Silver Dollar City - Miner's Mountain Express Construction

 

Let's check back in on the progress being made at Miner's Mountain Express.

Here you can see where the track will come off of the second lift on the left

Here is where the reconstructed viewing area for PowderKeg will be and the pathway down into the rest of Daredevil's Pass

Some major lifting equipment down by the station

Here we acan see the first pieces of track support have gone vertical.  These connect to the supports on top of the station for the fly-through

The many supports of the helix garden

We would imagine that we'll start seeing supports and track going vertical in here soon

Safety net being installed near the American Plunge entrance

This section of the course is going to be a lot of fun with the many directional changes it will go through

There will be a lot more rock work added before the ride is done

All of the signage they had up for media day has been taken down and the section is fenced back off

They had a boom up working on the tower today

Not sure exactly what they were working on but they kept going up and down in the boom with supplies

Over by the station, they were hard at work getting the foundation for the queue building in place

Hard to see here, but they have dug out trenches where they will soon add rebar and concrete to form the foundations

They have done some additional wood work on the facade of the station on all four sides

Looking out at the staging area behind Outlaw Run from the train.  You can see there are a lot of timber beams ready to go in somewhere at the construction site

Silver Dollar City - Miner's Mountain Express Construction Tour

 

CONSTRUCTION TOUR

Welcome to the Construction Tour for Miner's Mountain Express

The first stop is the courtyard where MME will fly by the headframe and water feature.  Here you will find the MME Story Lore

A layout photo with different aspects of the ride highlighted

The backstory on this specific headframe, which came from the Doe Run Mine

This 15 story headframe is quite impressive and it features a working pulley that lifts that red bucket

The wheel on top also spins.

Time to head into the station

Here is where the new pathway to PowderKeg will be located.  We will finally have a completed circle in the new Daredevil Pass section of the park

They have made a lot of progress on the station.  You will enter via the queue in the right opening.  The next opening to the left will be the exit from the ride.  The boarded off opening is where the coaster trains will exit the station

Looking at where the trains will fly through the top of the station

This is the loading area.  You will enter the trains on the left and exit on the right

This side will be split between the queue and then the exit area.  The ride is supposed to have pass through cubbies like you can find at Fire in the Hole

This is the load side of the station

We're not sure what these stairs are for, but the go down to the basement. 

Maybe Trailblazer will use them?

Couple of things to point out here.  The big cluster of footers is going to be the maintenance shed.  In the lower right hand corner of the photo you can see two supports staged, meaning we are close to going vertical

Looking towards Wildfire now, the footers closest to the station are the exit and meander pathway to the first lift

The track will thread in and out of Wildfire's supports

Right here it will pass under the final brake run and turn past the maintenance building, which will have its block break and transfer track right before the first lift

The first lift will then head up this way to the right

That lift hill continues up and over the hill into the helix garden

Speaking of the helix garden, this is what it looked like today

Then you go up the second lift hill and do a curve and come back towards Wildfire

Passing by the headframe it heads back towards the station

Following these footers it is headed towards the footers on top of the station

It then curves and heads towards PowderKeg's launch before turning and heading into the bat cave which is along the first hill of PowderKeg

After exiting the tunnel it does a floater hill before diving into this final curve

It then heads back up this way

And back into the station

One last thing to note before we head out - they have started to install the safety netting near the walkway to Wildfire.  We think this means we are getting close to start seeing vertical construction in that area

Silver Dollar City - Miner's Mountain Express Announcement

 

ANNOUNCEMENT

Welcome to the BIG DAY when we get to find out all of the details for Silver Dollar City's 2027 major addition

Today's Town Hall meeting will be taking place in the Opera House

While we waited for the doors to open, Casey and the Attaboys performed

This helper was also on hand to welcome guests

Heading into the Opera House - they have really gone all out

Foreman, Jedidah "Jed" Campbell was in his office as we were entering

The stage looks great.  Miners are hard at work

Some miners were out in the audience interacting with attendees as they entered

It appears that we are getting close

Jedidah "Jed" Campbell, says that it's time to get this meeting started

Park President, Brad Thomas welcomes everyone and updates on the latest park projects including the new Christmas Parade.  He also stated that between the new resort and this new ride the park is investing $150 Million Dollars, part of the $500 Million Pledge that began with New Fire in the Hole

Brad gives Jed his blessing on laying a new track to start mining again in the City

Next, a Cave Guide walks us through the story of Marvel Cave

With the help of a few of the Mini Miners, he tells about the true story of the Marble (Marvel) Mine Company and how it became a tourist attraction

The story of the Cave is far from over...

The following are snapshots from the announcement video

Out first glimpse of the new ride

New for 2027 - Miner's Mountain Express

The Bat Cave sounds interesting

View of the station with the fly through going over head

There are also pass through cubbies on the left

Looks like a great addition to the park

All of the Mini Miners on the stage for a group photo

Passing back through the office on the way out

Guests were presented with a box of goodies as they departed the event.

After the event, we had the pleasure to talk with Brad Thomas.  He told us that the large mining tower that's now next to Wildfire came from the Doe Run Mine located in southeast Missouri and that it is still a working mine. It was fun to hear about his excitement for this new attraction but also several projects in the works at SDC

Next we visited with Max Roeser from Mack Rides.  He gave us more info on the ride including that it will have a ride time of over 3 minutes, 3,553 feet of track and that the two lifts will be 97 feet and 69.5 feet.  We thanked him for coming from half way around the world to be here today

Our last interview was with Merrill Puckett Miller, the Chief Creative Officer for Herschend Creative Studios.  It was fun to hear about the process behind the storytelling of the ride.  She also mentioned that some surprises we'll encounter on the ride haven't been shared yet.  That makes us even more excited to ride

After the interview session we were invited to Fried Fancies for lunch

There was quite the spread and we thank the culinary department for the crafting the meal

While we were eating, Casey and the Attaboys performed some more.

One last thing check out this cake that was made for the event.

We had a great time at the event - probably the best one yet and thank Nick Guevel and Joey Thorsen for the invite. One last thing, here's a look at the special edition t-shirts they had for purchase in the Hospitality House as we were leaving for the day