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[Ozark Outlaw]

Parking garages have their advantages in the big city, but I am not sure how well it would work for Silver Dollar City. First off, you have the additional cost of building maintenance, and up keep. Second, parking garages tend to be a bit clumsy with traffic flow. It would be very difficult to orchestrate a mass entrance, and exit from a parking garage.

I believe with all of the recent tree clearing, and expanded parking lots, Silver Dollar City has adequate room to meet the current demands of parking space. I have read several post of people who complain about the tram, and who refuse to ride them. Perhaps I am just a rusty nail, but for me the tram is part of the Silver Dollar City experience.

[rubedugans]

Build a corkscrew ramp leading down into Marvel Cave, and WA LA! Underground parking garage, We could fit a few in there!

[Makayna]

Parking garages would not be "in theme" with Silver Dollar City.  Granted, either are trams or ANY parking lot for that matter, but a giant monstrosity right out in front of the beautiful park would just be an eyesore!

Not to mention the fact that Branson isn't exactly flat.  Just think about "Cardiac Hill" within the park... many of the parking lots also have slopes to them - and that's fine in a parking lot if there are gentle slopes... but you try to build a parking garage on a slope!!! 

[Nate65807]

SDC only has so much land to use. Unless you're talking about the valet or preferred parking, parking itself doesn't bring any revenue. Now of course having the parking lot enables people to come to the park and spend money, but there is so much that SDC could be doing with their property. Does anybody want to see more water rides, roller coasters, auditoriums or shops? How about Tram Stop 10 (5-10 years from now) that only gets used on the busiest of weekends, but has to be there for the rest of the year to meet the needs of the park? Tram Stop 10 doesn't sound too "exciting" to me.

Parking garages are expensive and don't fit the "theme" of any business, though you can build a garage that is "less ugly" than many of the older ones out there. It takes more time to get traffic in and out of them. You have to spend money "leveling" the land in some cases. However, most businesses in the US that park more than 5000 people have a parking garage because they realize that there are more important things to focus on than parking. With the amount of space SDC could save, they could sub-lease the land (lower overhead, maybe after the garages are paid for the savings could be passed on the the customers).

Building these garages would stifle progress in the park for a few years as SDC would have to recoup the costs associated with it. But after that time passes, nothing but benefits. I have heard that HFEC wants to move White Water to another location. This would make that a possibility.

[Makayna]

But many of the parking lots are on the other side of the street!  It's not like they could be used for rides, shows, shops or attractions anyways!

And if they did add parking garages, they'd probably have to start charging for parking in order to pay for them because they are sooooooooooo expensive!  And that's one of the things that sets SDC apart from other parks.

[Nate65807]

You are right that they would have to pay for the garages somehow:

"Building these garages would stifle progress in the park for a few years as SDC would have to recoup the costs associated with it."

But I am thinking long term. Bridges or tunnels could be built to cross over or under the road. I would love to see a swinging bridge be the means to that end, but it would never happen because it would not be accessible or safe. These may seem like lofty goals that are too expensive/out of reach. However...it started with a cave.