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[chittlins]

I will amend my statement to be " not common" rather than rare.

Kevin

If you call  to 2 times a decade, decade after decade not common, sure.

A decent read

https://www.ustornadoes.com/2013/01/21/largest-winter-tornado-outbreaks-in-the-united-states/

[shavethewhales]

The park message today is a bit different than most of the recent high crowd day messages. They are straight up saying they are out of parking spaces. Not that the park is simply busy, but that they literally have no more room to park people. I've never seen them say that before. I wonder if they are still parking people behind the bank?

[Tmboote]

I also found that post interesting. I'm planning on being there tomorrow and Wednesday, so I'm hoping the threat of rain both mornings keeps some people away until later in the day.

[pintrader]

I don't remember ever going after Christmas to the city.  After the official day of Christmas is over my Xmas spirit kind of dwindles.  Common sense would say that crowds would die down a lot but apparently that is not the case.

[palallin]

A decent read

https://www.ustornadoes.com/2013/01/21/largest-winter-tornado-outbreaks-in-the-united-states/

A remarkably good example of what is dreadfully wrong with the discussion of the environment today.  "[L]argest" in what sense?  Over the course of history?  We have no idea what the largest outbreak of tornadoes in the US was.  Our records stretch back little over a century out of all the myriads of years.  A myopic view of history and a hugely over-developed sense of scientific accomplishment poison any possible conclusions drawn.

[palallin]

I don't remember ever going after Christmas to the city.  After the official day of Christmas is over my Xmas spirit kind of dwindles.  Common sense would say that crowds would die down a lot but apparently that is not the case.

I am happy to to be able to maintain my Christmas spirit throughout the Christmastide (i.e. the Twelve Days of Christmas--until Twelfth-night, Jan 5).  We usually go between Christmas Day and New Years Day, both to try to avoid the insane crowd levels and also because our schedules just don't permit going before then.

This year, we're going this Wednesday, the 29th.  No real choice in the matter, and it's a great way to keep the joy bubbling on the front burner.

Merry (3rd Day of) Christmas, Y'all!

[pintrader]

I don't remember ever going after Christmas to the city.  After the official day of Christmas is over my Xmas spirit kind of dwindles.  Common sense would say that crowds would die down a lot but apparently that is not the case.

I am happy to to be able to maintain my Christmas spirit throughout the Christmastide (i.e. the Twelve Days of Christmas--until Twelfth-night, Jan 5).  We usually go between Christmas Day and New Years Day, both to try to avoid the insane crowd levels and also because our schedules just don't permit going before then.

This year, we're going this Wednesday, the 29th.  No real choice in the matter, and it's a great way to keep the joy bubbling on the front burner.

Merry (3rd Day of) Christmas, Y'all!

About the best I do is keep my tree up until New Year's day    And that is usually pushing it.

[Lampie]

The park message today is a bit different than most of the recent high crowd day messages. They are straight up saying they are out of parking spaces. Not that the park is simply busy, but that they literally have no more room to park people. I've never seen them say that before. I wonder if they are still parking people behind the bank?

I understand staff shortages and get the lower park capacity but how are they running out of parking when they are at about 2/3 of the real max capacity. (My understanding is that pre-pandemic capacity was 24k-25k, current capacity is about 16k)

[pintrader]

The park message today is a bit different than most of the recent high crowd day messages. They are straight up saying they are out of parking spaces. Not that the park is simply busy, but that they literally have no more room to park people. I've never seen them say that before. I wonder if they are still parking people behind the bank?

I understand staff shortages and get the lower park capacity but how are they running out of parking when they are at about 2/3 of the real max capacity. (My understanding is that pre-pandemic capacity was 24k-25k, current capacity is about 16k)

I would imagine they have a pretty good idea of attendance by just looking at how many parking areas are filled without looking at the turnstiles.  It's possible they did not open other parking areas because they knew how many it would take to hit close to that current capacity.   That might be better than parking them and then turning them away at the gate.

[shavethewhales]

I don't think they are capping attendance anymore? I think there have been many days will well over 20,000 guests this year. At this point they are only limited by their staffing issues.

[Parson B Ready]

On Saturday, December 4, they had over 23,000 on park.  The line to get in at opening stretched all the way back to paid parking. I was told this by one of the employees.

[MCLFLN]

So they definitely are no longer following any protocols - I noticed when I was there that the social distancing dots on the ground had been pulled up (some were still in place but you could tell they tried to remove them)

On Saturday, December 4, they had over 23,000 on park.  The line to get in at opening stretched all the way back to paid parking. I was told this by one of the employees.

[palallin]

OK, here's a quick report on today.  We got to the park about 11:45; it was raining and chilly.  Rode the bus from Stop 2.  They were out of ECVs with canopies, alas!

Crowd was, as you might expect, light.  Went directly to the Opera House after a brief pilgrimage to the Fence around the burned area.  Festivities aside, the area is mournful.

Nobody at the Opera House.  We learned from a passerby that Dickens was off the schedule.  There was no signage; the show was still in the Pathfinder.  Now, I can understand that the paper has to be printed in advance, but the lack of signage was inexcusable.  Not everybody has their silly App--or a phone to put it on.  The cancellation (for the rest of the year--too many performers ill) should have been posted not only on the Opera House but also at the entrance, at the HH, and on the streets.  Strike One.

So we made a dash for the Red-Gold Hall and Home for Christmas.  Got good seats, though they did us no favors.  We expected a down-home (as the title suggests), old-fashioned (ya know?  OLD TIME Christmas?) show.  What we got was mostly ear-splitting rock concert intermixed with a modicum of contemporary, non-denominational church pageant.  My wife, my son, and I all came out with splitting headaches and dashed expectations.  Maybe we were foolish to expect something having some connection to the theme, the era, the region.  I know, I know:  "Broadway."  But Broadway is not--or, at least, was not when I was doing Broadway shows--all blaring noise and hammering drums and hard-rock guitar.  Broadway knows (or, at least, knew) how to be soft and gentle, how to modulate to create mood, and how to employ its performers.  Those poor folks were screaming to be heard above the overly-amplified instruments, and the strain on their voices was obvious to someone who knows voice.  I had looked forward to an entertaining alternative to the low-rent IWL, but what I got was High School Musical for the Deaf.  Strike Two.

Well, my son wanted to shop for some blown glass ornaments, and he found three that he liked but allowed himself to purchase only two.  He came home with beautiful, hand-crafted pieces that will become family heirlooms.  Stand-up double.

On to the thing hard to mess up:  the train.  Had a great time mixing it up with the clowns--eh, conductors--on the platform.  The train was on time, and we got to ride the old cars (Bonus!).  Some of the lights were out at Grandpa's place, but the sound was crystal clear (and not deafening!).  (In fact, some 2% or 3% of the lights around the city were out, but I guess we can't fault them for not fixing them at this point.)  The soundtrack on the train was also very clear, and the ride went off without a hitch.  It was amusing to see a handful of pumpkins down the hill to the left at Grandpa's place ;-)  A clean slide into third, driving in the batter on second.

Buy 4 o'clock, the rain was gone, the sun was shining, and the crowd was mushrooming.  We skipped out cleanly and quickly and hit the road before the the wall-to-wall events of the parade and tree igniting, neither of interest.  A quick, no-waiting ride on a tram to Lot 2, and a smooth escape up the hill.  Definitely batting the man on third home.

So we'll call the day 3 - 2 in our favor (it's darned hard to totally wreck a day at SDC, after all!).  I don't know what the future of Home for Christmas is, but it is not likely at all that we will see it again if it returns.  They can't please everybody, and most of the people there cheered, so I guess they hit their target audience.  It's just a shame to see so much talent misused to do it.  We try to see Dickens with its new score next year.  We are thankful to all our friends there--we had a quick chat with Terry and another with our photographer friend--including the train crew.

We have made the first payment on our 2022 Season Passes.  May the New Year bring many opportunities to make Memories Worth Repeating!

[biscuitcreek]

Palallin, even if you download the app, it is not updated to announce show cancellations. When we were there one day in December all of the morning gazebo shows were cancelled but were still listed on the app. The first 2 Dickens shows were cancelled but that wasn't on the app. No signs up either.

[Tmboote]

Palallin, even if you download the app, it is not updated to announce show cancellations. When we were there one day in December all of the morning gazebo shows were cancelled but were still listed on the app. The first 2 Dickens shows were cancelled but that wasn't on the app. No signs up either.

I was also in the park when Palallin was, and the Dickens shows did not show up in the schedule on the app. I was wondering if Dickens was never on the schedule for this week because the app (and signage by the Opera House) showed Lindley Creek was performing there December 27-30.