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^^ From what I've seen, there are less deals like that around of late, but it's always a good idea to stop at the gas stations before you get to Branson and check the goods over for special offers.

That's unfortunately the only advice I can give right now. 

Whoops, I already had this topic posted in the Other Parks forum. Sorry.

http://sdcfans.com/forums/index.php?topic=198.msg2721#new

Very sweet; the signage change really wraps the area together. Speaking of the logo, what's with the bird in the old logo? Is he a forgotten park character?

If anyone plans on going soon, please get some shots of these famous construction flags for the rest of us. There were a few posted on CoasterCommunity a while back, but it sounds like more and more are showing up of all different colors. Soon they'll be clearing land from the sounds of it.

^The petting zoo has actually been there for several years now since the threat of foot and mouth disease dissipated. It's been growing slowly back; when it first moved there it was only a couple of chickens and rabbits, a pony, and a huge dog. Now it's actually a small zoo again.

Indeed, most wooden coasters are built to be a more rough, out of control ride - some of us like it that way. Unfortunately much of the general public expects a crystal smooth, overly engineered ride - basically a train ride with drops. GCII has done a pretty good job bridging the gap with rides like Oz Cat, but don't expect anything larger than that to be crystal smooth - it's just not the type of ride that's really meant to be.

That's one of the banes of roller coaster developement: how do you engineer a ride that booth feels completely out of control and thrilling yet meets the expectations of a million different people of different shapes and sizes? Like I said in another post, your ride on any given roller coaster is determined by so many factors including not only aspects of the ride itself like wet track, support upkeep, wheel grips, and such, but also aspects of the rider like size, shape, frailness, and opinions on what is or isn't rough.

Sometimes you just have to understand that roller coasters are more or less what they have always been - out of control train rides. You can't expect them to be completely tame.

The evidence is really split right now, so I couldn't tell you what is true or not. I've heard several conflicting accounts now from people asking employees or those connected to the park - they're saying everything from a G-Fighter in the middle of the city to the woodie near Echo Hollow. Maybe the park is trying to confuse us. 

I would certainly be surprised if it's anything but a G-Fighter or a woodie though, so at least it's narrowed down.

The practice of copying ideas from park to park is living on in the Herschend chain. Splash Island, WA's adjoining water park, is getting the same slide tower set up that WWB did last year.

Check it out -> http://www.screamscape.com/html/wild_adventures_2009_0.htm

Hmm, whatever works I guess...

I'm sure everyone here remembers the Run-Away-Ore-Carts fondly. This little Molina and Sons standard kiddie model sat in the Landing for 15 years before being taken out due to roughness and scarcity of new parts. Even in it's last days, a torrent of kids could be seen marathoning it every single day.

But did the ore carts have more history than they appeared to? For only lasting 15 years, I would guess that the park might have bought it used from somewhere else. Also, what were the real terms of its departure? I've heard the park say that it was just too old and was due to be replaced by the Grand Expo Coaster, while others have said that it needed to be taken out to construct a final attempt at bracing the tree house. Is there any closure on that?

Oh yeah, does anyone know what happened to it? I've been assuming that it was scrapped, but you never really know - if they had tried to auction it off I sure would have bet on it, but I didn't hear about it if that happened.

Germs. You'll probably inhale more dust walking around outside than you will at the Dixie Stampede. It's not anything to worry about anyway, we've survived long enough with dirt in our food - it'll build up your immune system. Or something like that.

It's certainly not declining in terms of visitors, at least to my knowledge. It just looks bad right now because, as with the rest of the country, Branson is reeling from years upon years of reckless developement based around catering to automobiles. Now that people don't want to drive, you've got to have a pretty damn good attraction to bring them in. All those strip-malls, side-shows, and small-time attractions that have sprouted up like weeds all around Branson don't stand a chance in todays market.

I just saw Prince Caspian last night and thought it was pretty good, though it lacks the charm of the first in the series. There were a lot of weird religious allusions as well, seemed to have made a lot more sense in the books than they did in the movie.

I don't think I'll be seeing too many other movies this year though unless I can catch them at a discount theater. The only major theater near me now charges $8 a pop, and I can't subjugate myself to those prices just to sit in a chair and watch a big TV for a couple of hours. Maybe I will for Wall-E, but I don't know if I can sit through the preview for that chihuahua movie again. 

The active setting determines whether it actually shows up on the site or not. So don't set it to be active unless you are done with it.

I finally got the user articles feature back up - so if you feel like writing something for some reason, check it out. Look in your profiles for a link that says "write an article". If no such link exists and you want to write something, contact me.

Don't be fooled just because the park doesn't go to lengths to make sure you know that they're green. While most "green" entities spend a little on actually being green and a lot on marketing it, the Herschends have been quietly doing more for the environment than most for ages. There's other things they can do, and some of those things will be coming soon I'm sure, but the park is by no means not green enough for my standards. 

I figured some of us could use a place to share cost-saving tips, considering how many people have confessed skipping out on Branson trips this year due to high costs of travel. Use this board to post and sweet deals you've come across for Branson attractions, or any good ways to save money on trips - it'll help someone and their family be able to make it down to Branson easier.