Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Back to the future
Silver Dollar City ready to celebrate after pandemic-curbed season.
When adventurers in the 1880s lowered themselves 200 feet via rope to explore a beautiful limestone cavern in southwestern Missouri, they couldn’t have imagined what the next 140 years would hold. The legend began when Scientific American magazine described the cave in 1885, and word of the natural wonder spread across the country. Then Canadian mining expert William Henry Lynch read of the cave, purchased it sight unseen, traveled to the Ozarks and, with his two daughters, opened what he called Marvel Cave to public tours in 1894.
By the 1920s, the cave was a well-established attraction, and tourists could get there by road or by hiking from a nearby train stop.
In 1946, the Herschend family, vacationing from Chicago, fell in love with the attraction and the area and leased Marvel Cave from the Lynch family. And in 1960, the Herschends opened the village they called Silver Dollar City, complete with a blacksmith shop, a general store, an ice cream parlor, a doll shop and two authentic 1800s log structures.
Since then, the theme park has seen more than 80 million guests, has grown to cover more than 110 acres and is home to thrill rides that exist nowhere else in the world. It’s employed more than 40,000
people, won national and international tourism awards and produced Broadway calibre shows like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Dickens Christmas Carol.”
The only thing Silver Dollar City couldn’t do in 2020 was celebrate its 60th anniversary as the blowout, year-long event that had excitedly been planned. Covid-19 kept the park from opening as scheduled last March and delayed the first day of the season until June 13. A new $23 million water ride, Mystic River Falls, opened July 21, but without the fanfare that had been expected for the “tallest drop on a water raft ride in the Western Hemisphere” and a “one-of-a-kind rotating, four-platform, eight-story lift.”
The ride and the area surrounding it — which includes Rivertown Smokehouse BBQ and a new Cinnamon Bread Bakery — were “a culmination of years of guest feedback,” Brad Thomas, president of Silver Dollar City Attractions, said then. “The only place on the planet to experience this ride is right here at Silver Dollar City. Mystic River Falls is packed with unique thrills that the family can enjoy together.”
And that, says Thomas now, turned out to be the key to surviving a pandemic.
“I think 2020 has given folks a longing to spend time together, to have fun, to laugh and to celebrate good times,” he says. “Our recent research shows that folks are longing for things that are found at Silver Dollar City — our craft demonstrations, our mild to thrill rides, our music festivals, our food and our humor.”
In 2021, “many of our guests will experience their first rides on Mystic River Falls,” he adds, saying the adventure “really features four experiences on one ride: a thrilling river ride, the lift tower that slowly rotates the boat upward, the thrill of the elevated channel ride and then the world-famous drop back into the river.”
That doesn’t mean all the changes from covid-19 have been washed away.
“As part of our pandemic protocol, we operated at 50% attendance capacity in the 2020 season,” explains Lisa Rau, director of publicity for Silver Dollar City. “We found that travelers were, indeed, looking for outdoor family options — and by creating more outdoor stages and activities, we were able to provide that getaway.
“We believe what we did worked well, and the protocols, including limiting capacity at the park and on rides, currently are scheduled to continue for 2021, minus the need for reservations. We will still require masks, practice social distancing and other measures found in detail at 0silverdollarcity.com/playsafe.”
With outdoors as the new “in” destination, Silver Dollar City has added a brand new event, Street Fest, which begins in April, following Spring Ride Days, Rau says.
“This event will have lots of unique performers and music throughout the ‘City.’ And we also adding new ‘Tasting Passports’ for Street Fest in April and Bluegrass & BBQ in May that offer tasting throughout the park.”
“Our food team has developed an incredible list of new menu additions that will only be available during Street Fest,” enthuses Thomas. “However, some of these items taste SO good, that I’m guessing they may show back up at the City at some point in the future.”
What Thomas and Rau agree on is this: “Every spring, as Silver Dollar City opens for the season, there is excitement in the air,” Thomas says. “But this year, our employees and guests seem even more excited.”
“And with the of challenges of today, we have only become stronger as a leadership team and as a culture park wide,” adds Rau, “determined to always provide great entertainment.”