Silver Dollar City
Branson, Missouri
An Old Time Christmas 2011
November 5, 2011
Page One
Bond and I started out our 2011 coaster season at Silver Dollar City
so why not finish it there as well.
When we went this
spring for a couple of days the second day of our visit the weather
turned beyond nasty and the only rides that were open were the train and
Fire In The Hole. It was raining cats and dogs and temperatures were
in the low 30's. Needless to say it wasn't a great day to be at any
amusement park. With Silver Dollar City being one of the friendliest
amusement parks on the face of the planet they have an inclement weather
policy that if weather gets in the way of your enjoyment they'll give you
another ticket to come on back and try again on a nicer day. So in
early November Bond and I headed south to Silver Dollar City for a day of
what we hoped was to be full of coaster rides.
Oh, I have no idea why Bond is trying to look so tough here. I said
"Hey it's Christmas time let me take a nice picture of you" and he decided
to go all tough guy.
In early November Silver Dollar City breaks out the decorations and starts
their Old Time Christmas Celebration that lasts until the end of the year.
At the center of the town square sits this huge tree that lights up at night
for quite a spectacle.
We had hoped that since it was the first day of the Old Time Christmas celebration
that Silver Dollar City would be empty and we'd be able to ride until we
had enough. We arrived a little early and like most parks they open
up the entrance plaza and then at the opening time the ropes drop and everyone
is let into the park. At first there was no one there and then more
and more people showed up until we had a crowd of hundreds waiting to get
into the park. "Well crap" we thought "There's no way we're going
to get much riding in with this crowd".
Wanting to at least get a few rides on Powder Keg as soon as the rope dropped
we made a beeline to it at high speed.