Messages

3406

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2009/10 Project

« on: May 01, 2008, 09:42:10 PM »

So I've been researching a bit around lately, and it looks like DW is pretty well pleased with Mystery Mine. It's a definite crowd hit, and though some complain about a little roughness, you have to admit that it looks like something Disney would have done. That being said, a MM variation looks ever more likely as being the big 2009 ride. A wooden coaster is still very possible, but from a speculative stand point, Powderkeg has hit the crowd a wooden coaster would appeal to, so maybe they want to go in more of the extreme thrills route right now and garner some big press. Then again, maybe the success of Powderkeg has made them decide to pull off the same kind of stunt again...

Anyway, it's been awhile since we talked about it, but my preferences are still leaning toward a wooden coaster. A GCII twister such as Thunderhead would be sweet, but if I would want SDC to utilize their terrain more and go more of the boulderdash route - maybe with a few crazy curves thrown in as well.

3407

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Lockers and other stuff

« on: April 30, 2008, 07:00:04 PM »

^Ah that's great to hear - not only are the other cubbies safe, but they're researching a better system. I'll be eager to see what they come up with, though most of the time the plain old cubby system works well enough from what I can see. The system mentioned earlier where riders put belongings in a container near their seat could work theoretically, but how much different would that be from the current system? Plus, some belongings can get mashed from the forces, and the containers could become germ-ridden and nasty. We'll just see what happens.

3408

Announcements / Re: Check Out The New Site

« on: April 29, 2008, 10:13:47 PM »

I realize there are a few things around the site that need to be fixed, such as IE bugs, but I just don't have time to work on it right now, and probably won't for a good while. Eventually I'll get some time to really knock out a bunch of stuff, but I'm really buried in work right now.

3409

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Lockers and other stuff

« on: April 28, 2008, 10:14:29 PM »

^Thanks for the clarification. Still though, while it may increase line speed a hint, I'd prefer they just let us risk having our belongings stolen. If they ever did move in the direction of using external lockers for rides, I hope they come up with a more sensible solution than making us pay $1 every time we want to ride something like at other parks. Being the Herschends though, I'm sure they've already been over this issue a gazillion times, and they won't disappoint us.

3410

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: New characters!!!

« on: April 28, 2008, 09:45:08 PM »

Very interesting, I'm glad to see them keeping the characters of the park alive.

What is Terry's website?

3411

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Lockers and other stuff

« on: April 27, 2008, 10:05:49 PM »

^Holy crap, I wouldn't have imagined. That's exactly that kind of crap I usually hail them for avoiding. Surely they aren't trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of people like that when they don't even have a system set up to do it correctly. If they for some reason wanted people to use the lockers they should have more of them - but it shouldn't be an issue.

3412

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC PTR 4/18

« on: April 27, 2008, 01:19:46 PM »

^Since everyone is always clogging up Branson forums asking what the crowds will be like on a given day, I'm going to put together and interactive calendar to track the most and least crowded days. It'll also be easier to know when days like "school orchestra day" or "boy-scout day" are, when the park is filled with bus after bus of the little monsters.

Don't get too excited yet though, this is one of those things that I'll get to eventually.

3413

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Lockers and other stuff

« on: April 27, 2008, 01:17:06 PM »

^^I don't see them making a fuss about that. Those rules are in place to keep people from walking around the park in bikinis and such.

This brings up another interesting point about SDC, in that they still hold on to the traditional locker system for rides - which I truly appreciate. Most parks these days are demanding that you pay a dollar or more to store your belongings in a locker before you get on a given ride. This can get brutally expensive if you plan on riding many rides.

I'm glad their stand-alone lockers aren't very expensive either, 50 cents is a steal compared to the several dollars other parks may charge you.

3414

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC PTR 4/18

« on: April 26, 2008, 09:37:48 PM »

They'll be pretty good I'd imagine. Mmm, I need to get started on that SDC crowds calendar...

3415

Branson Talk / Re: Where do you stay when you go to Branson?

« on: April 25, 2008, 10:55:10 PM »

I'm also a big fan of the deer run. The few extra dollars I pay to stay there over what I could get elsewhere is made up by the fact that I can get up and walk over to SDC at my leisure. It's the next best thing to SDC having their own hotel.

3416

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: How Will Gas Prices Affect SDC?

« on: April 24, 2008, 06:54:05 PM »

It's just too bad that we have virtually no cross-country transportation in this country. When I lived in England, I could go anywhere in the UK just by stepping out my door and walking down to the bus station. Here it's either driving or flying - there aren't even any bus lines that I could use. Sad...

3417

General Silver Dollar City Talk / How Will Gas Prices Affect SDC?

« on: April 23, 2008, 10:57:48 PM »

SDC has been sending out more surveys lately to select season pass holders, asking how rising gas prices will affect travel plans. I'll bet the reality of $4+ gas is really hurting SDC. Quite a few SDC patrons come from several states away, but many of them won't be coming until gas goes down or they get a better transport solution. Surely SDC's attendance will have a constant dampener on it from now until gas drops again, but how long will that be? If it takes too long, will SDC scale back expansion plans?

I kinda doubt they'll do anything too drastic, but I'm sure we'll see all sorts of evidence of them trying to cut corners - not in a bad way though. Then again, the season seems to be off to an amazing start already, so how much will gas have to cost before people will stop hitting up SDC?

As for myself, I'm cutting back on my driving, but SDC will always be pretty high up on my priorities. I really just want to get an Aptera so I won't have to worry about filling up again.

3418

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: CC/Roaring Falls Opening

« on: April 23, 2008, 10:51:21 PM »

Cheers to the one person on that raft who had balls enough to forgo the parka.

 

3419

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2009/10 Project

« on: April 23, 2008, 10:49:12 PM »

I would hope not, I'm having way too much fun with this.

3420

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC PTR 4/18

« on: April 21, 2008, 11:05:35 PM »

Fantastic photos as always, I love a good pictorial trip report.

I'm surprised it was cold, it was really nice around northeastern Oklahoma that weekend.

Btw, was Giant Swing still running its usual pattern? People keep saying that they've been shortening it off and on inconsistently, but I think they're just loosing the effect of the first few rides.