Search

[Swoosh]

The main issue is the park is in a very RED part of the nation but the company's headquarters is in a very BLUE city.  The liberal mindset is to PC the crap out of everything because "feelings" and that's why we're not allowed to have nice things anymore.  If the real leaders of the company were still in the Ozarks I feel we wouldn't have to keep the re-education of snot nosed fresh of of college brats from coming in and ruining everything because they "don't get the theme of SDC"

[Okiebenz]

I wonder though if the removal of the guns isn't political based, but based on people's entitlement?

It's a thought, but I think it's likely kind of a mix of the two and really comes down to people who don't like guns.  They don't want their kids to play with them.  They don't want to see them used.  Guns are dangerous so don't be near them. Or just plain anti-gun.

I know when I worked there we would sometimes see the complaints, and usually they were along the lines of, "I can't believe you use real guns or ones that make us think they are real."  Like many things they've removed, it's people being oversensitive and offended over things so the park removes them, even if they're a very small number For example, the line about why is ma smiling?  Because that man next to her isn't our pa.  We'd get 2 or 3 complaints a year, out of a couple of million guests.  But that was enough to remove it.

When you work there and people complained, who did they complain to and/or how were you made aware of their complaints?  This is ridiculous.

[sirwillow]

The main issue is the park is in a very RED part of the nation but the company's headquarters is in a very BLUE city. 

Except that it's the PARK leaders making those decisions, not HQ.  They're local decisions, made by people who should know better, on their own.  Can't blame the national office for what the locals are doing and deciding.  It's been an internal park struggle and fight for a long time now.  We fought over the guns and things they wanted to do when I was there- and all of it was coming from certain managers and leaders at the park.

When you work there and people complained, who did they complain to and/or how were you made aware of their complaints?  This is ridiculous.

Guests can make comments, suggestions, compliments or complaints through the guest relations office, email, phone calls or the company Facebook page.  If they were specific to a ride/ attraction/ show or to employees they were passed to the supervisors, then to the leads, and often to the employees. That included both compliments and complaints.  My lead was great about sharing some of the comments the train got, both good and bad.  I don't believe all of the leads do that though.

[Swoosh]

The main issue is the park is in a very RED part of the nation but the company's headquarters is in a very BLUE city. 

Except that it's the PARK leaders making those decisions, not HQ.  They're local decisions, made by people who should know better, on their own.  Can't blame the national office for what the locals are doing and deciding.  It's been an internal park struggle and fight for a long time now.  We fought over the guns and things they wanted to do when I was there- and all of it was coming from certain managers and leaders at the park.

I see we decided to cherry pick.  You apparently missed this key point which addresses your post.

If the real leaders of the company were still in the Ozarks I feel we wouldn't have to keep the re-education of snot nosed fresh of of college brats from coming in and ruining everything because they "don't get the theme of SDC"

Maybe you'll read it this time because this is the reason

[KBCraig]

I never hesitate to play the Old-Timer card, so here ya go: how many remember when there were shootouts on Main Street?

[cowboy]

I never hesitate to play the Old-Timer card, so here ya go: how many remember when there were shootouts on Main Street?

I think I remember that, didn't they clear out areas right in front of the stores and people were shot off the roofs and such, fall into water troughs, etc.? Or maybe that was Six Flags? A lot of parks had those type of shows with Frontier City still having really nice gunfight show.

Something I remember at SDC was the bartender of the saloon standing out front of the saloon selling garters to the ladies and he'd steal a kiss from them. You could also buy the garters from the saloon girls and take them off their legs. My cousin thought the bartender was good looking so she would always buy several garters throughout the day.

Maybe SDC could appease both crowds and have "show trains" where the show is announced several times before the train leaves the station letting people know that the train will be robbed and special effects will be used. Special effects could include loud noises, simulated gun fights, stealing your women, crude corny jokes, hobo nudity, references to liquor, getting bushwhacked, etc.

Jay

[MoOzark]

Okay, so the leadership is very sensitive to politically correct comments. My thought is do they give equal consideration to other comments? Let's say they have 3 complaints about the guns. Then during the same time period, they have 557 complaints about SDC becoming too sensitive to political correctness. Would they give weighted consideration to that? Would they even consider that folks are turned off by all the political correctness? Or do the people who are turned off by the political correctness not even realizing that they have to say something?

[runner1960]

I might be in the minority but I think it is time to end the robbery all together.  It's not needed anymore as the 504 is poweful enough to do the loop without stopping to build up steam to finish the climb (the real reason there was a robbery to begin with at the old location). 

I just cannot stand when a certain individual is out there or acts as conductor.  I can't name names but you all know who I am talking about.

To be honest I do not know who you are talking about. But, I had not rode the train in a few years so that is on me. My main concern was the lack of emotion or acting or whatever you want to call it. The skit was just boring and the cast looked and sounded like they were just rushing through it. If this is the best that can be done I would just say end it also. They basically got blank stares from the crowd.  Or, maybe develop a new skit that is fresh. This one has been running for 40 years probably ?

[sirwillow]

To be honest I do not know who you are talking about. But, I had not rode the train in a few years so that is on me. My main concern was the lack of emotion or acting or whatever you want to call it. The skit was just boring and the cast looked and sounded like they were just rushing through it. If this is the best that can be done I would just say end it also. They basically got blank stares from the crowd.  Or, maybe develop a new skit that is fresh. This one has been running for 40 years probably ?

The problem with a "new script" is that it's actually been tried a number of times and run into two issues- it's a lot harder to write a script for it that's actually funny, and there was a huge demand from guests to bring back the old one.  I've actually seen a "new" version that was pretty funny, but a large percentage of the train wasn't happy with it simply because it was different.

Also, what many think is a 40 year old script is actually bits and pieces that have been cobbled together over the years.  A line would be spontaneously used, get some laughs, so they'd try it again.  if it still got laughs, it would continue to be used.  There are actually a couple of lines that were created and added to the show while I worked there.  So really it's a compilation of various ad libs, changes, and bits that were tried out and worked.  Several are actually from gags the robbers tried on the conductors and they worked so well they've just stayed in the show (the missed day of the week started out that way)

[KBCraig]

Also, what many think is a 40 year old script is actually bits and pieces that have been cobbled together over the years.  A line would be spontaneously used, get some laughs, so they'd try it again.  if it still got laughs, it would continue to be used.  There are actually a couple of lines that were created and added to the show while I worked there.  So really it's a compilation of various ad libs, changes, and bits that were tried out and worked.  Several are actually from gags the robbers tried on the conductors and they worked so well they've just stayed in the show (the missed day of the week started out that way)

What is hilarious delivered by one person, often falls flat when it's rushed through by the next actor who has no sense of timing or delivery or ability to act for the audience, instead of hamming with fellow actors for their own amusement.

My last few visits (all of them more than a dozen years ago), everything recited by the conductor, and portrayed by the train robbers, was just sad and mostly unintelligible. It was all rushed and perfunctory. The robbers spoke to each other, not the audience, and didn't know how to deliver lines in a way that could be heard.