Messages

1

General Silver Dollar City Talk / 2021 Meetups

« on: February 26, 2021, 12:25:15 PM »

Use this thread to tell us when you are visiting next in case you want to bump into anyone from this site!


The 2021 season is less than 3 weeks away! Who is going to be there for opening week/weekend?

I am planning on being there the first Saturday my self.

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Other Parks / Re: Kentucky Kingdom/WA/FC Rumor

« on: February 24, 2021, 01:19:19 PM »

What would an IPO get them at this point, other than a pay day for management? Being public is a constant headache, and they are already growing their business at a steady, pragmatic clip. An IPO would only make sense if they actually wanted to take over SEAS.

Swoosh: do you think there's any veracity to them trying to buy FC in the immediate future? I think we may be putting too much stock into that deleted picture of the map. You are probably right about them driving attendance to the big parks, but I'm not sure I see them needing to get rid of WA or Stone Mountain. I doubt those properties add much complexity to their business and extra revenue and clout is always good for a growing company. If they sell off Talking Rocks Cavern, then we'll know their attitude has shifted.

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Other Parks / Re: Kentucky Kingdom/WA/FC Rumor

« on: February 22, 2021, 02:17:32 PM »

^I don't think you were really around for the Six Flags days Dewayne. The SF HQ used to be literally right there, and yet they let the property stagnate. Premier actually did a good job if I recall, but they started from ground zero and had to balance adding some new attractions and fixing things up. It's great that the park has had lots of TLC, but that's what REIT groups specialize in. They pick up distressed properties, polish them up, and operate them for awhile before selling them off. I think that SF will pick up FC in a few years, but HFEC will probably put a bid in.


Anyway, the big news: https://www.wdrb.com/in-depth/kentucky-kingdom-to-be-sold-to-national-park-operator/article_4b30482e-752e-11eb-9771-7bb3912ffbd0.html

Looks like it is official! Didn't see it coming. Sounds like HFEC has some big plans. I'm really excited for the chain to expand with an actual property. I think the management contracts they got into a few years ago soured their image with enthusiasts, but people may be surprised what they do with an actual property. WA was a dump when they took it over, and while they have removed some big rides recently, it's a different circumstance than KK.

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Wild Adventures Discussion / Re: Cheetah Being Retired (Scrapped?)

« on: February 21, 2021, 06:34:25 PM »

I'm willing to bet they will refurbish it and market it as a new attraction.

Ozark Wildcat isn't really applicable here, it was a closed eyesore (in the city's view) that was turning into a liability. It was never going to run again, unfortunately.

Cheetah feels like too big of an attraction to lose, unless they are planning on also taking out the SLC and some other rides and taking the park down a notch to focus on animals and the water park.

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Other Parks / Re: Kentucky Kingdom/WA/FC Rumor

« on: February 21, 2021, 06:28:47 PM »

^You realize SF was responsible for running FC into the ground, right? It's still owned by the REIT group anyway, and they are absolutely in the business of flipping properties for the right price. I expect SF will be first in line to buy though when they are ready to make a deal.

It sounds like Lance is pulling back on this rumor already. Who knows the truth. So many of these rumors pop up and are instantly shot down, but it doesn't mean wheels are still turning behind the scenes. A lot depends on how strong the comeback is this year. I'm betting it will be pretty record setting as people rush to make up for lost vacation time.

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Other Parks / Kentucky Kingdom/WA/FC Rumor

« on: February 19, 2021, 11:29:17 AM »

So Lance just posted a whopper of a rumor on screamscape.com about the possibility of HFEC buying up Kentucky Kingdom and possibly FC as well, while disposing of Wild Adventures. http://screamscape.com/html/kentucky_kingdom.htm

The idea of them buying KK at least seems absolutely plausible, but I'm not sure I could see SF parting with Frontier City (even though they don't technically own it). Who knows though, it's a very tantalizing rumor.

Perhaps enthusiasts are just making too much out of a simple teaser image again, but after the craziness of the past year and Ed Hart's advancing age, it would make sense for some consolidation in the industry and for this park specifically to get bought out.

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Other Parks / Re: Dogpatch USA sells for $1.12 million

« on: February 07, 2021, 11:24:47 AM »

I have heard that he has been digging into the natural spring that comes out of the cliff.

F*** Johnny Morris. He ruins everything he touches. He'll probably try to "improve" the natural water fall next, after he's improved all the history by bulldozing it. 

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

« on: February 07, 2021, 11:22:37 AM »

Screamscape reports there is some clearing and digging visible from the road going past SDC. Lance assumes this is for a new attraction, but based on what we know I'd assume it is infrastructure work, possibly to continue setting up the new festival area, or maybe indeed connected to something being added in the future.

At this point I'm expecting them to hold off on what they had planned to start this year, so whatever was planned for 2022 won't open until 2023 at the earliest.

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Other Parks / Re: Frontier City Developments

« on: February 02, 2021, 10:58:08 AM »

Apparently land is being cleared around the go-karts/maintenance area where we've talked about something going for years. Kemotblue broke the story, of course 

I think Lance on Screamscape could be right though unfortunately. It's probably a relocation of another ride from inside the chain. A real shame since it seemed like FC was being setup for somthing new and big.

I wonder if we'll get stuck with the crappy Harley Quinn from SFDK. Or maybe even worse, Green Lantern from SFMM?

I'd be ecstatic for even an old wild mouse...

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General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC website

« on: January 29, 2021, 09:55:29 AM »

It's bad. It doesn't even make sense. I know times are tough, and they've had to make so many adjustments due to the pandemic, but site simply looks bad and doesn't function well.

It doesn't even have the freaking logo at the top.

I think they made DW's first, then forced SDC to use the same template with less thought given to it.

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Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC’s 2021 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: January 29, 2021, 09:52:03 AM »

I think this year I'm most excited to see them continue fleshing out the new festival area. I am betting by this fall the crowds will be packing the park out again to 26+ thousand capacity.

12

Branson Talk / Re: Frontier comes back to BKG

« on: January 29, 2021, 09:39:12 AM »

XNA = Northwest Arkansas Airport
BKG = Branson Airport
SWA = Southwest Airlines
AA = American Airlines
TUL = Tulsa International Airport
LIT = Little Rock Airport

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White Water Discussion / Re: White Water Development

« on: December 31, 2020, 03:55:16 PM »

Obviously COVID has ground things to a halt, but it sure seems that WW development has dropped off.

Wasn't the drop slide the last major new ride? That was back in 2014...

We've always said WW is undersized, but they were making some great strides there for awhile with all the upgrades. I am amazed that competition has not moved in on them, but obviously it came pretty close with the big proposal a few years ago.

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General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: If you could bring back one show or create one show at SDC what would it be?

« on: December 31, 2020, 03:20:10 PM »

I'd love to see them bring in a musical that didn't rely entirely on co-opting famous tunes. Obviously writing music is hard, and writing musicals is probably even harder, but some originality is a good thing. They just need to bring in some good outside acts once in awhile. They had the right idea with spending big money on that pirate show thing, but I don't think the execution was great.

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Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC’s 2021 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: December 31, 2020, 03:12:12 PM »

Some things have to be done, the park doesn’t have a choice.  Mystic River Falls needs attention. 

If you're allowed/able to answer, what's wrong with Mystic River Falls?? Is it just some kinks that they need to iron out?

I think you are better off asking what works well with MRF. It should be obvious to anyone who visited this year that the ride is... oddly put together. I watched them try to unstick boats from the drop several times on my trip in August. This involves a few people standing in the boat and rocking it back and forth until it unsticks. 

The elevator lift seemed to be finicky as well.

They need to stop spending tens of millions of dollars on rides that have so many issues.