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Gilligan-I think the kids are going this weekend 12-14.  I forgot, I cant go this weekend. This is the weekend of our Church play "Walk Thru Bethlehem"  Hey Parson. If your not doin anything this weekend (evenings), come on out!  http://www.mmbc.net/wtb.htm

Qwed94--thanks for the invite.  I hope your event went well. Unfortunately, I didn't see the post until it was over.  But thanks for thinking of us.

It's been a busy week.  But here is the rest of my "review", though it is a bit dated now.

Even though much of the park was shut down, it was still a great weekend. We had the best seats that we'd ever had at Dickens, It's a Wonderful Life, and the train. I loved virtually having the park to ourselves.  One of my favorite things to do at OTC is to just walk alone through the park and enjoy the music and the Christmas lights.  There were some places where I could stand, and I was literally the only one there. It was so peaceful...so refreshing.

We visited Santa Claus and his assistant Clarence Peabody (AKA Terry Sanders) twice.  The first time we got a "family" portrait with Santa.  This time Grandma (my mom) got to sit on Santa's lap.  That was interesting.  The second time the youngest two got to see Santa and I got some adorable pictures of my six-month old and Santa.

Culinary speaking we were able to enjoy Hot Chocolate with the Works (marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate chips, and a candy cane)--OMG! One thing I don't understand is why they they only have certain stands that have "the works".  Why can't they do that at all of the hot chocolate stands.  I feel sorry for those who may not even know that "the works" exist.  Some people have complained about the quality of the Hot Chocolate.  Every cup we had was delicious, except for the last one on Sunday night—it was a bit watered down.  I'm not sure why it wasn't as good.  More importantly, I was able to enjoy an Apple Dumpling on Saturday and Sunday.  They looked at me a little weird  when they asked if I wanted Ice-cream with my Apple Dumpling and I said yes, even though it was only 17 degrees!

The only real disappointment for me (other than going home), was that I was hoping to see the Gifts of Christmas Parade one last time.  SDC has advertised that this will be the last year for the parade.  I was hoping to see it again, but understandably it was canceled due to the weather.

Of course we stayed at Homestay Inn.  Sunday night we were the only guests there.  I thought it was fitting that a member of SDCFans was the last guest to check out for the season.  I'd like to thank Cherie and the staff for taking care of us.  They had the full spread out for us for breakfast, even though we were it.  We were disappointed that we weren't able to see Paige, but we understand that she was sick, so hopefully next year.

Even though it was cold, and the weather was disagreeable, it was still a great trip. Looking forward to next season.

   

Here are some pictures from last weekend, December 7-8, 2013.

https://www.facebook.com/bryan.ready.3/media_set?set=a.10201351189885759&type=1

Our family had planned on attending Ace's Coaster Christmas, but mother nature had other plans.  Due to in-climate weather, the event was canceled.  But SDC graciously offered complimentary weekend tickets to anyone registered for the event.  So with the promise of free SDC tickets, vacation days already requested off for work, and knowing this weekend would be our only opportunity to see OTC this year, we decided to go anyway.  The Interstate from St. Louis to Springfield (I-44) was in really good shape, as was 65 from Springfield to Branson.  I usually take the Ozark Mountain High Road, but given the amount of snow and the fact that so much of that road is elevated, I decided to take Shepherd of the Hills Expressway in to town—that road was a mess.  It was snow-packed all the way to Homestay Inn.  By the time we hit it, Highway 76 was mostly clear out to the city.  There were a few slick-spots, but no real problems.  We arrived at the City at about 4:30pm. It was right about dusk. As you have seen by some of the pictures (I will try to post some more soon).  The city was just beyond gorgeous.  Given the small crowd (around 2,300 on Saturday) they only used the one lot for parking, but we parked in the preferred-parking lot.  It was cold (21 degrees) and we didn't want to have to wait for a tram.  We actually lucked out and had a bus pull up at the disabled drop-off and he had room for us.  He commented (tongue-in-cheek) that some folks had complained that they were only using buses and not any trams!  We picked up a Pathfinder to check out the show schedules. It's a Wonderful Life was getting ready to start, so we walked right in and sat center stage.  By the time the show started, I'd say the auditorium was bout 1/2 – 2/3 full.  The show was good.  The production, given the small space, was quite impressive, the use of scrims, video and smoke was very effective.  One song that really stuck in the kids heads was (Monty Python's) "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", sung by Clarence the Angel.  The kids broke into a chorus of the song during a trip through The Flooded  Mine (one of the only two rides open that weekend, the other was the carousel).  Since we were the only people on the ride at the time it was no big deal.  But, it was rather humorous listening to the two boys singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" at the top of their lungs while floating through The Mine.

I'd say about 1/3 of the park was shut down due to the snow and coldness.  The park was offering the general public discounted tickets ($30) if they came over the weekend.  The Grand Exposition was completely roped off as was Wilson's Farm, Midtown, the path to Wildfire/AP, and the path up the hill to Powder Keg.  The Skillets were closed as were many of the food stands.  Some shops were closed, most notably the Woodcarvers and Christmas Hollow.  Seemed ironic to have Christmas Hollow closed, but I'm thinking that it might have had something to with snow on the accessibility ramps.  Geyser Gulch was open on Saturday but roped off on Sunday; and Half-Dollar Holler was closed (with the exception of the carousel).

The sing-along-steam train was also open both days (though it was shut-down for a time on Sunday due to ice in the brake lines).  We rode Saturday night. We were able to walk right on and sit in the middle car.  When we stopped we were right in front of Grandpa.  Best seat ever.  But when the train moved, it was ccooolllddd, with snow blowing in your face off the roof of the train car in front of you.  It started sleeting when Grandpa started telling the story.  But it was as beautiful as ever.

On Sunday we arrived in time for the 2:00pm worship service.  We (our family) were the only ones there, other than the Parson, Linda (piano) and the guest speaker and his wife.  Grandma is always bragging about how well her grandsons are able to sing, so they were invited to sing "Silent Night" as a special during the service.  After the service we rode the Flooded Mine, and then saw the new Frosty show.  It is much better than the previous one (IMO).  Shorty Hatfield still plays "Chris" and the same girl plays "Holly" but the new program features a new character-- the Sugar Plum Faerie. If you've seen the city's rendition of "A Christmas Carol" the new Faerie is very similar to the "Ghost of Christmas Present,"  and she adds another dimension of humor to the show.  In the new show, the Sugar Plum Faerie helps the kids bring Frosty back to life.  It was really a fun show. Though, if they ever asked me, I'd still tell them to bring back TINKER!!!  After Frosty we went to see "A Christmas Carol".  Walked right on in, sat center stage, best seats ever.  And the show was fabulous as usual.

Well, I've got more to share, but I'm home now and I have to work tomorrow so bed-time beckons.

To Be Continued....

Parson-so you are the one that stole MY apple dumplin!!!!   Well Im sorry for the ringing in your ears all day.      Naw I wasnt down there (darnnit), but I am glad that you got an apple dumplin.   Hope you made it back to "THE LOU" in good shape.

qwed94--If I knew you wanted one, I would have saved it for you.  Cause, I was able to get another one on Sunday. 

And...most importantly, I was able to score the very last Apple Dumpling they had on sale.  It was cold.  But it was good and more importantly...it was mine!!! The victory was doubly sweet, since my last visit, they sold out and I couldn't get one.

Hey Paige,
We finally made it.  Caleb is ready to go to work.  Hope we can see you before we leave.

We visited the park today.  With all the snow it is gorgeous.  You know it is cold when the steam from the train feels like tiny ice pellets when you ride through it.  Most of the shops were closed.  But many of the shows were still running.  Saw It's a Wonderful Life.  It was really good. I will post more later.  This cold weather is aggravating my "arthur-itis" and its hard to type..  Talked to Terry Sanders.  He said there were over 2,100 people on park today.  Though the number was low.  It was actually pretty good given the weather. Drove from St. Louis.  The Interstates where clear as was 65.  Branson is still pretty messy, though 76 from Branson to the city was passable.  Hopefully we will get to go back tomorrow.  But they are calling for more precip. so we will see.

Hey!  A Spring event sounds pretty good to me!!

Hopefully! Of course the last time hosted a "Spring Event" it snowed.  And that was in May!

Just got word from ACE that Coaster Christmas has been cancelled.  Here is a portion of the e-mail I received.

"Attention all ACE Members,
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we have decided to CANCEL  the Coaster Christmas event this year scheduled for Saturday December 7th at SDC.  We will of course be issuing a full refund for the event within the next few days (this is a first for us so its got quite a learning curve)."

"I want to sincerely apologize, some who have come to Coaster Christmas for many years know how important this event is for me, which  makes it even harder to have to cancel.  The decision was only made this morning after being advised that the park would only minimally be operational tomorrow, with no rides in operation including FITH.  Without rides the event would have included only food and presentations, and I couldn't see making people drive through treacherous weather for only that."

"We are also discussing the possibility of a spring SDC event in 2014, there are no details available yet but keep your eyes open for that!" 

"Again I am VERY sorry about any inconvenience this may have caused..."

Maybe they'll put Tinker the talking Christmas Tree out front!

That would be awesome.  We loved Tinker.  I talked to SDC's General Manager about why Tinker left.  They just thought it was time for something new, so they sent Tinker to the "tree farm" and brought in Frosty.  I suppose next year we'll have something to do with Rudolph.

"Parks closed today, folks.  The moose Christmas wreath out front should have told ya." 

Though my sympathies do go out to those who have plans to visit SDC today and this weekend.  We were planning on coming down this weekend--still are, but things aren't looking so hot.  The kids still want to come down to SDC this weekend even though they know they won't be able ride any rides.  Which says a lot about SDC, cause they certainly wouldn't want to go to 6-flags if the rides were closed, and that park is a whole lot closer to us.  Oh well, we'll just have to see what Mother Nature dishes out.

I agree whole-heartedly.

I think that one thing that makes this forum different from others is that, for most of us, when we criticize SDC we are doing it because we really care about the park, not just to complain.

Caleb said he does.  Is he still your assistant for guest relations? 
And Kaylee says "Hi" too.

Some water is essential for FITH braking system. But as biscuitcreek said, you don't get wet, just a few drips, small splash.