SDCFans - The Unofficial Fan Site For Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City & Celebration City Discussion => SDC Memories/ Park History => Topic started by: Junior, too! on November 14, 2014, 04:20:53 PM
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I read Shave's Throwback Thursday piece on Shantytown, and wanted to make a few minor corrections. I tried posting under the Shantytown article, but for some reason, the site said I wasn't logged in, but I was. Anyway, Tom Sawyer's landing first appeared in 1980, not 1984. Shantytown arrived in 1984, not 1979. The Greedy Brother's Excursion operated one year only in 1984. Last year for the diving bell was '84. Lost River appeared in 1985. As a former employee, it has been amazing to see the area around the lake develop over 35 years! Geyser Gulch and Splash Harbor and the tobaggan are now memories, and Fireman's Landing will be a nice new edition for 2015! Thanks, Shave for the articles and photos. I was unable to make it to the park this year, so I have appreciated all updates from the folks on the site.
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Hmm, interesting I've got a few conflicting dates from various sources then. Was the large play tower part of the original Tom Sawyer's Landing in 1980, or was it a smaller play area?
I updated the article a little bit to match, and I'll have to look over it and the timeline page more tomorrow.
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If I remember correctly, that play tower was added in 1984. The original, 1980 version of TSL consisted of the ballroom, a cable slide, and a play structure that sat where part of Riverblast's channel noww is. An animal petting area was installed in 1981, I think. It sat where part of the queue area is for Riverblast. Behind the Wagonworks barn...the big barn where Santa visits with kids this time of year. It was in 1984 when the barn, which was for special events and the boxing show, was converted to part of TSL. There were paper and leather crafts for kids in there, later the carousel was placed in there, come to think of it, that might have been in 1984, too. I was only on park as an employee for 3 weeks in August, '84. It blew me away how much they had done in the Riverfront area over winter.