Silver Dollar City Craft Survey

[sdcforever]

I got a Craft Survey link in my email from Silver Dollar City today.  Did anyone else receive this survey?  It's similar to the one about rides/attractions.  They asked general questions (last time you visited the park, number of visits in the past five years, etc).  They also asked you to rate how important certain aspects of the park are to you.  (I was somewhat alarmed that they asked how important the 1800's theme is to my enjoyment of the park).  They then had me rate the crafts and craft demonstrations.  They asked how important each craft/demonstration is, if I'd watched any demonstrations and bought any crafts in the past five years.  Then they asked which crafts are central to my SDC experience and if I thought any were irreplaceable (similar to the rides/attractions survey).  My interest really piqued when they asked me to rate several craft concepts they are considering.  They asked on a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest) how interested I would be in the craft and how likely I would be to purchase it.  Finally they asked which of the concepts was my most/least favorite.  I copied all of the concepts and have pasted them below.   What do you think?  Looks like craft/demonstration changes are on the horizon as well as changes to rides/attractions.

Stained/Beveled Glass
Throughout its thousand year history, the art of richly colored stained glass has adorned virtually every building of religious and cultural significance. Watch now as the art is brought to life through an in-depth demonstration of centuries old techniques, creating beautiful works of art for the most significant space in your life – your home.

Pewter/Brass Spinning
Artisans use the process of metal spinning to produce architectural detail, specialty lighting and decorative household goods including candlesticks, vases and urns. Learn this ancient craft at the hand of a true artist as they spin various metals in to functional household items.

Quilting/Weaving/Spinning
Known as fiber crafts, these time-honored traditions have yielded some of the most cherished family heirlooms. Appreciate this art form as you are guided through each step of the painstaking process resulting in a stunning yet functional masterpiece.

Outdoor Activities
There is a real art to building a split rail fence, shearing a sheep or shoeing a horse that is rarely experienced first-hand in our culture today. Watch and learn as you’re taught these extraordinary skills that once ensured survival.

Apple Butter/Cider Making
In colonial days making apple butter was a family event and we would like to bring back that tradition here at Silver Dollar City. Experience the delightful instruction and amazing aromas for yourself at this delicious demonstration.

Natural/Organic Foods
Growing your own food in the Ozarks was a way of life for many years and is still considered to bear some of the best tasting fruits and vegetables found anywhere. Get expert tips and tricks on growing your own including how to get the most from your soil and preservation techniques.

[marolinesdad]

I just did the Survey..  I think some of the new concepts are good.  I really like bringing back the apple butter making and also the Out-Door activities.

[History Buff]

Here are the pictures to go along with the descriptions provided above:











^The outdoor activities has the potential to add a craft and more of an SDC feel to Wilson's Farm, but seems more likely that it would be located in the homestead area.

The pewter/brass spinning seems like it might take the greatest investment, but I wonder how authentic to the period they would keep it.

It seems strange having a vegetable stand in a theme park, but who knows.

We especially liked the outdoor stuff and the quilting, which could go side by side (and the quilt shop has disappeared recently).  We also liked the apple butter things and the stained glass.  Hey!  Why not do it all?  The only problem is that they keep asking what we could do without; I guess their is some opportunity cost involved in any decision of this sort.

BTW, who could do without the blacksmith, the candy shop, the woodcarvers, the mill, and the glassblowers?!?

[rubedugans]

Just took the survey myself, and that same question popped into my head^ "how could you do without some of these shops/demonstrations?" I grew up watching the rainmaker, apple butter making, root beer making, dipping candles, watching wagon wheels being made (including the heating of the outer rim), making pots in the pottery shop on a kids size wheel, making butter churns,watching the mules pressing sorghum, being able to strike silver coins at the SDC "Mint", it was all about what we saw and were able to do there. There was no WF or TGS, we went for the experiences. MAny of these afore mentioned things have come and gone, but I liked the apple butter/cider making-and the Natural organic foods demos myself (I am a bit of a health nut!). I figure they could fit most of those regardless of the survey, but it is nice having some input.

[SteamFreak]

I haven't gotten this survey...but I would have choked on my pretzel If I had read the question about the theming..they can't change that I mean...come on...really? Can they even begin to question that?*Sigh* I want Mary back.

[rubedugans]

I will just give them a piece of my mind tomorrow! Okay not really I just wanted to state that I am going in tomorrow and Sat. If you want to find me I'll be wearing the Green StL Cardinals hat.

[Swoosh]

FWIW, a lot of the presenting crafters at Dollywood this year were closed down.
Craftman's Valley is a mere shadow of what it use to be

[Coaster]

It'd be a sad day if a lot of the crafts were taken from SDC. I don't think it'd happen though because they wouldn't be sending out surveys on how they could improve.

[History Buff]

Having theming on the survey was a strange question - especially since the whole Victorian theme was such a bust years ago.  Silver Dollar City will become Dollar City if they compromise theming.

For my own relief, it seemed like they were looking at replacing some of the less important craft venues with better ideas.  Lye soap has been relegated to the back burner in recent years  , and I can't imagine it makes money for them.  I never see it actually being demonstrated any more anyway.

Does anyone know which shops or demos are actually owned by SDC and which are contracted or leased to others?

[saloongal]

I did not get the survey, but I will give my opinion anyway.
Haven't we lost some of the theming over the years?  And IMO part of that loss came when they stopped having as many demonstrations and hand-on experiences. 

For instance...I still have a little bowl I made as a little kid in the pottery store.  Everytime I go in there, I think about how great it was to get to make things with the clay. 
And in the candle shop...didn't it used to be filled with things they made on-site.  Now it is just a store and less of an experience. 
Speaking of lye soap (I buy several bars a year) they used to make it but all I see them doing now is cutting and packaging. 

Sometimes I think that I remember things from SDC as a kid with a rose-tinted memory.  But then I reflected on last fall and my 2yo loved watching the demonstrator with the little baler.  And she could watch them blow glass for hours. 

Make me think that even kids who have been raised in the techno-based society and are generations removed from manual labor still have an appreciation for things like this.  Why can't SDC be an oasis from the technology we live with?  Why can't it be a place for your hands to get a little dirty? 

[marolinesdad]

I do know that they had to start buying some of the things.  Like the Taffy The only make a little of it anymore.  They have the rest shipped from Salt Lake City.  They had to do this because they see more than they could possibly make.  They do make a lot of the Candles but they make a lot in the off season to get them thru the year.  So I can understand why they have made changes but I do not have to like all of them..... 

[KBCraig]

I just typed out my own response, but it was too long, and I realized I can condense it to this:

The theme-appropriate crafts that draw the biggest crowds have always seemed, to me, to have the lowest rate of return. Lye soap might be the exception, because the cost is low enough that people will buy a bar or three. Quilting is boring to watch, lovely to own, but expensive. Blacksmithing is captivating to almost everyone, but most of their traditional sales have been aluminum casting rather than traditional blacksmith products. Glassblowing isn't really theme appropriate, but it's fascinating to watch. The products for sale are very expensive, and not theme appropriate at all.

Ahhh, crap. I'm doing it again. Instead of starting over again, just chalk me down as another "sentimental/traditionalist" guest.

[Firstvisit1967]

My grandfather was a wagon wheel maker as a young boy.  My grandmother new how to make lye soap.  My mother still makes apple butter today.  I was great to go to SDC as a young child with these people watch and learn how things were made.  That is what is special about SDC.  I think that they lost it when they built those two poorly themed rollercoasters.  I understand why they needed to build them but.............

They really need to keep up the theme of the park and the crafts.  As a father and grandfather I can tell you that the young children who are shown by their parents the crafts of SDC still love them.  If they take them away as a cost cutting.........much will be lost. 

What is next a virtual tour of the cave?  Instead of walking it you can just sit and watch.  Maybe SDC could build a IMAX at the park.

[sdcforever]

I think a lot of people are interpreting this survey incorrectly.  SDC has some ideas for some new crafts and demonstrations.  They are surveying visitors' opinions to see what people would be interested in.  This does not mean that they are planning to gouge the crafts and demonstrations and/or do away with them completely, nor does it mean that they are planning to change the entire theme of the park.  I think at most they might do away with two or three that are not very popular anymore and replace them with some of the concepts in the survey.

[History Buff]

Remember the last survey about attractions.  They asked the same things about which rides and shows we could live without and which ones were iconic to the park.

Let's dream of all of these concepts being brought in for the 50th next year and sprinkled in appropriate locations. 

Ahh now, that feels better doesn't it!