flooded mine question

[DocSpeleo]

Are you not working the cave this season Doc?

I'll never leave the cave too much fun walking 600 stairs 6x a day.  And this year we are scheduling tours, or that was the last i heard.  you'll get a ticket for the tour you want and you better show up on time or else it is given to walk-ups.  i'll be interested to see if that idea has held through the winter.

[Coaster]

Are you not working the cave this season Doc?

I'll never leave the cave too much fun walking 600 stairs 6x a day.  And this year we are scheduling tours, or that was the last i heard.  you'll get a ticket for the tour you want and you better show up on time or else it is given to walk-ups.  i'll be interested to see if that idea has held through the winter.

Please say the tours are still free....

Why would they go to this ticket system? What types of problems were they having?

[Swoosh]

Slow pokes are always a big problem... and then you have some tours that are huge and others that are small.  If anything it will be so that the fire codes are not broke anymore on the tram ride back up to the Hospitality House.

[DocSpeleo]

Slow pokes are always a big problem... and then you have some tours that are huge and others that are small.  If anything it will be so that the fire codes are not broke anymore on the tram ride back up to the Hospitality House.

Sorry swoosh. it's all about the budget and the fact that we had 7 or 8 guides per day in the busy summer months this season we're only budgeted for 4 guides per day.

Please say the tours are still free....

Why would they go to this ticket system? What types of problems were they having?

There were no problems.  We are like i said in a budget crunch, and one way to save money is to limit the # of employees.  The ticket idea was so people would not stand around waiting for a tour and not get on one.  I was told tickets were used before and the tickets are free.  It's just to save space for you on the tour.  we will have 4 guides meaning we will leave most likely on the top and bottom of the hour.  Things may have changed since early January, I haven't heard anything from the Lead she's been busy digging out the mammoth room and pouring concrete.

[themeparkguy]

Do you know how the reduction of employees will effect other park services? Thanks for your insight.

[DocSpeleo]

I haven't heard of any other employee cuts.
I do know that this year there is no Job Fair.  Instead we are offering positions to all the Celebration employees who don't have a park to go back to.

[RollaJedi]

I was at SDC on saturday and actually had to wait in line for TFM.  Ok, what is the deal with the little room right before the loading areas?  I'm mainly talking about the picture on the wall that has the projection of a man talking showing on it.  Who is that guy?  what is he actually saying?  what is the whole point of this?  is it supposed to be a ghost or something?  Just always intrigued me and i'd forgotten about it until saturday. 

also noticed in the mine that the guy with the jackhammer now sports a santa clause style beard and the teeth are missing on the rock. 
Also noticed a sheet hanging over the 'window' right before you go back into the loading area to get off.  i guess some people dont like getting a little water on them from the cannon blast?  I never noticed that the blast area on the left of the tracks had been covered up as well. 
And finally, the dummy hanging on the rock holding is gone.  The one right after you exit the mine.  Kinda makes no sense for the cannon boat to be firing now really, as before they were shooting at the escaping convict i thought.  I never did ever understand what the guys in the boat ever said to.  Something like rerdhsflsj erelwhl, fire!

[Firstvisit1967]

why do they have the that thing hanging there.  I thought it might be because of the heat.

[Copper]

I believe the guy in the picture is the warden. I don’t remember what he is saying. We are talking late 60s technology and that type of stuff was big. Think of Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion at the Disney parks.

The guys in the boat with the canon are trying to escape and they are saying: Won’t tell the Warden if we sink them FIRE!

[History Buff]

Who is that guy?  what is he actually saying?

"What are you looking at?  Keep it moving..."

[coalesce99]

I thought the guy (who is now missing) said "I'll tell the warden if we don't sink 'em. Hey!"

Count me among those who long for the days w/out the guns. I doubt they'll ever go back, though.

I was there this week for the first time in 13 years (but I've been to the park probably 50 times or so since I was 5).

Some of the prisoners are starting to look pretty warn out -- they need upkeep. Also why are the lights not going out when the saw blade goes loose? Or when that prisoner said he's getting  out of there "no matter what"? Those scared the bejesus out of me when I was a little kid. Also I liked the falling rocks. Also the water that was about to blast you from the side (but then magically stopped) was gone. It's gone from the Plunge too. Plus I couldn't hear that talking picture on the entrance.

And whoever said something about it being cool in there...not so now. I sweated my butt off in there. Hot as hell.

All those things aside I still love the ride and it was my son's favorite part. We got to ride it once in the front seat and we were the only ones on board.

[Junior]

Back in the early 80's, I worked at SDC and from time to time played a "prisoner" at the Flooded Mine. I, too, long for the old days with the ride...but time marches on and things change. I don't know why the air conditioning was not working in the building when you rode. That seems like a temporary problem that would probably get fixed in a day or two. Regarding details of the scenes, don't know if they need maintenance in there to fix things up, or if they just changed things. If you have any deep complaints about the park, or questions about why things have changed, by all means go to the SDC official web site, where there is a place to offer suggestions and comments. They do listen, they do respond. They want you to have a good visit, and they want you to come back again.

[coalesce99]

Back in the early 80's, I worked at SDC and from time to time played a "prisoner" at the Flooded Mine. I, too, long for the old days with the ride...but time marches on and things change. I don't know why the air conditioning was not working in the building when you rode. That seems like a temporary problem that would probably get fixed in a day or two. Regarding details of the scenes, don't know if they need maintenance in there to fix things up, or if they just changed things. If you have any deep complaints about the park, or questions about why things have changed, by all means go to the SDC official web site, where there is a place to offer suggestions and comments. They do listen, they do respond. They want you to have a good visit, and they want you to come back again.

Cool. I didn't mean to sound overly nitpicky...I had a great time It's just I probably rode that thing 500 times before the guns were added...

[Ozark Outlaw]

Call my crazy, but I actually prefer the ride with the guns. The guns allow the ride to be much more interactive, and fun. It’s a blast to shoot at a target, and to see the gags, and special effects in action.

On the other hand, I wish Silver Dollar City would proactively maintain this ride so that all of the gags, and special effects actually work, and to make sure the original charm is still there.

[dorsal]

DocSpeleo:  "...she's been busy digging out the mammoth room and pouring concrete."

Okay, I'm a big cave fan, have been on the Marvel Cave tour several times, and have the book on the cave.  I have to ask - are you talking about an addition to the tour?  Did I miss an announcement somewhere else, or did you just let something slip?  I know there are huge areas of the cave that have been explored but are not a part of the regular tour.  Haven't had a chance to take the lantern tour yet.  That is supposed to see some new areas.