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[Coaster]

Interesting. I have NEVER heard of Wildfire being broke down.

[sdcfan88]

Yeah it was quite strange. But the explanation was the official claim from Wildfire Operations staff.

Oh and another first for me was Outlaw Run was a walk on at 4:30. Most of the rides earlier in the day had 20-30 min waits minimum.

[HumphreyHawk]

That's why Wildfire had a line out the building.....I was wondering since I've never seen a line for it that long since it's first year.

My trip review for 4/16:  Got some relieve this weekend from having to take care of our special needs child and decided to run off to Branson a night.  Wife and 3 kids at a great time at the park and in town. 

Bribed the family to get up early Saturday by saying I'd get them some cinnamon bread if we made SDC by the rope drop....but ended up leaving the house late anyway:(  Still made it to parking around 9:30.  Went straight to Powder Keg as the wife and kids started planning the shows they wanted to see.  Couldn't talk my chicken kids into riding any of the big ones with me today:(  Got 2 walk on rides on PK in and remembered how great those first two air hills are!!!!  The lift hill view is great too!!!  Headed over to OR next as the family got in line for the Saloon show.  Got 3 straight walk-on rides on OR!!! Got a front row and 2 back cars rides in.  The trains where literally scream through the coarse.  The overbank hill through the lift was extremely loud as the wheels screeched over the bend.  Such a great out of control ride.....I prefer the back of the train for the best air time and the slowest role at the end. 

Got 5 awesome rides in by 10:10....get to the park early coaster fans.  I could have called it a day then....headed back to the Saloon and made it for the 10:30 show.  The park is advertising that the Saloon show was "new" and we where really looking forward to a new show.  We didn't see last years show so maybe it was different from last year but the show we saw was almost word-by-word the same show we saw two years ago.  The performance was good and entertaining as always....but we where really frustrated that it was all the same.  "Didn't recognize you without your warts", etc.... 

We headed back to the square after the show stopping at the shops on the way.  My 7yo found a lightweight leather jacket that he begged us for.  He thought he was a big shot with it on and the wife gave in and bought it after a few smiles from him.  Both his grandpa and myself I have few of our own.  Actually not a bad deal for it ($40) and he wore it the rest of the day with his head pointed to the sky:)  Found out later in the hotel it was Made in China.....going to have to cut that off before his Grandpa finds that...lol.

Ended up going through Grandpa Manson.  I also broke down and picked up some cinnamon bread between those two.  Make sure to grab the extra icing with it!!!

Rode FM and found multiple issues with guns again.  My oldest gun would score with every trigger push (without any target around).  My younger daughters hardly ever seem to work.  It's still my 7yo sons favorite ride in the park.

My oldest rode TnT with me then we headed to GE for a few rides before the Zuma Zuma show.  My oldest broke away from us to ride the swings in GE as we got in line to go to the show.  The swings operations was extremely slow and we barely made the show.  The stopped the ride because a mom had a cell phone out.....brought it down....took the phone...rechecked the seats and started over.  They show let us in right before it started after begging the door attendant that my wife had seats and we wouldn't do it again (save seats).

The Zuma Zuma show was a 6/10 for me.  No doubt the performers where good and talented.....some of the balancing acts where amazing and the pole performance very impressive.  I liked having a live band for it too.  That all being said....it was mostly boring....it didn't tell any stories....the music rarely broke and I good as the acts where it was just mildly entertaining from end to end.  They are worth going to see but I wouldn't have paid extra to see them and I don't need to see them again.

After the show we headed to FL....kids got some flat rides in.  We started to circle the park to go to the Opera house show and find some late lunch but we ended up deciding to skip that show and hit a restaurant in Branson.  So we left the park around 4.

Ended up at Montana Mikes since I was craving a Steak.  We've ate at the Branson location before and my mother-in-law works at a location in KS.  Had pretty good service and food.  Noticed that they had raised the price of the ribeye to $19 from $17

After late lunch/early dinner...we 'cruised' the strip.  Ended up at the Pirate Adventure Mini Golf.  Played the challenging Blackbeard coarse and had a great time together.  I headed us towards the IMAX for a late movie but I was outvoted to just go for ice cream instead. Found a new DQ north of the strip and had a 'dessert dinner'.

Stayed at our usual mom-and-pop hotel....the Rosebud Inn.  Nice simple clean and cheap rooms at a great location.  Plus the donuts they serve with their breakfast are the "best cake donuts ever" according to my kids.

FYI....all shopping in Branson doesn't open till 10.  We where out and ready to shop at 9:)  Sent most of Sunday at Tanger and hit the road back to NWA by 2 in the afternoon. 

 

[cowboy]

That's why Wildfire had a line out the building.....I was wondering since I've never seen a line for it that long since it's first year.

There have been times recently when I've seen the line for Wildfire out the door and wrapped up the ramp (they were even using the upstairs switchbacks in the building)....However, I've never seen it in the switchbacks by American Plunge, I'd hate to see what the crowd in the park looked like if those were being used.

Jay 

[Jemmicat]

We were at SDC from just after the opening on Saturday until the night show and then back at opening Sunday until 3:30 when we left to drive home.

As many have said, there are some obvious improvements. A lot of the wooden railings by the Leather shop and in that area have been replaced. The flooded mine looks much brighter and doesn’t look like a ride near its EOL.

The one thing that we noticed last year and more so this year is that there has been a major push to de-clutter the shops. The shops that were not addressed last year seemed to have caught up this year. The leather shop’s inventory was greatly reduced. As was the glass shop, the mill, the blacksmith shop (I swear they raised the floor in the back section to eliminate a step) and more. It makes it MUCH easier to get around. The only place where I think it really was not in the best interest of the shop was the glass shop. Whereas the individual artists used to have a lot of their pieces shown, they all were relegated to a single display case. And overall there just weren’t as many pieces for sale. We enjoyed seeing the pieces but only bought a couple things from there as our house is not really the kind where we could have nice glass pieces sitting out (4 dogs and 2 kids will do that). But I did enjoy seeing their work displayed. I am one always pushing to look at things from manufacturing/industrial engineering standpoint and this de-cluttering (also known as LEAN or perhaps even 5S to the engineering geeks) really has helped with traffic flow through the shops. I do hope it is equating to larger sales as well since the shops can be more focused.

Overall the crowds were OK on Saturday morning and mostly ok in the afternoon. The weather was not what we expected which I think kept crowds down. We did attempt to go to the Train and Flooded Mine on Saturday afternoon but they were both jam packed. We missed Cirque Zuma Zuma Saturday even though we were there 30 minutes early.

We did stay for the night show which we’ve only done a handful of times in the last few years… To say we were all disappointed was an understatement. The show was all over the place and that isn’t a good thing. I mean, a few songs then bring out dogs and then more songs and throw in some slightly related comedy. It was the most disjointed mess I’ve ever sat through… They insisted on breaking the singers into “groups” to give them some sort of cute name but it was mostly stupid. One of the girls was having pitch problems which didn’t help it any. They used to have way too many singers but they cut it down now to 7 and then some other guy who did NOT fit in to this mess. All the singers I believe were new except 2. I am 44 and admit that I don’t listen to a lot of newer music, but there were many of the songs that I had never heard of. It was all just kind of painful. Even though I love dogs, we probably won’t see that show again. Also interesting to note that there was no intermission. The show went straight through.

Also for the first time ever, we did not have good food experiences when we branched out from our norms… We tried the pulled pork sandwiches from the fried bread stand. The pork wasn’t that great and really not much quantity. And for some reason we did not get season pass discounts at that stand. I did not understand his reasoning. Doubt we try that again. We also got a smoked sausage from the rib house. We had these before and liked them a lot. These were just a generic smoked sausage and not the peppery one they used to have. It was described by those having it as a big hotdog. Nothing at all distinguished it from anything else. Those were lunch… we tried the jerk chicken nachos and the greek calzone for dinner to same effect. Calzone was flavorless and was probably sitting around awhile. The chicken on the nachos was good but not warm. The cheese was shredded and not melted on top. And the nachos were nothing to write home about… A big bust all around. We ate at the rib house on Sunday and stuck with an old standby. Kind of disappointed as we have always raved about how good the food at SDC is.

[Swoosh]

First off - I cannot get over how much easier it is to do reports on Blogger.  Should have made the switch a long time ago.

Next - here is our report from WorldFest on Sunday. 
https://midwestinfoguide.blogspot.com/2016/04/world-fest-sdc.html

[palallin]

Paige is still in town and doing well,,  she did indeed lose her sight, but is hopeful it will return, I see her from time to time at a show.  One of our local buddies sometimes picks her up and brings to the show to join in..

What on earth happened?  We had no idea she was ill!  We rarely get to shows, but I know you saw her often.  When you see her again, tell her that Steve and Lori Allen say Hi and pray for her.

[sanddunerider]

 [/quote]

What on earth happened?  We had no idea she was ill!  We rarely get to shows, but I know you saw her often.  When you see her again, tell her that Steve and Lori Allen say Hi and pray for her.
[/quote]

2 years ago. she had a large tumor removed from her stomach area, she then developed diabetes, and also had some pancreitis problems.
Early in this sickness she lost her sight, this would have been in early Sept. 2014 (I think),  then things went downhill in a hell of a hurry. Almost lost her a couple of times, But she is healthy now..  (I guess you can call it healthy).  But eyesight remains non-exixtant..  Bad deal..., But can easily get around walking, riding around no problems.  often joins us at the show when we are in town.. 

[Alys67]

World Fest Review

Had a great time on Thursday. Flowers were blooming all over the park, making waiting in line more pleasant.

The good: Ecuador Manta, Zuma Zuma, Osminka, Fried Bread, flooded mine ride (music wasn't working)

Excellent: Slask, Island Fire, Dearbhail Finnegan, Bakery Bread, Ice Cream Shop, all SDC staff (very friendly)

Awful: Tandoori Gobi Skillet--Inedible, cold cauliflower lightly sprinkled with seasoning, sitting in a styrofoam bowl with 3 inches of water on the bottom. No yogurt, onions or peppers as promised.

[Gilligan]

How crowded was it on Thursday?

[Alys67]

The crowds were light before noon and after 4 to moderate around 12-4. Most rides were walk-ons, but all of the shows were packed. Arriving 30 minutes early to each show was plenty of time to get good seats. Don't be intimidated by the Island Fire line, that theater is huge. This Thursday may be busier with the weather forecast being bad on Friday and Saturday. I may try to go again.

[Gilligan]

Thanks!

[DianaGail]

We took the kids out of school for an "educational field trip today".  If anyone asks, they heard music from Ireland, steel drums, and whoever was playing at the gazebo when we left.  We started at the expo to get measured.  Rose almost every ride.  Down to the landing...rode almost every ride.  Up to the hi lo silos.  Cut through to go to half dollar holler.  I wasn't impressed with the cinnamon bread this time.  It wasn't warm and it didn't seem as fresh.  However, the loaves were huge!!!  Per the goats then we were on our way home.  We didn't wait for any ride, outside of the time we had to wait for the previous riders to stop and unload.  We love days we can walk on! 

[biscuitcreek]

Went the afternoon of 4/29 for a short visit -- cool, drizzly, seemed like very low attendance. Saw the Steel Drums show which packed the Boatworks and Slask (the Polish dance show) in the Opera House which was about half full. No Island Fire show due to a high school and college choir festival going on in Riverfront Playhouse. Did not ride anything or eat anything. The cave was not open for tours at all on Friday.

Looking forward to attending Founders Weekend/opening weekend of Bluegrass and BBQ.

[misskim]

We took the kids out of school for an "educational field trip today".  If anyone asks, they heard music from Ireland, steel drums, and whoever was playing at the gazebo when we left.  We started at the expo to get measured.  Rose almost every ride.  Down to the landing...rode almost every ride.  Up to the hi lo silos.  Cut through to go to half dollar holler.  I wasn't impressed with the cinnamon bread this time.  It wasn't warm and it didn't seem as fresh.  However, the loaves were huge!!!  Per the goats then we were on our way home.  We didn't wait for any ride, outside of the time we had to wait for the previous riders to stop and unload.  We love days we can walk on!

They'll warm up the cinnamon bread if you ask.