Nestled in the Ozark Mountains near Branson, Missouri, Silver Dollar City is a theme park with an 1880s feel that has won numerous awards worldwide for its outstanding theme, presentation, and management.
It has 40 rides and attractions and is home to multiple record-breaking roller coasters. Recently, it celebrated the opening of Fire in the Hole, the largest indoor family coaster in the Midwest. The new coaster replaces the original Fire in the Hole, a 51-year-old coaster that closed in December 2023 after welcoming more than 25 million riders.
Over three decades of experience at Silver Dollar City
Brad Thomas joined Silver Dollar City in 1991 and has held various executive roles in park management, merchandise, and special events. In 2000, he was promoted to general manager and was appointed senior vice president in 2008. In this role, he is also in charge of Silver Dollar City, Showboat Branson Belle, and White Water’s daily operations.
Thomas graduated from Missouri State University with an MBA and a bachelor’s degree (cum laude). He is the current head of the board of directors of the Leadership Missouri Alumni Association and a 2005 graduate of Leadership Missouri. The International Festivals and Events Association has awarded him the Certified Festival and Event Executive (CFEE) certification.
“As a kid, I was blessed to have parents who would take me to theme parks,” he tells blooloop. “When I was a small child, we lived in Texas and went to [Six Flags] AstroWorld, near the Astrodome in Houston. Then, our journey brought us to Missouri. I visited Silver Dollar City as a kid and always thought it would be fun to work here.”
Having graduated, Thomas, who had been working in a department store and keeping an eye on opportunities at Silver Dollar City, achieved his dream:
“I didn’t know what my career journey would look like. But I knew a family-owned theme park based in southern Missouri with big dreams, hopes, and aspirations would be an incredible place to work.”
Accordingly, he began working in merchandise in a training program 33 years ago:
“Fast-forward to now, and I have done a whole variety of things over three decades here in the company.”
A spectacular setting
Silver Dollar City is situated in the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri, around 15 miles from Arkansas.
“Our terrain is beautiful and changes by season,” he says. “The Ozark Mountains are known predominantly for the trees and beautiful landscapes, but we’re also known for our lakes.
“The White River flowed through the Ozark Mountains in the early part of the 20th century, when it started being dammed. It was a significant body of water that flowed between Missouri and Arkansas, in and out of each state, until it reached Memphis and connected with the Mississippi River. There was a great deal of river trading in the Ozark Mountains, and many dams were created.”
“That means lots of fun because now there are warm-water lakes throughout the Ozark Mountains where you can boat, waterski, swim, and fish for bass.”
Leading sporting and hunting goods retailer Bass Pro Shops (BPC) has roots and national HQ in the Ozark Mountains. Thomas comments:
“If it weren’t for the lakes of the Ozarks, there wouldn’t be a Bass Pro. The fishing and outdoor lifestyle make people want to live here and draw people worldwide to visit. It’s one of the few places where you can do warm and cold water fishing. There’s a lot of outdoor fun and hiking for families and sportsmen.”
The origins of Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City is located over Marvel Cave, which was a mine in the 1880s. This is the basis of its 1880s theme.
“Marvel Cave is significantly sized,” he comments. “When you walk into the Cathedral Room of Marvel Cave, you’ll notice the grandeur and height of the natural ceiling. It’s breathtaking.”
There was a small mining town above the mine in the 1880s:
“A family named Lynch bought that mine and the land in the 1890s. In 1894, a hundred and thirty years ago, the first tourists started visiting to do tours of Marvel Cave. Fast forward to 1946, and the Herschends came down from Chicago.”
The Lynch sisters were operating the cave at this point. When they retired in 1950, they offered the Herschends a 99-year lease on Marvel Cave. That summer, Marvel Cave drew 8,000 visitors.
“On May 1st, 1960, the Herschends opened the Main Street of what was basically an 1880s-themed mining town,” he explains. “The objective was for guests to be able to queue for tours in the cave, which was still the driving force in the Silver Dollar City 1880s. Mining Town was just a place for folks to spend some time and enjoy some entertainment and crafts while waiting on the next Marvel Cave tour.”
Within a couple of years, the Herschends realised that what they were building was a theme park.
“The story goes on from there,” he says. “The roots of Herschend Entertainment come from the Silver Dollar City that opened on May 1st, 1960.”
Family values
Today, Silver Dollar City remains owned by the Herschend family and underpinned by its core family values:
“Obviously, we have to make money, or we can’t continue to exist,” Thomas concedes. “But safety is our number one priority, and we balance that with ensuring our guests have an incredible experience.
“Our mission is to create memories worth repeating. We also care deeply about our employees; we are measured on our customer and employee scores and how we treat each other. We make sure that folks want to visit us and people want to work with us.”
In terms of the target demographic, Thomas explains:
“Most of our visitors come from Chicago to Houston, Denver to Memphis. We also have international visitors and guests from all 50 states.”
The targeted messaging matches the demographic profile:
“We are a place for families to come and enjoy time together. That’s our passion.”
While many of the visitors are families, he says:
“At Spring, Fall, and Christmas, we have significant numbers of adult empty-nesters. They may do rollercoasters but also want entertainment, shopping, and cuisine. They want to sample a taste of the Ozark Mountains. It’s our goal—and our passion—not only to entertain them but also to give them a sample of the culture of the middle of the United States.”
Meeting guest expectations
Silver Dollar City opened for the season on 9 March this year:
“We’re open when the middle of the United States is experiencing spring breaks. Many families spend their spring breaks in Branson, the Ozarks, and Silver Dollar City. As we move on into April, we ensure that we have special events, festivals, shows and entertainment that will appeal to adult couples visiting without kids. Again, they may enjoy thrill coasters but also want a more diverse experience than just the rides. We do our festivals and events to ensure that those adult couples can also enjoy this special place.”
Guest expectations drive Silver Dollar City’s offering. He explains:
“One of our value statements includes understanding our guests’ ever-changing expectations. A core principle of our company, and indeed of Silver Dollar City, is that we do intense market research. We look to our current visitors to understand what they love and what they want to see changed and improved. We also look at non-visitors to understand why they are not visiting. That helps drive our short-term decisions as well as our longer-term strategy to understand and stay relevant.
“Our theme may be an 1880s mining town, but we know that our guests want digital tickets. Our website is state-of-the-art web technology. Guests can purchase their ticket, download it on their mobile app, and bring that digital ticket to our front gate to enter.”
Looking forward at Silver Dollar City
While the entertainment offerings stay true to the 1880s theming, he adds:
“We are not a preservation experience. That allows us to modify our entertainment. Our rollercoasters are high-tech, though the guests don’t see that technology. We constantly look at our guests’ ever-changing expectations. We have launched mobile pickup offerings for our food establishments. For example, guests can use their mobile app to place an order, then go to a pickup window at selected dining facilities and pick up their order.”
“We know that that’s what the consumer expects, so we continue to adapt to those changing demands.”
The key is to look forward as well as back.
In that spirit, Silver Dollar City’s new $30 million Fire in the Hole Coaster, which opened on 30 March 2024, features cutting-edge immersive technology while commemorating a historic night in the Ozark mining town and honouring its predecessor, the original 1972 Fire in the Hole attraction.
Fire in the Hole
“The new attraction is replacing a 51-year legacy ride,” Thomas says. “In 1972, Silver Dollar City opened the original Fire in the Hole, the longest-running indoor coaster in North America. It achieved a ridership of over 20 million riders. It was a legacy ride telling the true, authentic story of the night the mining town burned to the ground in the 1880s.”
The coaster, which had a lower height requirement than many such rides, was a much-loved attraction from its opening in 1972 until its closure in 2023:
“It served us incredibly well. Our research showed it was a sacred cow, one of those experiences at Silver Dollar City that our guests always expected to have here.”
However:
“The ride was at a point where we needed to make a significant change. So, we decided to build a new experience. It opened at the end of March this year, taking guests on a fiery journey through a burning town.”
The theme is the recruitment of volunteers to help put out the fire:
“As you walk through the queue, you’ll see the call for those volunteers to board the passenger train transporting water, to go be heroes and help extinguish the fire engulfing the town.”
A whole new ride experience
The largest indoor coaster in the Midwest, Fire in the Hole is manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC). The new ride is housed in a five-storey, climate-controlled building and includes 14 immersive scenes.
Using state-of-the-art technology, including onboard audio and enhanced digital displays, it carries riders across a 1,512-foot track at 8 feet per second, enjoying three drops and a final water splashdown.
“Children four or five years old will be able to ride with their grandparents,” he says. It’s a moderate rather than a high-thrill ride. The darkness of the experience allows us to use a lot of theatrical lighting, flame effects, and fire effects to transport our guests on a fun journey through the town.”
The decision to replace the original ride was, Thomas concedes, a difficult one:
“First, we explored whether we could modify the structure of the existing ride to allow it to stand the test of time for another 30 or 40 years. We decided that to be efficient and financially prudent, it would be better to begin all over again.”
“Now, this new ride will stand the test of time for decades to come.”
It also affords the chance to reimagine the telling of the story of the night when a vigilante mob set fire to the Ozark mining town, and the citizens fought the flames.
“We did take some liberties with the story and some of the town’s characters. But telling that story in an authentic way is a special gift to this brand and this park.”
Festivals and events at Silver Dollar City
As far as future plans are concerned, he adds:
“Each year, we review our festivals and events and continue to change and grow them. They change by season. We introduced a new event for spring 2024 that mixes entertainment with food, which is a key part of the DNA of most of our festivals.
“As we head into Fall, we are known for our craft event. For 60+ years, Silver Dollar City has gathered artisans and crafts folks from all over the United States, who practise their crafts on the streets of Silver Dollar City in a way that would be believable for the 1880s.”
Five years ago, an illuminated pumpkin event was added:
“Fall has grown exponentially since then. We’re open until nine or 10 o’clock in the evenings in September and October. Families come from all over the United States to visit this event. It’s really friendly; we don’t want a 3-year-old or a 93-year-old to be frightened. We have thousands of illuminated pumpkins. 23-foot pumpkin sculptures are nestled throughout the streets of the city.
“In the daytime, when the sun’s shining, they add an autumn glow. Then, once the sun sets, thousands of illuminated pumpkins all along the streets of this 1880s mining town make us a draw. Folks will drive past many different fall events to be able to come to Silver Dollar City.”
The Silver Dollar City Christmas event grows larger every year. Thomas says:
“We will continue to invest in those. We also have plans for rides into the future.”
More announcements to come
He doesn’t elaborate on these plans but does offer a teaser:
“Silver Dollar City is 64 years old this spring. Adjacent to Silver Dollar City, we have 1000 acres of land to our west.”
Currently, Silver Dollar City and its parking lots sit on around two hundred acres:
“It has taken us 63 years to develop those 200 acres. The thousand acres we have to our west have incredible views of the Ozarks and some lakefront acreage on the banks of Table Rock Lake. From a long-term perspective, there will be decades of announcements that will be forthcoming – from a park in southern Missouri called Silver Dollar City.”
