2018 Trip Reports

sanddunerider · October 29, 2018, 06:23:43 PM

Supposed to be nice,
First weekend for christmas,
enjoy yourself should be perfect..!

sirwillow · October 30, 2018, 07:58:19 AM

Quote from: DianaGail on October 29, 2018, 06:11:20 PM
Any thoughts on This coming Sunday? My kids don't have school Monday. It would be the perfect Sunday to go and let them ride til close.

Supposed to be some showers Saturday evening into Sunday, and cool, but looks like it will clear up for park hours. Saturday is the day I expect to be really busy, so Sunday could turn out to be a great day to go. But expect some crowds since it's opening weekend.

okiebluegrass · October 30, 2018, 08:49:07 AM

Quote from: DianaGail on October 29, 2018, 06:11:20 PM
Any thoughts on This coming Sunday? My kids don't have school Monday. It would be the perfect Sunday to go and let them ride til close.

Sunday is my favorite day to be at the City, since it is usually not as crowded. I will be there this Sunday as well.

sanddunerider · October 30, 2018, 10:54:14 AM

@DianaGail, why are the kids out.? I think we have school everywhere up here..

DianaGail · October 30, 2018, 11:06:35 AM

Quote from: sanddunerider on October 30, 2018, 10:54:14 AM
@DianaGail, why are the kids out.? I think we have school everywhere up here..

Some school districts have gotten smart and realized the time change is hard on kids. So, to give them an extra day to get over it, many schools in the Joplin area will have inservice days on Monday.

cowboy · October 30, 2018, 12:46:14 PM

Quote from: DianaGail on October 30, 2018, 11:06:35 AM
Quote from: sanddunerider on October 30, 2018, 10:54:14 AM
@DianaGail, why are the kids out.? I think we have school everywhere up here..

Some school districts have gotten smart and realized the time change is hard on kids. So, to give them an extra day to get over it, many schools in the Joplin area will have inservice days on Monday.

I can handle the fall back and get the extra hour of sleep just fine.........now the spring forward, I could see being off that first Monday as a big benefit.

Jay

cheesehead57 · October 30, 2018, 12:54:52 PM

We Cheeseheads will be in SDC for Christmas opening this weekend.

sirwillow · October 30, 2018, 04:20:34 PM

Quote from: sanddunerider on October 30, 2018, 10:54:14 AM
@DianaGail, why are the kids out.? I think we have school everywhere up here..

There are also a number of districts in the area that have also now gone to a 4 day school week, with Monday being their standard day off. While it's a small number, most of them are near SDC

sanddunerider · October 30, 2018, 07:52:42 PM

Quote from: cheesehead57 on October 30, 2018, 12:54:52 PM
We Cheeseheads will be in SDC for Christmas opening this weekend.

we will be in and out also. will look for you at breakfast on sunday,,,

safe travels'

mhguy77 · October 31, 2018, 07:56:38 AM

Might see you this weekend as well

DianaGail · November 04, 2018, 09:20:21 PM

The weather wasn't perfect today but we went anyway. A high of 46 is a bit chilly for November 4th. Anyway...

Attendance was around 6000 at 6 pm. The city looks beautiful dressed in her holiday finery. Seriously, the attention to detail is astounding at times. We got there at rope drop. Walk on to thunderation and a 10 minute wait for time traveler. Done. Off to the measuring station (move it to the top of the hill!!!!) and to do some expo rides. All walk on. Met Rudolph and clarice. Off to the outlaw run area. Again...all 3 rides walk on. Now we see powder keg is open. Get there as fast as possible. The ride is done twice. I'm attaching a photo of my daughter riding pk for the first time. She was screaming "I'm gonna die!" Over and over again before take off. We laughed so hard we were crying. However, she ended up loving it and she then rode every coaster in the park..all for the first time. The big kids split off for more coaster time and we took the littles to meet Santa. Then down to fireman's landing. Again...the most time to wait was 1 round. Ate grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. Then a buzz through midtown and stopping to watch the tree. Overall, it was a great day. I kind of dread our trip in 2 weeks...it will be on a Saturday.

sirwillow · November 05, 2018, 08:12:21 AM

DianaGail sounds like an absolutely awesome day. Especially after the 20,000 people that were out there Saturday that I braved for a little while. lol

okiebluegrass · November 06, 2018, 10:11:49 AM

My wife and I were there on Sunday for our anniversary. Went and saw Dickens and then walked over to the Frisco Barn on our way to IAWL. Very long line so we decided to ride the train just as it was getting dark. Zero wait time. We walked right on. I noticed the trick bench and showed it to my wife (thanks, Sir Willow).

Next, We walked around midtown for awhile and decided to eat dinner at Wagon Works. After that, we went back to the square to watch the tree lighting.

The tree looks kinda glitchy. There was an entire section of lights that was flashing off and on when it shouldn't be. I love that tree but the technology is outdated and it is in desperate need of an upgrade.

My wife decided that we had to watch the 6PM parade (Holly Jolly.. Holly Jolly... UGH) because her friend's daughter is in it. We followed the parade from GE all the way back to the front gate and missed most of the traffic leaving the park (which is an awesome strategy BTW).

Overall, another great trip

Swoosh · November 11, 2018, 12:46:38 PM

AN OLD TIME CHRISTMAS 2018
SHOWS part 1
SHOWS part 2
DECORATIONS
LIGHTS

shavethewhales · November 12, 2018, 01:39:23 PM

It was a tough Coaster Christmas this year with the unexpected arctic blast, but SDC was enjoyable as always for me at least. The rides had a narrow operating window on Sat. due to the temps. Time Traveler operated for about 30 mins or so? The train had some trouble and didn't open till late in the day, but we snagged a spot on the last ride. Really makes you appreciate the indoor rides...
Sunday was better for rides, but Time Traveler was down all day with technical problems (or at least it never opened by the time I left)

The presentations were nice as always. Not a lot coming to the region next year unless you are as excited about the year of shows at SDC as I am. I like that WOF is focusing on theming, park atmosphere, and their own identity again from the sounds of it. SFStL was a no-show again.

ERT was cancelled due to temps, but they gave out trailblazers for the ACE members who flew in to ride stuff. A lot of them snagged at least one ride on TT before it closed at least. There were no back stage tours this year, probably due to the huge number of registrants that were expected this year. When CC started it was just ~50 or less, but this year I think there were more than 200 sign-ups? A number of people flew in or drove 9 hours just to see Time Traveler.

I personally had a good time just walking around, hanging out with big Steve, seeing Matt again, and having some good food.