Search

They'll be pretty good I'd imagine. Mmm, I need to get started on that SDC crowds calendar...

I'm also a big fan of the deer run. The few extra dollars I pay to stay there over what I could get elsewhere is made up by the fact that I can get up and walk over to SDC at my leisure. It's the next best thing to SDC having their own hotel.

It's just too bad that we have virtually no cross-country transportation in this country. When I lived in England, I could go anywhere in the UK just by stepping out my door and walking down to the bus station. Here it's either driving or flying - there aren't even any bus lines that I could use. Sad...

SDC has been sending out more surveys lately to select season pass holders, asking how rising gas prices will affect travel plans. I'll bet the reality of $4+ gas is really hurting SDC. Quite a few SDC patrons come from several states away, but many of them won't be coming until gas goes down or they get a better transport solution. Surely SDC's attendance will have a constant dampener on it from now until gas drops again, but how long will that be? If it takes too long, will SDC scale back expansion plans?

I kinda doubt they'll do anything too drastic, but I'm sure we'll see all sorts of evidence of them trying to cut corners - not in a bad way though. Then again, the season seems to be off to an amazing start already, so how much will gas have to cost before people will stop hitting up SDC?

As for myself, I'm cutting back on my driving, but SDC will always be pretty high up on my priorities. I really just want to get an Aptera so I won't have to worry about filling up again.

Cheers to the one person on that raft who had balls enough to forgo the parka.

I would hope not, I'm having way too much fun with this.

Fantastic photos as always, I love a good pictorial trip report.

I'm surprised it was cold, it was really nice around northeastern Oklahoma that weekend.

Btw, was Giant Swing still running its usual pattern? People keep saying that they've been shortening it off and on inconsistently, but I think they're just loosing the effect of the first few rides.

So I've been hearing more and more talk about markers lately. If you happen to see any, be sure to note them here, and take photos if you can.

From some photos on coastercommunity, it looks like there's some more popping up around Echo Hollow and the Grand Expo, but as we've discussed before, it's certainly ponderous as to whether they would want to put anything major there. Right now I really think that the area beyond the Giant Swing looks like a good prospect, so I for one will be taking plenty of rides on the train to check it out.

Any more wild thoughts on what may be coming? Aquatrax?

The culinary arts school I can understand, but it is too bad about the new road and parking lot. It must be hell to work around a daily torrent of thousands of people, plus all that rain; I just hope they can work something out to get it finished up quicker.

Yeah, most of us thought this might come to SDC, though the size of it kept me in disbelief. I'm glad WA has it though, it really fits them well.

I'm sure it won't be too long now until the old Pendulum Swing concept is resurrected and we get a full-size Huss model for ourselves.

I got the rest of the content up, though there's still work to be done with the old galleries.

I've still got a bunch of random little things I'm going to add, but I think the site feels pretty solid right now. I'll get that user articles feature up this week hopefully; I just need to get a good text-editor hooked up to it, as I'm sure most of you don't want to fool around with having to use HTML tags with your writings.

I'm going to put a hold on the whole ride/shop/eatery rating and review system for now though, as it will take a lot of work and re-doing of the CMS structure. It will be a big part of the next big upgrade though, which will come out this summer. I will be getting the user photo galleries feature up in the next few weeks though.

^What was the ride actually like? Is it very thrilling at all? Worth much of a wait? I'm sure the lines for it will be at least 30 mins long this season, but maybe it will relieve some of Wildcat's queue a bit.

I'm also curious to hear how the splash-down is utilized. I know at most parks, they build a bridge over it so that guests can get the full effect, but CC apparently opted to just have a side area. How does that work out?

A lot of questions, I know, but this is the big thing for this year.   

^So the play structure itself was closed off? Wow, that would never have happened 5-6 years ago.

What are they doing right now with the old petting zoo? That whole area actually contains a lot of space, especially if they use the old Gandy Dancer site and the little wooded craft-teaching area behind the Carousel Barn. There's room for a massive main street there, with multi-story shops, kinda like the shambles at York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shambles_(York)).

Very nice. Still though, while I like the ride itself, the theming just doesn't work with the rest of the park. It's not like it really matters to anyone that isn't totally into the park, but it just doesn't feel like you're in Celebration City. Whatever though, it's a recognizable theme that will sit well with most people. I just hope they try to uphold some type of park theme in the future, it really does help the experience.

It looks quite a bit larger than I thought it would though, even though it's still just a lift, drop, and splash.

^So what was the theming like then? Was it pulled off well? How did it fit in with the park.

Can't wait to see the photos.