After living in St. Louis for the past 15 years, I am shocked to say that until March of 2017, I had not entered the gates of this Ozark Mountain gem. But this was the year, I would finally make the trek to Branson, Missouri. The excitement was there but with all trips there are a lot of unplanned factors that can damper your plans. Originally, I was supposed to head down to the park back in November for Coaster Christmas with my fellow roller coaster enthusiast. He ended up in the hospital with an illness the night before and we had to cancel our plans. This time it was multiple issues that tried to interfere with this early season trip. First the weather which had been beautiful the two weeks prior had turned cold. Morning lows were in the 30's but luckily rose into the mid 50's by the afternoon. Second, I was in the first week of what I now know was the start of a seven week bout with bronchitis (I am still not over it as I am typing this). To make matters worse, in my ten years of riding rollers coasters I lost a loose article for the first time. This loose article happened to be my I-phone which is now somewhere down the hills at the foot of Wildfire's structure. All of these negatives were trumped by one huge positive... Cinnamon Bread!!!! ...Well I guess that ejector airtime madness ride known as Outlaw Run helped. But seriously, how can you be mad while chewing through a soft delicious loaf of their signature cinnamon bread. If there is food to eat in heaven, I imagine slices of cinnamon bread being passed around by Jesus Christ himself. This and many of there restaurants and food stands are a true amusement park for your taste buds Unfortunately, my stomach would not allow me to taste test every crumb Silver Dollar City had to offer. I was able to eat at Molly Mill's Breakfast Buffet which is how the day started. Although the parks rides were not open until 9:30 AM, the restaurants were open an hour prior (Brilliant). Now let's talk about the reason I wanted to make the trip in the first place... Outlaw Run Once the ropes dropped and the park was officially open me and my sister jogged toward this wooden beast. Outlaw Run sits in an isolated corner of the park that is quite a distance from the entrance. The cold weather and sickness was immediately erased from my mind once I walked up to the entrance. There was no line (thank God) and so I hopped into the first available seat (row 6). As I buckled myself into my first RMC I got that nervous excitement which is the best/worst feeling to experience. Best, because it means you are about to experience something new and intense and worst because your mind questions why you find joy in plunging over 150 foot hills and flipping upside down with just lap-bars. After hitting the break run, I was blown away. I hyped this coaster up and was worried that I might be disappointed when all was said in done. However, I was impressed that Outlaw Run and RMC live up to the well deserved hype they have been given by coaster enthusiast around the world. After front and backseat rides with no waits, we decided we should probably check out the rest of the park. Barnswing was next on the list which was a fun ride, not something that is going to scare the crap out of you but will move your hair around a bit and give you some nice hanging moments. Next we made our way to Powderkeg which was unfortunately down, so we walked over to Wildfire. A really long line had developed and it was 45 minutes before we made our way onto the train. Wildfire is a great B&M coaster with some breath-taking views. Especially, the first drop which caught me off guard with how high up it seemed that I was. After we exited, we took some nice pictures of this scenic rollercoaster from an observation deck that sits level with the coaster's cobra roll. Eventually, we made our way over to Powderkeg and again the ride was down. This would continue throughout the day. After going on rides like Firefall, Fire in the Hole and Thunderation, we took a lunch break at a Mexican Style place (can't remember the name of it but it had great burritos). We sat around a bit to see if Powderkeg would open which was the last coaster credit we needed to complete our trip. However, we would not be so fortunate to test Powderkeg out on this time around. Nothing that Outlaw Run couldn't make up for. This latest journey on Outlaw Run was in the early afternoon and it seemed much faster than the rides early in the morning. It was tempting to jump back in the now 45 minute line and ride again. But we decided to head to my doomed ride on Wildfire. Now I am usually one to play it safe and double, triple check that my belongings are secured before strapping into any ride. I guess after so many rides I began to get a false sense of security that it wasn't going to happen to me. Boy was I brought back to reality quick. Lifting up my shoulder restraints I did the unconscious routine of feeling for my cell phone, wallet and keys. Now it is not unusual that on my first few pats I don't feel everything there. But after digging in my pockets and noticing a large rectangular device was missing I went into panic. I double checked the seat but found it empty. "Why me!" I said. This brought a close to our day because at this point we had done everything we could at the park and the cold air and nonstop coughing from my lungs became more annoying with the reality setting in that I foolishly lost my phone on a rollercoaster. All in all the trip was amazing. I am very excited to make many trips later this year now that I am officially a season pass holder. Hopefully the next trip I will be healthy, the weather will be nice and warm, the rides will all be open and I will return home with everything I came with. I will have full review of the coasters and the park itself later on. Let me know what your thoughts are about Silver Dollar City or telling me how dumb I am for losing my phone on a rollercoaster. Hang loose (Except for the cell phone). Kalaheo B
