Silver Dollar City: General Discussion

[BigAl]

knee jerk reaction alert...

Silver Dollar City have decided to make their restraints on Outlaw Run lock tighter before allowing a train to dispatch, thus reducing the number of larger guests that are able to ride. Here's what Screamscape have reported on this development:

Park News - (7/30/13) A couple of reports from Outlaw Run have come in and from the sound of it the park must have made adjustments to the restraint system, causing it to be much tighter than before. One reader reported that men were being turned away from Outlaw Run in droves, and not just overweight men, but a lot of “average farmer” and football “lineman” builds. Our reader who did fit reported that they are 5’11” and weight just 180 pounds, and found the restraints to be incredibly tight and uncomfortable and couldn’t imagine anyone much larger fitting in at all.
Another reader reported in that a fellow in their party had to take the walk of shame because of his 40-42 inch waistline, while they were asked to really suck it in to fit with a 36 inch waist and 5’9” height. Sounds like they may have overreacted for sure if this is the result, and they would likely be better off just adding seat belts and returning the lap bar system to where it was before.

Good news, however; is that Silver Dollar City are planning more rides and have sent out surveys to park guests. Here's an extract from Screamscape's post regarding the rides that the survey is about:

...one based on Firefighters, one on Balloon flight (not sure if this is a Samba Tower flat ride or something else) and another involving a trip through a Fireworks Factory. The Fireworks Factory concept involved a few concepts, including an indoor climb/play structure themed as the inside of the Fireworks Factory as well as the family sized 85 foot shot ‘n drop tower ride called the Pyro Power Test Tower, as well as other family or kiddie rides called Spinning Sparkler and Rocket Racers. All together the area is said to feature a total of 5 rides.

A member of SDCFans has captured an image of the part of the survey about the fireworks factory idea (which seems to be the most popular):

A big dark ride over 5 smaller attractions might have been a better idea but this looks good nonetheless.

 

[BigAl]

Good news from Screamscape regarding the modifications done to Outlaw Run (they were told to by RMC so had no choice):

Park News - (8/4/13) Good news from Silver Dollar City in this weekend… good enough to share right away. I have confirmed with Lisa Rau (SDC’s Director of PR) that another wave of modifications were made to the restraints on Outlaw Run a few days ago, changes for the better.
“Confirming that yes, we made two modifications and at this point, those modifications are complete. The configuration (degree change) was initially just over an inch and now it is less than an inch. Our restraint is a lap restraint in a curved configuration to tighten around the lap (lower than the soft tissue of the waist) with the substantial shin restraint to create the ASTM class 5 restraint system.”
The second wave of modifications that relaxed the one came just in time for the TPR Tour Group to hit the park on Friday night to test the new system out. According to a few measurements sent my way, the restraints fit a 42” waist (250lb) rider with room to spare and even fit another rider with a 46” waist. As before however, riders who are very tall or who have long legs may still have some comfort issues with the shin restraint bar, but that has been a minor issue since day 1. So get out there and enjoy Outlaw Run once again, but remember there is a test seat to try if you are still concerned.

One of Screamscape's readers contacted Silver Dollar City earlier this week and received this response:

"Safety is our #1 Priority at Silver Dollar City. Outlaw Run's restraint system is designed and engineered to ASTM International Standards Class 5 status, the highest ranking in the industry. The ride manufacturer can request changes at any time. Most recently, the Outlaw Run ride manufacturer changed the configuration of the safety restraint system by making it more restrictive by just over one inch. In full cooperation with our manufacturer, we implemented the configuration change. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause."

 

[Danny]

It seems Silver Dollar City are intent on creating further attractions with the word 'fire' in them, with their Firemans Landing aream currently under construction and expected to open next year.

 

[Rob]

Changed this thread title to general discussion relating to Silver Dollar City. Anyway, rumours are flying around regarding a new coaster in 2017 and here is the latest from Screamscape:

Remember that plan to add a coaster to Silver Dollar City in 2017 that I told you about? According to rumors sent my way the park pitched a few coaster concepts in a guest survey not long ago, asking guests to choose between what sounds like a Mack Launched Coaster with new style Spinning Cars (which Mack posted a video about back on Nov. 19th, 2015) or a very large B&M Dive Machine with 4 inversions.

I'm sure many would agree that a standard Mack launch minus any spinning would do the job just fine!

 

[Rob]

Well Silver Dollar City are indeed getting a new coaster but it will open in 2018 and not 2017. Groundwork is well underway, as seen in these photos by MidwestInfoGuide:

It is being reported over on CoasterForce that parts have arrived with Mack shipping labels on them. Could it be the first Xtreme Spinning Coaster?

 

[Dave]

Well Silver Dollar City are indeed getting a new coaster but it will open in 2018 and not 2017. Groundwork is well underway, as seen in these photos by MidwestInfoGuide:

It is being reported over on CoasterForce that parts have arrived with Mack shipping labels on them. Could it be the first Xtreme Spinning Coaster?

Seems early to start construction on the off the shelf shuttle model. Would guess its more of a terrain coaster.

 

[Sammy]

Seems early to start construction on the off the shelf shuttle model. Would guess its more of a terrain coaster.

USA Answer to Helix? If it is then Silver Dollar city could well become one of the top parks on my to do list!

I mean it's pretty high up already anyway

 

[Rob]

Screamscape are reporting that they have several sources claiming that this will indeed be a Mack Xtreme Spinning Coaster (and that another two are currently under construction by Mack but where they are going is not known).

It sounds like this one won't be the standard layout shown off at IAAPA.

 

[Rob]

There is an article in the local paper about the 2018 coaster which is worth a read. Silver Dollar City are keeping things very much under wraps but do say that "it's not only something big, it’s the single biggest thing ever, ever done at Silver Dollar City. By far." Interesting!

The article also has a few aeiral photos showing off the construction site:

You can see that lots of the footers are in place and the station is starting to go up. Looks like an awesome site for a coaster!

 

[Rob]

*attempts to generate more interest in big Mack coaster being built in the states*

Silver Dollar city opened for the start of their 2017 season at the weekend which gave a chance for more new photos of construction. MidwestInfoGuide were there and the station building seems to be about 5 stories high with the platform at the top:

So it looks like there is going to be a significant drop straight out of the station! Mack have history with a drop out of a station with Helix.

I am really looking forward to seeing trackwork begin!

 

[Rob]

The coaster has now gone vertical:

And a look at how the station building is progressing:

Source: TPR

Hopefully it won't be too long before we get a much better idea of what this coaster is going to do!

 

[Brad97]

That station is massive.

 

[Brad97]

We have track!

 

[Rob]

It looks like all will be revealed regarding this coaster on 16th August:

To me the whole style of that does imply a spinning coaster, and gravity obviously has an impact on spinning.

 

[Rob]

The first drop has now been constructed:

Source: MidwestInfoGuide

Well that looks rather vertical!

 

[CSLKenny]

^Wasn't one of the first rumours that they would receive a dive coaster? Could this a variation of the BigDipper dive coaster model Mack are starting to make?

 

[CSLKenny]

This image is making its way around social media. But no one seems to know where it came from. Possible leak?
If it is genuine it seems to suggest it is a BigDipper.

 

[Rob]

Hmmm looks like it could be genunine but I am not sure they would use that silhouette in the logo, it just doesn't seem right to me.

From what we have seen so far though this coaster looks far more like a BigDipper than a potential spinning coaster. Here is a look at the first inversion, a dive loop, from MidwestInfoGuide:

And some more track hiding behind the trees:

 

[Rob]

Some more photos of this coaster have appeared online and they are somewhat incredible!

First of all the drop:

Source

And some layout photos from MidwestInfoGuide:

 

[Danny]

I really enjoyed Lost Gravity which looks so much simpler and basic than this. Hopefully it does the ride type justice and more parks take suit in installing them.