and not the other Sitdown models?

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(Excuse my bad photoshop skills) The rest of the sitdown cars looks the same (credit to the people who took the photos)

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And Wildfire's looks more like a combination of a Hyper and a Floorless (credit to the person who took this)

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Wildfire was designed as a floorless, but HFE asked B&M to add floors to reduce maintenance costs. The breakaway floors have a lot of moving parts, which means a lot of things can break. Wildfire's floors have no moving parts. Engineers and maintenance staff love that.

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Wildfire was designed as a floorless, but HFE asked B&M to add floors to reduce maintenance costs. The breakaway floors have a lot of moving parts, which means a lot of things can break. Wildfire's floors have no moving parts. Engineers and maintenance staff love that.

 

Ah, that makes sense. At least that makes Wildfire a little unique. That also explains why HFE didn't simply buy a sit down car, since the coaster is a floorless design

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Are the trains part of the reason WIldfire has a 52" height requirement? It's the only B&M sitdown that doesn't have a 54" requirement, at least to my knowledge...

I doubt it. HFE just like to have lower height restrictions, like Wild Eagle's 50". Height restrictions are a combination of manufacturer's recommendations and insurance. Likely HFE worked out a deal with their insurance that allows more guests to ride.

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Bluegrass & BBQ (but no moonshine)

Rub it in.

Great pictures and nice TR! You're making me have regrets about choosing to go to Great America, last weekend.

 

 

But having BBQ without beer...there is just something morally wrong about that.

It's like having pizza or wings without beer, for God's sake - it, it just shouldn't be!

Amen.

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