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[Joy]

Wait. Were you there yesterday?

My friend and I had tons of fun yesterday. He'd never been there for Christmas, so it was fun to introduce him to that.

Finally got to see the new tree in person. To be perfectly honest, I miss the old tree. I always liked the trumpeting angels on it, and I feel like the lights on the new tree are a bit too blocky.

BUT.... I LOOOOOVED the synchronization with the surrounding trees and buildings!!! OMG, that was so awesome! Next year I'll make sure to take video (I had my camcorder with me, but just forgot to dig it out).

We rode all the rides except a couple in the Expo, Fire in the Hole, and the Flooded Mine. STILL have not had the chance to ride PK at night, as when we went back to ride after dark had settled in, the ride was closed. Walked over to the Giant Swing to ride that in the dark, and IT was closed... So, went over to Thunderation and had a blast.

We ended up leaving at 8:30ish, 'cause my friend was getting tired and he was the one driving us back up to Springfield. By the time we got out onto the open road, it was 9:30. So I think we left at a good time.

Got myself a mug; LOVE SDC's hot chocolate... SO much better than Starbucks. We both got one of the giant cookies, too, but they were a little too crispy for our liking; we both prefer gooey soft cookies.

I got a Christmas present for my niece as we were leaving; I'm SOOO excited about it. I can't wait to give it to her. And it was very cheap, so now I can get one or two other things for her, too.

Got to stop and say hello to Terry over at the Carousel Barn. I love his elf costume; I told him he looks like he's from Who-ville. He said he's had more than one person ask if he's the Grinch; of course he isn't! He's a GOOD elf! :-)

All in all, a great time was had.

Joy

PS: Just wanted to mention how much we enjoyed the ride operator on the teacups last night. We didn't look at his name badge, but he had long hair and a trimmed beard; I thought he looked a bit like Kid Rock. Anyway, he was really funny and entertaining, so my friend and I both wanted to give him a special mention in case anyone "official" comes by and reads this thread.

[oldsdcer]

At the park on Friday and it was pretty full. Took Grandson Hunter (2.5 years)  to the Offical Measuring Station and he finally came in at 36.5 inches.  Took him on the Flying Elephants, The Mighty Gallion ( Which he hide his head most of the time), and Fith ( He screamed out loud at the train drop).  Granddaughter Hailey (4 months) seamed to be intriged by all the people and the activity. Had a blast on TGS ( First time I heard my son-in-law say " I love this ride" and scream like a little girl) and Wildfire after dark, PK's line was too long. Overall we had a good time, the weather was great at 65 degrees but got chilly after dark.

[Joy]

It'd been, oh, I think 4 years since I last rode Wildfire in the dark. I'd forgotten just how thrilling it is! The only light is on the lift hill, and with the color of the track so dark, you feel like there's nothing ahead of you. Absolutely BRILLIANT.

Still can't wait to ride PK at night. Oh well. I'll be there May 1, and I believe the park is open til 10pm that day? Plus there'll always be Moonlight Madness and Christmas.

~"Becky" Joy~

[sdcforever]

^You are correct.   The park is open 9 AM to 10 PM on May 1.

[Joy]

Yeah. I plan on being there all day. Yes, 11 hours of SDC goodness! Can't wait!

Joy

PS: Well, technically more like 12+ hours, 'cause I'm gonna spend the night at Deer Run so I can be over there as early as they will let me in.

[Swoosh]

COASTER CHRISTMAS THIS SATURDAY 

[shavethewhales]

Wow, sounds like we could have had a real SDCFans meet-up, half of us were there! Next time I'll be sure to let everyone know when I'm going to be there.

Tch, I'm glad I talked myself out of trying to go to Coaster Christmas, with finals to study for any everything, but I wish I could be there. One of these years...

[History Buff]

Left our house at 8am.

17K on property today (Saturday) - One year ago, we helped set the all-time record attendance of 27K.

Parked in the quarry, below tram stop #3 - got right in but we were there 45 minutes before the park opened.

Saw Swoosh early in the day, and expect some pictures from the RB to be posted soon, since some of the ACErs were able to go beyond the boundaries to tour the site.

We saw the first showing of a Christmas Carol, then got in line for Santa pictures.  This was a different Santa than we've seen in recent years, but a good one.  He related well with our daughter.  The photos are little expensive, but you gotta get one, right?  We just get the acrylic snowflake every year and hang them all on the tree.

Walked over to GE and let our daughter ride a couple of rides, but it was pretty cold and the Wave Carousel pretty much did her in.

By that time, we had missed Frosty a second time, and I'm thinking that show should be moved to the Riverfront Playhouse.  I'm really ready for another indoor show venue.

The train line is always too long - it has been ages since we rode it at Christmas.  We saw SteamFreak, but couldn't meet him due to the crowds and our timing.  Instead, we rode FM - the easiest ride to stand in line for since it's inside.  The prisoners donned Santa hats, but beyond that there was no redecorating for Christmas.  We reminisced about the Candy Mine the one year they went all out in the mine with decorations; it was strange, but fun.

Made our way to Grandfather's Mansion - crowded.  I've noticed the mansion seems to be more populated with visitors in recent trips, but I don't know why.

Hungry?  I discovered that Tater Soup at the Wagon Works (at the corner of the main square and Hill Street) is half price when you order it in a cup and not in a bread bowl ($7.59 divided by 2 equals only $3.80!).  Plus it's bacony and cheesy and delicious.

Finally, we viewed the initial lighting of the tree.  I recommend the tree performance, but if you haven't gone for Christmas, I recommend that you skip the first lighting show and opt for later shows that are less attended.  The best performance of the tree is the one with the Polar Express theme song - this one really gets the main square hopping.  It's the first time we have stood on the building side of the tree and were able to enjoy the lights on the shops getting into the action along with the Christmas tree lights and surrounding tree lights.

My mistake was waiting until now to get hot chocolate - note to self:  get hot chocolate the first time you see it.  We love using our mug with the one dollar refills for this, but I insist on getting hot chocolate with the works.  Some places don't offer "the works", so you have to use discretion when buying this decadent pleasure in a cup.  Having waited until the entire 17,000 guests were on Main Street, we had to wait in line for 20 minutes before getting our mug refilled.

After a long wait (since you have to stake a claim well ahead of time), we got to see the light parade (We see it every year and remind ourselves that it's always the same - not really worth waiting a half hour for.), at which point we were too cold to continue.  Made it home by 10:30.

Not a bad trip - very satisfying.  I noticed there seemed to be more artisans actually demonstrating on property than I've seen the past few visits, but I am still disappointed that Terry Sanders is the only real character who interacts with guests.  Used to be every employee had an 1880s persona and stuck to it.  Please bring back a real street troupe to spontaneously burst into hilarity for the guests.

[tinmann620]

The weather turned out nicer than expected!  The lines were insane, so I skipped all the shows, except Frosty (Justen Case is the raccoon), visited some folks, then headed down to see Terry as Barney Fife at Big Cedar, followed by a great dinner & backstage tour with the Lennon Sisters & Tony Orlando, had a blast!

Terry said the total yesterday was 19,000+, and sadly most of the characters are involved with the shows & parade (Shorty & Justen are at Frosty, Whoops is in the parade, and Granny is at the turnstyle; I too, greatly miss the characters!

I also added new pics to my Tom & Huck album on flicker...

[Swoosh]

Tch, I'm glad I talked myself out of trying to go to Coaster Christmas, with finals to study for any everything, but I wish I could be there. One of these years...

You missed out.  It was by far the best one yet, with tours of both Wildfire and PowderKegs's maintenance buildings plus the River Blast tour

[shavethewhales]

UG, I'm going to start setting aside funds for next year. It's still a good thing I didn't try going this year though as I suddenly had to attend a funeral.

Yeah, next year we just need to get a bunch of SDCFans folks to go!

[Swoosh]

There is a slight CHANCE that it might be moved to November next season due to the fact that ERT almost always gets "chilled" out in the morning.

[Swoosh]

I also added new pics to my Tom & Huck album on flicker...

I'll try to get my onsite construction photos up by Tuesday

[tinmann620]

Hmmmm... I'm thinking, who does SDC make the most money off of, as a group?  All the SDCfans and their family & friends, or ACE?  I've attended 30+ times this year, meeting many friends there, and taking many with me, and I know Rube has been their a few times this year...  I'm thinking WE, as a group, could do something like Coaster Christmas! 

[Swoosh]

^Well this year, ACE as they had the national convention there.