On my recent vacation, I got to spend some time at Silver Dollar City, which is a theme park located in Branson, Missouri. Since I am used to the Disney parks, getting to see a whole new park to me was a lot of fun. So I’m going to dive into my trip and share my experience.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend the whole day there because of having to travel the same day. But I did spend about 5 hours, which is still a good chunk of time and I got to see a lot of the park in that time.
Right from the get-go, Silver Dollar City is very themed. It is themed around the 1880s and a town within that era. From immediately entering, you’re already amongst the main thoroughfare of shops and demonstration areas for all the different craftsmen. And there are tons of craftspeople doing demonstrations, from blacksmith to potter to knife maker and beyond. Unfortunately, I never got to see a demonstration live, but there were people working in the areas as we walked by.
My favorite part of the theming is how every area of the park had a different focus based on an actual city. As an example, one area was themed around the fire department. The main walkway was reminiscent of a main street. It was certainly immersive and didn’t feel like I was in Branson. And strong, immersive themes are one of my favorite parts of theme parks when down well, and SDC does do it well.
Alright, now for the rides. The main highlight of attractions is Time Traveler, their newest roller coaster that is touted as “The World’s Fastest, Steepest & Tallest Spinning Coaster”. Unfortunately, I did not get to ride is because of technical issues and the line getting way, way too long while we were limited on time (that 5 hours was not enough time for this rides line). The steampunk-themed ride is definitely one I would have loved to go on, but with that little of time, it wasn’t worth it.
The park has a good mix of thrilling coasters and calming rides. We did get to go on a small variety of rides, which was nice. There were rides I did not ride, mainly because I don’t love rides that spin a lot or the spinning swing rides. But there was enough of overall variety that I could still enjoy many rides. And there were many rides we never got to because of the time limit, which means there is more for me to explore whenever I get to go back.
Overall, this was a fun first look at this park, and I definitely want to go back and experience everything I missed out on. I also want to visit it with a smaller group of people, because we had a group of 10-12 people which is honestly way too big for a theme park in my opinion.
What is a theme park you’d like to visit? Let me know with a comment below.
I live in St. Louis, Missouri and yet somehow I still have never been to Branson! It’s definitely on my list for places to visit!