Discovery Channel Filming at Kids Fest

[Ozark Outlaw]

Awesome pictures Zephon!

One thing is for sure, that acrobat has nerves of steel! Did he even have any type of safety ropes, or harnesses? 

Absolutely incredible. I probably missed this point, but was the audience just first come, first served? How did this performance affect other areas, or operations of the park? Could you imagine the expression of an unsuspecting park guest as two helicopters do a low pass overhead?

[Zephon]

I wasn't up at the top of Echo, but as far as I could tell, after the press, it was first come, first serve.  I don't really know how it effected the rest of the park, but I would guess there were upwards of 3000 people down there, so it was probably pretty sparse on park.

The helicopters didn't actually fly over the park proper, but skirted it to the east.  I imagine that people might have been able to see them from some locations though.  And no, Wallenda had no safety cable.  That's why they didn't hoover right over the ampitheater.  If he had fallen, he would have gone down in the trees, out of view of guests.  Still, I hate to think about that.  Thank God, it didn't happen.

[Coaster]

That is so cool! I wish I could've been there to see that. Yes, thank God an accident did not occur.

I remember we went to SDC years ago to watch the STIHL log cutting championships in Echo Hollow. I was just a kid, so I was bored out of my mind at it, so I have bad memories of it. But I remember my parents loved it, but I wasn't old enough at the time to go wandering off at the park alone while they watched the show. Now I wish I would've sat and watched. Funny how that works out.

[husker92]

They shut down Thunderation during this "event".  We were pretty bummed because we bypassed the "event" to ride rides.  Thunderation was our favorite, so we were not thrilled that we could not ride it for a while.   

[rubedugans]

I watched he timber sports series on ESPN that year,and I loved it! I was just watching this years competition this weekend.

[pintrader]

I had some friends that went down and saw the show.  They were pretty much the first ones in line and waited 2 hours in line before they opened Echo Hollow.  They said they announced to the people to sit toward the middle, but that was pretty well ignored because this area was in the sun.  The first 3 rows (they were in the fourth row) had to sign waivers because they were the ones that would be filmed and the rest of the crowd would be used as a backdrop.  They also numbered and took photos of the first 3 rows. From what they told me you had to point with your finger when they told you to and if you acknowledged the camera you would not be used in the filming.  In all they said it took 30 minutes to explain what to do and not do.  After all that the stunt lasted 2 minutes they said.  Oh well! I told them that was their price for their 2 minutes of fame  .

[rubedugans]

Wow, talk about alot of wait time! I can't wait to see how SDC is portrayed or even mentioned on the show. I would assume with the family/ group performing in the park , SDC or HFEC will at least be mentioned.

[Ozark Outlaw]

That’s show business!

Weeks of planning, days of preparation, hours of setup, all for a segment just a few minutes long, and with just a few seconds of audience member airtime.

[Ozark Outlaw]

By the way, did anyone there happen to notice any filming crews in other areas of the park? Surely, they had a crew go around, and get stock footage of Silver Dollar City as a introduction to the segment.

[husker92]

We passed a crew of 3 on their way to the hallow.  They stopped and shot the chalk sign on the ground that talked about the event.

[Junior]

I met three members of the Wallenda family and they seemed very well grounded. (Flying Wallendas...well grounded...uh, well, OK...lame joke.)

[joshblakebran]

We were at the park on the 9th and there were film crews for sure up by the blacksmith's shop. Saw the Wallendas today and they put on a great show.

[joshblakebran]

The first 2 or 3 rows of seating were blocked off. We sat in the 7th row up in the center. We signed the waiver. It was a neat event to see, but as mentioned earlier, the stunts did not last long at all. Mark Richter, I think that was his name, did a plate spinning act with kids from the audience and t-shirts were thrown out to different sections of the theater which filled some of the wait time but it was a lot of waiting for a short show. Still I'm glad we went. You could start going into the theater at 3pm, which is what we did, after waiting 30 minutes before that. It was cool to see the helicopters. We saw them in the parking lot the day before being assembled.

[coalesce99]

I was there Thursday & Friday. Saw the film crew Friday morning filming the big sign at the entrance and asked what was going on.

Saw the helicopter flying around with the dude under it...but wasn't at the show.