SDCFans - The Unofficial Fan Site For Silver Dollar City

Just been thinking it looks a little out of place.

It's always been a little out of place. The 1880's World Fair theme was a great idea, just half-heartedly executed, and allowed to linger on too long until it has no context.

At some time in the past, probably the 1990's, Jack and Pete Herschend, co-founders, more or less retired and left day to day activities and decisions to others. Although the company remains one of the strongest...and is the largest family owned chain of themed entertainment, there was a shift in thinking that resulted in several rollercoasters and the GE being built at SDC. What was once billed as an 1880's mountain village with its own post office and chamber of commerce and mayor...well, those days are gone. Since its founding in 1960, the theme has been altered. Originally to capitolize on the 1960's Western craze on TV and in film, the park did have a strong "western" theme, which was altered to the 1880's Ozark Mountain Village theme with tons of arts and crafts. As interest in arts and crafts waned in the mid-80's, the park has moved away from that and the hillbilly stuff, which no longer is as popular either, and moved to the present incarnation. Today you won't see as much ad-libbed entertainment or hillbilly characters on the streets, as entertainment has primarily been moved indoors to air conditioned theaters. The types of shows have changed, and now very un-1880's type stuff is in them...instead of a boxing show or Hatfield Haint show, you have Nick Wallenda, or trained animal acts. Instead of traditional country and bluegrass all over the outdoor theaters, you have contemporary gospel, Cajun music, and so on. They still have the front porch pickers, they still have Hatfield/McCoy feuds, they still offer that steam train and Flooded Mine, but you won't find a diving bell or float trip, you see things like Riverblast, and several big rollercoasters. Every theme park will change with the times, as management has to follow trends to keep pulling folks in the gate. Enough of the old stuff from thirty to fifty years ago remains so the long time fans like myself can say they still can see the saloon show or ride FITH, but the new stuff like the current rollercoaster, GM, big swing, and other new attractions are really pulling folks in. My grandson who is Kindergarten age made his first trip to SDC this year with grandpa (me) and loved the stuff in GE that he could ride. He also, thank goodness, loved the American Plunge, Grandfather's Mansion, and Flooded Mine..all three places that his grandpa worked at in the early 80's when he was in his late teens and early 20s. Memories worth repeating... :)

ah junior, you always word it so well..  ;)

I think it is out of place, BUT in my case I dont have any little ones to entertain.

What I do like about GE is IF it REAL busy with lots of kids and parents....... All of those people are not out in the rest of the park,., So i guess in one way it took off part of pressure frome the city..

I personally would like to have seen HDH also built over in the GE area for the same reason, Keeping all the kids in one area... BUT probably that would made a huge overload in the GE area,,

Now all of you out there with kids..........  NO OFFENSE intended to your and your families.... IF i had kids again, I am sure I would have a complete different outlook. :)

GE is okay. I think they did a fine job of making it wher ya have to hoof it far enough it feels like your leaving one park and entering another. It isnt visable to my knowledge from anywhere. Nice time jump. It relieves the stress of having little ones and the yearning to ride rides. The last time we went to SDC in June my kiddo had no intrest in it. But the time before he rode several of the rides......

It is a little out of place but was a quick way to install 10 new rides at the same time and was a Godsend for those of us with little ones.  Especially after they took out Tom Sawyer's Landing.

We've certainly discussed this a lot over the years, but however I've felt about it in the past I now feel like it was a great compromise for the park that allowed them to add a bunch of rides while keeping the charm of the rest of the park in tact. I have heard that they originally looked at putting GE in the middle of the park to replace the landing. That move would have essentially turned the entire place into just another amusement park over night.

I wish they did a little more with the thematics of the area, especially now that all of the nice original signage is starting to go missing, but it's an OK corner of the park now that all of the trees are starting to mature more. The flying dumbo's are definitely the worst part and IMO are the only thing that absolutely doesn't mesh well with everything else. I don't know who thought that was a good idea, but at least they're back in a distant corner.

Real estate is becoming harder to find in that neck of the woods, but I still wish they had not built the edge of the park so close to the Indian Point/Highway 76 intersection. That shortage of real estate is why we are loosing the isolation around the tracks at the train, goodbye old Robbers Shack, hello giant swing and roller coaster. Time marches on...

Could the rides have been themed better?  Absolutely!  Custom themes on flat rides and for that many at one time would have been outrageous.  It's been hashed out but the rides were needed and filled a giant void. The idea for GE was right but  most of the rides don't fit. The swing and teacups do, I can even go the electro spin, but the pirate themed uncovered  Himalaya doesn't but is one of my son's favorites.

There is no reason a new Diving Bell attraction couldn't be put in with the human interaction and with today's technology it would be off the chain. I think most that are not huge fans that visit multiple times a year think the park is one of the best themed parks there is outside of your mega parks like Disney World.

I find FITH a classic but honestly it's end is jerky and a bit rough. My kids are not impressed with the visuals as I was in 82, the first time as a 7 year old that I rode it.

Coasters and thrill rides are a necessity and the park needs a couple more after the Ozarkian Beast they are building out back. I still don't understand why they yanked out the Waterboggan without an immediate plan for the area considering that Dollywood's version is still going.

i wish they could incorparate bumper cars into the themes of SDC....

Well, if they could figure out a way to theme the bumper cars, I remember they had a bumper car ride at Celebration City, that, if they have not sold, could be placed at the park. I don't know how they could fit it into the theme? Ideas, anyone?

Bumper cars that looked like the Beverly Hillbilly's mobile would be cool! 

all i can think of is to paint them to look like wagons/horses....

Unless they completely rebuilt the "bodies" and added wheels and son on to look like wagons, or maybe ore cars//???

would be a little tricky to theme the cars themselves....

I agree with all of you- they stopped short with theme.  It does provide a place for the little ones to enjoy rides with their parents or older siblings.  My problem is like Shave's, the elephants and pirate ships.  These could have been themed appropriately.  I would also like to see Victorian colors, the place is so pale and boring when it comes to color.

As for bumper cars: They could be themed as bulls and placed by the giant swing. lol

This is going off into a New attractions direction but here is the new ride at California Adventure, kinda like bumber boats but on dry ground

(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/drs_Y8pwwLw/0.jpg)

It doesn't have to be cars per se.... come up with some kinda fictional steam powered hovercraft contraption.

You'll hear a negative like capacity get thrown out.

the round bumper on these could be easily designed to look like wagon wheels :)

I voted "YES".  But, I have two kids 4yrs and 4months.  Even though GE doesn't fit the theme, I agree with its need for little kids and I'm happy that SDC management recognized that it didn't fit the theme and decided to segregate it from the main park.  Some time in the past,, maybe 10 or more yrs ago I remember when a few of the "carnival like" rides were where river blast is now.  Right smack dab in the middle of all the SDC unique goodness so many of us come back for; it was absolutely disgusting to my whole family who are lifetime patrons of the park.  I can still remember when I would walk up the hill toward the saloon show and just before passing under the railroad track would look to the left and just be ashamed of that area, how someone could completely disregard the general SDC theme and decide to put that ride there was beyond me.   I was disgusted to the point I couldn't keep my mouth shut and I'm so happy that someone with power realized that it didn't fit.  Now we can at least go to GE and satisfy the small children without ruining the theme SDC is all about.

Quote from: zsc100 on July 24, 2012, 04:25:05 PM
I voted "YES".  But, I have two kids 4yrs and 4months.  Even though GE doesn't fit the theme, I agree with its need for little kids and I'm happy that SDC management recognized that it didn't fit the theme and decided to segregate it from the main park.  Some time in the past,, maybe 10 or more yrs ago I remember when a few of the "carnival like" rides were where river blast is now.  Right smack dab in the middle of all the SDC unique goodness so many of us come back for; it was absolutely disgusting to my whole family who are lifetime patrons of the park.  I can still remember when I would walk up the hill toward the saloon show and just before passing under the railroad track would look to the left and just be ashamed of that area, how someone could completely disregard the general SDC theme and decide to put that ride there was beyond me.   I was disgusted to the point I couldn't keep my mouth shut and I'm so happy that someone with power realized that it didn't fit.  Now we can at least go to GE and satisfy the small children without ruining the theme SDC is all about.

your knocking the beloved balloons, take cover ;D

Chittlins', that is what I was thinking, too. Watch out! I understand the balloon ride is laying in pieces on the grounds behind the park, waiting for a refurbishment...it may reappear. If it does, the perfect place for it is GE, or maybe the refurbished Geyser Gulch or Half Dollar Holler.  We'll see.

I, for one, am not a defender of the balloons either! I didn't like them at all! I thought they were out of place in SDC. However, I do agree that they would fit well in GE.

1880's theme or not.... i dont think whatever they do in the GE will make or break our park.. its lioke when you walk past the expo hall, you step into a time warp and enter a new dimension...

It makes an excellent area for the kids, so add some rides and move on,  just dont cross that threshold at expo with the out of theme sttractions.;...LOL

One of the things I recently noticed at Dollywood was that their County Fair area, the precursor of GE, has a lot more of the game booths. It fits their theme, but even so it doesn't look quite as charming as DW once did, but I haven't been there myself to see. Just pointing out that it could be worse  ;)

The County Fair at Dollywood is just awful.  Course it *works* there because there is no real theme for the entire park.  It is just a huge juxtaposation of bunch of different themes

It's interesting to note that The Grand Exposition actually started out as a back employee parking lot. To me, The Grand Exposition has always been somewhat of a stepchild to the rest of the park. I am thankful however, that the area is tucked away a bit. Out of sight, and out of mind. I do think the little rollercoaster, was a nice addition.

Quote from: shavethewhales on July 14, 2012, 04:39:42 PMThe flying dumbo's are definitely the worst part and IMO are the only thing that absolutely doesn't mesh well with everything else. I don't know who thought that was a good idea...

Walt Disney of course! Oh wait, wrong park. ;)

I was pondering SDC today, big surprise. And I got to thinking about GE. We have been 5+ times this year and went to GE once. My son is in this inbetween stage where while he doesnt mind riding the cheesy elephants, its not his cup of tea. And after a ride on powder keg he just doesnt care for the tiny tot coaster. It has lost its appeal. I was reminded of the saying too old for toys too young for boys. He is too old for GE too young for WF. The only ride he is truly interested in is the elctrospin. Which he is not tall enough for. I dont want more rides for this age set. DO NOT! That is about the furthest thing from my mind. He is growing into the GG stage. Which led me to another thought. Thank goodness it is so far removed from the city itself. It really is a blessing. I am rambling. Does anyone see what I am trying to get at?

I do remember when the GE was the parking lot area! The little building now on park that is a nursing station stuck in between Red/Gold Hall and the other exhibition/special events building in GE is the remnant of the old cabin known as "Shad's." At the time I worked there, it was used not as Shad and Mollie's old cabin, but as a security office, and a little covered area next to it was where I clocked in each day. I had to park on the employee parking lot across Highway 76 which was known at that time as "C Lot." When I first laid eyes on GE, I could not believe it! I was a bit disoriented at first, because things had changed so much. Most of us here agree, GE does not really fit in with the rest of the park theme...but I do have to admit, they did a GREAT job of taking what I consider carnival rides and tayloring them to fit in there the best they could. I still pine for the days though when that was a wooded area. I really hate the fact that they are running out of developable property, and had to build right there at the intersection of Indian Point Rd/Hwy. 76. Things have changed, time marches on...what the PTB drilled into the heads of employees when I was there was that SDC was an 1880 community in the Ozarks, and I was a "citizen" not an employee. We were required to say "howdy" to everyone we met on the streets, and we were allowed to taylor our costumes to fit our personalities, so we were more individual "citizens" rather than employees. Those days are GONE. SDC is a well done theme park, and thank goodness there is still enough of the "old days" left...the flavor, the spirit of the old days, that is. That's why we all still love the place so much. OK, all you season pass holders nod your heads, raise your hands skyward, and say, "AMEN!"  ;)

AMEN!

Nodding my head,
Hands raised up,
AMEN....

It may break the theme some, but it filled an important niche that park was lacking.
If we are going to get all nit-picky.  Geyser Gulch is probably more out of place.

I've got to agree, Swoosh.  GE opened about the same time the baloons and carosel were taken out of Tom Sawyer's Landing.  For us having a 3-year old daughter at that time GE was a godsend.