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[mhguy77]

........................
Wildfires line was running out of the building.
The Plunge was using the old Float trip q as well as the regular q. I gave up at this point   I had a funnel cake my friend had an ice cream cone and we left. When I left there were 2 trams in action, the return trip to the car took a while but not terrible.
Thoughts..
The food/ drink discounts were nice, but the rides alone do not absorb the crowds at all, especially when they are running them under capacity. Frankly had I paid I would have not been pleased.
I walked around and ate and drank and rode nothing, they lines were outlandish, haven't seen them like that at Christmas.
I thought it was surreal that I was walking through SDC listening to 99Luftbaloons playing on the sound system.
It wasn't a good surreal.
Lets face it, if you put the  Its a small world theme song on the Haunted Mansion do you think the ride would be as effective, that nowone would think something wasn't right?
You just cant get away with 80's rock at SDC, it doesn't work at all, its wrong, like the pig people on the twilight zone episode its not natural and it doesn't fit.  The crowds were way more than those rides can absorb.  I think it is just as the name implies " Madness".
I Will wait to visit on a regular day with bluegrass playing and the shop open. It just wasn't fulfilling.

[shavethewhales]

Wow, that sucks. When I was there last weekend with 20,000 people it wasn't that bad. It does make a huge difference whether or not they're running the rides at full capacity or not though. PK with one train on a crowded night would be awful. TGS is not much better, and TNT can get out of hand pretty quick too.

You could have gotten on Wildfire though. Even if the line is stretching out of the building, it's probably only a 15 min wait because they never actually use the queue. I think guests keep removing the wooden bar that leads straight to the loading area, because they seemed to alternate between that set up and using the first portion of the queue when I was there. They need to nail that board on there and at least use the first part of the queue at all times to minimize confusion. I don't understand why they never loop people through the station anymore anyway. The special effects in Doc. H's office were still going on when I was there but the line went straight to the loading area, even though it stretched out of the building.

[mhguy77]

I guess after seeing all of the q's and especially the plunge running to the float trip platform I lost faith. You have to get in the wildfire q to see just how it is wrapping.  and if they were using 2 trains they weren't loading at a normal speed, I didn't ever see evidence of 2 trains.
If there was a way I could call to see how many trains they would be running for the day ext I would. Seems like I have hit crap days the past few trips.
I love to see a crowd but there is no excuse for not being prepaired.

[dwfan]

That is exactly how it is like at Dollywood Nights. When I got there all shops were open, but, were so packed you couldn't walk. Mountain Slidewinder & Daredevil Falls were closed because they can't operate at dark (no lighting). Mystery Mine had a full Q rapping around with about a two hour wait! Adventure Mountain had a two hour wait. Tennessee Tornado had a one hour and thirty minute wait. Thunderhead had a 1hr. 15min. wait, Blazing Fury 1hr. 30min. Smoky Mountain River Rampage 1hr. 30min. COuntry Fair packed with 45min. waits and all rides were running with full capacity! The Parking Lot was full shops were extremely croweded food lines were long so I left. By the way I had to park at Splash Country because the parking lot was full, but, I should feel lucky other people were parking over in the field and walking over. 16,000 people showed up!

[OzarkBred]

Just returned to my hotel after a visit to the park. The citizens were on their game today. Every citizen I interacted with was friendly and efficient, despite the heat and the crowds. Hats off to y'all.

As several others have noted, mornings are the key to a relaxing visit. I got there at 9:00am, walked right on to the rides in the first couple of hours, and avoided the lunch lines with an 11:15am meal. I was visiting solo so I could wander at will, which is great. Does anyone else make regular solo visits?

The main drawback was middle-aged me: I've gotten too claustrophobic for the cave tour, my inner ear is too touchy for the thrill rides, and I'm carrying too many fancy-shmancy tech toys to get wet. I'd love a couple more low-impact splash-free rides for us coots.

Another observation: The guys and gals in the saloon show were giving it their all but oh, that script... When they were given a chance to sing and dance, the energy level shot up. When they were talking (and talking and talking) and telling bad jokes, the audience got visibly restless. That cast is talented and they could do a lot with the right material. What do you guys think?

A note about lodging and food: I'm staying at the Best Western on 76 just west of Indian Point Road. It's a good value and their free SDC shuttle drops you off right at the front gate. Also, try the Altenhof Inn just south of SDC on Jakes Creek Trail (more info: http://bit.ly/bWDt60). It's a little deli/cafe with good German home cooking served on a deck overlooking Table Rock.

[mhguy77]

The guys and gals in the saloon show were giving it their all but oh, that script... When they were given a chance to sing and dance, the energy level shot up. When they were talking (and talking and talking) and telling bad jokes, the audience got visibly restless.

When Cary Nation was there and they were a cpl years back and we went to the Saloon show so they could cool off, I was visibly embarrassed by the poor show, script and music " Its raining men"? it was really not up to SDC standards.

We will not be back to the saloon show, they are now reaping the fruits of there labour , bad script and sorry numbers, it isn't the actors, its the directors and writers.
Years ago I would brag about SDC entertainment but things have changed, and apparently I am not the only one that feels that way, the lack of crowds in the shows plays testament to the issue.

[marolinesdad]

I really enjoy the Saloon show...  I even liked it's raining men. 

the lack of crowds in the shows plays testament to the issue.

If this is the case then they are doing ok..  I have been on Park 11 times this season.  Every time I have been in the Saloon show it is standing room only.  While Cary Nation was a good show things have got to change.  I do not want to see the same show every time I go for 15 years.  I am glad they change it every year or so.

[joshblakebran]

My family thought the saloon show was awesome this year...We went 3 different times and enjoyed it more each time we went...The saloon was packed and the crowd laughed throughout the show...Adam Western is a great actor...The saloon show is one of our favorite "attractions" that we must see on every annual trip we take to SDC...

[rubedugans]

I have been to Altenhoff several times (I have walked to and from SDC several times from Indian Point since we always stayed down there on trips), and It has been hit or miss for me. The food is good, there are better in the area, but the view is a definite must for a Branson trip. I think that is what keeps people going back honestly. If you like home-made German food it is worth a try.

http://www.altenhofinn.com/

[Joy]

I was so hoping they'd change the Saloon Show for this year, at the very least, to celebrate the 50th by having characters like Dusty Chaps, Choctaw Charlie (who apparently only shows up during Christmas now?), Mean Murphy, Carrie Nation, etc. show up in the show.

[History Buff]

^Yup.

[betamike]

Just got back from my first trip of the year...and the last night of Moonlight Madness.  The daytime crowds were manageable.  Took lots of great shots with the DSLR and rode every single ride (FITH was down) with maybe a 10 minute wait.  No visible sign of KidsFest past the square (yay!) and never ran into a Hannah-Barbarra character (woo hoo!)

Now to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:

The Good
Pretty much everything on the daytime end of things.  I come from the center of Hell (read:Florida) so the temp and humidity was not unbearable.  We ignored the "Lot Full" sign up by the old green tram stop and found a spot two spaces from the pedestrian walkway.  Like I said, the whole park was easy to navigate and didn't leave me with stuff on my wish list.

The Bad
A few very unpleasant Citizens...none of which I was personally affected by, but hastened me to think how strict we used to be when I worked at the City when Jack and Pete would still make appearances, and how these miserable sour-pusses would have been shown the door.  One citizen at Big Jacks just exhaled almost directly into the lady in front of me's face when she asked for a pie they were apparently out of.  Mind you, that was the ONLY time she even made eye contact.  My turn was much better, but I've learned how to crack a tough nut or two and even got her to smile. 

Powderkeg - sigh...so I thought I would be the ONE person to go and not hear the breaking of the fourth wall (awesome term in the theme park biz).   The outside queue was not blaring any kind of modern music as I had pictured.  Oh how wrong I was.   When I got to the bridge area I was hit with "Footloose" followed by ABBA.   My sister was with me and asked "WTF" (her words) when she saw a heavier set ride operator cha-cha'ing backwards down the load platform.  Oh, and it wasn't just me, several people were just staring at the entire crew as they all danced up and down the platform.  Mind you, this took extra time to load each since they were just too busy dancing to care about loading people.  I knew we were in trouble when one of the operators heard (ugh) Roxette come on, and asked one of the girls to go in the back and "turn it up.".  This was around 1:00 mind you.  Nowhere near MM hours.  If you notice no one is into the music in the queue, then who are you really playing the music for? hmmmm. 

Which leads me to...

The Ugly
Still at PK folks!  I'm not going to reach too deep into my "this is what I do for a living" bag and bore you all, but in my 10 - 15 minutes in view of the load platform, I saw multiple ride law safety infractions that would have had me come down on them should this have been
Disney.  An operator throwing a mug over guests who were loading to the other side of the platform at a pretty good distance.   Lack of focus on train motion (dancing comes first) and very poor hand signals during every dispatch...can I really see your thumbs up sign when you are moonwalking with your back to the control tower?  I'm not going to say "Hey guys, don't have fun" but could you make it any easier to like, NOT draw attention to yourselves?  One guy next to me was branded with all his Theme Park Review credentials and did not look amused....poor PK. 

Finally, it wasn't MM, but the MM guests that had me running for the car.  I thought it was pretty cool to take some nice snapshots since I never get the chance to be there after dark.  You would have thought I was a road bump or a social pariah.   For a majority of the MM guests, it seemed that SDC and the quaint nighttime beauty was an invisible annoyance to have to run through to get their scream on and to gorge on funnel cakes.   Not that I didn't expect some of that, I just wish I didn't feel like I was already back in Florida dealing with an after-parade exodus.   

[betamike]

Oh....and I forgot to mention that they now have the plain "log and axe" ringer style t-shirts.  Nothing else fancy on it...no busy graphics or tie dye.   Just honest to goodness retro LOVE!!!

The have grey, blue, white and red.   I bought one of each!  I cannot tell you how excited this made me!  Next to the cave check in desk in the Hospitality House.   

[Joy]

Oh, I know *exactly* which PK ride operator you're talking about, Mike. He's the same one I've previously witnessed complaining about the normal PK station music and saying he wanted to make a CD of the music he'd like to play.

As I came up into the PK station and heard "I Will Survive" blaring, I got thrown into such a bad mood that I whipped out my camcorder and started recording the ride operators. I have a good 5-7 minutes of exactly what you were describing. Not sure what I can do with the footage, though...

And it seems as if Powderkeg is the main issue. We rode Thunderation about 9pm and while they had what seemed to be the same CD as PK (this assumption based solely on the fact that both rides played "Build Me Up Buttercup"), the difference in mood/attitude was shocking. You could suddenly shut off the music at TnT and no one would be the wiser--all the operators were focused on their job. SO much better than the PK crew.

[betamike]

^ Amen.  I'll write off the fact that MM is a "Marketing Scheme"...I love the City too much to not want to see it survive harsh times.  But give me some assurance the inmates aren't running the asylum.  That's all I ask. 

What's sad is that today's "microwaveable" society probably doesn't notice this.   where some see a quick thrill at any expense, I see room to lead by example and not succumb to easy lapses in judgement (or management).

I'm back for a regular day visit tomorrow (now that it's over).  Litmus test #1 to see if MM is the cause of all this.