Messages

3961

Dollywood Discussion / Dollywood Annouces New Splash Battle Ride

« on: July 19, 2007, 04:13:35 PM »

From SuperSteve's -

DW Announces New River Battle Ride

Always the early announcers, DW decided now was a good enough time to let everyone in on what's coming in 2008, and boy are we in for a treat. Besides that highly demanded bit of asphalt connecting the two valleys, a new $5 million ride will appear at the park for the 2008 season. The new ride, apparently dubbed Beaver Battle from what can be seen on the concept art, looks like a Mack Blaster boat ride, similar to the many splash battles that have been popping up around the world. If the ride turns out anything like the concept art, it will be quite short, but every single part is packed with excitement. Targets, pedestrians, and other riders are waiting around every bend, not to mention the talking animatronic animals.

Though it's not the swing that I'm still expecting, this ride is quite a worthy addition to DW, and is sure to take the edge off of MM's queue for my visit next year. I like splash battles, though I don't overly appreciate them. With all the soaking and intense action, this ride is really more for those overly-hyped up kiddies and their unwilling parents. I think after a ride or two I'll just stick to the side lines so I can smack a few of the more annoying kids in the face with one of the water cannons on the pathways.

So, will we see one of these at SDC soon? Quite probably, but I'd rather CC get one... By the way, I still say that DW will end up with a swing soon, probably next year.

3962

Other Parks / Cedar Point's Choas For Sale

« on: July 16, 2007, 06:24:01 PM »

Cedar Point's Chance Chaos is up for sale on IRM (http://www.irmpri.com/product.htm), along with several other Cedar Fair Chaoses from the looks of it. The Chance Chaos is a dying breed, as most were destroyed just in the last few years due to severe structural flaws, the only surviving models had to have major repairs, but now new parts are scarce.

The Chaos consists of a bunch of 2-person gondolas situated on a wheel. The wheel props up vertically and spins around, with the gondolas flipping around it. It's a kind of an uncomfortable ride, but pretty fun.

Celebration City had a Chance Chaos for about half of 2006, and it was something of a hit; wouldn't it be nice if they bought one of these modified versions? Of course, it wouldn't last long as making parts for it would be hard...

I can think of a few other parks who would benefit from one of these as well.

3963

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Crowd Levels?

« on: July 16, 2007, 06:16:40 PM »

So I've been hearing conflicting reports about how well SDC is doing this season. Some say that this is the busiest season ever, and that parking lot L (the one way out in the field miles from the park) is consistently used. Others say that the crowds have been average, and most rides have short waits. I know crowd levels vary radically, but does anyone know how the park has been doing on average?

Also, is CC making money yet? I notice they canned the $20 deal, and now the price is back up close to $30.

3964

SDC Memories/ Park History / Rube Dugin's Diving Bell

« on: July 16, 2007, 06:11:31 PM »

Rube Dugin's Diving Bell, the ride that was decades ahead of it's time. For those of you that never saw it, it was a state of the art motion/picture simulator, that provided an experience so real that many got sick or dizzy on the ride. This concept was first introduced to Disney World, but being as new an adventure as such a simulator was, they didn't see the true value of such an attraction, and SDC picked it up.
For more information and photos, go here -> http://geysergulch.tripod.com/divingbell.html

Sadly, due somewhat to the particular spot it was built in, SDC decided to destroy the diving bell to make way for the new Lost River, but the thought of bringing the ride back has been persistent. In fact, to this day many people have asked that SDC consider resurrecting the ride, so maybe one day we'll see it again.

Does anyone have any memories of this ride? I was too young at the time to remember much, so I was hoping someone here could tell us what a ride cycle consisted of.

3965

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Geyser Gulch Fix Ups?

« on: July 15, 2007, 08:41:02 PM »

I don't know whether or not this is true, or the full extent of it, but I've been hearing that Geyser Gulch has been getting some TLC and improvements lately. Indeed, last I was there in May, it appeared that they were half-way through painting it, but it was hard to tell.

It doesn't look all that bad yet, but I've heard a few people complain about the paint being faded, plus there are a few areas inside where stuff has been worn down by the relentless thunder of hundreds of over-hyped kids, so it could probably use something.

Anyone know more?

3966

Construction/Rumors / How long will the Jack Rabbit last?

« on: July 15, 2007, 08:36:53 PM »

Of all the things I expected to pop up when CC was built, the Jack Rabbit was no where near the list. This has to be one of the funkiest, yet funnest coasters in the world. Huge dips, tiny cars, insane break-neck curves, and whipping bunny hops, all built with what looks like an erector set. This coaster pretty much embodies everything that the roller coaster was originally intended to be, and god I love every bit of it.

Still though, I may be one of the only fans of this coaster, as most people are scared away by it's ferociousness, or whine about it being rough. The Herschends can't be loving it either, even thought they built it, due to it's low capacity and ridership. Yes, it holds lines, but only because only 6 people can fit on one train at max. For the space it takes up, so many 'better' things could fit, which makes me think that this will be the first ride to go at CC.

So many good flats, or even a basic Euro-fighter could do well here...

Any thoughts?

3967

Random Talk / Re: This is a welcome sight (site) !

« on: July 14, 2007, 03:29:36 PM »

Thanks. I hope I can get the community features in soon so people can do things like upload photos.

btw,
1Branson.com is a pretty good general Branson site.

3968

SDC Memories/ Park History / Huck Finn's Tree Fort

« on: July 14, 2007, 02:28:33 PM »

Now that it's on it's death bed, anyone remember the good ole days when the tree house had more than the music room and the 'shadow machine'? I still remember when it was actually a tree fort, when there were faux guns sticking out the windows, crazy mirrors and oddities all over the place, plus some cool games. Back then it was a beehive of over-excited little kids scrambling for toys... man, I loved it.

If anyone has any photos, even recent ones, I'd appreciate seeing them.

3969

Construction/Rumors / The next coaster (SDC)

« on: July 14, 2007, 02:24:17 PM »

Everyone loves these topics, right?
Well, anyway, we've got plenty of hope to go towards SDC's next coaster. It's been said that SDC's next major investment will come in 2009, and it's also been said that by the time SDC hosts the ACE 2009 coaster con, they'll be plenty of coasters to enjoy (it was implied that there would be more than they have now).
So yeah, we're apparently on the verge of getting a new coaster, but seeing as we have a good selection of them already, what will they shoot for with this one?

We all know DW just got a Gerstauler (sp?) Euro-fighter, but the reviews aren't so good, it's capacity is somewhat low, and it just plain cost a ton at $17 million. We could get one eventually, but I don't think anytime soon, and I think ours will be drastically different.

Most people, including myself, are guesstimating that they'll go back to GCII for another crazy woodie, resembling something like Thunderhead at DW, but hopefully bigger and wilder.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

3970

Ozark Marketplace / Post Your Site Guidelines

« on: July 14, 2007, 12:59:05 PM »

Even though this area is called 'post your site', it's not an invitation to spam - well, not really.

By all means, post a description and a link to your site here, but don't leave it at that. If you join just to post your site and leave, it'll be deleted in a jiffy. In fact, I'd rather you have at least 5 posts elsewhere before you post in here.

Also, I can make exceptions, but I don't want a lot of consumer products being advertised here, unless they are independent, or unusual, or something along those lines.

3971

Construction/Rumors / Tom Sawyer's Landing Revival?

« on: July 14, 2007, 12:53:52 PM »

This isn't so much of a rumor as it is a guess being thrown around by me.

Anyone been by good ole' Tom Sawyer's Landing lately? Once the most popular area of the park, now it's just a flow through for guests going to the riverfront or to TGS. The play area is somewhat dilapidated and definitely stripped of almost all of it's former charm; the tree house will never open again, and will probably come down this winter; the kiddie coaster was removed, leaving only a smoking section. Overall, if it weren't for the fact that the area is right smack dab on a major pathway, no one would visit it, and that shouldn't be for such a prime piece of land within SDC.

SDC's management seems to think so to. The Grand Expo was originally set to take the place of the Landing, but good sense overcame that. Still, that obviously means they're thinking about switching that area of the park up.
It's been said by the park management that this year's investment will fall in the $6-8 million range, but they're not getting a coaster, and they're probably not getting another huge thrill ride, and they don't need any more kid's stuff; soooooo...

After all, even though the park's management hasn't decided what to do with it yet, the tree house is going to have to come down. It's been closed for two years now for being too dilapidated, and all the park's efforts to fix it have failed, so what choice do they have? After it's gone, they'll need something to replace that area, seeing as it's right in the middle of the park.

Anyone seeing this? I think we're in for a few new shops, as that's been one of the most highly requested things lately, but I don't think the landing will die completely... We'll just have to see. Conductor Sam is supposed to be dropping a few hints on the SDC blog soon.

3972

Announcements / Re: General forum rules

« on: July 14, 2007, 11:59:36 AM »

Avatars can be 100*100 pixels, and yes, signature banners are allowed, just don't make them huge and annoying.

3973

Announcements / General Forum Rules - (Updated)

« on: July 11, 2007, 05:55:47 PM »

I believe that internet forums need to be as open and accepting as possible, so I avoid most forms of censorship or strict rules. This forum is intended to be fairly relaxed and self-controlled. Basically, don't be an ass. That's the all-encompassing rule.

With that said, here's a few guidelines:

• Absolutely no posting of confidential information relating to SDC or HFEC. This includes, but is not limited to, leaked ride announcements or information on future attraction development obtained from legitimate sources that was not meant to be shared. We do a lot of speculation on here, but there is a line between rumors and leaks. Ask me for more information if you are unsure of whether or not you will break this rule.
• You can have links in your signatures, but if there are too many, or if it looks too much like an ad I'll take them out.
• Debates are allowed, and encouraged, just don't turn it into a fight or take anything too seriously. If I see anyone continually taking "potshots" at each other, I'll force them to take a break from the forums.
• You can post links to other sites, but don't spam. We actually have an entire board for posting sites as it is.
• Be nice.

3974

Announcements / SDCFans - Coming July 14

« on: July 11, 2007, 05:51:33 PM »

SDCFans will be first 'officially' opened this Saturday, July 14.

Let me explain a bit about what this site is about.
This site is dedicated to providing not only general info and reviews of everything at SDC and CC, but also a warm, constructive community experience. Unfortunately, the site as it is right now doesn't offer much of the latter, but rest assured, I'm working on it. What you see now is only a very basic release; by the end of the summer I hope to have a much more impressive site up. The problem is, I've not only a lot to learn in the field of programming languages and such, but I've also got a bit of a lack of knowledge about SDC. I know a good lot about the rides, and a bit about it's history, but not much else.
That's just one of the reasons why I want this site to host a thriving community, because I can't possibly provide all the info about SDC and CC that a site like this needs. That and the fact that I believe the very purpose of the internet is so users can interact with the sites they visit, and hey, I'm a people person.

Anyway, stay tuned for more updates.