silver2005

Silver Dollar City TR 7/30 This was easily my most highly anticipated park for me on this trip. Dollywood is my favorite park, and I have a fondness towards Herschend, so my bar was set sky high. The park totally lived up to expectations. Has a similar vibe to Dollywood, great location on top of one of the Ozark hillsides making for some great views, great staff all around, great food, checks all the boxes. However, I do like Dollywood just a tad more. Something about Dolly's presence at Dollywood plus some of the areas at DW that have more of the 50s vibe is a nice change from the rustic mountain themes which is SDC's entire package. SDC is probably tied with BGW for my 2nd favorite park. My only other complaint is SDC is pretty darn hilly, especially the hill from Powder Keg back up past Wildfire to the entrance. Food wise I wanted to be a bit more original and had a solid cheesesteak located close to Powder Keg, somewhat close to the iconic train bridge. Also had the cinnamon bread which I liked on par with DW's and, with them having a summer festival, I grabbed a decent homemade cherry limeade. The rest of the food looked great and I think I'd be good with whatever I went with. The smokehouse near Mystic River Falls smelled fantastic whenever I walked by. The only ride I really wanted to ride but didn't was Flooded Mine. I also was going to go 2 days and do Marvel Cave on day 2, but all the hot temps during my St Louis and KC parts started to catch up with me, so I took my final day in Branson as an R&R day. Trailblazer didn't matter much sans Time Traveler with 1 train as anything with even a half way decent capacity was 1 cycle or walk on. Ride Reviews- American Plunge- A very simple log flume with a simple figure 8 layout. Decent theming for its size and is actually quite tall. Gets you decently wet. Frisco Steam Train- So I really like Dollywood Express as its just a simple train ride and uses real steam locomotives. SDC's is just an overall better experience though. Has more to look at as you travel the course, has a cool mid-ride show section, and its proximity to the park compared to Dollywood's means you can hear the whistle all day, which kind of adds to the park theming. This might be my new favorite amusement park train ride now. Mystic River Falls- this is now my favorite white water rafting ride. The overall aesthetic is very nice to look at, it interacts with the park paths very well, gets you pretty wet, and the added lift and drop was a nice ending. It has a pretty wild spin as it goes through that spiral before the drop, too. Giant Barn Swing- Always love me a good S&S Screaming Swing. Kind of a quick ride cycle though. Coaster Reviews in the order I rode them- Wildfire (8 rides)- My first B&M standard sit down looper, which, is more of a floorless by nature of how the seats are raised. Does have a bit of a rattle, especially entering the cobra roll. However, its a super fun ride. That iconic bit of the hills beyond Branson really make it fun to ride just to see those views as you go through the layout. I love seeing the view from the Immelman, loop and cobra roll. Pretty solid positive g's, especially through the corkscrew and final helix. Powder Keg (2 rides)- I totally forgot it was an S&S until I got through the launch. The stupid fast launch reminded me. Surprisingly fun layout for it being so simple. Great airtime on the first hill, has a really fun curvy layout, and the final lift and curve into the brakes was a bit odd but kind of gives it it's own character (I know it uses parts from the former Buzzsaw Falls, kind of a creative use of the old track). Also helped by the view of the Ozarks. Outlaw Run (11 rides)- This is my favorite coaster in the park and my 2nd favorite RMC. Really fast paced, has a decent sense of intensity, is forceful but not overly forceful like later RMC's plus its a Topper Track which they probably can't do as much as they can on the Iron Horse, but still great. I really loved the drop under the lift all the way into the brakes. At night, its really dark, as in you can't see the bottom of the first drop so it actually kind of scared me at first, but one night marathon later, I loved it. Its in that breathless category for me along the likes of Thunderhead, Twister and Voyage, too. I actually had to pry myself off this so I could marathon my 2nd favorite ride in the park at night after it. Insane in the back. Fire In The Hole (2 rides)- Like Blazing Fury but modernized. I probably like it a bit better as they still incorporated the splash at the end. Time Traveler (2 rides)- I was a bit cautious as my 2 previous spinning coasters at WoF and SFStL spun pretty wildly an this has launches and inversions. I'm glad Mack designed it to spin more gradually as its now my current favorite horizontally spinning coaster. The lack of intense spinning actually made it quite graceful. The huge vertical drop at the start was funky, in a good way though. Didn't ride it as much as it was running 1 train all day and it had a long wait later in the day because of it, even with Trailblazer. Thunderation (10 rides)- This is that 2nd favorite coaster in SDC and my favorite mine train. Its basically a big downhill section, then you go up the 1 lift rather late in the layout, there's another big drop, and you swoop up into the brakes. Is actually quite smooth for the most part for a 30+ year old Arrow mine train, the pacing is fantastic, too. The helix is designed to have a smaller radius as you go through it, an that last 3rd of it into the tunnel was a bit rattly and intense, but then it rewards you with a great fast and large drop down the hillside as it wraps around to the lift. I really liked the last big drop, too. Really creative layout, very good use of terrain. I'm very happy I got to ride it before it bites the dust. I really loved it and I'm very sad to see it go. I'm also happy I chose it for my 200th coaster (and 150th steel coaster overall).

Unfortunately, all those days of upper 90s and low 100s is catching up with my medical condition so I'm using my last day as a strict R&R day, so it appears I'm scrapping Marvel Cave. I still feel good about getting in everything else I wanted. I don't know how likely it is I will come back to Branson. I am pretty ready to go back to Cincy though.

I may wait until I get back to Cincy to do a full SDC TR.

I feel it may be one of those instances where they weren't going to tear it down unless they have plans for the area, much in the same way when they took seemingly forever to tear down the coaster pre-Banshee build. I think there's a good chance something may be happening in that area, I'd give it at least a coin flip of a chance. Which also now makes me worried about Bat...

So I got so many things done today with a long day that I am only doing a partial day tomorrow at SDC. I'm doing Marvel Cave early tomorrow and Flooded Mine didn't open today, but it had staff out front so I'm kinda hopeful. It's also cuz I have a 9.5 hour drive back to Cincy.

As for crowds, I've only used Trailblazer a handful of times. Anything with even a moderate capacity has been walk on.

Outlaw Run is my #2 RMC behind SteVe.

Currently having a solid cheese steak by Powder Keg for something a little different. I think overall SDC will end up being my 2nd favorite park. Something about Dolly's presence in PF plus I kind of prefer Dollywood's ride line up and location and less hilly pathing.

Dollywood Express has the cooler engines in that they are from a real railroad. SDC has the better overall train experience though. There's also a massive construction area between Powder Keg and Wildfire involving an oil rig structure and a LOT of footers.

SDC coaster thoughts- Wildfire- love the placement on the hill, nice sense of scale, a bit rattly though Powder Keg- nice launch, also a little rattly with weird seats and restraints, very fun Outlaw Run- my favorite coaster in the park, very good for an early RMC Fire in the Hole- love Blazing Fury, love this too Time Traveler- like they didn't let it spin too crazy, very smooth Thunderation- my favorite mine train, great drops and terrain, shame it's leaving

So apparently the way things lined up for me at SDC, they're open until 10 pm both days (plus midnight on Saturday) for Summer Celebration, so I get night rides tonight.

For the SOB station, isn't the structure steel? I think the only wood is the remaining track. The rest is steel and concrete, right? Also, aside from the SOB fan boys, I don't think anyone would raise an eyebrow if mother nature put it out of its misery.

Branson observation- its like you put together the cheesiness of Pigeon Forge with the traffic in Gatlinburg. Blah. At least the views are nice. Heading for the landing this evening (boy do people take it slow on the main strip). And- I have Trailblazer for tomorrow at SDC. Going to focus on Marvel Cave and non-rides on Friday (Friday may only be a partial day due to weather).

So weather has been an issue the entire time my days at Branson have been on the 7 day. I'm going Thursday and Friday to SDC, I have Trailblazer for Thursday. Luckily, Thursday now looks fantastic compared to the death heat I've had at St Louis and KC. Friday looks rainy, so I may do like a half day at SDC then. This park is one I have very high expectations for. My 2 current favorite parks are Dollywood and Busch Gardens Williamsburg so I have a bit of a high bar in Branson. Also, my route will be....odd. I chose way in advance that Thunderation is my choice for my 200th as a bunch of my past milestones have been more modern coasters and I have the chance to add a soon-to-be-removed Arrow mine train for a pretty big milestone. Unfortunately, its at the front, so I'm getting quite a walk in right out of the gate.

The museum seems kinda new as there are fleeing bits of history scattered throughout as well as a section on jazz theory 101 (like the 101 of 101). Some of the artists they focused on was Bird, Satchmo, Ella, Duke and a little bit of Miles Davis. They have a hall of fame-esque sidewalk out front with a bunch of the usual suspects etched in the sidewalk.

Had a short but fruitful cruise around KC. The American Jazz Museum, while not on par with the R&RHOF, was pretty decent. Also got to pay homage to one of my favorite saxophonists in Charlie Parker (he's from KC and has a statue close to the museum). Then went to the WWI memorial as it sits on a hill overlooking downtown and kinda saw all the iconic buildings in one go. Topped it off with KC style BBQ. So St Louis style uses grilled meats and uses a thinner, sweeter sauce. KC's slow cooks and has a more thicker sauce, kind of BBQ meets ketchup. I would say I prefer St Louis' sauce and KC's meat. The place I went to was playing blues through the restaurant. Name me a better combo than BBQ and Mannish Boy. Onto Branson. Speaking of which, I've been to Gatlinburg. Does Branson have the same kind of traffic as Gatlinburg at all, both in the town and driving there from KC?

For me, something about SFGAm's simplicity stood out to me. Its an easy park to navigate, something about their color pallet really stuck out for me, too. There's something about the overall look that I really liked. Their Batman is awesome, too. They really spruced the queue up and it runs great. Love they pump Prince and Danny Elfman music in the queue (leagues above the one I just rode in StL). Whizzer is an absolute gem. I get the tacky/cheap look in spots, but I feel there's enough good elsewhere that I liked.

Kind of a mixed TR in store- Worlds of Fun 7/27/26 So the initial plan was to do WoF Tuesday and do the KC stuff today. Rain in the forecast Tuesday with me seeing some coasters do close for rain, I swapped days. The downside- 100s for the temps in KC. Combine that with it being a Monday and I had nearly every ride be a zen ride (never got one proper on a coaster). I basically rode each coaster at least once, doing Mamba, Patriot, and the woodies a 2nd time. Also rode Viking Voyager and the train. The heat also made it to where i greyed out on ride types I normally don't, particularly Mamba and Patriot. Positives- this park is gorgeous. Great landscaping, theming was great (felt like I was in a good zoo in places, especially the African bits), decent themed areas for a legacy FUN park (way more than I even set my low bar at), and it was a very clean park. Due to the lack of time, didn't try any food. Negatives- the staff. Some rides took forever to dispatch, some staff were leaning and sitting on counters at food stalls, just not a good look. Like, MIA does better. I don't exactly compute how you have such a beautiful well kept park and then have staff like that. Something isn't adding up. Viking Voyager is a pretty simple flume, a small lift to do the layout and then a modest drop. The heat didn't help as the water was rather warm. I tried. Worlds of Fun Railroad- an okay train, just a scenic tour of the park with only 1 station. They need to tweak the speakers as the attendant using it wasn't heard very well. Coasters- Boomerang- I was legitimately afraid of this one as I've heard nothing good from those particular Vekoma trains. Turned out to just be okay, a hair better than SFStL's and worse than Carowinds' and HP's. Mamba- Super good, smooth with a small rattle in the helix, and due to the heat, it and Patriot were hauling. In Mamba's case, the air was close to ejector in the back. I do prefer Steel Force as its smoother in the helix and has a better setting with it's helix nestled on the hill at DP plus better ride interaction with the likes of Hydra, the flume and Thunderhawk. Tunnels help SF's cause, too. Also my 190th coaster. Patriot- now despite this hauling like Mamba, this was kind of lackluster. It lacks the intense punch of the likes of some of the better B&M inverts I've done. Still decent though as it is still a B&M invert Prowler- this would be Mystic Timbers and Thunderhead tier if not for the subtle but annoying jackhammering in the far end until the brakes. Some bits of Titan track did help, but only so much. Good pacing and setting at least. Spinning Dragons- I like this over Pandemonium if for only the fact that the area its in is probably my favorite area at WoF. Does suffer from a smaller station than Pandemonium plus FUN style wild mouse ops and just the bad ops of WoF (Pandemonium's crew smokes Spinning Dragon's and its not even close) Timber Wolf- I went into this kind of optimistic as its still a Dinn brethren of Beast. I do mostly like the layout, and the part from the first drop until the overbank had great air and laterals. After the overbank, it becomes a different coaster- very lackluster air and it kind of meanders back to the brakes. Also a bit trimmed to death. I feel this is a few minor changes from being a sleeper along side the likes of KD's Grizzly and SFGAm's Viper. Also, due to how the park opened rides staggered, this became my 50th wood coaster. Zambezi Zinger- Decent for a GCI. I rather like the tighter angles of the curves and hills. It has some crazy steep hills and really twisted track. I'm not a fan of the Infinity Flyers. They suffer from the same problem I have with Timberliners- they're over-engineered. They hug the track way too much so you feel the bumps more, especially as it transitions back and forth from the Titan Track (which will only get worse with age) and the lap bar on a wood coaster should have some give- this one has no give and is potentially bad for the male audience out there.

WoF cosster thoughts- Patriot only okay Mamba is a bit rattley in the helix, but nearly as good as Steel Force Really liked Prowler and Zinger Boomerang was meh Timber Wolf is a decent layout and quite comfy- just really lacking airtime. I expected more from a Dinn coaster

WoF looks nicer, but SFSTL blows it out of the water in terms of staff. WOF staff feels like MIAs.

I did not expect the entrance of Worlds of Fun to be so nice.

Luckily, WoF looks about the same size and ride count as Dorney, which I know I can blitz in under an hour, so I can really, really take my time at WoF plus I'm staying within walking distance of WoF.

I have a bit of a pressing question due to KC weather forecasts- does WoF operate rides in the rain? EDIT: I have read Spinning Dragons does shut down for rain. Its supposed to rain all day Tuesday, I may need to swap WoF for tomorrow and KC visiting for Tuesday.

^I normally am, but I despise the current Reds' ownership. Like, I'm nearing the point of not going to another game until the Castellini's sell the team. There's also a few other things about the way MLB operates that I'm not a fan of, either. MLB is in dire need of establishing a salary cap and revenue sharing.

So the heat today was somehow even more brutal than yesterday. It had that 'walk into a wall of hot air' vibe to it. Did manage to up the Arch, swung by Busch Stadium just to catch a glimpse (would have been terrible to sit through Reds win or loss), and then briefly ventured in the City Museum. I've done COSI before in Columbus. That was more cohesive than the St Louis museum. There were interesting stuff there, but its far more cluttered and it as way noisy for me. Maybe me 10-15 years ago would have liked it more, but for me now, its a bit too eccentric for my liking. The Arch was very nice. I wish the Reds were good because Busch Stadium looks like a great venue to catch a baseball game. Onto Kansas City.