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It feels like things with lots of hype rarely live up to those very high expectations. Case in point: "The Rise of Skywalker". That film had a ton of anticipation but ultimately resulted in nothing but disappointment for most viewers. Now, I know there are those out there that really like the movie (like my friend, Teddy) but for me, one viewing was enough. Even though I really like the Star Wars franchise, years later, I still haven't gone back for another viewing. Lucky for Ellie and Ethan, their trip to Silver Dollar City did not turn into their own personal "Rise of Skywalker". In fact, that was far from the case.
On Tuesday morning on our vacation, we found ourselves in the car at approximately 9:10 in the morning ready to head to a Silver Dollar City that didn't actually open until 9:30. No problem though as we just wanted to make sure we were there on time. Once we arrived at the park and made our way inside, it didn't take Ellie long to start letting us know exactly what she wanted to do. You see, a little over a week earlier, Ellie had sat down with Bethany and watched a video detailing many of the attractions at SDC. From there, she had made quite the comprehensive list of things to do and see. So, taking that into account, we started our morning out with a quick trip to the American Plunge.
The American Plunge, as you can probably guess, is a water-themed ride. It's specifically a "log flume" ride somewhat akin to the Viking Voyager. Leaving Ethan with my parents, Bethany, Ellie, and I hopped into the queue for the ride and were on a raft seconds later. We headed down the track through various tunnels before climbing up a hill and then cascading down it. Ellie absolutely loved it and couldn't wait for round two. The lone difference between round one and round two is that we decided to invite Ethan along for the fun. With Ellie in the front, Bethany behind her, and Ethan directly in front of me, we gleefully took another trip down the American Plunge. Ellie, true to form, loved it again. Surprisingly enough, so did Ethan. I was afraid the massive drop might frighten him but that could not have been farther from the truth.
From there, we wandered over to one of the kids' areas entitled The Great Exposition and spent some time riding the various rides there within. My personal favorite experience had to have been riding the spinning tea cups with Ethan. Ellie absolutely hates spinning rides so the last thing in the world she wanted to do was ride those cups. However, Ethan was all about it. In fact, he just kept yelling "Faster, faster Daddy!" over and over until he was falling over in his seat.
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| This is a stick-up! |
After one more quick ride (the Flooded Mine), we stopped at one of the many restaurants in the park for lunch and a nice break before getting back to it. Bethany and I knew that at this point of the day, it was a near certainty the kids would be tired. Therefore, we had already made the strategic decision to ride the Silver Dollar City railroad after lunch. With any luck, we thought Ethan might even be able to take a short nap. About two minutes after the train left the station, Ethan was fast asleep in Bethany's arms. 20 minutes later, the train pulled back into the station and Ethan was still asleep. Therefore, we decided it was an appropriate time to call an audible and head to get some ice cream before heading for some more rides.
All told, Ethan slept for over an hour. I will say that I felt bad for poor Bethany having to carry him through the park during his nap since we didn't want him to wake up. However, that didn't stop Ellie and me from riding some rides close to where Bethany was sitting on a bench with Ethan. Finally, Ethan awoke and the time Ellie had been waiting for had come. It was time to ride Mystic River Falls! From the first time she heard of the ride, it was number one on her list of things to do at Silver Dollar City. We left Ethan with my parents and headed to the ride queue for Mystic River Falls. Somewhat unfortunately for us, the wait for pretty length. Over the next 45 minutes, we slowly inched our way through the line until finally the time had come for us to board our 8 person raft with another family of five.
As we set out along our wild river adventure, Ellie's smile could not have been any bigger. The first part of the ride is fairly standard fare for a river-raft ride. I will say that I was feeling a little jealous of everyone else in the raft though as somewhat inexplicably, I didn't get a drop of water above my ankles for the entire first half of our ride. Finally, we reached the second half of the ride that makes Mystic River Falls so special. Our raft was loaded onto an automatic elevator and lifted to an elevated water slide high above the rest of the ride. With a gentle push from a pneumatic arm, our raft started flying down a fast track before finally coming to a splashing stop far below where we had started.
With that, we departed our raft and met my parents and Ethan for some more SDC fun. While we had been away, my dad had taken the opportunity to get Ethan some ice cream of his own and he took him on the RiverBlast ride to boot. In case you're wondering, the RiverBlast ride consists of a gentle ride down a flat track. That may sound boring until you remember that you have a crank-powered water gun in front of you with people on the side of the track spraying at you with one of their own. I have to say that it made me smile to see Ethan and his Papa completely soaked from their ride.
From there, we decided it was time to begin winding down our trip to SDC and began slowly making our way through the park for the final time. If I had any regrets from our trip, it would have to be that we didn't take enough time to enjoy some of the craftsmen working on various things. Although, I'm not entirely certain that all of the craftsmen were there. That being said, we did enjoy walking through the glass store and seeing the products made by the SDC glass blowers. Ellie, for her part, was super inquisitive and wanted to learn everything she could about glass blowing. Finally, we exited the park around 5:30 and headed back to our condo.
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| #Jailbird |
In case you're wondering if we have any plans of going to SDC again, I'd say that's a near certainty. In fact, before we even got back to the condo, Ellie was already asking when we could go again. She even asked if we could go back the next day. Unfortunately, we would be heading back home the next day as our trip was over. However, I'd say that's a pretty strong affirmation that she had a great time, wouldn't you?
#DaddyWrite
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