As a coaster enthusiast we all have our bucket list parks and/or rides that we want to check off our lists. For years Silver Dollar City (SDC) was at the top of mine. And over the last couple years, so has the park’s Mack Xtreme Spinning Coaster, Time Traveler. Time Traveler wasn’t the only coaster I was itching to ride though. Outlaw Run has long fascinated me with my love of every RMC that I’ve ridden. And I won’t lie, Powder Keg looked so weird that I just had to ride it for myself.
And don’t get me started on some of the park’s other peculiar rides like Flooded Mine and Fire in the Hole. Those looked to be right up my alley. I’ve always been someone who can appreciate some old school, classic rides. They take me back to a place when I was younger and from everything I saw about SDC, it looked like it would provide that kind of nostalgia in spades.
I know Sam felt the same way I did about this park and its coasters. When we planned out this trip we gave ourselves two days to enjoy SDC for that very reason. We didn’t want to walk away from this park with any missing credits in case a ride went down, or if the park was crowded. This entry is going to cover Day 1 where we got to experience everything for the first time, including the crazy layout of the park itself. Day 2 had us re-riding all of our favorites because Sam was nice enough to buy us both Trailblazer passes. I’m getting ahead of myself here though. Let’s focus on Day 1.
Walking Up Hill at Every Turn
Before visiting SDC, Steven from Thrill Maxx, shared a few pointers with us. One of the biggest suggestions he said was to either do the rides in order going down the hill, or go down and work your way back up, hitting all the rides in reverse. Did we do that? Of course not. We were dumb and wandered around like excited children, running over to each and every ride we saw. We quickly learned how hilly the park’s terrain was doing this with sore legs after just a couple of hours. Steven was 100 percent right, but we just didn’t listen.
When we first arrived, crowds were light, but they did pick up throughout the day. We were still able to ride all of the park’s coasters though, along with a few notable non-coasters like the log flume American Plunge, the dark ride Flooded Mine, and a flat ride in Giant Barn Swing. We did hold off on a couple other rides knowing that we wouldn’t have the time for everything on our first day. That included Mystic River Falls, which looked so awesome. The wait for that ride was forever long, so it would certainly have to wait until Day 2.
Powder Keg
Words that best describe this ride would include the following: funky, bizarre, intense, scenic, unique, punchy, and awesome. I had no idea what to expect with this one, but was always intrigued by its wild history. The fact that it once stood as a Premier Rides water coaster and is now an air launched S&S coaster with a lift hill sounds like something you’d build in Roller Coaster Tycoon. But nope. It’s real.
All I can say is that Sam and I were both blown away by this coaster. We went in expecting Time Traveler and Outlaw Run to be our runaway favorites, but Powder Keg had something to say about that. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people out there say this is their favorite or second favorite coaster in the park. It is that good.
To get things started, the elevator lift, followed by the compressed air launch has some nice kick. Then the airtime pops later in the ride hit so much better than we anticipated. We both came back into the station laughing and saying how surprisingly good it was. This was going to certainly be a must ride again on Day 2.
Outlaw Run
Up until this point the only wooden RMC coaster I had experienced was Lightning Rod at Dollywood. Yes, I did get to ride it prior to its re-tracking and launch removal. I thought Lightning Rod ran pretty smooth back then, but did notice in 2024 that the wooden parts that remained ran rougher when compared to that new I-Box track. I was curious to see how Outlaw Run felt as I had heard mixed things. Some people claim it’s too rough and others rank it up there as one of RMC’s best. We were both wanting to find out for ourselves.
Since we made it over to Outlaw Run early on we managed to grab ourselves a few rides. And our feelings were mixed. We did enjoy the ride, but did feel that extra bite some people talk about. Was it too rough? No. Was it super smooth? Also no. Would I ride it right now if I could? You betcha!
We fully enjoyed the airtime pops and the inversions at the end of the ride. It just doesn’t feel as re-ridable as let’s say other RMC’s like Wildcat’s Revenge or Twisted Timbers. I’m curious to see if over time this ride gets the I-Box treatment too.
Time Traveler
And now for the main event! I’m going to be honest here. I’m not the biggest fan of spinning coasters. Most of the ones I have ridden are of the Wild Mouse variety and the Pandemonium clones. While they serve their purpose, they’re not something I want to ride over and over. The closest thing I’ve probably ridden to Time Traveler would be Shredder at Nickelodeon Universe – American Dream Mall. And to be honest, that is better than the Wild Mice and Pandemonium clones, but still not something I’d want to marathon.
I can now finally say that I’ve found the spinning coaster I love. I’m sure it has something to do with it being from Mack Rides, a manufacturer that I’ve been enamored with ever since riding Copperhead Strike. I adore that coaster more than most and have no shame in having it in my Top 5. I could ride that all day long and that alone made me have high hopes for this, even though it spins.
After just one ride I knew I was in love with it. We lucked out by being in the back of the train and dropping backwards out of the station. That drop backwards is like nothing else I’ve experienced. You get yanked down and feel like your mind was left in the station, while your body is being taken elsewhere. Is that what people mean when they say they’ve had an out-of-body experience?
Once I regained my senses we were hitting elements in all different directions. The spinning, however, was never dizzying. The cars would spin slightly, or rotate just enough to take an airtime pop or launch sideways, or backwards. And the best thing, which we wouldn’t fully realize until the following day, every ride was going to feel so different. I will be sure to get into more of that in the Day 2 report coming your way soon.
Final Ride Counts
American Plunge (1)
Fire in the Hole (1)
Flooded Mine (1)
Giant Barn Swing (1)
Grand Exposition Coaster (1)
Outlaw Run (3)
Powder Keg (1)
Thunderation (1)
Time Traveler (1)
Wildfire (1)
Set to Trailblaze Day 2 at Silver Dollar City
As I mentioned above, Sam went all out and got us Trailblazer passes for our second day at SDC. This first day was awesome, but I knew the second day was going to be the one where we would get to go full coaster nerd. We’d re-ride most of the coasters several times, giving a lot of attention to Time Traveler. We would also get some re-rides on some of the other non-coasters too because well, this park’s ride line up is just so much fun. It has the coasters we go for, but it doesn’t disappoint with its water, dark, or flat ride collection either. And Sam even surprised me by riding a type of ride she normally won’t. Guess you’ll have to check out Day 2 to find out what that is.
Silver Dollar City Photo Gallery - May 30, 2025
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): Fire in the Hole, Grand Exposition Coaster, Outlaw Run, Powder Keg, Thunderation, Time Traveler, Wildfire
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): Fire in the Hole, Grand Exposition Coaster, Outlaw Run, Powder Keg, Thunderation, Time Traveler, Wildfire