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[History Buff]

^Just think of how they filled in that whole valley between old C and the entry.  Not only are hills crumbling, but valleys are being brought higher.  Doesn't that give you some relief?

[mhguy77]

they could have left a tree line there but I was not as botherd by that, it cant really be seen from the rides and such, that tip of the mountain they are leveling though. You sure cant miss it

[Ozark Outlaw]

This has always been my number one concern.

I can forgive the theme slips here, and there, but please don't cut down anymore trees! I wish Silver Dollar City would skip a new ride for just one year, and invest on planting more trees. Especially around the parking lot areas. They could even use trees, and landscaping to divide up each parking lot. 

[Junior]

What you see on the parking lot is a reflection of the overwhelming success the park has had in recent years. They gotta have more parking. Hopefully when the parking lot improvements are done, someone will plant a few trees and flowers and get the tram/bus situation under control. In my days on the park, they got about a million visitors...today, its around 2 million with the expanded season.

[History Buff]

Cut down a couple dozen trees or burn fossil fuels transporting crowds from overflow lots in Notch and other areas off-property.

[mhguy77]

In Dollywood they built large planters out of wood planks, ( or that was covering the real container).
THey grew trees in them.
What about concrete planters boarded up, not the little planters like they have between the old and new lots but every 20 ft a big one with 1 tree, a bradford pear would be fine.  It would "soften the blow" of the asphalt.
This is not a million dollar fix here. There are farm tanks that would do the trick nicely. They sell them at the farm store here for 200-500 each. SDC could buy something like that wholesale and cover the tank with wood or rocks, plant a tree and put some vines in so they droop over the edge. 
That would really help to beautify the area, you are taking away you better give something back.

[History Buff]

Use the trees that they cut down to make the planters to put the new trees in - I like it.

[shavethewhales]

Just got back and am writing out a more complete report, but I am happy to say that I had no issues with the parking situation at SDC at all this weekend, even with 20,500 people in the park on Saturday. I mean, you have to give the park a lot of credit, for a free system they do a LOT. There were huge lines stretching back to the turnstiles at the end of the day to leave the park, but they moved quickly as trams and busses came and went as quickly as possible. I think anyone complains about having to wait a few minutes to board a FREE tram to go back to a FREE parking spot needs to visit another big park and experience the joy of truly waiting a long time for a beaten-down old people mover to take them back to a $15 parking spot.

The hill issue is a real shame though. On Wildfire I was struck once again by the amazing view at the top, but then I noticed the missing hilltop and couldn't help thinking it was a crime against the Ozarks just like everything else that's flattening out land in Branson. I just wonder what they'll take out next to expand parking...

On a lighter note, I got on the wrong bus Sunday night, since they weren't going to Stop 7 right by Deer Run, so the driver actually took me there and dropped me off after letting everyone else off at the Wilderness. Note to Deer Run lodgers: Stop 7 is the stop on the hilltop right next to the hotel, but they don't always fill this lot, so you might have to take the tram to lot 5 instead and walk up.

[U Smell Smoke]

I must say the parking/tram service was the best I have seen in a few years during my visits last week (Wednesday, Thursday night and Friday).  Both Wednesday and Friday morning we parked and walked right on a tram.  In fact, Wednesday as we boarded a tram two other trams were waiting (stop 4) right behind it.  Thursday evening we had to wait only a couple of minutes to get picked up and all three nights when leaving the park the wait for a tram was very short.  I was very pleased.  I was glad they started (at least while I was there) unloading at stop 4 first and then backtracked to stops 3, 2 and 1.  That seemed to make the most sense to me as the most people seem to exit at stop 4.  Plus, that kept people from having to walk around the tram at stops 1 and 2.  One note of disclosure, I always get to the parking lots early, usually between 8:15 and 8:30 so I beat the larger crowds that show up later in the morning.

[Firstvisit1967]

They really need to invest in the beauty of the parking lots.  The 1880's theme needs to build from the time you leave your car all the way to the front gate.  They need to have trees, planters, fences made of wood, small plots of cornfields and barns would add to the atmosphere.  As you ride the trams in to the front of the city the town needs to come to life.

[History Buff]

They don't seem to have a problem getting people back to the parking lot to leave; it's the wait to get in that ruins the first impression.

[Swoosh]

^No getting people back to the cars was the problem I had when I last visited.

[StaceySue]

^No getting people back to the cars was the problem I had when I last visited.

Yes.

[jmc75]

I was at sdc a couple of weeks ago and was talking to one of the parking lot workers where you pay for the perferred parking. The last couple the times I having been parking there since i think it is easier. Anyway I had asked why they were printing out parking tickets now instead of just writing them out like they use to,seemed to me this takes lot longer. I was told that they are debating the idea of a parking pass. They are trying to see if the same people park there every time they come

[Nate65807]

I think that the real problem with SDC and Missouri parking in general is that land is too cheap. This is also evident at the KC International Airport (MCI) Because they have the luxury of using more horizontal space, they are not using any vertical space. My solution. You guessed it: Multi-Level Parking Garages. Los Angeles, New York, and many other places have taken to parking garages. When space is at a premium, you don't have much choice.

I realize that these are expensive to build and do not accommodate buses, RV's and other large vehicles. However, those vehicles could park in a traditional lot. Having parking garages would let SDC make better use of the land that they have without having to clear out more land and make people park so far away that they have no choice but to take the tram. Parking garages would make it to where you would be closer to the park and protect your car from the elements. The other benefit is that they would now have more land to either sub-lease or use for additional attractions.

In their defense, SDC takes better care to keep nature the way it is than most other theme parks. All the trees that are in and around the park make for great scenery and shade too. For every tree they cut, they plant more to replace them.

I would encourage the powers that be at SDC to consider building parking garages. This would be great, unless it meant that you had to pay for parking or pay more for tickets/passes. Come on folks, you got the money to make some improvements.