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[Duelist]

Forgive me if I  bring up a morbid subject but with talk of past tornadoes I was wondering where are the safe places to go at SDC?  By the Grace of God I don't think SDC has ever been hit by a tornado but I know they get warnings.  Do they issue the warning on the loud speakers?  Or would that cause widespread panic?  Of course the best place would be on a tour of Marvel Cave but they're not going to get everyone through the Hospitality House and into the cave in the alloted time. At least part of Grandfather's Mansion is built into a hill so I'm thinking the staircase might be a good spot.  I believe the dining at the Mine is underground and so is the bottom floor of the Woodcarver's shop.  The Flooded Mine looks sturdy also.  Any thoughts?

[bobber620]

We were at the park during the May 5th tornadoes that destroyed Picher Ok. a few years back. The same storms approached the park as we were leaving and they rushed us down into the "basement/storeroom" under the Ozark Mountain Market Place. Not much room but at least we were safe. The storms ended up going north of the park and didn't affect us.

[sanddunerider]

how about behind the waterfall?

is there a basement area under HH?  where the tram comes up from the cave?

[rubedugans]

How about the cave? It is structurally like a big basement!

[DeweyBald]

I was at the park one day when a thunderstorm passed through.  Whenever lightning is in the area, most of the rides shut down including the cave.  We were waiting to go into the cave whenver the closed it and once the storm passed it was reopened.  We were warned however that in the event the lightning returns, the cable car would not run and we would have to walk back to the entrance stairs.  One would assume in the event of severe weather, they would use the cave as shelter though.

[Ozark Outlaw]

Is there in fact some type of mass notification system at Silver Dollar City? I know some of the employees carry around walkie-talkie style radios, and surely some locations have a telephone hidden from view.

However, once the word got out to all of the ride operators, and store clerks, and such I am sure most of the guest would be subsequently notified through word of mouth rather quickly.

The cave is actually not a bad idea. It is underground, and can accommodate a large group of people, and with the open holes in the Cathedral Room there is plenty of circulation. The only down side is there is no quick way for the average handicapped person to make it down.

I suppose Silver Dollar City's policy is if you see a tornado to hunker down in the best spot you can find.

[Junior]

They do have a policy. I cannot tell you what the current policy is, I don't know. All shops/attractions have phones. One note, the waterfall room in the cave floods in heavy rain. Moving 20,000 park guests into the Cathederal Room at the cave is not practical. If the electric lights go out...some would freak out. In the entire 7 seasons I was on park as an employee, I remember some rough storms, but  none bad enough to enact a park wide warning.

[Zephon]

Unfortunately, there are relatively few places at the City that could be considered safe in the event of a tornado.  The basement of the OMP might be one, the restrooms under the Riverfront Playhouse, the restrooms in the back of the Red Gold Heritage Hall, the restrooms under Christmas Hollow, the M&C warehouse, the foods warehouse under the employee lounge, the lower dressing rooms in Echo Hollow, the Mine Restaurant possibly, maybe the back areas of the Springhouse Restaurant.  Behind the waterfall would not be safe.  Some of the above mentioned places are not easily accessible to guests, neither will they accommodate large numbers of people, but it's the best we've got at the time. 

The policy as to dealing with guests during bad weather has changed from time to time through the years.  Currently, the policy is to inform guests, and then let them make their own decisions as to what to do.  Employees are not supposed to tell guests to "go there" or "do that."  This may leave some guests feeling confused or uncomfortable, but it's a policy that had to be developed because of the "litigation happy" society in which we now live.  Consider...if a family was told by an employee to "go there," did so, and something really bad were to happen "there," the company and the employee could be considered liable.  It's sad, but there are people who sue when their kid, running down Hill Street, falls and scrapes their knee.

The city's safety officers do keep a close eye on the weather on those days when the forecast calls for it to be threatening.  They categorize several types of threatening weather, depending on the expected degree of severity and how close the bad weather is, into what they call "phase watches."  I think there are four phases.  Shops and venues are notified as to which phase we are under at the time, and they all have established procedures to follow accordingly.  Shutting down an outdoor show when there is lightening in the area is an implementation of one of the phase procedures.  They do have a park-wide address system which could be used to announce imminent danger to guests en masse, but I've never heard it used for that.  Normally, information about weather is communicated to guests by word-of-mouth via shopkeepers and venue personnel, and then guests are left free to make their own decisions on what to do.

[Ozark Outlaw]

Straight from the horse's mouth! Great information Zephon. So basically Silver Dollar City's current policy is if you see an employee running for shelter - try to keep up!

As you mentioned, if severe weather is imminent, then all of the outdoor shows, rides, and other attractions shut down. So word of mouth notification will spread quite rapidly I am sure.

Especially if there were in fact a tornado approaching. Let's face it, in a matter of minutes the entire park would be talking about it!

With so many guest having access to cell phones, and electronic gadgets that access the internet, it is becoming increasingly easy for guest to independently monitor the weather themselves, and to make their own decisions as to what to do in severe weather.

[bobber620]

Zephon is correct in that we were "offered" the use of the storeroom or to proceed at our own risk out into the parking lot and to our cars. It was our choice to take shelter.

[Duelist]

Well said, Zephon!  Since we were at the City last Sunday with storms predicted it got me looking at different places and wondering if they would provide adequate shelter.  Better safe than sorry!

[rubedugans]

I would go into the G-Fathers Mansion...It IS a basement down there, and I could see it being good seeing that there would be no way of knowing if the building was in fact tipping or being blown over due to the tilt!

I could go for the lower level of the Woodcarvers shop also.

Or maybe the Mine restaurant since it is a basement level below the Mill. Definately NOT the glass Blowers shop I would not be a fan of the flying glass.

[rubedugans]

I have been to SDC in all weather. Never bad enough for us to seek shelter, since we are always so close by, we normally leave at the first sight of inclement weather, or we delay our journey to the park to avoid the storms. I have had my share of outdoor weather experiences...(short aside)

I was at the new Busch Stadium on July 20, 2006 when the big storm hit and sent over 30 people to the hospital. No shelters were designated at that time, and because of this incident, shelters had to be labeled/ designated for legal reasons. No one was telling us "go here" etc due to the legal issues as said above, we simply had to ride it out under the upper deck since the food kiosks, and trash cans were flying everywhere making it unsafe to attempt to go to a lower level. IN the end, the cards won on a wet field 8-3. Luckily we had driven to the park instead of the Metro (commuter rail transit system) because electricity was out for hours, the ariport was also out, and it was a crazy sight.

I was also chased while in a car by the only tornado to hit Cimarron, NM in 46 yrs. anywho back to the shelters...

Maybe BetaMike could tell us if the CAndy store lower level would be a safe spot (not neccessarily sanitary with many people in there seeing that they produce food there).

[Coaster]

^When were you chased by a tornado in Cimarron? I was in Cimarron in 2009, when I was with a crew that went to Philmont.

I can't imagine a tornado going through there or where a person would be able to go in that situation. There's pretty much nothing out there.

[rubedugans]

July 26, 1996 We was fresh off our treck and HUNGRY! We took our rental car and our leader drove us to Heck's. Upon leaving, I decided we would head towards the Art Gallery ice cream shop. We were no sooner backing out of the spot when we saw the twister heading for us. It chased us NE out of town and lasted several minutes ( being chased in a car watching buildings being demolished , power lines being knotted, and trailers being thrown around like toys seemed like forever) we were lucky and got out in one piece, but it was VERY close at some times , and is a story I will have for life.