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[KBCraig]

I hate to hear that the foods are not in the hall.  No Butter Cow either?  what is this park coming too?

That's what I wonder every time someone mentions some thing called "Red Gold Hall"... 

The biggest shocker is the Lye soap is going away...........that is the last to fall,  I consider this the 7th sign.......   I think we are going to end up with a Dollywood 2.

Me too. 

I'm surprised lye soap has lasted this long, honestly. Crafts are hard work, and keeping the ever-rarer craftsmen busy costs money. Either they charge for their products so that very few guests can afford them, or the park has to subsidize them. Or, they go home to their own shops to work their own schedules and charge what they can without having to entertain guests in the meantime.

After Shad's passing (and even before), through the '70s and '80s the "blacksmithing" mostly consisted of pouring cast aluminum trinkets. As a kid fascinated with blacksmithing, that was always disappointing to me. So did the knife shop, which did modern stock removal instead of era-appropriate bladesmithing.

I don't know if the magic of hoop-rolling and hewing timbers for log cabins can replace basketballs and Dippin' Dots in this electronic age. It's sad, but whatever keeps the park going is going to rule the day.

Each of us has our own "magic age" of SDC where we fell in love with the park. In 20 years, parents will take their kids for the first time and lament that there's no Nickelodeon TV characters or Chinese acrobats.

[StaceySue]

I also miss Headin' West, so much that I created my own playlist of the songs (even if they're not quite the same).  I am really trying to look forward to going this fall, but entertainment-wise, there's not a whole lot I look forward to.  I know--first-world problem--lol.  We will probably just go for a Sunday instead of a weekend.  We also will go for Christmastime, but that will mark our third visit to SDC this year, and we used to be ornament-earners for sure!  Our first visit this year was during the Great Snow of spring break.

I guess we just went so often that we're burning out.  I thought it was because we had a toddler, but she is older now and trips are manageable.  Maybe I'm getting too old, but OR was good for a couple of rides, but I would choose PowderKeg over it.  I'd rather have a new Broadway-style show or play or something, but I love that sort of thing.

I know I sound like such a downer, and I do love SDC, really I do.  But honestly, my family is looking elsewhere to spend our vacation dollars more and more.  This summer, we traveled up to Minnesota and came down along the Mississippi.  For next June, we are planning our second Disney trip in two years.  I just can't put my finger on exactly what my problem is.  Maybe it is the changes, even though I thought the "modernization" didn't bother me too much.   Maybe some more special events would help, and I am waiting to see what will be involved in the new summer festival.  I will think on things more when I visit in a few weeks.

[okiebluegrass]

No SDC for me or my family next year either sad to say. I am thinking of trying to find some other Ozark destination for next summer. For the last 4 years, I've come to Branson every year. I miss the way Branson was when I was a kid. I'm hoping to find something similar somewhere else

[Junior]

NO SDC next year? Well, come on down to NW Arkansas. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is worth the trip alone. I still cannot praise this museum enough. You would have to go to Chicago, NYC, or LA to find a better museum, no kidding! It would be a nice day trip, maybe an overnight trip. Plenty of restaurants, lodging, Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove Battlefields, War Eagle Mill, Hobbs and Devils Den State Parks, two commercial caves, many antique stores and flea markets, U/A Fayetteville campus, Dickson Street in Fayetteville for nightlife. You get the picture, I could go on...

[History Buff]

What?  No mention of the Clinton Presidential Library, Junior?

[biscuitcreek]

What?  No mention of the Clinton Presidential Library, Junior?

That's in Little Rock and not NW Arkansas....

[History Buff]

That's true.  It's still close enough that I don't look for its position on the map.