Messages

241

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2019 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: October 18, 2018, 06:43:18 PM »

Sanddune- if what I am hearing is correct (and I'm hearing it from multiple people now) then at least one of your statements you may be surprised to find is incorrect.  At least one.  :-)
now it's waiting until tomorrow to find out if what I have heard is correct or not.  lol

242

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2019 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: October 17, 2018, 08:56:22 PM »

Based on the wording being used in these teasers and Time Traveler just opening, I expect this to be a show related announcement.

That was my initial thoughts.  And hoped for some needed rehabs.  I think those are still on the table- at least the show.  But over the last few days I've talked to a few people and they all seemed to lean the same way, that it's more than that.  Actually had one say they were more excited about what is coming next year than they were over Time Traveler, which is a strong indication that it's much more than a show.

243

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2019 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: October 16, 2018, 02:48:09 PM »

Looking forward to the announcement Friday and seeing what it is.  They've managed to be pretty tight lipped about this one, but I have started to hear some rumbling this week that it might involve a lot of water next year.  Hopefully they'll make the announcement rapidly.

244

Branson Talk / Re: New Attraction for Branson. A Cross north of town on 65.

« on: October 14, 2018, 03:41:09 PM »

Just another reason to not give money to churches. Ill stick with a good highly rated charity. This will be a giant Albatross on the landscape.

Actually that cross is the exact opposite of that argument.  Those were donations that did not go to a church at all but were designated specifically for it.  And for many of us who work in churches, we see it as a waste as well.

As a pastor I can guarantee you that money donated to the vast majority of churches is very carefully taken care of and goes into many services throughout your community.  If you want to know where the funds go, ask.  Most will have a financial report available that will show you exactly where all of the funds went. You'd be surprised how many different things your local church does and how many people they help.
Drives me nuts when a lot of news is made over a few goobers who think they need a plane and people think that's typical of what churches do with the money given to them.  Not even close.  :-)

245

SDC Memories/ Park History / Re: Pictures from the Past!

« on: October 14, 2018, 03:35:07 PM »

Wow what a difference in outfits for both the conductor and the robber. 

Terrible looking conductor outfit if you ask me, with the plaid.  Only way to really know he's a conductor is the hat.  I like when they went to the black vest and solid white or blue dress shirt.

the robber at least looks about right.  hehe  Love the red vest he's got over the bibs.

246

Construction/Rumors / Re: Food for thought

« on: October 09, 2018, 01:36:37 PM »

They also do a lot of sounding/ testing of the ground where they are planning to put in a coaster so they don't randomly drop a support into a cave and risk collapse- of either the tunnel or the support/ coaster.  Even with all of the coasters around SDC they've been careful and sure to not build over any caverns that they know of.

I hadn't heard that they actually filled in a cave opening, but it's possible. What I heard was that it took a lot more cement to shore up the hill side than they expected and that's where a lot of the cost went.  Time Traveler should have been far enough away from the cave that it shouldn't have been a problem, but it's easily possible they found a small one when doing the ground testing and checks and had to work on it some.

247

Branson Talk / Re: New Attraction for Branson. A Cross north of town on 65.

« on: October 08, 2018, 04:17:17 PM »

Frankly, I don't get it.  Not sure what they are accomplishing or what the point of it is.  All by itself, there's not even really a reason to stop and see it as if it was part of a larger attraction (e.g. the one in Eureka Springs at the Great Passion Play).

I've driven by several of these "giant crosses" at various times, such as the ones in Texas and New Mexico, and never stopped and had no desire to.  Other than something to see as you drove by, they seemed pointless to me. And there's plenty to see on 65 that it really didn't need this.

And from the "Christian Pastor" perspective, this will do absolutely nothing to "grow the faith" or convince people of much of anything they don't already feel or believe either anymore than beating them with a stick would.

*shrug*  really seems like a waste of a lot of money to me.

248

Random Talk / Re: Man is Disney trying hard to to make a buck

« on: October 02, 2018, 09:36:41 AM »

Sadly there does seem to be a trend towards the penny pinching, get all the money you can attitude that they had back in the late 90's to early 2000's that culminated in the accident at Big Thunder.  This isn't the only area you see it.

And it's not just at Disneyland this time.  It's prevalent throughout the Florida parks as well, as evidenced by a lot of the cast members they let go (several streetmosphere people at studios, all the live actors in Rivers of Light and others) and noticeable cuts in some areas of upkeep.  All while still enjoying huge profits and growing crowds.  Guess they're working on ways to absorb the coming pay increases and huge costs of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge without cutting into the profits.

249

Construction/Rumors / Re: Great Pumpkin LumiNights at SDC?

« on: September 29, 2018, 10:06:32 AM »

Personally I think this would be awesome.  And I have a feeling there's a good chance they are going this direction.  Honestly the fall festival is possibly our favorite right now, outside of Christmas, but it's obvious that it's struggling. And there have been enough rumors and rumbling that it's getting majorly overhauled, so if they aren't going to do it again in current form, then I think that would be a great replacement.

For those that are thinking "Frightfest/ scarefest" kind of thing though, it won't be like that.  If anything, I imagine it would be much more like Disney's extremely popular "Not So Scary Halloween party"- an event that is very kid and family friendly.  There is a lot of dislike in the upper echelon of some of what happens in other parks at Halloween, one of the reasons they've never done anything for it. So they're not going to go with the dark, scary, gory kind of event.

250

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: 2018 Trip Reports

« on: September 25, 2018, 01:30:26 PM »

No, it is not legal.  I forgot to mention, she did say she gave them her notice but they would not accept it.  They said she would either just have to quit, or they would fire her.

Perhaps they don't realize that's illegal here in the US and they can't force someone to work or refuse to accept their notice?  I hope she walks in 2 weeks and files against them.  That's ridiculous.

Just a reminder that the PR department does not do things on Willow’s timeline and there is a lot of season left. 

  Nor do they operate on yours Swoosh, as evidenced by the multiple rumors and things you've had wrong over the last several years.  smh

251

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: 2018 Trip Reports

« on: September 25, 2018, 01:26:18 PM »

When they built Fireman's Landing, they put in the infrastructure for a train Track crossing(see photo).
That could easily be used as part of a new pathway to connect Fireman's Landing and Grand Expo. I theorize that they would only claim the southern half of that employee parking lot for this. But if you look at how FM, Frisco Barn and the area left from the Water Boggin and you have the making of a space for a coaster. Other wildcards are RiverFront playhouse and the open air theater and if Valley Road stays.

You might be surprised to know that crossing has actually been there for years.  I used it when I worked there a couple of times, but it's main use was when they were building Fireman's Landing it was much easier to bring in the materials that way since they were stored in the lot, and that was the main reason that it was improved- so the construction teams working there during Fireman's Landing build could use it.

There's been lots of speculation that at some point they might use the old employee lot for expansion.  The same has been said about the maintanence area around the round house as well, where they could easily build a path from Barn Swing to Fireman's Landing.  Or use the gate by Outlaw Run to build out into the woods. Or...  :-)  Well, I hope you get my drift.

SDC's team didn't win the PR award at the recent Golden Tickets for no reason.  If there were plans being formulated or in place, then there would be something coming out from the park in some fashion.  Markers, planning teams, "convenient leaks" or something other than wild guess work on a fan forum or from a group of people who are only at the park 3-5 weeks a year instead of the regular employees.

In other words, while I'm sure they have some things in the planning stages for 2020, at this point I'm not optimistic that it's any of those.  I have some ideas, and have had a few discussions, but I don't want to add speculation or rumors so I'll refrain until there is something more solid, but don't count on what you think you're seeing or hearing.  :-)

252

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Refill Cups

« on: September 22, 2018, 04:07:00 PM »

Where are they selling the old cups at?  Wondering if they have ones that I don't have so I can add them to my collection.

253

Other Parks / Wonders of Wildlife has 1.6 millions visitors in first year

« on: September 22, 2018, 04:05:56 PM »

Talk about a milestone in their first year, WoW had over 1.5 million visitors in their first year!  WoW is right!  they already have an expansion planned.

You can see the article at https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Wonders-of-Wildlife-celebrates-first-year-493893901.html

I know there was some discussion earlier on a different thread that Branson visitors aren't aware that WoW exists, but that's a lot of people visiting for something that's supposedly unknown outside of Springfield.

254

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: 2018 Trip Reports

« on: September 21, 2018, 03:56:50 PM »

Sounds like SDC is about to get their own new area similar to dollywood. Waterboggin footprint and Employee parking lot.

Bad News for Flooded Mine?

Highly doubt it.  I've heard some interesting rumors from the craftspeople that I never saw come to pass.  We know that they are redoing the festival event next year, as evidenced by the departure of the Wild West Show and a few other small changes they've announced.  It's very possible they're just completely reworking how they're gong to do that whole event.

But if they were doing a major remodel of an area of the park, you can bet they would have announced it and been milking it for all it's worth already.  That's not the kind of thing they are going to do under the radar and not say anything about.  Remember how early the hints were dropping about Christmas in Midtown- a full year before it happened.  They're not going to have a major project like that go by and nothing even hinted until a quiet rumor 6 months from when it would be complete.

Which is also why I laugh every time certain people start talking about the redone entrance and moving it or Echo Hollow.  Again things that the PR department isn't going to keep hidden.

255

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: 2018 Trip Reports

« on: September 19, 2018, 10:27:17 AM »

Went to the park this past Sat, the 15th.

I was also out there on Saturday!  A bit on the crowded side, but not overwhelming, and we were able to do a lot. I wonder how many times we ended up crossing paths during the day...

For me it was more about shows and the festival on Saturday, catching the saloon, homestead pickers, wild west show, and more, and had a blast doing that.  it was also a way to avoid the lines for the rides. :-)

I put my day into video form, so you can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI628gVs-GM