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[shavethewhales]

We want to hear about your Silver Dollar City experiences from 2015! Fill us in on all your fun memories, changes to the park, and anything else of note.

[Junior, too!]

As always, my request is please post photos. Thanks, all.

[oldsdcer]

Kicked off OR because the seat belt won't fit

[shavethewhales]

Great visit today. I posted about Fireman's Landing in the 2015 project thread. Other than that the major changes for this year include:

• Broom makers are now in the building that used to have Welk Resort salespeople (big improvement!).
• The flower beds have been really cleared out - a lot of mulch is replacing some aspects of landscaping and they seem to be trying to clean things up in general instead of having some areas grow wild.
• Some new concrete on the square
• New train skit. Similar to the old one, but different "story". I liked it.

I was very surprised that there was no opening ceremony at all this morning. No flag raising or talk about the new area or anything. I am assuming this is because it was raining, but it still seems odd not to acknowledge opening day at all.

All the rides were up and running (except PK during the rain), and everything seemed to be as good as always.

The only real complaint I had today was the absolute log jam trying to go through the marketplace. Everyone was very unhappy about this, and of course first time visitors were confused and put off. We've talked about how this is a problem often in the past, but after going through it again I really have to wonder why it still hasn't been addressed. It feels like it is holding them back - how is the park supposed to grow when the entrance and exit can't sustain any more people? DW's entry has been redone at least twice in the past decade...

[oldsdcer]

Arrived at the park at 9:30, like that you can buy one day passes at a Melissa at the old season pass entrance now. ate cinnamon rolls at Eva and Delilah's. may our way to WF, but shut down as we got there due to mechanical problems , PK down due to ran, which lasted up to noon.  Rode Fith with 5 year old granddaughter, that was a blast. Attempted to ride OR this year but the new seat belts are 6 inches to small .  Met up with my daughter and her  friend, went toFL, nice place for kids but not so much for adults. Grandaughter and I rode PK, really loves it for a 5 year old.  New train skit with the sister Ralphie good but not as funny as the old skit. Finished the day wilt FM and TNT and left around 4:30 for RedLobster. Park was fairly full for a rainy first day, even ran into my brother and sister in law surprisingly at FL. Other than the OR issue, this was a great way to celebrate my 60th birthday with my family.

[Junior, too!]

In decades past, late 70s early 80s, there occasionally were female train robbers...could be the skit you saw was an old script that was dusted off and put back into service.

[History Buff]

Female Ralphies have even been pictured in the souvenir books of years gone by.

[DianaGail]

The park was crazy today!  In fact, they have decided to stay open until 7 pm due to the amount of people.  Our first stop, of course, was fireman's landing.  We were in line just in time for the rope drop.  Went straight to the balloons and were on the second round.  Then to the frenzy, dogs, ladder, and balls.  Oh yes.  And the balloons for a third time.  By 11, it was getting crowded so we thought we'd go to the expo and the lines might be shorter.  It only took us 2 steps into the crowd of people to know we would be in for long waits to ride anythingz. We did ride the teacups and regatta.  Mom took the boys on the swings and that took almost an hour.  Went to the rib house for lunch and then tried to ride the train.  I've seen shorter lines than that during Christmas!  Apparently there was a medical emergency a train so it backed people up.  I think those that decided to wait waited about an hour.  Three rides on the carousel later, we were on our way back to the landing.  We ended up just doing the little swings there because the lines were so long.  Overall, it was a great day!  Here are some observations and improve to they should make.

At least 1 of the water features at the splash pad was not working.
By 1:40, fireman's frenzy was down which made the lines for he other 5 rides even worse.
They didn't think about the lines well.  Lines ran in to each other and blocked entrances to the restrooms and other areas.  I hope they fix this as the lines will only get worse through the year.
At one point, half of the things on the ball area weren't working.  They never did manage to get them all going.
They are going to need more canvas bags in the ball area.  

We heard 2 employees talking about yesterday's attendance.  One said 12,000.

[palallin]

A few specific, minor boo-boos Opening Day:

We got to Stop 2 @ 7:40; the first tram didn't run till almost 8:20--I have never seen the first tram so late in the morning.  Several people decided to walk; my wife and I were at the point of walking ourselves till the tram came into view.

There was no Opening Ceremony because of the rain; several citizens said this was SOP, and we had seen it before.  Still, it was disappointing but hardly a crusher.

My wife, the pin trader, found no one to trade with Saturday--nobody had pins on that we saw.  So she is prepared for our next trip (having bought several).

The Pickers and Frisco Jack complained that several chairs had disappeared out of the cabin, and that left a lot of folks standing. 

I really like listening to Frisco Jack, but, Saturday morning, most of his half hour was a canned commercial for the seaon.

The Great Stuff:

Sitting in the cabin listening to the Pickers and watching the audinece participation reminded me that the core of SDC is still there.  There is still a place for friendly folks, no electronic amplification, wood smoke, Ozark woods, and common faith.

We really like the commedian/magician.  And I say this despite the fact that *I* was the one who had to catch the bowling ball and was brought up on stage to help for one act, not because of it.   My wife and I talked to him for a while after his show, and I really like his plug for fostering children in need.

The train was running 4 cars; the revised skit was interesting.  No Yankees or Indians; there's a new danger.  Also, Raphie was not going after "coppers and daughters," which makes sense as Ralphie was a woman.  This didn't bothe rme in the least.  There were plenty of hard, deperate woman in those days.  The new woman conductor, however, I am not so sure about but for ONLY this reason:  it breaks theme.  She's a great kid and looks to know her stuff pretty well for this very early point in her career, and I am more than sure she can do the job.  It's probably just the re-enactor in me.  #13 was dressed up all pretty.

As a matter of fact, there was fresh paint in quite a few places, so they didn't worry only about Fireman's Landing.  Many signs look fresher, and some of the paint on the fences and streets was new.  They replaced part of the depot's floor, from just inside the gates out to the edge of the platform, with some of that new plastic wood.  I don't mind the replacement, but I would prefer wood ;-)  I know the reasons why not, but still. . . .

Fireman's Landing really cleans up the waterfront.  I'm not sure it's much more SDC than GG, but it is prettier and cleaner!  No kids with us this past weekend--and we don't have any more ankle-biters, anyway--so I didn't hang around in there long.  The little ones ought to really love it!  The rebadged toy store is a little easier to get around it, but it has been reduced in size and carries less stock.

We were walking around river front when a citizen came up to my wife and asked her if she had any money.  Puzzled, she replied that she did, and he asked to be adopted!  I told him I didn't mind--we needed another kid at home to help witht he chores and work on the place--at which point he claimed child abuse and begged to be released from the contract.    All good fun--it was great to see a random citizen getting to the fun!

We visited the Pottery, and I happened to be looking at their new featured items, a serving bowl and a chip-and-dip tray.  The latter would be really useful to us!  As I read the big display sign, however, I noticed that it was referred to as a "ship and dip tray."  I pointed it out to my wife, and she called one of the clerks over, who got a big kick out of it.  I wonder if they will reprint or make a game of it.

We snagged a free sample of taffy by getting to know one of the gals working at Phoebe's.  It was great to be recogized by folks at Mollies and elsewhere.  We didn't catch up with Terry, however.

The crowd was small, which made getting around a snap.  HFE might have been hoping for more numbers, but we were happy.

All in all, it was one of the best days we've every spent at the city--and that's saying something.  Sure, not all the stores were open, but we weren't really shopping.  We were there mostly for the atmosphere, and it was present in spades. 

[palallin]

Post Script:   we tried the new skillets down on the lake front, and they were both very good.

[Junior, too!]

Thanks for the reviews, photos anyone!?!

[Shazam]

Here's a photo. I hope they fix this sign very soon. I really don't think that Lucky's favorite food is his family, as this sentence implies. I tried contacting SDC about it, but I wasn't able to attach the photo to the contact form. We will see if anybody responds to ask me more about it.

Fireman's Landing is a much better use of space than Geyser Gulch, but I hope they can successfully work through some issues with the area. The space for line ride queues is totally inadequate, resulting in lines that snake out into the walking area, which isn't really big enough as it is. It often was confusing figuring out where lines ended for each ride.

Charging stations are a nice touch IF you actually have your phone's power cord with you and the wind isn't blowing the splash pad water in the direction of the outlet you are wanting to use. (i.e. They are too close to the WATER.)

My daughter was extremely disappointed in the lack of the "obstacle course" as was advertised. "Firefighter's Fire Escape" is advertised as "An obstacle course of tubes, mazes, climbing structures and slides." In my opinion, this area does not exist. I asked an employee about it and was told it is the climbing structures within the "Firefighter's Fire Drill" (i.e. foam ball pit). Two of the stairways are made of soft steps that supposedly double as slides. I guess the stairs are set up in a maze, of sort, but I did not see any tubes. At any rate, it too much of a stretch to actually call it anything.

We managed barely to catch "Lucky" for a photo. My younger daughter was very excited about that! She said he is SO soft.

All in all, we had a good day, even though the park was extremely crowded. If I had purchased a one-day pass to go today, I would not have been happy. But we have season passes and look forward to a fabulous 2015 at SDC!

[Gilligan]

 

Here's a photo. I hope they fix this sign very soon. I really don't think that Lucky's favorite food is his family, as this sentence implies. I tried contacting SDC about it, but I wasn't able to attach the photo to the contact form. We will see if anybody responds to ask me more about it.

Fireman's Landing is a much better use of space than Geyser Gulch, but I hope they can successfully work through some issues with the area. The space for line ride queues is totally inadequate, resulting in lines that snake out into the walking area, which isn't really big enough as it is. It often was confusing figuring out where lines ended for each ride.

Charging stations are a nice touch IF you actually have your phone's power cord with you and the wind isn't blowing the splash pad water in the direction of the outlet you are wanting to use. (i.e. They are too close to the WATER.)

My daughter was extremely disappointed in the lack of the "obstacle course" as was advertised. "Firefighter's Fire Escape" is advertised as "An obstacle course of tubes, mazes, climbing structures and slides." In my opinion, this area does not exist. I asked an employee about it and was told it is the climbing structures within the "Firefighter's Fire Drill" (i.e. foam ball pit). Two of the stairways are made of soft steps that supposedly double as slides. I guess the stairs are set up in a maze, of sort, but I did not see any tubes. At any rate, it too much of a stretch to actually call it anything.

We managed barely to catch "Lucky" for a photo. My younger daughter was very excited about that! She said he is SO soft.

All in all, we had a good day, even though the park was extremely crowded. If I had purchased a one-day pass to go today, I would not have been happy. But we have season passes and look forward to a fabulous 2015 at SDC!

Wow!  That's a crazy sign!!   

[History Buff]

That photo doesn't show up for me.  What does it say?

[Shazam]

The sign says: "Next to his family, Lucky's favorite food in the whole wide world is gooey yumminess of cheese pizza!!"