Messages

391

Random Talk / Re: Souvenirs for Overseas

« on: January 24, 2018, 06:21:22 PM »

We've had some visitors from Japan that actually really enjoyed the peanut brittle from Brown's Candy at the park.

The fudge was to rich for them.

perhaps some of the mixes from the Mill?

392

Other Parks / Re: Frontier City Developments

« on: January 23, 2018, 09:10:16 AM »

What was the European park that refurb'd and enclosed a shuttle loop?

Ah, here it is. Well done
https://youtu.be/eJC1SAY9psE

That's different. 

I was thinking it was a classic Schwartzkopf until it actually started the launch and crawled forward...
Same exact idea except built by Gerstlauer.  If you look at the photos on RCDB before they enclosed it, it looks almost like they copied Anton's old coaster design nearly exactly, but put in a different launch system.

393

Branson Talk / Re: New Name for Dixie Stampede

« on: January 11, 2018, 10:26:17 AM »

I was reading the facebook comments from the story posted by my local news outlet.  It is mind-numbing how emotionally stupid people get over this stuff.

I ridiculous number of "I've never going again"..."Dolly gave in"...."This is why Branson is dying"...."what are they going to do next" .........a few "It's about time"

I does make sense to do it business wise....especially if they are going to copy the format for non-southern markets.

yep, people are ridiculous online.  And the truth is that most of them are full of poo.  They either didn't go to it anyways, or they'll be back next time they are in the area.

And the idea of Branson dying, when their numbers were up (again!) in almost every area.  It's like Yogi Berra- no one goes there anymore because it's to crowded.

394

Construction/Rumors / Re: Times Revelations

« on: January 10, 2018, 06:03:21 PM »

And because you didn’t read the fine print, you get a private tour of the Pit of Misery.  Dilly Dilly

LOL well played.  :-p

395

Random Talk / Re: Your Travels Thread (2018)

« on: January 08, 2018, 08:20:09 AM »

This year is starting to shape up to be a big one, and it's very early in the planning stages still.

I leave Friday for a week in Florida:
Sat 1/13 Disney Springs
Sun 1/14 Animal Kingdom
Mon 1/15 Epcot
Tues 1/16 Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
Weds 1/17 Disney Hollywood Studios
Thurs 1/18 Magic Kingdom

There's a possibility of going to Disney Paris in March, but won't know for a few weeks yet if that one is happen.

Going to Israel in June for our 25th anniversary.  That's a surprise for my wife still, so don't tell her!  lol

Possibly a return trip to WDW in November

Oh, and we've still got a major family get together in July somewhere, don't know yet, maybe Branson, maybe SoCal.

Hoping to have a swing out to Northern California for a high school reunion, in which case I'll hit Discovery Kingdom and Great America.

That's on top of our normal SDC/ Branson stuff.  So it may turn out to be a lot of travel this year.

396

Construction/Rumors / Re: Times Revelations

« on: January 08, 2018, 08:15:40 AM »

Well technically there is no Santa Claus after December 23rd at Silver Dollar City

Shame on you, you doubter.  Yes, there IS a Santa Claus, and he's very real.
https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/fatherchristmas.shtml

Just for that, you're getting coal in your stocking next year.  :-p

397

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

« on: January 06, 2018, 09:00:27 AM »

^ Yeah, people have been saying for quite a while once it became clear where the entrance was that the whole area had to be opened up.  It was already kind of a messy bottleneck before TT, and would be even more so when it opens.

hate losing all of the eateries and benches there.  Hopefully they can come up with something later. But it's no surprise.

398

Other Parks / Re: Question regarding other Parks

« on: January 06, 2018, 08:58:30 AM »

It would be a major crime to not close Kings Island.  Night rides on The Beast are life changing.  Shoot I'll even tell you what row you need to ride in to get the best rides (pssst it's not the very front row or even the very back row).

Referring him to the "Schmeck seat?" (even though it's not a Schmeck.  lol)  Favorite seat on a great many coasters, especially wood, and usually has one of the shortest lines as well.

399

Announcements / Re: Site Updates

« on: January 06, 2018, 08:56:36 AM »

Shave- really appreciate all the work you do on the site.  Love the mix of "new, modern" formats while keeping things like the forums around.  And it looks great.  Especially compared to some of the other sites that are out there.  You do a great job.

400

Construction/Rumors / Re: Times Revelations

« on: January 06, 2018, 08:53:38 AM »

Disappointed to hear the Wild West Show is moving on.  Same with Wonderful Life.  World Fest was our favorite next to Christmas, though it didn't seem to pull in the guests, which I was sad about. There was still a lot of World Fest this year though, just under a new name.

There was never anything from the park itself claiming that last year was the last one for Rudolph.  Just rumors from one or two people that apparently didn't have much behind them.

For the new show, I don't know, but based on the latest quiz they've been asking, I'm with History Buff.  I think it's going to be a Miracle for them to pull it off without people knowing in advance though.

(Gilligan, that's 2 hints in 2 posts for you. lol)

401

Random Talk / Re: Your Travels outside of Branson for 2018 and beeeeeeyonddddd......

« on: January 06, 2018, 08:48:54 AM »

Lets lock this thread (which was 2017) and make a new one for 2018. 
If you were the OP you have that ability.

If you had noticed, I did that in the title.

Better instead of changing the title to just start a new thread for the new year.  at least IMO.  For someome coming in later it could be confusing to have 2017 and 2018 mixed together.  :-)

402

Other Parks / Re: Question regarding other Parks

« on: January 05, 2018, 09:55:33 AM »

Adding on to Swoosh's questions:

What time of the year do you plan on going to each?  (day of the week, as Swoosh mentioned, is also important)
What rides and attractions do you like to do?  Just coasters?  flats? shows? everything?
and yes, why aren't you visiting Holiday World?  lol

Really those, your answers to the questions Swoosh and I ask are big when trying to figure out how much time you need.  If you're going on summer weekends and want to ride everything, then most of those are going to be 2 day things.  But if you're there a weekday in May and only ride coasters, that will give you a very different answer.

403

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: SDC Sets Attendance Record

« on: January 04, 2018, 10:37:32 AM »

Happy for them.  I knew that it was going to be a big year for them attendance wise, and the weather- especially in November and December was as good as I think they've ever had for the Christmas season.  So that's great that they set a new record, and by a pretty decent size as well.

It has shown some areas that they need to work on, infrastructure wise, that if they don't have a plan in place then they need to get one and soon in order to keep this up.

The entrance area needs to be redone.  It is such a log jam now, both coming and leaving.  They've got to find a way to open that up.  Whether it's the OMP, the turnstiles, Guest Relations (which needs to be enlarged and staff increased), etc.

They've expanded parking, but it looks like they need to do some more there as well.  Including a new employee lot that they will always have available. I felt bad for them on the busy Christmas days because they were really shuffled down the road.  But they've got to figure out a way to get cars moving into those lots faster.  I had a couple of times where I was stuck sitting on Indian Point road, practically parked there, for 45 minutes to an hour because the cars moving into the lots were log jammed.

And they need more places in the park for people to go.  Various things have been mentioned- a new multipurpose fetival hall/ theater; more indoor rides/ attractions that stay open during weather; really they need a new expanded area of the par with things in it- places that can absorb some of the crowds.

I know one sign of the increased crowds is the increased rarity of the "Ma" show on the train, which is a longer show.  If they've got a line for the train, they don't do Ma, and it seems like that's the majority of the time now.

These are all good problems to have. Very good problems. But they are ones that you want to address in the near future as opposed to long distance, and do them well.  Or it could backfire and you lose the increased crowds because people don't like dealing with the mess that comes with them.

404

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Numbers today

« on: December 31, 2017, 05:43:36 PM »

FYI, all problems have been temperature related. Compressors have moisture in the air, below freezing has caused some to shut down (FH & FM). The gun issue is the same. While the shell may be old, the electronics are new. The colder the temps coming off the pond (22, today), the harder "wake-up" for the guns.

Thanks for the updates and clarification Steve.  :-)  I'll always defer to the knowledge of the guy who actually works on the stuff rather than my attempts to figure it out on my own. 

405

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Numbers today

« on: December 29, 2017, 05:15:59 PM »

This only highlights the need for more enclosed rides as they drift into near year round ops.

Except for the fact that the indoor rides get effected by the cold too.  Fire in the Hole cannot operate if it is below freezing.  The guns in the Firehouse are having issues because of the cold (the compressed air).  The electronics in Mine are having issues because of the cold.

So no.  Being inside isn't going to help anything when it is this cold.

I'm willing to bet those issues could be fixed though (albeit at considerable expense in FITH's case). A modern indoor ride wouldn't have those issues.


I'll bet the PTB is nashing their teeth this week. If winter had held off a little longer they could have ended the year with an additional 50,000-100,000 guests. Poor end to a very strong Christmas season. It would have been packed out this week if it had been even 50 degrees out, but winter showed up this year.

Fire in the Hole's issues with temperature is that the splash down is part of the braking system.  When it's this cold, that causes freezing problems with the water.  Not conducive to operations.

Interesting that the guns in the firehouse would be having issues with the cold since the building is heated.  Unless they aren't using the heat for some odd reason.

The electronics on the mine aren't having issues with the cold.  They're just plain having issues and have for a long time.  They do what they can with trying to keep them up, but I'm of the opinion that the whole system needs to be replaced for it to work correctly.

I'm agreed that they need more indoor rides/ activities.  And not just because of the cold.  When thunderstorms hit- which is a regular happening- having more options would also be a great thing.  There just aren't very many now.

it is to bad what the cold will do to their numbers.  Though as strong as the year has been, and with it being so dry the last few months, I'd be surprised if their increase in numbers the rest of the time doesn't more than make up for one slower than expected week.