Interview: Mack Rides on the airtime, caves and terrain of Miner’s Mountain Express

Silver Dollar City’s next roller coaster will use the natural hills of the Ozarks to deliver a family-friendly ride that Mack Rides says should still pack plenty of thrills.

Miner’s Mountain Express, opening in 2027, will send riders across the rugged terrain of Silver Dollar City with 15 moments of airtime, a trip through a cave and a layout designed to take advantage of the park’s dramatic elevation changes.

Miner’s Mountain Express ride experience

“The ride layout actually reflects the beauty and those steep hills and valleys of the Ozark Mountains,” Maximilian Roeser, head of marketing for Mack Rides, told Attractions Magazine. “This combination is just unique for this ride.”

For Mack Rides, the challenge is creating a coaster that offers enough excitement to encourage repeat rides while remaining approachable for families. Miner’s Mountain Express will not any inversions, but Roeser said its 15 airtime moments are key to striking that balance.

“You can’t see airtime from just looking at the ride, but you will feel it definitely,” Roeser said. “That’s what really is the balance between a good family attraction and scaring somebody off of the ride.”

The coaster will have a 39-inch minimum height requirement and is designed for riders ages 4 and older, opening the experience to some of Silver Dollar City’s younger visitors while still offering elements intended to appeal to adults.

The coaster will fly over its own station

One of the more unusual elements of Miner’s Mountain Express will happen before guests even board. Roeser said the coaster includes a fly-through above the station, with the track also interacting with the queue below.

“People in the queue will see those trains rushing by,” Roeser said. “They will feel the energy, the speed, the screams probably of those riding it.”

That design turns the queue and station into part of the attraction rather than simply places to wait and board. It should also provide an early preview of the coaster’s speed and energy without relying on towering drops or inversions to build anticipation.

Caves and Ozark terrain shape the coaster

Beyond the station, Miner’s Mountain Express will repeatedly use Silver Dollar City’s uneven landscape as part of the experience.

“We have a tunnel back there. We’re going down into the caves,” Roeser said. “A lot of terrain maneuverability, so we are going back and forth over this terrain, and that’s really unique for this location right here.”

The cave element also fits naturally into Silver Dollar City’s history and its connection to Marvel Cave, the attraction around which the park originally developed. Combined with the coaster’s hills, valleys and 15 airtime moments, the terrain should be more than a backdrop — it is part of how Mack Rides is shaping the experience.

If the setting and ride experience sound similar to Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain, that’s okay. But keep in mind, this theme park is the site of an actual cave that housed actual miners for many years.

Mack Rides returns to Silver Dollar City

Miner’s Mountain Express continues Mack Rides’ relationship with Silver Dollar City after the manufacturer built Time Traveler, the park’s spinning coaster that opened in 2018.

For Roeser, however, the appeal of returning to Silver Dollar City extends beyond a particular ride system. He pointed to the similarities between Mack and Silver Dollar City parent company Herschend as family-owned businesses.

“We are a family-owned company, and we love to work with family-owned companies as well,” Roeser said, adding that the partnership allows the companies to create something intended to last across generations.