Hidden Treasures of Silver Dollar City - Confessions of a Theme Park Worker

Рет қаралды 35,051

2 жыл бұрын

Most people are familiar with the main attractions at Silver Dollar City- the rides! But there is so much more there that can be easily missed. I spotlight just a handful of hidden treasures and things to see and do at Silver Dollar City that most visitors miss and don't even know are there.
A behind the scenes look at what a former worker at Disney World, Silver Dollar City, and Busch Gardens Florida experienced in his time working at the parks. From driving large safari trucks around live wild animals while cracking one silly joke after another, to spending 5 years as a #PhotoPass photographer at #WaltDisneyWorld and seeing and experiencing all sorts of things, to being a conductor and #trainrobber on the famous Frisco Silver Dollar Line at #SilverDollarCity. With 10 years of working in the parks, there's lots of stories to tell. Here is some of them...
Not only did I work in theme parks for 10 years, I've visited a whole lot of them as well. Here's some stories of great visits, not so great visits, favorites, reviews, and much more.
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Пікірлер: 115

@maschmille 9 ай бұрын

Just stumbled across this video and at 8:13 mark you took my breath away. Mike Hughes was my dad and when you showed his sign, I was so surprised and happy. He was so proud of that sign and so proud of all the years he spent there. Thank you for showing his sign.

@janetswope5695 3 ай бұрын

🥰

@janetswope5695 3 ай бұрын

We like to camp at Silver Dollar City Campground. It’s fun to look out from the campground and see The City. We jokingly say that the old Waterboggan Tower should be a landing station entrance by zip lining into The City from the campground!😂. Welllllll…..maybe I’m not joking so much! I would totally TOTALLY do that!!! 😊

@blakebetsworth9869 Жыл бұрын

I remember the waterboggen fondly, I can't believe they haven't figured out a way to repurpose the tower, more than decorating it anyhow. Even if they just put a small restaurant up there that would be cool.

@StormRaid417 2 жыл бұрын

Silver Dollar City is underrated in the KZfaq algorithm. Its such an amazing place that I don't think anyone would regret experiencing.

@theheardtheorem 2 жыл бұрын

Legend has it that there’s a wooden coaster there by the name of Outlaw Run….I’ve never been able to find it, though

@chopperdave3868 2 жыл бұрын

Just rode that today. What a great coaster 👍

@LN-Lifer Жыл бұрын

lol easier to find than Wildfire

@nfglegos Жыл бұрын

@@LN-Lifer The enterance for wildfire is next to the American Plunge.

@adamowens5507 Жыл бұрын

there’s literally maps every where

@theheardtheorem Жыл бұрын

@@adamowens5507 joke /jōk/ noun a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter, especially a story with a funny punchline. "she was in a mood to tell jokes"

@CatefromGa 12 күн бұрын

We were there 2 weeks ago. Such a cute park. Being a Rollercoaster person I was shocked when Grandfathers mansion made me sick. But really enjoyed our 2 days there!

@SmokeyBear464 2 ай бұрын

That cabin was my family’s that they donated to the park a long time ago. That second half was for the man’s daughter and husband to live in! My grandmother and her sister used to play on the front porch when she was a little girl!

@tonymurray6518 7 ай бұрын

My wife and I always enjoyed Grandpa's Mansion 🙂

@jwotso 2 жыл бұрын

Oh how I remember Huck Finn's Hideaway.

@rolaynafairley393 2 жыл бұрын

Don’t forget the Flooded Mine! So much fun!

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

I didn't. :-) But it's not exactly a "hidden" treasure. hehe

@BIGTRUCK7.3 2 ай бұрын

That play area was still open when I was young I remember playing in it fun times

@Zoey2233 2 жыл бұрын

Wonderful video! Thank you for showing us this. Some of these things I didn't know. I've always wondered where the entrance to the cave is. But Silver Dollar City, to me, is the best theme park ever! I love this place, been going since I was 2 (I'm 22 now). So much history and uniqueness. I love it!

@lynnl6437 2 жыл бұрын

My first stop is always the homestead and the church. I always fantasize about living there.

@CoryTheRaven 2 жыл бұрын

I'm going to have to remember these... In the course of researching Route 66 I learned that Missouri is actually really neat! I want to do a trip that includes Route 66, Hannibal, Marceline, and Branson.

@hoob_music 2 жыл бұрын

Walt Disney is from Missouri so pretty much Missouri created every Disney movie

@neuroscienxe9266 2 жыл бұрын

I went on the Waterboggan so often growing up and I miss it! So fun.

@FamilyReunionPhotography 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the wonderful memories.

@janetswope5695 3 ай бұрын

Love the little creek that runs near the leather shop and down Hill Street…such a pretty little peaceful sounding creek!

@Savagemister 2 жыл бұрын

I need to get back there at some point. We loved it. The cave. Outlaw Run is our fave coaster there. Theming is on point as well.

@richardsavaglio523 5 ай бұрын

Great video!!! I wish I would’ve found it before our Trip there during Thanksgiving week!!!!!!

@salinagrrrl69 3 ай бұрын

I first was there in 1962 when ir opened beyond the cave. Back then it was just the town square amusment park. In my chinacad is a SDC blown glass bowel from 1966.

@adamowens5507 Жыл бұрын

the towers you’d play in as a kid were so cool 20 years ago

@FantasyApprentice 2 жыл бұрын

SirWillow, your glaases look amazing, and wow I didn't know that about Silver Dollars City at all. Sutch beautiful music

@jamesdurkin1857 2 жыл бұрын

A fantastic and informative video. I look forward to when I may move to Branson and hopefully get a job on the Frisco Train. When I see your videos, it is like visiting an old friend. May God bless you and yours.

@Bkuuzin 2 жыл бұрын

Cool park, great aesthetic!

@availablelifewithmariahmason 2 жыл бұрын

Bring me bring me back memories good old times with wolf coasters

@kokobeatz7222 Жыл бұрын

I remember walking by the forge and they were making knives. Watched for a second. It was cool. Love watching forged in fire. So it was cool to see first hand

@eddiedority1816 Жыл бұрын

Thank God for you and Sliver Dollar City.

@BackSeatJunkie 2 жыл бұрын

Spending the day up in the Waterboggan tower back in the day was an interesting vantage point for storm watching and breathing smoke from the train.

@adamowens5507 Жыл бұрын

it was so cool 20 years ago there the bridges through the woods and the waterboggen was open along with a lot of cool tree houses

@crystalb60 2 жыл бұрын

love SDC! I was wondering last time I was there what that tower was.. I assumed it used to be a ride, but wasn't sure.

@supertwillson 2 жыл бұрын

Almost every trip to SDC I explain the Waterboggan tower to people looking at it thinking it is going to be part of a new ride. Great video!

@michaellandry2227 Жыл бұрын

Been enjoying the Homestead Pickers for decades.

@DockeryJames 2 жыл бұрын

The waterboggan tower would not only be difficult to remove, but I've been told there is communications equipment at the top. So it helps give services to the park without having to add another tower.

@LN-Lifer Жыл бұрын

Lol I work here and every day I see a kid point at the tower and say "I want to ride that!"

@DockeryJames Жыл бұрын

@@LN-Lifer Tell Expo attraction team that Dock says hello. LOL

@jeannereed4989 Жыл бұрын

🤣🤣😅 So not true

@DockeryJames Жыл бұрын

@@jeannereed4989 Okay! Okay! It is the secret zip line escape pod for the cave! 😆

@zeniadelgado8679 2 жыл бұрын

You and Bunny should do a video together you both share a lot of bts about Silver Dollar City! I love both of your channels!

@blessedlifelorrie Жыл бұрын

I went to Silver Dollar City yesterday

@Navyuncle Жыл бұрын

Cool video. There's a lot to SDC that people miss because it's not publicized.

@patriotic_car5944 2 жыл бұрын

Love my home park

@jeffzebert4982 11 ай бұрын

I went through Marvel Cave on my VERY FIRST DAY EVER at Silver Dollar City!

@BelieveInBrooklynn 2 жыл бұрын

My grandma and grandpa were married there in the church

@jdswanny1969 9 ай бұрын

No mention of the old water tour, the remnants left over after American Plunge reused the other parts? You can see it across from the entrance to Wildfire.

@hammerdown5x 2 жыл бұрын

I proposed to my now wife in the church at the park.

@brendastudnicki9334 2 жыл бұрын

My husband and I were married in Wilderness Church 27 years ago. Sadly they do not allow weddings there anymore. Homestead Pickers are the BEST

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

They were doing weddings up until covid shut it down, and haven't used the building the last 2 years because of it. I'm not sure what their plans are with this year and the future now that they will actually be able to use the church for services and hymn sings again.

@judsonkr 7 ай бұрын

OMG you forgot Grandfather's Mansion! A true Hidden Treasure. Does anyone remember the rotating starry light tunnel that use to be in there?

@jeffzebert4982 10 ай бұрын

Here's what I'd personally use the old Waterboggan queue tower for: I'd use it as the queue tower for a water raft ride that's a lot like the Chilly Pepper Plunge that used to be at Tulsa's Bell's Amusement Park. This ride would have two slides: a yellow slide and a blue slide. The yellow slide would have a few twists and turns in an enclosed tube, ending in a final plunge. The blue slide would have just the twists and turns, but a LOT MORE of them than the yellow one. As a result, the yellow slide would get you wet; and the blue slide would get you SOAKED.

@sonjamalcolm3875 2 жыл бұрын

Be sure and look through the holes in walls and fences… a lot of them have hidden pictures behind them…

@travingalloverthemap8375 Жыл бұрын

At the end of the video the building in front of you used to be Jack's sandwich shop. I miss the water toboggan ride. We're crossroad pizzas is today used to be Aunt Polly's fried chicken

@BILLSHAPPYCAMPER 2 жыл бұрын

Love the video saw you a few weeks ago when you where doing the train station video I work at traveler stop with the grill cheese sandwich stop by and say hi next time

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

I'll try to remember. If you see me and you're not busy, be sure to say Hi.

@BlakeGM 2 жыл бұрын

I rode that closed down water ride when I was very young. I don't remember it, but my parents say they were extremely scared from it and the worker was (surprisingly) pretty careless. I'm guessing there were one too many complaints about it.

@jantallent1246 Жыл бұрын

You might mention the graveyard. Some people don't know about it. We enjoy reading the tombstones. The waterboggen was my favorite ride. Great memories.

@SirWillow Жыл бұрын

It should be interesting to see what happens with the graveyard when they close Fire in the Hole. I have no idea if it's going to stay or go.

@medic_memer Жыл бұрын

@@SirWillow it’s staying, just being moved, also how do i book on the culinary school

@SirWillow Жыл бұрын

@@medic_memer I'm curious how you know about the graveyard's future. I haven't heard anyone "in the know" say anything about it yet. I'm not sure what's happening with the culinary school this year. It's not listed on their website or in the pathfinder.

@Kongzillla_omgYT Жыл бұрын

Outlaw run is on the very left by the barn swing

@rollz_triggerphish Жыл бұрын

Was secretly hoping you would mention the Diving Bell. Not exactly sure if any remains of it exists today in the park and was hoping I would find something cause I can’t find any footage of it anywhere.

@SirWillow Жыл бұрын

Sadly it's all gone. There isn't anything left as far as I know.

@cindywestlake6278 Жыл бұрын

And Jim Owens Float Trip😊

@dennishampel9365 2 жыл бұрын

Shad Hellar was also on THE BE VERLY HILLBILLYS !!

@themadlad9444 2 жыл бұрын

I remember you telling me about telling me about the marble cave

@Pieman16 2 жыл бұрын

I’ll be there tomorrow

@iseeyou.5264 Жыл бұрын

They say that the giant tower there that used to be a log flume is actually an old watch tower to spot forest fires.

@TrevlynTheTrainiac 2 жыл бұрын

The steam engine down at the homestead was built in 1915. I believe it is tarped because they don’t have much staff to run it. It’d be nice if they involved the steam train staff with it.

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

Actually it's the steam train engineers that take care of it and make sure it's ready for the harvest/ craft festival in the fall, which is when they typically run it. :-)

@victoriamarie4570 2 жыл бұрын

Waterboggin was the BEST RIDE!!!!

@jg_in_hd Жыл бұрын

I was walking by that tower Sunday and I asked somebody what it was and somebody said oh that’s just the games. They had corn hole and some other game set up in front of it. Lol I was like no the actual tower.

@flymiller69 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the section about Veteran's raising the flag on opening ceremonies. Where is this held in SDC? I'm hosting a Veteran Reunion in Branson later this year and would like to inform our members about this. (location and time this occurs) Thank you.

@SirWillow Жыл бұрын

It's held every morning on the square when you enter the park right at park opening. The rest of the park is closed until after this ceremony. If you're there before the park officially opens, you can't miss it. Of course park admission is required to be there for it. :-)

@flymiller69 Жыл бұрын

Thank U

@carayoung4259 2 жыл бұрын

Ahh I wish someone had pictures or video of the tree house when it was in use

@Monsiemage 2 жыл бұрын

I went in there like 18 years ago, my mom always took pictures when I was young, but I don't think she took one of it. Fond memories though.

@meeeeep458 Жыл бұрын

I’m late to this comment. I was actually JUST looking for inside photos of Huckfins Hideaway Treehouse 😭 I can find outside photos and no inside photos show up sadly

@BLaymon060 2 жыл бұрын

I've been part of the flag raising ceremony numerous of times I usually carry the flag 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

@WPUpioneer 2 жыл бұрын

Do they teach you how to make Annie's poke salad at the cooking school? 😂

@Monsiemage 2 жыл бұрын

Wasn't the waterboggan closed because of multiple deaths on the ride? A rumor that's spread around where I live now, as a former employee I feel like you may know, I remember riding it when I was young and thinking back to it, it might had been closed due to new safety guidelines rather than deaths.

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

Noone ever died on the waterboggan.. absolutely false info. It's very easy to track down incidents that led to major injuries and deaths, and easy to verify that no one ever died there. Fire in the Hole and I believe a lightning strike are the only deaths that have happened at the park

@Monsiemage 2 жыл бұрын

@@SirWillowYeah they make sure that you know that you shouldn't stand up while riding fire in the hole now

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

The death that happened on fire in the hole had nothing to do with somebody standing up. It was an operator error. Look it up; that's the best place to get real information, new rumors, on the very few incidents there. It's also well documented on Wikipedia

@brendonneely9456 2 жыл бұрын

3:00 - Nice flashback to when Craig and I were there.

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

I have a couple of older clips I reused. The wonderful part if b-roll

@Jim_Welch_OK 2 жыл бұрын

I was there when the train robbery went wrong. I remember you.

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

which time? lol it was 3 years of the robbery going wrong on purpose

@Jim_Welch_OK 2 жыл бұрын

@@SirWillow when a lady gave you money. I remember you saying That's not supposed to happen!

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

LOL which time? We were given money on most trains. That's actually a pretty regular line we used. hehe. You would probably be surprised how much looks like mistakes, impromptu, or unplanned is actually expected and scripted for. :-) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rsl-bNOFy7eXg40.html

@Mysticblue1212 2 жыл бұрын

Since there is a church at Silver Dollar City and you were a pastor when you work there, did they ever asked you to preside over church services?

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

I preached there a couple of times a year while I was working, and once a year or so for a few years afterwards. They actually have a park "pastor" that normally takes care of the services.

@chasesrailwaylinesrr6447 2 жыл бұрын

does Silver dollar city never Take down the Christmas lights

@BILLSHAPPYCAMPER 2 жыл бұрын

Yes they do and takes from July to December to put them back up

@SirWillow 2 жыл бұрын

yes, they all come off in January and February. There's a crew that goes through all of them to make sure they're all working and in good shape. Then they start putting them up again at the end of July and all through August, September and October so they're ready for Christmas. Now they have additional lights as well for the fall festival.

@brendastudnicki9334 10 ай бұрын

I was married in the wilderness church

@teddym2808 Ай бұрын

I am so disappointed with the fire in the hole redux. Just leave classic things as they are ffs. That ride was a family dark ride with surprise ejector airtime in the back row in the ride's finale (3 drops), and they have tamed it right down with the rebuild. You barely leave your seat now if at all. The sad part is that those who missed out will never be able to experience it as it was ever again. I really dislike it when parks ruin attractions. Still a fantastic park. Weirdly, the one ride that actually DOES need RMC to fix it is Outlaw run, and they chose Fire in the Hole instead. There are some potholes in Outlaw run that are back breakers and they are just getting worse. I mean all they need to do is put some steel topper track at the base of the first drop and fix the ride. I don't understand their choices.

@SirWillow Ай бұрын

the old building and ride were at the end of their life. It was at a point where they weren't going to be able to fix it and keep it running anymore. The building was starting to reach a point where it wasn't going to be usable in the not to distant future. There very simply was no choice- the original fire in the hole was going to close up and have to be demolished for upkeep and safety reasons. So do you just remove it- which you have to do- and say good byes? Or do you replace it with something very similar and keeping the old in mind? They chose the latter.

@tomy5868 Жыл бұрын

Marvel cave is NOT hidden. seen that church many times. seen these 100s of times.

@salvagemonster3612 Жыл бұрын

Marvel cave isn’t worth the long lines neither is the train ride. Have been going to this place since 1972.

@barbaralyons3978 Жыл бұрын

My three children are now in their 60s. When we visited my parents in Forsyth we had year passes to SDC. We loved its simplicity. In this video all I see is hype and right wing patriotism and commercialism. Sorry, but that's how I feel.