Messages

31

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Attendence number....

« on: April 07, 2018, 09:26:48 AM »

Should be interesting to see what the numbers are like today, with the light dusting of snow on the ground.  Really tempted to get up and go myself.

32

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Attendence number....

« on: April 05, 2018, 07:57:09 PM »

But for smaller churches this might be a highlight of the year for the youth...and the churches best method to try to create some new relationships in there communities..."Come go to SDC with us" It's not really about them hearing the right song during the weekend....though it doesn't hurt....it's about possible planting a seed and hopefully creating some good relationships with kids who need them.

But in cases like that, then the groups, including the leaders, tend to stick together.  They might break up into smaller groups, but because they are working on building relationships and planting seeds, they still keep them in groups and usually with some supervision.  Those are not the groups that cause problems.  As a youth pastor for years, that's what we did.  But I also insisted on knowing the kids before they could come on a trip like that.  We didn't allow kids that we didn't know to join us. They had to establish some sort of relationship with us first.

Those groups are NOT the problem at events like this. They ARE however also not typical of many of the groups that do go.  And that's the sad thing. 

Unfortunately I learned that the hard way as a youth pastor, lead pastor, and a theme park worker and having to deal with the large numbers of kids that were turned loose as soon as they walked in the gates to do whatever they please, and if you asked them what church or group they were with they couldn't even tell you because they had never done anything with them before.  And those are the ones that cause the problems.

33

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: April 04, 2018, 08:11:11 PM »

Why does the park continue it? Couldn't most of this be spread out during a festival. It's like a park that's haVing some choir or band day.

did you get the wrong thread?  :-)

I'm guessing you mean Young Christians Weekend.  Simple reason they do it- it makes them lots of money before they launch their first festival.  and works better on its own than it would as part of a festival.

34

Random Talk / Re: Your Travels Thread (2018)

« on: April 04, 2018, 03:58:36 PM »

I has hoping the threatending skies would clear the park out a bit.........NOPE!

Presidents Hall had armed guards, something I missed seeing that the last time (and Conservatives are the hateful bunch )

Rain doesn't send anyone packing in Florida.  After spending all of that money on the trip, there's no way they are letting something like rain get in the way of them being in the parks!

And armed guards?  I don't recall ever seeing that.  I didn't go to the Hall on this last trip.  Where were they at?

35

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Attendence number....

« on: April 04, 2018, 03:55:36 PM »

This is Young Heathens Weekend.  It’ll be stupid busy with teenagers without adult supervision.  Massive line cutting and overall rude behavior.  It really is the worst weekend of the entire year.  It ticks me off too as these as supposed to be “Christians” too.  Takes the park a good week to recover from the vandalism.

And it's so frustrating, both from a worker's point of view as well as a pastor's.  The lack of supervision is a huge part of the problem- what do teens do when they aren't supervised?  Test the limits of what they can get away with.  And there is this idiotic idea out there very common in churches that this is a great event to take all of those kids who would normally not go anywhere near the church to- kids they would normally have little or nothing to do with and that they don't know.  Because they think that somehow these kids will hear a few licks of music and it will transform them, but in the mean time they turn them loose to wreak havok (which is why they normally wouldn't be at church to begin with)

Meantime everyone else assumes that all of them are "Christian" and that is what Christians are like, and it becomes an utter failure all the way around.  Well, except for those trouble making kids who got a free (or nearly free) day at SDC out of it. *sigh*

36

Other Parks / Re: Former Schlitterbahn KC exec charged with manslaughter

« on: March 31, 2018, 03:18:28 PM »

Washington Post seems to be focused on it's Kansas's fault that they didn't inspect the ride.

The comments are just plan evil...basically saying....the Republican's family got what was coming because Republican's are against regulations and are in charge of Kansas.

Anymore I don't even bother reading any comments on news articles.  Ever.  It's the lowest dregs of society that seem to surface and spout their bile and ignorance there and I've not desire to have any part of it. Seems to be true of any news website, no matter how legit, major network, local news, or online.

37

Random Talk / Re: Your Travels Thread (2018)

« on: March 31, 2018, 03:16:10 PM »

Loving the photos and the updates!!

38

Other Parks / Re: Former Schlitterbahn KC exec charged with manslaughter

« on: March 30, 2018, 03:01:31 PM »

There’s no way Schlitterbahn survives this.

I would say the KC park certainly.  It will be interesting to see how it affects the other parks, but I'd be shocked if the KC park survives at all.

I'd also expect indictments on the "designers" and park owner to be coming soon based on what is in that report.  Horrible, purposeful negligence and complete disregard for safety and human life.  Terrible to read.

39

Random Talk / Re: Your Travels Thread (2018)

« on: March 30, 2018, 02:08:48 PM »

Sitting at the Denver airport now waiting for my last flight to return home after an incredible trip to Paris and Disneyland.  I've got thousands of photos to sort through- no exaggeration, as I shot well over 2000 myself, plus my friends'. Oh, and over 200gigs worth of video to boot! Ack!!   

Be watching over the next couple of months as it comes up online and on my channel.

and the Israel trip is paid for and locked in now as well.   

40

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: March 30, 2018, 02:05:20 PM »

EVERY new coaster has its bumps, bugs and operational issues to work through.  EVERY one.  Outlaw Run had them.  Powder Keg had them.  Wildfire had them.  The downtime that comes with it is normal and expected as the ride gets worked out and broken in.  It's one very good reason not to head to a park for a brand new specific ride within a month or sometimes two of it opening to give them time to work through all of that stuff.

Relax.  These are normal things.  It's far from "broke and needing warranty".   

41

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: New engine(s) status

« on: March 30, 2018, 01:58:52 PM »

It would be amazing if someone could get a photo of the new engine and post it.

Soon, very soon.  It looks awesome, and if you look careful at the roundhouse when you ride by you might get a glimpse of it (it's the one with the tinder car behind it) But I don't think they are allowing good photos of it yet.

I can't wait to see it up close.

Side note- been very happy to see they are running the old cars.  Not a fan of the new ones.

42

Branson Talk / Re: The Haygoods-

« on: March 30, 2018, 01:56:29 PM »

Outside of the obvious errors (They rarely perform at SDC anymore, the park isn't in a cave, and I'm dubious on the claim that they are the most popular show- that would depend on how you measure it)...

It's very cool that they are mentioned.  We've really enjoyed the show, but there are a few shows that I would put right up alongside them as being just as good, and just as popular.

But the writer's credibility is completely destroyed when they argue that the USS Midway Museum is the most popular attraction in California (been there, it's cool, but it's not Disneyland) and that Speedboat Sightseeing of Miami is the most popular attraction in Florida.  Ummm, yeah.  Maybe really cool attractions that are often missed?  But I can't even see those being the most highly rated on Trip Advisor, let alone the "most popular"

43

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC V Dollywood

« on: March 30, 2018, 01:50:41 PM »

We absolutely loved Dollywood.  While there are similarities, there are also a number of differences.  It is a larger park, has more rides and coasters, and has been expanding faster than SDC the last decade or so.  If you're into doing everything, it can easily be a two day visit.   Then you add in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and it's easily a full vacation.

You can see my videos, thoughts, and reviews from our visit last summer on my channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GA9H9XqVmQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LDJy9nU4-w

44

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: March 17, 2018, 07:42:48 PM »

It also says the park didn't expect the restraints to be so restrictive, so there might be some adjustments done in the future. It's fun to listen to if you want more opinions and firsthand experiences about the ride.

I'm guessing by restrictive that they mean the passenger size restrictions?  As I found them very comfortable and free and easy to move around in, while also being firmly kept in your seat and secured.  one of the most comfortable coasters I've found as far as that goes.

I did see some people have to take the walk of shame, but they were people that I doubt would have fit on any other coaster in the park either- except maybe Wildfire's "big boy" seats.  I didn't see anyone have to walk that should have been surprised, but my experience has been limited.

45

Construction/Rumors / Re: SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

« on: March 16, 2018, 09:04:41 PM »

Since the coaster doesn't have a traditional mid-brake run and is relatively short....I would assume they would never have 3 trains on it at the same time?  Do they even have three trains?

they most certainly have 3 trains.  They ran 3 trains the entire time of the media day/ employee rides event on Tuesday.  And they ran 3 trains all today when they were operating.  I was actually pretty impressed at how fast the line was moving with all three operating.  They were pushing it through pretty decent.  Actually had the line down to about 20 minutes for a good portion of the afternoon today, with a crowd I was told was around 7000.