Top 5 Unusual Happenings at SDC

[How-doFolks]

What is your top 5 unusual things that has happened to you at the park? It can be anything. But no negativity please.

I got hit in the lip by a bug on Wildfire.

On our last trip in Aug. while in the cave, i was making a cricket noise, & saw & felt the breeze of a bat fly right by my mouth. It freaked us all out.

During a train ride, we gave one of the robbers a dollar & he said -- " hey, come down here, i told ya this was the car with all the rich people." They made it a funny skit because a young child gave them some popcorn also.

Got to hang out on the upper deck of the saloon & wait for the next show.

We have only done this once. We left KC & got to the park before the buses were even running, ( very 1st ones in the parking lot ) we thought the park was closed. But, it wasnt. We stayed all day & drove back after the park closed. That was a long day.

Lets hear ya'r stories ya all!

[eagle1]

Oh geese! Over all the years??? Let's see....

Second time/visit on FITH and the ride stopped due to someone in the cars (not on our set of cars) ahead freaked out & tried to jump out sometime before the burning bridge. (I was only 6 so being stuck in the dark for awhile was a little unsettling - keep in mind it was when they actually would have maintenance sometimes dressed up during the rides to keep an eye on things). They walked the person out BTW.

One time on the AP my sister and I were stuck on the ramp going up before you shoot down for 20 minutes or more because the belt or something wasn't working.....remember you have to go down eventually so that was crazy. G'ma thought we did it..... Man that is a steep angle going up, we were squishing each other (us and 4 others) as you had no choice but slide back and wait....

Talk about bug eating...probably at least one everytime I go so not sure that counts as 1 event. Good Protein!

Went to the candle shop with my neice when she was about 4, she thought the dipping of the wax was for her hands & anything else she could stick in those barrels.....what a mess and boy did that cause commotion!

And last but not least, my sister and I brought friends to stay with us one summer at G'mas and went on the swinging bridge. Let's just say.....we "swung" alright, "swung" one of our friends over! Yikes! Now they have more rope lines/catches (probably because of us). 

If I think about it, there are lots more but these were the first to pop in the head. Fun to remember! Good topic!

[Gilligan]

Story time!  My favorite part of the day!  Guess what I am???

Many moons ago, when the kids were little, we arrived at the park very early on a beautiful fall morning.  A skunk just woke up from his sleeping headquarters on Main Street and was walking around.  My biologist husband told us to slowly back away.  A couple of women commented on how cute it was...and "Oh, look! They even have animals in the park. Let's take a picture!"  We didn't stick around long enough to see what happened!  BAHAHAHA!  (Sorry - it still makes us laugh!)

A good friend and her family were visiting the park when a bird decided to fly over and...uh...poop on her husband's head.  They laughed so hard that it made him mad, and he left.  Being the good sport that he is, he returned shortly wearing a clean shirt!

[Gilligan]

This embarrassed teacher did not do what she tells her students to do all the time - read the directions!  Hmmm...top five means...top five - not two! Sorry! 

No. 3  Improving my time in the 5K each year!  Hey all!  A wheelchair only has one speed - that's       quite an accomplishment NOT to come in last place!!

(These last two came from my husband).

No. 4  While visiting the park on our honeymoon (Fall), they announced that the park would stay open an extra hour or two to accommodate the enjoyment of guests.

No. 5  Coffee and cinnamon rolls at Eva and Delilah's Bakery.   

[pintrader]

5.  In 1969 when I was 9 years old I saw a street character dressed as a hillbilly.  He was
     barefoot with a small pebble by his foot.  He bent back his little toe and flipped that
     pebble just as easy as you would with one of your fingers.  Pretty Amazing!

4.  Seeing a live mule in one of the scenes in the Flooded Mine back in 1972.  I bet my
     father that it was real and won $5.

3.  We were seated to ride The Mighty Galleon in the Grand Exposition.  The ride attendant
     set his glass mug with drink on the ride (on purpose).  We were freaked out to say the
     least, yelling at him to stop the ride.  Guess What!  It did not move an inch and did not
     spill a drop thru the entire ride.  No tricks whatsoever, just the laws of motion and
     gravity.

2.  Fire In The Hole stopping in mid ride with all the lights coming on and getting to walk
     out.

1.  Train breaking down then getting a bus ride back to the city + free ice cream vouchers
     for Hannah's ice cream palor.

[Junior]

You asked for it, you got it! Here it is:

5) In 1978, I saw a guest choking on some food. Another guest did the heimlick maneuver thing on the guy choking and saved his life.

4) The old mule that powered the one mule swing died one day "on the job." This would have been about 1981 or '82. Some employees covered him with a tarp where he lay, next to the swing. He laid their all day. My guess is they did not want to bring in a front end loader to remove the carcass for two reasons...out of theme, and someone would probably yell "animal cruelty!" One note: The swing was removed during the winter months and was never seen again.

3) When the diving bell took its plunge into the lake, the lantern lights in the capusle dimmed and people had their eyes glued to the viewing screen in front to see what was happening. Meanwhile, Junior Dugan kept his eyes on the crowd...and occasionally a young mother would take the opportunity to breast feed her young 'un. Junior got more than an eyeful a few times!

2) DOUBLE HEADER:  A) Also when the lights were dimmed in the diving bell, a "lady" used the darkness to change her tampon during a ride. Junior Dugan had to clean the capusle after the ride, and did NOT appreciate that little move! B) Also, when sweeping out the diving bell exit tunnels from time to time, Junior Dugan would find a used condom. Yuck!

1) ANOTHER DOUBLE HEADER: A) One day as people unloaded from the diving bell, a man handed Junior Dugan his business card, and Junior, being the nice chap he was, took the card and put it in his pocket. After the crowd had left, Junior pulled out the card to look at it. It read "you have just been patronized by a member of the Ku Klux Klan." B) I was on park and present on the scene the day Fire in the Hole had that fatal accident in 1980. A Very sad day indeed.

All these things really happened. You can't make this stuff up.

[MissinTheGreenTrams]

That is really rather funny! lol!! you make me smile!

[rubedugans]

To quote a Lonney Tunes character martian... "o....my"

[sanddunerider]

I dont know junior,   that may be WAY MORE info than we needed!!!

[tiffanylynnt]

During the school year last year, one of my friends came to school telling everybody how someone from the KKK put a card on his car while he was at Walmart!! He was showing it around school all day long and got it taken away a few times because some teachers thought he was "promoting" something.

[rubedugans]

They were just creating memories worth repeating Junior!!!!

[Junior]

Memories worth repeating! LOL! I like that. 
-
OK: Here are a few more

5) Young Christians Weekend about 1981, the kids all got on the swinging bridge and bounced and bounced, and one of the support cables gave way! No one hurt, but the bridge was closed about a month or so until repairs could be made.

4) Sometime around 1979 or 1980 the cable on the cave train snapped. No one hurt, but it was strange seeing a Ford Broncho with a winch pull that cave train up the hill...and the SUV had to pull until the vehicle was on the city square side of the hospitality house. Just a bit out of theme.

3) About the time the movie "9 'til 5" with Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin was made in 1980, Dolly decided to bring her two costars to Branson for a couple of days of fun. They stopped in at Shepherd of the Hills Homestead and SDC. Managed to get spotted a few times, but were basically left alone.

2) Donna Douglas (Ellie Mae on Beverly Hillbillies) set up a tent on property along the Highway 76 strip and did a little musical review one summer, around 1978 or 1979. One day she came to SDC, and everytime she went from one attraction to another, phone calls were made giving employees a heads up that she was coming their way. Maintenance men carried walkie talkies at the time, and you could hear stuff screaming out of the radios all day like "Ellie Mae has been spotted at the Flooded Mine."   

1) We had a green water snake...a big one, too...living all summer about 1981 under our overturned aluminum boat behind the diving bell. We turned the boat (themed to look like a wooden boat) upside down on the shore to keep the rain out. We used the boat to go out on the lake with a net and scoop out trash. Everytime we turned that boat over to use it that snake would be startled and just zip right out across the lake to another hideout around where the Eli Tolts submersible tower was. It never failed people would be on the wharf of the diving bell or out front of the ride and spot that durned snake. Scared and fascinated guests all summer long. To the best of my knowlege, that snake never hurt anybody, and he decided by the end of summer to find someplace more quiet to live where he would not be disturbed.

Again, all unusual and TRUE stories from the late 70s, early 80s during my "citizenship" at SDC! Hope you like 'em! 

[MissinTheGreenTrams]

I love the fun stories! Thanks for sharing them! Keep em coming!!

[tiffanylynnt]

Alright! I came up with a few!!

1) Last year, or the year before, a friend and I were getting a few things at the bakery. I went to pay and realized I was a few dollars short. I knew I had the money, but I guess I dropped it somewhere, I don't know. But my friend was trying to count out her money and there was quit a line behind us. A cute boy (probably my age) walked over and said, "I got this." and he paid for our entire purchase! He wouldn't let us pay him back or anything! I don't even know his name and I've never seen him again.

2) A few months ago, the same friend and I were in line for PowderKeg and they had to close the ride as soon as we got off and I was joking and blamed it on my friend, saying she broke it. A young guy (close to our age) started kidding around and blaming her too and they were flirting back and forth. We left, ate lunch, then came back to PowderKeg later to see if it was re opened yet. The same guy was standing by the gate telling people about the ride being closed. My friend hung around the gate FOREVER flirting with this guy! I told her I was ready to move on and do something else. She ignored me, so I left and came back about an hour later, and she was still there flirting with that guy. PowderKeg never re opened that day << that is definitely not unusual!!

3) Back in December, when Show Choir went to perform and hang out at SDC, half of my friends in choir that I was hanging out with have never been to SDC prior to this trip, or have only been a few times. So I was basically the tour guide. It started getting dark, so Robby had me put on his bright orange hunting coat that he was wearing for no reason because it wasn't cold that day. But he had me put on the jacket so my friends could see me so we wouldn't get separated. One of the girl's said, "Tiffany is like the map!" So Robby's girlfriend kept singing the map song from Dora the Explorer the rest of the day.

4) My mom and I went to Branson for spring break last year. It was during World Fest and Mom and I are more into the shows and shopping instead of rides. We decided to see the Irish Eyes Are Smiling show and wait for the rain to pass. After the show, we did the meet-and-greet thing. We were taking forever to leave the theatre because our bag fell over and everything fell out. We were one of the last people to leave the theatre. It was the last show of the day, and the performers didn't seem in a really big hurry to go anywhere, so I was talking to Michael Londra (he's a singer). We were talking about how he got into performing and I told him how I would like to be a performer, blah, blah, blah, conversation, blah, blah, blah...
Anyway, we found each other on Twitter and have kept in contact ever since!

I know you want 5, and I'll try to think of another one! You might think I would have a lot because I practically live there. Maybe I have too many to pick from!

But I think Junior has enough for everybody!!  

The picture is of Michael and I.

[tiffanylynnt]

Ooo!!!  I guess if you wanna count getting to ride FITH with the Far Chief, then I have 5 unusual things!!