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« on: May 10, 2018, 01:47:02 PM »
May 5th 2018: Our report from SDC's most crowded day. We got to the park around 8:30 and parked in Lot 2.5 (the smaller lot across the street from Lot 2). We went to the Mill for an always great breakfast and it was around 9:30 at park opening when we finished. We actually managed to ride the Flooded Mine, Thunderation, Firefall, and Outlaw Run in a little over an hours time then met some friends at the Opera House for the Flat Lonesome bluegrass show, which was very good. Since we were close we rode Fire in the Hole after the show. Line wasn't bad (around 15 minutes) but it was the longest line we had waited in so far. My wife then went to ride Wildfire while my daughter and I rode Outlaw Run (her first time). We then went to see Remington Ryde which were entertaining but I felt they played more non-Bluegrass than Bluegrass. We wanted a snack but when we got to Hannah's Ice Cream parlor the line was stretched back to the Gazebo so we went to the Bakery instead and walked right up to the counter and were waited on. We then went to ride the Flooded Mine again and right after we got into the Mine (we were the second boat) the boats in front of us went off the track and the ride stopped. The people in line were cleared out of the ride and everyone in the boats behind us were cleared but since we were already in the Mine we could not safely evacuate. The riders in the boats in front of us were pushing against the rock and finally got themselves back on track but they had turned off the pumps on the ride so the boats would not proceed on their own. They turned the lights on in the Mine and workers in hip waders pushed us through the rest of the ride (took about 30 more minutes). When we got off the ride we went to the Red Gold Heritage Hall for a BBQ supper. Then we went and rode Fire in the Hole again then checked the ride apps and the lines were getting very long (Outlaw Run had 105 minute wait and Time Traveller was over 2 1/2 hours). We decided to leave the park around 5:45 and got back to lot 2.5 and had a dead battery on the van. Fortunately a very nice family from Missouri got to the lot when we did and jump-started our van. We got back to the hotel where the battery again so the hotel owner gave us a jump and we went to O'Reilly's in Branson West for a new battery (the old battery was about 5 years old).
Sunday May 6th 2018: what a difference a day makes. The crowds were much smaller and most rides were a walk on (we even got to the train depot as they were boarding so we got right on that with no waiting). We successfully rode the Flooded Mine with no breakdowns. We also got to ride Time Traveler with about an hour wait. I was very pleased it only did slow spinning. The wife and daughter did some shopping while I rode Outlaw Run and we left the park at 3 to head home. A much better day.
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