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[Duelist]

We visited the City on Wednesday December 18th. Our schedules left us with a Wednesday being the best day to visit.  We had planned the trip a week before and were happy to see that day added to the schedule.  Also a pleasant surprise was that Rhonda Vincent had a Christmas Bluegrass show scheduled for that day only in Red Gold Heritage Hall (she eventually added another couple of shows for that Wednesday).  The weather was cool enough that we could wear our winter coats all day but not freezing cold once the sun went down.  We went to the 2pm Rhonda Vincent show and though the City was far from crowded that day I think the majority of them were at the show LOL.  We got there 20 minutes before the show started and there was already a huge crowd.  The show was very good, all Christmas songs except for one bluegrass version of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5".  Rhonda's mom came up on stage and sang Buck Owens "Santa Looks A Lot Like Daddy".  She did a very good job.

Since the crowds were light we ended up riding Fire in the Hole 5 times.  While my wife and daughter were shopping I even rode it once by myself and I was the only one on that particular train!  Really amazing considering we rode it in May, July, and October and spent around an hour in line each time.  Outlaw Run was also a walk on.  I was talking to one of the ride workers at Fire in the Hole later about hoping they would start work soon on smoothing out Thunderation.  He said he heard they would probably replace it with a Mystery Mine type ride but from others on this site (including Swoosh) it sounds more like they will just work on making Thunderation smoother and not replacing it.  In my version of a perfect world, if they were to replace it, I would love to see it turned into a version of Disney's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (hey I can dream  ).  We also got in rides on the Flooded Mine, Sing Along Steam Train and Firefall.

The Frontier Fa-La-La Follies at the Saloon were great as always.  We also saw The Living Nativity which is always very good though the angel Gabriel was a voice over only and not a live person.  The Rhonda Vincent show, the Saloon, and the Nativity were the only shows we went to.  Our daughter got dinner to go at the Riverside Smokehouse and we took it up the hill to the Wagon Works Grill where my wife got the seasonal Ozarks Chili and I got the All American Special.  The tree show on Main Street was great as usual.  We were at the City the whole time from 1pm to 9pm.

The next day we went to Buccee's outside of Springfield then toured the Wilson Creek Civil War Battlefield in Springfield.  I highly recommend it if you've never been.  Very well maintained and free admission.  Happy New Year to everyone and looking forward to the (sadly) truncated but still appealing Bluegrass and BBQ festival in May.

[Swoosh]

Sorry Wrong Thread

[Jesus4me]

A black top parking lot filled with folding chairs and tables, a temporary stage and food trucks is not themeing and does not reflect the 1880s. Make excuses for this park but compared to Dollywood which is the same company this is horrible. I expect a lot more than this.

[History Buff]

A black top parking lot filled with folding chairs and tables, a temporary stage and food trucks is not themeing and does not reflect the 1880s. Make excuses for this aprk but compared to Dollywood which is the same company this is horrible. I expect a lot more than this.

I'll agree with that and plan to avoid the area as much as possible during times of their complete deviation fromThe 1800s theming at dance parties and the like.  However, they have indicated that shade structures are on the way for this tables, so maybe they aren't through with decoration and theming yet (We can only hope.).  As it stands, it really doesn't look like much more than a backstage area, but at least there are no shipping containers in use.

[ColaSDC]

To be fair, they have to keep the theming light enough so that they can swap out props each season (spring/summer/fall/winter), so nothing crazy can be done. Not to jazzed about the backside of FITH being in full view.

[shavethewhales]

The boards are still messed up, so I can't merge topics right now, but I will try to get it fixed later this week and then merge this topic with the one Swoosh started.

[Swoosh]

The trip reports from January really should be in the 2024 season thread