Silver Dollar City (Branson, MO)

Rather than just talk about Time Traveler, figured I would dedicate a whole post to Silver Dollar City. We did Branson in late June 2021... Allegiant was doing affordable flights out of Sanford, and it had been on our radar for some time. So we hit up the park on a Tuesday. Let me preface this... there is A LOT to do at Silver Dollar City. Would even recommend doing it over two days. "But Tim, the park seems so small."

We got to the lot around 8:45. Arrows pointing to optional "Free Parking". That's a no-brainer. And it really isn't that far from the entrance... but it's hilly as all heck so we took the tram. Easy entry, we were into park proper by 9:10. Grabbed a show schedule and park map (hey physical park maps!), and we mapped out our route. Obviously, Time Traveler had to be first but we needed to incorporate the stage shows, musical shows, Harlem Globetrotters, eating time and making time for Marble Cave somehow. BTW, Marble Cave is an hour long guided tour... seems unnecessary given other tours nearby are self-guided. We came to terms that we most likely wouldn't be able to fit in such a long tour (in addition to the waiting in line for it).

Back to the rides... we got in line for Time Traveler as it opened. It was seemingly running at full capacity so the line moved great. Somehow we were chosen for the front row. Great! Man, the seats and restraints were so comfortable... I was a little leary about it though being a spinning coaster that goes upside down. Turns out, it was one of the most comfortable coasters I've ever ridden. A huge drop out of the station while simultaneously turning was a nice touch and we made our way through the two-launch layout. Huge airtime + not knowing where you're going or what you'll be facing = a Top 5 coaster for sure. Hoping parks pick up more Macks.

Thunderation, an Arrow mine train, was next. This was definitely a bumpy and painful surprise as it uses the terrain so much that it's FLYING through the layout. Could be the most aggressive mine train ever. First and last time we'll be riding that... not to mention it was running one train so the line took forever. We headed to Outlaw Run next, which showed closure on the app. Luckily it literally opened as soon as we got to the entrance. Front row! Decent ride as I believe it was the first RMC. I've been telling everyone that I've been preferring sub-100 feet tall RMCs recently such as Storm Chaser or Twisted Cyclone over the behemoths. Britt didn't go again, but I had to do back row. Ejector was meh except the final corkscrew (second one). Waited 25 minutes the second time... the line wasn't long, but again. One train. Hoping this wasn't going to be a theme.

Spoiler Alert: it was. Wildfire's wait was posted at 60 minutes. We got through in 35 thanks to some lucky seating arrangements on the one train that was running. A B&M running one train?! Wildfire was silky smooth for its age, but surprisingly short. Had a beautiful view of the Ozarks though up the lift hill. After this, decided to grab some lunch as wait times were getting out of control with their crappy one train operations (Powder Keg was 120 minutes at one point). The triple pork sandwich was awesome right next to Mystic Falls. Same with the mac and cheese... Britt grabbed some cinnamon bread as she felt like this would be our only shot. Ate like kings... now it was time to climb some hills and catch some shows.

Baker Family A+ bluegrass, rest of the shows completely lame and forgettable. Was unbelievably surprised. Ended up catching the Globetrotters too who almost went an hour and barely did any basketball themselves... I remember seeing them as a kid and feel like they would show off with skills. Not so much anymore I guess. We did the log flume and the prison escape water gun ride (pretty sure it's one of a kind). By then we were running out of time.. Britt loves the scenic train so we had to wait for that. The low point of the entire day, this train runs once every half hour, provides no scenery and has a "show" midway through that is just an abomination to theme parks. We were both livid... if you got rid of the nonsense, you would be able to send the train every 10 or 15 minutes! Silver Dollar City was definitely known for its inefficiency.

After the unusually long train ride, we tried to hit up Powder Keg since we still had 40 minutes to closing... it was already closed off. Uhhhh... we couldn't believe it. But would save that for a Google review later on as we had to fit in another ride. Back to Time Traveler for the last row! Way more aggressive than the front, didn't like it as much but still enjoyed it more than mostly anything I've been on this year. Still have five minutes coming off.. what do we do? Fire In The Hole! We literally made it at closing as a mechanic was putting the chain up. He let us on, and we were happy to end on a classic.

The way out of Silver Dollar City is nuts as you not only go through the gift shop (that's fine), but you squeeze through a narrow hallway to exit. Seriously about 8 feet wide filled with hundreds of patrons. Very odd... especially during a pandemic. Honestly Branson doesn't seem to acknowledge it ever happened at all. Everything is 100% open with no masks required or even recommended. That aside, the park is excellent scenery with OK prices (food was higher than I though, entry is reallllly high compared to Six Flags), and the rides are well-maintained. The operating effiency is horrific though, and the shows are all unnecessary and overdone... not the actors' faults of course, but they could be putting these people on coaster duty to help operate a second train on something other than Time Traveler.