Silver Dollar City & Celebration City Discussion > General Silver Dollar City Talk
SDC Vs. Dollywood, Side by Side Study
chittlins:
So, over on the Dollywood sub board a small debate broke out on whether Dollywood gets a lot more love than SDC. I contest that there might be a very small difference but as big as it is assumed to be. A lot of we need to get a list of attractions and theater/showbuildings at the end of 1985.
SDC Attractions Pre 1986:
American Plunge Log Flume (circa 1981, replaced Jim Owens Ozark Float Trip)
Flooded Mine (circa 1968)
Grandfather's Mansion (circa 1968, formerly Sam's Mining Shack)
Frisco Silver Dollar Line Train
Huck Finn's Hideaway(formerly Herman the Hermit's Tree House)
Lost River of the Oazrks (under construction or opened in 1985, replaced Rube Dugan's Diving Bell)
Marvel Cave Tour with funicular back up to top
Fire in the Hole
Tom Sawyer's Landing (circa 1984, Consisting of Becky's Carousel and rope towers and nets)
Runaway Ore Cart
Petting Zoo
SDC Theaters, Stages, Showbuildings Pre 1986:
Echo Hollow Amphitheater (cap. 4,000, circa 1983)
Silver Dollar Saloon (circa 1973)
The Boatworks Theater
Riverfront Playhouse (cap. 600, circa 1979, former names Courthouse Theater, Gaslight Theater)
Gazebo
Dockside Theater
McHaffie's Homestead Front Porch
Dollywood Attractions Pre 1986
Blazing Fury
Flooded Mine
Country Fair Mills Log FLume
Inventor's Mansion
Butter Churn Trabant flat ride
Red Baron Flying Squadron spinner
Grand Ballroom (ball and germ pit)
Malfuntion Junction Bumber Cars
Mountain Swinger
Cloud Grabber
Carousel
Petting Zoo
Dollywood Theaters, Stages, Showbuildings Pre 1986:
Silver Dollar Saloon
Magic Show
Help Fill in the Gaps!!!!!
chittlins:
Additions and Changes to SDC and Dollywood Post 1985
1986
SDC:
off year
Dollywood:
Rivertown Rampage, Smoky Mountain Rampage, Back Porch Theater, Aunt Granny's restuarant, Tennessee Mountain Home(dolly childhood home replica)
Inventor's Mansion converted to Dolly Museum Rags to Riches
Butter Churn Trabant removed
1987
SDC:
Wilderness Water Toboggan
Dollywood:
DayDream Ridge opens with Mountain Sidewinder Water Tobboggan. Dolly gains candy shop and glass blowing shop that SDC already has. new burger eatery
1988
SDC:
Land of Forgotten Crafts?
Dollywood:
Celebrity Theater with a capacity of 1,739
Five rides added to Fun Country Area including a Zampera Balloon Race
1989
SDC:
Tom Sawyer's landing upgraded to include Balloons, ferris wheel and kid's coaster
Town Square got the Victorian Treatment (public hated it)
Dollywood:
Thunder Express added, relocated half of SFSTL's dual mine trains
1990
SDC:
Flooded Mine renovated into a shooter
Furniture Factory added sometime between here and 1993
Dollywood:
Antique Dentzel Carousel relocated from Lancaster PA
Gaslight Theater with capacity of 600
1991
SDC:
?????
Dollywood:
Eagle Mountain Sanctuary
Wings of America Theater
Valley Theater
1992
SDC:
?????
Dollywood:
Butteryfly Emporium
Imagination Station kids interactive area(Barnwood Theater conversion)
Streetshow area
Bakery
1993
SDC:
Thunderation opens at a 7 million dollar cost
Dollywood:
Fun Country Renovated with ferris wheel, scrambler, tilt a whirl
Balloon Ride relocated
1994
SDC:
Opera House opens with capacity of 1,0000
Dollywood:
Gaslight namechange to Heartsong multimedia presentation about Dolly
1995
SDC:
?????
Dollywood:
Jukebox Junction with Rockin Roadway mini car ride
1996
SDC:
?????
Dollywood:
ThunderRoad Simulator Ride
1997
SDC:
Geyser Gulch added
Dollywood:
kiddie nick show and eateries and shops
Flooded Mine closes
1998
SDC
?????
Dollywood:
Daredevil Falls added at former Flooded Mine site
Thunder Express closed and relocated to Magic Springs
1999
SDC:
Buzzsaw Falls water coaster opens
Dollywood:
Tennesse Tornado steel Arrow Coaster opens
2000
SDC, WW:
Red Gold Building with capacity for 1,800 opens
Dollywood:
Daydream Ridge converted to Dreamland Forest with Children's Mountain Themed interactive area
2001
SDC:
Wildfire, 14 million B&M steel coaster with 5 inversions
Dollywood, SC:
Splash Country opens
2002
SDC, WW:
Branson USA purchased
Dollywood, SC:
Thunder Road simulator changed to Smoky Mountain Wilderness adventure
New Dolly Museum
2003
SDC ,WW, CC:
Celebration City Opens with Ozark Wildcat, a GCI woodie and Jack Rabbit , an E&F Miler coaster. supposedly 40 million put into the opening of Celebration City
Wilderness Water Tobboggan overhauled and renamed Waterworks Waterboggan
BuzzSaw Falls closes at end of season
Dollywood, SC:
Imagination Station converted to special events center
2004
SDC , CC, WW:
Runaway Ore Cart closes
Dollywood, SC:
Thunderhead Gap opens with Thunderhead, a GCI woodie as the anchor
Counrty Fair Falls log flume removed along with 4 other rides
2005
SDC, CC, WW:
Powder Keg Opens useing parts of Buzzsaw Falls track
Dollywood, SC
Country Fair area renovated with 10 new rides
2006
SDC, CC, WW
Grand Exposition opens with Zamperla Ride package
Dollywood, SC :
Timber Tower opens, Huss topple tower flat ride along with Lunberjack Lifts, Beaver Creek Boat Float and Lil Loggers Landing
2007
SDC, CC, WW:
Giant Barn Swing, a S&S Screaming Swing (supposedly chosen over a topple tower or giant discovery on surveys) and surrounding High Low Silos and childrens activities
Dollywood, SC:
Mystery Mine opens, A highly themed Gerstlauer eurofighter with two vertical lifts.
RECESSION HITS
2008
SDC, CC, WW:
Midwest Living Culinary Arts School
Roaring Falls at Celebration City
Tom Sawyers Landing closed, Balloons and carousel removed, 2009 attraction teased
Celebration City closure at end of season announced
Dollywood, SC:
River Battle opens , a Mack Splash Battle
2009
SDC, WW:
work stalls on Tom Sawyer replacement, new attraction delayed a year due to financial considerations but Tom and Huck's River Blast announced
Dollywood, SC:
new shows, another retheme of simulation ride to 4D
third party, upcharge zip line course added.
2010
SDC, WW:
Tom And Huck River Blast opens
Dollywood, SC
Adventure Mountain ropes courses opens
2011
SDC, WW:
Half Dollar Holler childrens play area opens with return of carousel
Aloha River at White Water
Dollywood, SC:
Dreamland Forest converted to Owen's Farm and adds Barn Stormer, S&S Giant Swing and children's play area
2012
SDC, WW:
?????
Dollywood, SC:
Wild Eagle, B&M Wing coaster
Timber Tower removed after a time of SBNO
Dolly buys the Zip Line
2013
SDC, WW:
Outlaw Run, Wooden hybrid with inversions by Rocky Mountain Coaster.
Dollywood, SC:
shows changes and what not
River Rush Water Coaster at Splash Country
2014
SDC, WW:
Geyser Gulch closes
KaPau Plummet added to White Water
Dollywood:
Firechaser Express replaces Adventure Mountian. A gerstlauer trick track coaster with milder launches.
2015
SDC, WW:
Fireman's Landing replaces Gyser Gulch, relocation and retheming of a few of Celebration City's rides with the S&S Shot Tower as the feature and reintroduction of Balloons ride from storage.
Dollywood, SC:
DreamMore Resort opens
2016
SDC, WW:
Coconut Cove at White Water
Dollywood, SC:
Lightning Rod , launched Woodie by RMC. lots of downtime, plagued with issues.
Splash Country adds Tailspin Racer mat racer slides
2017
SDC, CC:
Time Traveler, Mack launched spinning coaster with inversions annouced for 2018
Addition of what appears to be the Osborne Lights from Disney for Christmas.
Dollywood
Drop Line, 200ft. Funtime drop tower replace void left by Timer Tower.
no announcements at this time.
chittlins:
please help fill in the gaps that I have with the time line.
Need dates for White Water additions post 1995 and after Splash Country opening
chittlins:
From this basic outline that's to be tweaked, outside of larger investments in Splash Country compared to White Water and the addition of DreamMore, if you include the Celebration City investment, the spend isn't far off or lopsided. Dollywood appeared light on show buildings and they beefed up in the early days but SDC had added a massive Echo Hollow just prior the conversion of the Tennessee park to Dollywood.
Each had swings and misses, SDC with Buzzsaw Falls and Dolly with Timber Tower and Adventure Mountain have very short lives.
The recession delayed the SDC version of Mystery Mine and allowed HFE to grow out of love with the concept. Dolly needed a "Powder Keg" and a replacement for Adventure Mountain which wasn't cutting it for whatever reasons. Branson lost it's two new coasters they added to Celebration City, while relocating others and selling some off. When you add the loss of those two and HFE using the Gerstlauer to fill in a need at Dollywood after getting delayed at SDC has created a balance issue. I don't feel that Dollywood is getting more. The recession just threw the balance off. As I have pointed out, they love buying two rides per manufacturer at a time and splitting them with SDC and Dolly, SDC seems to get the first one.
Will there be a push to close the gap? Will a redevelopment of the CC site into a Branson resort even that score. Would that led to a new water park that would replace the much older White Water with a modern equal to Splash County?
Does anyone know last years attendance totals for SDC to compare to Dollywood's?
So again, the Recession hit Branson hard while Pigeon Forge didn't seem to miss a beat. They had to overcome some duds at Dolly more recently than SDC. Will HFE ever catch SDC up on the coaster count. A standard non inverting woodie is a glaring omission and a GCI or GG could be had for well under 10 million. Since Dollywood got a Funtime ride, will SDC. A Star Flyer would be a solid addition for under 5 million considering the lake view it would give. Could we see a make up Gerstlauer added and give us our dive coaster like the new coaster for Knotts Berry Farms. Or will we get my preference of a drop track coaster from someone.
What we do know, compact steel coasters have come a long way the past decade.
HumphreyHawk:
Time Traveler is technically a 2018 add for SDC. Lights are the only 2017
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version