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Who else has made it out to Hot Springs recently? I guess it's pretty well known that the area has seen better days, but I think it's still a really interesting place.

I feel like it's another frustrating example of low expectations and missed opportunities though. You can tell there just hasn't been much unifying vision since the end of the bathhouse era. The original plans for the national park and Bathhouse row were so outstanding, it's a huge shame that never got built. So much of what was built has been taken down piece by piece in favor of parking and crap development that has already faded out.

Right now they are demolishing the old Majestic Hotel as I type this. Such a shame, although the part of it that was truly worth saving burned down in a suspicious fire right after the found somebody willing to make an attempt at saving it. That whole area north of the strip is a wasteland now, and I have a feeling it's going to be turned into dollar generals and strip mall development before too long.

I think the bathhouse concept with natural hot springs water could actually be brought back these days though. Not on the level of the 1920's, but spa's and resorts are getting more popular again. Throw in a small indoor waterpark and you have a real attraction on your hands.

I finally made it down to Magic Springs last week. I posted a photo TR and review on TPR: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72237

Basically I was really impressed with how they fixed up the place, but man, most of the coasters need some work. Premier/CNL seem kinda like the house flippers of the amusement industry. They put a lot of work into general things and surface appearance, but don't take time to understand the underlying issues with the main attractions. I guess they kind of are property flippers though since they've been trying to sell them off for the right price.

I sure hope they keep Arkansas Twister around. That was half the reason for driving down there. It's a fun ride despite being absolutely crazy rough and shaky. It won't survive running like this for much longer though, so either it gets fixed up this off season or it gets the axe.

SDCFans will be 9 years old next Thursday. I'm grateful for the years of discussions, friendships, and random craziness this board has provided all of us. I had no idea the site would last this long when I first started playing around with it in 2007, but I'll keep it going as long as people are interested and I am able.

I apologize for dropping off from time to time on the updates and what not. There's always something going on in my life that causes me to push the site to the bottom of the priorities pile.  I am planning another round of changes to the front page to make it more dynamic and continuously updated even when I'm not around. Basically I'm planning to pull in various news and social media feeds instead of trying to write our own stories every week. There will still be some occasional throwback thursday and construction update posts as well.

As always, let me know if anyone has any suggestions to make the site more useful, or if anyone wants to take a more direct role in creating content/managing things.

Since there is some sort of forum bug popping up when threads get to page 50, here is part two of the 2017 discussion. I will merge these threads after a fix is found.

So apparently this guy bought the original SDC stagecoach and has been taking it on cross-country rides. Unfortunately he just completed his last one, but now the stagecoach is coming back to be displayed at SDC this fall.

http://www.ky3.com/content/news/West-Plains-cowboy-stagecoach-completes-Texas-journey-380444321.html

I've heard about the Castle of Muskogee for years, but it took finally passing through Muskogee on a weekend for me to actually check it out. I'm blown away - the place is huge! It's really not so much a renaissance fair at this point, it's essentially an amusement park without rides that operates for a month. It's really cool how built up the place is, and how niche and quaint it all is. It definitely seems like something the dogpatch crew would do if they had the time and money. All the buildings are obviously hand-built and open air, yet are full of details and personal touches. Lots of hand painted signs and humor in every nook and cranny.

But what really sets the place apart is the "citizens". Just like SDC used to do (and still does to some extent), each staff member has a role and brings their personality to it. You can tell how much they love it by how much they all put into it. Everywhere you look there are interactions, elaborate costumes, shows and activities, and what-not. I was thoroughly entertained for hours, even without anything to ride.

It's all a little campy, but it's the right kind of campy, if you know what I mean. Definitely something I'm going to hit up annually from now on.

I decided to do a quick overview of all the zipline attractions in Branson: http://sdcfans.com/branson-zip-line-roundup/

Did I miss anything? Maybe I should add in the skysurfer thing as well since I included Parakeet Pete's. It's not really in the spirit of a zipline ride though...

It looks like Paul Drabek is taking over the reigns of the Heart of America region for ACE. From what I know of him, he seems to be a dedicated enthusiast and a great guy to get along with, so I'm sure the region will be in good hands. That said, I'm still sad to see Jennifer and Jeff go. They certainly leave big shoes to fill.

ACE is responsible for a number of coaster enthusiast events throughout the Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas area (so basically the three big MO parks + Magic Springs). Coaster Christmas has been huge for fans of Silver Dollar City for years and often includes amazing stuff like backstage tours of Fire in the Hole and Wildfire's maintenance area.

It sounds like the next ACE event that includes SDC will be on June 17th in conjunction with WOF and Schiltterbahn as a precursor to the major ACE CoasterCon event (which is at SFStL and Holidayworld this year). I'm sure more details will be released soon, but from the post on their FB page it sounds like there'll be some exclusive ride time on some SDC rides in the evening.

Complaints have always been a common topic on this board. It's not that we're negative folk - in fact I always discourage negativity for the sake of it - but we are a fanatical bunch to be following a board like this. In general, this board represents a user base that the park is shifting all the more rapidly away from. We grew up with a park that was not quite a theme park, not quite a cave attraction, not quite a living history village, and not quite like anything else in existence. These days, for better or worse, it has nearly completed the transformation into a solid resort theme park. It's a great park, no doubt, but it's certainly lost a few things along the way.

Like I said, I've always tried to damper negativity on these boards, but sometimes as part of the "old crowd" you just need to bitch a little about how the park has gotten away from what you grew up with. So here's a space to do that without mucking up the other threads so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTmdzG9tvpU&feature=youtu.be

This is something we've been quietly waiting for, glad to see it finally arrive.

Man, Branson is on a serious new attraction spree this year.

I'm falling behind with the Branson news again. Things are really picking up. This one is a small tower with what looks like an Intamin drop tower and some other novelties.

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/branson-to-hear-plans-for-bigfoot-on-the-strip

I think the project overall is just a bit lackluster, and I hate the name, but I love the momentum it represents. This is the third new attraction to be announced this off-season, and this one includes a thrill ride. It makes me wonder what's next, and if some competition will start to crop up leading to something big like a coaster on the strip.

It looks like the date has been set for this year's Coaster Christmas: Nov. 21
http://www.aceonline.org/events/

I don't see any other details or a sign-up available yet, but I'm sure they're coming soon.


I don't think I'll be able to make that weekend, but I definitely recommend it to everyone who can.

Please try to use the quote tags properly - if they get messed up it can be harder to follow the conversation.

Each quote should be wrapped in quote tags like such : [quote ] [/quote ] without the space before the last bracket.

The quotes should look like this:

This is a quote

Most of you simply click the little icon in the top right corner of someone's post, which then automatically creates a quote of that post's text with the tags automatically generated like such:
[ quote author=shavethewhales link=topic=2642.msg50913#msg50913 date=1374597923]

Don't delete any of the quote tags, and don't add your own text until after the final [/quote ]. This will keep everything orderly and properly attributed.

Has anyone made it out to the Shepard of the Hills play(s) recently? I stopped by for a tour of the cabin/grounds last weekend and it looked pretty neat, but my family never managed to make it to the play. It's on my short list for this fall.

They are back to operating as usual after the shut down scare in 2013, but a lot of people still think they're closed.

I received the following request a few days ago:

Do you have any pictures or articles regarding the Duplicating Lathe and Tinch Clarkson who made bats and rolling pins, he created the noodle cutters which were a big hit for years.  This would have been around the mid 1960\'s thru early 1980s? 

It's from a relative of Tinch. I know some of you guys were on the park around then.

The issues of how Branson is failing in various areas and how to deal with it is a continual topic on these forums, but we're starting to repeat ourselves in multiple threads, so here is a mega thread to keep the discussion in one place.

As we've discussed in scattered threads, a revitalization of the famous 76 strip has been proposed and is now in the initial stages of being implemented.

It looks like the first stage has finally been approved: http://www.bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_72ea2b76-f5b6-11e4-b5dd-f3776095f530.html?mode=story

The beautification features will be nice, but it remains to be seen if they will go all the way and be able to implement a public transportation solution (trams) and actually make the strip walkable.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/seaworld-entertainment-inc-names-joel-200000235.html

This is somewhat surprising and potentially concerning news. Joel supposedly spent a lot of time with Jack and Pete learning the "heart" of SDC operations and philosophy. He will not be easy to replace, and the next CEO could swing the company in a different direction...

SDCFans love meeting each other at the park! If you would like to meet up with another member during an upcoming visit or see who else will be at the park, post about it here.

We want to hear about your Silver Dollar City experiences from 2015! Fill us in on all your fun memories, changes to the park, and anything else of note.