originally posted on 12/18/2020
Photo: Paul Drabek. View full-sized image.
Coaster Christmas is more than just a chance to visit a wonderful park, ride some great coasters or hang out with fellow ACEers. It is an event that has become a tradition with many ACE families, including bringing those nonenthusiast relatives along for a wonderful weekend of fun to kick off the holiday season.
This year, as with everything else in the world, Coaster Christmas at Silver Dollar City (Branson, Missouri) was a little different because of the ongoing pandemic. Social distancing and masks were the norm for the weekend. There were a few temporary changes to the event, including no park presentations, no exclusive seating for shows because the park’s indoor theaters were closed, no group meal at the Reunion Hall and precautions like temperature checks and hand sanitizer before boarding any rides. The goal of the weekend was to keep everyone safe as well as have a great time together … albeit with six feet between attendees.
This year 142 ACE members and guests from 19 states ventured from as far away as California to the west and New Hampshire to the east to the Heart of America region.
Traditionally the weekend begins on Friday night with heavily discounted rides on the Runaway Mountain Coaster. Attendees who registered early were able to pick up their registration packets and event shirts before hopping in line for a high-speed trip on 1,900 feet of track through the woods with an elevation change of 330 feet over the length of the ride.
Fire in the Hole was not affected by the weather.
Photo: Matt Lawskowski. View full-sized image.
Saturday, November 14, was the day to experience Silver Dollar City. The morning began with an hour of exclusive ride time, which was to include Outlaw Run, Powder Keg and Fire in the Hole. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn’t quite cooperate with scheduled plans and instead dropped bucketloads of rain on attendees which kept two of the three rides for ERT closed. In response, attendees enjoyed the park’s wonderful cinnamon rolls, pierogi, coffee and wassail for breakfast as well and lapped the wonderfully fun indoor Fire in the Hole coaster/dark ride over and over.
Owing to the rain, rides were slow to begin operating once the park opened, so many attendees took advantage of their meal voucher to try out the park’s new Riverside Smokehouse. With it being damp and temperatures in the 50s, the Smokehouse’s heated outdoor seating came in handy.
Photo: Matt Lawskowski. View full-sized image.
ACEers enjoyed lunch at the new Riverside Smokehouse.
Photo: Paul Drabek. View full-sized image.
Once the rain moved off, rides began to open and guests were allowed to wander the park, taking in rides like the Flooded Mine, Time Traveler, Outlaw Run (which was up and down during the day), Powder Keg, Wildfire, the Grand Exposition Coaster and the classic Thunderation mine train coaster. Everyone was given one jump-to-the-head-of-the-line pass, and many saved theirs for the Frisco Silver Dollar Line train ride. During Silver Dollar City’s An Old Time Christmas festival, the notorious train robbers Alphie and Ralphie take a break and are replaced with holiday lights and a grandfather telling the story of the season. The line for this quickly turns to hours after the sun goes down, so the front of the line passes came in handy.
Thunderation. Photo: Matt Lawskowski. View full-sized image.
With more than six million lights decorating Silver Dollar City during An Old Time Christmas, the park is nothing short of breathtaking at night. Near closing time, Mother Nature decided to add a few more lights to the event and filled the western horizon with lightning. Many ACEers saw this as a sign to head back to the hotel. Shortly after closing, everyone’s cell phones lit up with tornado warnings as sirens began to blare. As a result, there were a few informal get togethers of ACEers on the ground floor of the Best Western as everyone sheltered in place while the storm rolled by.
Photo: Matt Lawskowski. View full-sized image.
Photo: Matt Lawskowski. View full-sized image.
The storm wasn’t the end of the weekend, however, as Sunday morning some ACE members headed to Snowflex for tubing down Wolfe Mountain while others headed to the Branson Belle for lunch and a show.
Coaster Christmas is a tradition for many members, and there is always room for more to join in the festivities. Coaster Christmas 2021 is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of November 12-14, 2021, so pencil it in on calendars and check out aceheartofamerica.org next summer for updates.
— Paul Drabek
ACE Heart of America Regional Representative
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