SDCFans - The Unofficial Fan Site For Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City & Celebration City Discussion => General Silver Dollar City Talk => Topic started by: Coaster on March 12, 2016, 03:18:07 PM
-
Time to get this started for the 2016 season! Tell us about your trip experiences good and bad, changes you notice at the park, etc.
-
So Opening Weekend Day one: BAG CHECK ALERT! If you are celebrating birthday/anniversary get a button from the general store. The park was not busy until about 2. It was really nice. We got there before the line drop and the Opening Ceremony was with Whoops E Daisy and Terry. Made a beline for OR. It was my sons first time to ride it. The last two years have been a bust for riding it. He LOOOOOVEDD IT!! Was at that moment a walk on. As was TGS. Another first for the kid. Another hit. Park was still not terribly packed. It was absolutly wonderful. FITH was rough. They sped the train through, really wish they would slow it down. The line was not long enough to warrant such speen IMO. The last drop was hard. THUNK THUNK THUNK CHUNK CHUNK. CHUNK. Used to so love that ride. From there we went to FL. Spent about an hour there. Saw a family with a GG refill mug. Want that mug. Son was impressed with the set up. I was glad to sit and let him run. It will be great when I take C and J next month. Rode a few more rides with minimal wait but more and more people kept coming in. There was an especially rude group of teens running amok. :( Took around 150 pictures. Posted to FB. Found the family with the GG mug sitting around the square close to the Taffy house. Asked if he wanted to trade. He just chuckled. I take that as a no. ;) Left around 2. Going tomorrow. I am impressed with the new signs and the attention to the celebration part. Like the way they are putting importance on Birthdays/Anniversary. More tomorrow!!
-
This one? I got to work at 3:45 a.m., and left before chain drop...sort of...lol
-
That is the one! But a family had it??? Like I think it was the same one in FL AND the square. It was nice to pseudo meet you??!!
-
Who can drop some pics of the Saloon FITH area changes?
-
Who can drop some pics of the Saloon FITH area changes?
See SDC thread on TPR
-
Had a decent opening weekend it looks like, I wasn't able to make it.
Attendence was fair...sat about 9, sunday about 8..
Not a bad start, will be more people next weekend...
-
All in all it was not a bad weekend. The kid and I really did not have much of a line wait for most rides. We did not stand in line for PK because the lines for that were silly. I dont love PK THAT much. Tried Firefall on Saturday but due to the nature of the ride he line moved so slow. Tried again on Sunday and was able to ride it almost walk on. Did not ride the train this time. I am honestly bummed that the two train robbers are not brothers. This bugs me and I cant decide why. I want A and R to be brothers. Anyhow, it was an amazing weekend to show up. Spectacular.
-
My computer has been in the hospital until last night, so this is my first chance to reply.
We had a great time Opening Day--arrived about 9 and left a little after 4. The 12th is our Anniversary, so we got the buttons, the taffy, the brittle, the minicones, and the kettle corn. All the citizens we met made a point of congratulating us.
Because of the dreary weather, the Pickers were inside, so we couldn't get into their early show; we got into the second one early, however. They are in fine fettle--finishing up a new album--and there was not a dry eye in the house when Walt sang "Arlington."
I like the colors on the bunting and banners around the city. Engine #76 was pulling the train after a long period of rejuvenation, and doing a great job. Best whistle on the Silver Dollar Line. It was fun to see the comedy/magic act, and my wife got pulled up on stage to be a helper for part of it.
The crowds were never really an inconvenience, and the only place we wanted to go but wasn't open was the Apple Store. We had a wonderful time, didn't spend too much money (a necessity for us right now), and got the new season off to a great start.
-
We arrived at the City around 12:30 on the 16th. Had to park in lot 5. Waited forever for a tram only to have to wait some more getting in. Bag check is not that bad once you get to the table....but it does slow down the entrance time a bit. Immediately noticed the new split rail fences all over the place. Basically walked around and tried to get in some rides. First time I saw a line to the FM in a long time. Line extended out to the racks next to the entrance. I thought we just caught the time right after the train, but the train station was full with a line extending to about Reed Springs! The train was just coming back into the station, so the FM was just that long. Since there are only a few shows and shops open....lines are long to all the rides. We strolled around and took everything in until I had enough of the crowds where it was time to leave. After all, we were going back the next day....
The next day, we arrived at the City around 9am. Parked in lot 2 next to the loading area. Crowd was just as bad. (I was surprised that we were able to walk straight into the Mill for breakfast) Caught the Pickers on the porch and they were great as usual. Lines to the rides were long again. First time I stood in line for TNT all the way out in the zig-zag area! PK had a line that began nearly at FITH. I caught the pickers afternoon show at the shed while the kids stood in line for the rides! ;-) Numbers were around 10k on Wednesday, and I never did ask, but was at least 10k yesterday.
-
Arrived at the park early this morning hoping to enjoy the day, but it just couldn't seem to warm up any and the wind was howling. So, only managed to attend church, take a few photos, make a purchase at the mill, then head back out. I hope next weekend is more pleasant than today. Brrr.
-
I arrived at a SDC at 9:00 AM and looked around the square for changes and tried to warm myself in the sun. Before rope drop both Woopsie and Terry do a little number about the new promotion "Celebrate" and it was for the kids but the insertion of Celebration by Kool and the Gang and Happy by Ferrell was a little jarring. I was impressed they gave out a few prizes to the kids and threw t-shirts. I went to Outlaw run no line and checked out the new Fry Bread stand. Honestly I don't know who decided to put that in there the way they had it but I am sure there is less room in that btl neck now than before. They didn't move the booth back as I suspected and encroach on the flowerbed in back they actually left the building where is was and made it deeper. Therefore removing part of the flowerbed and they drove posts into the concrete to create a Q. I could see the stripes for the parade faintly and there is now NO space to stand along the parade route anywhere near the saloon. Its worse than it ever was. Not shifting this back closer to the saloon was a huge error and I cant see why they would make it tighter and not open it up. Profit before guest comfort and accessibility. I paced the park and noted small changes, They replaced the water wheel but that was the only change at sulivans mill. They are also putting stickers on things that say " SDC Home of Americas Craftsmen" or something like that. when I asked at the pottery shop they said if it had the tag it was made there (SDC) but I have my doubts. A lot of the pottery was marked, and there is not often a potter really cranking it out. I see them in there working but I doubt they are making everything marked. And what interested me is none of the stickers actually said ( Made in Silver Dollar City) They eluded to it but didn't say it. I would have scratched made in SDC USA in the back of each one during the currant political climate it couldn't hurt. I also noted that most of the taffy in the shop had the sticker but I didn't notice a new machine and I am aware that the machine they had wrapped a different shape of taffy. More of a stick, and all the taffy looked like last years shape. I am a stickler on the taffy.
On my way out of the park a cpl things crossed my mind, it was early and the lines were out the front of the rides. shops were shuttered and not all the restaurants were open. I left a little about noon, on my way out they had filled parking 5 already and the line of traffic went past the Ozark mtn highroad turn off. Although this time of year is a crap shoot for them with the weather they may want to claim that not all the shops ect will be open but do what they have to do on busy days, certainly on Saturday. Open them up just to serve the crowd with a distraction. There were a lot of people but no shows or anything to eat them up so they were all waiting in long lines for a ride. I enjoyed myself but reminded myself not to go back till they are really open for the season.
Friday night when I checked into the Classic they were full, I got the last room, the open hotels in town were no vacancy so they are doing well. No upward progress on any of the new attractions with the acception of the adult jungle gym thing on the corner, I usually don't drive anywhere near there its such a snarl so I didn't see it. Wheel is still on the ground with no cabins present.
-
the insertion of Celebration by Kool and the Gang and Happy by Ferrell was a little jarring
I'll say. Come on SDC; you can do better!
(Sorry, I know this isn't the gripe thread, but good grief, these things aren't that hard.)
-
We arrived at the City around 12:30 on the 16th. Had to park in lot 5. Waited forever for a tram only to have to wait some more getting in. Bag check is not that bad once you get to the table....but it does slow down the entrance time a bit. Immediately noticed the new split rail fences all over the place. Basically walked around and tried to get in some rides. First time I saw a line to the FM in a long time. Line extended out to the racks next to the entrance. I thought we just caught the time right after the train, but the train station was full with a line extending to about Reed Springs! The train was just coming back into the station, so the FM was just that long. Since there are only a few shows and shops open....lines are long to all the rides. We strolled around and took everything in until I had enough of the crowds where it was time to leave. After all, we were going back the next day....
The next day, we arrived at the City around 9am. Parked in lot 2 next to the loading area. Crowd was just as bad. (I was surprised that we were able to walk straight into the Mill for breakfast) Caught the Pickers on the porch and they were great as usual. Lines to the rides were long again. First time I stood in line for TNT all the way out in the zig-zag area! PK had a line that began nearly at FITH. I caught the pickers afternoon show at the shed while the kids stood in line for the rides! ;-) Numbers were around 10k on Wednesday, and I never did ask, but was at least 10k yesterday.
I can echo this. I arrived at around 1:30 and had to park in lot 5 which was near full. Waited 20 mins for a tram but a white school bus arrived instead. Haven't rode in or seen one of those running around in a while as I usually manage to get a ride in a tram or one of their newer tour buses. Thought it was quite odd but I guess they were pulling out extra transports to handle the crowds. There was a bit of a wait for the bag checks too. The park was bustling in the usual areas as expected but I was surprised at how busy it was for a Wednesday. It felt more like a Friday or Sunday in the summer. All the rides had fairly long wait times (20 mins minimum) until the end of the day. Even FM WF and TNT were long. I take it they are having a really good start to the season.
-
Time to make my first trip review on this board. Wife and I took our 4 kids Saturday morning to the park for our first trip in 2 years. Family was Christmas gifted season passes from the grandparents this year!!!!
We left NWA early to try to make rope drop but it's tough to get a crew of 6 dressed and ready to go. I did manage to make parking around 9:30....got to use preferred parking tickets that was also gifted. Not sure if it is worth the extra costs.....actually seems like more working from those spots to the gate and the kids didn't get to ride the trams.
Told the little ones today was all about getting them on the new rides. I'll probably theme most of our trips and/or get 1 or 2 top to dos from them to try to help manage expectations. It's can be hard to keep a family of 6 happy when they all want to do different things.
We headed straight to FL and we all where impressed. My oldest (11yo) and I headed to firefall and the younger ones started riding all the flats. I wasn't expecting much from firefall but it does pack a fun little punch. Was more intense than I thought. Wish it could be taller and/or have another tower to help with capacity. My 11yo felt like a bigshot riding it too:) The little ones all liked the other flats....overall the area was a big hit!
Looked through Lucky's toy store then went back up to GE. Kids got a few rides in. My 7yo was begging to win a basketball but I didn't want to have to drag it around the park with me (or pay for it). Was going to grab the kids some food from the stand in GE but the line was huge and not moving. Ended up walking back toward the front of the park.
Oldest and I stopped at TnT as my wife stopped and talked a neighbors we ran into by the ride. TnT seemed to be running fast for a cold morning!!! Ended up eating at the hamburger place off main street. Service was friendly but slow!!!! It is painful to watch the 60yo worker slowly prepare food...one item at a time....as the whole line and 4-5 other workers wait on her. Probable a 30 min wait to get our food with only 6-7 people in front of us.
After lunch walked up by PowerKeg that had a huge line....then FiTH had a line running out of the building.....then to Outlaw Run that had a 45 minute wait. I skipped them all:( We kept running in to friends from NWA and did a lot of chatting. Park was packed and with the shows closed and a lot of shops not open the rides where packed. Ended up going over to try to catch the train but ended up on FM. My two little boys love FM and wanted to go twice. We let the kids play in that area by the train station for awhile as we talked to yet another set of NWA Friends while waiting. Finished the day by going to the candy store and getting some funnel cakes. We left the parking lot around 2:30 and people where still coming in. I was able to get us home back in NWA in time to see my Jayhawks play at 7:)
Pretty good day at the park...I anticipated the rides being crowded and park being pretty full due to decent weather and the first day of spring break for a lot of people. I wasn't expecting to get a lot of rides in on the coasters and we got the kids on most of the flats they where wanting. FL was a big hit....kids excited about going back. It was more crowded that I thought it would be. We didn't get to do as much as I hoped for but part of the beauty of having seasons passes is that we can pace yourself each trip and don't have to feel rushed to get your monies worth.
-
I really didn't want to bring it up in fear that I would just be "complaining again" but while waiting in line for FM, they were playing "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang. It's strange to me that you have to strain to hear the actual Flooded Mine song, but Kool and the Gang were loud and clear! The same thing with FITH. Why can't they turn up the dialogue/music outside the ride so you can hear? They had it on last week, but you could barely hear it.
I did take a look in the old Big Jacks Sandwich Shop, and they have in fact turned it into an office. Sad, but true. I miss my "Big Jack".
On another note, my wife and I were discussing this on the drive home. Do they (SDC) charge the full price of admission right now since they are only about "half open"? If I were a first time visitor and paid to get in during this time of year, I would be pissed since most everything is closed right now. Surely they have a cut price for now. Anybody know?
-
Nope, full price.. only time I have seen discounted entry price is sometimes late in December...
-
Nope, full price..
I dont know that its worth it.
-
The music is only being played because it's Spring Break.
-
Does anyone know what they are estimating for the crowd for Friday 3/25? We are heading to Springfield tomorrow for job interview and staying all weekend. Was thinking of going to SDC Friday but if it is crazy busy we probably will stay away
-
It's Good Friday and a three day weekend for a lot of people so it could be pretty busy. Especially with how busy the park has apparently been already this season.
-
I had that thought about pricing last weekend too. I'd be mad if I paid full price last Saturday. Pretty much no shows, 3/4th of the shops where closed, no one was on the water rides (in the 50s), so the ride lines where as longs as I've ever seen them.
But it was still jammed packed.....makes you also wonder if they could get away with increasing the ticket price too :-\
-
But it was still jammed packed.....makes you also wonder if they could get away with increasing the ticket price too :-\
Speaking from a business end and encompassing customer satisfaction I think the writing is on the wall. SDC CAN continue this type of operation in the spring but it inevitably has and will leave a bad taste in the mouths of those that paid full price. Yes they ARE drawing crowds but lets not forget their mantra " Making memories worth REPEATING" and if a family spends $200 to walk into the park and this is what they find what kind of memories are they going to walk away with? Will they desire to repete them? Like I said in a earlier post claim the shops restaurants are closed and then if they get busy open them up. Restaurants can not always be flung open however but shops can with minimal staffing. Give your customers the experience they are paying for. Always give more than they expect not less. The early spring is a tough time of year but they sure could up the staff and offerings on the weekends. I dont work there and I know those are the two days they are busy. They really should reconsider this mode of operation for guest satisfaction.
Memories worth repeating......
Am I wrong about this ?
-
I have never really suffered from the fact the park is half open during this time. They post about it on their website, so if you are planning a trip you are able to know well in advance that yes the park is half open. You are able to know what you are getting yourself into and the price you are paying to do it. However, I like the idea of having the weekends as fully opened and the weekdays as half open. That is a very good idea. A nice compromise.
-
:D Won a shirt at opening ceremonies today. It was cold but still a great day. I am really impressed with the celebrate birthday and anniversary. Sdc is really going the extra mile in my opinion. My wife and I celebrated our anniversary today and it impressed my kids so much they are already begging to go for their birthdays. We are going back tomorrow and ill do a full review when we get back home.
-
Not there today but I will be tomorrow. Here is a review from a friend who tried to go today...This is a first:
Almost a 2 hour wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Shepherd of the Hills express......
Left at the bottom of stop three in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere for 45 minutes before a tram came along…
Finally getting to the gate at Silverdollar City to find out there but there was an over an hour wait just to get in the park with a seasons pass…
🙄😂🙃
It's a good thing that I love hanging in the car with my kid…
It's my fault! It's spring break in many places, and it's a holiday weekend… But I will honestly tell you in 40 years that I have been going to Silverdollar City, I have never seen traffic backed up like this nor have I seen a line just to get in the gate like this!
And there is traffic for miles and miles and miles backed up as we leave to get in! Holy moly!
We are salvaging our day and heading out for shopping and to find food! 😀#stillsmiling
#ilovepeople.....but
#Silverdollarcityisbustinattheseams
-
Not there today but I will be tomorrow. Here is a review from a friend who tried to go today...This is a first:
Almost a 2 hour wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Shepherd of the Hills express......
Left at the bottom of stop three in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere for 45 minutes before a tram came along…
Finally getting to the gate at Silverdollar City to find out there but there was an over an hour wait just to get in the park with a seasons pass…
🙄😂🙃
It's a good thing that I love hanging in the car with my kid…
It's my fault! It's spring break in many places, and it's a holiday weekend… But I will honestly tell you in 40 years that I have been going to Silverdollar City, I have never seen traffic backed up like this nor have I seen a line just to get in the gate like this!
And there is traffic for miles and miles and miles backed up as we leave to get in! Holy moly!
We are salvaging our day and heading out for shopping and to find food! 😀#stillsmiling
#ilovepeople.....but
#Silverdollarcityisbustinattheseams
My folks attempted to go today as well and reported the same. Absolutely packed so they left. Also said that in all these years, they've never seen it like this.
-
Went to the park for a few hours this morning. We left when it started to get crazy. We stayed in the square for opening ceremonies. They do a contest for the boys and irks then throw out tsirts. Our first stop was the measuring station. I have said it before and I'll say it again. They need to love that to the top of the hill. Next up, the landing. We overheard a man at the icee station asking how many people were in the park yesterday. She said they expected 6,000 but had 18,000. Not sure how accurate that number is but with the reports that were given, I wouldn't be surprised. We rode many of the rides. I will write about this part in the 2016 updates thread. The landing looked great but it was super busy. Lines were long so we spent a lot of time on the ball area. Will be back in 4 weeks for world fest.
-
Just returned home from a two-day trip to the City and I can confirm the reports firsthand. On Friday, we hit bumper-to-bumper traffic just past the light at Hwy 465...at about 9:15. Luckily, it moved relatively quickly and we were pulling into the preferred lot just past 9:30. We couldn't believe how many people were already in the lots. And stunned when we entered the park and discovered how many people were already there. I haven't been to the park throughout the season like many here have, but have been during typically crowded "peak" times, as well as during OTC when the crowds can swell. We have never seen anything like it.
The line for Wildfire filled the entire station house queue and stretched down the hill past the entrance to AP.
The line for PK also filled the entire station queue capacity and at one point, stretched down the hill near the new Fry Bread Stand. Speaking of which, PK was down for periods more than once on Friday and again today. At one point late Friday, we waited in line 45 minutes, only to be told they were closing it as we were just feet from entering the main station. I know this is a beloved ride, but at some point they have to address the continued lack of reliability with this ride. Can they not simply invest in improved trains that offer more reliability? It seems to be getting worse. For still being such a popular attraction more than a decade after its debut, it's a real shame they haven't done something to take care of this.
FITH had consistent lines stretching out of the station back to the Fry Bread stand as well.
OR had wait times listed up to 60 minutes, but the lines moved favorably well despite crowds spilling outside of the covered queue and into the mulched corral area adjacent to.
Crowds were such that even the smallest of rides in FL and GE (Lucky Dogs, Balloons, GE Coaster, etc.) at times had waits over 30 minutes. If you wanted to ride anything, you were waiting.
FM clearly got some love as previously reported here. New mannequins look nice throughout. Definitely made me wonder what the future holds for this attraction.
Looked as closely as I could for signs pointing to any new developments near GE and between PK and WF, but did not see anything obvious.
Speaking of GE. Swoosh had reported new paint to all the rides in the area during the offseason. Unless I wasn't looking at the right thing, that did not seem to be the case from what I saw. I personally saw original, chipping paint on Several of the rides. Did not get close enough to all of them and in fairness, I never really paid close enough attention to this in particular when we were on park last Fall so I really have no frame of reference to compare it to other than the fact that several of the rides clearly still show some pretty obvious signs of wear. Signage did looked pretty fresh throughout as far as I could tell. Oh, and the Hi-Topper game is definitely still there, but tucked a little further back from it's old position near the swings.
The new Fry Bread station looked very nice and seems well visited. My wife tried some and enjoyed them, but I did not try any.
Other observations...
Once again, SDC unfortunately, was clearly not prepared for the crowds.
Wait times for rides are one thing. Waiting in line for over 45 minutes for any morsel of food is inexcusable. Sorry, it just isn't. Hire more people and have more stations to move people through. Do something. It's just ridiculous. There were well over 100 people in line for Skillet in the Lumbercamp area and the line (like too many others) moves at an absolute snails pace.
Speaking of that area. It is clear and insanely annoying that HFEC and/or the PTB at SDC have clearly done little to nothing to address the need for improved traffic flow in this area. It is flat out stupid and nearly impossible to navigate through this area on an even moderate day, let alone one with heavy patron volume. The fact that entrances to two of the parks major coasters and many favorite eating options nearly converge in this area, and it is very narrow on top of it, it just plain idiotic. I took the photo below on Friday well outside of the lunch time hour. The fact that the Campfire Skillet and Kettle Chips stations are located where they are is an enormous issue. This has been an issue for quite some time now and it's beyond me how it has yet to be efficiently addressed. Simply re-locating those two stations would dramatically improve that area. The Positioning of the Kettle Chips station is literally in the middle that area. Makes no sense whatsoever. Navigating through that area is without question the most miserable experience anywhere in the park.
It was not quite as crowded today, but still heavy and plenty of waiting everywhere.
Despite the crowds, we enjoyed two days of beautiful weather and the opportunity to spend a lot of fun times in the City.
(http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb457/McFlickr/FullSizeRender2_zpshsbu6qib.jpg)
-
Sounds like if I was a dad with young kids trying the park for the first time I wouldn't be coming back. Open the place up and fully staff weekends and holidays, sdc. Laziness.
Very glad to hear flooded mine got some love. Hope they keep that up.
-
Makes no sense whatsoever. Navigating through that area is without question the most miserable experience anywhere in the park.
The addition of the Fry Bread stand without moving it back also added to this miserable area. I have said time and time again if you have to stick the booth out in the middle of the walkway just to get people to pay attention and buy.....Then maybe you are selling the wrong thing. Take pity on your patrons if nothing. Do the PTB walk the park while its open and busy? do they know what is happening?. Do they stand in line and wait to ride a ride or eat a meal, it should be compulsory in their job description.
Frankly the weekends have not been a good start as far as customer satisfaction is concerned. SDC sent me a "immediate feedback" survey the right after I went last weekend. I told them they are not doing a good enough job; frankly speaking, they are not. They know how to staff on the fly because they have to do this at the Branson Belle. They can do the same at SDC by having staff on call. They have been caught with their pants down the past 2 weekends its like they don't care or don't think this is important. They need to get a grip on what is happening in their communities, it seems to have eluded them that Spring Break is going on now.
-
FITH had consistent lines stretching out of the station back to the Fry Bread stand as well.
That's only because they don't allow the line to wind inside the building anymore - a shame since the inside of the building tells the story behind the ride. :-[
-
Yeah it's definitely been a rough start. I went on a Wednesday and it felt like a Saturday with the crowds. Even for spring break I was surprised by this. Hopefully this won't be a precursor to the rest of the season. But I think (hope) things will be close to normal once Worldfest starts and everything else opens up for the season. They do need to work on anticipating staffing and improving traffic. It's been an increasing problem since the Christmas festival.
-
Sounds like the Christmas weekend problems are starting to creep into other times of the year. You would think that the company could predict attendance better. I think they just draw a number out of a hat. I know several who will never go back because of the poor policy they have on not being able to accurately staff for the crowds, or put a attendance cap on. But I guess the sheep that leave are replaced my more. Lots of disgruntled facebook reviews over the last couple of weekends.
-
I just find it odd that Dollywood can open their entire park (all show venues, food, stores) AND start with Festival of Nations from the get-go. The park has been packed this week.
-
I've said this before, SDC needs to look at people flow from an industrial engineering standpoint. Civil engineers use similar calculations for how many cars you can fit on a highway at a time. There is a way to calculate and plan. It is obvious that none of this sort of planning is being done. I mean, the classic area that everyone complains about at the Lumber Jack restaurant... There are x number of people passing through that area every few minutes. And the width is Y. to pass the minimum number of people through you need a a width of x + Y + some value... I mean, there is a formula I am sure. It is not being looked at that way.
Best I can tell it is all about dollars and how many people they can pack in the square footage of the park. That is $60 a pop versus much less spent on food. They have lost sight of the goal.
God forbid there is ever an emergency of any serious proportion on days where there are 18K or more people. There will be more injuries as there is just no room for people to go safely and quickly.
I do hope everything I am hearing is not going to be how it bodes for the year. We got our girls season passes for the first time and if it is so crowded that they can't enjoy it, that is going to suck.
We went shopping in downtown Branson Friday instead of going to SDC... Sounds like we made the right choice. We packed our cup just in case but looks like we lucked out.
-
^I'm sure they have industrial engineers on staff somewhere, but it is puzzling how they'll be conservative in some areas and not in others. Some areas are old and quaint, and it's hard to expand them while keeping their character in tact, but other areas you can see obvious improvements that could be made, yet they go in the opposite direction. I think they just suck at making up their minds sometimes. Maybe there are too many cooks in the kitchen upstairs?
I'm really puzzled over the Fry Bread stand. We kept saying it must be pushed back farther than it looks and how the line must be an improvement, but it sounds like that's mostly bunk at this point? I'm weirdly excited to see it for myself in a couple of weeks.
-
^^ This time of year is not a good time to judge how busy the park will be the rest of the year. As has been said many times the reason for the crazy lines this time of year is the limited shops/shows operating during Spring Ride Days. The cooler OTC days/nights have the same effect on the shows. it was crazy busy when we went last December except for the ride lines. More visitors were there to see the shows than ride. On hotter days you're going to stand in line longer for the water rides. that's just the nature of the beast.
-
I'm really puzzled over the Fry Bread stand. We kept saying it must be pushed back farther than it looks and how the line must be an improvement, but it sounds like that's mostly bunk at this point? I'm weirdly excited to see it for myself in a couple of weeks.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa109/Dustijn/SDC/image_zpsk1smslns.jpeg)
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa109/Dustijn/SDC/image_zps4ibaovsm.jpeg)
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa109/Dustijn/SDC/image_zpsa21zchly.jpeg)
-
As you can see, the Fry bread building is built where the flowerbed USED TO BE, not on the original footprint. The waiting line is where Berries and creme used to be.
-
Interesting to hear I'm not the only one concerned by their first trip this year. I didn't want to seem to negative in my review but I was seriously concerned about the rest of the year based on my first trip too. I agree that if I was making my first SDC trip I doubt I would wanted to come back. The food service was horribly slow and crowds painful to navigate with kids. The only rides we really got to do without a 30+ minute wait where the morning rides we did pre-rush crowd. We even had a 30 minute wait for FL after lunch. I had to keep reminding myself how much better it would be if the shows where active, shops where open, and water rides full. I may have to invest in a trailblazers pass for myself next time so I can ride coasters without my family of 5 waiting for me for 45+ minutes for a ride.
If my next trip is like this (with everything open) I might cut down my 6-7 planned trips back to 3-4 trips. I will also completely avoid Saturdays this year and might sneak the kids out for a weekday visit before summer break.
I can remember going the SDC two years ago over spring break and riding OR 2-3x, and PK, WF ride in before 10 without any issues. Then had the whole day for the shows and kid rides.
-
There are no pictures of the entire street. The issue is they didn't put it back and out toward the graveyard. They didn't have to eliminate the fireman cemetary at all. The bread but could have moved further from the road. Next time I go I will take a picture of the road, that's really what the issue is.
-
^^When the weather is nice, Spring break is crazy. It's never been a great time to be at the park unless it's just the right amount of cold and wet to keep people away but rides open so that you can at least focus on enjoying the rides. April is almost here.
^That's what's puzzling. I understand it's pushed back a bit, but considering the effort they went through to build this thing, why not completely optimize the area? Maybe they have a better plan in store eventually. The real issue is still a little further south in any case, and the real question is why have they let so many seasons pass with that bottleneck being such a mess.
I've got to say again though that they did a good job on the building. It has all the SDC characteristics. It looks like they even covered the registers? Someone's up there is still paying attention to details. ;D
-
I honestly they don't believe they would have an industrial/manufacturing engineer on staff... No real need most of the time. But they could contract out some work to look at those types things if they cared. Perhaps they don't even know how to look at traffic flow in this manner
I will say that they have gotten better at staggering shows starting and stopping so it is not just one big clusterphuck. It still isn't great, but at least there often isn't a show letting out from say the opera house right as they are starting to fill the saloon show. At least they now time it so that the line for the saloon is mostly empty when the opera shows get let out. These are small things that make huge difference
-
I didn't experience most of these problems on Opening Day--we didn't get down to the bottom of the hill by the LumberCamp, for example--but that day may have been too early for the crowd.
Still, the feeling was very positive that day, for which I am grateful.
One complaint I really don't have much of is waiting in line. Other than the train and FM (and an occasional romp on LR), you'd have to hold me at gunpoint to do any of the rides. I can't stand coasters or any of their "thrill" ilk, so those lines never bother me. I suppose if the rides were the reason I go to the city, I would be similarly unhappy, so I don't dismiss the problem, but I am glad that I can say I am not bothered by it personally.
The only reason I would regret the loss of every "thrill" ride in the city is that it couldn't be made to pay these days. Otherwise, take me back to pre-'72. A real thrill ride for me would be a time machine, I guess.
-
The only reason I would regret the loss of every "thrill" ride in the city is that it couldn't be made to pay these days. Otherwise, take me back to pre-'72. A real thrill ride for me would be a time machine, I guess.
Same here Palallin....same here.
-
I took two of my granddaughters (6 and 10) last Saturday (April 2). I was a little apprehensive since it was Young Christians Weekend. We arrived at 9:30 (someone thought the park opened at 10). We had to park in one of the lower lots across the street. Lots were full of church buses and vans, with crowds going to the gate.
We had a blast. My girls are Army girls and get free admittance. It took about 5 minutes to get their tickets, and about 10 minutes to go through the non-bag gate line. Once inside everything went smoothly. A few observations:
1. Lots of fresh paint over the off season. The train and fireman's landing sparkled.
2. If you have to be in a crowd, go Young Christian's Weekend. The kids are mannerly, and don't clog up the little kids rides.
3. Food in the Mine is as good as always.
4. McHaffie's homestead and farm are great for kids
All in all, a great day with the girls.
-
So we decided to switch over to a blog format with MiG. I got to admit, it's easier to write a report. Not everything has been switched over yet, but here is our Spring trip report and park update.
https://midwestinfoguide.blogspot.com/2016/03/silver-dollar-city-spring-festival-trip.html
-
Nice report. You get some great pictures.
-
Swoosh, as always great pics, and good job picking out some of the new stuff, I missed part of it..
-
My son, friend, and parents went to the city on Saturday 9th. Parked in lot 2 and was immediately sat on a tram. They even had a tram waiting behind the tram we were sitting on. It was not crowded by any means. Bag check went seamlessly and I had a ton of stuff in my "carry on" I pass as a purse. The opening ceremony was beautiful. We were able to watch the one time only WorldFest ceremony they were touting.They introduced all the counties and the Echo Hollow show performers. Brad Thomas gave a short diddy and announced it was the final year for WorldFest because next year they have a new and exciting festival and he revealed that it was...............to be revealed in September. That is about all he had to say and quickly exited. There were a few news outlets there as well covering the opening ceremony. There was no real complaint about line waits as it was minimal. I am however disappointed in a few of the ride operators. They did not even PRETEND to be peppy. Not really grouchy, but not smiling either. I like operators that have some sass and excitement. Its part of it for me. Maybe I am just crazy. :o We caught the magic show and while it is the same as ever it was still fun! My parents watched about five minutes of the Irish harp/flute show. It was a bit loud for their taste so they left. But my dad has hearing issues and flute/high pitches really hurt his hearing holes so that may have been a deciding factor as well. Oh, and my mother's electric wheelchair rental was not acting right. She pulled up to the toy store and alerted a citizen. A new one was promptly brought to her with many apologies. It was not a big deal to them but was nice to have such great customer service. Around 2 ish the park was becoming more crowded. I mean the weather was AMAZING! We overall had a wonderful time. The boys went on the water rides at the end of our day. Hit Grandfathers Mansion. Left by 4.
No crying babies ruined my visit, BTW. However, there were some obnoxious teenagers that were being filthy mouthed and loud in line with us and the Electrospin. I did NOT appreciate this with my children present. Which were better behaved than those hooligans. Give me a crying baby over foul mothed-fool-of-themselves teens any day.
-
Agreed about the ride employees not being cheerfull. Most of the time when any ride comes in, no riders cheer and clap. Im like, Did nobody like the ride? The ride employees also dont cheer when the ride comes to a stop in the station, but they do at Dollywood. I always cheer and clap at the end to show that I loved the ride, just like every guest should at the end of any ride or show to show they liked it. The employees should too every time. Theyre getting paid to run the ride. They should be happy that the ride came back safely, with no unexpected stops or emergencies, plus theyre getting paid. Be happy employees. You should be happy you have a job. Not everyone gets lucky to be chosen to work at SDC.
-
Ok. First off, Dollywood crews do NOT clap when a train returns to the station. The only exception might be Firechaser Express but even that was a hit and miss.
Next, there is nothing to say ride ops have to be overly cheerful. Most of the time they are focused on getting the train in and out of station quickly. Also contrary to popular belief, SDC doesn't exactly pay the best. It's just a job to many of the citizens. Sorry to break that fantasy.
-
I know that they pay minimum wage. Its miserable to try to pay bills on that. And I am not asking for overly cheerful either. Just when the operator greets the line give a smile and howdy! Its a nice touch.
-
My wife and I took our first trip to the city yesterday, Sunday 4/10 and we couldn't have planned it better. We arrived a little earlier than normal because of reading about the bag check and long lines to enter the park. With a scheduled park opening at 10am we were strolling through the parking lot at 9:35 expecting some sort of crowds making their way into the park, but instead found a very quiet, calm, and somewhat empty area heading towards the gates. Maybe it was the weather forecast (rain and wind early, but clearing by mid morning) and the fact that so many folks had already visited several times during spring break days, but we've never had such a relaxing entrance to the park on a festival weekend day. The rain was already gone. It was a bit windy and somewhat cool early, but we like it on the cool side in the park during spring.
Weeks ago we were pretty disappointed to hear the news that the World Fest is here for the last time over the next month or so, and so we plan on catching this festival at least one day every weekend while it's still here. From the experiences of past March opening weekend and subsequent spring break visits we decided not to visit at all during March and save our trips for World Fest and BBQ. Reading what some folks had to say about their March visits I think we made the right choice.
We actually were running a bit later than planned as we wanted to catch the Ecuador group at 9:20 at the Gazebo, but we zipped through the bag check quickly and sat down at the Gazebo in time to catch a few songs from the group. We've been watching the Ecuador groups for years and always make a point of enjoying their music during visits. Several years ago when the World Fest was in its early stages of life at SDC the Ecuador group that visited the park was a group named Atahualpa and we just loved those guys. I'm not sure when Dollywood started the Festival of Nations in that park, but when they did Atahualpa began playing that park every spring and Ecuador Manta started coming to SDC. I really, really like Manta, but Dollywood gets our personal fave group every year. We always wished they would mix it up more instead putting the same group at the separate parks each year. Oh well, it's the last year anyhow.
Just after park opening ceremonies we were thrilled to sit down for a spell with the Pickers outside the Homestead. We're always afraid the guys are gonna hole up inside the cabin with limited seating, and with the cool temps and wind we kind of expected that, but they were out on the porch yesterday morn and my wife smiled the whole time as she enjoys watching Greg Bailey and Walt play their instruments.
After the Pickers we strolled down the big hill towards the Saloon/Lumberjack area and it was very open and easy going for 10:40 on a weekend morning at SDC. I can see that the Fried Bread thing is gonna cause some traffic problems in the future though. I can't imagine what that area will be like when Rhonda Vincent is in town playing at the Opera House with the waiting lines for the show going past that bread building and all the kiddos and families trying to get to Powder Keg and FITH. It could get a lil' crazy.
The PK was pretty much a walk on for us, but we waited a couple of trains for the front seat. We don't get ride that thing up front much anymore because of huge waiting lines or downtime, so we took advantage of the opportunity and got a rare ride up front. PK is still my favorite ride in the park, and one of my all time faves. It never gets old to me. On to the FITH.
It was the most curious thing of the day: FITH at 10:50ish was our longest wait time of the day. The folks were about six deep or so in each of the lanes, not a long wait by any means, but we were a lil' surprised it wasn't just a walk on. The plan was to be over at the Red Gold for the 11:30 Africa show by about 11:10 so we would be sure to get in. Last year we had terrible problems ever getting to see the Africa show as it was always full before we arrived, but finally was able to sneak in once late in the festival and cram ourselves into a couple of seats in between some rather large individuals (the show was great I remember, the seating was not). This time, especially with the smallish crowd in the park yesterday, the Africa show was priority number one. Anyhow, I figured on and gambled that no way there's enough folks in the park to fill the Island Fire show at 11:00 and the Africa at 11:30, so there's no need to hurry. We waited the three trains or so to get on FITH and at the end of the ride we rode into a pretty much empty station. The wait to get on must have been just one of those coincidences where a few dozen people just happened to show up at the same time. Off to red Gold and Zuma Zuma.
As we predicted, and gambled on, the doors to the Heritage Hall were open and we strolled into about a 2/3 full venue. We went to the far end of the hall and pretty much had a section to ourselves. The show was of course very lively and entertaining. My wife liked the women twirling the square cloth things and the acrobats using the poles, while I most enjoyed the guy doing the balancing act and the woman using her feet to spin the barrel and table. The band and singer is a nice touch overall with the whole group.
The crowd from the hall filled up the Frisco Barn at lunch time, but we walked through there to see all the different foods available. I wasn't hungry at the time, and we rarely eat at the city, but the smells of all those foods made my stomach rumble. In the future I think I may try some jambalaya or maybe some variety of nachos, or pizza.
We wanted to catch Ecuador again at 12:30 so we made or way back towards the Gazebo after a quick stop at the candy factory for some dark chocolate cashew clusters to munch later on the trip home. Walking across the wooden bridge we noticed we were the only ones on the bridge. Not a big deal really but how often can a person walk up through there pretty much unimpeded at 12:30 on a Sunday during a festival. There were a few more people arriving in the park now, but it was still so comfortable and easy going. Manta played "Flight of the Condor", my favorite number from them and it was time to check out the Flooded Mine.
I think I read that some work had been done on the mine in the off season. I told my wife some time ago that the mine's days left in the park are likely numbered, but heck, if SDC decided to put some elbow grease and $$$ back into the mine then maybe they'll keep it on site after all. I obviously have no idea, but we wanted to check out the current state of the attraction. IMO, I would be very disappointed to see the mine go away as I love having it in the park. I don't really have an eye for details and don't always remember those details from year to year in the city, but the mine looked pretty good to me. One of our guns wasn't working though, and the theme music was not playing (not good). Most of the targets seemed to be functioning alright, but some of the sound effects were not. Everything looked well to the eye around and in the mine, but there's still some things not working.
We had no plans to ride the train Sunday, but after leaving the mine and circling back around we noticed a half full, if that, train station with a train sitting in the depot! Most times we have to make a point of riding the train and an time committing effort to do just that, but we walked right on that thing this time without even planning to do so. Wow, what a day in the park, huh? I don't know the actors names but it was the woman from last year (she used to be a ride operator) and one of the regular guys playing Alfie and Ralphie. We sat up front real close to the steam engine for the first time ever (were usually in the third or forth car) and watched the guy run the train. That whistle sure is loud up there! It's a lil' hard to hear the skit up front in the "high-roller" seats, but they did a great job with the robbery and the woman claimed them. I then talked my wife into riding Outlaw Run.
Once again, pretty much a walk on for OR. And like PK before we decided to wait a few extra trains for a front seat ride. Great ride and it still seems fairly smooth riding up front as opposed to the rougher ride in the back. There was a bit of a line at the barn swing though. We wanted to take a swing but we needed to get back up to the Homestead for the Pickers at 2:30 down at the pickin' shed.
We arrived at the area and started the walk down the mulched hill to the shed and noticed no one down at the shed, nobody. Uh oh! I much prefer watching the guys down there. So we went back towards the cabin hoping they were coming out onto the front porch for the set but, uh oh!, nobody on the porch either. So either they're not doing afternoon sets or they're crammed in that cabin. We peaked in the cabin and there they were. Fortunately the place wasn't nearly full so we went on in and sat at the bench in front of the bed. Danny said the wind was blowing so hard on the seats down at the shed they figured everyone would be more comfortable in the confines of the cabin. We'll take the wind and the shed anytime over the small cabin, but no matter on this day as the place never completely filled up causing obstructed views, funny smells, or coughing and sneezing by folks in a tight space. About two songs into the set an older couple did set down on or by the bed behind us and crunched kettle corn in our ear, unceasingly rattled that cellophane bag the corn came in, and talked a lot through the set. We moved to some chairs on the left side. Anyhow, Greg Becker played some nice tunes on his trapezoid and it was nearly time to head on home to Nixa and catch the end of the Masters Golf tournament on TV.
Yesterday was probably one of better 5-6 hour trips to the city we've had in years. I fully realize they need the crowds to keep the place open but it was nice to enjoy the park casually, still have all rides open and up-and-running, and a selection of entertaining shows to take in. Next Sunday we'll make a point of seeing Island Fire in the Playhouse, and Slask song and dance in the Opera House. The next two Sundays after that we'll just take them as they come in the city and roll with how those days go.
Looking forward to the next three Sundays of our final World Fest and then preparing for the insanity that in recent years has come with the Bluegrass & BBQ in May (hordes of us bluegrass fans and endless busloads of kids on school trips).
-
^Sounds like a great day! Relaxing days in the city are the best.
As far as enthusiastic ride operators go, I am also disappointed when they appear bored and unhappy to be there. I realize it is a minimum wage paying job and how difficult that is. But have some pride in your work. Realize your actions make an impression on family's days. That's my 2 cents. Just have pride in all you do and take your work seriously.
-
Great review, Sounds like a perfect visit.. Congrats
-
Like HikerDan, my family and I were at the park on Sunday, April 10th. Wow! What a beautiful day it was in the City. I had my Wife, Daughter (17 months) and my parents with me. The weather was perfect and the crowds were manageable.
We were there from 11-6. Ate lunch in the Frisco Barn where they had the World Fest foods, we all got something different and enjoyed it all. The 2 rides that we rode were FITH and Flooded Mine (the classics of course!) Stayed on FM twice, 17month old loved it, and grinned ear-to-ear the entire time. Dad's gun gave him points no matter where he pointed it, just pulling the trigger gave him points...so that's odd. The ride looked great, but like others have said, the theme music was not working properly. I could hear it, but had to really listen closely. We all enjoyed Island Fire. Strolled the park and shopped the shops. The main thing I noticed was new signage/paint throughout the park. All the signs looked GREAT. All the Citizens we interacted with were pleasant and upbeat.
We stayed at The Classic, the room was comfortable and clean. The breakfast left something to be desired. Speaking of Motel's has anyone heard from Paige and/or Cheri? I miss them, and hope they are ok and landed on their feet.
Ate at Pasgetti's Saturday night, and McFarland's Sunday night. Enjoyed our meal at both.
Stopped by Big Cedar Lodge on our way back to Little Rock monday, and spent the afternoon there strolling the beautiful grounds. We ate at Devil's Pool Restaurant, which is always good.
-
We stayed at The Classic, the room was comfortable and clean. The breakfast left something to be desired. Speaking of Motel's has anyone heard from Paige and/or Cheri? I miss them, and hope they are ok and landed on their feet.
Paige is still in town and doing well,, she did indeed lose her sight, but is hopeful it will return, I see her from time to time at a show. One of our local buddies sometimes picks her up and brings to the show to join in.. I don't know where Cheri ended up
-
Went today and Saturday and the park was equally packed. And a first for me was seeing Wildfire being broke down for nearly an hour or so. Something broke on one of the trains and supposedly caused it to lurch backwards a few feet while on the lift hill. They had to remove the train from service and pull out another one.
(https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/13001240_10154109232257232_7204140081245293701_n.jpg?oh=d90518cd0cba679dc6030b621217b31d&oe=577BA3BD)
(https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12985437_10154109232217232_404566179447881341_n.jpg?oh=8e01081d31246bd0dbca0c335d61627a&oe=57AFB6FF)
Short clips of the transfer and test run in progress:
https://www.facebook.com/sgtmyers88/videos/10154109220932232/?l=193913162624422952
https://www.facebook.com/sgtmyers88/videos/10154110121202232/?l=1207735428674447875
-
Interesting. I have NEVER heard of Wildfire being broke down.
-
Yeah it was quite strange. But the explanation was the official claim from Wildfire Operations staff.
Oh and another first for me was Outlaw Run was a walk on at 4:30. Most of the rides earlier in the day had 20-30 min waits minimum.
-
That's why Wildfire had a line out the building.....I was wondering since I've never seen a line for it that long since it's first year.
My trip review for 4/16: Got some relieve this weekend from having to take care of our special needs child and decided to run off to Branson a night. Wife and 3 kids at a great time at the park and in town.
Bribed the family to get up early Saturday by saying I'd get them some cinnamon bread if we made SDC by the rope drop....but ended up leaving the house late anyway:( Still made it to parking around 9:30. Went straight to Powder Keg as the wife and kids started planning the shows they wanted to see. Couldn't talk my chicken kids into riding any of the big ones with me today:( Got 2 walk on rides on PK in and remembered how great those first two air hills are!!!! The lift hill view is great too!!! Headed over to OR next as the family got in line for the Saloon show. Got 3 straight walk-on rides on OR!!! Got a front row and 2 back cars rides in. The trains where literally scream through the coarse. The overbank hill through the lift was extremely loud as the wheels screeched over the bend. Such a great out of control ride.....I prefer the back of the train for the best air time and the slowest role at the end.
Got 5 awesome rides in by 10:10....get to the park early coaster fans. I could have called it a day then....headed back to the Saloon and made it for the 10:30 show. The park is advertising that the Saloon show was "new" and we where really looking forward to a new show. We didn't see last years show so maybe it was different from last year but the show we saw was almost word-by-word the same show we saw two years ago. The performance was good and entertaining as always....but we where really frustrated that it was all the same. "Didn't recognize you without your warts", etc....
We headed back to the square after the show stopping at the shops on the way. My 7yo found a lightweight leather jacket that he begged us for. He thought he was a big shot with it on and the wife gave in and bought it after a few smiles from him. Both his grandpa and myself I have few of our own. Actually not a bad deal for it ($40) and he wore it the rest of the day with his head pointed to the sky:) Found out later in the hotel it was Made in China.....going to have to cut that off before his Grandpa finds that...lol.
Ended up going through Grandpa Manson. I also broke down and picked up some cinnamon bread between those two. Make sure to grab the extra icing with it!!!
Rode FM and found multiple issues with guns again. My oldest gun would score with every trigger push (without any target around). My younger daughters hardly ever seem to work. It's still my 7yo sons favorite ride in the park.
My oldest rode TnT with me then we headed to GE for a few rides before the Zuma Zuma show. My oldest broke away from us to ride the swings in GE as we got in line to go to the show. The swings operations was extremely slow and we barely made the show. The stopped the ride because a mom had a cell phone out.....brought it down....took the phone...rechecked the seats and started over. They show let us in right before it started after begging the door attendant that my wife had seats and we wouldn't do it again (save seats).
The Zuma Zuma show was a 6/10 for me. No doubt the performers where good and talented.....some of the balancing acts where amazing and the pole performance very impressive. I liked having a live band for it too. That all being said....it was mostly boring....it didn't tell any stories....the music rarely broke and I good as the acts where it was just mildly entertaining from end to end. They are worth going to see but I wouldn't have paid extra to see them and I don't need to see them again.
After the show we headed to FL....kids got some flat rides in. We started to circle the park to go to the Opera house show and find some late lunch but we ended up deciding to skip that show and hit a restaurant in Branson. So we left the park around 4.
Ended up at Montana Mikes since I was craving a Steak. We've ate at the Branson location before and my mother-in-law works at a location in KS. Had pretty good service and food. Noticed that they had raised the price of the ribeye to $19 from $17 :(
After late lunch/early dinner...we 'cruised' the strip. Ended up at the Pirate Adventure Mini Golf. Played the challenging Blackbeard coarse and had a great time together. I headed us towards the IMAX for a late movie but I was outvoted to just go for ice cream instead. Found a new DQ north of the strip and had a 'dessert dinner'.
Stayed at our usual mom-and-pop hotel....the Rosebud Inn. Nice simple clean and cheap rooms at a great location. Plus the donuts they serve with their breakfast are the "best cake donuts ever" according to my kids.
FYI....all shopping in Branson doesn't open till 10. We where out and ready to shop at 9:) Sent most of Sunday at Tanger and hit the road back to NWA by 2 in the afternoon.
-
That's why Wildfire had a line out the building.....I was wondering since I've never seen a line for it that long since it's first year.
There have been times recently when I've seen the line for Wildfire out the door and wrapped up the ramp (they were even using the upstairs switchbacks in the building)....However, I've never seen it in the switchbacks by American Plunge, I'd hate to see what the crowd in the park looked like if those were being used.
Jay
-
We were at SDC from just after the opening on Saturday until the night show and then back at opening Sunday until 3:30 when we left to drive home.
As many have said, there are some obvious improvements. A lot of the wooden railings by the Leather shop and in that area have been replaced. The flooded mine looks much brighter and doesn’t look like a ride near its EOL.
The one thing that we noticed last year and more so this year is that there has been a major push to de-clutter the shops. The shops that were not addressed last year seemed to have caught up this year. The leather shop’s inventory was greatly reduced. As was the glass shop, the mill, the blacksmith shop (I swear they raised the floor in the back section to eliminate a step) and more. It makes it MUCH easier to get around. The only place where I think it really was not in the best interest of the shop was the glass shop. Whereas the individual artists used to have a lot of their pieces shown, they all were relegated to a single display case. And overall there just weren’t as many pieces for sale. We enjoyed seeing the pieces but only bought a couple things from there as our house is not really the kind where we could have nice glass pieces sitting out (4 dogs and 2 kids will do that). But I did enjoy seeing their work displayed. I am one always pushing to look at things from manufacturing/industrial engineering standpoint and this de-cluttering (also known as LEAN or perhaps even 5S to the engineering geeks) really has helped with traffic flow through the shops. I do hope it is equating to larger sales as well since the shops can be more focused.
Overall the crowds were OK on Saturday morning and mostly ok in the afternoon. The weather was not what we expected which I think kept crowds down. We did attempt to go to the Train and Flooded Mine on Saturday afternoon but they were both jam packed. We missed Cirque Zuma Zuma Saturday even though we were there 30 minutes early.
We did stay for the night show which we’ve only done a handful of times in the last few years… To say we were all disappointed was an understatement. The show was all over the place and that isn’t a good thing. I mean, a few songs then bring out dogs and then more songs and throw in some slightly related comedy. It was the most disjointed mess I’ve ever sat through… They insisted on breaking the singers into “groups” to give them some sort of cute name but it was mostly stupid. One of the girls was having pitch problems which didn’t help it any. They used to have way too many singers but they cut it down now to 7 and then some other guy who did NOT fit in to this mess. All the singers I believe were new except 2. I am 44 and admit that I don’t listen to a lot of newer music, but there were many of the songs that I had never heard of. It was all just kind of painful. Even though I love dogs, we probably won’t see that show again. Also interesting to note that there was no intermission. The show went straight through.
Also for the first time ever, we did not have good food experiences when we branched out from our norms… We tried the pulled pork sandwiches from the fried bread stand. The pork wasn’t that great and really not much quantity. And for some reason we did not get season pass discounts at that stand. I did not understand his reasoning. Doubt we try that again. We also got a smoked sausage from the rib house. We had these before and liked them a lot. These were just a generic smoked sausage and not the peppery one they used to have. It was described by those having it as a big hotdog. Nothing at all distinguished it from anything else. Those were lunch… we tried the jerk chicken nachos and the greek calzone for dinner to same effect. Calzone was flavorless and was probably sitting around awhile. The chicken on the nachos was good but not warm. The cheese was shredded and not melted on top. And the nachos were nothing to write home about… A big bust all around. We ate at the rib house on Sunday and stuck with an old standby. Kind of disappointed as we have always raved about how good the food at SDC is.
-
First off - I cannot get over how much easier it is to do reports on Blogger. Should have made the switch a long time ago.
Next - here is our report from WorldFest on Sunday.
https://midwestinfoguide.blogspot.com/2016/04/world-fest-sdc.html
-
Paige is still in town and doing well,, she did indeed lose her sight, but is hopeful it will return, I see her from time to time at a show. One of our local buddies sometimes picks her up and brings to the show to join in..
What on earth happened? We had no idea she was ill! We rarely get to shows, but I know you saw her often. When you see her again, tell her that Steve and Lori Allen say Hi and pray for her.
-
[/quote]
What on earth happened? We had no idea she was ill! We rarely get to shows, but I know you saw her often. When you see her again, tell her that Steve and Lori Allen say Hi and pray for her.
[/quote]
2 years ago. she had a large tumor removed from her stomach area, she then developed diabetes, and also had some pancreitis problems.
Early in this sickness she lost her sight, this would have been in early Sept. 2014 (I think), then things went downhill in a hell of a hurry. Almost lost her a couple of times, But she is healthy now.. (I guess you can call it healthy). But eyesight remains non-exixtant.. Bad deal..., But can easily get around walking, riding around no problems. often joins us at the show when we are in town..
-
World Fest Review
Had a great time on Thursday. Flowers were blooming all over the park, making waiting in line more pleasant.
The good: Ecuador Manta, Zuma Zuma, Osminka, Fried Bread, flooded mine ride (music wasn't working)
Excellent: Slask, Island Fire, Dearbhail Finnegan, Bakery Bread, Ice Cream Shop, all SDC staff (very friendly)
Awful: Tandoori Gobi Skillet--Inedible, cold cauliflower lightly sprinkled with seasoning, sitting in a styrofoam bowl with 3 inches of water on the bottom. No yogurt, onions or peppers as promised.
-
How crowded was it on Thursday?
-
The crowds were light before noon and after 4 to moderate around 12-4. Most rides were walk-ons, but all of the shows were packed. Arriving 30 minutes early to each show was plenty of time to get good seats. Don't be intimidated by the Island Fire line, that theater is huge. This Thursday may be busier with the weather forecast being bad on Friday and Saturday. I may try to go again.
-
Thanks!
-
We took the kids out of school for an "educational field trip today". If anyone asks, they heard music from Ireland, steel drums, and whoever was playing at the gazebo when we left. We started at the expo to get measured. Rose almost every ride. Down to the landing...rode almost every ride. Up to the hi lo silos. Cut through to go to half dollar holler. I wasn't impressed with the cinnamon bread this time. It wasn't warm and it didn't seem as fresh. However, the loaves were huge!!! Per the goats then we were on our way home. We didn't wait for any ride, outside of the time we had to wait for the previous riders to stop and unload. We love days we can walk on!
-
Went the afternoon of 4/29 for a short visit -- cool, drizzly, seemed like very low attendance. Saw the Steel Drums show which packed the Boatworks and Slask (the Polish dance show) in the Opera House which was about half full. No Island Fire show due to a high school and college choir festival going on in Riverfront Playhouse. Did not ride anything or eat anything. The cave was not open for tours at all on Friday.
Looking forward to attending Founders Weekend/opening weekend of Bluegrass and BBQ.
-
We took the kids out of school for an "educational field trip today". If anyone asks, they heard music from Ireland, steel drums, and whoever was playing at the gazebo when we left. We started at the expo to get measured. Rose almost every ride. Down to the landing...rode almost every ride. Up to the hi lo silos. Cut through to go to half dollar holler. I wasn't impressed with the cinnamon bread this time. It wasn't warm and it didn't seem as fresh. However, the loaves were huge!!! Per the goats then we were on our way home. We didn't wait for any ride, outside of the time we had to wait for the previous riders to stop and unload. We love days we can walk on!
They'll warm up the cinnamon bread if you ask.
-
My wife and I really wanted to catch some of the bluegrass shows in the city last weekend but after four consecutive Sundays at the city for the final World Fest we had unfortunately allowed many to-dos pile up around the house, the yard, and had too many of life's errands to run to allow a lengthy visit to SDC on Saturday or Sunday. My wife wasn't too happy about it either as Rhonda Vincent is her favorite performer.
However, we did make the awesome decision to take a late afternoon/early evening trip down to the city and catch Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives in concert down in Echo Hollow Saturday night.
We arrived in the city around 5 pm and were pretty much floored by the crowds leaving the city at that time. Man that must have been one busy, busy day at SDC on May 7. We were glad we didn't try to mix it up with all the groups of kiddos and such all day long. It must have been crazy.
We made it to the Gazebo in time to catch our second favorite musical group comprised of SDC citizens--Horse Creek (behind only the Pickers). So glad Horse Creek will be playing the duration of the bluegrass fest, and a little beyond it sounds like. While taking in the Horse Creek show we noticed the line for Marty Stuart forming all the way up into and past Main Street. Fortunately the rope to Echo Hollow was dropped around 5:30 to allow the folks waiting to enter. We spent the $20 for the show lovers pass (10 each) so we could show up when we were ready to. I really didn't feel like standing in line or sitting in the amphitheater seats for two hours before showtime
After Horse Creek we rode a few rides as the park was clearing out. Don't think PK was running yet again. We checked on Echo Hollow around 6:15 to make sure reserved seating was still open, walked around a bit more and eventually took our seats around 6:40.
The place was packed by showtime, and we found out why as the show progressed. This was our first time for an Echo Hollow concert, besides the Bird Show from a few years back and the Cowboy stunt show the last few summers, and what a first show to attend. It was fantastic, as all those guys really play those instruments well and put on a great performance. We've watched Marty's show on RFD TV many, many times but the live show was absolutely worth the trip and $$$ to see.
We can't thank SDC enough for bringing that group to the Hollow and can hopefully look forward to a return visit from them. Marty also brought Rhonda Vincent and her mother up on stage for a song, and used the Branson entertainer Buck Trent quite a bit throughout the latter hour of the show. It was a great 2 hours in the Hollow on a beautiful warm evening.
We'll remember that one for a long time. If you're reading this, thanks again to those at SDC that made it possible for Marty and his bunch to perform for us!
-
We went on 5/6 and 5/7 for Bluegrass and BBQ and Founders' Weekend. Saw Rhonda Vincent twice on Friday and twice on Saturday. Saw Nothin' Fancy 3 times on Friday. Also saw Fiddlin' Carson Peters, Breaking Grass, Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers, the Pickers, and 2 family groups who played in Red Gold (didn't care for the group on Friday afternoon but really enjoyed the one on Saturday afternoon).
Had the Chicken Fry Bread on Friday. Takes a long time to get food. The chicken fry bread tasted okay but was hard to eat walking around. Don't think we will get it again. Had BBQ in Red Gold on Saturday from one of the SDC booths (not Dickey's). It was fair. Food at Riverside is much better.
Really enjoyed the pre-opening entertainment on Saturday with the Pickers, Rhonda Vincent, and a couple of others and the parade that followed. The Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives concert Saturday night was fantastic.
-
Quick PTR from Bluegrass & BBQ on Wednesday
https://midwestinfoguide.blogspot.com/2016/05/bluegrass-bbq-sdc.html
-
I visited yesterday (21 May 2016), and had a great day! I was in line to ride Powder Keg at one point and something happened to the air tanks that launch the cars, so they shut down the ride until it could be repaired. This took about an hour and a half. I rode Wildfire instead and then went into Red Gold for some barbecue. I have the SDC App on my phone, and all throughout the day, most ride times were at 25 minutes.
The park was really full on Saturday, and it was a gorgeous day to be there! Perfect weather!
The train ride was fun, and they had two robbers as they should have. The train was very very "jerky" on our ride. Almost as if the wheels we slipping, catching, slipping catching. I feel like that was the driver's fault, as I watched him changing pressures constantly (I was in car 1, second row of seats, so I had a good view of the operation of the locomotive).
I finally got to ride all the coasters in the park after Powder Keg re-opened.
I was at Sullivan's Mill during the opening ceremony (before the chain drop), and the younger guy who bakes in there (sorry, I don't know his name) came out and led the group in the pledge and singing of the national anthem, which I found moving.
In all, it was a fantastic day! I had some friends with me, one of which had never been to SDC. It was like seeing the city through new eyes again, and I loved every minute of it! I can't wait to go again.
-
Had a great time on Saturday. It was a short trip - just one day is hardly enough to do most things at SDC, especially during a festival. Bluegrass and BBQ is a really special event for people who love bluegrass. I spent most of my time show hopping. All the bands were good, but I especially liked Blue Mafia and Williamson Branch. I saw several other groups plus the saloon show and part of the Echo Hollow show. I got at least one ride on all the big rides as well, so I really got my money's worth on this trip.
Everything seems to be humming along in great shape at the park. I noticed a lot of improvements here and there such as new fences and some freshened signage. It looks like they re-handpainted the sign by the corkscrew water feature. The new landscaping by the Riverfront Playhouse is really nice too. I'm glad they kept the TNT arch the same instead of dumbing it down - it looks really good now. Didn't try the fry bread stand this time, but it looks like a minor improvement to the area at least.
-
I got a whole new perspective of SDC this past Saturday. I took my crew (wife and 3 kids) and lead my parents through a day at SDC together. My parents (live by KC) gifted our family season tickets this year cause they knew we loved going to the park so much. They hadn't been to SDC in 30 years and we got them in with the guest passes. They are also big bluegrass fans and made a big weekend out of it by going to the Dailey and Vincent show of Friday too. It was funny to see my Mom get all star struct about getting to go see them....guess they are the heartthrobs of bluegrass.
Anyway....I met them at the gate at 9 Saturday and got them the electric scooters that they reserved. My dad is a big big guy and has heart issues...my mom too has some mobility issues and tires quickly. It's awesome the park has these available. It really made me realize just how drastic the topography of SDC is.
We caught the end of the flag raising as they also started to get used to the scooters. At robe drop we trekked over to FL first to get some kid rides in before the huge Saturday crowd hit. I got two walk on rides on firefall....good way to wake up in the morning....it seemed to put back down harder than my previous rides on it.
We made our way over to the Saloon show and that my parents enjoyed. Performers did a good job and actually heard a few new jokes:) We then split for awhile to let my parents watch the operia house show as I took the family to the BBQ place for lunch.
After the Opera Show we got 'stuck'.....we tryed to head up the hill by tom and Huck but my Dads scooter didn't have the power.....we turned and went overty by american plunge....and got stuck their too. My Dad ended up have to walk up the hill (followed by rest) as a drove it. Later in the day we figured out I could push it to get it going to get up that hill and the one by the dockside theatre up to EH.
Ended up riding TnT 3 times. My 11yo daughter rode with me and as soon as I hit the Queue line I was looking for stacks and flags. She was so confused....so I got to tell her about what they mean....after calling me a dork....she ended up being the one who spotted first the construction off the TnT lift hill :)
My parents went to the Amanda Smith (?) show and my dad ended up talking to standup bass player (which he also plays) after the show for like 30mins. Found out they where both from the same small KY town. He came back from that show with a huge grin on his face.
Had to talk my Dad out of riding Lost River....he has a pacemaker...Talked him into riding the Train with the parents....they got a kick out of the 'yankee money' and robbery. Only one robber for us....and someone shouted to him where his brother was.
Kids got some GE rides in and we were ready to hit the road. My parents stayed for the EH show. They watched from the top but said the sound quality was terrible and show was boring. They left 15 mins into the show.
Pretty good day at SDC....very crowded but the rides seem to move pretty well all day. But it was exhausting for me to keep up with the wants of the kids and the big kids (parents)....lol My dad would take off on the scooter through the crowd and would lose him...I wanted to put a flag on him....lol Other times on the hills I'd be pushing him and the scooter up it.
-
sounds like a great family day.. grats!!
-
Went on Wednesday. As I came up the Red Route I saw lightning to the west and thought it was close to SDC. I turned at the light going to Indian Point Road, turned the corner, and saw green cones, in the right lane. So it wasnt hard to find that construction. Couldnt get pics at that time because I wouldnt be able to get close enough. Got in the park at 9:30 and it was raining. Went to PK to see how close the lightning was and to get some BBQ jerky. Found T-Bone there again as I have many times this year. Went to FITH but they said they were closed for some kind of work on the 3rd floor where they cant see or get to and it would only take 1 hour to fix. Later found out they were welding something.
The street show performers told me they wont do shows in rain or lightning. Went through Grandpas mansion with a lot of teenagers. I was hoping the threat of rain would scare crowds away. Went to Taffy shop, Apple Butter shop, and candy shop. Rode Flooded Mine and found out they were playing the theme, even in the station. By this point I was running out of things to do, so I started walking around the park. Looked around the green picnic tables hoping to find flags but found nothing but dirt. Heard that the ball pit is open even when lightning is near. Heard there was a cloud circling above us with a tail, kind of in the shape of a drowning skunk. Rode FITH, which was going thru the long way, but I think they were running 3 trains because it only took 20 minutes to get on. Hannah was seating people.
By now it was 11:00. Decided to see the 11:30 saloon show. The rain started to slow down as I was in line. It was "Mean Murphy", but they shouldve called it 8 year old Murphy. Because the girls asked him to be nice and he said ok. I felt like I was watching a western version of Barney. It was way too childish, but I heard some old people liked it. When the show was over, it stopped raining. Went to Wildfire. It was already running, so I went to the exit and heard they were going thru long ways 1 & 2, with only 1 train. That would take about 2 hours to get on. TGS already had a long line and was still doing test runs. OR had a small line with 1 train. Train station was half full so I rode it in car 4. Saw they had a 4th train at the roundhouse on track 3. It was an all black engine with a black coal tender. Next to it, off the tracks, was a yellow diesel engine. Got in line for TNT. Started seeing flags before the tunnel, but didnt take pictures. Line was backed up after the tunnel. Saw more in the big viewing area going to the EH bathrooms, as well as a trail. Saw orange paint making a trail from the corner of the TNT station going down the hill. TNT was running the green train and going thru half of the long way. Took about 45 minutes but I chose to ride anyway just to see construction. As I rode I sat on the left side, saw no flags, not even after the tunnel. I did see the big clear area, where they put a lot of gravel and a long trailer on top of that, to the left of the hill.
By now it was 2:00, so I left. As I was driving away, I stopped on the side of the road and got these pictures. They were working earlier but I didnt see any action now. They also removed the cones.
-
The Saloon show has been crowded and standing room only for Mean Murphy every time I've been to it. And it wasn't just "old" people that enjoyed it. You're a hard one to please Laroy
-
My twenty something nieces want to see the Saloon Show every time regardless of what's presented.
-
Im actually very easy to please. I like anything that is actually good. Im very glad we FINALLY have an EH show worth staying for, for the first time in over 5 years. I dont mean to be a harsh critic usually. I just want everything done right and everything to look nice. Is that too much to ask? WW is perfect in every way. If only SDC would look at WW and see how much better they are, and start playing good music like WW does. Or even The Castle of Muskogee, which I just got home from an hour ago.
-
Im actually very easy to please. I like anything that is actually good. Im very glad we FINALLY have an EH show worth staying for, for the first time in over 5 years. I dont mean to be a harsh critic usually. I just want everything done right and everything to look nice. Is that too much to ask? WW is perfect in every way. If only SDC would look at WW and see how much better they are, and start playing good music like WW does. Or even The Castle of Muskogee, which I just got home from an hour ago.
??? :o ::)
"I think SDC needs a Medieval themed section"
-
Im actually very easy to please. I like anything that is actually good. Im very glad we FINALLY have an EH show worth staying for, for the first time in over 5 years. I dont mean to be a harsh critic usually. I just want everything done right and everything to look nice. Is that too much to ask? WW is perfect in every way. If only SDC would look at WW and see how much better they are, and start playing good music like WW does. Or even The Castle of Muskogee, which I just got home from an hour ago.
To each his own I guess...
-
That would be a good idea. Maybe call it A Step Back In Time. Or have it themed to a man who made a time machine and went horribly right when he first tried it out, sending everyone to medieval times.
-
That would be a good idea. Maybe call it A Step Back In Time. Or have it themed to a man who made a time machine and went horribly right when he first tried it out, sending everyone to medieval times.
No.
-
The Saloon show has been crowded and standing room only for Mean Murphy every time I've been to it. And it wasn't just "old" people that enjoyed it. You're a hard one to please Laroy
My family loved it. Now let's get Mean Murphy and Carrie Nation to duel each other. Who will win?
-
^
LOL! I'd watch it!
-
Me too. I think it has a lot of potential to be pretty funny. AND wouldn't it be even funnier if it turns out Carrie is Murphy's mother. ;D
-
^^^
Maybe that's a good idea. I was tired of Mean Murphy and really excited when the Carrie Nation show came back. After I saw it I was disappointed in it. Seems like the cast was just not into it. I was never a fan of Murphy. A entirely new show would be a great addition.
-
To me the Mean Murphy show flows better than the other shows. I talked to one of the "higher-ups" in the Entertainment Division and he said the Mean Murphy show has always been his favorite. Of course it being a western-style show I'm going to learn toward it ;D There are other stories they could tie into Choctaw Charlie/Mean Murphy to make it fresher though. The Carrie Nation vs Mean Murphy is a great idea!
-
So my chance to return to SDC finally came this past Friday and despite travelling alone, I was determined to make the most of it. I woke up from an excited light sleep at the crack of dawn to an awful weather report that prolmised a potential for rain all day. So the first order of business was procuring some rain gear at the old Walmart. It was still early but I wanted to eat breakfast at the park so I took a little side jaunt through the light showers and early morning mist out over the dam and back. I arrived at my preferred parking spot at about 8:30. I purchased my entrance ticket from an automated kiosk located at the park exit. This worked flawlessly. I enjoyed an original cinnamon roll and cold milk breakfast at Delilah's. The rain was coming down steadily but rather lightly so hope was winning out at this point because the entrance was just as I remembered. In a word, beautiful. By the time, I got to the plaza, there was a children's choir performing in the gazebo and the rain was letting up. No one was guarding the ropes which were hanging tantalizingly low, but I headed to the general store and picked up a sheriff's badge. I chose to be sheriff Dan for the day, prompted by the angelic voices of the children. Soon they were finished and it was time for the opening ceremonies. The emcee and square dancers motioned for us on the more eastern part of the square to come closer and so we did as the Grand Ol Flag was sang. The emcee actually put the mic up to me and so I got to sing a few bars for the crowd. Well, things were heating up now.
After the drop I decided to very casually peruse the midtown and more upper areas at a very leisurely pace while everyone else was racing to the back. This turned out to work just fine for me. I spent the first 45 minutes or so just looking for the where in sdc sign from the other thread. I found George I think, but not his sign. But I got sot some nice pictures and went through Grandfathers Mansion. Thankfully, it's still just as I remembered. Everything was up and running, but somehow I missed the pipeless faucet. I was basically estatic at this point and remained so for the remainder of the day. The showers were intermittent and very light and only served to keep the temperatures and quite possibly the crowds down. It was basically perfection with puddles.
I had a great conversation with a shopkeeper at the knife store and got some great advice and left with a needed, sweet Smith & Wesson blade with a lifetime warranty. Later, I saw a great demonstration of the making of a railroad spike knife. Typical SDC stuff you know, but after 15 years of a lean diet of Six Flags St. Louis (which is great fun), I felt like I was eating steak or lobster, or maybe drinking some fine aged wine or something.
The ride on the Plunge did not disappoint. It was basically a walk on. Then on to my first ride on Wildfire....ever. Ive watched the YouTubes and read accounts countless time over the years and it lived up to every one of them. I barely managed to get the restraint buckled on my own but I did and it was just awe inspiring.
I next headed to PK which was the last ride I rode the last time I had came. Back then it was Buzzsaw Falls, though. This one seemed to have a longer line though, as did Fire In the Hole. So I continued on towards Outlaw Run. Along the way I was stopping and lingering to enjoy the sights and sounds and smells, and I've now come to believe that the death of Mary has been greatly exaggerated. I was just floored by how great everything was and still is. Yeah, I can't walk behind the waterfall anymore, but did I really miss it? No. There was too much beauty and attention to detail that remained that the few negatives that I saw could really only be categorized as nitpicks. I'll personally be giving HFE a wide berth when it comes to SDC.
Outlaw Run had a very short wait and absolutely blew my mind. The videos and words that I read about the ride prior, which were all quite flattering, failed to express to me just how wild this ride is. Nowhere did I see anything informing me that I would be out of my seat more than in it. This is the most fantastic roller coaster I've ever contemplated.
I skipped the swing and headed instead for the Lost River. It delivered as it always has, although I remained pretty dry, which was alright with me. Over at the landing, I decided to try Firefall and just loved it. It was more than super enough for my chicken wings.
A nice jaunt through the exposition (which was under construction during my last visit, if I remember correctly) capped by a dizzying electro spin ride was next on the agenda. The flooded mine was brilliant. Nearly everything was in tip top shape and working order and the operators were taking care of us like royalty. I took a second ride without getting off and frankly could have just rode all day. But lunch at the Wagon Works awaited. A very tasty kebab and fries with beans. Everything a-ok. This is theme park food? Really?
I then took my turn on PK which was a definite improvement over the Falls that I remember. Then another ride on Outlaw Run, a great, stomach-churning turn on the swing, and a thoroughly drenching turn on the timeless masterpiece, FitH (Woohoo!), and I was ready for the 3:30 Sons show at the Dockside. But first I picked up a sweet handcrafted necklace from The Bent Spoon. The sons did not disappoint. Lee Greenwood never gets old. I can't wait to see them again. Two more turns on the American Plunge and one corn dog and funnel cake later and I was wore out and headed for the exit. Time: 520pm.
So if you are wondering if traveling alone to the city will be fun, my answer to you would be a very emphatic YES. Go. And if something about the city today gets you down, like a changed vista, or tired mannequin, or missing tree, then I say step away for about a score and then come back and see what you think. This wasn't my reason for being away for so long, but over the years, I had gotten the impression that maybe things weren't so great anymore and that the magic or some special ingredient was missing. This was oh so wrong and couldn't be further from the truth. I am overjoyed to report that SDC is bigger and better than ever and I can't wait to return.
-
Our last visit was yesterday (6/5/16). We always have a lot of fun in the park when we visit, and can't get enough of everything! They had the pool in the Fire In The Hole filled to capacity and so everybody who got on, got drenched! It was great fun! :D I did notice several elements not working on Sunday that were a disappointment. Since I was a young boy, I have been fascinated with the mine car that slowly rolls back and forth across the entrance canopy of the Mine Restaurant. It was stuck half in and half out of the hole in the roof.
The horse and buggy sound effect one hears as they walk over the foot bridge was not working. In the Flooded Mine, the water that flows off the roof, into the large metal bucket with a hole in the side was not working, the face was not projected on the photo in the wardens office (while in line), and several of the items inside the mine did not react to being "hit."
I wonder what their plans are for the large metal tower that used to be the Wilderness Water Boggin, and Huck Finn's Hideaway (that dark room full of stars was amazing when I was a kid)?
The cinnamon bread from Sullivan's Mill was outstanding as usual!
I bought a whole fist full of pins from the Hospitality House on my way out (I'm just getting started pin collecting) and I'm enjoying that a lot!
I sent an e-mail to them reporting all these and asking about those two old attractions. If I get a response, I'll report back here.
Still and all, we had a great time, as we always do at Silver Dollar City! Next visit date: 6/18/2016.
-
I bought a whole fist full of pins from the Hospitality House on my way out (I'm just getting started pin collecting) and I'm enjoying that a lot!
It's great to hear that someone on here also collects SDC trading pins. I also have enjoyed it very much! Not very often you can get envolved collecting something that is so near and dear to the heart.
-
So my chance to return to SDC finally came this past Friday and despite travelling alone, I was determined to make the most of it. I woke up from an excited light sleep at the crack of dawn to an awful weather report that promised a potential for rain all day. So the first order of business was procuring some rain gear at the old Walmart. It was still early but I wanted to eat breakfast at the park so I took a little side jaunt through the light showers and early morning mist out over the dam and back. I arrived at my preferred parking spot at about 8:30. I purchased my entrance ticket from an automated kiosk located at the park exit. This worked flawlessly. I enjoyed an original cinnamon roll and cold milk breakfast at Delilah's. They rain was coming down steadily but rather lightly so hope was winning out at this point because the entrance was just as I remembered. In a word, beautiful. By the time, I got to the plaza, there was a children's choir performing in the gazebo and the rain was laying up. No one was guarding the ropes which were hanging tantalizingly low, but I headed to the general store and picked up a sheriff's badge. I chose to be sheriff Dan for the day, prompted by the angelic voices of the children. Soon they were finished and it was time for the opening ceremonies. The emcee and square dancers motioned for us on the more eastern part of the square to come closer and so we did as the Grand Ol Flag was sang. The emcee actually put the mic up to me and so I got to sing a few bars for the crowd. Well, things were heating up now.
After the drop I decided to very casually peruse the midtown and more upper areas at a very leisurely pace while everyone else was reaching to the back. This turned out to work just fine for me. I spent the first 45 minutes or so just looking for the where in sdc sign from the other thread. I found George think but not his sign. But I got sot some nice pictures and went through Grandfathers Mansion. Thankfully, it's still just as I remembered. Everything was up and running, but somehow I missed the pipeless faucet. I was basically estatic at this point and remained so for the remainder of the day. The showers were intermittent and very light and only served to keep the temperatures and quite possibly the crowds down. It was basically perfection with puddles.
I had a great conversation with a shopkeeper at the knife store and got some great advice and left with a needed, sweet Smith & Wesson blade with a lifetime warranty. Later, I saw a great demonstration of the making of a railroad spike knife. Typical SDC stuff you know, but after 15 years of a lean diet of Six Flags St. Louis (which is great fun), I felt like I was eating steak or lobster, or maybe drinking some fine aged wine or something.
The ride on the Plunge did not disappoint. It was basically a walk on. Then on to my first ride on Wildfire....ever. Ive watched the YouTubes and read accounts countless time over the years and it lived up to every one of them. I barely managed to get the restraint buckled on my own but I did and it was just awe inspiring.
I next headed to PK which was the last ride I rode the last time I had came. Back then it was Buzzsaw Falls, though. This one seemed to have a longer line though, as did Fire In the Hole. So I continued on towards Outlaw Run. Along the way I was stopping and lingering the sights and sounds and smells, and I've now come to believe that the death of Mary has been greatly exaggerated. I was just floored by how great everything was and still is. Yeah, I can't walk behind the waterfall anymore, but did I really miss it? No. There was too much beauty and attention to detail that remained that the few negatives that I saw could really only be categorized as nitpicks. I'll personally be giving HFE a wide berth when it comes to SDC.
Outlaw Run had a very short wait and absolutely blew my mind. The videos and words that I saw, which were all quite flattering, failed to express to me just how wild this rise is. Nowhere did I see anything informing me that I would be out of my seat more than in it. This is the most fantastic roller coaster I've ever contemplated.
I skipped the swing and headed instead for the Lost River. It delivered as it always has, although I remained pretty dry, which was alright with me. Over at the the landing, I decided to try Firefall and just loved it. It was more than super enough for my chicken wings.
A nice jaunt through the exposition (which was under construction during my last visit, if I remember correctly) capped by a dizzying electro spin ride was next on the agenda. The flooded mine was brilliant. Nearly everything was in tip top shape and working orderand the operators were taking care of us like royalty. I took a second ride without getting off and frankly could have just rode all day. But loch at the Wagon Worksa awaited. A very tasty kebab and fries with beans. Everything a-ok. This is theme park food? Really?
I then took my turn on PK which was a definite improvement over the Falls that I remember. Then another ride on Outlaw Run, a great, stomach-churning turn on the swing, and a thoroughly drenching turn on the timeless masterpiece, FitH (Woohoo!), and I was ready for the 330 Sons show at the Dockside. But first I picked up a sweet handcrafted necklace from The Bent aspoon. The sons did not disappoint. Lee Greenwood never gets old. I can't wait to see them again. Two more turns on the American Plunge and one Corn Dog and funnel cake layer and I was wore out and headed for the exit. Time: 520pm.
So if you are wondering if traveling alone to the city will be fun, my answer to you would be a very emphatic YES. Go. And if something about the city today gets you down, like a changed vista, or tired mannequin, or missing tree, then I say step away for about a score and then come back and see what you think. This wasn't my reason for being away for so long, but over the years, I had gotten the impression that maybe things weren't so great anymore and that the magic or some special ingredient was missing. This was oh so wrong and couldn't be further from the truth. I am overjoyed to report that SDC is bigger and better than ever and I can't wait to return.
Thanks for the post! I really enjoyed reading it from your perspective since you haven't been there in awhile. I agree with you that taking a break from something after a long absence does change your perspective and criticisms. All in all, I still feel SDC does a great job of holding onto their roots and past.
-
I bought a whole fist full of pins from the Hospitality House on my way out (I'm just getting started pin collecting) and I'm enjoying that a lot!
It's great to hear that someone on here also collects SDC trading pins. I also have enjoyed it very much! Not very often you can get envolved collecting something that is so near and dear to the heart.
Howdy, Pintrader! Suddenly, I have a new collecting obsession. Ha! And what better? The Silver Dollar City pins are really well done and now I'm always looking on Craigslist and Ebay for them. Of course I'm just getting started, but, give me some time and we might be able to talk Pins more in-depth!
-
Thanks for the post! I really enjoyed reading it from your perspective since you haven't been there in awhile. I agree with you that taking a break from something after a long absence does change your perspective and criticisms. All in all, I still feel SDC does a great job of holding onto their roots and past.
Absolutely! My pleasure! Been doing this from my phone so you know how excited I've been about my visit. I think I got most of the worst typos cleaned up from last night. My battery died on me as I was finishing.
-
Great review injun joe, I was away from the park for some years and I'm with you it's still such a unique place :)
-
Pin, great post and review.
-
Went today. Went to TGS and got my stuff stuck in a locker after it said take out everything. Maintenance came after I rode. He hacked in with his own passcode and unlocked it. He told me the new coaster is indeed a B&M, no question. But nobody knows what kind. Nobody can talk to the contractors but the Herschends and they have no logos on anything.
Rode OR, PK, FITH, WF, saw Peter Gossamer (show was mostly the same as 3 years ago but up close, with his wife dancing, and 2 movies on the screen), AP, riverblast (which had a line for once), and TNT. I saw the retaining wall. Kinda came right out at me. It is on the right side only. Just some big rocks holding up a flat patch of dirt. Im thinking the coaster will make a U turn there or a flat ride will go there. Thats all I can remember hearing about or seeing.
-
Last Minute SDC trip review....
Sunday was planned to be a nice lazy day for me and my crew of 6.....we had a nice 'sleep-in' morning with the rain/storms passing through. Around 10 in the morning I'd had already gotten bored of being at home and started check the weather to see if was going to clear up. Then I also realized we where pretty much 'booked' up the next few weekends and make the call that today would be a SDC day. I told the crew the goal would be to hit up the Globetrotters and take the cave tour (both inside stuff cause of the rain). It's about a hour and 45 min drive from my driveway to the parking lot and we made it in 2 hours with a drive through lunch on the way. We made it to the park just in time to go straight to the 2pm Globetrotter show and find pretty good seats. They were pretty entertaining....show was pretty much what I'd expected.....my kids where laughing the whole time. We got to be apart of the lucky crowd to get wet and my girls got 'picked on' a couple times while they where in the crowd. My oldest daughter (who plays competitive bball) was disappointed they didn't actually play a game. After the show the kids talked me in a taking a few rides in around GE. Crowds where pretty light....even after the show GE was walk-on on all the rides. Next we wanted to get wet.....so we headed toward lost river. On the way....rain started and the rides got shut down. Paths started filling up after the rains came and I think about half the park headed to the gates. We went to FiTH since I knew it would probably still be open I hadn't had a ride on it yet this year. Sure enough both FiTh and Flooded mine are open during lightning closures!!!! Got two spins around FiTH in with the kids. We then walk backed to Lost river as we heard all the rides where about to come back up. Waited about 10 mins for LR to open up and got to fill a raft up with the 6 of us:) Then headed over to PK but the line was backed up down the hill with only one coaster running.....so went over to WF and had a 15min wait with one coaster running. By that point our 2 youngest and my wife where ready to go and we headed to the gate. We grabbed sonic drinks in Branson West and ended up stopping for a nice meal on the way home. I told my older two kids that we are going to have to get away for a coaster SDC trip by ourselves at some point.....and I still didn't get to do the cave tour :-\
-
Humphrey Hawk, was the cave open? The last 3 times we have been to the park the cave has been closed.
-
I think so....around 1:30 when I walked in I noticed a line and they had the sign out about tours every 30 minutes. I think I recall the last tour being at listed 4 that day. It was closed when I left around 5.
-
This is a late review, but better late then never. I was at the park four different times from June 15th to the 20th.
Wednesday was a great day. It was hot weather that week and we had a baby along with us (more on that in the Random Talk thread) so we were a little worried but the weather there and being with a family really makes you appreciate little things more at SDC.
1) The trees/canopy. I've always liked the wilderness aspect of SDC for theme and "cosmetic" reasons...I really believe more than anything that this is what makes SDC the MOST different from other parks. But I never fully appreciated all the shade it provides...there are times when you really don't feel the heat and then go to an open area (like the exit tram line) and WOW you realize how much you love that shade. Hate areas of the park that don't have it.
2) Mother's nursing stations/family restrooms. These places are a life-saver. My wife would never have lasted had she not had an air-conditioned mother's station in which to do what she had to do. The family restrooms were also great for diaper changes.
3) Free water. I know this has been discussed before, but seriously folks what a deal.
4) The food places/restaurants. I honestly cannot fathom how anyone can complain about the food prices at SDC. They are beyond reasonable, especially if you have the season pass, but even without. The restaurants are also A/C and you can sit down and take a break without feeling rushed and have a god meal. Here are my dining reviews:
a) Mary's Springhouse. I've never eaten here before as we always thought it was Italian, but my guess is that when Aunt Molly's (or pollys?) chicken closed for that hideous pizza place they moved fried chicken as an option over at the Springhouse? Anyway, doesn't matter. I had the fried chicken dinner and the wife had the chicken strips, re-fills on the mugs and the price was less than $21. I got a large breast, a meaty thigh, mashed potatoes, beans, and a dinner roll (and drink) and the wife the same except with chicken strips and it was less than 21 bucks at a theme park?!?! It was delicious, too...great fried chicken very tender declicious and not a greasy mess. What a deal.
b) Molly's Mill Breakfast: With the 20 percent off it equaled about the same price--around 21 bucks and then a tip for the waitress--it really is a very good breakfast buffet. Excellent biscuits and gravy, real bacon, suprisingly good sausage---this is a great breakfast option.
c) The Mine. Again, a great place on a hot day. More pricey but it is a buffet. Chicken and beans were the main hit. Have eaten there plenty of times on hot days.
I don't know how people can complain about pricing, but maybe it is with food options such as 5 dollar funnel cakes or something? I guess we did have an orange roll at Eva and Delilahs...don't remember the price. Too tasty to care.
Anyway, these things make me realize how much of an excellent family place SDC is. It should be applauded. We were able to spend over 7 hours at the park on a 95 degree day with a 3 month old. Back to the review:
Salloon show was great Wednesday Morning. The Flooded Mine audio was not working and I was very disappointed with that, but to our relief it worked on Thursday and Friday. FITH was good. Outlaw Run should have had no wait on Wednesday but they were running one car and it took forever even though hardly anyone was in line. What a great ride, though. Same with Powderkeg--walk on wednesday.
Saw the Globetrotters and it was a pretty good little show. Watched the Magic Show and it was well done. Why on earth does the opera house sit empty in the summers again? Too pricey to run A/C?? Watched pickers--they are really good. Frisco Jack was good, too.
Now time for some complaints: While the free parking and transportation to and from your car is great, it is needlessly tedious, especially to exit the park and especially on a hot day. There's something wrong with waiting on a Friday when it's 95 degrees and seeing 3 or 4 trains go by without loading for people exiting. Seriously? Then when the car is loaded it seems forever for them to just LEAVE. The safety checks have always been done at SDC, but this year it just felt like too much. Just GO ALREADY, is what I kept thinking. I also didn't like it when the workers seemed more interested in talking to each other than getting stuff going. But, oh well. Tis a small thing.
The frozen lemonade stand by the saloon didn't open until 11 on a 90 degree day. Thought that was dumb. Didn't feel like walking around to find another one.
The rides on Monday morning were all closed. I've never seen anything like it. Was looking forward to riding with my father but Powder Keg was closed (of course) and we overheard someone say that Thunderation and Outlaw Run were closed, too. FITH was also down for a very short time. We rode wildfire and the line was long and there was only one train.
AP is still a shame.
Overall though it was a great trip.
-
Cooler day Friday, with no storms on the horizon, so I took the 12- and the 6-year old to the City for a break.
Walked all the way to the measuring station to find it closed; would have rather gone the other direction if we had known.
Ride operator on Racing Regatta was singing "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Da" over the PA.
The magic show might be OK for kids, but we saw through so many of the tricks, it was just sad. The introduction to the show was set to the opening song from Aladdin, and they even played a snippet of "It's a Small World" during the show (What's up with the Disney stuff these days?). I do enjoy being in the Courthouse Riverfront Theater though. So many memories of some great shows.
Waiting in line for LR, we overheard the Kids show singing 80s rock songs - took us out of the ambience of the park.
Water cannons on FitH were aimed directly into my face: Well played SDC Firefighters!
-
^Not a big crowd yesterday. Could have walked on to most rides with a short wait.
15 minutes at AP, 20 minutes for LR; indefinite wait for PK as it was...wait for it...closed for maintenance (Who'd've thunk?)
We did walk on to Riverblast (because the kids wanted to; I would avoid it if not for them). We rode on the side counter to the sidewalk (port side), along with another kid to fire the fourth cannon. On the starboard side of the boat was a family of four.
When the raft reached the section where people shoot from shore, the mother on the other side of the boat started yelling at the shooters. She asked how old one young man was and then proceeded to call him a 21-year-old &!^% for getting her wet.
I thought she might have known the man and was just crudely teasing him, so I didn't think much of it, but 20 seconds later, an older gentleman (gray hair and bearded) was joyfully drenching our raft, as well. The mother started yelling at him and asking how old he was. She screamed at him that a 60-year-old man should know better than to keep shooting at her and getting her wet.
This guy was as shocked as I would have been. All he could say was, "You shouldn't have gotten on the ride." (Duh!) Thankfully he didn't return her tone.
When we got out and passed this guy, he was sitting with his family. I think he was still hurt from being screamed at by this ridiculously obnoxious and loud woman. I watched as he finally stood and they walked away from the area. How could such absolute stupidity exist? This woman walked by RB, saw what it was, presumably read the warnings of "You will get wet!", boarded the raft, and was shooting at other people, and yet cut down a perfect stranger with insults and yelling.
There are so many things that happens in a place like SDC that affect the feel of your trip. The tourism industry relies on the tourists to help set the tone, and in this case the idiot-tourist failed to assist.
-
"When we got out and passed this guy, he was sitting with his family. I think he was still hurt from being screamed at by this ridiculously obnoxious and loud woman. I watched as he finally stood and they walked away from the area. How could such absolute stupidity exist? This woman walked by RB, saw what it was, presumably read the warnings of "You will get wet!", boarded the raft, and was shooting at other people, and yet cut down a perfect stranger with insults and yelling."
May have been a good time to tell the guy not to worry about it, obviously the "lady" was no lady at all.
-
Ugh. This is why I hate the summer months at SDC. It's hot and the park is full of GP. I love when it's fall and the AP holders come back to the park enjoying it for what it is instead of the "the park owes it to me" mentality that is on display by the GP in the summer. Ugh tourists are the worst.
-
Ugh. This is why I hate the summer months at SDC. It's hot and the park is full of GP. I love when it's fall and the AP holders come back to the park enjoying it for what it is instead of the "the park owes it to me" mentality that is on display by the GP in the summer. Ugh tourists are the worst.
\
LOL.. Heat + Tourists = Potential Attitude Problems..... LOL
-
We went down to the City this morning for our bi-weekly visit. We arrived a little later than normal and so had to wait in a huge line to get to the Season Pass Preferred lot. We got inside the park in time for breakfast at Molly's Mill though, so I was happy about that!
After breakfast, we began exploring. The park was really full even by 11:00 am. Plus, the heat was getting strong too. All the rides had crazy lines in them, including the Flooded Mine. I was very happy to see the mine car above the entrance to the mine restaurant operating as it should! I have always been fascinated by that thing!
We visited all our favorite stores and attractions, I got the newest Moonlight Madness pin at the hospitality house on our way out and we came home. The heat was just too much out there today! it was fun watching people getting drenched on the Lost River too!
Aside from the heat, it was a very nice, however short visit! ;D
-
Didn't make it to the city today, was hoping to see Duelist, MHGuy, and Pintrader...
But late yesterday afternoon I lost AC in my car, and elected to leave this morning about 4:00 and drive home to beat the heat...
Hope you all had a good visit.!! Cya next time around...
-
^ Yeah we missed visiting with you! We did finally get to meet Tinmann620- a very pleasant experience. We were there from breakfast at the Mill at 8:30 and left the park at 6:30. As Clint F posted the heat was brutal. Lost River was over an hour wait and so was the Plunge for most of the day. we finally did ride the Plunge with about a 40 minute wait. The train was busy (or course) and Fire in the Hole was by far the busiest coaster. Powder Keg was down a lot of the day but my wife got on Wildfire in about 10 minutes and we both rode Outlaw Run with a 10 minute wait. The Giant Swing was running around 15 minutes (with both swings running) when I rode. Thunderation was running 2 trains with between 5 and 10 minutes waiting time. The Flooded Mine was about a 15 to 20 minute wait in the afternoon but I figured the train must have just unloaded passengers right before we got to the Mine and that always makes for a longer wait. With the popularity of FITH and FM on a hot day I think the City needs to think seriously about another indoor attraction.
-
Had a good time exploring Branson this weekend. I found the alpine coaster, looks ready to go. $15 a ride.
The new ferris wheel has caused gridlock on 76 from SOTH to Gretna. I havent seen it this bad is some years.
It was far too hot to go to SDC this weekend so we went to the pool, lake, Vigelante zipline(fun once) and saw a show.
I drove by SDC Friday on my way to the park on Indian point and they were not busy, you could see the heat was effecting the crowd.
It looks like I need to follow the advise of the others and skip during the summer, the heat and crowds are just not worth it.
-
I can handle the heat if the crowds are small.
-
My Wife, Daughter and I, along with my parents visited SDC on Sunday, July 24.
After 29 years of visiting the park, I finally had the privilege of meeting Jack and Sherry Herschend! It was quite the honor to meet them! My family was in the pottery shop when I noticed them walking around. They were so nice and down to earth, but to me it was like meeting celebrities. I pointed to my 21 month old daughter and told them I had been visiting the park since I was her age and how it was a second home to me. Mrs. Herschend commented how nice it was to see 3 generations together and enjoying the park. Dad told them he had been visiting for 38 years, and Jack said it was humbling to hear how much we loved the park.
They were just walking around, shopping, like everyone else. Mrs. Herschend said that the pottery shop was her favorite of all the stores and loved the high quality craftsmanship in each piece.
-
^Wow, great story and such a privilege you got to meet them!! Definitely a dream of mine.
-
I came out here at 5:00 on Tuesday to hear good music while riding a few rides and hear good music in the 2 night shows. Rode PK, Fith, WF, Tgs, bought a Sprite and blueberry float, and waited in line at the chain to go down to EH. Started sprinkling when it started but slowed down and stopped near the middle of the show. Pre show dogs, same songs, except for a few new ones. I wanted to hear the butterfly song, but they replaced it with another I never heard. Same 80s songs, then 50s but this time they brought out the giant beach balls, dogs again, allen asbury, then they did an acapella version of Kings of Lion - Use Somebody and One Direction - Best Song Ever. A few new comedy sketches too and the fireworks started immediately at the end. They lasted about 10 - 15 minutes but I didnt get to watch them much because I was having trouble with my gloves and a few other lights. The fireworks were great with a great finale. Once I was done, I got up to Main Street for the Street Dances which already started. Bought a pair of light up glasses and 1 extra pair. I really needed these badly. Got in the crowd and started doing the short version of dances like the Macarana, Time Warp, Hokey Pokey, Electric Slide, Cupid Shuffle, and of course the best of all, the Cha Cha Slide. Loved these 2 shows. Best part of going to SDC. Im doing the Street Dances more often. I just wish they could play The Isley Brothers - SHOUT! When it was done it was 9:50 and everybody was leaving. I went to see if TNT was still open, but it was closed already.
-
Wednesday I was thinking about going to WW, but I decided to come out here only to see the construction and ride LR. I rode TNT, Electro Spin, Accelerator, Lost River closed for mechanical issues when I got my stuff ready in a locker, rode the train, Lost River was open again (seemed like it was only closed 20 minutes) and I wasnt going to get out of the line for anything. When I got 8 feet from the seater guy, they closed for 15 minutes for mechanical issues. Maintenance never showed up and they just did test runs with the rafts. Rode WF and FM. Left at 2:00. When I got on the tram it started raining.
-
My Wife, Daughter and I, along with my parents visited SDC on Sunday, July 24.
After 29 years of visiting the park, I finally had the privilege of meeting Jack and Sherry Herschend! It was quite the honor to meet them! My family was in the pottery shop when I noticed them walking around. They were so nice and down to earth, but to me it was like meeting celebrities. I pointed to my 21 month old daughter and told them I had been visiting the park since I was her age and how it was a second home to me. Mrs. Herschend commented how nice it was to see 3 generations together and enjoying the park. Dad told them he had been visiting for 38 years, and Jack said it was humbling to hear how much we loved the park.
They were just walking around, shopping, like everyone else. Mrs. Herschend said that the pottery shop was her favorite of all the stores and loved the high quality craftsmanship in each piece.
I got to meet Pete Herschend a couple of years ago. He, too, was just walking around the park like any other tourist. I told him how great a privilege it was to meet him. He thanked me, then asked how I knew who he was! I said that I was a big fan of the Herschend family. It will always be one of my greatest SDC memories!!
-
When I met Pete (or should say I spoke to) at the 5K a few years ago, I was astounded at the rudeness. Someone dropped a very pretty scarf on the stairs of the Gazebo. I saw him coming down the stairs (actually didn't know it was him), so I tried to hand it to him and explain that it was dropped. There was a band of women singing earlier and visitors were on stage to pick up prizes when names were called, so I assumed it belonged to one of them. He asked what in the world I thought he was going to do with and said he didn't want it. It wouldn't have taken much to hand it to someone on stage or announce that it was dropped.
-
There is a certain amount of pomposity in Pete (perhaps due to his work in state government). I've never met him, but I have been in the room with him speaking at educational events. He can ramble more than Donald Trump, and he definitely has his opinions.
-
I've been away from the forum for a long time (when I retired, I wound up with less time to do the things I enjoy!).
It's good to hear that things are still going well at the park, but seeing "bag check" as part of the entrance procedure just crushed something in my spirit.
I regret not going one last time before moving to New Hampshire, and now I don't know when I would ever get a chance to go again, but that one thing is enough to make me not want to go -- and I don't even carry any bags.
-
^ It's a different world we live in but I guess it boils down to "Better safe than sorry". I would rather take a couple of minutes or so to go through a bag check than hear about a disaster happening at the park.
-
I would rather they check bags. At 6 Flags they wand each person, when they start that we can get just fully excited
-
I would rather they check bags. At 6 Flags they wand each person, when they start that we can get just fully excited
Cedar Point does that too, I'm not sure about other Cedar Fair parks.
-
Every Cedar Fair park is sanding this year.
-
We made a trip to the park on Sunday, 8/7. It was our first trip since late May. We didn't go down for any of the Moonlight Madness stuff, we really just wanted to head down there for a few hours of fun.
We left after church on Sunday and made it to the park about 2:45. It started raining on us on the way down there and when we got to the park it was still raining and actually getting harder. We decided to get in line for the 3:30 saloon show for some indoor entertainment. This is the first time we had seen the show this season and we all really enjoyed it. It had the classic SDC humor and the performers were all entertaining. We were hoping that after the saloon show the rain would have passed by but when we exited the saloon we saw that the rain was still coming steady. We quickly walked over to FITH to catch a ride before the rest of the saloon crowd did so as well. FITH will never get old.
All of the outdoor rides were closed due to lightning in the area. I learned an interesting bit of information while we were walking around. During a storm when all the rides are closed, you will know when the rides are open again once the train blows its whistle twice. I had never known this before but it was nice to know! Since everything was pretty much closed we just walked around the shops and gazed around. I actually find SDC very relaxing in the rain. A lot of people had left the park and it was nice to just walk around at a leisurely pace and enjoy the park for everything it has. I went in a lot of shops I hadn't been in for quite some time and I really just enjoyed the peaceful time.
Even though I do enjoy the leisure of just walking around and enjoying the shops, the long storm reinforces what I have been clamoring for for a long time. SDC NEEDS another indoor attraction. FITH and the FM are not enough. A highly themed people mover type indoor attraction or 3D ride (thinking Harry Potteresque) would be perfect and I really feel it is necessary at this point. I think SDC would get a great ROI because a lot of people left the park with the storm lasting 2+ hours. Keeping people in the park=more $$ being spent. This also got me thinking about how a on property resort would be great. People could just leave the park if there is rain and just come right back when the rain stops. Even though we live close enough to SDC to make a day trip, this is not the case for a lot of people. An on property resort with shopping and dining would be another step in the right direction for these rainy days.
The rain probably stopped around 5 and the rest of the rides opened along with it (with PK taking longer to open of course and Electrospin was also not open when we walked by). We got rides on WF, AP (how depressed this ride makes me), OR, and TNT. I tried to get a good look at the construction taking place around TNT but couldn't really tell much else had been done since the last update we had gotten. With the rain and it being a Sunday, I don't think much had been going on that day. All I can say from my own observation is that it is clear a TON of land is being cleared for this. It's going to look like WF did when it first opened if they don't make an effort to grow the area back. No trees or foliage will be in the area at all.
We used coupons we had gotten in the mail to try out the new Fry Bread Station for the first time. LOVED it. The bread is so good and they aren't stingy on the amount of pork they give. We will be going back for sure. We also love the apple butter funnel cake so of course we had to have that again. We started making our way towards the exit around 8. Would have loved to have stayed for the Echo Hollow show and fireworks but we had to go home since we had work on Monday. Hopefully we will be able to catch the show in September or October. The dance party on the square was starting as we were leaving the park. Carrie Underwood's "Good Girl" came on right before Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." I love MJ but when he is playing at SDC I know it's time for me to leave haha. It just doesn't work for me. I understand what SDC is trying to do with Moonlight Madness and it's fine with me as long as it doesn't permeate over into the rest of the SDC season. I prefer the bluegrass and gospel when I'm there. All in all we had a great afternoon and early evening at SDC!!
-
During a storm when all the rides are closed, you will know when the rides are open again once the train blows its whistle twice. I had never known this before but it was nice to know!
Guess I never thought of it that way, but it does sort of make sense. The reason the train sounds it whistle is because it's getting ready to do a "test run" around the loop to make sure that everything is clear before it reopens. That can't happen until lightning is more than 10 miles away from the entire train loop, so yes, that would be a signal that the rest of the rides were at least in the process of reopening. Many of them have to do test runs first as well, so there still might be a bit of a wait.
Additionally there are a couple of attractions that can open up before that- if lightning it more than 5 miles away. The carousel at HDH is a good example of that.
In any case that's a good bit of advice to remember for the future. Funny that after working there, and on the train no less, it had never occurred to me, even though it seems rather obvious now. lol
-
I took a quick midweek trip yesterday and Tuesday. The actual heat wasn't too bad, but as usual the humidity made things pretty rough. Crowds were pretty low and easy to deal with since it's mainly timeshare people from Oklahoma this time of year.
Everything was running really smoothly - quick operations on the coasters even when there was literally no line (I really appreciated this after the 10 minute dispatches at Magic Springs). Flooded Mine had a solid line, being one of the only rides that you can do as a multi-generation family inside in the air conditioning. Flooded Mine was actually in the best shape I've seen it in a long time. Nearly everything was working. There will always be some details not working at any given time since there are like a million moving parts, but it was doing really well this week.
Some of the Saloon show stars are apparently on vacation or working another show at the moment. The Charlie, Saloon Matron, and Mean Murphy characters were all played by different people. Still pretty good.
Weirdest thing that happened was when I sat next to a little boy who was riding by himself on Powderkeg. As soon as we launched, this massive string of the worst profanity started spewing from his mouth. He had to be around 6 years old? I wanted to track down his parents afterwards...
I also met up with the other Steve and we hit up a few things in Branson. Butterfly Palace was a lot smaller and hotter than I thought it would be, but it can be fun to do with the kids I guess. The new Mountain Coaster was a lot of fun. The journey up the hill lasts longer than the descent, but it's about what you'd expect if you ride without brakes. We also did the Vigilante zipline at Inspiration Tower, which was amazing. It's pretty pricey at $30 for the first go, but I think it's just about worth it.
Also, I ended up staying at Classic again. I was going to camp out on the point, but by the time I got down there the attendant was gone and it was going to be like $20 to camp (didn't have change to get to $16). With the crazy humidity, I made the right choice to spend $24 extra and get a bed, shower, and Olympics on TV at Classic.
-
^ It's a different world we live in but I guess it boils down to "Better safe than sorry". I would rather take a couple of minutes or so to go through a bag check than hear about a disaster happening at the park.
It's not safe, it's just sorry. And it's not either/or, because the kabuki theater does nothing to enhance security.
I spent 23 years probing weak spots, and thinking how I would exploit weaknesses if I was a criminal. Administrators always ignored the real threats, preferring to put on a pretense at the front door instead of addressing the real weaknesses.
I haven't been to SDC in over ten years, but I guarantee that I could deliver a simulated "disaster-happening thing" into any part of the park that I wished within 24 hours of arriving in Branson. I'm not a criminal, and I'm not a genius -- I just have enough experience at thinking like criminals think, to not walk it through the front door.
And speaking of that, to cause real mayhem and panic, the front door is where a *real* bad guy would strike: it's the tightest concentration of people, families all bunched up together, everyone distracted by the bag check and ticket procedures... you get the idea.
It's just like the TSA: utterly useless, and always looking at the last attack instead of thinking about the next. Terrorists don't need to take over an airplane to terrorize. They don't even need tickets: the biggest concentration of unprotected people in any airport is the queue to pass the TSA checkpoint before even getting to the security screening site. The second biggest is the baggage pickup area, totally open to the public.
I'm sorry for my rant, it just rubs me the wrong way when people will voluntarily surrender their liberties in the name of safety.
Benjamin Franklin had some wise words about that.
-
Hello everyone.....first time long time! I've been an occasional visitor of sdcfans for many years and have enjoyed reading about rumors, trip reviews, watching videos and the such. My family and I absolutely love SDC. We live in north-central Missouri (about 4 hrs from Branson) and visit Branson around 4-5 times/year. In all of the visits to Branson (the past 10+ yrs) we’ve not gone to SDC on one trip and that was due to the short duration of our stay and weather. I am a 45 yr old kid when it comes to the week leading up to our SDC trip…watching videos, checking this site, looking at the schedules online, etc. I decided to take the plunge and create an account and write a trip review of this weekend’s trip to the “City”.
We arrived in Branson Friday afternoon and had plans to see Moses at Sight and Sound. Incredible show and would recommend to anyone. Our original plans were to go to SDC on Saturday and then Sunday checkout of our condo and do a little shopping before returning home. After some agonizing and over-thinking (and after looking at forecasts – as it was supposed to rain all weekend) I decided Saturday morning to postpone SDC until Sunday and spend the day Saturday doing what we wanted around Branson and have some time for relaxing. My wife and kids had raised eyebrows as they saw that the forecast for Saturday was that it was going to be clearing up and a great day and Sunday was showing higher chances of rain. The local forecast showed that there was a chance Sunday morning and then there would be a window throughout the afternoon of no rain, so that’ why I went for it. Boy was I glad I did that!!
We had planned to be at the chain drop but it was raining pretty good at 8:30 and so we decided to wait a little bit. We left the condo at 9:30 and the rain had lightened up quite a bit into a heavy mist. By the time we got into the parking lot at SDC it had all but stopped. The tram was sitting at Stop 2 just waiting for passengers when we got out of the family bus (Suburban), and I thought to myself….”this may be a good sign!” The tram ride was a little chilly (temp read 64 degrees in the Burb when we pulled up) but I thought that would be a good sign too along with the early rain for a low-crowd day. We were dropped off, took the obligatory kids pic at the main SDC sign at the entrance and headed to the gate (10:08 am at this point). The gate had no line and my wife, daughter and I got our season passes out and I got my BAF coupons out for my twin boys. We walked in and decided to head straight for OR. We were thrilled when we made the final corner to see that they SDC workers were just waiting for someone to board the coaster as there was nobody in line (this was about 10:30). The ride was great and we decided to do the Barn Swing next (kids wanted to go immediately back to OR and do it again, but I’m realizing my age and the fact that doing some of these rides 2 times in a row equals not a good next hour or so – so Dad overrode them). Again, walked into the gates of the Barn Swing and we were the only 5 on the ride. FANTASTIC!! We then went back to OR and did it again – this time there were a few others on the coaster when we rode but we still had no line.
After the 2nd OR spin, we decided to hit FITH. Once again, no line and we got right on. I swear, each time I ride this coaster I see something different. I really wish it would go slower through the scenes to be able to see everything. As usual, we loved it got a little splash at the end and decided to head to WildFire as PK was not operational as of that time. We walked right up to WF and got on with...you guessed it, no wait. Still love this ride to this day. We all had a great ride and decided to see the new saloon show at 11:30 – yep that’s right…did all of that and it was only 11:15. Saw the show and I think I’d have to say it was my favorite saloon show ever. Great jokes and action and my 16 year old twins actually were belly laughing at the comedy when normally they’d give some comment about the lame jokes. We exited the show and saw that PK was now running and decided to head up to it and ride. We had to wait one ride to board this time (the nerve!!!) and we were off. Great ride (that first 2.8 seconds gets me ever time!). We then decided to head over to Lumbercamp Falls for a skillet and homemade potato chips (one son loves the tenderloins, so he grabbed one of those). The skillets were incredible yesterday. We normally are searching for the sausage, and yesterday there was so much we couldn’t eat all of them. Best skillet I’ve had there for sure (one thing I noticed was that they got rid of the table with the different seasonings – bummer!).
We then took off for the Chris Stanley show at Boatworks Theater at 1:15. It was a good show. Had some good laughs and the little kids that were attending loved it. He had some humor that only adults understood and we were glad we sat and watched. After the show, it was time to head over to The Grand Exposition but not before doing a little looking for the new construction area. We could only barely see it through the trees, but did get a glimpse of it. We hit the Electrospin and the swings before heading over to Thunderation. Crowds were starting to get a “little” bigger and so we had to wait one ride before boarding. As we left the station I was able to get some good glimpses of the clearing going on for the new ride. Excited for it to arrive!! We all love Thunderation. Simple ride, but it’s long and has some thrills. After unloading we headed straight over to the train and waited about 10-15 minutes for it to return and board. Ride was great, the robbery was good and the actors had some good interaction with kids. We enjoyed it as normal. After getting off the train we went to FM and I absolutely destroyed my family in the family shooting contest . By this time it was about 4:00 and it was time for some snacks. We stopped at the glass blowing demo (we always love this) on the way to Brown’s Candy Factory and funnel cakes. We sat and watched a little of the blacksmith demo while eating dessert. After dessert the kids had some friends they wanted to meet and ride PK and WF again. The wife and I decided to sit those out and did a little shopping in the square and then headed over to the Wilderness Church and the homestead. We visited the elderly lady at the homestead (can’t remember her name for the life of me, but have seen her numerous times ) and wished her a happy 75th bday (she had her button on). She gave us a personal tour of the homestead with some great history and facts. After her tour we walked around a little more and found a bench to sit and enjoy the goings-on of the town square. The kids finally showed up around 5:30 and we hit the Phoebe’s Taffy shop up front and got some goodies for the ride home. We found our tram and were in the family bus for a park departure of 6pm and were back home at 9:50. It was a great day – honestly I think it was our best visit ever due to the small crowd, food and shows we experienced. I can’t wait to return for the National Harvest & Cowboy Festival in October and then a return for Christmas.
Well, that’s it…..my first post and boy was it a long one – hopefully not too long.
-
I forgot to add some pics....
-
Awesome trip update!!! Welcome to the board!!!
Sounds like a great family trip....I was debating Sunday morning about 'stealing' my old two kids and going up for a last 'day of the summer vacation' trip with them but was concerned about crazy crowds who might be doing the same. Sounds like it would have been a good day to go :-\
I've had a lot of great SDC trips on days where the weather is questionable....it keeps the crowd down. I got no waiting on OR a week after it opened for hours one morning because I was one of the only crazy people out there in the sleet and 40 degree weather when the gates opened....lol. The RMC team was still on-site. It probably wouldn't have been running or just with one train but it looked like they where training the crew. Always pays off to go early and usually pays off when you gamble with the weather (tip: FM and FiTH are always open in rain)
-
Great review and pics of your trip! Stick around!
-
I'm sorry for my rant, it just rubs me the wrong way when people will voluntarily surrender their liberties in the name of safety.
Benjamin Franklin had some wise words about that.
[/quote]
At the risk of making this too political: yes you're right that almost no place can stop a thought-out terrorist attack but a 2-minute bag check is not exactly a full body probe. Sure it probably has mostly to do with liability on SDC's part more than anything but it wasn't that much of a hassle. besides, as has been pointed out, other parks are doing wanding (which still wouldn't stop me from going to the City) so they haven't gone that far yet. But they have to at least show some kind of security mesaures or some people won't visit.
-
I don't think I ever posted this, so here. lol
Ironically the sky was on fire while visiting Wildfire earlier this month on the last few days of Moonlight Madness. Love this shot. Probably one of my favorite ones I have ever took of this coaster.
(https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13901532_10154386363747232_8623938108969798719_n.jpg?oh=9449211c49eaf157ed1a5e0e909ac7c8&oe=583CE5FF)
-
As always, not SDCs fault, but dont have much to brag about on this trip. :(
Went to the park Friday around 3 so we could get next day free. It was cloudy & sprinkly, so nothing was really going ride wise. Rode Flooded Mine, Then went to FITH, rode it 2 times in a row. Crowd was very light. Saw Terry Sanders & said hi to him. It started raining & thundering, so we left. Got pretty wet, but it was fun to walk through the park & try to find spots under the trees to stay dry.
Saturday just didnt start out for us very well. Weather was great. I let everyone sleep in. Usually we eat before we get to the park, but it was too late, so we decided to eat at the park. By the time we rolled around & got to the park, Mollys was packed. Got done eating & the park was open!! Rode PK first, 13 year old grandkid freaked out! It was his favorite ride of the park. Then we rode Outlaw Run in the front row, he had a straight face the entire time. Then went to Wlidfire, i didnt ride. Then The Giant Swing, he enjoyed that. Then to TNT. By this time the crowd was coming!! Lines were getting long. Went to Bears In The Holler & had a bear stuffed for him. Tried to ride the train but he had to use the restroom, so off we went. Crossed The Swinging Bridge & called it a day.
Here is where i am going to be totally honest, & you can have your own personal opinion. Like i said, NONE of this was or is SDCs fault. -- It is hard to be grandparents of kids that the parents were doing drugs when they had these kids. Now the kids are on so many medications that they cant sit still, have no pateince, & fall asleep when bored. I feel so sorry for the parents, the kids, & us. I feel bad that we left the park early, but he was walking off on us when he'd realize the lines were long, & dragging his butt, when we didnt wanna do what he wanted. He understood why, & we have the $$$$ to do a lot of things, but all this can get irritating when you dont see your grandkids very often because they live so far away. Its along story.... Some may not understand. But when you are older & your life is better, but your grandkids lives are so hecktic, & you try to help - have fun, & things turn out like this, it is like the parents past being thrown right in your face. Its sad.. Dont get me wrong, we had a good time, but we were having trouble having a good time. So we packed our stuff early, & left for home. We explained to Classic Motor Inn why we were leaving & they understood. We had eaten at Starvin Marvins earlier, & the wife had a bad tummy ache. A 4 hour drive home was better that spending all day Sunday getting the grandchild home, & getting us home.
I am sorry for ranting about this. Its just what it is, we're just glad to be home....
We did meet the "cheeseheads" while we were at Classic. Great down to Earth folks! Nice to meet them!!
-
sounds like a tough trip How-do.. sorry for ya! and the family.... Better trip next time.!
I missed cheeseheads, saw them at the city, but they were "busy" at the homestead. ;), Maybe next time..
-
It was nice talking to you How Do. Sorry we mixed you sanddune.....had too much to fit in at the Homestead. We will be getting back down to Branson when the Christmas festival starts in Nov.
-
Christmas.? great, maybe I will catch you 2 then. we can do lunch or something before city opens up..
Make sure you post your visit dates here, I have multiple day trips planned for nov-dec....
Cya then!
-
I was at SDC on Friday the 23rd, and it was great. The only negative was how hot it was. Created a bit of a weird feeling because I'm not used to being at SDC when it's 90-degrees out (I tend to avoid the summer and go in the spring and fall & Christmas).
The crowds were light, which helped us do quite a bit. I was with my dad, my sister, my bro-in-law, and my three nieces (ages 8 [N8], 3 [N3], and 1 [N1]).
First up was Grandfather's Mansion, which was one of the only things N8 remembered from her last time at SDC (which was when she was only 3). She loved it, but N3 was not fond; she's currently going through a "scared of the dark" phase, so she wasn't easy to please with the indoor stuff. I was impressed with how GM was looking/sounding. Everything seemed very freshly painted and well taken care of; I was super excited when I realized the glass-crashing sound was back on the gold nugget case.... that had been broken for such a long time!
We went to the Saloon Show after that. I hadn't been to the park since 2013, so I hadn't gotten to see the revived Mean Murphy show. I loved it! I was so happy to get that shot of nostalgia from when I was a kid (the Mean Murphy show was the show they did back in the mid-90s when I first went to SDC). I also enjoyed seeing Dave and Rachel still front-lining the show; they're both so talented! The girls all liked it, except N3 was scared of the gunshots.
I am autistic and sudden loud noises severely distress me, so I had to make sure to ask Ma Hatfield as we got in the queue if there were real gunshots or recorded, as that had been the case a few years ago; they are using blanks again, so if you or a family member has trouble with loud noises, be prepared. Additionally, they use very heavy strobe lighting in the finale of the show, so be aware if you or a loved one suffers from seizures.
After the Saloon, we headed over to Fire in the Hole. I sat with N8; my BIL sat with N3.... Yeah. Well, that was not the best ride to go on. N8 had never ridden a coaster aside from a kiddie coaster. She informed me a couple days later that the reason she didn't like Fire in the Hole was because she thought the lap bar was going to fly up when we went down the hills. So now that she knows the lap bars lock, there may be a chance I can get her back on it in a year or two. As for N3.... she didn't like how dark it was, and she definitely did NOT like the drops. I give major credit to her, though, for not crying. But man I wish I'd had a camera on me to capture the look on her face when we rolled into the station and into the light.... I don't know how long it'll be before I can convince her to go on that again.
Next, we traversed over to the Red Gold Heritage Hall because my dad insisted that we must see the Wild West Show. I had planned to let everyone else go and while they were at the show, I'd take pictures of the area that will be getting changed as part of the 2017/2018 projects.... but it was so hot and I was already so exhausted (I'm still recovering from the pneumonia I caught at the beginning of August and my lungs just still aren't as strong as they were before I got sick), so I ended up going to the show with everyone else and I'm glad I did.
The Wild West Show was very well done. I'd been uninterested in taking the time out to see it because it looked in the pics I'd seen like a tiny version of Dixie Stampede, which we were going to the next day. But while the concept is similar, there are actually aspects of the WWS that I preferred over DS. Particularly, I was very impressed and happy with the segment that featured Nakotah LaRance, the Hopi hoop dancer, and his father, Steve LaRance (who played the drum as well as had his own jewelry booth in the Frisco Barn). The Dixie Stampede segment concerning Native Americans didn't specify at all what nations were being represented, and it felt rather generic (also, the old man mask was really strange and creepy); the segment at the SDC show featured a specific dance from a specific nation, named the performers, and their dress was specific to the nation they were representing as well.
After the Wild West Show, we rode the train, which all the girls were excited about, particularly N3 as she is obsessed with trains at the moment. We ended up going right around lunchtime, so only Ralphie (or maybe it was Alfie - I didn't pay enough attention to the name, oops) was present. But the actor was top-notch and carried the whole show very well. Since I've seen the show many times, I was able to warn the girls when to cover their ears for the gunshot, which helped.
Since we were right there, we went straight to Flooded Mine after the train. I was again impressed by the work done on the ride. Everything looks nicely painted and there were some effects I noticed that I didn't remember from before (the glowing coals in the bucket at the end with the "hurry up, Fred" guy, for example). Sadly, after having taken some pics of the entrance, a few of Huck Finn's Hideaway, and tons of pics of the Saloon Show, I turned on the camera in the Flooded Mine to take some pics only to find that the battery was now dead because I'd forgotten to put it back on its charger the night before. So from then on, I was unable to get any pics with my sister's nice camera. Thankfully, she's got a newer phone, so her phone pics turned out pretty good.
After Flooded Mine, we ate at the Tater Patch. We had a "meat bee" hovering around us, and N3 was getting pretty upset about it. My dad started swiping at it, despite me telling them all to just ignore it and not make moves against it because that would just make it attack. Well, I was right. It ended up landing on N3's knee and stinging her (I just did a search on "meat bees" and it turns out it was a yellow jacket, which would explain why there was no stinger in the wound). For the first few seconds, we thought she was just freaking out because it touched her, but then she continued to cry and scream and we realized it had actually stung her.
The lady sitting at the picnic table behind us overheard and came over and directed us to use ice on the wound. I went over to the food stand and asked where First Aid was; she told me how to get there and then asked if my niece was allergic and if we needed her to call the EMTs down to us. My niece is not allergic and just needed some neosporin and a bandaid. I went back over to our table and told them where First Aid was and we decided we'd go up there and get a bandaid. Lo and behold, as we started to leave, the lady who had been sitting behind us overheard us again and offered us a bandaid. She had a whole ziploc of first aid stuff! She was so nice and putting the bandaid on the wound helped N3 calm down. By the end of the day, the wound was almost gone.
We decided to go to Grand Exposition, because I'd told my nieces about the "Dumbo ride" and since N3 is obsessed with elephants as well, we figured taking her on a ride we knew she'd like would help get her mind off her sting. Sure enough, not only did she love it, but I had to ride it twice in a row with her, LOL. After that, she went on the teacups with her mother, and then N8, my sis, and N3 went on the kiddie coaster. N8 loved it; N3 wasn't a huge fan.
Since N1 had only gotten to do a couple things due to her age, we took the girls over to the tiny kiddie rides and N1 rode the Happy Frogs with her mommy; N8 and N3 also rode it together. They also all did the Wings of Wonder, with my sister barely fitting into the seat behind N1 (it's kinda amusing to watch all the parents having to sit sideways so they can ride with their little ones).
The girls then went with my dad and BIL to the bathrooms while my sister and I got to ride our one "adult" ride of the day - Electro Spin. She'd never been on it. It was HILARIOUS the way she scared-giggled every time we got to the very top where it looks like we're gonna fly out into the open. She loved the ride!
After getting ice cream over by the Red Gold, we headed to Fireman's Landing. This was another thing that was new since the last time I'd been there. I'd seen plenty of pictures, but man it was great to see it in person! What a great replacement for Geyser Gulch!
Since it was hot as sin, we took the girls over to the splash yard and they had TONS of fun! N1 was particularly fond of standing right by one of the water holes and leaning down over it until it splashed her bang on in the face. LOL All three girls got soaking wet. After a while, I asked N8 if she'd like to try Firefall. Well, that turned out to be yet another bad ride choice. She didn't make a peep when the ride shot us up, but as soon as we got the airtime at the top, she started screaming bloodcurdling murder. I've never been with a person that has screamed that terrifyingly on a ride ever before. I'm honestly surprised the poor thing didn't pee her pants or something. What I found kinda amusing was that when we got on the ride, there was a gal in line who was close enough to hear me assuring N8 that it would be okay and that it's okay to scream and what-not. The gal obviously heard and saw when my niece started screaming on the ride and as we came back down into the station, the gal had the most amused look on her face. I couldn't help laughing while asking my niece several times, "Are you okay?"
BTW, Firefall is not particularly easy to get on for a short person. They had to push my OTSR down a bit because I have a large bust, but it was trying to climb into the seat that was the worst part; I'm 5'3" and I wish they'd had a step stool there....
We went back over to our group and my sister could see how terrified N8 was. She hugged her and exclaimed that she could feel her heart beating super fast, the poor girl.
By then, it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, so we decided to head up to do the petting zoo.... When we got up there, we found it closed off and there was another family there who said they'd tried to go earlier in the day and it'd been closed then, too. Dunno why it was closed.
So, N8 wanted to do Grandfather's Mansion again, so she and my dad went through it while I just sat on a bench in the main square because by that time I had a blister on my toe, the heat was really getting to me, and I'd done enough walking and hill climbing that my lungs were done for the day.
Sadly, my dad rushed us through the exit pretty fast so I didn't get a chance to look for or buy any souvenirs this time around.
The girls got souvenirs, though! Earlier in the day, when we were in the Grand Exposition area, the girls wanted to play one of the carnival games that was across the way from Red Gold Heritage Hall. It was the game where you pay $5 for 3 balls to throw into different colored holes. I've never been particularly fond of carnival games at theme parks, but what I like about SDC's is that no matter how you do in a game, you still win a prize. So you're basically buying a toy for $5 (which really is a steal at a theme park) and get to have fun at the same time.
The Citizen at the booth was nice and let the girls play 4 balls instead of 3. N8 didn't get any of the special holes, so she picked out a square dalmatian plushie. N3 managed to get her ball into the gold hole, so she got to pick a big prize and chose a giant blue plush raccoon with giant eyes. For N1, she tends to throw her balls down instead of out, so the Citizen had my sister bring her around and into the booth and had N1 stand on the edge of the game "board" so she could just drop her balls. She didn't get any special holes, so she picked out two small neon monkey plushes - green and pink.
And that's just something I have to say about all the Citizens at SDC. I am forever impressed with how friendly and giving they are. I didn't meet a single unhappy Citizen that day.
And now I'm itching to go back to the park. SDC is one of my special interests, and being away from there for three years was TERRIBLE. And now that I've gotten to go again, I'm itching to go back. Plus, there were a LOT of things we didn't see or do (Fire in the Hole was the only "coaster" I got to go on), so I can't wait to go back and have maybe a bit more slow, casual, and ride-filled day next time. Or maybe, if I'm lucky, get to have a two-day trip to the park!
Shout-out, btw, to my friend who got me the tickets. We wouldn't have had this great trip to Branson without him! (besides SDC, we did Dixie Stampede, Branson Landing & Dicks 5&10, and the Butterfly Palace; I liked the new DS show, though there are things that I think could be improved still - I'd love to see more of the lumberjack segment; now I wanna go see the new Lumberjack Adventure in Tennessee! And I'd never been to Butterfly Palace and I LOVED it! I also like how the admission price gets you a wristband for three days!)
-
Great trip report! Sucks about the yellow jacket and the heat. The summer has hung on too long this year. I'm glad you finally made it back.
-
Took a day and went on a quick visit October 22nd. The morning was great! The sun was out and it wasn't a bit chilly. Our first stop was the bakery for cinnamon bread. This year they have apple pie cinnamon bread and peach cinnamon bread. Try them! They are so good!
Next we split up. Mom and Kathy took the boys to TNT and tony and I took the girls to the expo. There were no lines! Everything was a walk on. They rode TNT twice and we rode almost everything in the expo. Now it's time for fireman's landing. We get out of the expo and exit the area into an insane amount of people. We head down to firemans landing. The kids rode the fire wagon and the mini-firefall. They played in the balls for awhile and decided they were ready for the shootout. After dodging many a person on our way back up the hill, we arrive to find that the line is out of the building and working it's way toward the train station. Where did these people come from?! We passed on the train as well. It was at least a 40 minute wait. As most people know, 4 year olds do not tolerate a wait like that well. A quick stop at the Hollar and anride on the carousel later we are headed our. It was just too busy!
We didn't stop in many craft booths. We just had other things we wanted to do. We did stop in one and buy Tony's grandmothers little bird houses for a great price!
-
Finally got my Harvest Fest PTR online
https://midwestinfoguide.blogspot.com/2016/10/harvest-festival-sdc.html
-
PTR from 11/23 An Old Time Christmas
http://midwestinfoguide.blogspot.com/2016/11/an-old-time-christmas-sdc.html
-
Great pics Swoosh!
-
nice pics...
-
PTR from 11/23 An Old Time Christmas
http://midwestinfoguide.blogspot.com/2016/11/an-old-time-christmas-sdc.html
Great pics Swoosh!
nice pics...
Thanks guys.
-
SWOOSH
Glad you post, I dont get out as often as I used too.
Helps to keep me up to date. Thanks
-
Quick Review:
Enjoyed a nice day at SDC on Saturday with some friends. The park was crowded but manageable...much more enjoyable than last year's experience during Christmas when we literally were shoulder to shoulder. The lower crowds had to do with the light rain throughout the day, combined with wind and cold conditions.
We got rides in on all the major rides, except PK. Longest line of the day was FITH (probably 15 minutes). We watched Christmas Carol, Living Nativity, and the tree lighting. I love A Christmas Carol at SDC. It really is one of the best shows I think you'll ever see at a theme park. Tradition to see it every year. The parade was canceled because of the rain but that didn't disappoint me that much. I think the parade is a little overrated.
I love SDC at Christmas because they stay true to their Christian heritage so well. You will not find this at another theme park in the world. I appreciate it so much.
We hope to make it back one more time this year to watch It's a Wonderful Life. It just didn't work out in the schedule because we were at the park with friends who had never been to SDC before. We had other things to show them! Their review of their first visit to SDC? Purchasing season tickets for 2017!
-
A trip review from last week, Thursday 12/8 and the night of Friday 12/9.
A great couple days at Silver Dollar City. Much more enjoyable than last year's Christmas trip or the one a few years ago when we made the mistake of going on Thanksgiving weekend.
It was cold for Southern Missouri but not for where we come from so we loved it. Many of the rides were shut down, a little disappointed I couldn't ride Outlaw Run in the dark again, but oh well the weather makes it feel more Christmas-like.
A few of the highlights worth mentioning:
-Flooded Mine was in excellent shape and it was great to see. The warden's projected face in the entry was working again and talking and it was great to listen to--almost wish there was a line so I would have had an excuse to stay longer. The whole ride looked great and the music worked. Wonderful Experience. Will write a letter commending them.
-Fire in the Hole que sound was working and louder than it's been for me in some time. It was plenty loud to hear and understand. Ride was good but could use a little love.
-The city looked great with all the lights. Saw the discussion on the other thread about LED vs traditional lights. IMO as long as they have a mix it's wonderful. Nice to have the soft glow with a few bright LED trees that pop out at you. I am guessing they will eventually go all-LED, but I hope not. Soft glow fits the city better, but oh well.
-First time having the wassail and I must say it won't be the last.
-Hit Dickens right away on Thursday and there was an immediate line. Got great seats just by walking to the other side of the center isle, everyone is too lazy to walk around from the entrance! What an amazing show. I know some people here are tired of it, but not me. It's a yearly tradition. SDC does as good or better, yet original, an interpretation as any play or movie does of the book. Full audience, standing ovation.
-Train was excellent.
-Transportation to and from the lots was MUCH improved over last year and even this summer. It was EXCELLENT.
-Was again constantly reminded that SDC values the true meaning of Christmas, which is part of what makes the city special and worth driving back to season after season.
Now the not-so-good....
-The Mollys Mill buffet wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. First time having a buffet at Christmas at SDC, and I was disappointed. The turkey was not good. But oh well, lesson learned, I don't go for the food anyway although it is usually a pretty good bonus!
-A few rude cashiers, which is not the norm of the "citizens" of SDC. A younger gal working at Eva and Delilahs, and the guy working the Wassail stand. Not good representatives of the city.
-The Salloon show was good, but it wasn't near as good as years past. The older gentleman who usually plays Charlie wasn't there Thursday, let's just hope he had a day off. The whole crew wasn't really into it except one gal.
Another great trip at our magical city. Sad it's over, but can't wait for summer.
-
We got to the City around 11:30 on Saturday December 17th. Parked as one of the first 20 vehicles in Lot 3. Immediately got on a bus and got through baggage check and turnstiles very quickly. The temp had dropped to near freezing so we went directly to Thunderation with about a 20 minute wait. One of the line workers told us they were 1 degree away from closing. We got in 1 ride then they did close. Rode the Flooded Mine then got in a ride on Fire in the Hole. Was going to watch the 2pm show at the Saloon but it was cancelled- not sure if that was lack of crowd or something else. Ate Apple Dumplings (which they were selling at 3 different locations) then got in line for the train. Line was backed up to the top of the corkscrew path but we managed to get on the second train ride of the day. Rode the Shootout 2 more times and then went looking in shops. Of course almost all rides were shut down due to the low temps and light freezing rain falling through the day. Ate Salad/Dessert bar at Reunion Hall- 7.99 for all you can eat which isn't bad considering my wife got a Salad at Lumbercamp in October and it was 8.00 by itself. We planned on going to the Dickens Show and Frontier Follies after our early dinner but was told the park would be closing at 5:45 due to weather coming in. We went for another quick ride on Fire in the Hole and walked around looking at lights and drank some Wassail. Saw some friends from church that got there around 4:45 and only had an hour to do anything. They said that they were in line for the train but they shut it down before they could ride. With our Season Passes we weren't really out any money but I would imagine they were some very unhappy customers with the early closing. Branson ended up getting around a half an inch of snow.
-
My final trip review of 2016:
Hit the park on Wednesday 12/21 around it's 1pm opening. Weather was brisk in the 50 to 40s but really perfect for this season. We used our final 'bring a friend' passes and toured the park with another family with kids all around the same age. So we had 4 adults and 10 kids ages 13 to 18 months. Ended up being one of the better SDC experiences ever!!
Highlights:
Kids love TnT.....bigger kids rode it at least 6 times....once at first then 4-5x in the dark. All but one adult and the littlest one ended out riding at least once. It is such a great family ride and extra fun in the dark
I took a few of the braver kids (none of my own:() to do the giant swing, OR, and PK....it was fun to see them ride them for the first time
I got to ride PK right at sunset....Such a beautiful site to blast off toward a gorgeous sky and skyline....really an incredible experience.
FL, GE, and FM where big hits with the kids - those sections and ride are so important to families with little ones - kids loved getting to ride them with friends
Other Notes:
That clearing is huge!!! Pics don't do it justice. The ravine between TnT and EH has sooooo much potential. Footers are all over the place. It's pretty obvious that those green pinic table area will have to go. I hope the park creates another place like it because it's one of only a couple spots in the whole park a family like ours can sit together to eat outside of a resturant.
Saw "Wonderful Life" - thought is good....cast was good....nothing negative to say except I just wasn't into the story or the music that much
Park was pretty busy but not too crowded....most rides where running well and the kid areas where not too overloaded - nothing more depressing for a coaster rider than to spend 30-45min waiting for your kid to ride the frogs before you get to go to the coasters...lol
Lowlights:
Missed the Saloon Show, FiTH, and Train :( schedule just didn't work out
Wildfire was running only one train and operations was dragging....line as out the station and up the hill. Timed it that only one train was leaving per 10 mins....had to abandon ship on it:( First time I'd been where PK was running better than WF
No apple turnovers at the end of the day but the worst part of the whole trip.....I WITNESSED AN ELDERLY LADY PURCHASE THE LAST CINNAMON BREAD OF THE DAY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!! I thought of offer her $10 bucks for it.....guess I shouldn't wait till 8:30pm to get it. Not sure if we'll be back next year so it might be a long wait till I get it again:(
-
Sorry about the cinnamon bread. That's just awful!
-
The cinnamon bread is one of those things that should be fairly easy to make at home... if you know what you are doing and have one of those little bread makers. Otherwise, cinnamon pull apart bread recipes can get pretty close: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pull-apart-cinnamon-bread.html
Wildfire's operations were a joke toward the end of this year. I saw the same 10 min dispatches on both of my visits during Christmastime. I know one of the trains is riding worse than the other as well, so maybe there are maintenance issues cropping up and they are trying to slow down so they can limp to the end of the year before they overhaul the trains? The long season is rough on them.
-
Injun Joe here making up for lost time with my first Christmas visit and second visit in the same year (a first for me), after a very long hiatus (see my last post, a trip review from June). So I arrived shortly after the 1pm open on Dec 8th, a frigid but dry day. I believe it was well below freezing from open to close, the train was open but the tram from the lot was more than enough wind in the face for me. That's ok, I was here for the other stuff.
First stop: the leather goods store for the exact hat I was looking for, at a very reasonable price too! Next off to the Dickens show.
Wonderful! A standing o from a very near full house. Next, I headed towards the J-j-jimmy Stewart show. But first I wondered into the Christmas tree ornament sales building. This was awesome. It was very crowded and I didn't have the time to peruse all the trees carefully, but I found some cool ornaments for my Texan sister from a western tree, and an exquisite nativity carving in a branch. Plus some Santa earrings for my niece. I downed a tasty hot dog and quickly chilled fries outside the Hall and then headed inside.
I'd never been in the Heritage Hall. It appears to be a little more flexible than the more luxurious opera house. Once again, another nearly full house. This production was also well received. I enjoyed the slightly abstract set and the moving ending, but liked the Christmas Carol just a bit more, this time anyway. I'd gladly watch both again.
Afterwards, I wandered a bit heading to the square looking at the now lit lights, which were amazing. I missed the tree lighting, but got some pictures and headed down to the Outfitters for a knife for my nephew. Time was flying by and I decided to forego the saloon show for another time and instead catch the last nativity show (I don't recall the proper name). I tried a cookie s'more from across the way while waiting for the parade. The roasted marshmallows frankly, would have been better alone on this cold eve. But the parade coming down heart attack hill was cool enough to warm even a penguin's spirits. I absolutely loved it. It moved a little briskly but on this night, no one was complaining. I just wish I had more time! I could have went inside somewhere and ate something good! Most people started heading for the exit around this time it seemed (oh 630ish I'd venture).
As I headed to the Riverfront Playhouse, I saw the show at the Dockside was going on despite the sub freezing temperatures. Understandably, the crowd was nearly bigger on stage. I felt really bad for the performers. Strangely, I didn't feel such for the outside shopkeepers, although in retrospect, I really think they should have just closed and cancelled the stuff outside. Earlier I noticed the children's show at the Boatworks going on and thinking those must be some snotty nosed brats by now. I guess I'm just a pansy nowadays, but seriously, it was collllllld.
I stopped in the White River Mercantile and the two nice ladies helped me pick out a nice gift for my niece. At the Huss Gallery, I found a nice print to have personalized for my folks for a very nice price. I was sorry to hear the artist, Mr. Ron Huss, had passed away last year. Hopefully, they find someone to carry on the trade, as a painter at work would be cool to witness. I had it sent to the front and headed to the porch at the Playhouse where a meager crowd was waiting.
After being let in, we waited in relative (to the opera house and heritage hall) cold as an intimate crowd of about 50 trickled in for the last performance of the day. I thought the show and performance, though awfully short, was great. There was quite a bit of good stuff going on here, but 15 more minutes of material wouldn't have killed anyone. The theatre itself, which I had also never entered was pretty awesome too. The pews were nice and comfy.
Quick stop for some apple butter and t.o.e. jam (tangerine, orange, elderberry) for mom. LOL. And another quick stop for some genuine SDC taffy for the office. (They scarfed it down). A bit of perusing at the HH waiting for my print and then thankfully, a bus this time back to the lot.
I always wanted to do a shopping spree at SDC and I left with many of those brown bags I love. Overall, just a great time for about 7 brrrrrrriliant hours of SDC.
Thanks for another great day (and night!), HFE. I'll post more later about the rest of my trip to Branson in that thread, including the breathtaking newly remodeled IMAX theater and the film I saw there, Ozarks Legends and Legacy plus my trip to the top of the wheel!
-
Looks like a great trip, good report, thanks
-
Just a quick review of our trip on Dec. 26th and a few notes.
1. The park had a large crowd, but it wasn't so large that it was miserable.
2. Wildfire had a very long line, used upstairs queue, was out the door....but kids wanted to ride, so we stayed in line. The line moved, but we waited over an hour. The ride itself felt much better and smoother than when I rode this summer....no headache this time.
3. Flooded Mine line began at the train station, but moved quickly, seemed to be a popular ride that day.
4. Outlaw Run had a little trouble in the early part of the day, but was running two trains at night and there wasn't a line. I can't express how awesome this ride is at night when you are completely blinded by the darkness. This was my best coaster ride ever.
5. The sausage in the calico skillet was awful - it was bone dry and something was just off (seasonings, texture, something wasn't right).
6. The candle shop seemed very bare - not much holiday selection of items and stock was very low. Are they doing something with this shop?
7. The welding shop was bare of Christmas items too. We've purchased quite a bit of decorations from this shop in the past, but there wasn't much of anything left on Dec. 26th.
8. I heard SDC staff talk about how many guest they are turning away from "It's a Wonderful Life" - they were saying they turned away over 400 people at the last show.
Oh, and I left my sunglasses on top of the cubbies at Thunderation.........after a while I realized what I had done and went back, they were still there! But I think that commends the cliental that visits SDC. I have had items stolen from me in other parks, and here, I've never had a problem......even when I tempted fate with my own stupidity.
Overall, our visit was a great one. We rode all the rides we wanted to, shopped all the shops we love, got some great after Christmas deals, etc......just didn't have time for any shows this time around.
Jay
-
Interesting that both Wonderful Life and Flooded mine seem to be randomly popular one day, then deserted the next. Though with it being cold that would help out both.
Waiting in line an hour for Wildfire is something I'd do for pure nostalgia at this point. That only happens what, like 5 times a year?
-
Just a quick review of our trip on Dec. 26th and a few notes.
1. The park had a large crowd, but it wasn't so large that it was miserable.
2. Wildfire had a very long line, used upstairs queue, was out the door....but kids wanted to ride, so we stayed in line. The line moved, but we waited over an hour. The ride itself felt much better and smoother than when I rode this summer....no headache this time.
3. Flooded Mine line began at the train station, but moved quickly, seemed to be a popular ride that day.
4. Outlaw Run had a little trouble in the early part of the day, but was running two trains at night and there wasn't a line. I can't express how awesome this ride is at night when you are completely blinded by the darkness. This was my best coaster ride ever.
5. The sausage in the calico skillet was awful - it was bone dry and something was just off (seasonings, texture, something wasn't right).
6. The candle shop seemed very bare - not much holiday selection of items and stock was very low. Are they doing something with this shop?
7. The welding shop was bare of Christmas items too. We've purchased quite a bit of decorations from this shop in the past, but there wasn't much of anything left on Dec. 26th.
8. I heard SDC staff talk about how many guest they are turning away from "It's a Wonderful Life" - they were saying they turned away over 400 people at the last show.
Oh, and I left my sunglasses on top of the cubbies at Thunderation.........after a while I realized what I had done and went back, they were still there! But I think that commends the cliental that visits SDC. I have had items stolen from me in other parks, and here, I've never had a problem......even when I tempted fate with my own stupidity.
Overall, our visit was a great one. We rode all the rides we wanted to, shopped all the shops we love, got some great after Christmas deals, etc......just didn't have time for any shows this time around.
Jay
Nice trip it sounds like, considering the crowd that day,...
-
The bad thing about not waiting in line is you don't get to see all the theme stuff.
I can go gawk at it, but then I just look weird...
-
The bad thing about not waiting in line is you don't get to see all the theme stuff.
I can go gawk at it, but then I just look weird...
Thats 1 thing I tell people. The line is a very important part of the ride. It holds most of the history, story, and theming. Without being able to look at it, new guests would probably be lost on the ride. It is never about the ride itself. It is about every part that is connected to the ride.
-
[/quote]
Thats 1 thing I tell people. The line is a very important part of the ride. It holds most of the history, story, and theming. Without being able to look at it, new guests would probably be lost on the ride. It is never about the ride itself. It is about every part that is connected to the ride.
[/quote]
That may be true for the majority of us, BUT the majority of the people dont look at it the way we do :'(
-
I would suggest kindly that Dewayne has a point. Even those good folks that may not know the difference between a theme park and an amusement park see the park with two eyes connected to cerebral gray matter. I think the theming works subconsciously no matter what to at least some varying degree on everyone. I'm not so sure about getting lost without a thorough examination of all ride theming, though. I think that would be more of a value judgement. Some theming that I would deem quality, is borderline believably rational at best anyway.