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[Junior]

My brother has a restaurant/catering business in Branson. He says the foriegn workers have more to do with  a shrinking local labor pool than anything else.

[sanddunerider]

As long as the local working people have work and the people being brought in are additional help. I can understand that,.  But as we all know that in MOST cases that is not true..  As we know Branson is not most places.

I just get more than a little testy on the labor/cost topic.  sorry guys!

On another note. junior, which restaraunt is your brothers? I dont beleive i have read you mention that before.

[SDC#1fan]

Well i applied for a position last year at SDC and it only paid $7.50hr (min wage) so if u factor in that a lot of there employees have to drive a distance to get there it is probably hard to get locals to work there.

[Junior]

My brother works with the timeshare places providing breakfasts for several resorts. He's behind the scenes, so to speak, and you won't see much of him or his family. They also cater, so they work with some of the area businesses for small to medium sized special events.

[sanddunerider]

SDC,  true enough, but unless they have a "trade", can the locals hire anywhere for more than minumum wage? flipping hamburgers, working motels, cooking, working shows. basic working skills.

[SDC#1fan]

OK went today during YCW and was prepared for the worst but got the best! When we pulled in around 12 i was surprised to see the first lot to the left completely empty still and them just starting on lot 5. we had to wait forever for a tram and then out of the blue 3 showed up so they could have worked on there timing spacing a little. Once in the park I was happy to see that the crowds weren't to bad. It was just me and the wife so we couldn't ride anythin but the train and the FM (the wife is pregnant). The train ride was good but it was amazing how much u can see with no leaves on the trees. Lots of power lines the park green house and a whole lot of cars parked out back. The robbers did a good job and got lots of laughs. The flooded mine was great as always (my favorite ride). I talked up the operator about the target points and he said the the targets that are 100,000 points are manually changed by maintenance daily so if u can find out which ones they are u can continually hit them every time u play that day. I'm not sure about this because everyone else says the comp changes it? At 3 we went to echo hollow and saw abandoned and sanctis real in concert which was great! after that we headed out of the park to get some dinner and go see a friend who is the lead guitar in a show on the strip. While we were eating we had a waitress from the Ukraine and she said that SDC goes to Europe and recruits people to come work at the park because they get huge tax breaks for employing people on work visa's. After the show we got some food at Denny's where we had the worst service ever but on our way out my buddy started the claw game trying to get a pink bunny for his little girl. By the time he got it there was about 30 people cheering him on and total strangers were giving him money to play. all in all it was a great day at the city and in branson! I will post some of the new pics i took on my flickr acct tomorrow.

[SDC#1fan]

Oh and i forgot to say that there were plenty of BoUnCinG BaSkEt BaLlS!!!!!! Oh and they had a worker posted on each end of the swinging bridge and when i talked to one of the ladys she said it was only on YCW and because of the time that the kids broke the bridge!

[Junior]

SDC#1: Just loved your previous post. Makes me laugh to think, all these years later (30 plus) they station employees on the bridge for YCW due to the bridge "incident." LOL

[mhguy77]

While we were eating we had a waitress from the Ukraine and she said that SDC goes to Europe and recruits people to come work at the park because they get huge tax breaks for employing people on work visa's.

I dont agree with this practice SDC or not.

[sanddunerider]

mhguy, agree with you 100%!!!

#1- glad you had a good trip, wiht low crowds, kinda make me wish i had made the road trip today(sunday). oh well i will be there in a couiple of weeks!

[History Buff]

Hmm.  Unemployment is almost 10%, and there is an incentive to hire from foreign nations?  Captain, this appears illogical.

[SDC#1fan]

History u gotta love America!

[haytater]

Hah! You don't see other countries rounding up Americans to work abroad!

[rubedugans]

Sat April 2-Sun April 3 (Young Christians Weekend-but we were not part of the festivities)

Arrived at the park around 2 on Sat. and took the tram up from Lot 5 to the Park. First thing that we noticed was the outrageous number of "church" vans that were in the lot. Anyway, when walking through their turnstiles, we could hear the enticing sound of...distorted electric guitars? Well I expected no SDC music, and also expected praise music/ bands, and Christian music of which I am somewhat familiar from my and my wife's churches. The number of teens/ tweens was pretty high as would be expected, all of which moved in flocks or gaggles at will as if they were moved by the wind.

Most were conscious of the existence of others, but just as any festival some were rude, and running/ being obnoxious, But again, nothing I have not seen before at other festivals. The rides were packed, as were the theaters with some music, and some speakers on Christian teen topics.

The park itself was clean, and the workers, despite the masses of young'ns seemed to be alright. One worker commented to me that they were so "excited"(said with sarcasm) to be working that day. I was asked this trip, more than any other time, "where are you kids from?" and "Come and see us again" in nearly every store. I know my wife and I were lumped in with the masses being that I am 30, and she, 26, and we both look about 18-19! We did stop and talk to a gentleman working at the wagonworks grill while he was cleaning the grill late in the afternoon.

His name tag was not openly visible, otherwise I would have given his name because he was the most cordial, and genuine worker we met all day. He had relatives far off in the line of family from my neck of the woods (The Boone's-yes Daniel Boone!), we talked about that, college, all the while as the rock music was 200yds away blasting , and upon our goodbyes to the gentleman, he gave the now typical saying "come see us again" and we said "oh we will, we have season tickets". Upon this he stopped his cleaning, and thanked us for our visit, and for talking with him, and for coming again to the park for another year. In hundreds of visits to the park, I cannot remember being thanked. This was wonderful, and eased any ill feelings about the weekend.

We were able to utilize the Pickers shed (next to the petting zoo) for a quiet few minutes between bands to sit and sip a soda. The weather was perfect-mid 70's.

Sunday was great also. At about 10, a line began to form around from Echo Hollow leading all the way down Brown's candy for the upcoming music show. This was a bigger crowd than the 50th party in EH, and bigger than any Christmas parade I have ever seen.


When this began, the park was EMPTY!  Every store was free to walk and shop, and most rides were line free...It did get up to around 90* and late in the day, the slushie stations (I think I counted 3-4 ) were packed, as well as the water rides were full. I needed a peaceful weekend away before my push towards summer break, and this worked well. My wife even said "Could we come back down in May?" so it looks like YCW didn't deter her either.

[DollarCityBoy]

Thanks for the great Trip Review Rube! I especially like the part about the gentleman at the Wagonworks Grill, people like him is what makes SDC such a memorable place.
Thanks for the photos of the crowds! WOW
That new cement infront of Browns sure does look strange, instead of the familiar blacktop that we all love. I am noticing more and more spots they are using cement, instead of asphalt.
Glad you and your wife had a good time!