Messages

1

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2020 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: June 17, 2019, 03:29:36 PM »

It's definitely a question of money in most cases. Sometimes a little goes a long way though...

So far it looks promising. I like the look of the lamps and the rock work. Would be nice to see the return of some of the scattered theming that used to be spread around buildings and flower beds.

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Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2020 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: June 15, 2019, 08:27:56 PM »

LOL, Swoosh, I couldn't roll my eyes any harder.

I really don't care what the name ends up being, I just like the marketing and the developments so far.

And yes, I really didn't think they would settle on "Time Traveler" as the actual name, lol. That one is still weird to me.   

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Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2020 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: June 15, 2019, 07:04:25 PM »

The email alert sign-up page is now live. This is the beginning of the real teasers, presumably. https://www.silverdollarcity.com/theme-park/20news

Notice the #lostcaverns hash tag.

Seems to be sticking with the cave theme? That would be awesome!

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Other Parks / Re: Frontier City Developments

« on: June 09, 2019, 12:09:15 PM »

Finally made it out to FC yesterday for the first time in a couple years. As Kevin has so often reported, the park is really nicely spruced up and there are lots of new details everywhere.

The park was quite busy for just a random hot Saturday with no concert. There was one company outing there, but a lot of the crowd were just ordinary visitors. I remember when FC struggled to fill their small parking lot, but today it was evident how much they need to expand that thing. Most people were paying $20 to park way off in the grass area.

Once again though, I walked away after a few hours feeling like the park was in desperate need of a star attraction. Almost every ride in the park is old, worn-out, and short with very little "wow-factor". At least they have an awesome rapids ride.

The new kids area is awesome though. That is a great start for refreshing the park. Let's hope next year it continues in a big way.

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Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2020 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: June 04, 2019, 06:56:00 PM »

Great photos as always, thanks for sharing.

Doesn't the channel look kind of wonky? The edge walls aren't quite as deep and straight as the old ones, or maybe my memory's just bad. Hard to conceptualize what it will look like in action for some reason.

Lots of big foundational elements still going up. Can't wait to see them finally start fleshing out the rest of the channel.

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Branson Talk / Re: 2019 NEW MYSTERY attraction coming to BRANSON, MISSOURI! Sagas, Escape Code and

« on: May 06, 2019, 08:59:06 PM »

This sounds very cool. Great combination of theatrical entertainment and interactive activity. Sounds like you guys are really building an empire over there. Glad to see Branson Meadows put to good use again.

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Other Parks / Re: SFOT Purchase Offer From HFEC?

« on: April 28, 2019, 05:13:00 PM »

^The original source put out a video himself and retracted most of his statements. Screamscape just regurgitated it like everything else. The talks did happen, but they are not currently on-going at this time.

I knew it was just a rumor, but had kind of hoped that some kind of nugget of truth was buried in it and HFEC was sniffing around for another acquisition.

Trevor at the TTS bunch are an interesting lot for sure, but enthusiasts are enthusiasts and rumors are rumors. You have to take both with a huge a huge grain of salt and remember that it's all just fun discussion.

I still think HFEC is ready for another major property.

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Other Parks / Re: SFOT Purchase Offer From HFEC?

« on: April 25, 2019, 11:13:57 PM »

Lol, I just noticed that they called out a figure of $5 billion for the deal. Perhaps this guy is just getting played... For that money you could build a bigger better SFOT... Three or four times over...

But maybe there is a pinch of truth to it all and HFEC did send SF some kind of bid. Maybe it never goes anywhere, but it shows HFEC is trying to expand the park business again. Would love to see a fourth park...

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Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2020 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: April 25, 2019, 09:21:45 PM »

If those rocks are new, then that's great stuff on the landscaping already. Love it.

Thanks for the photos!

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Other Parks / SFOT Purchase Offer From HFEC?

« on: April 25, 2019, 09:02:31 PM »

Apparently Texas Thrillseekers is spreading a rumor that HFEC has put in a bid for SFOT and a couple other SF properties (presumably the adjacent water park in Dallas and maybe FC or DL?)

SFOT supposedly has an odd ownership setup that dates back to the original setup of the park. It's kind of like Dollywood, but somewhat dysfunctional with disputes about how the park should be developed. Supposedly that is one reason why investments have been fairly small despite the massive growth potential of the park. This is one reason why SF may be pressured or coerced into selling the park.

I don't know that the rumor has any weight, but I do know that HFEC has tried to purchase SF properties before. When SF sold off Elitch, Darien, FC and several other properties during their 2006 bankruptcy, HFEC put in a bid but was beat out by CNL. For some reason I believe SFMM was part of the deal at the time, but HFEC didn't want it, and that soured the deal.   

11

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2019 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: April 22, 2019, 09:10:23 PM »

Looks good so far.

Was tempted to complain about the obvious speakers, but I know they are always battling form over function with theming, and proper speakers are more necessary than one might think due to emergency announcements. They blend in pretty good at least, and there's a lot of cool detail on those masts.

They are obviously putting a lot of neat touches into everything, so that continues to bode well.

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Other Parks / Re: Big Fight at WoF

« on: April 22, 2019, 09:05:30 PM »

^I mean, sure, it was mostly just a bunch of yelling... but would you want your family/kids near that mess if you spent $200+ on a day at a big amusement park?

This is the kind of stuff that really drags parks down, blown out of proportion or not. WOF feels like it has been slowly pulling itself out of a rut, but this could set them back. Families are the biggest spenders at parks, not gangs of kids.

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Dollywood Discussion / Re: Future DW Speculation

« on: April 11, 2019, 09:52:13 PM »

Wow, huge for them as always. So fresh off a huge new area expansion, they are looking at a new dark ride and another large coaster in fairly short succession. What can you say, they keep filling up the park so they need to keep expanding and compete with Carowinds.

Part of me really wants an HFEC hyper... but I think a Time Traveler-esque spinner would do well over there. They are still unique, and obviously so much fun.

14

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: WHAT'S NEW on The Flooded Mine Full Ride? FULL RIDE! Silver Dollar City, Branson

« on: April 09, 2019, 10:46:33 AM »

^Let's not make this complicated. Post whatever Branson/SDC content you want. Ignore anyone who gripes.  This isn't a big or active enough site to get too wrapped up in content policy

After thinking through it, Amy and I can't figure out what we might have missed. We'd love to hear from you all, just for kicks. We only mentioned a few things we thought were new. The rest of the commentary was about stuff we were noticing, but didn't identify it as new.

We talked about a general freshening up, fresh paint, etc. Amy wondered if the guards were new, or possibly dressed differently. We weren't sure. I mentioned the buzz saw. The boards at the end and also the air canon were new. There were some new props too.
Again, we didn't research prior as we just wanted to share our raw first experience from a tourists perspective after the refurb. Definitely didn't expect to notice everything.

Like I said, it's a fine video John. Some of the die hard nerds may point out little "inaccuracies" like something that was just finally fixed or repainted or whatever, but who cares? You accomplished your goal of a nice family vlog that showcases a one of our favorite attractions. Don't take anything here too seriously and I hope you keep posting videos and content.

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Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC’s 2022 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: April 08, 2019, 09:11:21 PM »

So apparently DW has released a survey talking about potential dark rides, which as we all know is a pretty darn good indicator that they will get a dark ride soon. It's also a pretty darn good indicator that SDC will follow suit with a similar ride based upon the experience of creating DW's. https://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1901997#p1901997

This is fabulous news to me. I will hold out hope that our classics aren't completely replaced, but I do like the idea of getting back into large scale indoor rides again after so long. Perhaps it will spur further investment. There are several different options listed, from basic dark rides with guns to flying theaters and even an interactive walkthrough with puzzles (not sure how that would really work in reality). I'll take one modern dark ride with a cool semi-historical theme and a flying theatre on the side please.