Wildfire at Silver Dollar City is a Bolliger and Mabillard sit-down coaster.
Blessed with one of the most picturesque settings of any roller coaster, Wildfire would be Silver
Dollar City’s first major thrill coaster.
But how does it compare to the park’s newer coasters?
Find out in this review of Wildfire.
In 1999, Silver Dollar City built their most expensive attraction yet in Buzzsaw Falls.
This Premier Rides liquid coaster combined elements of both log flumes and roller coasters.
While this was the park’s most thrilling attraction to date, it was still more of a
family ride.
And Buzzsaw Falls was plagued with mechanical issues, which is one of the reasons it was
converted into Powder Keg for the 2005 season.
Silver Dollar City wanted a reliable new thrill coaster.
So it only makes sense the park went with Bolliger and Mabillard.
For a cost of $14 million, B&M built Wildfire for the 2001 season.
And one of the most interesting things about this coaster is that it was a sit-down coaster.
B&M debuted the inverted coaster in 1992 and the floorless coaster in 1999.
These were the two most popular looping models that B&M offered at the time.
These models started to make the sit-down coasters obsolete.
However, Silver Dollar City went with a sit-down coaster…sort of.
While the other sit-down coasters like Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa and the Incredible
Hulk Coaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure will have riders’ feet firmly on the floor
of the trains during the experience, the floors on Wildifre’s trains were significantly
lower.
This allowed the feet of riders to dangle.
So the trains feel identical to those of the floorless coaster, but visually your feet
dangle above the floor instead of the track.
And one of the best things about Wildfire for smaller guests is that it has a height
restriction of just 52”, which is 2 inches shorter than the usual 54” mark on most
B&M coasters.
This allows a lot of kids to ride it a year earlier than they otherwise would.
Wildfire is located in the Hugo’s Hill Street section of the park.
The ride is located on a dead end off the midway.
Like Outlaw Run, Wildfire can be a bit tricky to find if you don’t know where to look.
There’s a single pathway and this path is also used as the queue line for the American
Plunge log flume.
It definitely confused me my first time to Silver Dollar City.
But it’s a major aha moment both when you find Wildfire and gaze your eyes upon the
coaster’s setting.
Wildfire is located atop a hill overlooking a gorgeous valley.
In the distance you see the stunning Ozark Mountains, a few lakes, and a massive forest.
Silver Dollar City knew what they were doing with this coaster’s placement.
Wildfire is themed to an inventor.
Dr. Horatio Harris wants to invent a flying machine, but first he needs fuel for his creation.
This causes him to develop wildfire, hence the ride’s name.
This coaster is usually no more than a 2-3 train wait thanks to its high capacity and
reasonably fast dispatches, but the queue line is pretty well themed with some animated
scenes and the large vats of wildfire.
In terms of seat selection, Wildfire is unequivocally a back row ride.
You want to be back here for the ride’s first drop, but more on that in a bit.
Some of these B&M loopers have started to develop rattles, but I’m pleased to report
that Wildfire is still a very smooth coaster.
I could ride Wildfire all day.
There is zero headbanging or rattling.
Wildfire begins with a U-turn out of the station and a 120 foot or 37 meter tall lift hill.
To your right, you can see Silver Dollar City’s coasters peeking above the treeline.
To your left, you get an even better view of the aforementioned mountains and valley.
Once atop the lift you turn to the left, giving you a few final seconds to admire the view
before the action begins.
Most B&M loopers have twisting drops.
However, Wildfire does things differently.
It has a straight drop.
And it’s a massive one too at 150 feet or 47 meters tall.
And this drop feels more like a B&M hyper coaster drop.
It’s easily the best part of the ride.
This drop delivers several seconds of sustained floater airtime if you’re towards the back
of the train.
At the bottom of this drop, you reach your max speed of 66 mph or 106 kph and then you
coast through a giant Immelmann.
The element looks cool off-ride, but it’s relatively forceless and forgettable unfortunately.
That is followed by another giant inversion, this time a vertical loop.
This one offers barely any forces up front, but decent positive Gs towards the back of
the train.
You then rip around a low, high-speed turn and then zip through a cobra roll.
The first half of this element is another forgettable inversion, but the second half
really whips the train back towards the ground.
The train then roars through another fast turn and zooms through a corkscrew.
Unlike a lot of older B&M loopers where this inversion is tight and snappy, Wildfire’s
corkscrew is taller and more drawn out, so it’s not particularly intense.
Wildfire then flies around a tight turn, giving some really strong positive Gs, before hopping
up into the brake run, ending the ride.
In terms of pacing, Wildfire is a mixed bag.
On one hand, the coaster maintains its speed very well start to finish.
It feels every bit as fast as its impressive top speed.
And I love the subtle high-speed turns in between inversions.
These really accentuate the ride’s speed.
On the other hand, I do not love the inversions on this coaster.
And that’s a problem when you’re talking about a coaster whose main objective is to
invert riders.
The ride isn’t rough, but the issue is that a lot of the inversions are forgettable.
Last but not least, make sure to give Wildfire a ride at night if possible.
Like the other coasters at Silver Dollar City, Wildfire’s isolated location makes it particularly
thrilling at night.
It feels like you’re plunging into a black hole on the ride’s first drop since you
cannot see the bottom.
So what would I rate Wildfire?
I would give this coaster a 6 out of 10.
I admittedly do not seem to be as high on this coaster as others.
While I absolutely love the coaster’s setting and airtime-filled first drop, I cannot look
past the fact that this coaster’s inversions are sub-par.
They just don’t offer the forces or snap I want in a looping coaster.
But the coaster does have a great sense of speed, so when combined with the super smooth
ride and the lack of crushing forces, Wildfire is an inherently reridable coaster.
It’s just not one I want to reride too often.
I far prefer Outlaw Run, Time Traveler, and Powder Keg to Wildfire, but it’s still good
for a ride or two each visit.
Compared to the other B&M sit-down and floorless coasters, I would say Wildfire is towards
the middle of the pack.
The lack of intensity is compensated by an incredible first drop and a glass smooth ride.
So those are my thoughts on Wildfire, the original thrill coaster at Silver Dollar City.
What are your thoughts on this coaster?
Do you think Wildfire is a bit overrated like me or is it one of your favorite loopers?
I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments.
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