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Messages - shavethewhales

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46
Unlike SDC, Dollywood doesn't have a main coherent theme that fits any single time period. They got 1880's, 1920's, and 1950's themed areas/attractions along with several other attractions with fantasy/nature focused themes with no explicit time period.

Unlike SDC, Dollywood has Dolly. The new time period areas happened after she became involved and they all have to do with her history. They aren’t just completely random timeframes. However, I could see a version of Wildwood Grove working at SDC if it was adjusted a little.

DW has a semi-cohesive theme of all things Dolly Parton. Everything is connected to her in some way (some looser than others). Her involvement seems to have massively slipped in recent years though. Can't believe she would be happy about all the tree clear-cutting if she still cared about the park or visited much.



As far as that little building teaser goes, if they are indeed announcing a resort then this may become a preview center for the next year.

47
I'm slow to check on things these days, so I've just now noticed that the park has confirmed that the announcement will be SDC's "Largest Investment Ever" according to screamscape and other sources. I haven't found where the park actually made this mention, but I trust screamscape didn't just make it up.

While the new FITH is a big ride, it obviously won't come close to their biggest addition to date by itself (unless the inside is really going to be Disney quality, which is my dream, but unlikely).

Many are speculating once again that this is the cusp of the resort announcement. I'll be a bit disappointed if it's not the case. We've been wondering when we would get ours since DW got their first, something like a decade ago now?

48
Other Parks / Re: New Park - American Heartland in NE Oklahoma
« on: July 24, 2023, 12:41:36 PM »
^Yes, I've brought up Grand Texas a few times talking to people about this. Thing is, Grand Texas just got drained of money because they had to do YEARS of expensive civil projects just to get the site to support their proposed developments. They sold off a good deal of land and built an RV park and a water park + adventure park, so it wasn't a bust, but I doubt we'll ever see the long-ago promised theme park. Similar outcome as what could happen here, but in this case I just think they don't have enough money to do a fraction of what they are showing.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/business/2b-theme-park-planned-off-route-66-questions-and-answers/article_88de885e-25a1-11ee-b527-07b0e77564fe.html

Their funding source is the Pizza Hut guy. He is 90. They are crashing the project schedule seemingly to get something built before he passes. Since he's their only funding source, that means they probably have something like ~$100 million to work with IF he is throwing almost everything he has into it AND they are getting loans on top of that. They would need another $900 million in investment to build out anything like they have discussed, and that's still a billion short of what they threw out there.

At least it'll be a nice RV resort.

49
General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC now anti branson....????
« on: July 24, 2023, 12:32:27 PM »
^Yeah, there have been a few cool news things added to the strip, but I'd argue it's still a long ways from the hey-day of the strip. Half the lots are empty or dilapidated, and the show offers get less and less each year. I don't recognize hardly any of the shows anymore, and they all seem to be some variation of country cover bands or something that ties into christianity/patriotism. I guess that's an OK niche, but it is obviously drying up. Basically, it's just shows aimed at old boomers who have never really experienced true night life or live music.

The strip will need more than a few flashy new rides and scattered attractions to stay relevant as more than a place for cheap hotels in the near future. We need walkable spaces, better restaurants, and better venues. A live music venue for touring acts would be a good start. The Mansion actually serves as such for bluegrass/country/gospel, but I'm talking about rock bands and everything else.

When SDC adds a resort everything changes for the strip, IMO.

50
Other Parks / Re: New Park - American Heartland in NE Oklahoma
« on: July 20, 2023, 11:40:14 AM »
This isn't like Bell's at all though. The Bell family has no money, sense, or resources besides their IP which they have pretty much ruined. Regardless, they had a great deal on the table that Robby ruined by not understanding the first thing about business or the necessary politics to play to let the deal play out.

This proposal is backed by a bit of money. The owner of the Mansion group is apparent an ex-pizza hut franchisee and owns a few other things. He's probably worth ~$100 million at least, but I haven't looked him up too much yet. The Mansion Entertainment group is just a weird looking company from the outside looking in. They absolutely have the capacity to build something in Vinita just based on the amount of money at Gene's disposal. They could build a neat little amusement/water park like what Robby wanted to rebuild Bell's as. They could try to grow it organically into something and make Vinita/Grand Lake into a regional vacation destination. This $2 billion figure isn't going to happen though. They aren't even going to get half of that. I could believe they could raise a half billion, but even that would be tough.

51
Thanks for sharing all the photos! Glad to see the new shop coming along. The new area is sure different, but hopefully the trees fill in before long and the "shine" wears off a bit - it'll eventually blend in better.

52
Other Parks / Re: New Park - American Heartland in NE Oklahoma
« on: July 19, 2023, 05:27:39 PM »
I don't think anyone who actually understands the industry is going to hold their breath about this. I think the result of this will be them building an RV park near grand lake and maybe some amenities like a small water park. Maybe they'll do OK with that, but most likely not since it's just not a big tourist area. There are a lot of Grand Lake people, but if you want to do well you need a really good location on the lake and it needs to be efficient and targeted to the local populace. This proposal is super generic. They want to take on Disneyworld on day 1. Very naïve to say the least.

The ownership group is... interesting. I almost don't want to get into it all, but just look up the Mansion businesses online and see if you can find much substance.

53
General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC now anti branson....????
« on: July 19, 2023, 05:23:21 PM »
I agree that it probably has something to do with the resort that seems to be about to be announced. There are rumors that the 8.14 announcement will include the resort. I'm not sure that is true, but we'll see. I think they are getting much, much closer to it. Probably in engineering design as we speak.

Branson is a bit of a tarnished brand. The city leaders (partly thanks to HFEC's involvement) snubbed their noses at so many big developments and efforts to change the city to adapt to the times. Branson Landing and downtown Branson is the one area that was allowed to change and develop into something big and cool that people can hang out in for an extended period of time instead of being stuck in traffic going between the crappy tourist traps on the strip. There are some random things on the strip that still draw crowds, and most of them are big flashy attractions like the mountain coaster or the park with the giant ferris wheel, but those still require an aggravating slog through the "76 crawl".

I can't believe that after all this time they haven't come up with any kind of transport option besides a tiny two lane road that connects everything. There are a few backroads, but to get to most of the stuff on 76 you eventually have to get on 76. I know I would rather spend my time in either SDC or Branson Landing. The random go-kart places, empty theatres, and run down hotels along 76 can fend for themselves.

I just looked at the strip on google street view and good grief, there are a LOT of empty lots and abandoned properties. Great potential if someone can buy up a bunch at once and connect them all with a massive resort or something - but Branson would resist it!

54
8/16 is national roller coaster day, and it's the day that parks have chosen to make announcements in the past few years. I believe they had the big media reveal for Time Traveler on NRCD back in 2017.

55
General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC Logo
« on: June 21, 2023, 10:54:37 AM »
I thought I heard that there was some feuding going on between SDC and Branson... just rumors mostly, but it's well known that SDC has always thrown their weight around in Branson and has run off many developments that they have thought would be detrimental to SDC or their other businesses. In the last decade, Branson has been slowly rebuilding itself to be more than just the home of SDC and a few ancient country stars and SDC's influence has dimmed a bit.

I mean, they are still the main game in town, but with Branson Landing and a slew of new attractions on the strip it's not JUST about them anymore. Supposedly they griped heavily about the aquarium being built because they wanted to build their own aquarium in Branson "some day".

Or maybe they just thought that Ozark Mountains is better branding than Branson, which has a reputation for being a tourist trap.

56
Random Talk / Re: Do some dang research....
« on: June 21, 2023, 10:29:41 AM »
There's a lot at play here. It is annoying when people just hop on FB to ask for stuff they could easily figure out or get for themselves. There's a lot of learned helplessness from people who have become far too attached to the internet, and especially social media. Weirdly enough, people aren't as tech/internet savy as they were a decade ago. There's less of a learning curve to use anything anymore and therefore people don't build basic skills to figure things out.

Also, FB sucks in general. Both as a platform and as a technology to display discussions and interact with people. When you comment on an FB thread, the order of comments is moved around based on likes and hidden parameters, so it's hard to follow any kind of flow for a conversation. They also hide a lot of comments based on how a given profile or comment is rated in the algorithm. Message boards like this one are still the best platform for actual discussion and posting information that will be easily accessible for years.

57
^How so? Only two letters revealed so far and it's probably not the name. I doubt that it will use the same name though, purely for marketing reasons.

Can't believe that it's almost July already. I wonder if this tease is just to announce the announcement. They usually announce things in early August and since this is a major three-year project I'm sure they'll want to put on a similar shin-dig as what they put on for Time Traveler.

58
I prefer the flooded mine, but would take either as long as it was faithfully done. Would be easier to sink $10 million into a quality restoration though. At this point I think people would celebrate it about as much as a new ride - the response to FITH closing has been awesome! People do care about the classic rides.

59
General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC Logo
« on: June 13, 2023, 08:07:20 AM »
lol, well they have to make it just different enough that they can justify their fee instead of basically just using an old logo. I love the retro simplicity though - reminds me of SDC in the 90's. Good times.

60
That's very lame. Lots of new systems going on, but that's no excuse for completely dropping your daughter's pass.  I guess you really have to watch email like a hawk now for stuff like that. I have a whole folder for passes/tickets that I check neurotically before things.

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