Your top suggestions on making the park even better

[okiebluegrass]

I think the smoking area by powder keg should go, but don't take away my smoking areas. Aren't us smokers mistreated enough already?

[Ozark Outlaw]

Really Okie, you are going to open that can of worms?

I think the root problem is the not existence of Smoking Areas, but rather how well, or not so well they contain the smoke.

[okiebluegrass]

Put me in some deep dark corner of the park, I don't care. Just don't make me walk out to the parking lot. Besides if I quit smoking, your taxes will go up.

[sanddunerider]

okie, i dont smoke. but i am on your side. I think you smokers have been abused enough already..

[okiebluegrass]

Thanks sanddunerider. I don't like to smoke around little kids or anything. However if parents bring little ones into the smoking area, that's on them. I would be willing to compromise keep certain areas completely smoke free.

[eagle1]

Okay..maybe it's just me, but I always enjoyed the log rolling contests behind the lumbercamp (? - mind going blank) place to eat across from the saloon, back where the waterfall you used to be able to walk behind. Granted I was WAY younger but when I eat there, I think about how fun that was to watch!  Those guys were good and could be on those logs for a long time before falling off. Sometimes they would have "bad" guy vs "good" guy, those were even better. ( I haven't been yet this year so bare with me....need to go to refresh memory of names/etc. now that wrist is better)

[joshblakebran]

Really Okie, you are going to open that can of worms?

I think the root problem is the not existence of Smoking Areas, but rather how well, or not so well they contain the smoke.

I agree with you Ozark...it's probably more of an issue of containment...I like DollarCityBoy's idea of getting rid of the smoking area by the Powderkeg...The rest of the areas I mentioned are bearable...It is nice that there are designated smoking areas versus allowing anywhere in the park to be a smoking area...Smokers are probably picked on and I certainly wouldn't want that and I do agree that it would be a pain for somebody who wanted to smoke to go the the parking lot...they are paying customers and are very important to the park and deserve to enjoy their visit to the park as much as anybody even if includes having the smoking areas...I hope nobody thinks I dislike smokers...my sister smokes...Anyway Okie, hopefully I didn't offend you because being offensive was not what I intended...I would be perfectly happy if the smoking area around Powderkeg were eliminated...that would make the park better

[How-doFolks]

We are respectable smokers. And we never go to the smoking section by Powderkeg, we have gotten too many weird looks. I understand the smoking issue, none of it bothers me,i have been smoking a long time & seen all the changes. Plus, i dont smoke that much cuz i'm too busy havin' fun at the park & dont think about it. Wish my woman was more like that.. The people that mess me up are the ones ya see "cupping" a cigarette in their hand.   

[oldsdcer]

my spouse has one statement for the smoking areas, " IT"S OUTSIDE IN THE OPEN AIR"

[Zephon]

I think the smoking area by powder keg should go, but don't take away my smoking areas. Aren't us smokers mistreated enough already?

Treated like second or even third class citizens. Didn't Rosa Parks ride a bus some time back in protest of that kind of treatment?

Speaking of park improvements, I wholeheartedly agree with those who think some of the "old" stuff should be brought back...street shows and some of the old in-house shows. It greatly saddens us old-timers every time we talk about the old days at SDC. It seems that the "heart" has gone out of the park and it's now just an empty shell.

What's even sadder is that I don't see it changing with the current management philosophy. It would take a massive letter-writing campaign (thousands) to even get them to consider bringing back some of those old tried and true experiences.

Don't get me wrong though. I think some of the new stuff is great and has great entertainment value. I just don't believe the old has to be sacrificed for the new. There's room for both.

[Ozark Outlaw]

Don't get me wrong though. I think some of the new stuff is great and has great entertainment value. I just don't believe the old has to be sacrificed for the new. There's room for both.

Straight from the horses mouth! It's good to hear from an insider Zephon, since it's often a mystery on how the employees feel about the changes.

If it takes a petition, or a letter campaign to bring back the old ways of Silver Dollar City, I bet we could all rally together, and do it!

[Junior]

Zephon is not the only current employee that feels that way. Other do, too. Some are in mid to high level management. These are people I know and worked with. They remember the park 35 years ago much the same as I do, and they would like to see some of that old magic come back. It's possible it could, but Zephon is right, the current top management has a somewhat different agenda. Anyway, I'd still reccomend you go and enjoy some time at the park with your family, you still have a great past ahead of  you!

[cocodane3]

Just curious. Where does zephon work at sdc?

[Junior]

Last I heard, Zephon was behind the scenes working at Echo Hollow and at some of the other theater venues from time to time, doing scenery, setting up lights, microphones, and such. Back in the old days when I worked out there, he was in the Saloon Show, one of the talented singing and dancing bartenders.

[cocodane3]

O so he's not one of the citizens you can just say hi to as if they worked at a ride or shop. Bummer