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I was extremely torn between BuzzSaw Falls and WaterWorks Waterboggan because I really miss both. I also miss Huck Finn's Hideaway and while I do wish it would come back, I want the other 2 more. I also kinda miss Splash Harbor, Tom Sawyer's Landing, Lost River of the Ozarks, and Geyser Gulch. FireHouse Play Place just isn't as good as Geyser Gulch was.

There are a lot of people in the area, and they have good access due to the turnpike, but I still say that without a major IP or something to draw people, it's just a random big theme park with a generic americana theme in the middle of nowhere.

Their main hope of creating a draw is simply building enough themselves to get big, but I still don't see where the $2 billion is going to come from...

Are we already forgetting how SDC came about and put Branson on the map??? Nobody would have started any show in Branson if SDC wasn't here because shows alone don't draw people in.

This park is just outside Vinita, 45 minutes from Tulsa, on Route 66, next to the I-44 Turnpike, and West of Grand Lake. That is NOT the "middle of nowhere"! Route 66 attracts thousands to millions of people every year from all around the globe and brings in more tourists than anything else in Oklahoma.

As they have said, the company already has the money.

Plus, like History Buff said, everyone is tired of Disney and their Woke ideology. We need more companies who are against the woke regime and the creators of this park have already said that they are extremely anti-woke.

There is absolutely no way this park won't thrive because of all these factors!

Thank you, Cowboy (not sarcasm)! I'm glad to see I'm not alone here. More and more everyday, I see those types of posts and it REALLY pisses me off! I don't understand how googling something is so hard to do. People litterally go on Fakebook to ask these questions. If you can get on FB, you can definately Google something because getting on FB is actually harder to do.

During An Old Time Christmas:

Crowds are the lightest on the first week. Crowds get bigger every week. I hear that the crowds get light again after Christmas. Remember, the crowds are also the lightest Sunday thru Thursday, followed by Friday, and Saturdays are always the busiest days of the week. This last crowd rule applies all year round.

If you want more info on crowd levels, crowd predictions, and other stuff, I recommend using www.queue-times.com.

The Frisco Silver Dollar Line turns into the Frisco Sing Along Steam Train. Lights are added along the tracks and the train robbery is replaced with Grandpa telling his story. Because of this, the hours have to be changed. On Saturdays, the train does it's first ride at either 2 PM or 3 PM. All other days, the train does it's first ride at 4 PM. The station opens 30 minutes before the first ride. The test run starts 45 to 75 minutes before the first ride. This is when they pull out the poles to make a long line. Overflow follows the train tracks toward Midtown. They will start the second train by 6 PM, unless the crowds are super light. If they start another and don't get enough riders, they will put one away by 8 PM.

Certain other rides may go into An Old Time Christmas mode too. Outdoor coasters are different and are twice as good in the pitch black darkness. If you thought your favorite ride couldn't get any better....THINK AGAIN!!!

Dickens' A Christmas Carol gets a long line immediately after chain drop. It is always in Opera House. Whatever show is in Red Gold Heritage Hall also gets a long line after chain drop, but not as long or as quick as Opera House. I don't know which show will be in there this year because of how they had to change shows recently.

Tinker's Toy Factory is in Boatworks Theater. Living Nativity should be in Riverfront Playhouse, if not Dockside.

The parade is twice every night along the snowflake path. It starts in Red Gold, goes straight up Valley Road, across Main Street, down Hugo's Hill Street, and ending behind Opera House.

The tree lighting is on Main Street. It is more than just the tree. It is ALL OF MAIN STREET!!! The buildings, all the trees, lights overhead. EVERYTHING! It starts everyday at 5:30 PM and continues playing every 15 minutes until close. Either the first Saturday or everyday during the first week, this time is pushed back to 6 PM or 6:30 PM because the sun does not set early enough yet.

Christmas in Midtown is lights all over midtown, tunnels, lights that slowly turn, etc.

All water rides and water fountains are closed and turned off. All water bottle filling stations are either removed or turned off. Even the old ones that used to stay on because they are built into the rocks are turned off, if you can find any left... If you see Mystic River Falls still running the first 2 weeks, it is NOT open! It may take it a while to turn off, otherwise they just want to work the bugs out and repair it in time for next year. You will have to ask a concession stand for free water.

Themed food and drinks are sold around the park, especially on Main Street.

Discounted Season Passes for SDC and White Water next year are probably going to be sold in the Midtown Guest Relations. This is also where you pick up your ornaments, if you visited 5 different festivals.

Santa will be hanging out probably in Carousel Barn.

Certain other areas will also be closed, but most of these have to do with water rides or some type of a "long route". Echo Hollow will also be closed, so no shows will be there.

There will be family photo ops. One includes a gingerbread man family in front of Riverblast.

Rides start closing at 40°F. At 32°F, most rides will be closed. If it rains very little, these temps will be increased on some rides. I'm not sure if the list is still online. All other weather guidelines still apply too.

The weather gets colder, the closer it gets to New Years. That means more closed rides.

Park hours are Noon to 10 PM every Saturday and Black Friday. All other days are 1PM to 9 PM. Thanksgiving is 4 PM to 9 PM (maybe 10 PM). Closed Christmas, Christmas Eve, and New Years Eve. December 30 is the LAST DAY! First day is the first Saturday in November.

The turnstiles open earlier than 1 hour before chain drop. Can't remember how early, though.

I think we are at 6 Million lights now, across the park.

Plus other themed sound effects, decorations, etc all around the park.

Although I would LOVE to say one last goodbye to the remaining stuff, I already have plans at a different park that I am hoping will fill the void in me that has existed since this park was taken from me. I was probably the park's biggest fan, but oh well...

Whoever goes, PLEASE take thousands and thousands of pictures for us! Also, if you can, please try to take pictures of the 2 garden areas. The biggest one was the Circus Tree Garden across from the mini golf building. The other was along the stream of water (or creek) just Southwest of the current church building (old Celebration City theater) and under a weeping willow tree. These were my 2 FAVORITE spots from any Amusement/Theme park ever built because of how beautiful they are. Still trying to find something even half as nice as those were.

Any individually wrapped, snack foods you can find. We compare store prices and buy the cheapest stuff we can find from different categories, based on price per ounces.

We bring Lance Cream Cheese & Chives crackers, Lance Peanut Butter crackers, Lance Lemon Creme crackers, Austin Cheddar Cheese crackers, Great Value Protein Chewy Granola Bars (we go with any flavor that has nuts and chocolate), Fruit & Grain Blueberry, J.R. Dippers Cheese Dips and Breadsticks (or the Pretzel version), raisins, and Fun Size Snickers.

You can also buy canned pop and put in a zippered lunch bag inside your backpack, if you want. We don't do this anymore since the park has added Water Bottle Filling Stations around the park. We just bring our empty mugs to fill instead. Water is better for walking around a medium sized park like this anyway.

I'm starting to get really excited as construction continues. I had no idea how much larger the show building was going to be. As a HUGE dark ride fan I can't think of a dark ride or at least indoor rollercoaster with theming that's been completed in this area since well..Flooded Mine? Worlds of Fun has zero dark rides and Six Flags has Justice League (formerly Scooby-Doo! Ghostblasters). Driving to Dollywood for Mystery Mine & Blazing Fury was definitely worth it seeing.

Actually, Six Flags Over Texas has Justice League, Runaway Mountain, and Pirates of Speelunker Cave has an official date of opening on May 14, with a preview date for members and a commercial being filmed on May 13. Six Flags Over Texas will now have 3 dark rides total. All Six Flags parks are different, but most have Justice League.

I got to the light just after 9AM, was hoping to get parked quickly, and get in right as they do the chain drop. The traffic for parking immediately stopped that. Both lanes were backed up almost to the light. Lots of people switching lanes back and forth. Lot 2 was already full. They just started to fill Lot 5. I decided to walk from Lot 5 for the first time. I forgot my mug, which was a HUGE mistake (normal mug, not SDC mug). The main entry plaza was packed with people because of the bottle neck wall. The turnstiles line was further up. I went to every locker area to look at the new Best Lockers and prices. The lockers behind the ticket booths were $15 for all day and these are the ONLY kind that are Large. This is why these are the most expensive. Went thru the metal detectors and bag checks. They still don't have an automattic conveyor belt machine! 🤬 UGH! I used my phone as my season pass. I had to turn the light on my phone up higher than any department/convenience store for these scanners to scan it and they still need to see my ID. Why have they still not using our season passes as an ID by putting our picture on them?!?! This would help SO MUCH!!!

First is Rivertown. I noticed that the music is the same Dixieland Jazz music as what they used to play on the dock for the Showboat. It's not really good or bad, but it's DEFINATELY an upgrade and MUCH BETTER than the crap music they play in all the other old areas of the park, plus it fits the theme much better too! I looked at Clara Belle's and I think it looks nice. The splash pad in front of Mystic River Falls is not nearly what I expected. Just 2 areas with water coming out of a rock inside each one and a small waterfall on one. I saw the new Water Bottle Filling Station for Riverfront Playhouse (I will address all of them together, as well as the water fountains at the end). Most of the lockers in this park are the same price and most are the same size, small. These were $3 for 2 hours and you can only use this location, or $10 and you can use every locker location across the park. There are extra lockers at this location, but they are in the uncovered overflow line on the other side of this locker/dryer wall. I walked the 2 overflow lines under the roof that have theming. This has got to be the best theming I have seen at this park so far! Saw all the employee towers. There are 5 total. I also loved seeing the infrastructure and emergency exits. Now to ride MRF. The rapids aren't nearly as bad as people say. I felt very safe and never felt like we would tip over. I rode with a family of 5. The conveyor belts, waterfalls, rapids, lift tower, trough, slide, and turntable were all so amazing! The trough reminds me alot of Waterworks Waterboggan, the raft hit the trough hard, and I felt like the raft was going to fall over the side because of the sides of the trough were so low. The trough was the only part that scared me. The slide was very easy and not scary. Didn't try to tip once. The splash looks alot bigger than the water that gets on you. There is definately a dry and a wet side. The cannons work, except 1. The turntable works great and they figured out a way to use it without keeping it wet with a hose. The goldfish are still in Lake Silver. The new pathway around Lake Silver is open and awesome! Overall, 8 out of 10. Rivertown is my favorite area of SDC now! MRF is 10 out of 10! RES really blew me away! They are a new ride manufacturer and this is only the third ride they ever made (first ever raft ride by them), and I felt like they ACED it! I also felt like they had lots of elements implimented into this ride that other manufacturers wouldn't be able to do. Riverfront Playhouse lockers are also small and prices are $10 to switch all day or $3 for 2 hours.

Firefall was a 20 minute wait. Got to 30 minutes after I got in line. I got pics of the new FITH. They have 2/3 of the concrete in place for the base, they have some rebar sticking straight up, they have gravel in the area without concrete, a guy was using a pounding machine over the gravel to pack it down, and the water lines are in place. We should be seeing it go up very soon.

TNT had a 30 minute wait with both trains running. TT said 150 minutes, but I felt like it was more like 90 to 120 minutes with all 3 trains running (yes, ALL 3 TRAINS RUNNING), every overflow was used, and it was backed up almost to the old photo wall. The Trailblazer Pass line was almost all the way down their staircase. Lockers are also small here and the prices are $10 to switch all day or $3 for 2 hours.

504 was the only steam train running. I think they were running 30 minute rides, even with a long line down the fence, because they only had 1 robber. Flooded Mine was 30 minutes. FITH was 35 minutes when I got there.

Wildfire was a 10 minute wait, but it looked like more than 1 hour because they had people going straight in. Not even going thru 1 overflow! Also, overflow 1 is no more. This is now the Single Rider Line and is the FIRST EVER Single Rider Line for SDC! YAY!!!! I talked to an employee about it, since it was closed today. He said they only use it when the line is long. This makes me like Wildfire even more! The Wildfire lockers were small, but also the cheapest. $8 to switch all day or $2 for 2 hours. American Plunge was closed for maintenance, but I could tell that the slide, pool, and the AP/WF bridge was brand new. I saw the fence around the burnt down Heartland Home Furnishings, Flossie's Fried Fancies, and Pork Rind Stand area. I also saw the bridge was gone that used to be behind Heartland Home Furnishings that had the big American Plunge sign over it. The fence was around this area too.

I heard Riverblast was closed for a while and saw a guy on the roof looking thru a door from the side of the train depot.

I also saw that basically every water fountain and water bottle filling station was turned off, except Hugo's Hill Street, Powder Keg (a janitor told me), and Red Gold Heritage Hall. I told Guest Relations and they said this was because they are expecting 1 more hard freeze before summer. I was afraid some idiot forgot to turn them on or that someone didn't care about their customers dying from dehydration. I started noticing when I was in Rivertown and I went around to Fireman's Landing, and Grand Exposition. We couldn't find a concession stand with a fountain machine near Fireman's Landing. I never noticed how hard they are to find. The pretzel stand next to Boatworks doesn't even have one. This is why I regret forgetting our mugs.

Finally, the Hospitality House lockers next to the restrooms are small. Prices are $10 to switch all day or $3 for 2 hours. I was there from about 9:45AM until 6:30PM.

I couldn't be happier about them having more Water Bottle Filling Stations! It's the right way to go. I hope these are permanently in the wall or permanently in the ground, unlike the ones they started with. They can easily turn them off during the winter and certain kinds are made for being outdoors. I'm sure they will keep up with regular maintenance by regularly changing the water filter and pressing the button to reset the filter status light.

True, but I wasn't sure if it would be for all HFE properties or if it was just a trial run.

Sounds alot like Six Flags's Flash Pass system to me. Hopefully, they will make these passes digital and make it where you can buy them at any time, including the exact second when you see that your favorite ride has a very long line. Also, will this be for Dollywood, SDC, or all HFE parks?

https://www.screamscape.com/html/dollywood.htm

Silver Dollar City LLC has purchased 800 acres near Indian Ridge Resort.  Maybe SDC will finally get its own resort like DollyWood. 

Silver Dollar City has purchased 800 acres of land surrounding the abandoned Indian Ridge Resort in Branson West.

In a statement to Branson Tri-Lakes News, Silver Dollar City Director of Public Relations and Publicity Lisa Rau confirmed the purchase of property at 10054 E State Highway 76, Branson West, MO 65737.

"Silver Dollar City confirms the recent acquisition of 800 acres of land adjacent to Silver Dollar City. The land was purchased for strategic purposes," Rau said. "The land that includes the vacant townhomes is not part of this parcel of land."

According to Stone County's Geographic Information System Property Map, Silver Dollar City LLC owns multiple parcels of property between their newly acquired property and the Silver Dollar City theme park.


https://www.bransontrilakesnews.com/entertainment/article_51294332-837b-11ec-b238-d3c0656e74a3.html

Either for a resort or a new location for White Water to expand.

Yes, every employee you talk to will mention this when you bring up the subject on season passes. They added this for the 2022 and future season passes only.

Before I bought my 2022 passes in the park and was just walking around for OTC last time I went, 1 employee said I would have the option for for paper *OR* digital. She made this very confusing and she was incorrect.

I am almost never there on a weekday, so I guess I didn't realize that. Still seems odd to me. Why so late, and why  only one train to start with? It seems like the train is the most popular ride in the park so you'd think they'd have it going full tilt the entire time they are open. I disagree that OTC is purely about the lights and that most people wanting to ride the train do it for the lights. We just plain wanted to ride the train like usual.

They don't do the normal train during OTC. That's why. Plus, they feel that they need it to be dark enough for Grampa's story too.

My family was there Thursday, I got there Friday, and we drove past Saturday. They told me Thursday was indeed more crowded than we expected. They didn't get on the train unfortunately, but were able to do a few things and had a reasonable time. Friday was very busy during the day until 7ish. The crowds did die down in the evening, but one train ops and half the food stands being closed still made for long lines everywhere.

On Saturday the line to get into the park was as bad as I've ever seen it before they even opened, and I think it was only 1:30 or so before the park was posting their usual high crowd notice telling people to wait till 6:30 to come.

Didn't get to see the shows since I was with the niece and nephew and they just wanted to ride, which I am happy to oblige. We never did get on the train this year. For some reason it didn't open until 4pm on Friday. We actually ran to it first as a group and were disappointed. Very strange to not only have just one train running, but to open it so late. It sounded like they had two trains running later on though. Seems like another staffing issue?

We had a reasonable time all-in-all. Got to do most of the coasters and a number of GE rides with the kids, in addition to the mine with the whole family. I do feel that the crowds are getting to be more of a pain than ever. Maybe I'm just spoiled from the good old days when we could come in and do everything in the park easily. Of course back then there was technically less to do, but the experience feels more fulfilling when you aren't standing in lines most of the time.

Every year during OTC, the train ALWAYS opens at 4 (sometimes 3ish) on Weekdays, including Sunday, and 2 or 3 on Saturday. It has been this way forever, litterally. It has ALWAYS said this in the Pathfinder. That's why you need to read it for the ride times. It has NOTHING to do with staffing. OTC is about lights. Almost everyone who ride the train during OTC, want to see the lights. This is why they open late. They bring the second train out at 6:00 or 7:00 everyday, unless they have very few people in the park.

At times, they will trick you by blowing the first whistle around 2:30 and possibly doing the test run before 3:30, but still waiting to open at 4. I used to wait for the first ride every time, but now I know that it's not worth it. The best time to ride (if you want to ride before dark) is the second train of the day. The first line waiting to get in will be boarded with a few extra people, then it will be the shortest line all day, then it will slowly get longer. Once they bring the other train, the line will get shorter again and should then grow even longer and faster. This is how it works most days, unless there are very few guests in the park.