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A black top parking lot filled with folding chairs and tables, a temporary stage and food trucks is not themeing and does not reflect the 1880s. Make excuses for this park but compared to Dollywood which is the same company this is horrible. I expect a lot more than this.
Quote from: Jesus4me on April 14, 2025, 07:27:44 AMA black top parking lot filled with folding chairs and tables, a temporary stage and food trucks is not themeing and does not reflect the 1880s. Make excuses for this aprk but compared to Dollywood which is the same company this is horrible. I expect a lot more than this.
I'll agree with that and plan to avoid the area as much as possible during times of their complete deviation fromThe 1800s theming at dance parties and the like. However, they have indicated that shade structures are on the way for this tables, so maybe they aren't through with decoration and theming yet (We can only hope.). As it stands, it really doesn't look like much more than a backstage area, but at least there are no shipping containers in use.
To be fair, they have to keep the theming light enough so that they can swap out props each season (spring/summer/fall/winter), so nothing crazy can be done. Not to jazzed about the backside of FITH being in full view.
The boards are still messed up, so I can't merge topics right now, but I will try to get it fixed later this week and then merge this topic with the one Swoosh started.
The trip reports from January really should be in the 2024 season thread
Trip Report 5/10/25
I was able to visit this past saturday, here's how it went:
Even though the place was crowded, Wildfire (at least when I went) only had one train operations, which was disappointing. but the line wasn't too bad, and the larger capacity of the ride helps move people through.
Powderkeg is still chugging along, but sadly no repaint yet. You can really notice the cleared out trees here.
Outlaw run was running WAY smoother, and I was in the very last row on a wheel seat. props to the maintenance crew. The cleared out trees were the most apparent here, but it was cool to see more of the ride, watching it glide across the track.
Thunderation was running much better, and felt less rough in the back. Still jerky as ever though lol.
Time traveler was running fine as ever, but on the second launch we were e-stopped and sat there for about 5mins. I wasn't too upset and honestly it was kinda cool since I have never been estopped before. However, instead of evacuating they just launched us at full throttle the rest of the way. Makes me wonder how the ride would feel with an expanded second half. Anyway the ride closed after that for a while.
Giant barn swing was finally running both side after like 4 years of it not. Or I was just unlucky for 4 years. Either way nice to see it running at full capacity. Mystic Rivers also ran just fine.
FITH had a long line and broke before I could ride and I had to leave :(
The new area connecting grand expo to fire district was nice and convenient, but a little disappointing. The themeing just isn't up to snuff with the rest of the park. However I will give it time to settle in with the rest of the park.
Sadly I was not able to get any construction photos of project 2026. no good areas to find and not much progress made.
My biggest criticism was ride reliability. It was a busy day and rides kept going down. Outlaw run, Time traveler (twice), FITH, and PowderKeg iirc. I know that this type of thing is unpredictable, and I feel for the maintanence crews and all the hard work they do, it was just a little disappointing.
Overall I had a great time but i'm definately ready for a new coaster. I do wish some more tlc was done to the rides, but like I said OR ran fantastic and is still my #1 coaster.
We were there this past Saturday and Sunday, our 2nd trip of the year after not going for several years. Regarding MRF, I have always liked LR better but just realized something this trip. It seems the boats are the same size as the old ones, but they have way too many people crammed into them IMO. They have 8 people instead of 6 like the old boats. If you have a load of kids it might be fine, but trying to fit 8 grown adults is just too uncomfortable. In fact, it might be possible the LR boats were larger but only had 6 people. Or perhaps I am remembering it wrong?
Finally made it out for my first visit of the season on Saturday. Was pretty busy, but not unbearable. Surprisingly, Wildfire had a longer wait than PK. Time Traveler and FITH kept a pretty steady 45+ min wait all day. Didn't even try for Mystic River, but I understand it still commands an hour long wait or more during the summer. Say what you want about SDC's seemingly odd choices for rides, but the crowds love them. Thunderation also had a decently long line at times. During the morning I saw it stretch all the way through the tunnel! One train operations will do that though... the second train is long gone and it doesn't look like they plan to replace it? It looked like they had cannibalized the "good" cars from both trains to make a single frankenstein train. No more "beat up #7 and shiny new #13" trains.
Saw some good bluegrass, as well as the Homestead Pickers as always. The BBQ in Red Gold was severely lacking. $16 for a dry pre-cooked pulled pork sandwich. The poor guy in front of me got the $18 brisket sandwich, and I saw the worker give him a single (albeit thick) slice. Should have gone around to the Plaza first - they had some interesting looking options back there such as a BBQ grilled cheese and BBQ nachos. Only problem is the servings looked small for the same $16-$20 price range.
The "Plaza" is a joke. I know it's just a gap area to make room for festivals and crowd management, but come on. A few more tree planters would have gone a LONG way. It is seriously a backlot that feels like you are hanging out behind a warehouse. Not sure what they were thinking with this. They didn't even try to dress up the backside of FITH or Red Gold or anything. They made a whole announcement about it like it was a real addition that they were investing in. I honestly feel that they need more flak for this. This isn't the SDC standard that set the park apart from the competition and made them successful. I guess they are big enough now that it doesn't matter...
The 2nd train for TNT is gone? When did that happen? I would have loved to have ridden in this past weekend but I was not brave enough in fear of damage to my spine.
Bluegrass & BBQ Trip Report
https://www.midwestinfoguide.com/2025/05/silver-dollar-city-bluegrass-bbq.html
Quote from: shavethewhales on May 20, 2025, 08:44:30 AMThey didn't even try to dress up the backside of Red Gold or anything.
Um... yes they most certainly did.
Please see the facade that was added to Red Gold in this update
https://www.midwestinfoguide.com/2025/03/silver-dollar-city-plaza-construction_29.html
Now the backside of FITH could have been better but there was a conscious effort made to the backside of Red Gold whether or not you actually noticed it
I feel like the only additional thing that they could have done (without an extreme remodel) would have been a false wall to hide the hvac units, but at least they painted them to match.
They also went into detail to paint the speakers to match their background so they didn't standout. Some of the WiFi access points are painted to match too... hopefully they take care of the other ones too.
Do we expect that they will eventually move the crafts booths to the Plaza area for the fall festival? I certainly hope not. I understand that this flex space certainly makes the logistics of set up and tear down easier, but the space has zero ambiance. I can go to festivals in a parking lot at home.
I see it now. So they did add some siding treatment, it's just hard to notice behind the food stands. I guess that's better than nothing, but it's just short of what they needed to do to add some real ambiance to the area. In the good old days they would have extended the facades up to hide the HVAC units and probably broken it up into false store fronts with lots of cheeky signage, props, etc. What they did just makes it look a little bit more like a barn...
I'm sure they'll work on it a bit over time. I know they wanted to leave it open to allow for large crowds since there aren't many other places for people to congregate in the park, but a few more trees would have a large impact.
I remember the top complaint when Grand Expo was new was the lack of tree canopy making that area too hot to hang out in during the summer. Some additional somewhat mature foliage around the tables would help the new area out a lot as the trees in Grand Expo have grown in quite nicely offering shade making it feel less like a former parking lot.
If you can avoid May 31st I would highly recommend it. That's Mercy day and the park will be slammed.
^ Thanks for the heads up, Swoosh. We've been there on Mercy Day before and it was a nightmare. Fortunately we were planning on leaving by around 2pm anyway but left a little after noon due to the crazy lines. The wait for Hannah's Ice Cream Parlor was out past the Gazebo. I always thought the City should close that day for the general public and only let in Mercy employees and their families. It would cause a lot less irate visitors.
Visited the park on Saturday, not a part of Mercy Day. We arrived around 9 a.m. and I was surprised at the lack of traffic trying to enter the parking lot. The park wasn't too busy during the morning hours, even with how nice the weather was. You could tell around 2 p.m. it had gotten a lot busier. I never felt like it was overly crowded, definitely have been when it was way worse. We left around 6 p.m. and had an enjoyable experience. FiTH was down most of the day...I think it came back online for a bit and then went down again. At one time in the afternoon, OR & WF were both down at the same time. I did ride AP and it was kind of disappointing. I say this because it has just seem to have lost some charm. The tunnel extension, although not super long, makes an already long tunnel even longer. After exiting the tunnel, the pool with the animatronic dog saving the guy was completely empty. The mechanical head just sitting there was odd. The best part is obviously the drop...and I got soaked...but the ride is in need of some help, IMO. Always a great day in The City no matter what!