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I was at the City this weekend and took just a few pictures of the area directly west of the Lumbercamp (where the queue to the new ride will be???).  I'll be honest - I have no idea what I'm looking at, but it's clear that there is zero active work going on at the moment.

This is looking east towards the AP lift hill.

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This is just to the north of the previous picture, along the Float Trip flume.  Are these old supports for a retaining wall?

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This is the backside of the lumbercamp falls.  Again, no visible work in progress (and the waterfall is turned off). 

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And just for fun, here are two pictures of Christmas lights staged behind the rock shop and beside the old Fire in the Hole.

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And here is a glamour shot that I took of the Mountain Size Cookie Sundae... only available at Tom Sawyer's treats (next to the carousel barn), if you can catch it open.

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This was my only trip this season - just a quick getaway - but it's always a joy to be at the City.

What is M & C and FM???

M&C = maintenance and construction
FM = Flooded Mine

I'm certainly not in charge, but I don't think SDC wants to be a roller coaster park.  Sure, it's a far cry today from the 80's and 90's, but I still see it more akin to Disney (family focus) than Universal (teen/adult focus).  Putting in a giga wouldn't be in line with the family focus, in my opinion.  Right now there still exists a blend of something for everyone. As I get older (47 with 19 and 17 year old kids), I am not looking for more extreme record breaking rides, and that's not why we go specifically to SDC.  But maybe I'm not the target audience anymore, and to each their own. 

 

So thinking down the line.... what are the expectations for the old FITH building?  That's a decent plot of land that they won't want to sit idle for long. 

Any other rumblings about a new train station and/or a replacement/redevelopment of the Flooded Mine?

With temps predicted in the 60s and 70s, everything will be open and running, including water rides.  Enjoy!

This is awesome - thank you, Swoosh.

That's exactly my point - we all love SDC and enjoy speculating, discussing, etc.  I just get so tired of the "I know something but I'm not going to tell you" game Swoosh plays.  I was simply asking him to either share what he knows or just wait to post something concrete. We all know the value he can bring (and I also enjoy his personal website), but his most recent post of "if you don't like it I'll just take my ball and go home" further proves my point.  I don't want to attack anyone or inflame the situation.  I just want actual news about SDC when I come here.  Thanks for listening and trying to consider my perspective the same way you've asked me to understand his. 

I have shared all the information that is confirmed or can be proven at this point. Anything else is speculative until confirmed by the park

I didn't mean to open a can of worms and I totally understand confidentiality.  But here's the thing, Swoosh... the way you play the "I know something but I can't tell" game is what frustrates people.  We're all here because we love SDC and want to be excited about news from the park.  Respectfully, please wait until you CAN share rather than "chuckling" at our discussion and ideas. That's what makes it come across as ego.  I can't wait to be on park in about 35 days and we can all explore the new areas and offerings. 

seeing what y'all think is happening

Hey, Swoosh - would you be willing to share what you've heard so we can discuss?  I'd love to hear what you think is happening and see what other members think. 

"Priority park access"

Does anyone else think the new plaza looks like an eventual second park entrance for the resort?

Not impossible, but it's on the wrong side of the park.  The new resort is to the northwest.  The new plaza is on the northeast.  There's a whole lot of back of house infrastructure between the two.  Again, not impossible - just unlikely. 

Edited to add: they could transport people from the resort to the park by just using the existing highway, but I can't see them wanting to rely on a public access road.  We'll see!

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I wish phase 1 would be expanding the actual park instead of building the hotel/resort.  The current park is really pretty small in size with the largest attractions mostly on the edges which creates so many choke points.  I feel like they need to eleviate many of the crowd issues prior to building the resort, which should bring in larger crowds to a park that's already overcrowded much of the time.

Here's the thing, though... do you actually think the resort will bring in more people?  You can already get a hotel room in Branson for under $50/night.  I think this will encourage people to stay on site instead of 5 miles down the highway.  SDC isn't really a multi-day park (in the same way Disney is).  It'll be interesting to see what all happens over the next 5-10 years, for sure!

Swoosh probably knows best (I think he's a musical director at a high school) but regarding the copywrite or performance of songs, basically you just have to contact the rights holder for the work and make arrangements for the use, sometimes it's a one-time fee, or a usage fee, or just permission...and trying and failing to contact the rights holder is not a substitution for permission. So stay with songs in the public domain or be prepared to pay something...especially if you are profiting from the performance.

Jay

You're exactly right.. SDC has to get permission and pay for the use of copyrighted songs.  It's not that they can't do that, but they have chosen not to.  The new music is fine - I think a lot of the complainants are based on comparison to the old show and not necessarily on the quality of the current show in isolation.  But to each their own. 

Hopefully one of the new shows is a return to the original music to the Christmas Carol. Since they changed the songs from the original ones it is unwatchable.

Don't get your hopes up; the change was made due to copyright issues. 

The current path to the plaza has to cross the train tracks it looks like. Any idea if this plaza area will always be open? Or just for special events? Will there be open access from all sides including fire in the hole, and grand expo? IMO they need to loop all these dead ends they have created around the park.

Yes - it will be open all the time.  The train crossing will be managed just like the crossings at the new FITH and at the pottery shop.  Yes, I believe the plan is to complete the pedestrian loop from FITH to The Plaza to Grand Exposition.   

The new plaza is fully across the tracks - no need to remove the Waterboggan tower. 
It will not include new rides, just food booths, decorations, and a stage.  Like Shave said, hopefully it won't look like a parking lot when they're finished.  The new Christmas tree will be a live fir. 

https://www.silverdollarcity.com/theme-park/festivals/