Thunderation coaster closing as Silver Dollar City begins 10-year expansion
Thunderation, a roller coaster at Silver Dollar City, will permanently close at the conclusion of the 2026 season.
The final day to ride Thunderation will be Jan. 2, 2027. Before that, the park, located in Branson, Mo., will celebrate the 33-year run of the coaster with special offers and commemorative merchandise throughout the operating season.
There will also be a special moment for Thunderation during a ceremony on Silver Dollar City’s reopening date for the 2026 season, March 13.
Silver Dollar City announced Thunderation’s closing on Feb. 16, 2026. The coaster was built by Arrow Dynamics and opened in 1993. It reaches a height of 80 feet and a maximum speed of 48 mph.
Silver Dollar City’s marketing communications for Thunderation’s closure include hints at what may be coming next. Within a fictional backstory, the park says a mining company is ordering the closure of Thunderation so it can reclaim the land, or something. All references to this mining company are assumed to be part of the lore of whatever attraction replaces Thunderation in the future, and should not be interpreted as the real reasons the coaster is closing.
“Thunderation’s opening kickstarted exciting additions to Silver Dollar City, said Brad Thomas, president of Silver Dollar City Parks & resorts. “Likewise, Thunderation’s retirement at the end of 2026 will launch new and exciting chapters in Silver Dollar City’s future. In this case, the end is really an exciting beginning.”
Those “new and exciting chapters” include a commitment to invest $500 million in the park’s investment over the course of 10 years, as announced in October 2024.
The first phase of the expansion will be the opening of Silver Dollar City Resort, an onsite hotel property, in late 2026. Silver Dollar City Resort will contain 262 guest rooms and feature amenities such as pools (both indoors and outside), meeting space, a restaurant, and transportation to the theme park.
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