SDC Vs. Dollywood, Side by Side Study

[sanddunerider]

It's been about three years since I've been to the park but from the discussion it seems the traffic is getting worse. Is the traffic already backed up if you head out there by 8:30 or is this a later in the morning thing?  Any better to come in from the south?  I'm in agreement that the park growth will stall if the parking and traffic isn't addressed.

Traffic at or before 830 isnt bad,  BUT dont wait any longer.. it get busy in a hurry... worse on sat than sunday...

[Okiebenz]

I suspect it will be so crowded next year I am considering buying the season trail blazer passes

[mhguy77]

We have season passes and live about 90 minutes away.  I refuse to go on a Saturday because of the long line to get in.  There have been times when we have turned around on a Sunday if the traffic is backed up to the high road.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.  Also SDC is a tiny, tiny park in terms of acreage.  OTC is miserable most of the time just due to all the people packed in like sardines

Seems to me like a lot of the bottleneck is when you get to the park itself.  They are filling 1 lot at a time.  If they were to fill 2 lots simultaneously it would take more trams but would assist in draining the plug much quicker.  Example, fill the main lot and the lot across the street (5?) at the same time during peak,  break the line into 2 at the last min.  This may be a bad idea in the early AM but 11-2 would make sense.  Once you have drained the main backup you go back to one lot until its full then go to the other.  The lots across Indian Point Rd and the lots between could be used in this way.  The inability of the general public to negotiate a parking lot and successfully find a spot (expediently) amazes me.  You would think they were asking everyone to parallel park at times with the speed they slow down to when it comes time to actually find a slot. 

[Swoosh]

Honestly if they'd direct traffic to specific spots instead of the free for all that they do now it would be much faster

[mhguy77]

Honestly if they'd direct traffic to specific spots instead of the free for all that they do now it would be much faster

Agreed.
I get really frustrated sometimes at the parking situation, even the preferred parking line seems to drag on as well.
I think they need to have a guy walking up and down that line with a hat on that says " Questions?" and he is the guy you have to ask.   Often I think they demand the attendant give them the cliffs notes version to SOTH novel via spoken word before they will drive on.