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As a high school history teacher, I can attest to today's lack of actual history education going on in America's schools.
I fear that it is even worse than some of you realize. Frankly, parents would be astonished at what their children were learning, or not learning, over the past 15-20 years of high school and college education. People really have no idea. Even many liberal-minded people over the age of 40 would be surprised.

My area even has what I consider to be good public schools. As a Catholic school teacher, I thankfully have a lot more freedom in my classroom than my public school fellows. But the problem plagues all schools, and it all starts at the top with colleges, textbooks, and bloated administrations.

I was, and still am, flabbergasted at the lack of history education I received in college considering my major was education with history. I literally learned more history, especially American history, from my high school teacher. I only had one truly effective history professor in college and I took two classes with him. I was forced to take more sociology and political science classes than history classes, to be a history teacher!

The problem with this is my classmates didnt know any better and still likely don't, which means their students are learning the same anti-American drivel we did in college. I have self taught myself through books and research. Forget the Constitution—it is literally nonexistent in government, political, or history classes in Colleges. I have had to read numerous books and primary sources and take classes through places like Hillsdale or online lecture series to become proficient enough to teach it effectively.

I have an advanced degree as well and will be going for my third degree soon...and when researching programs, to get an advanced degree in Constitutional studies at one local university had the most absurd class list. It was full of classes like "civil rights and women" and "minorities and the supreme court." There was no class that actually taught...you know...the Constitution or the founders intent. Its obvious whats going on.
I dont think having multiple degrees makes me smart. Quite the contrary...multiple degrees has only made me smart enough to know that they dont make me smart at all. There are plenty of people out there who know a lot more than me.

One positive I can share with this board is I have had three students do semester research papers about the Baldknobbers over the past five years. They get to choose the topic and of course I list it on topic example handouts and also I have the book. Two of those students and multiple others have visited SDC and Im always sure to discuss its history in class when we talk about their trips. And Im from Nebraska.

Long post, sorry...but its no wonder to me that this generation hasn't got a clue. What a reckless bunch of no-good, entitled, willfully stupid idiots. SDC absolutely should NOT take down anything baldknobber related, and shame on anyone on this forum or otherwise who knows better but would stand aside and say "ah maybe its for the best". No. It isnt. We need to stand against this attempt to ruin America, which is what it is, nothing less.

I visited the park two days last week. We had a great time. There was good and bad but mostly good, of course.
My crew included 8 adults and 13 kids of varying ages.

Homestead Pickers are a joy. Glad they are there to welcome people to the park. The entry was great and reasonable with reasonable people doing their jobs. The health check was a delay but done well and we get there early enough to not have to wait. Be there by 9 if you can.

Good stuff: First and foremost, the classics. Flooded Mine was looking and sounding great, except the "im gettin outta here..." line was still missing. But the ride looked good and I could hear the music. Gigs working, etc. Who cares about the guns.
-Fire In The Hole was not only there THANK GOD but it was good other than the very beginning and very end of the ride, which was bumpy.
-American Plunge is still fun, but we all know about the problems.
-Shops that were open were all good, especially leather shop and christmas and candy store. Taffy great, too.
-Bathrooms were clean.
-Food service was very good. They have a lot more on their plate now including sauces and they did a good job.
-FREE WATER. SDC deserves huge props for this. And the workers as well were giving big cups of ice water, with lids and straws too. Thats a small touch that has big benefits.
-Glad to see the Dockside still up and doing shows, hope the rumors of its demise are wrong.
-The new bridge down from the candy shop  actually looks great, much better than expected. Also, to my relief, the     horse sound is still used and the toll operator is still there. Great job SDC.
-The saloon show at the riverfront is a good move since the saloon is closed and they did a good job with it overall.
-Outlaw run really is a great ride, so is powder keg.
-Thunderation may have done the best job with the que.
-I'm really looking forward to the new mystic river falls ride. The theme is looking promising from what I can tell, so fingers crossed. Lake Silver is also still present. But the new area is awful (more on that below).

Now for the negative:
-Why on earth is the church closed? And grandfathers mansion? Seems dumb when some shops are open, I guess money talks. I expect those open next trip.
-New cinnamon bread store/bbq place look terrible. Ugh. The whole area is a serious downgrade other than the fact that its "new". Im sure the food is good, but why did they decide to theme it like that? Makes no sense. And the music? Why get rid of cajun connection if you want to go for a jazz type theme, and the jazz they are using isn't peppy at all. Sounds like a sleezy restaurant.
-Starbucks? Its like they are purposefully trying to ruin the old bakery when you combine that with loss of bread.
-Que operation was absolutely terrible at powder keg and fire in the hole. My goodness, what a fiasco. Powder keg needs two trains.
-a few workers on cell phones, but overall they were good.
-time traveler is still a big letdown for me.  But others enjoy it so thats good. One thing that I think we all can agree upon though is that awful tick-tock sound that ruins the entire area around TT, TNT, bathrooms, christmas hollow, etc. That tick tock is so loud and annoying, they need to get rid of it. Also the aue at TT was very, very slow considering the shortness of the line. Not worth it. It was a waste of time to ride it.

Masks? Meh. About what I expected. Its impossible for people to wear masks constantly, but they did well. Loved the use of hand sanitizer and its prevalence everywhere. Thats more important than masks.

Overall a great trip, will be back late july.

Sorry I am not being clear, I was not asking about the mechanics of social distancing.  I know if someone else doesn't want to, that is fine, I can walk away.  This was more of a general question, along the same lines as "is it possible to just walk on wildfire? or is it possible to get a seat in Echo Hollow show without waiting?"  So for the people that have visited SDC this year, does anyone social distance?  I know there will always be individuals that don't care, individuals have always cut lines, steal soda, push to the front at parades, sit in the handicap spots without being handicapped, and so on. I am asking "in general" is it possible to social distance.

I don't equate not staying at least six feet (arbitrary #) apart from others at all times with stealing or cutting lines, etc., since it is literally impossible to do in a theme park with thousands of people everywhere.

If someone is afraid of covid, they should not go to a theme park. Logic is seriously lacking for anyone who expects to socially distance/not catch a virus when out in public, especially at a place such as SDC.

Overall I thought it was handled very well during my recent visits and people were courteous, but I also have realistic expectations and I don't live in constant fear.

Any guesses on when people will be able to reserve more than two dates?

Right now you can only reserve two dates, but obviously we'd like to reserve more.

I completely understand the current two day limit, but wondering how long they will wait until opening it up for more reservations?  If they do keep it at two dates, they will have to refund season passes I would think?

If this has already been addressed, my apologies, please point me in the right direction.





As far as masks go, I will wear one as the park has the right to establish dress code.  However, I fully expect the mask enforcement to be a complete joke once you're in the gate, and I think most people will be good about it. I mean, if you're that afraid of the mysterious rona, you shouldn't be going to a theme park anyway.

[The ride deserves better than to be removed!]

Just got word from the park that Fire in the Hole is still standing and will be operating!

Glad to hear! The ride deserves better than to be removed!

Fixed it for you.

Great news.

Another show announces opening:

Good for the Haygoods.
I dont go to shows in branson, but might have to check them out now.

^ Makes me a little sad too but the reasons for it do make sense.  They could use a bigger depot and putting it closer to the "square" roundhouse would be more convenient for the engineers.  I'm ready to ride the train again!!! <sigh>

Disagree. It doesnt make sense. Think about everything and all the work that would have to be done. Everything that would have to be tore out, replaced, rebuilt, refunded...on and on.

I understand if I'm in the minority here, but personally I don't think we all have to agree with everything SDC does. It IS possible for them to make a mistake, especially when taking something that works and getting rid of it.

Hope you're wrong, Swoosh.
Not only would losing FITH and FM be horrible, I simply do not trust the current administrators to build/recreate anything remotely close to theme. Just be more cookie cutter, modern, computer image, PC crap with no soul or character.

(All right, come scold me, shave.  )

Mean murphy show is great. Carrie Nation too. Love the "Working girl" photo above the bar when they dont hide it 
Love it.

I fully expect SDC to be opened up by June 1st and will be disappointed if they are not.

By then, there will be a lot more tests and also antibody tests. We will learn that a large, large swath of the population has this/has had this and recovered. Many who have it will show limited side effects.

Factoring in the mass amount of new numbers, we will realize that:
A) The death rate for this is even lower than the low rate it currently stands at
And
B) A majority of people already had/have it, making it senseless to keep the entire country shut down.

This trend is already appearing, and if you follow unbiased sources you know this.

There has been a lot of goal-post moving regarding the goals of the shutdown.
Everyone at first said it was to "flatten the curve and keep hospital beds open". Now it has turned into "until there's no more deaths".  We did such a good job in most parts of the country keeping hospital beds open that many hospitals have had to LAY OFF and furlough employees! We went from worrying about beds to worrying about health care workers...that includes both my wifes and sisters hospitals they work at.
People are scared to go to clinics for preventative care. People are dying from heart attacks/strokes that could have been preventable. In a town nearby, a lady who used to go in for routine appointments had a heart attack, died en route to hospital, and her death was ruled covid as she was tested positive for it afterward. If you don't think covid deaths are over-reported, I have some ocean front property to sell you in Branson...

Look covid is horrible and it is scary. But the cure is at this point worse than the illness. We cannot continue being shut down. For people who like "Models" and "projections", realclearpolitics reported that the National bureau of economic research estimated that 77,000 deaths are possible due to layoffs from the shutdown. These are called "deaths of despair". Not to mention all the unintended consequences the shutdown leads to that are negative.

Open it up. It's time to live again. Bring your hand sanitizer and smile.

I traveled to the basement yesterday.
It was nice. Think I might go back soon. Maybe tonight even? Gotta check my schedge.....yep, wide open!

AND BTW... I am currently on health department quarantine from my trip to the UK. I just started back to the US division of the UK company I am transferring to and I have no health insurance yet. I was out of work from the end of September until beginning of February waiting on the UK and Visa info. Missouri unemployment maxes out at $1280 a month... and I was making that in 4 days work! So if I get sick right now, I will be completely crippled by the medical debt. So far, no symptoms although I was all over the UK where cases were - even places I was working on this project.

So... after just having a real paycheck coming in again, I could be completely crippled by medical debt if I get sick. And all of the people who are sick are also racking up massive medical debt. We may have the "best medical in the world" but if no one can live because of crippling debt after the treatment, is it worth it? As opposed to people in Canada and the UK who have the treatment free

This coronavirus is stretching the health system here to its limits... but they will recover. It is the financial strain on all who get it that will be harder to overcome than the long term health effects. And here is something fundamentally wrong with that

-Do you also fall into the category as those you speak of who are uninformed, or are you "kidding yourself" into thinking you are not?
-There is no such thing as free. It does not exist.
-Is there any chance that govt intervention has increased health costs?
-Is there anyone who chooses to come to America for heath treatment?
-Do you really think other health care systems/economies are somehow NOT strained by the current virus situation?

Do you not have insurance?
I hope you are well and do not suffer medically, emotionally, or financially during this unprecedented and difficult time.
(although Im sure we all will to a small degree.)

Joy, Jemmicat, Hang in there. I too am agnostic and Anti Trump. Seems like someone is always trying to slyly get their political views into this forum but I just disregard the ignorance. I wonder how many of them will accept the socialist government check they are about to get. 

I have found out you can enjoy SDC and Branson without worshiping the GGG. Just skip all the pandering patriotic , religious stuff and go your own way. Best of luck to you.

It isnt "pandering" if you believe in it.

I certainly agree with and genuinely appreciate, however, your choice to simply skip it and go your own way if you don't like it, instead of complaining about it and trying to paint the park and those who do like it as horrible people and "change must happen now!" Etc etc in an attempt to change the park from what it is and always has been into another unchristian,unpatriotic, worldly place.

So thank you for your choice to simply "agree to disagree" and appreciate the aspects of the park you enjoy.

Someone linked unironically to a right-wing news site. I wasn't the one who brought "politics" into the mix. Also, how is discussing the state of our healthcare political? It's simply fact.

I have a feeling the people who think we have a great healthcare system are not poor and disabled like people like me.

Also, tell me how a healthcare system can be great when a single hospital-grade ventilator costs between $25,000 and $50,000. (https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/03/what-is-a-ventilator-how-much-does-one-cost.html)

How can a healthcare system be great when so many people are uninsured? When so many people call Uber or Lyft to take them to the hospital because it's cheaper than an ambulance?

I'm thisclose to straight-up leaving this forum. I have seen too many back-handed right-wing, racist comments over the last few years, and I honestly feel unwelcome here.

God, I hate politics, and I hate President Anusmouth, and yeah, I've decided to go scorched earth here because I am so DONE with all of this.

#VoteBlueNoMatterWho!

See ya.

The theme. Not the fake stuff we are seeing.