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I would expect it to be very similar to what is offered at Dollywood. The new Heartsong Lodge has more suite options that go up to 6 people.

I fully expect and hope that it is way nicer than Great Wolf. We went to one a few years ago and probably won't ever go back.

I see it as filling a space between a nice standard hotel and Big Cedar Lodge. That is where we feel like the DreamMore falls and we love the DreamMore.

I didn't get one.

However, our family can not wait for SDC to finally build a resort. If it is anything like the DreamMore it will be awesome. Even though we love about 40 minutes from SDC, if the average room price was in the $199-$250 range we would do around 4 staycations a year there.

This is an opportunity for them to make use of that hill it sits on and turn it into a Wooden Hyper Coaster (200+ foot drop) that they can remarket the thing as.

They are just replacing the launch with a fast chain lift. The rest of the ride will remain the same with the exception of new trains.

Dollywood announced that they are replacing the launch on Lighting Rod with a fast chain lift and that they are getting new trains. The launch was cool and we got lucky to ride it every trip we took, but I don't think it was worth the amount of down time that it had.

It will close for the season on October 30th and reopen in Spring 2024. Other than the lift, the rest of the ride experience will be the same, even the same top speed.

For me, the more interesting part of the announcement is new trains. I much prefer the Outlaw Run trains over the Lighting Rod ones. The high headrest on them made them feel much less open than the Outlaw Run twins. Now without the launch, I wonder if they will be more like the Outlaw Run ones.

https://www.facebook.com/dollywood/videos/1359445871311763/

I agree with cloning the beginning into the helix, and then doing a latched section or two without a lift hill. My only issue with Taron is the height requirement at 51". I would really like to see them keep it at 42" or even get it down to 39".

These self serve photo kiosks are going up around the City. We used them at Dollywood and loved them. With a season photo card it made it much easier to get our photos and not have to wait when people were ordering prints.

Work has started on the new location of Fireman's Flyers.
The former Taste of the City booth has been removed.

Here is the proposed annexation map.

I believe that that the orange area is the park and the red is unannounced development; rumors seem to be a golf course and cabins... not 100% sure though.

Their representative lost me right off the bat when he referred to Disneyland as California Disney and said that it costs a family 10s of thousands of dollar to visit Disney. Yes, you can spend that much, but you can for sure visit for much less. We've never gotten close to that on our trips.

After watching more of it, the issue seems to be with how much the town is trying to annex. I didn't realize how far from the town the actual property is. The tow is trying to do fence line annexation where there are strips of land that are annexed along roads to connect the town with the property. They seem to be doing it along multiple roads and that is the main complaint.  Will be interesting to see where it goes.

Hmm, has it been confirmed they're doing this? I haven't had a chance to watch the announcement they posted but I haven't seen any mention of it.

It is listed in the press release.

Given next year's excitement, Silver Dollar City will offer a 2024 season pass pre-sale October 9-31. During the pre-sale, passes will be offered at the lowest prices of the season and include early line access to FIRE IN THE HOLE in the spring.

https://www.silverdollarcity.com/press/2024-announcement/

Also what were the issues with BBM? Long lines, or something else? I haven't paid much attention to DW as of late.

They sold it as buy your passes early to be the first to ride, but then some general public got to ride before the pass holders had their reserved ride times. It was really that people thought they were promised one thing, when they actually weren't and they got mad.

Sounds like I may be in the minority on the forum. I would love to see it upgraded with a new, modern, and reliable shooting system along with an overall update much like what Fire in the Hole is getting. Our family loves shooting rides and is really something that we missed when visiting Dollywood. A fun and reliable shooting ride is very re-rideable.

Now if it was truly upgraded to something more along the ride experience of Pirates where there are a few small drops, more effects throughout, and more of a story, I could get behind that... but I think that the park could still use a shooting ride.

...back to 2024.

It will be interesting to see how the early access goes with those that buy passes during the presale. It was kind of a mess with Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood this year. I am guessing that SDC will adjust their messaging around it to avoid some of the issues that Dollywood had with it.

The same info was posted here back in December.

https://www.sdcfans.com/forums/index.php?topic=4325.15

Anyone else notice how they said Heartland multiple times? I have to assume that it was a conscious choice after the Oklahoma announcement.

Seeing it in person today, the building seems much larger than I expected. It is also back further away from the railroad tracks than I expected. The City hosted a great announcement event today and we were lucky to attend it. Can't wait for next spring!

While I know its just concept art, I love how the train scene includes one of the FSDL locomotives, it just ties everything together. This truly feels like a love letter to the original ride while modernizing it.

I'm assuming that this will be the tunnel that the train is in. I hope that it moves forward in the tunnel toward the track to make it more dynamic.