An Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City

We recently had the chance to visit one of the country’s best holiday events, An Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City. Despite the crowds quickly growing to capacity, we made the most of our visit!

It was Black Friday, exactly seven years to the day since my last visit to Silver Dollar City. Remembering back to that trip, I was excited for what I thought would be a relatively small crowd, relaxing day at the park. Little did I know that it would be one of the most crowded park visits I’ve ever had.

As soon as we were in line to buy our tickets (around 11:00), I noticed Silver Dollar City posted on their social media that the park was nearing capacity and were recommending that you try to arrive after 6:30 to make the most of your visit. I was pretty bummed out that we had picked one of the busiest days to plan our trip, but proceeded to buy our passes and get in the park before they closed the gates.

Even though I was really excited to get on Outlaw Run again and Time Traveler for the first time, my main goal for the day was to get my five year old coaster junkie on all of the coasters he could get on. Our first stop was Thunderation, the park’s classic mine train coaster and possibly the most unique mine train coaster out there. I love how the coaster plays with the steep terrain of the region. If you are unfamiliar with the ride, you board at the top of a giant hill and the ride immediately starts a winding course down to the bottom before ending with a lift hill back to the top. It is actually one of the more intense (but smooth) types of this coaster I’ve been on — perfect for those aspiring enthusiasts.

There is almost no way to get a good photo of Thunderation.

It was still early in the day, so we had waited around an hour for Thunderation and then snagged a ride on the kiddie coaster, The Grand Exposition Coaster, and waited only about 30 minutes.

Since we were traveling with family, my wife and I were able to sneak away to get on Time Traveler. Unfortunately, we ended up waiting nearly three hours to get on. From what I could tell they were only running one train and with each train holding 12 riders, you can see why the line was moving so slow.

I love the attention to detail in Time Traveler’s station; it made the wait bearable.

Long line aside, the ride was unbelievable. The sensation of going through inversions and launches all while spinning is something I’ve never experienced before. I thought it may be too much, but it was just right. I wish I had time to ride it again.

By this time we were all starving and the crowds were insane. All of the lines for food were nearly a hundred yards long and the midways were almost unnavigable. With hopes that crowds would die down later in the night, we took time to stop and eat. Silver Dollar City is known for having some great dining options and being a foodie I was happy to get to try some new menu items.

We ordered several dishes, the notable ones were the jambalaya with rice and the chili in a bread bowl. Both were extremely delicious and a welcome warmth as the sun was starting to set. This is also a good time to mention that with the park at capacity, if you left you weren’t guaranteed re-entry. Our plan to leave the jackets in the car until later when we needed them was foiled.

After dinner we headed back toward Powder Keg, taking the long way to enjoy the millions of Christmas lights that were beginning to shine throughout the park. This was the last coaster at the park my son was tall enough for and it was also going to be his biggest coaster to-date. He was pumped, we had watched POV videos, and he had been waiting for a week to ride it.

Crowds at their peak.

With no fear (probably because it was dark now so he couldn’t see the launch and 100 foot hill) we got in line. Luckily, we were greeted with a small 25 minute wait and quickly found ourselves on the track waiting to be blasted off. My son, with white knuckles, turns to me and says “I don’t know if I can do this.” I reassured him just in time to see the stop light blink down to green and we were off. Somewhat worried that he is totally freaked out at this point, I look over and he has his hands up, widest grin on his face, screaming “wooooo!” Relieved and very proud of him, the rest of the ride was one of my favorite of all time.

We got off just in time to catch one of the nightly parades. Silver Dollar City does an incredible job of theming for the parade and the park as a whole.

While some parks with put lights up around the edges of buildings, SDC covers the entire facade. The light display is second to none and definitely needs to be experienced in person. It reminded me a lot of the Wild Lights at the Columbus Zoo. An Old Time Christmas was also just awarded the top spot in USA Today’s 10 Best Theme Park Holiday Events.

It was at this point, I looked around and the crowds for the most part had dispersed, a Christmas miracle! I really wanted to get a night ride in on Outlaw Run and the SDC app had it listed at a 45 minute wait, so we headed that way. I figured I could get one ride in before we needed to hit the road, but to my amazement there was hardly a line at all and I was able to get in three rides in those 45 minutes! Outlaw Run at night may be the most pitch-black ride you can get on a coaster. Other than the few lights of the station and lift hill, the rest of the course in in complete darkness. A total rush.

On our way back up the hill to the exit, I had to get on Wildfire, which was a literal walk-on. I missed getting the views from the ride you get during the day, but still an incredible ride in the dark. It is easily the most well kept and smoothest B&M sit down coaster I’ve been on.

And to make the ending to our day even better, we were able to catch the 40 foot tree light show with a hot cup of wassail in hand (highly recommend).

Even with the crowds at record highs, the only really bad waits we had were on Time Traveler and at the food stands. It was definitely worth sticking around and hanging out at the park all day, especially getting to catch some night rides on a few of my favorite coasters. If you ever have the chance to get to visit Silver Dollar City during Christmas, don’t pass it up!