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[Wildfire]

Absolutely wild watching everyone fall apart in this forum over a family coaster.

It's pretty obvious there are mostly young people here going off the fact that "Hagrids-level theming" was expected. Miner's Mountain Express is a sub $50 million investment. Hagrids cost Universal $300 million. Universal and Disney spend huge sums of money on their theming, and regional parks just don't have that budget.

With that said, I think MME's theming looks great, even right now. Walking through the site this morning made me appreciate just how much rock they've laid. It's a huge area with a LOT of landscaping. The finished path by the tower already has some nice plant life coming in. The station area itself is bare, but I see the potential there.

In terms of the ride, I knew to expect a family coaster, so I was actually surprised to see more intense/interesting elements in the layout. A wave turn? Great. Some surprisingly long airtime hills? Incredible. And the weird trick-track thing in the tunnel is going to feel bonkers, I know it.

Many elements feel like a direct callback to Thunderation. That final dive out of the tunnel is a completely mirrored moment. The exit from the station, too. And the second or third helix (the one that banks almost 90º) is reminiscent of Thunderation's tightening spiral into the tunnel.

One of those lifts is almost 100', too! It won't sit too far below Powderkeg.

I don't love the name, but from what I've heard, that was a corporate decision. I'm super hyped about the name for the new section of the park. Daredevil Pass freaking rips.

I take it as a compliment you think I'm young, I will be 45 in December.  The "best theme park in America" SHOULD be on a Universal/Disney level.  This coaster is not even in the ballpark of the theming those parks have.  Maybe quit marketing it as the best when it clearly is not.

ignore what wildfire has to say all he's doing is bringing negativity to this forum

Dude I have been a season pass holder all my life.  I absolutely love SDC, but it is an absolute joke for it to be "the best theme park in America".  It is not even in the ballpark with theming compared to Universal or Disney.  If they truly want to be the best, then quit cheaping out on theming

[RowEleven]

Something I haven't heard anyone mention is the announcement art. I think the concept art of both the ride and Daredevil Pass are pretty great. The color schemes and textures of the key art are miles above what other parks have released this year.

The announcement video is also phenomenal. People put a LOT of effort into the announcement materials.

[Potential]

Absolutely wild watching everyone fall apart in this forum over a family coaster.

It's pretty obvious there are mostly young people here going off the fact that "Hagrids-level theming" was expected. Miner's Mountain Express is a sub $50 million investment. Hagrids cost Universal $300 million. Universal and Disney spend huge sums of money on their theming, and regional parks just don't have that budget.

With that said, I think MME's theming looks great, even right now. Walking through the site this morning made me appreciate just how much rock they've laid. It's a huge area with a LOT of landscaping. The finished path by the tower already has some nice plant life coming in. The station area itself is bare, but I see the potential there.

In terms of the ride, I knew to expect a family coaster, so I was actually surprised to see more intense/interesting elements in the layout. A wave turn? Great. Some surprisingly long airtime hills? Incredible. And the weird trick-track thing in the tunnel is going to feel bonkers, I know it.

Many elements feel like a direct callback to Thunderation. That final dive out of the tunnel is a completely mirrored moment. The exit from the station, too. And the second or third helix (the one that banks almost 90º) is reminiscent of Thunderation's tightening spiral into the tunnel.

One of those lifts is almost 100', too! It won't sit too far below Powderkeg.

I don't love the name, but from what I've heard, that was a corporate decision. I'm super hyped about the name for the new section of the park. Daredevil Pass freaking rips.

I take it as a compliment you think I'm young, I will be 45 in December.  The "best theme park in America" SHOULD be on a Universal/Disney level.  This coaster is not even in the ballpark of the theming those parks have.  Maybe quit marketing it as the best when it clearly is not.

ignore what wildfire has to say all he's doing is bringing negativity to this forum

Dude I have been a season pass holder all my life.  I absolutely love SDC, but it is an absolute joke for it to be "the best theme park in America".  It is not even in the ballpark with theming compared to Universal or Disney.  If they truly want to be the best, then quit cheaping out on theming

why would you expect them to be in the same ballpark as universal or disney they're not close in terms of appeal but what makes SDC better is that has great atmosphere and the feelness of the park is something you won't experience at any other park

also they're called the best theme park in america because fans voted them to be the best theme park it's not like they just chose to be called that

and again there's no need to be pressed

[Potential]

Something I haven't heard anyone mention is the announcement art. I think the concept art of both the ride and Daredevil Pass are pretty great. The color schemes and textures of the key art are miles above what other parks have released this year.

The announcement video is also phenomenal. People put a LOT of effort into the announcement materials.

yes it's very creative and it's also a good thing there wasn't AI involed because that's been kind of a problem with theme parks nowadays

[Wildfire]

Absolutely wild watching everyone fall apart in this forum over a family coaster.

It's pretty obvious there are mostly young people here going off the fact that "Hagrids-level theming" was expected. Miner's Mountain Express is a sub $50 million investment. Hagrids cost Universal $300 million. Universal and Disney spend huge sums of money on their theming, and regional parks just don't have that budget.

With that said, I think MME's theming looks great, even right now. Walking through the site this morning made me appreciate just how much rock they've laid. It's a huge area with a LOT of landscaping. The finished path by the tower already has some nice plant life coming in. The station area itself is bare, but I see the potential there.

In terms of the ride, I knew to expect a family coaster, so I was actually surprised to see more intense/interesting elements in the layout. A wave turn? Great. Some surprisingly long airtime hills? Incredible. And the weird trick-track thing in the tunnel is going to feel bonkers, I know it.

Many elements feel like a direct callback to Thunderation. That final dive out of the tunnel is a completely mirrored moment. The exit from the station, too. And the second or third helix (the one that banks almost 90º) is reminiscent of Thunderation's tightening spiral into the tunnel.

One of those lifts is almost 100', too! It won't sit too far below Powderkeg.

I don't love the name, but from what I've heard, that was a corporate decision. I'm super hyped about the name for the new section of the park. Daredevil Pass freaking rips.

I take it as a compliment you think I'm young, I will be 45 in December.  The "best theme park in America" SHOULD be on a Universal/Disney level.  This coaster is not even in the ballpark of the theming those parks have.  Maybe quit marketing it as the best when it clearly is not.

ignore what wildfire has to say all he's doing is bringing negativity to this forum

Dude I have been a season pass holder all my life.  I absolutely love SDC, but it is an absolute joke for it to be "the best theme park in America".  It is not even in the ballpark with theming compared to Universal or Disney.  If they truly want to be the best, then quit cheaping out on theming

why would you expect them to be in the same ballpark as universal or disney they're not close in terms of appeal but what makes SDC better is that has great atmosphere and the feelness of the park is something you won't experience at any other park

also they're called the best theme park in america because fans voted them to be the best theme park it's not like they just chose to be called that

and again there's no need to be pressed

The park PR does this massive social media campaign every year to get SDC voted as the best theme park in America, so they obviously fancy themselves as something they are not willing to spend the money to truly be.  My advice is stop claiming to be the best theme park if you want to cheap out on theming.  Let me be clear, SDC is my home park, I give them hundreds of my money each year.  But it is not even close to the best park in America. And yes, I visit other parks.

[Potential]

ok so you think sdc is not the best park in america that's fine you're entitled to your opinion I just don't see the point of arguing over a family coaster it's not gonna get you anywere

[MidwestInfoGuide]

Here's our coverage of the MME announcement event from this morning

https://www.midwestinfoguide.com/2026/08/silver-dollar-city-miners-mountain.html

Here's our coverage from the construction tour

https://www.midwestinfoguide.com/2026/08/silver-dollar-city-miners-mountain_01590052611.html

[Wildfire]

ok so you think sdc is not the best park in america that's fine you're entitled to your opinion I just don't see the point of arguing over a family coaster it's not gonna get you anywere

Ultimately SDC's marketing department sucks.  They build up this anticipation of something spectacular, on the scale of the real best in America parks, and then give us this very meh mine train, not 1st of it's kind in the states, not heavily themed coaster

[Potential]

ok so you think sdc is not the best park in america that's fine you're entitled to your opinion I just don't see the point of arguing over a family coaster it's not gonna get you anywere

Ultimately SDC's marketing department sucks.  They build up this anticipation of something spectacular, on the scale of the real best in America parks, and then give us this very meh mine train, not 1st of it's kind in the states, not heavily themed coaster

again I understand but I do think your underestimating some things

first of all silver dollar city is a family theme park so you should expect them to open some family coasters

second of all the theming in this ride is not all bad i can tell this is the most themed ride at sdc
plus we also don't even have the full aspect of the theming it might look bad to you because you only saw an animated POV usually those animated POV aren't going to be the full thing when it comes to themed rides

[hollijo]

I think it's a really good addition. The layout looks great for a family coaster and especially includes some genuinely fun-looking elements in the second half. The first half twister looks fun as well. This one's all about perspective. If you see it as a great family coaster for SDC, that's exactly what it is. And as much as I would have loved to see some drop tracks/switch tracks, all of those are cause for extra downtime SDC was looking to avoid. However, I also agree marketing stretched this quite a bit with the whole "longest family coaster in the Midwest" and "First in the U-S hype". I think we will find this to be more enjoyable than expected. Note: I'm also excited for a calm, comfortable, super re-rideable attraction to be at the park.

[SDCisHome]

ok so you think sdc is not the best park in america that's fine you're entitled to your opinion I just don't see the point of arguing over a family coaster it's not gonna get you anywere

Ultimately SDC's marketing department sucks.  They build up this anticipation of something spectacular, on the scale of the real best in America parks, and then give us this very meh mine train, not 1st of it's kind in the states, not heavily themed coaster

Sounds like the marketing department did their job. You got excited and then were let down because the ride is not what you wanted. So you're choosing to pout about not getting what you want, you think everything sucks, the park sucks and you could do better. We all give a lot of money to the park. I'm 33 and have had a season pass for 33 years, doesn't mean I'm entitled to anything. You have zero clue as to how this ride will turnout, none of us do... so you can continue to be negative and hopefully not renew your season passport since you think everything they do is terrible and "meh". I'm also a Disney World Annual Passholder as well.

[Coaster]

I think this looks like a great addition to the park! Looks highly re-rideable and frankly, I'm glad it's a high capacity ride without any extra gimmicks. It fits the theme of the park and will fill a major need once TNT is gone. I would have loved more cave elements, but this looks really nice. I love the authentic mining headframe.

I don't love the name. Maybe it will grow on me but right now, it lacks originality and is not special. I do love Daredevils Pass and the fact that the area will finally be connected and no longer a dead end.

[jericho]

While this ride is a letdown for thoosies, its necessary for the park with TNT going away. I stopped riding TNT a few years ago because its was just too rough for me, so I'm glad we are getting a modern update. I am jealous of the ride Dollywood previewed today however. I love dark rides and simulators and Nightflight sounds incredible from the early reviews. If Dollywood can keep it running smooth with all the tech that ride has, it will be a huge hit for the park. Hopefully SDC can get a replacement for Flooded Mine with the same Mack rocking boat system.

[mg]

Anyone see anything about max speed yet? I would imagine it would be around 40-45mph but that's just a guess.

The representative from Mack said about 50 going down the hill.

[sdcfan88]

ok so you think sdc is not the best park in america that's fine you're entitled to your opinion I just don't see the point of arguing over a family coaster it's not gonna get you anywere

Ultimately SDC's marketing department sucks.  They build up this anticipation of something spectacular, on the scale of the real best in America parks, and then give us this very meh mine train, not 1st of it's kind in the states, not heavily themed coaster

Agreed 100% the Rose Colored Glasses syndrome is quite strong with a lot of folks. This will be my last year I hold a pass until they follow thru with their hype and stop making inferior additions ripped from Rollercoaster Tycoon on a Friday Afternoon at the expense of a classic. (Flooded Mine will be next to share this fate) Vote with your money. WOF or SFOT will be getting more of my attention now. Tormenta looks pretty sweet and something like it would have worked well here at SDC.

This TNT replacement is also a laughable addition for hosting Coaster Con next year. They could have really knocked it out of the park with something epic but decided to play it safe with the bare minimum again. But hey this new low capacity kids coaster will serve its purpose in boosting trailblazer sales from the GP.