2013 Trip Reviews...

How-doFolks · July 07, 2013, 09:19:56 PM

Great review HikerDan, glad ya had fun! Just reading it got me all excited for July 22nd.

warp9p65 · July 07, 2013, 09:32:45 PM

It was a gorgeous day in the city. It wasn't very crowded, but still had to park in the very back at stop 3 about 2:30pm. This trip was my "fun" for the long holiday weekend, as I had to work the entire remainder of it. Took advantage of some of the coupons I got in the mail a couple weeks ago. I used the $1 off tater-twister, the apple turnover for $2.99, the 30% off peanut brittle, and the $2 off take-home cinnamon rolls. Also had the pulled pork and beans at the rib house. I guess all I did this trip was eat, lol.

No lines at Outlaw Run by 5PM. Just step right on, plus two trains were running......partially empty ! Enjoyed a Frisco train ride before leaving. There was a different actor playing the part of "Ralphie". I'd never seen him before. "MA" claimed the boys as being hers on this run. The city was clean and looked great.

It'll probably be a few weeks before I can make it back. Keep up the good work SDC.

Swoosh · July 08, 2013, 05:07:37 PM

Better late than never, right? Here is our Kidsfest PTR
http://midwestinfoguide.com/migcrew/2013/SDCkidsfest/

Junior · July 09, 2013, 02:52:36 AM

Thanks, Swoosh!

Ozark Outlaw · July 09, 2013, 11:07:44 AM

Thanks for the trip review warp9p65! It sounds like you had some incredible deals, and hardly any long lines to boot!

Those were some awesome pictures Swoosh! I see there were plenty of smiles to go around. For whatever reason, the decorations in the Town Square is giving me a beach vibe.

sanddunerider · July 09, 2013, 11:36:03 AM

warp9, sounds like a positive trip!!!

swoosh great pics as always.

joshblakebran · July 09, 2013, 01:23:57 PM

Great pics swoosh...the front of the outlaw is the best...really enjoyed the science show on our visit...thanks for the updates everybody

okiebluegrass · July 10, 2013, 10:49:35 AM

Like the pictures Swoosh. Keep up the good work

qwed94 · July 12, 2013, 09:14:38 PM

As usual, the pics are great Swoosh. Thank You for the constant updates.

How-doFolks · July 23, 2013, 12:04:52 PM

Well, we're home.. The wife couldnt sleep last night, so we left about 4am this morning. Anyways.. We are very tired so we will let the video do the talking. My brother just got married the day before we went. Please excuse our sillyness & over excitement in the video. My brother just gets us alil' out of hand sometimes. Plus, i am not used to narrating a video like this. I wish there was more excitement, but when ya cant take cameras on the rides, whats the point? Kinda ruins the moment. I may have to make a second video because my wifes YouTube channel only allows her 10 minutes because she does not have enough videos published yet. This first video is the the first part of the day.

Like i said, PLEASE excuse all the mess ups on this video.... Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-2Wh_3CvEk

Junior · July 23, 2013, 01:46:11 PM

One of my daughters and her husband went with a church group last Saturday for a SDC visit. It was her first time, and she loved it. There was rain in the area and so about 3pm the big rides closed due to lightning in the area, so they did not get to do Powderkeg, Outlaw Run, or the Barn Swing. They ran from ride to ride, ate at the Springhouse and enjoyed it, but did not see any shows. They managed to miss an entire area of the park, though, The Grand Exposition area. They had two handicapped people with them and got the special passes for them, so wait time in lines was short. She said the park was great, and there were no negative encounters with citizens or guests. My son in law also said as the rain broke, an employee was encouraging folks to stay on park as the rides were opening back up. However, they had gotten to the park before or right at rope drop, and by three they were ready to head home. I asked how the crowds were, and she said it was a very busy day on park.

KBCraig · July 23, 2013, 07:30:34 PM

Quote from: How-doFolks on July 23, 2013, 12:04:52 PM
Like i said, PLEASE excuse all the mess ups on this video.... Enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-2Wh_3CvEk

Hey, that's a fine video!

Are you twins? You sure look alike!

How-doFolks · July 23, 2013, 08:07:47 PM

Thanks KBCraig. I did my best for ya all on the video, thought about SDCFans Forum the whole time.

No, we are not twins, we are 2 years apart, he is older than i.

Second 1/2 of the day is uploading on YouTube as we speak.. It was fairly busy for a Monday, but i forgot to ask what the attendance number was.

Here is the other half of our day. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xsMdN5PB5U

sanddunerider · July 27, 2013, 09:11:50 PM

Well? who was there today 7-27-13? Who were the lucky ones to be present on a record breaking day> (or almost anyway).... .... Tell us, just how crowded was it? and how far away did you have to park?

mhguy77 · July 27, 2013, 10:56:02 PM

I was there Saturday. It was crazy. I parked in preferred parking. Lines were crazy and the line far OR was out the front door with crazy long delays to send out the trains. The wait advertised on the apple app for outlaw run was 75 min. The sign out front said 62 min. It took 90 min to get on the train. Not sure what was going on. It seemed as if they were allowing a full " circuits " time between dispatching trains. The trains would load up and then they would let the folks sit there ( with a full train behind them waiting to unload) for a full minute if not more, then dispatch. This was not once but every time. They also had the rides attraction manager there at the ride all day. Not sure if this was because of the TX indecent or in they were rebooting the computer between each train but it was really not a good day to be taking this kind of time between rides. Basically is was the same as having 1 train running and waiting a minute for some unknown reason before you dispatched each time.
I paid full for 3 guests to get in only to be able to ride 3 rides the entire day. While waiting for an hour and a half for OR I had several people cut in front of us, let me repeat several. I am sorry if this is an unpopular opinion but " my Mom is saving my spot" holds no water with me when I have already invested an hour and 20 min with restless kids waiting for a ride. I finally had a grown man come up behind me on the ramp with 3 kids in tow and say " excuse me". This was a well dressed man in his 50's that I decided knew what he was doing. I turned sideways when he said this to me facing him and held up my arms to block the way and said " what do you think you are doing?, he replied he was meeting his wife. I looked him in the eye and said " I and all the people around me have invested an hour and a half in the line and you think your time is more important than ours?, no sir" The man then made a call on his cell phone from where he stood and dissapered back into the crowd. ( I was really upset that all these folks were not obeying the rules and by the time you get near an employee they are lost in the crowd, you cant turn them in.) The other guests in the station started to approach me shortly following this to thank me for what I had done. I actually had grown men 2 times my size walking up to me after the ride and asked me what the mans excuse was and thanking me for standing up for what was right. I didnt do this to be cool but I was really pissed that this was going on and I was going to face it head on and deal with it. I will say that the kids with me learned a very important lesson, you don't cut in line and you stand up for what is right. Others will back you most of the time. So after my " confrontation" we made our way down to WF, truly a people eater and were able to ride after 30 min. 3 rides in 7 hours and no shows, shopping to speak of or eating. I stay away from Midnight Madness days for this very reason, it isnt fun to stand in line. There is a reason they are giving out $20-30 tickets for this event.
I did note while walking through the city I often cut across mid town to avoid having to climb hill street. The area around Jacks and the tree house candle shop is a ghost town. I dont want to see the charm of SDC lost but they need to do something in this area to revive it. The line for AP was out of the Q and all the way back across the bridge and into the splash down area when I walked off WF but this area midtown was just vacant, crickets chirping vacant. Time to do something PTB. The kidsfest stuff was still all over the square.
Taffy shop was making taffy and they had a line longer than I had seem in very long time to buy. I stood close and listened to the amounts people were spending. $95 on taffy! $23 on taffy!. They were raking it in and some were specifically asking for the taffy the machine was spitting out. My adult companions and I agreed that just running that machine made the sales double. The minute you walked into the shop they were yelling the flavor they were making and tossing you a piece to try. Very smart move and they were reaping the profits because of it.
We made our way out of the park and jumped in the car, I didnt note where they were parking people but all the lots were full including the sliver of the lot in the middle of the " loop" I hardly ever see anyone parked there.
I always enjoy my day at SDC, even when confronting cutters at OR but this Midnight Madness needs to be revamped. I think they need to come up with some stuff that eats up people besides the rides. It could be a special guest concert on weekends in Echo Hollow or some other special event that would eat up the crowds while making them feel they got there moneys worth. It now feels like they are maximizing the park to the point of not being able to provide the entertainment you paid for.
I think its the difference between having repeat customers and having guests leave feeling disappointed. I am concerned with the current state of Midnight Madness affairs.

1. Fix the rides or show up early so they open on time.
2 Run all the trains you have to maximize the throughput of the rides.
3 Train the employees to understand that they must QUICKLY and safely load and unload the rides to maximize hourly
capacity.
4 Come up with some form of entertainment that will relieve the rides of some of the congestion.
5 With the numbers of people in the park the shops should remain open. The admittance certainly justifies the labor cost.