Frontier and Silver Dollar Cities
On our trip to Tulsa, we took the time to visit two nearby amusement parks - Frontier City in Oklahoma City and Silver Dollar City in Missouri.
More on the quixotic (I choose to call it 'quixotic' rather than 'daft') adventure of driving to Missouri later.
Frontier City was a reasonable 90-minute drive from Tulsa, with one toll booth on the way. (Turnpikes in Oklahoma are odd. They just put one toll booth in the center of the turnpike and then have exit paying booths before it and refund booths after it. I wonder if they have a 'naw don't refund me' lane and rely on people being willing to pay more not to stop. I digress.)
The tiny park was all decked out in fake cobwebs and zombie maniquins, with scare-themed re-naming of the rides. (Scream Lasso, say, instead of Steel Lasso.) The parking lot was not very big and we parked, went through the main entrance, turned left, and were in line for our first coaster. Frontier City will live forever in my memory as our shortest ever Seconds to Coaster. Seriously, we were in coaster seats less than a minute after our car seats.
So - first up was the Diamondback, which sits right next to the entrance, as I said. This is a single-track mag-launch forward-and-back coaster with a single loop in the middle. So you are launched, drop, loop, go up to an equal height hill on the other side, stop, and launch backward. Backward, as usual, was more fun than forward. I was rather surprised, given the 'no wait' and all that they didn't take us forward and back a second time. Very quick ride. Thrilling on the return. Ish. Though these forward-back straight line coasters are relatively new (this one I see was built in 1993, pretty early for the style!) it felt like an old coaster in car design - Double Loop or Corkscrew-esque.
Next up was the Steel Lasso - Oklahoma's only suspended coaster! Not very tall, not very big, but lots of swinging loops, the name makes sense. This was Brian's favorite in the park.
The Silver Bullet is the tallest roller coaster in Oklahoma. Built in 1986. Very quick chain lift, and a twist to the drop hill. Surprisingly smooth! Not much air time, but enjoyable. I liked the drop.
The final coaster for the park was The Wildcat. A classic wooden coaster - I don't know when it was built, but it was relocated to the park in 1991. The line area featured a mini coaster museum and I got a thrill out of going "Rode it, rode it, need to ride it, rode it, need to ride it." But as with all the other rides, we had very little waiting time to enjoy it! Before we knew it we were on board! The classic out-and-back wooden coaster was (not surprisingly) my favorite. It also had some unexpected twists and turns. They love their sharp turns in Oklahoma! I'm afraid I may have wapped Brian in the head while keeping my hands in the air.
We found ourselves all done with the coasters 20 minutes after entering the park! We considered eating there, but I opted to hit the road and get fast food on our way back to Tulsa. The fast food was meh, so maybe that was a mistake, but we had to get back to attend the homecoming game at Brian's high school! And that was a lot of fun, too.
... or was that the reunion itself? I am somewhat hazy. Yeah, I think Friday we walked around Tulsa, photographing art deco, went to the homecoming game, and spent most of the evening talking in the library with the current librarian / Brian's classmate. Then we went to Frontier City on Saturday and came back for the reunion dinner which was in a gorgeous art deco ballroom downtown (former lobby of the Oklahoma Natural Gas building.) Pictures will be forthcoming. I wore my size 0 from goodwill dress. It was tight, but it worked for one evening. I think.
DIGRESSION! This is a roller coaster review post! On to Silver Dollar City!
Driving to Silver Dollar City was traumatic. No two ways about it. I was okay with two and a half hours of straight turnpike. I was okay with detouring through a small town with abandoned storefronts and a giant feed mill / grain silo dominating it. I was okay with lots of turns... but then we were in the hills and the road had no shoulder and hairpin turns and lots of sharp drops so you suddenly couldn't see the road ahead of you and the speed limit was 60 and the locals expected you to do this roller coaster at 70. I mean... DAMN. Yes, I was in a very nice rental car - a new silver Mustang that hugs curves like a lover - but I prefer my thrill rides to have TRACKS.
My shoulders and neck were solid pain by the time we got to the park, which was PACKED. Self-parking was a bit of a mistake. I should have taken the 'paid/valet' lane because it took another 20 minutes to find a spot a few miles from the park. "I hope we have fun here," I said, "Because WE ARE NEVER LEAVING."
I was really Breakdown Reasie at that point, sure we were going to be miserable and regret this journey. Especially because we had no idea how to get TO the park, had to wait for the tram, having just missed one, and as we waited realized we should not have left our jackets in the car - it was downright chilly in Silver Dollar City. Everyone else in line had jackets and sweatshirts on. I was in a cotton dress. DOH. But I didn't want to miss the tram! We had plans to get dinner with another of Brian's high school friends that night back in Tulsa! No time to lose!
My mood picked up once we were in the park - there was lovely autumn theming - they went for gords and sunflowers rather than the zombies and severed limbs of Silver Dollar City - though there was a band playing some awful "Gosh I love Jesus and America" song that made me think maaaaybe I should quietly sneak back to the nice, warm car. But no! We were here! Time to enjoy it!
Silver Dollar City was not like any other amusement park I've been to. The paths were narrow and twisting and well shaded by trees. Tiny houses showcased various arts and crafts in a faux ozarks villiage. We found ourselves rather quickly in the glass making studio watching a frilled bowl be made. (Bonus it was warm in there.) There were lots of very nice high-end things to buy. We got an old-time-y photo, though I ended up getting in a bit of a semantic argument when the lady asked what era we wanted - Civil War or Victorian - and I said "Civil War IS Victorian" and she was all "No, it's not, it's Southern Belle" and I was all "Look, I know you have these costume eras roughly separated and titled, but Victorian means during the reign of Queen Victoria" and... it was awkward. Costumers should not go to old time photo places. Or they should, but they should keep their mouths shut. :P
On to the coasters! First up: Thunderation! It was cute, and odd - the train started with a mini engine and made me think it was a mine ride style. There was a short drop out of the station and then lots of sharp turns and banks! Steel track, smooth, fast, mis-directing... then another short drop into a tunnel! And... up a lift hill? Yeah. I was like "Waaaiiit... I've been on the ride for some time and now there's a lift hill?" The lift hill gave us a brief, lovely view of the surrounding hills, and then a short drop, followed by a large drop followed by a turn... into the station. Yeah... the big drop is the last thing you get on this ride! Also the train breaks hard before the station, which is uncomfortable, but we liked Thunderation just fine and the ride operator sounded EXACTLY like Yosemite Sam. We're not sure that was a put-on. He looked like the man you would cast to play 'old cowboy'.
Wildfire was directly across from the old-time-y photo place. The line and loading area had a steam punk theme with lots of pipes and boilers. Cute! The train also loaded four across, which meant that we had much less of a wait than we thought we would. The lift hill (tallest in the park) gave utterly breathtaking views of the Ozarks, with a sharp turn and mini-drop before the main drop, which was nice and steep! Yay! Then straight into a loop, and another loop, a cobra roll and corkscrew. Compare to Mantis. Would ride again. At this point I was sure this would be my favorite ride at the park and Brian agreed to ride it again once we'd done the other two roller coasters in the park.
Powderkeg Had a TNT theme, and a section of 'blown up' track along the waiting area that made me wonder if we would be lifted backward up onto this vertical structure and dropped. This idea was furthered when, after leaving the station, the train is lifted sideways to a new track! "HOLY CRAP" I thought, "WHAT IS GOING ON?" It was a mag launch, too! WEE! Magnetic launches are always fun, and FAST. Short drop, twists, turns, and then... a lift hill! Yeah. A chain-lift in the middle of a roller coaster! Then came a slightly steeper drop and a helix turn before returning to the station. Wikipedia tells me this is the longest ride at Silver Dollar City and that the lift hill and elements of theming come from the "Buzz Saw Falls" roller coaster which Powderkeg replaced. The misdirection really made this ride.
We had a bit of a wander to get to our last coaster and were making great time, so we stopped for a ride which had "features sharp drops" on the warning sign: Fire in the Hole. Good thing we stopped because this dark ride is technically classed as a roller coaster. The oldest in the park! The diaramas tell the story of a gang of arsonists setting fire to a wild west town. The most thrilling part is when you ride past a burning covered bridge, take a sharp u-bend and realize you're going onto said bridge. The drops are little quick things, think "Leap the Dips" or the haunted house at Conneaut Lake. The diaramas were silly and a bit timeworn. Water dripped on me a few times. Eew. Would not ride again.
Outlaw Run was the only coaster with a sizeable wait time, and we could tell this was the feature of the park. A little girl waiting outside the queue cried out, "Don't do it!" to her mother, who was in line before me. ADORABLE. The cars were stagecoach themed and very open, great visibility, minimal 'sides' and a snug lap bar to keep you in place. The operators seemed a bit slow checking the train, and only one train ran at a time. I don't know what I expected as we climbed the lift hill, but DAMN. There was a mini-drop before the main drop (again. Grr. They bother me. I want more main drop.) Again- gorgeous gorgeous views from the top - and OMG STEEP DROP. YAY! And then... what? WHAT? The track is twisting, going vertical! There was a heartline roll and a corkscrew - on a wooden coaster! Brian said, "I've never been on a roller coaster before and had this experience of seeing what was ahead and thinking, 'wait, are we going to do that? Oh dear, we're doing that.'"
Would ride again. Would drive through Ozarks to ride again. Four out of four screams with my hands in the air.
Apparently, according to Wikipedia, we missed the Great Exposition Coaster, which is 20 ft. tall with a drop and a helix. Uh... it must have been REALLY tiny since we managed to ride even "Fire in the Hole." But I would NOT mind going back to this fun little park. If I do, I want to have a victorian dress to wear and, quite frankly, a helicopter to drop me into the park without having to drive there! (Driving back to Tulsa was not as bad as I feared. It helps knowing that the road will continue past all the blind turns and hills.)
More on the quixotic (I choose to call it 'quixotic' rather than 'daft') adventure of driving to Missouri later.
Frontier City was a reasonable 90-minute drive from Tulsa, with one toll booth on the way. (Turnpikes in Oklahoma are odd. They just put one toll booth in the center of the turnpike and then have exit paying booths before it and refund booths after it. I wonder if they have a 'naw don't refund me' lane and rely on people being willing to pay more not to stop. I digress.)
The tiny park was all decked out in fake cobwebs and zombie maniquins, with scare-themed re-naming of the rides. (Scream Lasso, say, instead of Steel Lasso.) The parking lot was not very big and we parked, went through the main entrance, turned left, and were in line for our first coaster. Frontier City will live forever in my memory as our shortest ever Seconds to Coaster. Seriously, we were in coaster seats less than a minute after our car seats.
So - first up was the Diamondback, which sits right next to the entrance, as I said. This is a single-track mag-launch forward-and-back coaster with a single loop in the middle. So you are launched, drop, loop, go up to an equal height hill on the other side, stop, and launch backward. Backward, as usual, was more fun than forward. I was rather surprised, given the 'no wait' and all that they didn't take us forward and back a second time. Very quick ride. Thrilling on the return. Ish. Though these forward-back straight line coasters are relatively new (this one I see was built in 1993, pretty early for the style!) it felt like an old coaster in car design - Double Loop or Corkscrew-esque.
Next up was the Steel Lasso - Oklahoma's only suspended coaster! Not very tall, not very big, but lots of swinging loops, the name makes sense. This was Brian's favorite in the park.
The Silver Bullet is the tallest roller coaster in Oklahoma. Built in 1986. Very quick chain lift, and a twist to the drop hill. Surprisingly smooth! Not much air time, but enjoyable. I liked the drop.
The final coaster for the park was The Wildcat. A classic wooden coaster - I don't know when it was built, but it was relocated to the park in 1991. The line area featured a mini coaster museum and I got a thrill out of going "Rode it, rode it, need to ride it, rode it, need to ride it." But as with all the other rides, we had very little waiting time to enjoy it! Before we knew it we were on board! The classic out-and-back wooden coaster was (not surprisingly) my favorite. It also had some unexpected twists and turns. They love their sharp turns in Oklahoma! I'm afraid I may have wapped Brian in the head while keeping my hands in the air.
We found ourselves all done with the coasters 20 minutes after entering the park! We considered eating there, but I opted to hit the road and get fast food on our way back to Tulsa. The fast food was meh, so maybe that was a mistake, but we had to get back to attend the homecoming game at Brian's high school! And that was a lot of fun, too.
... or was that the reunion itself? I am somewhat hazy. Yeah, I think Friday we walked around Tulsa, photographing art deco, went to the homecoming game, and spent most of the evening talking in the library with the current librarian / Brian's classmate. Then we went to Frontier City on Saturday and came back for the reunion dinner which was in a gorgeous art deco ballroom downtown (former lobby of the Oklahoma Natural Gas building.) Pictures will be forthcoming. I wore my size 0 from goodwill dress. It was tight, but it worked for one evening. I think.
DIGRESSION! This is a roller coaster review post! On to Silver Dollar City!
Driving to Silver Dollar City was traumatic. No two ways about it. I was okay with two and a half hours of straight turnpike. I was okay with detouring through a small town with abandoned storefronts and a giant feed mill / grain silo dominating it. I was okay with lots of turns... but then we were in the hills and the road had no shoulder and hairpin turns and lots of sharp drops so you suddenly couldn't see the road ahead of you and the speed limit was 60 and the locals expected you to do this roller coaster at 70. I mean... DAMN. Yes, I was in a very nice rental car - a new silver Mustang that hugs curves like a lover - but I prefer my thrill rides to have TRACKS.
My shoulders and neck were solid pain by the time we got to the park, which was PACKED. Self-parking was a bit of a mistake. I should have taken the 'paid/valet' lane because it took another 20 minutes to find a spot a few miles from the park. "I hope we have fun here," I said, "Because WE ARE NEVER LEAVING."
I was really Breakdown Reasie at that point, sure we were going to be miserable and regret this journey. Especially because we had no idea how to get TO the park, had to wait for the tram, having just missed one, and as we waited realized we should not have left our jackets in the car - it was downright chilly in Silver Dollar City. Everyone else in line had jackets and sweatshirts on. I was in a cotton dress. DOH. But I didn't want to miss the tram! We had plans to get dinner with another of Brian's high school friends that night back in Tulsa! No time to lose!
My mood picked up once we were in the park - there was lovely autumn theming - they went for gords and sunflowers rather than the zombies and severed limbs of Silver Dollar City - though there was a band playing some awful "Gosh I love Jesus and America" song that made me think maaaaybe I should quietly sneak back to the nice, warm car. But no! We were here! Time to enjoy it!
Silver Dollar City was not like any other amusement park I've been to. The paths were narrow and twisting and well shaded by trees. Tiny houses showcased various arts and crafts in a faux ozarks villiage. We found ourselves rather quickly in the glass making studio watching a frilled bowl be made. (Bonus it was warm in there.) There were lots of very nice high-end things to buy. We got an old-time-y photo, though I ended up getting in a bit of a semantic argument when the lady asked what era we wanted - Civil War or Victorian - and I said "Civil War IS Victorian" and she was all "No, it's not, it's Southern Belle" and I was all "Look, I know you have these costume eras roughly separated and titled, but Victorian means during the reign of Queen Victoria" and... it was awkward. Costumers should not go to old time photo places. Or they should, but they should keep their mouths shut. :P
On to the coasters! First up: Thunderation! It was cute, and odd - the train started with a mini engine and made me think it was a mine ride style. There was a short drop out of the station and then lots of sharp turns and banks! Steel track, smooth, fast, mis-directing... then another short drop into a tunnel! And... up a lift hill? Yeah. I was like "Waaaiiit... I've been on the ride for some time and now there's a lift hill?" The lift hill gave us a brief, lovely view of the surrounding hills, and then a short drop, followed by a large drop followed by a turn... into the station. Yeah... the big drop is the last thing you get on this ride! Also the train breaks hard before the station, which is uncomfortable, but we liked Thunderation just fine and the ride operator sounded EXACTLY like Yosemite Sam. We're not sure that was a put-on. He looked like the man you would cast to play 'old cowboy'.
Wildfire was directly across from the old-time-y photo place. The line and loading area had a steam punk theme with lots of pipes and boilers. Cute! The train also loaded four across, which meant that we had much less of a wait than we thought we would. The lift hill (tallest in the park) gave utterly breathtaking views of the Ozarks, with a sharp turn and mini-drop before the main drop, which was nice and steep! Yay! Then straight into a loop, and another loop, a cobra roll and corkscrew. Compare to Mantis. Would ride again. At this point I was sure this would be my favorite ride at the park and Brian agreed to ride it again once we'd done the other two roller coasters in the park.
Powderkeg Had a TNT theme, and a section of 'blown up' track along the waiting area that made me wonder if we would be lifted backward up onto this vertical structure and dropped. This idea was furthered when, after leaving the station, the train is lifted sideways to a new track! "HOLY CRAP" I thought, "WHAT IS GOING ON?" It was a mag launch, too! WEE! Magnetic launches are always fun, and FAST. Short drop, twists, turns, and then... a lift hill! Yeah. A chain-lift in the middle of a roller coaster! Then came a slightly steeper drop and a helix turn before returning to the station. Wikipedia tells me this is the longest ride at Silver Dollar City and that the lift hill and elements of theming come from the "Buzz Saw Falls" roller coaster which Powderkeg replaced. The misdirection really made this ride.
We had a bit of a wander to get to our last coaster and were making great time, so we stopped for a ride which had "features sharp drops" on the warning sign: Fire in the Hole. Good thing we stopped because this dark ride is technically classed as a roller coaster. The oldest in the park! The diaramas tell the story of a gang of arsonists setting fire to a wild west town. The most thrilling part is when you ride past a burning covered bridge, take a sharp u-bend and realize you're going onto said bridge. The drops are little quick things, think "Leap the Dips" or the haunted house at Conneaut Lake. The diaramas were silly and a bit timeworn. Water dripped on me a few times. Eew. Would not ride again.
Outlaw Run was the only coaster with a sizeable wait time, and we could tell this was the feature of the park. A little girl waiting outside the queue cried out, "Don't do it!" to her mother, who was in line before me. ADORABLE. The cars were stagecoach themed and very open, great visibility, minimal 'sides' and a snug lap bar to keep you in place. The operators seemed a bit slow checking the train, and only one train ran at a time. I don't know what I expected as we climbed the lift hill, but DAMN. There was a mini-drop before the main drop (again. Grr. They bother me. I want more main drop.) Again- gorgeous gorgeous views from the top - and OMG STEEP DROP. YAY! And then... what? WHAT? The track is twisting, going vertical! There was a heartline roll and a corkscrew - on a wooden coaster! Brian said, "I've never been on a roller coaster before and had this experience of seeing what was ahead and thinking, 'wait, are we going to do that? Oh dear, we're doing that.'"
Would ride again. Would drive through Ozarks to ride again. Four out of four screams with my hands in the air.
Apparently, according to Wikipedia, we missed the Great Exposition Coaster, which is 20 ft. tall with a drop and a helix. Uh... it must have been REALLY tiny since we managed to ride even "Fire in the Hole." But I would NOT mind going back to this fun little park. If I do, I want to have a victorian dress to wear and, quite frankly, a helicopter to drop me into the park without having to drive there! (Driving back to Tulsa was not as bad as I feared. It helps knowing that the road will continue past all the blind turns and hills.)