Fire In The Hole

On August 14th, 2023, Silver Dollar City announced the new, groundbreaking, $30 million dollar Fire In The Hole, indoor family roller coaster, the largest in the Midwest. “Signifying our biggest investment in a single attraction, Fire In The Hole continues Silver Dollar City’s strategic, multi-phased growth plan offering families’ opportunities to play and stay together in the heart of the Ozarks,” said Brad Thomas, President of the Silver Dollar City Company. On March 9, 2024, it opened flawlessely as promised and Paragon 360 was on hand to witness it all.

Paragon 360 started working on the project almost a year before that announcement in August of 2023. The coaster experience, with a powered incline and gravity descent, including multiple drops and a quick splash-landing, promises a thrilling ride. In addition, a custom soundtrack with high-resolution onboard audio, show lighting effects and enhanced special effects, like using fiber optics to create a fast-burning fuse, heightens the ride experience and brings the FIRE IN THE HOLE story to life. Nearly a third-of-a-mile long, the new ride is housed in a five-story, temperature-controlled building to ensure ridership regardless of weather.

The comprehensive audio design of the new Fire in the Hole attraction included building exterior and area development zones, exterior and interior queue lines, dispatch, and all interior special effect audio elements of the ride. Each scene includes triggered point source audio effects while the ride vehicle (pumper) has on-board audio systems to enhance the ride experience designed and engineered by Paragon 360. Strategic video elements are installed throughout the ride to further enhance the visualization in several scenes. Paragon's time over the last year has been spent on design, R&D, construction of prototype's, equipment acquisition and preparations for installation which started during the fall of 2023.

Known for pioneering innovation in the theme park industry, and a decade since they first teamed together on the history-making, award-winning Outlaw Run, Silver Dollar City once again partners with Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) to custom engineer and manufacture the new Fire In The Hole. The new attraction is inspired by the original Fire In The Hole attraction, first imagined, engineered and custom built at Silver Dollar City in 1972. Now celebrating its final season at the Ozarks park, the first Fire In The Hole made history when it opened, being lauded as one of the world’s first indoor roller coasters. To date, more than 25 million guests have experienced the original Ozark adventure and final rides continue through the end of the 2023 season.

For over 23 years, Paragon 360 has been working with Herschend Family Entertainment providing audio, video, lighting and rigging systems throughout their properties such as Silver Dollar City, Showboat Branson Belle, White Water, and Dixie Stampede to name a few. Projects have included attraction development, various indoor and outdoor theater venues, distributed parkwide systems and special event projects for large-scale, seasonal events.