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"My buddy (who wanted to head to the City before he headed to Qatar)"

Small world Rube.  My wife's relatives just came in from Qatar for a visit.  They have lived there for a year now and are on vacation back in the U.S.

Also, just made it back from SDC on Tuesday.  We had a great time at MM.  The park was great and the  rides had two to three cars running.  Although the swing was just running one side making for a semi-long wait. We were disappointed that most of the food shops were closed down rather quickly, but I guess that is because they are only leased spaces by the park.  Seems like a missed opportunity for additional income though.  

I like MM and hope they extend it for future seasons.  It is the only way the family will brave the July heat and crowds.  I guess MM makes for a pale replacement for Celebration City for our family.  We used to love to jump in the car and head down on a moments notice during July for the night time coolness.  

Dress the old ride up like the inside of a Wal-Mart two days before Christmas....shudder.  Now that would be a dark ride. 

The responses here are rather surprising to me.  Did the information booth run by Humana inside the park bother anyone?  Where do you think the line will be drawn with this type of revenue stream?  Could it be a very fine line that we are walking?

As long as the line is drawn somewhere in the parking lot, I'm fine with it.  The parking lot has absolutely no ambiance whatsover, especially since the valley has been filled in and the surrounding hills are under attack.  Its not like we are being brought into the park by horse drawn buggies, so a few signs out there along the way in don't bother me at all.  Now the boat got too close.  The entrance with the water mill and traditional picture spot is where the portal to a semi-vintage, absolutely imaginary Ozark mountain town should begin.  Where the "all ashore" begins, let there be a line. 

I saw a couple of entrepreneurial minded fellas hanging one of those as we left the park on Thursday night.  I was thinking that was a great idea for the guys hanging the sign, and an opportunity for a revenue stream for SDC as we strolled by.  I don't have as much problem with it outside in the parking lot as there is no attempt at theming out there.

Thanks guys.

Hey Junior I saw your ghost when I looked at the old Diving Bell location.   

Someone also was kind enough to stop and take our family's picture, and I remember thinking I wonder if it was one the great people on this here board?  It was really nice of someone.

The family and I went to SDC November 11.

Enjoyed the warm weather and OTC very much.  I have to admit with the kids, we are using the 6 buck parking every time now.  Avoiding the tram mess, especially at Christmas adds great value to our visit.  Being the frugal type, we never spring for any kind of up charge, but this has become well worth it for us. The "lets get ready to ruuuummmble", portion of the trip was seriously affecting our quality of time spent on park.  We are the "no you go ahead" type of family.  Unfortunately for my family, people these days are not reciprocal and usually have the attitude of "out of my way sucker".  I stress manners to my children and I hate putting them in a situation where they see their elders look like the creatures from the movie "28 days" when it comes to a tram.

Anyway on to the good.  The park looked great.  It was not overly crowded but not deserted either.  The perfect mix of people having a good time with their families and Christmas lights.  We casually strolled through the park.  I apologize to anyone else from the board that might have been there for sucking the big skillet smell out of the air single handedly.  My those cooking smells at SDC smell good.  I think those smells could make me hungry after the nausea of a gut busting Thanksgiving dinner and 50 ketchup sandwiches.

During our casual stroll we stopped and let the kids play on the play ground by GG.   I snapped some pics of the marker flags and gazed at the abandoned part of the park walkway by the defunct Water Boggin.  We climbed to the top of GG and enjoyed the lights from up on high, and enjoyed watching the lit train go by while the kids played.  I never noticed the little rail road crossing sign lights up way up there as the train goes by.  Little details like that make SDC great.   I also noticed Lake Silver was drained really low, and could see where the old Diving Bell sub used to be housed. 

We took our usual trip through "Granpas old Mansion" as the kids like to call it.  It really looks great in there and it was fun seeing a family explore it for the first time.  With the warm temps outside, man it was stuffy and hot in there. 

One of the highlights of the trip was a couple of back to back rides on the Flooded Mine.  Everything was working great  and I actually saw dozens of things that seemed new, at least to me.  The special effects were looking as good as I have seen them in a long while.  Kudos to whomever is working on the old ride.  The staff was really friendly also. 

We were a little disappointed to see the soup shack closed and weren't able to get our bread bowl soup on as normal, but maybe it was closed because it was so warm. 

Another highlight for me was riding "The powder keg" in the dark.  Wow!  The view was amazing during the slow ride to the top of the last hill. The lighted city looked incredible from way up there.  Man that thing felt like it was flying through the dark.  I find myself with that goofy grin you have on your face after it comes to a halt while just writing this.

Biggest highlight though was getting to ride with my six year old boy who is now tall enough to ride Thunderation.  The little daredevil would ride anything in the park if they would let him, and laughed hysterically all the way through every bank, hill and turn.  Priceless!  I look forward to many years of laughter and coasters. 

In Summary.  Trips like these, including the slow ride home with sleeping kids in the back are why we keep coming!

I am officially offended!! Why, she is thar spitt'un image of my ma!

What in the world is that log made of that is making it spark?   

It means your in the woods! Okay I'll take my A+ sticker now.

As mentioned before in these parts, the one thing that really takes me back is the smell of rainsoaked asphalt. Ah, yes that's the stuff. 

Isn't that weird how that distinct smell IS SDC?  I have a bunch of old railroad ties used as landscaping in my yard and if they get hot in the sun or rained on, it really reminds me of the park.

[These guys were a bubble off center - even more so than normal in a slanted house.]

Last week, I watched three teenage boys who were fascinated by the "floating" water spigot in GM.  They finally came to the conclusion that the water was actually shooting up into the spigot rather than falling down.  That takes care of the source of the water.   OK, so then...where does the water GO?  These guys were a bubble off center - even more so than normal in a slanted house.

That's funny.  At least they are exercising some cognitive reasoning skills.  I don't see many kids now that are aware of their surroundings at all.  Most are slumped over the life giving device that they are frantically tapping with their thumbs.  It looks like they are hooked up to the matrix. 

I've seen kids come off of the rollercoasters scrambling for their "thumb tappers" as if they are running out of air.  They are kind of like Gold fish coming up for a gulp.  There was a thread that talked about how much time people had spent on the SDC forum, and it got me to thinking about how much time these poor people are burning through staring at a blackberry.  I hope some don't look up in the future and think "I missed it"!

Back to the Mansion.  My kids and I went through it our typical four or five times during our last visit and It seems like we always find something new.  I just love the simplicity of that attraction.  I have went through that place for years, and I love looking at the old photographs on the wall thinking; "I wonder who these people are"?  This time I noticed that there was a picture of a man that appears headless when you walk to the left. After all of these years there is still something new to me.  My five year old son loved that illusion.

Like I said in another thread, I don't think most mind if they hadn't noticed a slip in the overall theme as of late.  I also don't think they are hurting economically either. 

Thinking outside of the box is great from time to time, as long as your boxless thinking isn't really just someone else's box. 

I do love Bluegrass but if we are going to be correct and play 1880's music there would be no Bluegrass.  It came to being in the early 1940's..  SDC would have to play hill folk music.

Good ole' Bill Monroe the father of Bluegrass music.  You are correct, but blue grass is a variation at least of 1880's hill folk music.  "Poker Face".... not so much.  I do remember as a kid hearing more dulcimer/fiddle music around the park and boy hill folk music would be fine by me. 

As a kid I remember that was one of those unforgettable sights and sounds that greeted you when you went to the park.  As an adult it was like coming home to hear the sound of the dulcimer cascading over the hills, and more often than not it was live, not a rock.  My dad is gone now, but when I enter those gates I think of him.  Lets face it; SDC is a niche park.  It doesn't have the location to be like the cookie cutter parks.  It's success is because it is VERY different from other parks.  It is a unique experience that is handed down from generation to generation, and that is the reason for it's long term success.  Had it tried to be Six Flags in it's infancy urban explorers would be tresspassing to see it's remains. 

That being said, I think people are more worried about the gradual loss of theme than the few nights a year they try to inject the Celebration City (night park) into the mix.  I don't think it is just the music at night, as much as the combination of the music; basketballs; glow sticks; modern coke machines; Spongebob; Scooby Doo; and speed boats parked by the main entrance.  The semi snarky letter just reinforces the perception that the young Six Flags execs that are taking over the day to day just don't get it.  Even though that may not truly be the case.

Congratulations on Alex, and I am so sorry about David.  Speaking from a similar experience I can empathize with your pain, and will be praying for your hurt to heal.  God bless.

I guess the real answer is in the attendance during these few times that they "break" themeing.  Maybe the aim of those who are trying new things to draw a younger crowd...families with small children, etc. is to insure the ultimate survival of the park.  We must ask ourselves if we are willing to accept some changes to insure that the park survives the changes we are seeing in the industry.  Do we want things to stay the same and hope that there are enough of us around to keep the park going, or do we want the park to evolve and appeal to a whole new generation while trying to stay as close to its roots as possible?  My young nephews only want to go to parks for the latest and the greatest rides....they enjoy Kids Fest because it involves activities they can relate to...and they enjoy (to my horror) the music they play during MM.  I appreciate that all these things keep them wanting to go, because it does expose them to what the park is truly about.

1960's kids went to SDC and came back as adults because of the theme.  So did 70's, 80's and 90's.  In fact the park has grown tremendously.  I would suspect that a "if it ain't broke don't fix it", plan should be implemented, as I don't think that today's youth is much different.  The theme IS the park.  Lady Gags IS not. 

"Welcome to Silver Dollar City...You have a great past ahead of you.. sort of."

Is the music really..truly...harming the park?  It's played how long each night and over how many nights?  I seriously doubt they have any plans on making this a permanent thing.  Moving right along now.....

Yep.  If the targeted demographic doesn't care if you do it or not, and the other half of the patrons don't like it, you certainly could be harming the park.  To quote a contemporary Christian song...."It's a sloooow fade".  Thank you, Thank you very much.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"  Seriously though it does take away from the very thing that brings people to the park. I love the idea behind MM, but don't care for the "relaxed" theming.  It just doesn't feel right.  It's seems sort of like turning on the lights in Fire in the Hole.  Those dips might seem comically small, and the next thing you know ....well it's hard to get the magic back.  The younger crowd isn't going to SDC at MM to score a Lady Gaga speaker rock concert.  They are going because it is a different experience to attend the park at night.   

There were a lot of social events in 1880's that went on after dark.  It wouldn't be too hard to incorporate any of this into MM.

Speaking of Theme; Sponge Bob has about as much business hanging around SDC as the boat parked at the front gate during one of our visits.