Overpriced amusement park. You'll get your steps in for the day [over 9000) but limited, enjoyable experiences for Seniors or Millennials. Youth and teenagers might enjoy the rides but on a chilly November day few guest's availed themselves to the amusements. Long lines for popular junk-food items. Long walk from Prime parking lot and it too was expensive. Be sure to remember your parking location since there are acres of parking. One visit for us Seniors was one too many for the total price paid.
Taylor S.
Is this the best theme or amusement park ever? Quite possibly so. First, Silver Dollar City has some amazing roller coasters. Outlaw Run is a wooden roller coaster that is lightning fast and full of inversions, something I thought couldn't be done in wooden roller coasters without making them unbearably rough. But Outlaw Run pulls it off, making it the best wooden roller coaster I have ever ridden.Time Traveler is a relatively unique Mack Xtreme Spinner. Its station is elevated, so the action starts as soon as you leave with a drop that takes you into a course of loops and inversions, then you are sent into a launch before you go into more loops and inversions. Then, when this is done, you go into yet another launch to send you through one more inversion before you go to the station. Did I mention you do all this while spinning? This makes Time Traveller another standout coaster.In addition to Outlaw Run and Time Traveler, Silver Dollar City has several other great coasters including Powder Keg, a launch coaster, Wildfire, a sitting coaster with great views, and Thunderation, an excellent mine train coaster. Additionally, because of the setting, all of their coasters have excellent views.In addition to this, Silver Dollar City has a cave tour, various shows, a beautiful park atmosphere replete with trees across rolling hills, great food including BBQ, skillets, homestyle buffets, and sweets such as their famous cinnamon bread, countless shops, and, around Christmastime, the most beautiful lights.Simply put, Silver Dollar City does everything great. We really enjoyed our visit and will definitely be coming back here later.
Mark V.
The park is good overall for the rides and theme it provides to represent the local area. However the price just isn't worth it if you want to go there by yourself so I would recommend going there with a group of people.
Keven W.
This was one of the amusement park on my bucket list and since moving to Dallas, I found out this is only a 7 hour and 30 minute drive away, but keep on delay going because we have passes to SeaWorld, Six Flags and Cedar Fair as my wife tend to prioritize these. I ended up saying lets take a couple of days off to go. I ended up getting 3 day pass for $110 dollars, but ended up being $126 dollars with tax and processing fees.There are 3 types of parking lots, free, $30, $50. I parked at the free lot and came an hour early. My walk ended up being 5 minutes to the car to the front entrance. They have trams that ride around the lots. All of the shops are opened, so if you need a snack, want to eat at the buffet or shop for gifts early you can. The shop can also hold your items until you leave.The downside of the park is the layout is confusing and you can easily get lost. There are signs and even chalk on the ground which helped especially at night. The lighting is terrible and I can hardly see in the dark. The crowds were insane on Saturday and I ended up bumping into many people. I would recommend getting some nice shoes as you will do a lot of walking and park is hillyIf you have children, most of the play areas are in the back of the park like Fireman's Landing and Fair area which has most of flat rides and not the crazy roller coasters. This park is for everyone for the elderly, children and adults to enjoy. Food was okay. I had the cheese fries with steak and was not good and dry. I had the skillet which was not bad. I had the chips with the peppers and sauce which was good and I had the Arnold Palmer Lemonade. I also had a root beer float and pumpkin/vanilla swirl ice cream which I recommend. Prices were alright, but I wish the portions were a little bit bigger. I ended up eating at the buffet on Sunday for lunch at around 2pm for $21 dollars. This one I would high recommend if you like Southern Food. I ended up eating 6 pieces of fried chicken. I would not recommend the meat loaf or pulled pork. Pumpkin pie was eat. I ended up not eating dinner that night as I was stuffed, but I did a lot of walking to make up for it.RidesI rode all of the key rides and my quick thoughtsThundernation - good to ride once, but rough. They need to refurbish this one or get rid of itTime Traveler - spinning ride highly recommend going early as this can be an hour or more wait and this is a one of a kind rideOutlaw Run - rough, but I enjoyed the ride so much I ended up riding this 6 times in one nightPowder Keg - launch is awesome, but it can jerky you side to sideWildfire - alright ride, does have the B&M rattle in some areasGiant Barn Swing - was okay, you can find these at other parksMystic River Falls - getting a night ride is awesome as the lights light up. You will get soaked 50% of the time and people can be mean and use the cannon especially if it is cold and they see you dry. I can write a separate review on this ride. I rode this ride quite a bitAmerican Plunge - I rode this ride 15 times in one time and 10 times in 1 sitting as this ride was not crowded and the ride operators just kept on asking me if I wanted to ride again. I ended up getting soaked on the rideFire in the Hole - not too badTrain Ride - line gets long, but most you can wait is 20 minutesTom and Hucks' River Blast - rode this 2 times, you get to shoot targets which is fun, but not rideable unless you have people on the boat Ride Operations - they were great and fast and friendly for the most part. Some of the guests did not follow some of the rules especially on the water ride and really surprised how fast the lines were.I would recommend doing night rides on Time Traveler, Powder Keg and Outlaw Run as these will be pitch blackShowsI watched the magician shows, this one you can skipped as the jokes were not as funny and the magic was just okay. I also watched Frontier Follies which is a 30 minute show and you should get there 30 minutes early if you want a good seat. I enjoyed the show, but once is good enough for me. They also have live music and
Debbie G.
Enjoyed walking around riding the train. Fun seeing the park at night all lit up. Fun any age.
Teresa W.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this amusement park, family, friendly, and totally shaded. Plenty of rides, craftsmen demonstrations, glass blowers, soap maker, knive makers and so so much more. Great food great snacks and more, also wonder fun family friendly air conditioned shows
Stephanie Johnson
I’d never spend another dime in this place. They are responsible for their employee’s death. Read the federal report. A $14,000 fine is a joke. If they don’t have measures in place to protect their workers why would they have safety measures in place to protect you?
Destini W.
Wonderful amusement park! We get season passes every year and SDC doesn't disappoint! Our family loves all the rides and fun activities you can do with children! Highly recommend taking your child here! Some amazing fun things they can make that we recommend are the wax hands and making their own candle! We also love all their food from the pizza, hotdogs, grilled cheese, bbq and even to their amazing tater twist! We high recommend getting a funnel cake or Cinnamon Bread, or even stoping at the Candy Factory, sometimes they have free samples and talk to you about what they are making!
Jeffrey C.
Excellent amusement park considering it's sort of out of the way in the Ozark Mountains. A beautiful location though. Visited on a Thursday in May before school was out so the park was not crowded and perfect temps in the low 70's with sun off an on. I think the weather can really make or break your experience in this park so plan carefully. You could end up miserably hot or freezing depending on when you go.Some very good roller coasters and excellent theming with lots to see and do for all ages and immaculately clean. If you've been to Knott's Berry farm it's similar but a lot better in the theming and location. It's not as big and hilly as you'd expect from the whining of some other reviewers (unless you have significant physical limitations or are severely out of shape/overweight.) Downloading the app is a must though to navigate as the place is a bit of a maze to get around in.Outlaw is the scariest coaster as it's fast and does corkscrews with just a lap bar. Wildfire is overall the best coaster in the park. Embarrassingly, on Outlaw, some people could not ride because they couldn't get the lap bar down low enough and had to exit the ride and perform the walk of shame to the exit. (Some of us Americans need to cut back on the burgers and pizza.) The park did have intermittent issues with some of the rides throughout the day causing long lines - this would have been a disaster in peak season. The Trailblazer pass which is an extra $80 is well worth it, especially during peak periods, allowing you to skip the main line and save a TON of time and frustration. If you go in the hot Summer and don't get the Trailblazer pass you will be miserable waiting in long lights in the humid heat.Secret tip: At mealtime all the places with burgers, chicken and pizza will get long lines at peak time so eat early or late, or better yet, go to Miss Molly Mill's Buffet by the entrance which a lot of people don't even know exist and get all you can eat in a nice air-conditioned atmosphere. (Best to ride Outlaw first before you go pig out here.) It's not a gigantic selection of food or gourmet level but the fried trout was excellent!'
Kate M.
An epic day of family fun! Today 4/13 was the most perfect day to visit. It wasn't too crowded or too hot! The longest line was about 30 minutes tops. The team members were absolutely exceptional. I did not come across a single employee who did not seem to be enjoying their work. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. We tried a variety of offerings from funnel cakes and ice cream to foot long corn dogs, potatoes on a stick, and turkey legs. Every thing we tried was made to order. I give this experience five stars because I got to spend the day creating memories with my kids. This is a day they will both remember for a very long time to come. Thank you for a truly EPIC day!
This family friendly theme park is constantly growing and expanding so if you've been there there's always a reason to go back. Fun things!1) Watch a blacksmith make a horse shoe! 2) Learn about knife making over an open fire stove. 3) Unique shops with jewelry or mementos made on-site! 4) Water rides, train rides, fun houses, and optical illusions 5) Friendly theme park actors 6) wheel chairs and motorized chairs for those with mobility issues 7) Nice variety of restaurants for family dining 8) Typical carnival treats aren't often offered in a theme park but they are available here!9) You pay to get in and everything is included 10) You can buy a fast pass / season pass to skip the line. 11) This is a family friendly park. The other patrons have kids and are in large groups. Everyone is respectful of each other. Not fun things! 5) You may have to search for a bathroom 4) There are a lot of hills and stairs throughout the park so if you are in a wheelchair or have bone issues this may be a challenge or a barrier for access.3) They don't have disabled parking. The parking lots are large and far away. If you have to pay $58 to park in the front part of the lot I don't consider that disabled parking. Either it's for those with disabilities or it's for sale - can't be both. 4) Go ahead and decommission rides that have art work of people with white klan hoods on their heads. This is especially painful if your next images are of people being hung or shot. Whether you put a prisoners costume or not... none of it sits well. This isn't family friendly art work or positive images for a theme park. It seems kind of klanish.
Scott R.
My family and I have a long history with this park and have watched it change, and evolve into its modern tourist trap splendor. We have pictures of ourselves in the park going back to the early 70s and have had many blessed days there. I was feeling the need to write this in response to the last several experiences we've had going to the park in particular our November 2021 visit. Because of this last visit being so terrible we have decided to stop making our yearly pre Christmas weekend trip there at least for a while. We usually go Veterans Day weekend which tends to be a bit busy and we understand that. November 2021 I believe we decided to go the next weekend to pump ourselves up for the upcoming Christmas. For the last several years we noticed the park making small changes here and there but now we found ourselves in the middle of a park that had over sold admission tickets leading to hours long waits for rides.( we waited almost 5 hours for one ride and only made it half way through never reaching the ride.). We got so hungry waiting so we reluctantly got out of the line to eat. when we got the food the already inflated prices had ballooned to ridiculously exuberant amounts and the portions smaller. $15 for half the size we used to get. Rides looked fully staffed but were only running half the cars available leading to the long waits. We wound up leaving the park without being able to ride any rides fully disappointing our two kids and our exchange student, our budget completely blown on small, cold food and incredibly frustrated with the whole place. I'm giving Silver Dollar City a generous 3 stars because of the history we have there but I cannot in good conscience recommend it in its current state of dysfunction.
Marty D.
Holy moly there were ALOT of people here on 12/29/2022! We were able to do ONE ride, get ONE souvenir and tour the Marvel Cave. Let's talk about the Marvel Cave. Actually let's talk about Genie, the Marvel Cave tour guide we had. She is THE best!!! I highly recommend trying to go on the cave tour when she is leading. She's hilarious and knows pretty much everything there is to know about Marvel Cave. The cave tour alone was worth the price and waiting in line. Now, getting to Silver Dollar City? That part was NOT fun at all. Seriously. There was a single line of cars moving at a glacier pace FOUR MILES LONG!!! Unbelievable. We had to pull a Houston and do so maneuvering to cut to the front of the line, and I don't feel bad about it one little bit. Ended up parking in Timbuktu and taking a standing room only shuttle two miles to the actual park.
Molly B.
Came here for the holiday fun and the tasting passport, first impression: so cute!! We got there when it opened at 1p and we're heading out around 5p so didn't exactly get to enjoy the lights. However, the crowds coming in at that time made me think we made the best choice.This park I more for younger kids, there's a few big rollercoasters but the wait was so ridiculously long we didn't end up going on any. Onto the tasting passport: I love the idea of this but I wish I knew you don't get the same portion. The cheeseburger chowder was high on my list because it came in a bread bowl but the tasting passport portion didn't come with a bread bowl. The tasting menu skillets were really sad, too. The Jambalaya came with one piece of sausage and one piece of chicken. I could be wrong but the normal sized ones seemed loaded. I didn't know the cinnamon rolls near the front were part of the passport or else I would have used that. We ordered a gingerbread cinnamon roll and a whoopie pie when we walked in and picked them up when we left. By the time we got home and started snacking on them they were both dry and pretty gross. Also stood in line for 45min for the cinnamon bread. It was just ok, maybe 3.5/5. People around us were ordering 5+ so I was anticipating something really good. TLDR: Pricy, cute experience, fun to walk around, explore the food but most is about 2/5, rides mostly for younger kids and the very patient. When the sun sets and the holiday lights are bright, the crowd is packed (I can only imagine the lines then). There's is a free parking lot, about a 15min walk to the gate.
Cian D.
We experienced the Christmas lights last night and we were both blown away. It's easily the best light display I've ever seen. I'll go so far as to say this display is worth the drive from Saint Louis. We started with the cave tour (absolutely do that!) and Jeannie, our guide, was excellent. She was informative, entertaining and a confident leader. We had a blast walking around the park. A few rides were down but we didn't care at all and they gave us a discount on admission. We picked up some cinnamon bread after hearing of its cult following. It's good! Mostly tasted like Cinnabon but made with real ingredients. I really loved our trip there and it won't be forgotten any time soon. Bonus: everyone we interacted with was kind and helpful. We didn't have kids with us but I'm already plotting how I'll get my nieces and nephews there!
Overpriced amusement park. You'll get your steps in for the day [over 9000) but limited, enjoyable experiences for Seniors or Millennials. Youth and teenagers might enjoy the rides but on a chilly November day few guest's availed themselves to the amusements. Long lines for popular junk-food items. Long walk from Prime parking lot and it too was expensive. Be sure to remember your parking location since there are acres of parking. One visit for us Seniors was one too many for the total price paid.
Is this the best theme or amusement park ever? Quite possibly so. First, Silver Dollar City has some amazing roller coasters. Outlaw Run is a wooden roller coaster that is lightning fast and full of inversions, something I thought couldn't be done in wooden roller coasters without making them unbearably rough. But Outlaw Run pulls it off, making it the best wooden roller coaster I have ever ridden.Time Traveler is a relatively unique Mack Xtreme Spinner. Its station is elevated, so the action starts as soon as you leave with a drop that takes you into a course of loops and inversions, then you are sent into a launch before you go into more loops and inversions. Then, when this is done, you go into yet another launch to send you through one more inversion before you go to the station. Did I mention you do all this while spinning? This makes Time Traveller another standout coaster.In addition to Outlaw Run and Time Traveler, Silver Dollar City has several other great coasters including Powder Keg, a launch coaster, Wildfire, a sitting coaster with great views, and Thunderation, an excellent mine train coaster. Additionally, because of the setting, all of their coasters have excellent views.In addition to this, Silver Dollar City has a cave tour, various shows, a beautiful park atmosphere replete with trees across rolling hills, great food including BBQ, skillets, homestyle buffets, and sweets such as their famous cinnamon bread, countless shops, and, around Christmastime, the most beautiful lights.Simply put, Silver Dollar City does everything great. We really enjoyed our visit and will definitely be coming back here later.
The park is good overall for the rides and theme it provides to represent the local area. However the price just isn't worth it if you want to go there by yourself so I would recommend going there with a group of people.
This was one of the amusement park on my bucket list and since moving to Dallas, I found out this is only a 7 hour and 30 minute drive away, but keep on delay going because we have passes to SeaWorld, Six Flags and Cedar Fair as my wife tend to prioritize these. I ended up saying lets take a couple of days off to go. I ended up getting 3 day pass for $110 dollars, but ended up being $126 dollars with tax and processing fees.There are 3 types of parking lots, free, $30, $50. I parked at the free lot and came an hour early. My walk ended up being 5 minutes to the car to the front entrance. They have trams that ride around the lots. All of the shops are opened, so if you need a snack, want to eat at the buffet or shop for gifts early you can. The shop can also hold your items until you leave.The downside of the park is the layout is confusing and you can easily get lost. There are signs and even chalk on the ground which helped especially at night. The lighting is terrible and I can hardly see in the dark. The crowds were insane on Saturday and I ended up bumping into many people. I would recommend getting some nice shoes as you will do a lot of walking and park is hillyIf you have children, most of the play areas are in the back of the park like Fireman's Landing and Fair area which has most of flat rides and not the crazy roller coasters. This park is for everyone for the elderly, children and adults to enjoy. Food was okay. I had the cheese fries with steak and was not good and dry. I had the skillet which was not bad. I had the chips with the peppers and sauce which was good and I had the Arnold Palmer Lemonade. I also had a root beer float and pumpkin/vanilla swirl ice cream which I recommend. Prices were alright, but I wish the portions were a little bit bigger. I ended up eating at the buffet on Sunday for lunch at around 2pm for $21 dollars. This one I would high recommend if you like Southern Food. I ended up eating 6 pieces of fried chicken. I would not recommend the meat loaf or pulled pork. Pumpkin pie was eat. I ended up not eating dinner that night as I was stuffed, but I did a lot of walking to make up for it.RidesI rode all of the key rides and my quick thoughtsThundernation - good to ride once, but rough. They need to refurbish this one or get rid of itTime Traveler - spinning ride highly recommend going early as this can be an hour or more wait and this is a one of a kind rideOutlaw Run - rough, but I enjoyed the ride so much I ended up riding this 6 times in one nightPowder Keg - launch is awesome, but it can jerky you side to sideWildfire - alright ride, does have the B&M rattle in some areasGiant Barn Swing - was okay, you can find these at other parksMystic River Falls - getting a night ride is awesome as the lights light up. You will get soaked 50% of the time and people can be mean and use the cannon especially if it is cold and they see you dry. I can write a separate review on this ride. I rode this ride quite a bitAmerican Plunge - I rode this ride 15 times in one time and 10 times in 1 sitting as this ride was not crowded and the ride operators just kept on asking me if I wanted to ride again. I ended up getting soaked on the rideFire in the Hole - not too badTrain Ride - line gets long, but most you can wait is 20 minutesTom and Hucks' River Blast - rode this 2 times, you get to shoot targets which is fun, but not rideable unless you have people on the boat Ride Operations - they were great and fast and friendly for the most part. Some of the guests did not follow some of the rules especially on the water ride and really surprised how fast the lines were.I would recommend doing night rides on Time Traveler, Powder Keg and Outlaw Run as these will be pitch blackShowsI watched the magician shows, this one you can skipped as the jokes were not as funny and the magic was just okay. I also watched Frontier Follies which is a 30 minute show and you should get there 30 minutes early if you want a good seat. I enjoyed the show, but once is good enough for me. They also have live music and
Enjoyed walking around riding the train. Fun seeing the park at night all lit up. Fun any age.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this amusement park, family, friendly, and totally shaded. Plenty of rides, craftsmen demonstrations, glass blowers, soap maker, knive makers and so so much more. Great food great snacks and more, also wonder fun family friendly air conditioned shows
I’d never spend another dime in this place. They are responsible for their employee’s death. Read the federal report. A $14,000 fine is a joke. If they don’t have measures in place to protect their workers why would they have safety measures in place to protect you?
Wonderful amusement park! We get season passes every year and SDC doesn't disappoint! Our family loves all the rides and fun activities you can do with children! Highly recommend taking your child here! Some amazing fun things they can make that we recommend are the wax hands and making their own candle! We also love all their food from the pizza, hotdogs, grilled cheese, bbq and even to their amazing tater twist! We high recommend getting a funnel cake or Cinnamon Bread, or even stoping at the Candy Factory, sometimes they have free samples and talk to you about what they are making!
Excellent amusement park considering it's sort of out of the way in the Ozark Mountains. A beautiful location though. Visited on a Thursday in May before school was out so the park was not crowded and perfect temps in the low 70's with sun off an on. I think the weather can really make or break your experience in this park so plan carefully. You could end up miserably hot or freezing depending on when you go.Some very good roller coasters and excellent theming with lots to see and do for all ages and immaculately clean. If you've been to Knott's Berry farm it's similar but a lot better in the theming and location. It's not as big and hilly as you'd expect from the whining of some other reviewers (unless you have significant physical limitations or are severely out of shape/overweight.) Downloading the app is a must though to navigate as the place is a bit of a maze to get around in.Outlaw is the scariest coaster as it's fast and does corkscrews with just a lap bar. Wildfire is overall the best coaster in the park. Embarrassingly, on Outlaw, some people could not ride because they couldn't get the lap bar down low enough and had to exit the ride and perform the walk of shame to the exit. (Some of us Americans need to cut back on the burgers and pizza.) The park did have intermittent issues with some of the rides throughout the day causing long lines - this would have been a disaster in peak season. The Trailblazer pass which is an extra $80 is well worth it, especially during peak periods, allowing you to skip the main line and save a TON of time and frustration. If you go in the hot Summer and don't get the Trailblazer pass you will be miserable waiting in long lights in the humid heat.Secret tip: At mealtime all the places with burgers, chicken and pizza will get long lines at peak time so eat early or late, or better yet, go to Miss Molly Mill's Buffet by the entrance which a lot of people don't even know exist and get all you can eat in a nice air-conditioned atmosphere. (Best to ride Outlaw first before you go pig out here.) It's not a gigantic selection of food or gourmet level but the fried trout was excellent!'
An epic day of family fun! Today 4/13 was the most perfect day to visit. It wasn't too crowded or too hot! The longest line was about 30 minutes tops. The team members were absolutely exceptional. I did not come across a single employee who did not seem to be enjoying their work. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. We tried a variety of offerings from funnel cakes and ice cream to foot long corn dogs, potatoes on a stick, and turkey legs. Every thing we tried was made to order. I give this experience five stars because I got to spend the day creating memories with my kids. This is a day they will both remember for a very long time to come. Thank you for a truly EPIC day!
Restaurantji Recommends
This family friendly theme park is constantly growing and expanding so if you've been there there's always a reason to go back. Fun things!1) Watch a blacksmith make a horse shoe! 2) Learn about knife making over an open fire stove. 3) Unique shops with jewelry or mementos made on-site! 4) Water rides, train rides, fun houses, and optical illusions 5) Friendly theme park actors 6) wheel chairs and motorized chairs for those with mobility issues 7) Nice variety of restaurants for family dining 8) Typical carnival treats aren't often offered in a theme park but they are available here!9) You pay to get in and everything is included 10) You can buy a fast pass / season pass to skip the line. 11) This is a family friendly park. The other patrons have kids and are in large groups. Everyone is respectful of each other. Not fun things! 5) You may have to search for a bathroom 4) There are a lot of hills and stairs throughout the park so if you are in a wheelchair or have bone issues this may be a challenge or a barrier for access.3) They don't have disabled parking. The parking lots are large and far away. If you have to pay $58 to park in the front part of the lot I don't consider that disabled parking. Either it's for those with disabilities or it's for sale - can't be both. 4) Go ahead and decommission rides that have art work of people with white klan hoods on their heads. This is especially painful if your next images are of people being hung or shot. Whether you put a prisoners costume or not... none of it sits well. This isn't family friendly art work or positive images for a theme park. It seems kind of klanish.
My family and I have a long history with this park and have watched it change, and evolve into its modern tourist trap splendor. We have pictures of ourselves in the park going back to the early 70s and have had many blessed days there. I was feeling the need to write this in response to the last several experiences we've had going to the park in particular our November 2021 visit. Because of this last visit being so terrible we have decided to stop making our yearly pre Christmas weekend trip there at least for a while. We usually go Veterans Day weekend which tends to be a bit busy and we understand that. November 2021 I believe we decided to go the next weekend to pump ourselves up for the upcoming Christmas. For the last several years we noticed the park making small changes here and there but now we found ourselves in the middle of a park that had over sold admission tickets leading to hours long waits for rides.( we waited almost 5 hours for one ride and only made it half way through never reaching the ride.). We got so hungry waiting so we reluctantly got out of the line to eat. when we got the food the already inflated prices had ballooned to ridiculously exuberant amounts and the portions smaller. $15 for half the size we used to get. Rides looked fully staffed but were only running half the cars available leading to the long waits. We wound up leaving the park without being able to ride any rides fully disappointing our two kids and our exchange student, our budget completely blown on small, cold food and incredibly frustrated with the whole place. I'm giving Silver Dollar City a generous 3 stars because of the history we have there but I cannot in good conscience recommend it in its current state of dysfunction.
Holy moly there were ALOT of people here on 12/29/2022! We were able to do ONE ride, get ONE souvenir and tour the Marvel Cave. Let's talk about the Marvel Cave. Actually let's talk about Genie, the Marvel Cave tour guide we had. She is THE best!!! I highly recommend trying to go on the cave tour when she is leading. She's hilarious and knows pretty much everything there is to know about Marvel Cave. The cave tour alone was worth the price and waiting in line. Now, getting to Silver Dollar City? That part was NOT fun at all. Seriously. There was a single line of cars moving at a glacier pace FOUR MILES LONG!!! Unbelievable. We had to pull a Houston and do so maneuvering to cut to the front of the line, and I don't feel bad about it one little bit. Ended up parking in Timbuktu and taking a standing room only shuttle two miles to the actual park.
Came here for the holiday fun and the tasting passport, first impression: so cute!! We got there when it opened at 1p and we're heading out around 5p so didn't exactly get to enjoy the lights. However, the crowds coming in at that time made me think we made the best choice.This park I more for younger kids, there's a few big rollercoasters but the wait was so ridiculously long we didn't end up going on any. Onto the tasting passport: I love the idea of this but I wish I knew you don't get the same portion. The cheeseburger chowder was high on my list because it came in a bread bowl but the tasting passport portion didn't come with a bread bowl. The tasting menu skillets were really sad, too. The Jambalaya came with one piece of sausage and one piece of chicken. I could be wrong but the normal sized ones seemed loaded. I didn't know the cinnamon rolls near the front were part of the passport or else I would have used that. We ordered a gingerbread cinnamon roll and a whoopie pie when we walked in and picked them up when we left. By the time we got home and started snacking on them they were both dry and pretty gross. Also stood in line for 45min for the cinnamon bread. It was just ok, maybe 3.5/5. People around us were ordering 5+ so I was anticipating something really good. TLDR: Pricy, cute experience, fun to walk around, explore the food but most is about 2/5, rides mostly for younger kids and the very patient. When the sun sets and the holiday lights are bright, the crowd is packed (I can only imagine the lines then). There's is a free parking lot, about a 15min walk to the gate.
We experienced the Christmas lights last night and we were both blown away. It's easily the best light display I've ever seen. I'll go so far as to say this display is worth the drive from Saint Louis. We started with the cave tour (absolutely do that!) and Jeannie, our guide, was excellent. She was informative, entertaining and a confident leader. We had a blast walking around the park. A few rides were down but we didn't care at all and they gave us a discount on admission. We picked up some cinnamon bread after hearing of its cult following. It's good! Mostly tasted like Cinnabon but made with real ingredients. I really loved our trip there and it won't be forgotten any time soon. Bonus: everyone we interacted with was kind and helpful. We didn't have kids with us but I'm already plotting how I'll get my nieces and nephews there!