Leaving SDC

[How-doFolks]

What rituals or withdraws do you have when you leave the park?

When we hit them big ol' doors we always say, " bye City, see ya in afew months." Plus, the days actions always play over & over in my head for afew hours. I'm always kinda bummed out when we leave, just like when i was a kid. We are usually pretty quiet on the way to the car, probably from being exhausted. I always ask everyone what their favorite moment of the day was. Sometimes i throw a pretend fit like a little kid & whine & say, " nooo, i dont wanna go!" 

[MissinTheGreenTrams]

I always feel deeply saddened when I leave. Like a semi close relative passed sad. We to as a family are quiet when we leave. If we are goin home that night, my kid is usually a snoozing shortly after we leave. If we are staying at the wilderness he gets a second burst of energy and I cant contain him . As for rituals, we scour every inch on the hospitality house, they always have something fun and new to look at!

[sanddunerider]

I always go SLOOOOWWW through the HH and turnstiles....

Not really looking for anything to buy,

but I know that is the last stop before going back into the real world!!

[DollarCityBoy]

At Christmas, we always stop under the wisteria trellis and look back at the tree one last time. Once we hit the turnstyles past Ozark Marketplace I always turn an extra one for my Grandmother "Gigi" in memory of her. I do that every time.

[tiffanylynnt]

If its not a day that ends with GAC Nights, I "accidentally" get separated from my family in the Ozark Marketplace and wander every inch of the place and when my mom/friends (whoever I'm with) finally finds me, they pretty much have to drag me to the car.

If it IS a GAC Nights day, I'm always the last person to leave Echo Hollow because I talk to the performers, and when I finally leave there, I walk about as fast as a turtle with 3 broken legs to get to the front of the park.

If we leave town early the next morning I wear my sunglasses the whole way because they cover half of my face and nobody can tell that I'm about to cry. I feel like I'm leaving home and I automatically feel homesick as soon as we pull out of the hotel parking lot.

If we aren't leaving the next day, everywhere we go around Branson or Springfield, I'm sneaky about it, but I intentionally look for stuff from SDC like brochures and I pick them up to look at them during the 3 hour car ride for when we do leave town. The secret pocket in my suitcase if full of old brochures and pages torn out of Missouri Travel Guides that I picked up at rest areas.

[Duelist]

We buy a bag of taffy before leaving (and on warm days a frozen lemonade) to enjoy those on the way home.  It doesn't completely take away the blues but it helps.

[cousin bubba]

we always stop at Hannah's ice cream factory on the way out.

[Ozark Outlaw]

We buy a bag of taffy before leaving (and on warm days a frozen lemonade) to enjoy those on the way home.  It doesn't completely take away the blues but it helps.

I do the same! I have to have some taffy, or candy before I leave. It helps feed the empty feeling during the drive South on Highway 65.

[tiffanylynnt]

We always buy a bag of assorted taffy before we leave. We learned the hard way to not buy during the day cuz they're gone by the time we leave. Its hard making a whole bag of taffy last from one visit to the next. It's even harder between December and March!!

[Junior]

Leave SDC? Who? Me? Sorry, I NEVER left since my first visit in 1970. (Well, it's a state of mind, isn't it?) Physically, yup, I've walked through those turnstyles at the Ozark Marketplace many times, but my mind often takes me back to this special place we all love so much.

[Ozark Outlaw]

Silver Dollar City is my "happy place" that I mentally project to anytime that I am having a bad day.

[Ozarks Gal]

We buy a bag of taffy before leaving (and on warm days a frozen lemonade) to enjoy those on the way home.  It doesn't completely take away the blues but it helps.

I do the same! I have to have some taffy, or candy before I leave. It helps feed the empty feeling during the drive South on Highway 65.

Similar here: I buy a bag (or 2 or 3) of peanut brittle on the way out. When I was younger it would be either a rock candy stick or a jawbreaker. (I tell myself my tastes have matured. Hahaha.)

[bobber620]

We too,  always make our rounds around the HH and then the Ozark Mountain Marketplace. Usually always have to drag the kiddos out of each one because we tell them ahead of time that these two places will be where they can get their souvenirs, and of course they always think that they are allowed to bring the entire south end of the park home with us, so we usually end up spending an hour or so trying to pry them out of the stores and through the turnstiles. Then depending, on if we are leaving and heading home or not, we either head back to Branson and hit the Tracks or Mini golf, or if headed home( since we live just across the state line in Kansas from Joplin) we either hit the McDonalds in Lakeview, oops I mean Branson West and head out that way, or jump on 65 and head up to Lamberts and have supper there and then head for the house. Either way the kiddos are most normally asleep as we make the two hour trip home and it is quiet time for the wife and myself.

[emmabugsmama]

Leave SDC? Who? Me? Sorry, I NEVER left since my first visit in 1970. (Well, it's a state of mind, isn't it?) Physically, yup, I've walked through those turnstyles at the Ozark Marketplace many times, but my mind often takes me back to this special place we all love so much.

   LOVE IT!!!

[Gilligan]

We always turn the "smellavision" on as we walk past Delilah's Bakery (and if not too crowded, we often stop for a carryout cinnamon roll), grab a Sasparilla to drink at home, and find ourselves lingering in HH.