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Silver Dollar City a destination for all ages

Imagine the “Golden Age” of roller coasters in the 1920s. At amusement parks across the United States, wooden beasts with names like Giant Dipper, the Coney Island Cyclone and the Thriller took vacationers on scream-filled journeys that weren’t the “biggest,” “tallest,” “highest” or “fastest.”

“Steel has so many advantages you’d think wooden coasters would be abandoned by now. But what steel coasters don’t have is the same feel as wooden coasters,” writes Andy Boyd of the University of Houston’s Engines of Our Ingenuity series. “We glide higher and faster and more smoothly on steel. But we don’t get the same sense of danger. Wooden coasters look dangerous. They sound dangerous. And they feel dangerous as they shake and rattle and bump their way down the track. … And that’s part of the fun.”

Outlaw Run, new this spring at Silver Dollar City,doesn’t shake, rattle or bump like wooden coasters are “supposed” to. Because of its unique $10 million construction, “it’s intense, fast, you never have a moment to catch your breath, and unlike most wooden roller coasters, it’s incredibly smooth,” says Robb Alvey of ThemeParkReview.com.

The only requirements to ride during the Fourth of July holiday are patience - lines are sometimes long because of the coaster’s popularity- and to be 48 inches tall.

That, says Silver Dollar Cityspokeswoman Martha Hoy Bohner, makes it perfect for moms, dads, grade-schoolers and teens - all but the tiniest riders, she says.

Whats Up, Pages 15 on 06/28/2013

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