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[Swoosh]

Happy New Year!

and to you! Hope to see everyone on the midways next season.  While no new attraction, you're going to love the changes

[cowboy]

Whoop Whoop the boards are back!! 

Jay

[palallin]

People sure love lights. I feel like the light festivals are the only thing keeping SDC going at this point. It's often dead during the summer (with some exceptions on certain weekends), and spring is often hit and miss with Spring Break being super busy and it being dead the rest of the time. Other parks have tried and basically failed to copy SDC's light bonanza. The setting and the scale of what they do is indeed impressive, but it sure feels like basically every other aspect of the SDC experience has fallen off hard over the past few years. I just wonder what it will take for the crowds to stop coming for the lights. I'll be watching the 2023 crowd levels with interest...

I tend to agree with Shave here but for a much different reason.  I can't speak to numbers of guests at any one season, but I think that the rides--at least most of them----ARE the problem.

SDC is becoming a generic 6 Flags over Branson, and there is just no point.  So little remains to differentiate it from other parks, bigger ones with easier access and cheaper surroundings or bigger ones with much more crowd draw (a la the monster that is Disney).  Left with only a small selection of quirky rides, SDC struggles to find a place.  Having invested so much in all that infrastructure, the city is stuck with bad decisions made years again and doubled and quadrupled down on more recently.

My thoughts will be labeled reactionary and silly in the "Modern Economic Climate," but SDC would have been better off not trying to become all things to all guests but rather should have focused on its core, smaller but true to its nature.

[shavethewhales]

^On the other hand, they could probably get much bigger crowds if they fully committed to being "Six Flags Branson" - but they'd be younger, spend less, and be less loyal as customers. The 'old crowd' is either already gone or is OK with all the new rides and increased prices. Kids like rides. Heck, most of us like the rides. They do a ton of market research and see what sells tickets, and obviously its rides. People say they like the crafts, shows, etc, and they do, but what really moves tickets right now is the coasters.

It's still differentiated by the theming, location, and festivals, but there is always competition when rides are the biggest draw.

All that said though, it's getting more expensive along with everything else, people have less room in their budgets,  and there's more competition than ever for entertainment dollars. Branson will remain a tourist hotspot however, so I expect WOF/SFStL to suffer more than SDC in a short term economic crunch.

A lot of SDC guests visit while on vacation in the area and may only stop in for part of the day over the course of staying in Branson for several days. It used to be easier to hop from SDC to Branson to catch a show. With the park growing so much, it's harder to get in and out, not to mention the prices are so much higher now so you have to stay longer or visit more often for it to be worth it. I wonder if there'll be an inflection point where some people see it as too much hassle or money. Of course, adding a resort will make it easier for some...

It's the issues that come up on crowded days that are probably the biggest threat right now. SDC basically has two modes: dead or super crowded, and when it's super crowded their operations are hit and miss. They definitely need more staff and it's something they are working on. Let's hope 2023 is a smoother year all around.

[cheesehead57]

My hubs and I are from Northern WI. and come down for 10 days to  2 weeks at a time. We don't ride rides any more. We go to SDC every day they are open. We listen to theHomestead Pickers and HorseCreek. Visit with Terry Sanders,Mandi and Roach. Will go to listen to others that are in the Park too, but mostly the Pickers. If they weren't there , we would not drive 900 miles to go to SDC. After  going to the park since the late 70s, we still come down 3-4 times a year. Miss a lot of the old crafts and more entertainment.