SDCFans - The Unofficial Fan Site For Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City & Celebration City Discussion => General Silver Dollar City Talk => Topic started by: Joy on August 21, 2007, 11:21:53 AM
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Here's the newest blog entry, with info for the upcoming Christmas season.... You know, I coulda sworn they'd said they were replacing the tree with a 7-story, but maybe their plans changed...
http://silverdollarcity.blogspot.com/2007/08/christmas-list.html
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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^That's what I heard some while ago, like back last December, I guess plans really do change over a year. Oh well.
I am terribly disappointed in the new tree. This is basically a pyramid with a bunch of lights, it hardly passes for a tree, and it certainly isn't even close to being as good as the old tree.
At least they're extending the hours and synchronizing the lights on the main square.
Does anyone know how tall the last tree was? Wasn't it 5-stories as well?
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Yeah, the old tree was 5-story.
I have to wonder, however, if perhaps the tree he's showing in the pics is just the base without any of the decorative outer layers (garlands, bows, etc.)?
I LOOOVE the idea of synchronizing the Main St. lights, and the extended hours are going to be brilliant, especially for those of us coaster enthusiasts who want as many hours as possible for riding the coasters in the dark.
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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I think this all sounds good. I hope the tree isn't just a pyramid though. That'd be disappointing. Synchronizing the lights on Main Steet will be so cool!!
I also love how their bringing in the dinosaurs. ;)
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I have to wonder, however, if perhaps the tree he's showing in the pics is just the base without any of the decorative outer layers (garlands, bows, etc.)?
Lets' hope so. With the usual decorations, this tree would be incredible, as it has many more lights than the last tree.
It's funny though what we will call a tree these days. Even the last 'tree' was just a big green cone filled with lights, and this one is something like a octogonial pyramid with almost no greenery at all.
I hope they bring back the old songs though, I grew up listening to/watching those.
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Yeah, I like the new song that he linked to, but I do hope that it's an addition rather than a replacement for the other songs. I mean, you just can't have Christmas without TSO! :-)
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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That new song sounds like something they would use on movie credits. It would be easier to set to lights, but it sure doesn't sound very old timey or even Christmassy.
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I just saw your question on the blog and Conductor Sam's answer.
YAY! I was right that the decorations are layered over the tree. And YAY! They're not replacing the songs but adding to the playlist!
I would have asked the questions myself, but for some reason, it seems like my comments never make it through; I comment on almost every single blog entry, but they never show up....
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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I'm hoping to go to the Christmas festival this year but I don't know if I'll get the chance. Is anyone here going to go? Whales, Joy??
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^I'll probably make it either for Coaster Christmas or the weekend before.
Conductor Sam's news is great though. So instead of the new 7-story tree, if that was ever going to really happen, they've just added a new song, new lights, and synchronized the square - and the decorations are coming. So all in all, it will turn out much better than I thought, as usual.
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My friends and I are aiming for the Sat December 15th weekend; my experience has always been pretty good weather-wise around the 16/17th of December down there.
Plus, Bring A Friend tickets don't work 'til December 13th for Christmas, so I have to wait 'til then to go; my friends both have season passes, but I don't, and the only way I'm gonna afford to go is if I use BAFs.
I'm really, really excited about the synchronization of the lights on the buildings.... That's gonna make this the coolest lighting show so far at SDC. I'll have to film the whole thing for posterity; I'm glad to have gotten last year's tree stuff on video, too... Since I thought they were going to be getting a completely new, 7-story tree at that time, I felt like I wanted to capture the final year for what they had.
~ "Becky" Joy ~
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Hey anyone read the inside track on sdc website about christmas?? It says that there would be dinosaurs??? I find that to be interesting. Does anybody have any thoughts about this cause I think and this is just me this might be a clue to what sdc is getting next year but thats just me though.
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^Heh, I think that just might have been only a joke, the blog entries almost always end on one.
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yeah your right
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Yeah Conductor Sam is one funny dude.
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The "new" tree is basically a remodel of the old one. It was indeed originally going to be 7 stories, but budget restraints caused that change to be abandoned. The basic frame is the same, but all the greenery and all the lights are the new LED style, the star is outfitted with them also. To give you an idea of the increase in scope, the old tree operated with about 60 dimmers (the means of powering individual sections of lights), whereas this year there will be over 500 in the tree alone, with the peripheral lighting bringing the total to over 1500 dimmers. A new control system will facilitate the programming and running of the shows.
As you might be able to see from the picture with the red and green, the lights are divided into many more sections, making it much more versatile with programming. There are eight "sides" to the tree (same as before), but now each side is divided into 27 sections (9 layers, 3 sections/layer). The same 5 colors, red, blue, green, yellow, and white are used, along with more strobes, but the rows of candles, sadly, have been dropped. It will indeed be decorated as usual. When you see the tree lit up with different colors in adjoining sections, the vividness of the LED lights creates a very interesting depth perception illusion, for instance, with the white and the blue seen side by side, it appears that the blue are set into the tree compared to the white. It does not appear "flat" at all. I think it will be very cool to watch in operation.
It is my understanding, being reasonably close to the source, that there will be new songs employed, keeping only "The Carol of the Bells." I believe that one will be "Joy To The World," but I'm not sure about the others.
All in all, I think guests will be very pleased with the new look.
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Not to be a doubter, but how do you know all this?
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^^Great info, I'm feeling better about this change ever more as it gets closer.
I'm glad they're at least keeping Carol Of The Bells, that's a pretty classic song. Joy To The World is nice, but it's a bit over-used.