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[npd652]

Light crowds so far. Time traveler was awesome as usual. Thunderation was rough as usual. Flooded mine got some love during the off season. Firefall has a new seat belt. Riverfront is so different. New pan mining site by the exit to the river playhouse. They took the old one out. The whole area is significantly changed. I'll post pictures later.

[legoerosion]

Please do! How much love did Flooded Mine get???

[Okiebenz]

We just left a little while ago.  Arrived at around 1, then it started raining.  We rode everything in the rain and left about 4, just as the sun came out.  TNT was even more rough it seemed.  FM had some lighting added and new sound effects.  The jack hammer guy was working, but the guy turning the pump  on the pipe was not.  The 2 dudes pumping up and down were working.  They even added some new sound effects at the buzz saw area, which was spinning again.  The water explosion outside in the lagoon is working once again.

The water game whatever you call it was taken out over by the TGS, as was the milking cow thing.

TT last car on one of the trains continues to not work and they ran it empty.  This seemed to be the case for a lot of last year as well.  WOW.

Firefall did get new seats and also lap belts which will add a SIGNIFICANT amount of time to loading and unloading.

FITH seemed to be in good shape, smelled of fresh paint. 

Food prices continue to rise.  The buffets are now $17.49, way out of control for that if you ask me.  I remember just a couple of years ago it was $12.99 which was about right.  I noticed the hamburgers all seemed to be well over $10 now, as were all of the skillets.  I never did really notice where they moved the rib house since they tore all that down. There is sure a massive amount of construction going on there. Drink refills on the refill cups is now $1.72 IIRC. 

The taffy place at the front is totally redone with the side porch being enclosed and the registers are in that area.  The inside has been redone and is more bright inside.

[sanddunerider]

@ Okie....   I know you got some pictures.  How bad is the Riverfront area?...


ALSO>>>...  what did you do with the trailer?

[Okiebenz]

You know we did not get a single photo.  Shame on me.  Riverfront is almost unrecognizable in some aspects.  Where they tore down the rib house if you look behind the fence it looks like they have already built some sort of building for the new ride.  On the train ride when you get to the part about talking about the lost river, they said something about we will tell you about what is going on there later in the year.

[Okiebenz]

Oh, forgot to mention, the preferred parking lot was practically empty so I just parked the truck and trailer there.

[missouripapa]

Went yesterday with my granddaughters 4,9, & 10.  We like our opening day tradition.  I picked them up early enough to get to see the season opening ceremony.  Unfortunately the computer system messed up the military comp ticket for the 10 year old.  Lady at the gate realized the ticket was for next September.  Turned around and went back to ticket booth.  No luck there, so off to guest relations.  After no luck on the computer, they just issued a generic comp ticket.  By then opening ceremony was over.  Oh, well, hard to gripe about military kids getting in free.
The city looked great!  Everything was clean, and all workers were friendly and enthusiastic.  As was previously mentioned, TNT is really getting rough.  My 66 year old neck does not like the tunnel.  Of course, the girls had us ride it twice.
Rode the train, and the conductor and robbers put on a great show.  Fire in the hole had music going, and is just a good, reliably fun dark ride.  The 4 year old and I rode it repeatedly.
We ate in the Mine, and the meal was great.  With season pass discount, got out for a little over 40 dollars for the four of us.  As someone who has paid that much for one buffet at Disney, I felt we certainly got our money's worth.  Our server Diane was great.
All in all, another great trip to the City.

[chittlins]

We just left a little while ago.  Arrived at around 1, then it started raining.  We rode everything in the rain and left about 4, just as the sun came out.  TNT was even more rough it seemed.  FM had some lighting added and new sound effects.  The jack hammer guy was working, but the guy turning the pump  on the pipe was not.  The 2 dudes pumping up and down were working.  They even added some new sound effects at the buzz saw area, which was spinning again.  The water explosion outside in the lagoon is working once again.

The water game whatever you call it was taken out over by the TGS, as was the milking cow thing.

TT last car on one of the trains continues to not work and they ran it empty.  This seemed to be the case for a lot of last year as well.  WOW.

Firefall did get new seats and also lap belts which will add a SIGNIFICANT amount of time to loading and unloading.

FITH seemed to be in good shape, smelled of fresh paint. 

Food prices continue to rise.  The buffets are now $17.49, way out of control for that if you ask me.  I remember just a couple of years ago it was $12.99 which was about right.  I noticed the hamburgers all seemed to be well over $10 now, as were all of the skillets.  I never did really notice where they moved the rib house since they tore all that down. There is sure a massive amount of construction going on there. Drink refills on the refill cups is now $1.72 IIRC. 

The taffy place at the front is totally redone with the side porch being enclosed and the registers are in that area.  The inside has been redone and is more bright inside.

Under 20 bucks for a buffet at a theme park is a steal.

[sanddunerider]

Oh, forgot to mention, the preferred parking lot was practically empty so I just parked the truck and trailer there.

Thanks,  I wondered about the trailer...   LOL,  I worry about little stuff...

[sirwillow]

TT last car on one of the trains continues to not work and they ran it empty.  This seemed to be the case for a lot of last year as well.  WOW.

FITH seemed to be in good shape, smelled of fresh paint. 

Food prices continue to rise.  The buffets are now $17.49, way out of control for that if you ask me.  I remember just a couple of years ago it was $12.99 which was about right.  I noticed the hamburgers all seemed to be well over $10 now, as were all of the skillets.  I never did really notice where they moved the rib house since they tore all that down. There is sure a massive amount of construction going on there. Drink refills on the refill cups is now $1.72 IIRC. 

I didn't get by a few of the places you mentioned today- like Flooded Mine and the taffy place.  Happy to hear that Flooded Mine got some TLC.  The saw worked at the beginning of the season last year as well, so hopefully it keeps working for a while.
I noticed the paint smell on FITH as well.  I think they need to vent the building just a tab if I'm still smelling it the day after you.  lol
TT was filling the last car on every train today.  They seem inconsistent with when they fill it and when they don't.  Honestly I wonder if it's as much due to staffing levels (and trained workers) as anything else.  Most of the time when I've seen them not fill the last car it was on days with lower attendance.
I don't recall the buffets every being lower than $16 since we've been here (2011).  Are you sure you're not confusing the breakfast buffet price for the lunch/ dinner buffet?  Also when you compare their dinner buffet prices to what is out of park (Golden Corral in Branson, for example, is about $16-17/ person with drinks) and what other parks charge for their buffets ($40/ person is typical at Disney, Cedar Point was over $18 a person last year at their Midway Market, and the one Six Flags park we ate at last year was almost $30 a person), it's actually a pretty reasonable price for all you can eat, especially inside of a theme park.  Knock off a season pass discount, and it's actually a pretty good deal. 

[Okiebenz]

Oh, forgot to mention, the preferred parking lot was practically empty so I just parked the truck and trailer there.

Thanks,  I wondered about the trailer...   LOL,  I worry about little stuff...

I am currently in Paragould, AR to meet with a customer in the morning, then the plan is on to Biloxi to pickup a car then back to OK.  Problem is, about 20 miles from Paragould the trailer suffered a wheel bearing failure resulting in a wheel departing the trailer.  I was very luck it did not kill somebody.  It is going to require the entire axle to be replaced.  I hope to be able to locate one in the morning, swap it out, then be on my way.  Otherwise it will have to be limped back home to OK thru the twisting Ozark mountain roads between here and back home.

[Okiebenz]

TT last car on one of the trains continues to not work and they ran it empty.  This seemed to be the case for a lot of last year as well.  WOW.

FITH seemed to be in good shape, smelled of fresh paint. 

Food prices continue to rise.  The buffets are now $17.49, way out of control for that if you ask me.  I remember just a couple of years ago it was $12.99 which was about right.  I noticed the hamburgers all seemed to be well over $10 now, as were all of the skillets.  I never did really notice where they moved the rib house since they tore all that down. There is sure a massive amount of construction going on there. Drink refills on the refill cups is now $1.72 IIRC. 

I didn't get by a few of the places you mentioned today- like Flooded Mine and the taffy place.  Happy to hear that Flooded Mine got some TLC.  The saw worked at the beginning of the season last year as well, so hopefully it keeps working for a while.
I noticed the paint smell on FITH as well.  I think they need to vent the building just a tab if I'm still smelling it the day after you.  lol
TT was filling the last car on every train today.  They seem inconsistent with when they fill it and when they don't.  Honestly I wonder if it's as much due to staffing levels (and trained workers) as anything else.  Most of the time when I've seen them not fill the last car it was on days with lower attendance.
I don't recall the buffets every being lower than $16 since we've been here (2011).  Are you sure you're not confusing the breakfast buffet price for the lunch/ dinner buffet?  Also when you compare their dinner buffet prices to what is out of park (Golden Corral in Branson, for example, is about $16-17/ person with drinks) and what other parks charge for their buffets ($40/ person is typical at Disney, Cedar Point was over $18 a person last year at their Midway Market, and the one Six Flags park we ate at last year was almost $30 a person), it's actually a pretty reasonable price for all you can eat, especially inside of a theme park.  Knock off a season pass discount, and it's actually a pretty good deal.

In that comparison I guess the buffet price is not that bad.

[sanddunerider]

may or may or be high..    Does sound pricey though.... 

[sirwillow]

Video of yesterday is posted. You can see it at https://youtu.be/YplIE_SuDAo

[Obviousdramatic]

Theme park pricing or not, the new price increase is a bit out of my pocket book comfort. No, I will not compare it to Disney or another large overpriced theme park. I am looking directly at SDC pricing. I dont even pay those prices at a restaurant. I will cart a nice bag of trail mix and a bottle water and be happy to just be at SDC. Go to McDonalds afterwards and get a dollar sandwich. I am lucky enough to live like 45 minutes away so I am able to go home and eat.

Now if the portions were, well, proportionate to the pricing I would consider buying food on park.