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[rubedugans]

Back in my day, they would make root beer and sarsaparilla in the park. Now THAT was some good stuff. Not that Sioux City is bad...just very sugary. One is enough for me in a trip to suffice. I NEVER pass up a craft, or new brand root beer. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to them. I will however pass on a MUG root beer, and sometimes Barq's as well. A&W is a good mass produced Root Beer... I guess I have my own root beer hierarchy huh?

[rubedugans]

One question was asked how high would gas go before you would rethink. replan trips?Gas is averaging $3.47 nationally,  $3.30 in MO...It is about $60 round trip for our gas right now...I don't know how much higher I can allow it to go before I (yes collective gasp) question my number of trips each year. Now I am not saying call off trips....just that I will question it...and quickly get in the car and begin driving before I come to a realization!

[mhguy77]

Interestingly I read that during the 70's gas hikes that SDC would reimburse you for your gas "to" SDC if you brought receipts.
Something tells me the suits in Atlanta wouldn't even consider that, but this was in the old days when it was a family operation.
Cause it aint a family business now.

[Junior]

I do not remember any program to reimburse people for gas in the 1970s if they brought reciept of gas to SDC. I do know that Peter Herschend helped form the "Ozark Marketing Council" about the late 70s (I think in 1979) in part to run a publicity campaign to let people know that the gasoline supply in the area was good and that gas was readily available to vacationers. Then they ran another publicity campaign after Highway 76 was expanded from a two lane highway to a highway with a left turn lane. I still have in my files a red bumper sticker the OMC distributed with white lettering that says "Ozark courtesy is contagious, I'll help you turn left" and locals put the sticker on their front left bumper, then stopped in traffic when possible to allow people to turn left. It was a successful campaign, and my parents had a sticker on the front of our old Ford LTD.

[mhguy77]

As I understood that was a tacticused by SDC.
Possibly I am mistaken. This evening will include research to find this information.
I will report back

[Zephon]

No, no, say it isn't so.  Changing from Coke to something that tastes like half Coke-half sugar water?  I hope not.

[Zephon]

mhguy77, I believe you are correct.  The idea was that if they could get here, SDC would make sure they had the gas to get home.

[sanddunerider]

thats a great idea.!!   where do i sign up??

[marolinesdad]

ZEPHON...   you have to make sure this does not happen....

[marolinesdad]

THe survey askes if I would consider not attending a park because of the type of soft drink sold.   The answer is of course not but it does mean that I will not be spending any money on park buying Beverages.   I think they should just offer both.

[shavethewhales]

^It's not feasible or necessarily possible if there are contractual obligations to offer both Pepsi and Coke products together, that's why they have to choose and figure out which selection will offer more purchases at lower distribution rates. Even the root beer, lemonade, and most other food items are sold under similar contracts, I'm sure. It was certainly noticeable to me when they changed suppliers of their BBQ a few years back. I wish they would go back to quality over price for that one item, it would help restrengthen the park's reputation as a food destination, which has been diminished to some extent in the past decade, IMO.

[rubedugans]

Tough when parks like Hilday WOrld are offering FREE Unlimited drinks...They have Pepsi BTW
From their website...

Free soft drinks all day, every day!
You'll never pay for a soft drink while at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari!
Soft drinks are free and unlimited—including carbonated beverages, pink lemonade, fruit punch, orange Gatorade, sweetened iced tea, coffee and ice water—in both parks. The drinks are available at special Pepsi Oasis self-serve drink buildings located throughout the parks, plus at all food outlets. In addition, unsweetened iced tea is available at Kringle's Kafe, The Alamo, Safari Pizza, Jungle Jake's and ZOOMbabwe Grille.

No tricks or gimmicks, and no special cups. We want to thank you for your family's visit....with free soft drinks and free parking, plus free sunscreen and inner-tube usage in Splashin' Safari. Come see us soon!

[rubedugans]

In case you are wondering:

SF- Coca Cola
DW/DL-Coca Cola
WOF-Pepsi

[saloongal]

Will the soda they serve affect my decision to go? No
Will the price of gas deter me? No

Will both of those things impact the amount of money I spend in the park? Yes.

We pack a cooler anyway so I would just include a few sodas in it as well.  We mostly drink frozen lemonade on our summer visits.  And if gas goes up, the total budget for the trip does not, so we will go, there jsut won't be any in park purchases or dinners out.

[Andymeets1880s]

*Sigh*..... The decisions, the decisions. SDC is a reason you wish that you could be rich. Having to budget when you want food, shirts, hats, merchandise, etc. It's hard to have to pick and choose when you are on a budget and are stuck on what you want. I hate that!

"Well.....I'll just have to get that shirt next time."