Divv3k Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 DAY FOUR: SILVER DOLLAR CITY This place was fantastic. I visited quite a few parks in 2010 and if I had to pick a favourite I’d name this place. I don’t think I’ve visited a park in the US with so much charm. Silver Dollar City is very different from the reams of corporate parks you’ll find in the US. Lots of greenery all over the place, fantastically friendly staff and some of the best food you’ll ever get at a theme park. They have some pretty awesome coasters too! Wildfire is a solid sit-down B&M in the same vein as Incredible Hulk at Islands of Adventure. Often a coaster like that would be the best at the park but not here – Powder Keg, the S&S launched thingy is just brilliant. Plus, there’s also the very quirky and cool indoor dark ride/woodie called Fire in the Hole which is right up there with best attractions in the park! Oh yeah, the whole park is built right next to a hubongous cave, that you can explore the deepest and darkest depths of! Did I mention the food was AMAZING??? And now for what ended up being my favourite park of the trip – Silver Dollar City! What a great time to make your first visit to this park – it’s 50th birthday season! Wildfire was very good! It’s not often you see a B&M coaster poking out the trees like this! Whilst not quite up there with Kumba and Dragon Khan this ride still exceeded my expectations. TPDave, if it’s beer you can’t have it! Now for Fire in the Hole, this ride was brilliant! Baldknobbers?!?! I’m always wary of them! This poor little dog was stuck in this cage at Fire in the Hole’s station. I hope someone lets it out for a run from time to time! It seems that the Dalmatian living in the station is a regular thing. Skinny Anth and Colin were loving some fire in their hole. I did not know that. Thanks, Silver Dollar City! Understood! Wow, that’s a lot of jerky! TPFriends. Hi Rick and Jackie! Looking forward to getting blown away? Powder Keg is an excellent S&S launch coaster. And we never saw Rick or Jackie again. That’s me! Call me Senora! I didn’t see these in Thorpe Park. That’s TPHim! The new Screaming Swing is a big hit in my book! My Jon, you do that awfully well. Amazing funnel cake, cocaine or both? You decide! TPDave cannot resist. No snorting off the floor! TPBad! Hello rapids! The skillets in Silver Dollar City just looked and tasted incredible. Why can’t more parks have food as good as this?! TPTasty! Not to be outdone by TPDave’s delights, Lou finds a cookie that is bigger than TPDave’s head. Jason is also loving the “Bigger than TPHead” cookie. After such a fun experience on Mirabilandia’s Splash Battle I was very excited to check out Tom and Huck’s River Blast. It definitely delivered in getting us soaked! Though I prefer the European version that lets you move around the boat a bit more. August isn’t a bit early for a Christmas store? Not in Middle America I guess! It’s funny to the Brits, okay? Next up is SDC’s other steel coaster, the Arrow mine train – Thunderation. Arrow’s bringing the thunder back to Silver Dollar City. I’m dubious as to whether someone actually changes this selection every day… Colin’s just doomed himself to fall to his death by sitting in seat 13. Allow me to break the ice. His name is Kyle. Learn it well. For it's the chilling sound of your doom. Silver Dollar City’s County Prison Mine luckily doubles as a shooting dark ride! Pretty cool theming! Gotta love the ride op outfits! Miles is quick to point out that he’s not shooting blanks. No matter what anyone tells you, Kyle, it really is the size of your gun that counts. Time for a skillet serving! This is a “tater twister”, absolutely delish! How about some strawberries and cream for dessert? Another big attraction at SDC is Marvel Cave. You don’t want to miss this! That’s where we be going! Mike Austin behind bars. Did we ever doubt we’d see the day? You’ve gotta go down a lot of stairs to get into the cave. This is the last vegetation we’ll be seeing for a while. Everyone’s excited to see what delights Marvel Cave will offer. Pretty ray of light poking through the cave’s entrance. Cave stuff. The cave was originally called Marble Cave, after explorers in 1882 saw what they thought was marble on the cave's ceiling. They were wrong. The further down you go the tighter the walkways get! Kinda like a woman. Watch your head! H2Whoa. Marvel-lous. Is that woman behind Lou picking her nose? I’m pretty sure these are stalactites. What an impressive hole Marvel Cave has. After you’ve been to the bottom everyone gets to pile into a cable train to take them back to the surface. Definitely a good bonding experience for the TPR contingent. How the hell did we all fit in there?! TPHot! I was originally planning on leaving most of the food from the TPR included meal so that I could get more of the stuff out in the park, but this included meal was just fantastic too. So I just had even more than planned! TPWinning! Kyle’s very taken with the Tiramisu Fudge. I think Dave and Mike would approve. A couple of glory holes… Hey look, a mug just for Mike Fudge! TPDave’s loving the spray action from these guns. The huge bags of kettle corn from SDC are of excellent use even when you’re not hungry! Does this count as breaking park rules? All sorts of crazy things go on in here… Yet another of Lou’s fantasies fulfilled on a TPR trip. TPDeathDefying. Choo choo! The Silver Dollar City train ride was hilarious. It was fantastic how all the staff got really into their roles as the bandits tried to rob the train. They probably got a bit more than they bargained for from us! SCIENCE!!! Silver Dollar City is an absolutely fantastic place. I can’t stress enough how much fun I had this day. It really is one of the best parks in the US and if you haven’t been then you really should make every effort to get there! St Louis fun up next! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I smiled reading this entire report. It's always hard for me to decide which park is better Silver Dollar City or Dollywood. They're both just so awesome and laid back. Also, I almost forgot how much fun we had on this trip, we seriously just need to do the exact same thing again (perhaps about 25 degrees cooler though)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakizle Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I smiled reading this entire report. It's always hard for me to decide which park is better Silver Dollar City or Dollywood. They're both just so awesome and laid back. Also, I almost forgot how much fun we had on this trip, we seriously just need to do the exact same thing again (perhaps about 25 degrees cooler though)! Every single word in this post QFT. Excellent update Divv! I miss this trip so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryancrash Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Great TR Divv! Thanks for sharing. I finally made it to SDC last year and I was really impressed. Wonderful atmosphere. It reminded me somewhat of Dollywood. And though I still like Dollywood just a little bit better, SDC is definitely one of my favourite parks in the U.S. Just wish I’d had more time to spend there - not knowing how awesome SDC was going to be, I gave myself about two hours to credit-whore the place before driving back to St. Louis to catch a flight. Needless to say, that wasn’t enough time - I could have spent three days there. I rode the coasters, but that was about it (didn’t get to do that amazing cave). The coasters all exceeded my expectations. I think Wildfire impressed me the most - built on the side of the mountain, it looks SO much taller than it really is. Oh yeah - and I hit that jerky stand. I tried the kangaroo jerky - delicious! Awesome park - I really need to visit again soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMorgan Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Divv, I love your sense of humor. There were several LOL moments in the last update. Thanks for brightening my day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy524 Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Looks like a really nice park. The food looks incredible. Great pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Hell, I'd go back to Silver Dollar City just for the succotash skillet. Such a great park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Despite it being miserably humid (notice how we never dry throughout the day) this was an absolutely amazing day. A great park, and a great group to hang out with. I miss you guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 ^I forgot how incredible hot it was! The nice escape from the heat was one of the best parts of the cave. Awesome pictures Divv, especially the food! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 (edited) Thanks everyone! Glad to see I wasn't the only one left with such a lasting good impression from Silver Dollar City! --- DAY FIVE, Part One: GATEWAY ARCH When I tell non-enthusiast friends about these trips they always bring up the point that we just skip by a lot of the places and miss the local culture by visiting the parks. I never buy this argument because I actually think the parks give you a great deal of the local culture and well, I’m just not that into doing day after day of sight seeing. That is, unless there is something cool to see! But at least now when anyone tries to give me any jip for this I can throw Gateway Arch in their face! Gateway Arch is not something you can do anywhere and there’s no better group to do a unique thing like this with than TPR! Culture Credit! Say hello to Gateway Arch in St Louis! Though not just an Arch, there’s some museumy stuff in here too. Mmm, Whiskey! TPTeepee! Nice beaver! It’s a tough job, but TPDave insisted that he do it. KidTums just loves hanging around at Gateway Arch. In order to get to the top of the Arch you get into teams of five and squish yourselves into these little cubicles that lift you to the top! TPDave cannot believe the view he gets from the top of the Arch! Hello Saint Louis! Hey look, it’s the American Cricket stadium! Why does Jon look so excited? Ah, bridge porn! Shadow artsy. That’s me, 630 feet over Saint Louis! It can be nice sometimes to take a quick break on a TPR trip to do a little sight-seeing if it fits in well with the trip schedule like this Archsy! Can I be in the Expendables sequel please? This was a nice stop, it was good to see St Louis from high up. It also gives me something to throw in my mum’s face when she rolls her eyes at me missing non-theme park stuff when I visit all these different places! Next up, City Musuem!!! Edited May 9, 2011 by Divv3k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted May 6, 2011 Share Posted May 6, 2011 Can't wait to see City Museum! It was nice to be able to check out the arch, and TPR does it the right way. You go in, go up, and get out. Not much more to see after that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 DAY FIVE, Part Two: CITY MUSEUM Well, well, well… What can I say about City Museum? I had heard very little about this place and even when I was told a visit was on the itinerary I decided not to research it in order to go in with an open mind. Well this place was just INSANE!!! I never expected to ever find a place like this in the US! This museum is not your usual assortment of paintings and Jeff Johnson skeletons. It’s an old show factory that was converted into this massive play area with slides, tunnels and loads of other random stuff! The best part was, TPR got this place all to ourselves! Unbelievable. How this night ended without loss of life I’ll never know. I don’t really think words do this place justice and I doubt photos will either, I can but try though! OMG, we’re at City Museum, we’re all gonna die!!! Just look at it. If ever there was a museum that screamed “Please come visit me, TPR!” this is it! The only words I can see are DANGER and RISK! All I need to know! City Museum is actually an old converted shoe factory. True story. And now for the TPTour of City Museum! Please note TPDave cannot play the piano. Nor can he sumo wrestle. But find a place called Toddler Town and TPDave is home! Especially if it means he can have some balls on his face. John McClane, TPDave is not. But he is at one with the world of nature. I want to take this guy home so that he can be my robot skeleton sidekick. On the wall there’s little hint to US amusement park past. Can we just lock the door and leave TPDave here? TPDave, if you can’t drink alcohol here than you most certainly can’t sell it! Please let the lift fall now! What the hell is TPDave doing with his right hand? And next to a guy named Big Boy no less! Slide POV! City Museum had loads of cool slides like this! TPDave decides to take us both to our impending doom over the edge of the museum. Dan seems pretty excited to not be in Derek's predicament. Most exercise Ben’s had since last night! Speaking from experience, swinging from this rope for an extended period requires more upper body strength than you might expect! Is that a Baldknobber?! And this is the last we ever saw of Jon… TPHorrific! All sorts of scary creatures lurk within the tunnels beneath City Museum! This was really cool too, there’s little ferris wheel on the museum’s roof! There was also this massive climbing structure inside the building. Quite tiring to climb around! How this is allowed in the US I’ll never know! TPFail! Your shirts are only going to get more yellow and horrific, TPDave! TPDaring! We finished our visit to City Museum by having Kristen select some lucky participants to join her at the top of this slide for some tandem sliding fun! Somehow I made it through the visit to City Museum without spilling blood. Others weren’t so lucky! This place was incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy524 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 So jealous! I have to go there one day. Great pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisdanger Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Divv, Excellent TR man!..In the immortal words of TPDave, this is quite the "Jolly Jolly" adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakizle Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 There are not enough photos of TP Dave in this update!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisdanger Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 ^ Agreed! We demand more pictures of TPRs official "Jolly Englishman"! Upload them Post-Haste!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_roll06 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 All the fans of the TPCelebrity will be talking about this update for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XII Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Nice Update Divv. The City Museum was great. And like you said, these photos don't come close to justifying the City Museum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirouettes907 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Without a doubt City Museum is the best thing there is to do here in St. Louis, and yes, I have no idea how it is allowed in the U.S., but I'm mighty thankful for it. I was so bummed my work schedule didn't allow me to join you guys that day; looks like it was an afternoon of epic proportions! Always like looking through your reports and looking forward to your take on my home park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Wow, I've become quite the feature in this TR. Epic report as always Divv, not the pictures with me in (self effacing and all that...) but apart form that it was AWESOME!! I don't remember there being a rope in the skate ramp room, and I certainly don't remember swinging on it :S Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted May 10, 2011 Author Share Posted May 10, 2011 DAY FIVE, Part Three: WHITE CASTLE! On 2007’s Midwest Trip I didn’t eat at White Castle. I don’t really know why. I think in the years since I’ve just become a bit more of a fast food junkie (Fat B*stard) than I was in 2007 when I was happy just to eat at Subway. Suffice to say I spent years regretting not partaking in the White Castle experience and highly anticipated the chance to finally get in on the action in 2010! I’d even researched the menu before I left the UK and knew exactly what I’d be ordering. Yes folks, this is White Castle. The real reason I signed up for the Mid-America trip. What better way to top off this amazing day than to FINALLY pop my White Castle cherry! For those that don’t know, White Castle is a chain of fast food restaurants in Middle America famous for their tiny credit-card-sized burgers, called Sliders. TPDave is all set to satisfy that craving! My order? Four sliders, two bacon double cheeseburgers and chicken rings with cheese! White Castle was as awesome as I'd hoped it would be! Russ and Stacey are eating up their White Castle experience! TPQuiet. Not only is White Castle some of the tastiest bad food you’ll ever have, the boxes can be used to make some real interesting towers! White Castle is reason enough for me to return to the Midwest again some day! There were some very interesting smells produced by TPDave this night! White Castle has been conquered! Lets make sure everyone on the bus knows about it tomorrow! White Castle was awesome! Can’t wait to try it again someday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollin_n_coastin Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I find it amusing that Jon has this talent of blocking me in most photos That was a great night and a great first time at the Castle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisdanger Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Thats one thing I miss about going to OH, a sack of sliders w/ cheese, two orders of fries and a large coke...Thanks guys for posting!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.TWISTY! Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 wow.... i need to get over there thats so cool! grrrrrrr why didnt i know about this place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCo Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Those White Castle photos made my stomach weep. (Hate not having them in California!!1!1!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts