2013 Trip Reviews...

okiebluegrass · June 22, 2013, 12:22:12 AM

Passed right by these and did not realize they were the facilities

Swoosh · June 22, 2013, 11:51:31 AM

For some reason they have not updated the maps in the Pathfinder yet to notate that they are in fact open.
They are SUPER nice and the AC in there is SUPER cold. So if you need a place to beat the heat, go sit a spell in the new potties and do some paperwork.

sanddunerider · June 22, 2013, 05:14:58 PM

good idea swoosh.. i will stop in tomorrow to check out the facilities!

StaceySue · June 25, 2013, 01:14:54 PM

My parents visited on Saturday, June 22. They said that the crowds were lighter than they expected. Dad got in a couple of rides on Outlaw Run and waited 30 minutes the first time, but only 10 minutes or so the second time. They enjoyed the Saloon Show.

I don't know that we will visit during KidsFest this year. We may just wait until the fall. It may be that I just have a child who is too young right now, but I just remember last year's Fourth of July visit and how hot it was. The only way to cool her off that afternoon was to let her play in one of those garden sprinklers in the "street." She can ride Lost River, but in the afternoon, the line is often pretty long. She would probably like the dog show, but I have seen so many incarnations of it so many times. We even watched one at Celebration City one summer.

I am looking forward to next summer to see how things will change, even if it's just a little. Some new shows that the whole family would enjoy would be great! I really wish there was a summer stage show like they used to have in the Riverfront Playhouse, known as the Gaslight in my memories. I enjoyed shows like Timothy Turnbuckle. Heck, I even liked the circus on ice show.

I saw a Victorian-themed Barnum and Bailey circus once in Dallas. I've always wished SDC would do something like that. Everything was themed, and the circus was a one-ringed show. I remember the ladies in the pre-show with their long velvet dresses with bustles. In the pre-show area, you could walk around watching small juggling acts and such while eating popcorn or peanuts. The front row seating in the main show was red velvet couches. Though the show was Victorian-themed, they did modern things with lighting and sound. It was just beautiful. But I digress...

tiffanylynnt · June 25, 2013, 02:34:08 PM

I was there last Friday. My mom and sister went too. We started the day off at the saloon (LOVE the new show by the way). Then we had lunch at Flossie's Fried Fancies. I got a corndog, just like old times. But the corndog was a little burnt. My sister's was perfectly fine tho. I rode TNT by myself. No lines! But the rides were closed most of the day because there was lightning close by. We did manage to squeeze in a train ride right before closing time. I was going to ride OR but I decided to wait til I brought a friend with me. My sister doesn't like wooden coasters and my mom doesn't do rides and my dad had to work so he couldn't go with us. I was too scared to ride by myself. But I told everyone it was just closed for lightning

The GAC show was good, but it was better in years past. One of the performers is pregnant, but they still let her perform. She sat instead of danced, and for the dancing numbers, they had a different girl come out in her place. The songs were good, but Clint (the funny guy) didn't do a cover of a Tim Hawkins song like in years past. Jessica, the comedian lady, was a cowboy and they had a cowboy set in honor of OR.
Overall it was really good day, minus the humidity

Facebook album, should be public:
https://m.facebook.com/tutterrow1?v=photos&cps&album=a.10200273918879380.1073741829.1495599105&__user=1495599105

Preachin_Bill · June 27, 2013, 12:06:42 AM

Well I was at SDC during my trip to Table Rock last week and I'm finally getting a chance to post. Sorry if it's long and windy but I want to give a full account. I'll put things we did in Branson on the Branson scrolls.
First thing, I got engaged last Monday night on our boat at sunset on table rock lake. This is the first time my fiancee has been to SDC in a long time and her first time with my family.

I left Nebraska when the woman got off work at midnight and headed straight for Table Rock. Met my parents and sisters at the resort at 7:30 a.m. then headed to SDC. Megan and I decided to have breakfast since we just arrived and haven't ate yet. I haven't been in the mill restaurant for breakfast in years and I was just a kid last time and let me tell you, the selection was nothing huge but it didn't need to be...that food was GREAT. Real bacon, good sausage, good country style hash browns, excellent ham, but the biscuits and gravy topped them all. I could have lived off those. Worth the money, will do it every year now. Anyway...

SDC was near empty last monday, probably on account of the dreary weather forcast but as you all know those are some of th ebest days to go. Not too hot and it only rained a little. Rode FM, TNT, PK, WF, and then took the nieces and nephews for the American Plunge and the Lost River! It was fun and its great to see the kids having fun just like my sisters and I did at that age on those same water rides. It was nice riding them as I do not do it every year now that we are all older...but with the kids getting of age I'll be riding again. We didn't hit many shops but the financee and I hit the Saloon Show...And....

Best show I've seen in years. Excellent (and nice lookin) dancing girls, the piano player that's been there for years was in good spirits and was great as always, but the new show was something great. Mean Murphy was great and the guy playing him had a great baritone singing voice. Charlie was played by the taller, slightly older, short white-haired gentleman and that guy can act and he is funny and there is never a dull moment. Great, great show and the fiance didn't expect it to be that good.

Rode the train and we enjoyed it. My mom was "ma". Didn't claim them.

Walked around a little more and left at 3:00. Great day even though I had gone on no sleep. I have complaints that I'll address later but it was great being there with the kids.

Went back on Wednesday. Hotter weather. Had a pecan roll at the bakery. So good. Got to ride Outlaw Run and words really can't describe that ride and how excellent it really is. IF you are reading this and are wondering whether it is good or not, just know that it is and nothing can prepare you for what you will experience. WOW.

Rode FITH. Best roller coaster in the world. There, I said it. And I mean it. Never gets old. Then I walked around with the woman because she wasn't wanting to do rides. We watched Ray ( his knives are worth buying, btw...we love ours for hunting) then we caught only one song from homestead pickers (love those guys..sad I couldn't see more but you just never have time there's too much to do!)....went to Wilderness Church. The preacher in there is a gentleman. Found out we were engaged and gave us a very nice talk about marriage. Woman said she almost cried. He is a good man and loves his job, and we talked a little about how great it is SDC hasn't taken religion out of the city just because of the politically correct haters that seem to be everywhere in our country now.

Went in all the cabins, shops, glass blowers, etc. and it was nice to see the magic of the city was really getting to my finance. We had a great time together. We did Marvel Cave at 3 and it was great despite the punk kids that needed a good slappin'. We bought numerous jams (and they were good), taffy, and headed out until next year.

Time for my complaints. First of all, I realize that things happen and no operation that large could run perfect. Also, I don't go to SDC for rides...I love them but the themes and aura are what get me there. Nevertheless, I'm very disappointed in the handling of Outlaw Run. If you aren't going to be open, don't advertise. It was not open on Monday and the employees talking to people were less than sympathetic and were quite annoyed that people weren't happy about it. If it were my only day there I would have felt jipped. On Wednesday they did test runs for 45 minutes. As was stated before on this board....GET THERE EARLIER. People come to your park, eat breakfast, pay money, etc. and they don't want to go down a hill to see you just getting started. Especially if it has been acting up lately and was shut down for a whole day. Don't you think you'd get there sooner? No excuses for it, I'm sorry. And while I don't need rides to come back, many people are visiting the city for their first time because of the new ride and we need to keep them coming back with a good impression. Powder Keg had it's usual morning down time as well. The other thing was that FITH was closed for a long time both days. In all my years I have never seen that ride closed, ever. I'm not mad about that one, just something negative I noticed. It's not normal for that ride. Some places were closed Monday and weren't as many demonstrations. Why? Because people weren't there? Well I was and I paid money. I'm not a number, I'm a customer. And if we can't complain, things will deteriorate. (forgot to mention that Wednesday seemed quite full and cheery).

Having said that, I loved it and would have done it all again in a heart beat. Overall it was a great trip and memories were made again. You just can't beat SDC. The best thing was that my fiance started saying "next year" more and more throughout the trip...so it looks like she will accept this as an annual trip! Praise the Lord! I knew she was a good woman!

Preachin_Bill · June 27, 2013, 12:13:10 AM

Forgot to mention we hit the dog show Monday and it was excellent. Also the new facilities that were mentioned are very nice.

okiebluegrass · June 28, 2013, 09:33:07 AM

Parson Lee at the Wilderness Church is a dear friend and excellent pastor.

joshblakebran · June 28, 2013, 11:15:16 AM

I didn't do a trip review of our trip, however, one thing I did want to mention is that I met Brad Thomas. He was on the observation deck of the Outlaw Run. The new restroom facilities were extremely nice. The family enjoyed the Outlaw Pizza. We didn't feel like it was too expensive and we got our food very quickly. I had the calzone and it was delicious. I am sad to see more and more of the black asphalt being replaced with concrete...just seems to take away from the charm and unique smell of the park.

Junior · June 28, 2013, 12:44:50 PM

Pastor Lee at the church is a former (from my time of employment on park 78-84) singing bartender from the saloon. I had a good talk with him and his partner at the church, a woman, who visit with guests. This was a few years ago. He and the woman both are good people and will minister with people should there be a need.

sanddunerider · June 28, 2013, 02:02:10 PM

Josh, I am also noticing more concrete, less asphalt.

Had a calzone a couple of weeks ago.. Like it alot, still not happy with the way they are making their "OR" pizza... $:-\$

shavethewhales · June 29, 2013, 02:57:12 PM

Finally got a few rides on OR. It definitely lives up to the hype. I'll post more details when I'm at a keyboard, but right now I'm trying to decide what to do now that half the major rides are closed down. Never seen so many closed rides at sdc... Luckily there's more to do here. Guess I'll go see the homestead and shop for awhile.

shavethewhales · June 29, 2013, 09:17:19 PM

Today was pretty great. I got in a half dozen rides on OR, as well as rides on PK, Wildfire, TNT, TGS, Electro Spin, FiTH, the Train, and the Flooded Mine. I also saw the new Saloon show. The only down part of the day was when several of the rides went down at once, as I mentioned earlier. There were a number of grumpy people to be seen as they walked from ride to ride only to find them closed. Fortunately, SDC staff always do what they can to get things running again, and before long all the closed rides were open again. OR went down at least twice during the day though, and at one point it was closed for probably a good two hours or more during the middle of the day. Wildfire was even down at one point, but it wasn't ride-related (I'm assuming somebody barfed).

Seeing all the downtime today really opened my eyes to how dependent the park has become on the ride attractions. We talk about this all the time, but it's kind of sad to see in person that so many people are there just to ride rides. When I saw a number of the big rides go down, my first thoughts were to head up to the homestead and then do some shopping, but a bunch of people just got mad and were loudly wondering if they should just leave the park. Maybe SDC should try to advertise some of the other park features again. I'll bet less than 10% know that there's an authentic 1800's schoolhouse in the park anymore.

OR definitely lived up to it's reputation. Out of all the coasters I have ridden across the U.S. and the U.K., it is easily the most intense and out of control experience I've ever had. I definitely am no longer complaining about the short length - any more and it would probably give most people a heat attack. I can't remember ever going 'whoa whoa whoa' all the way through a ride before. Every little piece was just so well engineered to give the most out of control feeling possible. I guess you guys have probably heard all this before though, but it's good to be up to speed.

Random note: I saw two armadillos by the tracks during the train ride.

One other thing, for those suffering from celiac or related to those that do, the park has apparently gotten even worse at dealing with food allergies and the like, at least when it comes to gluten. I wasn't there to see it for myself, but apparently when my parents tried to order food at a couple of places the staff didn't really know how to handle it, though they did their best. SDC is big enough that you expect them to have this sort of thing managed better, seeing as so many people have celiac or something similar these days.

sanddunerider · June 30, 2013, 01:02:43 AM

shave, sounds like you had a good day, and with a little `11,000 people there on sat, it wasnt super crowded for you. Your right about the larer percentage of people seem to be there for the rides, not the city as we know it.

I know when i see people looking around "lost", i ask what they are looking for, 90% of the time it is a ride. Not candle shop, woodcarvers, glass blowers or anything "city" related.

qwed94 · June 30, 2013, 02:13:27 AM

Well I agree it is sad that the rides have taken over (at every park) these days. Guess it just proves how times are changing. People of every age are used to electronic gadgets now and in turn, getting used to "INSTANT GRATIFICATION". or better known as "impatience". Rides give us that (instant satisfaction) Unfortunately, candle shops do not. And basically "Money" rules and "Value" doesnt mean much. In other words People will gladly spend $25 on a cheap ready made (can buy anywhere) toy, but will complain to pay $40 on a quality handmade toy from a craftsman who will make it right in front of you. (Thats just one example). Part of the reason is as I said Money VS Value. Another reason, its faster for the kids to pick out a cheap toy off the shelf, than a toy that a kid has to wait a 1/2 hour or longer to hand make. "Impatience". Im sure our parents made similar comments about our generation too. Maybe they were right. The World is going downhill at a high rate of speed.