Messages

16

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Extended Hours- Thanksgiving weekend

« on: December 03, 2014, 03:50:14 PM »

They kept the line for Outlaw Run open until about 10:15 on Saturday night.  There were about 4 or 5 kids, including mine, that were able to ride a few more times after the expected closing time.

However, I was disappointed that many of the attractions were scaled back on Sunday.  75+ temps on a holiday weekend means large crowds even on a Sunday.  But they only had one train operating on TNT and Wildfire and only one arm on the big swing.  Those lines were long.

17

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Ride Temperatures:

« on: March 21, 2013, 10:56:01 PM »

Fire in the Hole closed before the temp dropped to 32 today. It seemed that they wanted the employees to get an early start home. 

18

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: 2013 Trip Reviews...

« on: March 21, 2013, 10:54:10 PM »

Powder Keg and Wildfire were only open for about 45 min this afternoon.  Outlaw Run was open until about 4:30 and Fire in the Hole closed a few minutes later.

We were fortunate to get on the last rides of the day for Powder Keg, Outlaw Run and Fire in the Hole.  Never rode a coaster in the snow before.   The train ride and hold up scene were highlighted by the snowfall.

The tram ride back to the lot was miserable though.

19

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: 2013 Trip Reviews...

« on: March 17, 2013, 06:25:21 PM »

I didn't ask, but the min temp must be lower than 38.  It hovered between 37 & 39 today.  Wildfire & Powder Keg (min temps 40) were closed all day.  Giant Swing (min temp 38) closed and reopened later due to the temp.  Outlaw Run was open all day.

20

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Outlaw Run. . .

« on: March 17, 2013, 04:48:15 PM »

The lockers weren't required today.  We simply left our backpacks, hats, umbrellas, packages, etc. on the boxes and barrels on the exit side of the platform.  The park was virtually empty with a wait time of 10 minutes or so.

21

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Trailblazer Pass Blowback

« on: April 02, 2010, 09:19:04 AM »

- crowd was above projections-

Although I will admit that I don't know how theme parks project their crowds for any given day, I can't see how SDC can repeatedly underestimate their opening day projections.

This year, I checked the long range forecast on the Weather Channel 10 days before opening.  The original forecast was for 65 and sunny.  It never changed leading up to the 18th and turned out to be very accurate.  Also, it was Spring Break at every school within a couple hundred miles.  Given all that, even I would know that the park would be very busy.

I go every opening day as we are always in the area for Spring Break.  This year may have been bad, but it was nothing like 2008 when they were still working on the road and parking lots.  That year, traffic was backed up all the way to Titanic.  Yes, Titanic.  The wait time just to get to the parking lot was 3 hours 15 minutes.

This year, all trams and busses appeared to be running which gave everyone a quick entry and exit to and from the park.

 

22

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Trailblazer Pass Blowback

« on: April 01, 2010, 12:56:37 PM »

No, not trying to stir things up, just sharing some stuff that I was told.  I didn't dwell on the crowd projection aspect as this thread is about the Trailblazer pass option.

I take the family to the City several times a year and will be back in a few weeks.  We'll see how things are going then.  The lines for the rides do tend to die down as more of the shows and shops open for the season. 

23

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Trailblazer Pass Blowback

« on: April 01, 2010, 12:17:16 PM »

TNT, Giant Swing and PowderKeg were all running below capacity on opening day.  The line for the Swing, with only one arm operating, was the longest that I have ever seen it.

During Spring Family Days, virtually all of the shows and many of the shops are closed.  There's really not much more to do than eat and ride.  I happen to like to visit with the workers as I wait to ride.  Since all of the line except for Wildfire were moving very slow, I had a lot of chances throughout the day to talk to the ops, both the ones that appeared to be in charge as well as the ones that seemed to be new at it.

They could have told me that the other train was busted, the other Swing Arm was not ready for operation, that they were understaffed or training new employees, etc. etc. etc.  But they didn't tell me those things.  They told me they were trying to sell more Trailblazers.

Sorry, but I'm more inclined to believe the opinion of several people that I talked to in person over a group on a message board.  The regulars on this forum seem to be very well informed, but they may or may not have been present in the parks at the time.

24

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Trailblazer Pass Blowback

« on: April 01, 2010, 10:03:22 AM »

It sounds like a stupid employee to me.

Stupid because:

a)  They are telling guest the truth and they shouldn't be doing that; or
b)  They are making stuff up.

I'm going with "a".

25

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Trailblazer Pass Blowback

« on: March 31, 2010, 01:09:52 PM »

Junior is correct. Granted, Silver Dollar City COULD be more efficient. However, I doubt they are intentionally creating long lines.

I would believe you both, except for the fact that more than one ride operator told me "we're only running one train in order to sell more Trailblazer passes".

That sounds pretty intentional to me.

26

General Silver Dollar City Talk / Re: Trailblazer Pass Blowback

« on: March 31, 2010, 10:51:59 AM »

We were at the park Thursday for opening day. The weather was perfect and parking was quick and easy.

The crowd was fairly large, and as I expected most of the rides were not operating a full capacity.

Powder Keg had only two of three trains running and the line at mid day stretched almost all the way to the saloon. Wait time was about an hour and a half.

Giant Swing had only one arm operating with the line well out into the courtyard. Wait time was over an hour.

TNT had only one train running with the line out the building and up the ramps. Wait time was over an hour.

Wildfire had both trains running with wait time 10 minutes or less. (This is how it should be done!)

We skipped Fire In the Hole as the line was out past the cemetary.

The line for the new ride was less than 5 minutes. Looks like it will be fun mid-summer.

We never made it to Grand Expo.

I asked some ride operators why they weren't running at full capacity and received two responses:
1. We didn't know it would be this busy.
2. We want to sell more Trailblazer passes.

I'm not buying #1. The temp was in the mid 60s and had been predicted for over 10 days. It's spring break at every school within a couple hundred miles. Their planners need to be replaced if they can't predict a big crowd for these circumstances.

#2 is the real issue. It's almost as if they were creating artifically long lines in order to shame us into purchasing the Trailblazer. If you're not familiar, this is a pass that gives you front of the line access for six rides per day at $20. For a family of 5, that would cost us a hundred extra bucks or about $16.50 per ride. Not worth it in my opinion.

What do you think?