Silver Dollar City is one of the best theme parks in the world.
The crown jewel of the Herschend chain, this 1880s themed park features a unique atmosphere
and an elite lineup of attractions.
This includes 7 roller coasters, great water rides, a few flat rides, and so much more.
This park is worthy of a countdown on its own.
But since Silver Dollar City is located in the heart of the Ozark mountains in Branson,
Missouri, I thought it would be interesting to include some of the other rides around
town.
I have not been to any of the water parks in Branson nor have I been to any of the go
kart tracks, but I have ridden all of the town’s mountain coasters and also visited
Bigfoot Adventure Park.
So let’s countdown the top 20 rides and attractions I’ve experienced at Silver Dollar
City and Branson.
And unless noted otherwise, the rides are located at Silver Dollar City to avoid redundancy.
20) A Christmas Carol- Silver Dollar City has some of the best shows of any theme park.
This is a lengthy, 45 minute rendition of Charles Dickens’s holiday classic.
This is the best on-stage version I’ve seen.
19) Rudolph’s Holly Jolly Christmas Parade- This lively Christmas parade proceeds past
the Christmas tree and down Hugo’s Hill.
The parade isn’t super long, but the floats are bright and colorful.
The staff members are super excited and lively.
And the music is spectacular.
It’s loud and cheerful.
18) Giant Barn Swing- This S&S screamin’ swing has the usually short cycle, but the
3-4 max swings give decent floater airtime.
And this one has some great visuals swinging through the barn and overlooking the hill.
17) FireFall- This S&S double shot extends out of the park’s fire station.
While this ride doesn’t have the strongest launch and the views are limited by the building
and its placement at the bottom of the hill, the two ascents up the tower give brief but
strong pops of ejector airtime. 16) Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train-
This classic train ride is great for several reasons.
One, it’s a genuine steam engine.
Two, it travels out into the woods.
Three, it offers the best views of Outlaw Run if you get lucky.
Four, there’s a show scene halfway through the ride.
During the main season, you get a comical hold-up.
During the winter, you get a chilling nativity scene.
15) Thunderation- This Arrow mine train, like every roller coaster in Branson, is built
on a hill and the ride uses that to its advantage.
You start atop the hill and rumble down the hillside continuously picking up speed.
The helix has decent Gs and the ride has an incredible sense of speed on the bottom turns.
And I like how there’s one final drop after the lift hill so you finish with a bang.
The one downside with this coaster is that it can be bumpy.
14) Home for Christmas- This was basically a Christmas singalong, but it had all the
classics plus a few original songs.
The vocals and choreography were top notch.
13) Copperhead Mountain Coaster at Shepherd’s Adventure Park- The newest of the three mountain
coasters in Branson is also the weakest.
This Wiegand one had a pretty bad case of autobraking and failed to offer any airtime.
On the bright side, it offered stunning views of the mountains in 2 parts when the horizon
opened up and a few of the turns offered solid laterals.
12) Flooded Mine- This boat ride tells the story of inmates trying to escape a mine that’s
flooding.
It’s a pretty dark story for a family park.
The figures are a bit dated, but I like how big and expansive the scenes are.
And this is a shooter, so you can fire at targets throughout the experience.
None of the targets react though and the trigger is pretty stiff, so your finger gets quite
the workout.
11) Branson Coaster at Branson Sawmill- This Wiegand mountain coaster starts atop the hill.
This hill is shorter than the others, but you get to travel down the hillside twice
on two different unique runs.
The first half was ok, but the second half was much faster.
It was a steep slalom down the hill with little autobraking, some laterals, and even a pop
of airtime.
Lost River of the Ozarks- Silver Dollar City’s old river rapids ride was quite the soaker.
There were 7 or 8 rapids sending massive torrents into the raft.
The ride was very well landscaped too.
10) American Plunge- This is an underrated log flume.
Built by Barr Engineering, this ride features a long dark tunnel and a scenic course through
the woods.
You also have a squirting frog and also a waterfall on your route for variety.
And the ride finishes in a great final plunge.
It’s quite tall for a flume at 50 feet or 15 meters and the drop is steep enough to
give a little pop of airtime.
And that splash will absolutely soak you.
9) Fire in the Hole- This hybrid dark ride and roller coaster features a well-themed
journey past a burning town.
The sets are dated, but I like their size and detail.
And then the ride culminates in three drops that can give some shocking airtime if you’re
in that back car.
It definitely caught me off-guard!
8) WildFire- This B&M sit-down features a fantastic first drop loaded with floater airtime.
It’s reminiscent of a B&M hyper.
The ride is very smooth and the views are marvelous, but the inversions don’t pack
the same punch as other B&Ms.
They only offered mild force and whip.
7) Marvel Cave- This scenic cave tour is 1 to 1.5 hours long and it’s such a unique
experience to get at a theme park.
This cave is massive and it’s a beauty.
And the tour guides do an amazing job keeping the tour engaging, telling all sorts of stories
along the way.
The regular tours are free, but I recommend the lantern tour.
It’s an upcharge, but experiencing the cave with less lights is an eerie experience.
Plus you see an extra room or two.
Mystic River Falls- I saw this ride testing in 2020, but I missed it by a week.
This looks like SeaWorld Orlando’s Infinity Falls with the well-landscaped course filled
with soaking rapids and an exciting final plunge.
6) Gravity Bomb at Bigfoot Fun Park- This is a great drop tower.
You have just a seatbelt.
The views of the Ozarks are stunning.
And there’s some audio at the top.
I’m torn on this.
On one hand, it’s cool for your first ride.
On the other hand, it spoils the moment when you drop.
The drop is still intense giving a decent stomach drop on the way down.
But it would be more effective if you can’t anticipate it.
5) Super Sling at Bigfoot Fun Park - This saddle sling features a super exposed ride
vehicle and I had the fortune of riding with an operator who knew how to get this thing
flipping like crazy.
Once we hit the apex, we flipped non-stop.
It was fast and forceful while offering stunning visuals as you plunged back towards the ground.
And then you get strong positive Gs at the bottom, which are absolutely insane if you’re
still inverted for this part.
The initial launch itself has no warning and it produces a nice rush on the ascent, but
the flips are what make this ride.
4) Runaway at Branson Mountain Adventure Park- This is easily the best mountain coaster in
Branson.
Built by Aquatic, this one is easily the tallest and features the most downhill track.
There are several little dips giving quick pops of airtime and then this one has great
laterals, particularly on the helices and this wild swooping drop roughly 2/3 of the
way through the ride.
This one is a little bumpier than the others, but the elements and setting are so strong
I can look past that.
And this one is incredible at night.
The rainbow track looks cool, but there isn’t enough light to spoil the layout.
3) Powder Keg- This underrated S&S launch coaster features an intense launch at the
start.
This air launch feels just a step below an Intamin hydraulic launch in terms of power.
You really get yanked down that launch track.
The first three hills deliver nice sustained floater airtime, the old Buzzsaw falls section
is underbanked so you get wicked laterals, and the finale while a bit awkward still manages
to deliver some airtime and a forceful helix. 2) Time Traveler- The prototype Mack xtreme
spinning coaster is an absolute delight.
Make sure to ride in the back car so you can experience that vertical drop out of the station
to its fullest.
Sideways and backwards ejector airtime is heavenly.
The rest of the layout features some fun and disorienting inversions plus a few additional
airtime moments.
Some of the turns are just ok, but most of the elements deliver and this ride is super
reridable because of its smoothness and variability. 1) Outlaw Run- This is not only Silver Dollar
City’s best attraction, but it’s one of my favorite coasters in the world.
The original RMC wood coaster has one of the best drops plus impeccable pacing.
Outlaw Run rips through its entire layout, constantly ejecting you from your seat.
The only time you slow down is during the barrel roll finale when it’s advantageous
to cause hangtime.
The elements are special on their own, but the ride also has an elite setting in the
woods and there’s zero light during a night ride.
So those are the 20 best rides and attractions I’ve experienced in Branson.
What are your favorite rides and attractions at Silver Dollar City and the town of Branson?
Let me know down in the comments.
And before concluding this video, I want to note that Silver Dollar City has some of the
best food of any theme park and just a short drive north of Branson is my favorite restaurant
anywhere in Lambert’s.
This place serves massive amounts of delicious food and if you raise your hand, they’ll
literally chuck a piping hot roll at you from across the restaurant.
It’s a glutton’s dream.
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Thanks for watching!