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 Aug 26, 2004
Celebration City is a small park that offers a variety of thrill rides. The park has some strange hours but I’ve been told that it’s supposed to be the follow up to Silver Dollar City. You’re supposed to spend the day at SDC and then come over to Celebration City for evening rides. Either way it’s a great little park and it makes the trip to Branson that much more enjoyable. We got to the park at about 5pm on a Thursday and we were able to ride everything in about 2 hours. There weren’t any lines and the park is compact enough that you don’t have to devote an entire day to experience everything. The park does have a slight carnival feel to it since a lot of the rides are portable and there just aren’t a lot of mature trees yet, which leaves the park feeling a bit naked. Celebration City is extremely clean and the park staff does an excellent job with the guests. Since we got into the park late in the afternoon we didn’t actually eat but if it’s anything like it’s sister park Silver Dollar City then the food is probably pretty good. If you’re not a season pass holder than I would recommend getting a two or three park pass. This should allow you to save a couple of bucks if you intend on visiting SDC and/or White Water.
Here’s a look at the coasters that Celebration City has to offer.
Ozark Wildcat: 7 out of 10
This is one of our favorite wooden coasters. It’s smooth and it packs an assortment of lateral, negative and positive g-forces into a small area. This ride doesn’t have any boring spots and it offers an exciting experience even if you ride it 10 times in a row. We only rode it 4 times and like always I recommend the back row. There wasn’t a wait for this one.
Jack Rabbit: 3 out of 10
Jack Rabbit looks and feels like a carny ride but it rides like a crazy mouser and it’s actually a good time. The drops are extreme and it features the flat turns that you usually get on a standard mouse coaster. I hopped back on for a couple of follow up rides and didn’t wait any more than 5 minutes for each of them.
Thunderbolt: 2 out of 10
I don’t like to complain about any coaster because I’ll ride everything at least once but I will tell you that this one is a little rough and can be very uncomfortable for anyone over 6 feet tall. Even with that in mind I intend on riding it the next time I’m at Celebration City.
Here’s how we felt about the non-coaster rides at Celebration City.
Fireball: 7 out of 10
Fireball is the Celebration City’s top thrill ride in my opinion. It’s a slightly smaller version of the revolution found in a lot of parks but it offers the same amount of excitement. Riders sit in seats similar to inverted coaster and everyone is positioned in a large circle facing inward. The circle spins and then swings like a giant pendulum until riders are close to being completely upside down. The lack of a line allowed us to ride this one several times. Orbitor: 5 out of 10
If you’ve been on a magic carpet ride then you’ll know what to expect. This one has all of the riders facing forward and features side to side swinging until the car completes a full circle. Accelerator: 4 out of 10
This is your standard small park space shot ride. It’s an 80 foot tower that shoots riders up and then bounces them back down the ground. The forces are a little weak and the height of the tower doesn’t offer much intimidation.
Flying Circus: 4 out of 10
These are two person flying machines that allow the riders to steer (to a certain degree). You’re given control of an oversized rudder and this leads to limited control even though you’re still just going in a circle. It’s a lot of fun especially when you have your own vehicle and can pretend that you’re shooting the one in front of you (you have to supply your own sound effects). Route 66 Speedway: 4 out of 10
This was the longest line that we waited in and it was for go-carts. People love go-carts. We probably only waited 20 minutes but when it’s 20 minutes more that you’ve waited for anything else it seems like a life time. The ride was OK but I’ve been on a lot of go-carts that blow these away. The track consists of wood planks and this makes for a bumpy ride at times, which really takes a bit from the rides enjoyment. Unlike most parks, this go-cart attraction doesn’t require extra cash, and I have found that free go-cars are even more popular than up-charge go-carts.
Shoot-D-Chute: 3 out of 10
We fondly referred to this ride as the cheese grater. It looks like a portable log ride and it works like any other log ride but when you get off, you step on to a wet metal grate, and if you’re lucky enough to fall then you’ll get to experience something that is usually reserved for cheese. Someone from our group received a cheese grating on their lower leg and it wasn’t pretty. But as luck would have it the park’s first aid is close by and they seem to have a lot of practice in the art of band-aiding. It’s a fun little ride but beware of the exit.
The Electric Star Wheel: 2 out of 10
If you’re a fan of giant ferris wheels then you’ll like this one. I like them because of the bird’s eye view of the park that they offer but for a thrill I prefer the small bench seat ferris wheels that freak most people out.
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