Park Journey
  • Home
  • Six Flags
  • Universal Studios
  • Disney Parks
  • Cedar Fair
  • SeaWorld Parks
  • Other Parks
  • Beyond The Parks
  • The Other Side of the Tracks
  • Industry News
  • Cruise Journey
  • Theme Park Art
  • Past Updates
    • 2021 Updates
    • 2020 Updates
    • 2019 Updates
    • 2018 Updates
    • 2017 Updates
    • 2016 Updates
    • 2015 Updates
    • 2013 and 2014 Updates
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Six Flags
  • Universal Studios
  • Disney Parks
  • Cedar Fair
  • SeaWorld Parks
  • Other Parks
  • Beyond The Parks
  • The Other Side of the Tracks
  • Industry News
  • Cruise Journey
  • Theme Park Art
  • Past Updates
    • 2021 Updates
    • 2020 Updates
    • 2019 Updates
    • 2018 Updates
    • 2017 Updates
    • 2016 Updates
    • 2015 Updates
    • 2013 and 2014 Updates
  • Contact Us
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

Other Parks

9/6/2022

First Visit to Silver Dollar City - A Top 10 Park

Last week my son and I made an epic trip from Southern California to Ontario Canada, where he will be getting married to his amazing fiancé. 

The original plan was to visit Silver Dollar City, 3 days at Cedar Point and then 2 days at King's Island before heading to Ontario. If you've ever driven cross-country you know what an exhausting ordeal it is, so our plans quickly changed to cut out King's Island (which turned out to be a good idea due to bad weather there over the weekend). But the trip was still epic, and we got to visit 2 bucket-list parks. And we'll of course now be visiting the northeast more in the future, so adding King's Island to a future trip will be rather easy. 

So let's get right into it with our day at Silver Dollar City, which was unbelievable. This park has landed a place on my top 10 park list. IT'S THAT GOOD! - Gregg 
Picture
Good Morning Silver Dollar City! Before we head in, let's go over how we got here!
Picture
After leaving Southern California at about 5:00am, we found ourselves in Winslow Arizona in the early afternoon.
Picture
Over the years my son has pretty much learned to just go with the flow on roadside destinations.
Picture
Picture
I mean, when is the next time we'll be in nowhere Arizona taking it easy? =) 
Picture
No road trip is without it's issues, and somewhere in New Mexico this happened. Thankfully this was the biggest issue we had in the entire 2,900 mile trip. I'll take it!
Picture
On the suggestion of a friend, we drove a couple of miles from our hotel to Tomasita's. It was definitely worth it as you'll see below.
Picture
Picture
Picture
When in New Mexico, the Chile's are a requirement.

Picture
Picture
After a rather uneventful (but very long) drive from Albuquerque to Branson, we found ourselves in what can only be described as "take I-Drive Orlando, mix it up with Downtown Las Vegas, but remove the Casino's". 
Picture
Picture
We had a couple of restaurants we wanted to try in Branson, but this was the closest to our hotel. As you'll see below it was a great choice. Also, if you're staying in Branson, we highly suggest the Lodge of the Ozarks. It was comfy, clean, the staff was amazing, and it's centrally located to lots of cool stuff. 
Picture
BBQ Nacho's FTW!
Picture
Loaded Fries
Picture
Pork Belly Mac & Cheese
Picture
Picture
Based on the suggestion from the Silver Dollar City Social Media Team (true story) we got dessert at Andy's Frozen Custard. And it was a great suggestion.

Picture
The next morning it was a "very little" driving day, but not before morning coffee. We had no idea WhiteWater was a 2 minute walk from our hotel!! Next time!
Picture
Ok, back to where we started this!
Picture
Yay for no driving!
Picture
The park was kind enough to hook us up with tickets, some front of the line passes if we needed them and a coupon for Cinnamon Bread!! They are amazing!
Picture
Picture
Where I belong
Picture
My jail buddy!
Picture
A must on any hot day, and it was! It was also Gospel Fest and we worried that the park would be rather busy. There were a lot of people, but the ride lines were quite manageable all day.
Picture
Our first stop of course ...
Picture
Love the queue!
Picture
This was the longest wait we had all day for Time Traveler. Seriously.
Picture
I absolutely love the queue for this
Picture
Picture
Silver Dollar City utilizes their terrain better than any other park, ever. At least that I've visited. As such, it's hard to get a lot of pics of their coasters.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
We honestly weren't sure what to expect out of a spinning ride that has inversions, but we both loved it. This is a top 10 coaster for me!
Picture
Right next door is Thunderation, the parks Arrow mine train, which also uses the terrain amazingly well.
Picture
Will be honest, it took us a bit to figure out the layout of the park, but here's a nice shot of Mystic River Falls, which opened later in the day. We'll get back to this.
Picture
Picture
We headed over to Powder Keg, which did NOT disappoint!
Picture
Have I mentioned how gorgeous this park is?
Picture
Picture
Due to 1-train ops we used the first of our skip the line passes here. And got a front-seat ride for our first trip of the day. In fact, other than Mystic River Falls, this was the only attraction we used our skip the lines on. That's how great ops are at this park. Even on a busy day.
Picture
Fire in the Hole!! This is such a fun classic ride, and as we discovered later in the day, a surprising bump of airtime in the back!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Have I mentioned how gorgeous this park is?
Picture
Heading over to Wildfire after a spin on the log flume!
Picture
Picture
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Park Journey (@park_journey)

Picture
What's going on over here Silver Dollar City?
Picture
It'll be something amazing for sure!
Picture
Picture
Picture
After a few hours in the park, it was time for lunch at the buffet. And it was pretty amazing! 
Picture
Unfortunately after lunch there was some lightning in the area, so most of the outside attractions were shut down for the better part of 2 hours. On the bright side, this gave us a chance to check out some other parts of the park we may have missed!
Picture
Starting with Grandfather's Mansion!
Picture
Picture
Picture
This reminded me a bit of the Haunted Shack at Knott's.
Picture
Picture
Picture
John did not answer
Picture
Picture
Picture
Just what nobody asked for ever, many Gregg's.
Picture
We also visited the Flooded Mine!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
We're definitely real close pals
Picture
Picture
Picture
Love the individual outfits for each ride at the park. Definitely not something we were expecting.
Picture
Let's head into the mine!
Picture
The ride reminded me a bit of the Calico Mine Ride at Knott's only on a boat. TBH, I didn't think the gun gimmick was needed, and as you'll see from the POV below I didn't really use the gun for the entire ride. But it was great fun!
Picture
During the lightning delay we also checked out the kids area, which we probably wouldn't have done otherwise.
Picture
Really well themed and the kids seemed to love it.
Picture
Picture
We also headed over to the Grand Exposition!
Picture
Picture
Oddly enough, the Disk-O was open, so we took a spin! It was a good one!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Finally, after the delay the rides started to reopen! So we started with Powder Keg! Had an awesome back-seat ride this time!
Picture
Picture
And finally Outlaw Run opened for the day after some issues earlier. Our first ground-up RMC did NOT disappoint. And then it was time for Mystic River Falls!
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Park Journey (@park_journey)

Picture
What better way to dry off after Mystic River Falls than a front-row ride on Outlaw Run?
Picture
And then of course, it was Cinnamon Bread time!! It was amazing!
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Park Journey (@park_journey)

Picture
We had planned on ending our day with the Marvel Cave so before we decided to take a few more rides on Time Traveler, yes, this was the wait. Sadly, we missed the last Cave tour by about 10 minutes. Next time. And there WILL be a next time!
Picture
Picture
After heading back to the hotel we decided to just pick up dinner at Fuel again. We were so exhausted and had a long drive to Ohio the next day. 

Picture
Picture
Day 4 - We made a brief stop in St. Louis to check out the arch. 
Picture
Kind of hard to get a selfie here!
Picture
I'd driven by on I-44 before, but had never stopped. It's great to see up close.
Picture
Hey Illinois!!
Picture
Picture
And here is where we leave you for today. We'll have another update tomorrow from our epic 2-days at Cedar Point! You won't want to miss it!

Related Videos

​Related Updates
  • Disneyland Update: Main Street Electrical Parade, Subs, Lamplight Lounge and More! - August 25, 2022
  • Universal Studios Hollywood Update: Halloween Horror Nights and Super Nintendo World - August 24, 2022
  • Midsummer Scream 2022 - The Return of Halloween in July - August 6, 2022
  • Wonder Woman Flight of Courage Media Day from Six Flags Magic Mountain - July 20, 2022
  • Knott's Berry Farm Update: Fiesta Village, New Pizzeria, Summer Nights, Scary Farm and More! - July 9, 2022


If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All 2014 Attractions 2015 Attractions 2016 Attractions 2017 Attractions 2018 Attractions 2020 Attractions 2021 Attractions 2022 Attractions 2023 Attractions Adventure City Adventuredome Adventureland Big Bear Mountain Castle Dark Castle Park Riverside Coney Island Deep Sea Adventure Dollywood Dynamic Attractions Frightmares Fun Spot America Galaxyland Galveston Pleasure Pier Gatorland Gerstlauer Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Haunted Graveyard Hersheypark Hershey Park IAAPA Kemah Boardwalk Lagoon Lagoon Park Lake Compounce Legoland California Legoland Florida Lego Movie World Lightning Rod Luna Park Mack Rides Mine Blower Mystic River Falls Ninjago Oaks Park Ober Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge RMC Rocky Mountain Construction Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Scandia Scarywood Schlitterbahn Schlitterbahn Kansas City Schlitterbahn New Braunfels Schlitterbahn South Padre Island Silver Dollar City Silverwood Star Wars Star Wars Mini Land StuntPilot Stunt Pilot Theme Park Races Triotech Wildcat's Revenge Wild Waves And Enchanted Village

    RSS Feed