SDCFans - The Unofficial Fan Site For Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City & Celebration City Discussion => General Silver Dollar City Talk => Topic started by: DianaGail on December 16, 2017, 03:52:06 PM
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At the park today. We got here around 2:45. Every lot is full, including notch. They parked us in the driving lanes that typically run the preferred parking lines. I asked a worker in the parking lot if this was expected. He said they were expecting a large crowd but it is higher than expected.
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Hmm?
I checked on numbers at about 4:15 today,
SDC Estimated attendence is about 19,000,
As of 4:00, there had been 14,500 through the gate.. (But its still daylight, and nice outside)
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I just talked to a parking lot attendant. I ran the 14,500 number by him. He says no way is that the case now. The parking lots are currently full. People are standing 7 deep to watch the parade. But people are still trying to come in. There are lines of people driving in circles trying to get parking spots. We gave up and left before the parade started. Lol!!!
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AS of 7:00, 22,500.... :o :o
"Rack 'em and stack 'em"
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22,500.... :o :o
I try to avoid December because I can only visit Saturday nights, That number overwhelms me.
Disney World density in small walkways. I bet the Mid Town section was a zoo :o :o :o
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Midtown wasn’t bad at all. But near the train area, the Christmas tree, the expo, and Friedman’s landing were a madhouse. You couldn’t move at all. We are headed back Thursday so we weren’t too concerned about getting a ton of stuff in.
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Glad you braved it and lived to tell !! ;D ;D
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it was absolutely a zoo of a day.
I dropped my wife off to meet a friend at 11:30. Wasn't to bad then, but every sign at that point was it was going to be ugly huge.
When I came back just after 6pm, the line of traffic on 76 was still still backed up over a half mile to get in, and both lanes heading up to the park were jammed and not moving. I finally got over to Indian Point and skipped it and met them at lot JD (Just Dirt) they recently built.
Seeing what I saw, honestly I'm thinking that 22k is low. Sand, do you know if that number was updated at 7:00, or if it was just the number available at 7:00. Oftentimes when it's really busy like that, they don't get it updated on time.
Final number should be available now, but I no longer have the phone number to call and check like I used to. :-(
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Final number for sat 23,500.
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Sunday? only 13,000 people... Been a good day to be there ;D
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I really wish they had some sort of counter or gauge on the app that said how busy they were or the people count. They have the ride wait times but that is worthless, especially now with this new updated app. We are going down Wednesday thru Friday. Hopefully that won't be too bad. I am not interested in the parade as we have already seen it.
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I really wish they had some sort of counter or gauge on the app that said how busy they were or the people count. They have the ride wait times but that is worthless, especially now with this new updated app. We are going down Wednesday thru Friday. Hopefully that won't be too bad. I am not interested in the parade as we have already seen it.
yea.... thats not going to happen.. The PTB would not want the public to know how many people are in park.. People would change there mind after checking the app, afraid of the crowds..
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Final number for sat 23,500.
I'm surprised. I was told that at one point they were actually turning away people because it was too crowded. Must have been the crowd timing.
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Final number for sat 23,500.
I'm surprised. I was told that at one point they were actually turning away people because it was too crowded. Must have been the crowd timing.
Very well could be, according to my numbers, over 8,000 people went through the gate between 4;00 and 7:00, thats 8,000 people parking cars, catching trams, getting tickets, and walking in to the gate area in less than 3 hours. :o :o...
AND lets be honest most of them probably arrived before 5;30-6 in order to catch the parade and first tree lighting... ;D ;D
THATS LOTS OF BODIES!! in a short amount of time..
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We may try again Thursday. Anna is complaining of a sore throat so we will play it by ear.
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Heading out there today with my daughter. Optimistic it will be a light crowd today.
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Final number for sat 23,500.
That is 2x the population of the city of Branson (est 11,800 in the city, 83,000 metro). Easily making SDC the largest city in the area for a few hours a every weekend.
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SirWillow, did you have a good time? Hubs and I went, and it was great. Parking lots were full, and no handicap parking was available, but it didn't really seem that crowded. The longest line I saw was for kettle corn and the curly potato things on a stick. We walked on the last train ride of the day. It was edgy leaving, but people in line to buy things were intermixed with people trying to exit which slowed things to a crawl. I overheard an employee with a clipboard talking to other employees telling them they'd be giving up their parking area today and needed to be in Branson West for pick up to work. With weather in mid 60's I predict today will be a cluster.
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SirWillow, did you have a good time? Hubs and I went, and it was great. Parking lots were full, and no handicap parking was available, but it didn't really seem that crowded. The longest line I saw was for kettle corn and the curly potato things on a stick. We walked on the last train ride of the day. It was edgy leaving, but people in line to buy things were intermixed with people trying to exit which slowed things to a crawl. I overheard an employee with a clipboard talking to other employees telling them they'd be giving up their parking area today and needed to be in Branson West for pick up to work. With weather in mid 60's I predict today will be a cluster.
We had a great time. Saw and did everything that we wanted to with no problems- Dickens, Saloon, Nativity, Outlaw Run, Powder Keg, Wildfire and more. Didnt' have problems with the crowds as they were quite manageable. But you could also tell that they were getting ready to be huge later on this week. With many schools out starting today, yes, it's getting ready to start the ugly packed season where every day will be like last Saturday. Probably our last visit for the year.
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I overheard an employee with a clipboard talking to other employees telling them they'd be giving up their parking area today and needed to be in Branson West for pick up to work. With weather in mid 60's I predict today will be a cluster.
Wait a cotton-pickin' minute!!! Don't the citizens just live there? Why would they even need a parking lot? :P
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Heard the count was 14175 at 4:30 today.
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We left about 5:20 and there was a line of cars circling back in past lot 6 to loop back around to try and find a spot. 76 was a parking lot all the way back up to the overlook just outside of Branson.
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WOW!! Schools out + nice weather + Christmas at SDC = PEOPLE!!!
as of 6:00, over 20,000 people..
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It sounds like absolute insanity out there right now. All lots are full and people who have been in line for two hours are being turned away. This isn't the first time this year either...
Something has to give here. Why are they spending so much on this new coaster when customers can't even get into the park? They need to be thinking about parking garages... But the road needs several more lanes and an actual interchange as well like DW has.
Just madness. I don't think it's even a good thing to be this busy at this point either because so many customers are ticked off.
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Anna has a double ear infection so we didn’t go. Thank goodness we didn’t.
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I heard they were hoping to hit 11k today. I guess they beat that!
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They did have a post on their FB page about the lots being full, and they were getting slammed with a bunch of upset people who have been stuck in traffic for 2-3 hours trying to get it. Looks like they removed the post. It looks like the out of control crowds are starting to cause them to get a lot of bad reviews.
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Yes, Expecting 11,000 people.... LOL. SURPRISE!!
Friends of mine in the Branson area were posting and making comments about the 2-3 drive wait line as well... (so much for the new hiway work on 76 fising that problem, lol).
No info on how long wait was "after" they got parked, and were able to get into the park...
FINAL Number for Thursday..... 24,000 people..!! :o :o... (i am a little surprised at 4,000 people going in after 6pm.)
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So how much would it cost at Christmas to rent the Grand Palace parking lot and run a few busses between? Its a good distance but I am trying to think of a closer spot to park lots of people. It is out of hand on busy days and I am not the only one on this board that has done a U'ey on 76 because of the crowds and difficulty I knew I would find on the end of the road. Great for SDC to be packed but not so good for customers. They are going to have to do something to break people up when they get in the park. Spread them out. Christmas in MidTown assisted to clear the square, I remember not being able to walk through when the tree was "playing" this year not such a problem. If they could get them to keep spreading out.
Parking is a problem but when you pack the park like sardines the experience suffers.
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They need to invest in electronic messaging boards over Hwy 76 to update people on conditions. Once people make the turn onto Indian Point Road, they are stuck. At least if they could warn people on 76, they could have the option of going elsewhere.
I know it seems counter-productive for a business to turn customers away, but in a situation like this I would rather turn them away once rather than turn them away forever with a bad experience.
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That all sounds insane....its a thursday!!!!
Remember these posts when the tix prices start going up....or....i hate to write this....they start charging for parking. The cost of SDC being an awesome park.
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That all sounds insane....its a thursday!!!!
Remember these posts when the tix prices start going up....or....i hate to write this....they start charging for parking. The cost of SDC being an awesome park.
Here's the thing that people complaining about prices don't get:
When they are reaching over-capacity crowds at the prices they have now, how much worse would it be with lower ticket prices that more can afford. Law of Supply and Demand says that you raise prices to help ease the crowding problems.
Or come up with some other ways to deal with them. They've already expanded parking lots, and on days like this it's not enough. The front entry area is overwhelmed, and as has been pointed out they need more areas in the park for the crowd to go to.
So their problems are: how to limit crowds on what would be huge days like this, or how to expand infrastructure to handle them. It's a good problem to have.
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So it's funny when we were there Thursday we got there about an before opening and already had to park in lot 5. I could tell it was going to be busy but I never thought it was going to be as busy as it ended up. By pure luck I ended up being the very first rider on PK that day. That was a first for me. We rode it a couple of times and the line for that was already out of the building. We then headed over to WF which was within 20 minutes of park opening and the line for that was already out of the building and back to about where the stairs are. WF usually moves pretty quick and looking at the app later it listed it as 90 minute wait. That was about the time we decided it was time to get out of there.
They would be better off limiting entry when they start getting too full rather than taking a beating on their reviews, IMO. I was ready a review from the other day on their facebook page about somebody getting physically attacked while waiting for the parade. I would normally have thought that the guy was nuts except it almost happened to us.
This is is for us for 2017, will be back in 2018. We never did get on the train during this Christmas season. Oh well. We were going to try Thursday but it was backed all the way up the hill and down the corkscrew. Not really sure how far down that the line went.
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Friday 12-22-17, only 8,000 people....... ;D
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It’s time for another flex building and anothe broadway show. I suggest the building be past Fireman’s Landing in that parking lot and when they don’t need it, it could be backstage.
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It’s time for another flex building and anothe broadway show. I suggest the building be past Fireman’s Landing in that parking lot and when they don’t need it, it could be backstage.
Why wouldnt they demo out the old Riverfront building and redesign and rebuild on that spot? that would keep foot traffic down in that area..
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It’s time for another flex building and anothe broadway show. I suggest the building be past Fireman’s Landing in that parking lot and when they don’t need it, it could be backstage.
Agreed, this would greatly assist and give an opportunity to include "milling" space. I have suggested a European style Christmas village. Good as another in park destination and a chance for SDC to monetize the area. Plenty of portable craft buildings to use and plenty of space in the area. Maybe make the entrance near Firemans landing as well to not add to the congestion around "Bedford Falls."
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Friday 12-22-17, only 8,000 people....... ;D
Actually, if you think about it with the weather- the cold and rain- that's a really big crowd in that case. Used to be on a bad weather day like that, the number would be closer to 2,000.
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It’s time for another flex building and anothe broadway show. I suggest the building be past Fireman’s Landing in that parking lot and when they don’t need it, it could be backstage.
Agreed, this would greatly assist and give an opportunity to include "milling" space. I have suggested a European style Christmas village. Good as another in park destination and a chance for SDC to monetize the area. Plenty of portable craft buildings to use and plenty of space in the area. Maybe make the entrance near Firemans landing as well to not add to the congestion around "Bedford Falls."
Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. The entrance would be the fence between Lil Swings and Up the Ladder where the fence is. That way when not being used the fence is closed off and the building is backstage
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It’s time for another flex building and anothe broadway show. I suggest the building be past Fireman’s Landing in that parking lot and when they don’t need it, it could be backstage.
Why wouldnt they demo out the old Riverfront building and redesign and rebuild on that spot? that would keep foot traffic down in that area..
Because that Theatre is going away eventually along with boatworks as they redirect traffic in that section of the park. Supposedly a new Theatre will be built somewhere over there to replace. But having the flex building off stage would make their music festivals easier to run
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FYI- Sat number... 14,500.
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I live in Branson and work in branson west and on thursday got a look at the traffic issue. I was late for work and wound up going 248 west to 160 to 13 then to branson west, what a nightmare. >:( only lived here a few years but am amazed at how crowded it gets and how its handled.
My thoughts if you dont mind a newbie giving some thoughts on the subject.
1. someone on here mention grand palace parking lot. good idea
how about bulldozing celebration city and using it as parking with shuttle service. along with area around steak and shake and possibly other araas that arent being used.
2 lit up sign to let people know about traffic situation so they know whats going on. This was already mentioned
by someone else. Not my idea but a good one :)
3 what is the idea behind 465, to create another traffic jam. jeez 465 meets up with 76 which meets up with 265. whose idea was that and what was the purpose of the road construction.
Yes I am new and dont get on this board often but have been coming to area since I was a kid and know its a tourist area. something needs to be done so this wont keep happening but I beleive it will. at least I know a different
route.
hope you all dont mind my rant. maybe I will move to branson west and not worry about the traffic. good day ;D
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It’s time for another flex building and anothe broadway show. I suggest the building be past Fireman’s Landing in that parking lot and when they don’t need it, it could be backstage.
Are you serious? Wow you just never know. I guess it was colder that day. I debated on going Friday but figured it would be packed so we just went back home.
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This weeks numbers will be interesting,most of the shows in Branson are done for the season, everyone out of school, holiday over and COLD weather....
"Time" will tell. ;D
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I live in Branson and work in branson west and on thursday got a look at the traffic issue. I was late for work and wound up going 248 west to 160 to 13 then to branson west, what a nightmare. >:( only lived here a few years but am amazed at how crowded it gets and how its handled.
My thoughts if you dont mind a newbie giving some thoughts on the subject.
1. someone on here mention grand palace parking lot. good idea
how about bulldozing celebration city and using it as parking with shuttle service. along with area around steak and shake and possibly other araas that arent being used.
2 lit up sign to let people know about traffic situation so they know whats going on. This was already mentioned
by someone else. Not my idea but a good one :)
3 what is the idea behind 465, to create another traffic jam. jeez 465 meets up with 76 which meets up with 265. whose idea was that and what was the purpose of the road construction.
Yes I am new and dont get on this board often but have been coming to area since I was a kid and know its a tourist area. something needs to be done so this wont keep happening but I beleive it will. at least I know a different
route.
hope you all dont mind my rant. maybe I will move to branson west and not worry about the traffic. good day ;D
Does anyone know what the plan is for 465? Will it ever be extended south or over into Branson?
Just looking a Google Maps....it looks like they could cut a road through/by lot 5 east to 265 (easier said than done in the hills) and create another feeder road to the lots/Indian Point. Not sure if that would make it any better or worse for SDC traffic and the locals but in my mind it might relieve some of the backup of 76 if people could in in through 265. SDC would have to figure out how to handle the 2nd traffic flow though....or have them do a u turn on Indian Point....I don't know of a major park that has two traffic entrances (most have paid parking booths to go through).
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Does anyone know what the plan is for 465? Will it ever be extended south or over into Branson?
Just looking a Google Maps....it looks like they could cut a road through/by lot 5 east to 265 (easier said than done in the hills) and create another feeder road to the lots/Indian Point. Not sure if that would make it any better or worse for SDC traffic and the locals but in my mind it might relieve some of the backup of 76 if people could in in through 265. SDC would have to figure out how to handle the 2nd traffic flow though....or have them do a u turn on Indian Point....I don't know of a major park that has two traffic entrances (most have paid parking booths to go through).
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It will NEVER extend to SDC, not designed for that..
It is supposed to go south and east and tie into 165 north of TR lake,,BUT that wont happen until there is something major happening at CC or another location justifies it.... (maybe a new waterpark and resort area ::)) After there is steady, traffic demand.....then maybe extend 465..
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numbers for today? tuesday...
3:00- 3800
6:00- 7100
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Tuesday total- 8700
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Wed..... at 4:00- 4000
days total- - - 6100!!!!
This cold weather is really putting the hammer on these numbers!
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Probably due to it being post Christmas and the fact non of the rides are operational at these temps.
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yeah, and the rides are not going to be doing much running this week through new years..
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Yeah there were 10s of people there yesterday. Farm/OR area was completely roped off. Only the Mine & Train we’re open.
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This only highlights the need for more enclosed rides as they drift into near year round ops.
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Planning on going Saturday with the kids. Hoping the numbers aren't crazy that day. They're prepared for no rides, but our Christmas visits are usually show oriented.
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Probably due to it being post Christmas and the fact non of the rides are operational at these temps.
Post Christmas isn't the problem. I've seen incredibly busy days after Christmas. Date wise for many it's a big time for them to go because of vacations, and when the weather is decent, they will have huge days during this week.
It's the cold, pure and simple. People don't want to be out in that cold for long periods of time, so the don't go. It's miserable in the park when it's that frigid.
The ride closures probably don't really make much of a difference as it seems guests are oblivious to the fact that the rides are closed because of temperature until after they get there and are in the park. There's not a lot of notice outside about the closures, and even if there were I doubt people would see them or pay any attention. When I worked there I had a ton of guests confused and surprised about the rides being closed because of the cold.
Really, this week is so dependent on the weather. If the weather is nice, it can easily be the biggest week of the year. But when it's frigid cold like this, it won't be. A little cold air won't keep them away, but this much will. I'll bet New Year's Eve is a bomb when they're predicting the high temperatures won't get out of the teens.
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This only highlights the need for more enclosed rides as they drift into near year round ops.
Except for the fact that the indoor rides get effected by the cold too. Fire in the Hole cannot operate if it is below freezing. The guns in the Firehouse are having issues because of the cold (the compressed air). The electronics in Mine are having issues because of the cold.
So no. Being inside isn't going to help anything when it is this cold.
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I happened to be in the Branson area yesterday for work and for giggles drove up to the city. Preferred parking was not that full, lot 2 had cars in it but I did not drive down in there to see how many cars were there. This was about 1:30-2. I thought about going in and walking around but decided I did not want to wait lord knows how long on a tram. If I had preferred parking I may have done it.
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https://youtu.be/Iyy4ixum-Ds
Just saying
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This only highlights the need for more enclosed rides as they drift into near year round ops.
Except for the fact that the indoor rides get effected by the cold too. Fire in the Hole cannot operate if it is below freezing. The guns in the Firehouse are having issues because of the cold (the compressed air). The electronics in Mine are having issues because of the cold.
So no. Being inside isn't going to help anything when it is this cold.
I'm willing to bet those issues could be fixed though (albeit at considerable expense in FITH's case). A modern indoor ride wouldn't have those issues.
I'll bet the PTB is nashing their teeth this week. If winter had held off a little longer they could have ended the year with an additional 50,000-100,000 guests. Poor end to a very strong Christmas season. It would have been packed out this week if it had been even 50 degrees out, but winter showed up this year.
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Probably gonna take a chance out there tomorrow just so I can get one more trip logged for the season. Forecast temp is 42. http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?x=157&y=229&site=sgf&zmx=&zmy=&map_x=157&map_y=229#.WkYMnXZG2Uk
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This only highlights the need for more enclosed rides as they drift into near year round ops.
Except for the fact that the indoor rides get effected by the cold too. Fire in the Hole cannot operate if it is below freezing. The guns in the Firehouse are having issues because of the cold (the compressed air). The electronics in Mine are having issues because of the cold.
So no. Being inside isn't going to help anything when it is this cold.
I'm willing to bet those issues could be fixed though (albeit at considerable expense in FITH's case). A modern indoor ride wouldn't have those issues.
I'll bet the PTB is nashing their teeth this week. If winter had held off a little longer they could have ended the year with an additional 50,000-100,000 guests. Poor end to a very strong Christmas season. It would have been packed out this week if it had been even 50 degrees out, but winter showed up this year.
Fire in the Hole's issues with temperature is that the splash down is part of the braking system. When it's this cold, that causes freezing problems with the water. Not conducive to operations.
Interesting that the guns in the firehouse would be having issues with the cold since the building is heated. Unless they aren't using the heat for some odd reason.
The electronics on the mine aren't having issues with the cold. They're just plain having issues and have for a long time. They do what they can with trying to keep them up, but I'm of the opinion that the whole system needs to be replaced for it to work correctly.
I'm agreed that they need more indoor rides/ activities. And not just because of the cold. When thunderstorms hit- which is a regular happening- having more options would also be a great thing. There just aren't very many now.
it is to bad what the cold will do to their numbers. Though as strong as the year has been, and with it being so dry the last few months, I'd be surprised if their increase in numbers the rest of the time doesn't more than make up for one slower than expected week.
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FYI, all problems have been temperature related. Compressors have moisture in the air, below freezing has caused some to shut down (FH & FM). The gun issue is the same. While the shell may be old, the electronics are new. The colder the temps coming off the pond (22, today), the harder "wake-up" for the guns.
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FYI, all problems have been temperature related. Compressors have moisture in the air, below freezing has caused some to shut down (FH & FM). The gun issue is the same. While the shell may be old, the electronics are new. The colder the temps coming off the pond (22, today), the harder "wake-up" for the guns.
Thanks for the updates and clarification Steve. :-) I'll always defer to the knowledge of the guy who actually works on the stuff rather than my attempts to figure it out on my own.
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Anyone get the count for last night or attend? It sure was not a hospitable temperature. I was watching the reporters from Times Square and they were suffering you could tell. They did not complain but there was lots of makeup and very little facial movement when they spoke. I bet SDC was a cold one!
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Yeah my daughter and I went yesterday. I'm guessing no more than five hundred people in the park. We actually had a great time. It was surreal seeing the park that empty. The New Years shows were awesome!! We wind up staying for most of the evening....again we enjoyed it.
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just got back home from a COLD weekend.....
Numbers----
Thursday-8,000
friday ----16,000
sat--------11,000
Sunday- 1200. yes 1200!!!
monday, as of 2:00 152 people? I will verify that later... WOW!!
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Monday- 550 people..... :(,
not such a great end to a great year!!
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I should have ran up there for that.
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I should have ran up there for that.
I was there Sunday about 4 pm, I didnt see 20 people up on the square... ;D ;D