A few of us somehow got off topic on the Quantrill Special Collections thread about SDCFans.com...What do you think? Do you think our little group at SDCFans.com has grown enough to have SAVETHEWHALES approach SDC directly, asking for some kind of group perks? Free passes? Special merchandise offers? Discounts on food and drinks? After all, SDCFans.com folks are a goodwill group, folks who LOVE SDC, and promote the park via Internet and by word of mouth...something must be working, because SDCFans.com has been recognized on the official SDC website!?!?! So how about it? Be realistic, what could SDC offer our little group in the way of perks? A behind the scenes tour? A bit of "face time" with Jack and Pete to voice our concerns and to praise the company for what it does right? A special event in Reunion Hall with some of the long time employees who could tell us their stories...ya know, Terry Sanders, Jae McFerrin, and so on...Come on! Let's hear from you...Whattda say? Whattda think? ;D
I think they have offered me something more than money can buy or perks they can offer. They have helped me create a lifetime of good memories and ones that I treasure.
Everything important is not always materialistic.
There are not many places that I can name that when I walk thru the gates that I feel that I am back home.
I think we elect a representative or two to take our case to the "suits." I am not sure what to ask for. Maybe our reps and SDC have a brainstorming session? I think if you go in with many ideas it sets up for too much negotiation. Like "How about this?" "No, we cant do that?" "Ok, how about that?" "No, we cant do that either." It bogs down with two many things getting knocked down. Maybe just go in and ask what they think could be done? I know that gives them all the power of suggestion, but this is just my opinion. Junior, you seem like a logical choice to do this.
I think it'd be great if some of us could just meet with the powers that be like some of you have been saying. I think we'd get some really good ideas flowing, and hopefully help give some pointers on how to get the park moving back towards the direction it was in the past. We're passionate about this park and I think we'd have good, doable suggestions.
I feel like we could really make a difference.
I get the feeling this is going to come to fruition! Maybe later than sooner, but I am seeing some real determination cooking!
I Really like the behind the scenes idea!!!
I think that would be really awesome if something like that could be arranged for SDCfans.com members. This website is jam packed with people who love SDC, and they have some great ideas. And having the oppourtunity to get behind the scenes tours and most of the things junior listed, could give us the chance to share those ideas that really could benefit the park. :)
If they would give me permission, I'd lead ya'll on a behind the scenes trip through the old days...We would have to have one or two current citizens to show you the newer stuff like PK, Thunderation, and Wildfire, Grand Exposition and Wilson's Farm and RiverBlast...those things are all new since I left. But I'd take you around the plunge where the float trip used to be, and through Lost River where the diving bell was, as well as a few other sites around park the general public does not get to see. Maybe a walk through the atmosphere barn to see all the old props and antiques they decorate the park with, maybe a behind the scenes tour of flooded mine and FITH with the lights on...you get the picture.
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Wouldn't it be nice to sit down with Jack and Pete and ask 'em a whole lot of questions about the early days when they helped develop the cave and built the first buildings on the park?
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Maybe a look into company archives...old photos of days gone by.
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Perhaps a sneak peek at concepts and new ideas that have yet to go before the public?
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Suggestions, anyone?
Or what about a special book...containing full scripts of such "lost" attractions and shows as:
-Early saloon show -boxing show -rainmaker -diving bell -medicine show
Or a CD with: FITH song, Flooded Mine song, -Recorded opening ceremony -closing ceremony
in the old days they played background music across the park that was bluegrass
and so on..
You are the idea man, Junior. Of course, I also want FitH with lights off and maybe a gander at a special exhibit put together by rube just for the occasion. Surely there is some part of Marvel that is not open to the public; I'd like to see that. It would be nice if employee who are members of our group could have some time to interact with us.
In the updated Ronald Martin book about Marvel Cave that I have, it mentions Jack's son, Bruce Herschend, and some friends discovered two previously unknown passages. It would be great to see those. Bruce now operates Talking Rocks.
This is very similar to the model that Disney just launched for their D23 club. They get all the perks that you have mentioned above (tour of Walt Disney Archives, Imagineering, breakfast with so-and-so, attraction/show previews before guests) and think this would be an excellent model for Herschend.
With D23 though, you have to pay a membership to get these perks and become part of this group, otherwise everyone and their dog would sign up just to get the perks. It seems unlikely that unless that level is in place, Herschend would do this.
Not trying to throw up any roadbloacks, but just think it makes more sense to introduce a business plan to make the business case stronger.
Quote from: Junior on June 29, 2010, 04:26:41 PM
Or a CD with: FITH song, Flooded Mine song, -Recorded opening ceremony -closing ceremony
in the old days they played background music across the park that was bluegrass
and so on..
My husband and I have asked about a CD with such music before. I have a Disney tape with songs from the attractions like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. We were told that it couldn't be done because of legal issues in crediting those who recorded the songs and paying royalties. However, someone else could give it a try!
^^How much is the membership fee Mike?
This may earn me the ire of many, but it seems to me like SDC is the one place that is bigger than these kinds of establishments/clubs. It has always felt to me like the park--all aspects of it--should always be available to everyone. Granted, there are things like ERT for season pass holders and behind-the-scenes tours for media groups, but overall SDC is a place unlike any other. Like I've mentioned before, I felt guilty the one time I bought a Trailblazer pass...
My thoughts on this matter revolve more around contacting the park to see if they might promote a SDCFans.com Day for next season. A discounted ticket price is often part of that kind of thing, and quite possibly some of the perks mentioned above might be able to be arranged also. For their part, SDCFans.com would probably have to insure that a substantial number of their members would attend. The question is: can SDCFans.com pull it's loose collection of members from all over together in large enough numbers to entice SDC to make the effort.
Or, if we couldn't get enough people for Zephon's idea. How about an SDCFANS day at the park where we pay regular admisssion to the park, but would get a behind the scenes tour, some extra ride time (FITH in the dark or with lights on, etc.) and some face-time with an executive to whom we could share our ideas/concerns about the park. This could be possibly be done with a smaller group of people. Signing up for the event could take place on this board. If more people signed-up than there was space available, the site admins could award space to members by seniority (how long they've been a member of SDCFANS). This would prevent people from signing up just to get the free stuff.
I like these ideas but it is next to impossible to find a day where people could get to the park all on the same day. :P
But Zephon, you work at the park, are the execs at SDC open to these types of things?
Hmmm...I'm thinking getting us all there at the same time might be an uphill climb too. I wonder if there is someway we can prove who we on this site and then SDC could have a way to compensate that?!
I like the idea of using the Disney model for forming something for the park. It is nearly impossible, even if we gave six months notice for a SDCFans.com day at SDC, to get everyone together. It would be nice to have something available to individual members when they visited, no matter when that would be. What do you think?
Quote from: Coaster on June 29, 2010, 10:01:31 PM
^^How much is the membership fee Mike?
Here is some information for you all. Not to promote D23 of course, but to give you an idea of the thought that has gone into their group.
http://d23.disney.go.com/faq.html
Thanks for the info, Betamike. Alright everybody...take a good look at it...what do you think?
I wouldn't be interested if SDC did something like that to be honest. I read over the D23 page, and IMO, all it looked like was a fan club. You get a magazine, newsletter, certificate and then you get invited to special events which you then have to buy another ticket to get into. It just sounded too costly and not worth it.
I feel like SDC is above that, making the true fans pay for a membership into a club with special benefits. I don't know, I'll stop ranting now, but I feel like they could and would do better if anything ever happens for us.
Fair enough. Ok, we need more input. Who's next...
^What's your opinion Junior?
It would probably be impossible for all SDCFans members to come to a singular event. But if we were given enough notice, many of us probably could. In addition, if this were made an annual event most of us could make it to one eventually. Personally, I'm not looking for a discount, I just want an opportunity to see more of the park and share my heart with some of the powers that be. Also, I think most of us are on this forum because we are passionate about SDC. I'd hate to see people joining this forum just to get a freebie. IMHO.
I agree with Coaster and PBR. There are too many things involved in a fan club like that, and SDC would have to do a lot of prep work to make it all work. It's too costly for them and for me. I think we're looking for a more intimate experience.
I don't think many people on SDCFans would actually show up - just the diehard long-term members mainly. I like the idea of basing eligibility on number of posts and length of membership, but would like to add the concept of the membership being an active one, and perhaps moderators could invite some of the newer members at our discretion. I would also love to include the families of members. We could come up with some criteria that would make things less subjective if you would like, but I'd like to know if SDC would be up for it before we do a bunch of work on it.
Any HFE family members or execs lurking on here? You can send me a private message to let me know what you're thinking, and maybe we can put some rockets on this idea.
I disagree with any eligibility for members based on posts or length of time here. I just happened to find this site and, had I known it existed, I would have been here LONG ago! I am not being mean or trying to start waves. God knows you are a great group and I am glad and thankful I found this, but surely their is another way to let all in on this. I understand being careful of weeding out the freebie hunters, but just because we havent been here very long doesnt mean we are not as diehard or faithful to the site as anyone else. I know I am giving opinion and no answers and I am working on the latter.
I say weed out freebie hunters, but treat each member of SDCFans.com equally...after all, we are a big, diverse family here, and each of us bring our own special qualities and talents to the site.
I know that the HFE folks monitor the site, just to see what we hardcore fans are thinking. I speak directly to anyone connected to the company...you know who the hardcore fans of this site are...you know who many of us are in the "real world." YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, TOO! You are welcome to privately contact any of us, voice your praises or concerns. Don Richardson is gone...the chamber of commerce on park has been put to bed, and now you have a publicity department. Let SDCFans.com be your unofficial chamber of commerce...we are glad to be your goodwill ambassadors! I know sometimes we criticize, but you have heard enough out of us to know why we do it. You can feel welcome to use this site to voice your opinions, too. Let's keep things free and open here. Keep it real. We get enough "spin" in life as it is. God bless you for your efforts at SDC, you know I'm a former "citizen" and I encourage you to keep that special SDC spirit alive and well. :)
My girl & i are not the richist people in the World, but we're in. We just need acouple months notice if we was to all get together, or whatever. We would just like to see behind the scenes stuff at SDC. We are not looking for anything free, but it would be alot of fun to meet some of you people. We are very quiet & private. Besides SDC & auto racing, we are not into large groups of people. Not much into things you have to sit & listen thru, we go to have fun & enjoy ourselves & our time. And that is not being selfish, believe me.
These are just my 1st thoughts, maybe more later. Its early.. ::)
How about a special day set aside that SDC fans can get in 2 hours early or stay 2 hours after closing.
Quote from: Andymeets1880s on July 01, 2010, 12:34:20 AM
I disagree with any eligibility for members based on posts or length of time here.
Andy, consider this...I joined this forum 6 months before you did, yet you have 4 times as many posts as I do. The content and number of one's posts reveals your passion as much as your longevity.
In the end the eligibility requirements don't really matter to me. As long as the community is preserved on this forum. What makes this forum special is that people here are passionate about SDC. I'd hate to see people joining this forum just to get the freebie and not because they are passionate about SDC, if any of these ideas come to pass.
It's good to see all the replies here. Do we have anyone else who can add some input? Don't be shy...
^^That's why I added to what someone else had posted. I don't think "seniority" should be the only thing on the checklist. Someone also put number of posts, but that doesn't take into account "quality" of posts; some of those posts are about baseball or other parks, and not anything to do with SDC, but does anyone really want to sort through all of those things? I wanted to include recent activity on the checklist and allow new members to be invited by moderators. These don't have to be the final ideas - as mentioned, this is definitely a community, and the decisions are not mine along - I just want to include as many legitimate participants as possible.
Not to pull any rank or anything (Please do not think that, as I respect you all.), but I do think the moderators would be a logical place to begin for working out the details with SDC. Shavethewhales is the originator of the forums here, and he is the person who has allowed moderators to have responsibilities here (It's probably not that big of a deal, but I was honored when he asked me to take that role, and I am still honored to serve in that way.). Don't think it's a power trip - I just think there needs to be some central organization to the process.
I don't have the gift of shmoozing, but I would like for us to contact SDC to see if any of this is even a possibility first, then the details could be hammered out (on an anvil) with the moderating group. If anyone would like to make these initial contacts, please send me a private message, and we can come up with a plan based on all suggestions and comments in this (and previous) threads. I am not one who wants to talk about making plans and then not act on all the discussion.
As I said, if someone from SDC or HFE would be willing to help us on the company's end and be a contact person (or locate the right contact person for us) there, then you may private message me, as well.
If shavethewhales would rather be the contact person, he can let me know that, too.
We can easily come up with a process that would be objective and fair, along with someone at the park; I do think they should and could have some input since they would be the ones providing the service to us. In turn, they may even have some "tasks" that we could perform for them as ambassadors for the City. It could be a unique and developing partnership.
Coaster,
I really don't know if the "execs" would go for all of these "perks," unless it came in the form of an organized "outing." I do know that people write letters all the time, and suggestions and criticisms are welcomed, seriously considered, and sometimes do result in changes. For those of you who simply want to "share your heart," that is the best option.
HB has hit on it. There has to be an "organization" on this end before SDC will consider giving any kind of group "perks," even if it's only a "fan club." SDC bends over backwards to help plan company outings and the like, and this would be best handled like that. We hosted the ACE convention last year, and a lot of planning went into that. Of course, that was a very large group. Company outings can be arranged for groups of 50 or more. Information here: http://www.bransonsilverdollarcity.com/group-travel/company-outings.aspx For a smaller group, 15 or more, information is here: http://www.bransonsilverdollarcity.com/group-travel/groups.aspx Special tours, rides, meals, etc., as part of a group package might be able to be arranged through one of those offices.
I don't mean to tromp on anyone's feelings, and forgive me if I misunderstand, but it seems that some of you are asking for special tours, special rides considerations, discounts, etc., for whenever you happen to show up, simply because you're a member of SDCFans.com. If SDC agreed to that kind of arrangement, I would be very surprised. They can't be expected to have someone on call everyday to accommodate special behind-the-scenes tours, special rides before the ride is open to the public, etc., etc., anytime someone shows up and says they're a member of SDCFans.com.
On the other hand, a special outing for the group as a whole is easily arranged through one of the offices I posted links to above. That is if it can get organized on this end.
Thanks for the input, Zephon!
Quote from: Zephon on July 02, 2010, 12:29:45 AM
Coaster,
I really don't know if the "execs" would go for all of these "perks," unless it came in the form of an organized "outing." I do know that people write letters all the time, and suggestions and criticisms are welcomed, seriously considered, and sometimes do result in changes. For those of you who simply want to "share your heart," that is the best option.
HB has hit on it. There has to be an "organization" on this end before SDC will consider giving any kind of group "perks," even if it's only a "fan club." SDC bends over backwards to help plan company outings and the like, and this would be best handled like that. We hosted the ACE convention last year, and a lot of planning went into that. Of course, that was a very large group. Company outings can be arranged for groups of 50 or more. Information here: http://www.bransonsilverdollarcity.com/group-travel/company-outings.aspx For a smaller group, 15 or more, information is here: http://www.bransonsilverdollarcity.com/group-travel/groups.aspx Special tours, rides, meals, etc., as part of a group package might be able to be arranged through one of those offices.
I don't mean to tromp on anyone's feelings, and forgive me if I misunderstand, but it seems that some of you are asking for special tours, special rides considerations, discounts, etc., for whenever you happen to show up, simply because you're a member of SDCFans.com. If SDC agreed to that kind of arrangement, I would be very surprised. They can't be expected to have someone on call everyday to accommodate special behind-the-scenes tours, special rides before the ride is open to the public, etc., etc., anytime someone shows up and says they're a member of SDCFans.com.
On the other hand, a special outing for the group as a whole is easily arranged through one of the offices I posted links to above. That is if it can get organized on this end.
I haven't seen this thread until now, otherwise I would have spoken up sooner. Zephon has stated it above better than I can. Any type of official outing at the park for SDCFans is pretty much out of the question at this time, I would think. It takes a LOT of time and effort on behalf of the park to accommodate such events, and they will not do it for free just because they have fans on a particular website.
At this time I think the most appropriate endeavor would be throwing an unofficial get-together within our group at the park sometime. I think taking the community from online to in-person interactions at the park would be a huge step by itself, and frankly, that would be more than I have ever bargained for by running this site. I would be fine with it through, provided steps are taken to ensure it went down OK.
I very much doubt that any group from this site will ever be offered any special perks. That's simply not a marketing strategy even the seemingly altruistic personalities at SDC would entertain. However, there are already several options out there for us hardcore fans to take advantage of. Each December the park hosts a fairly intensive event organized by a local chapter of the American Coaster Enthusiasts, which has tons of perks associated with it. It certainly costs a pretty penny to join ACE just for that, but you have to remember that these types of things aren't organized for free.
If you aren't already, be sure to follow SDC on facebook and join silverdollarcityblog.com where you can join in on the special offers that the park throws out from time to time.
I don't believe anyone expects personal perks on an individual basis, but an outing is certainly a possibility. While we don't ask for lofty dues to help offset any extra perks, I do think a particular recognition of SDCFans would be offered to a small group - even if someone like Junior would like to show us around outside of current park employees. One special ride or tour wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility, if for no other reason than to recognize the free advertising this site offers to the City. Perhaps, if this was made an annual event, a different small tour or ride could be performed each year. I agree that we shouldn't expect something for nothing in the line of perks - special gifts, let's say - but a ride or tour could be arranged at minimal or no cost, using current staff and not adding to park expenses.
I also think we do ourselves a disservice if we equate such an event with ACE. That's a whole other type of group with a whole different agenda, and it's certainly not productive for us to go in with guns drawn with the attitude that "they get it, so we want it, too," as if we jealously deserve something just because we saw our distant cousin with one.
I'm working on some little things in this direction a little more privately at this time - just from the organization standpoint. All does not have to be discussed in the public forum concerning the organization for the simple fact that we don't need to get bogged down in making suggestions before we even know if there is any interest from SDC in hosting our group. As I said, I think that's the first thing we need to do. If there is no interest there, we'll see what else might be arranged on our own. Of course, none of this has to happen in the '10 season.
OK, for all of you who are interested, we're putting some legs on this. There are some organizational things and initial contacts being made soon - plus some other considerations and things I would have never thought about without the help of the moderators and shavethewhales. I'm going to go ahead and lock this thread, and we'll open some new ones when we need specific input from everyone. Thanks to all for supporting the idea so far.