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We had a great time in Branson this week. It was my two-year-old's first road trip, and our four hour trek (5 hours with a kid) wasn't bad. We went to SDC Tuesday. Rides: Flooded mine x2. (Her first dark ride.) Train. Carousel. The one at SFSTL is often closed, even more than Boomerang and Xcaliber, so despite her 5 or so carousels, she never gets to ride that one. This one was great, because it had smaller horses, too. Huck Fin's splash battle or whatever it is. We never ride these. Ever. The dads were cool about only spraying my wife and I, while saying, "Not the daughter! Dad only!" After shieling her, and getting constantly blasted in the face, I got a "Thanks for taking one for the team, Dad!" She loved it, so it was worth it. I've never been more soaked at a park. Fireman's landing was cool. We rode the fire dog's twice, which my daughter loved. Whatever drop/bounce tower thing we rode was a little too intense for her. It was "ok, all done?" by about our third bounce. I'm actually surprised this is a ride for kids under 36", accompanied by an adult. (We're at 34" now.) Aside from that, we let her play on the splash pad and scream for a while. The stunt dog show was a massive hit, and we were able to get out of the heat for a while. The hostess was awesome and sat us in the reserved seating, because my daughter is so damned cute. It comes with the territory of only being two, but having a shit ton of hair and being verbally advanced... She gets it from her mom. Dad brag. Pre-show the kids got to meet the big dog in the costume. After, they got to meet a stunt dog. She screamed in the ear of the people next to us the whole time. I gave up on stopping her, because I'm a prick, and I thought it was funny. It was hot AF, there were no lines, and I still managed to get a ride on one of my favorite wooden coasters. We had to leave for a few hours for a nap, so as usual that took a big bite out of our day. The little random shit you'd never care about as an adult was great for kids, like the cow utter thing, and big ball fountain. Despite thinking, "We didn't come here for this shit," you just let your kids enjoy it... Even if your young child walks well, bring a freaking stroller. I'm glad my wife talked me into it. It would have been an absolute shit show without it. Staff was friendly. The park was clean. The large building being constructed just absolutely ruins the entire park. Just trashed. We'll never be back. My wife was offended and our daughter cried. Branson was cool for kids. We read complaints about the aquarium, but why? I was really impressed. Food is really underwhelming, and I feel like it's all geared toward seniors. HOWEVER, Mr. Gilberti's Chicago Style Pizza in Hollister was some of the best pizza I've ever had. Ever. They only took reservations when we went, and there were signs warning about the hour + wait for your food, which wasn't a lie. Despite that, I'd say it gives Lou Malnati's in Chicago a run for its money. It's kind of a hole in the wall and seating is limited. They're going to tell you when you can come when you call for your reservations... without much flexibility. How did this place get here? Pizza, bottled domestics, and the best fried mushrooms I'd ever had was a welcome change from giant meatball places on the strip. We went full nostalgia mode and bought a couple disposable cameras, so we can make a photo-book. Two cameras and processing is about $150. Lol. Times change. My computer is on full dim mode, because of a wicked headache, and I'm not proof reading. Cheers.

Please don't entertain baseless conspiracy theories LOL.

I'm calling it: SBNO, with a free spin in it's place. Just kidding. We won't get the free spin. A local splash pad is opening by our house. I'm pretty stoked for my daughter. I say this, because in the very large 2.1 million dollar park expansion, the entire ground was leveled, utilities were run, the splash pad was built, a nice concession stand was constructed, the parking lots have been completed, and phase 1 should be set to open shortly. It broke ground in September, 2021. Meanwhile, the carousel...

Thanks for the insight folks. Yeah, we're just going to spend an afternoon there, nothing more. I don't expect it to be mind blowing or anything, just a little day trip.

If you spend more than two days at Darien Lake, you are spending too much time at Darien Lake. I know your just said your were camping in the state, but hopefully you weren't planning on Darien Lake to occupy much of that. And if you're spending two days, some of that time should be occupied in the not-so-great waterpark. You'll get bored, quick. Unless you camp here:

Seriously? No one's made a joke about a launched coaster at Dollywood yet? Wow....you all disappoint me haha.

I do wish it were a bit more themed (or really, just landscaped/wooded) but a long, custom family coaster with a very low height restriction is never a bad thing. It will make Wildwood Grove a bit more complete and add some nice capacity to the area so I'm totally on board. Looking forward to *finally* visiting for the first time next Spring - after axing plans on multiple occasions.

But Hunter Orange for safety, don't want any accidental shootings.

"Hey, people really like Firechaser Express but it has low capacity. Let's build another one but budget cut the theming." I mean, it's fine. It seems redundant and it's in an open field but it adds capacity and has an ultra-low height requirement so that's never a bad thing.

Looks pretty unique, and I'm sure Dollywood will go all out with the theme. I didn't see who the manufacturer was however. Based on the artwork, it looks like it could be either Vekoma or Intamin. Maybe I overlooked it since I'm just an insane crackhead.

I get what you're saying but this isn't a Top Thrill Dragster fan-fiction thread. Most people (hopefully) are operating under the assumption that we're all living in reality. I assume that most of the insane ideas posted here that aren't framed as a crazy fantasy ideas are 100% serious, and even if they're not other people will assume they are and run with them because coaster enthusiasts are mostly insane.

2027? That's pushing it.

It's an Intamin.

There are are only way too many mentions/rumors about it because enthusiasts are basically f*ckin' crackheads.

Yes, I am totally serious. The entire ride was rough and I ride every time I'm at the park, as I go every week or two with my annual pass. I literally had to leave the park because I couldn't walk. I'm just glad it was the last ride of the day and not the first. The ride has been rough in the past, before the new I-box track sections, but I've never been in pain from the ride like I was this time. Thunder Head was my first ride of the day (I always go to the left when I get inside the front gates) and it was super smooth. Not sure what the issue was with Lightning Rod that day.

Only talking about it because of wayyy too many mentions / rumors about it. Nobody thinks of the larger implications and why it wouldn't happen. That being said, the accident was caused by a faulty bolt on the flag plate failing and that issue could have been solved (along with moving and/or changing the queue) prior to this season. I likely feel that there is something larger at play with TTD being shelved for this season, but I highly doubt we'll see any operational changes to the ride itself.

Re: TTD - For the thousandth time, the launch mechanism had nothing to do with last year's incident. They're not changing the launch mechanism. Re: Prestige Passes - Why does the regular $300 Prestige Pass not include access to other parks, when the $250 Platinum from MiA does? This leaves so many questions. I find it hard to believe that after so many years of CF pricing its "All Park" pass the same depending on what park you buy it at that they're going to change it now.

We got our first trip to King's Island as a part of our road trip about a week ago now and I think it might be my new favorite park. The operations were outstanding, the park itself is well maintained all around, and there is legitimately not a bad coaster built for adults in the park right now. Mystic Timbers is just below the top tier of woodies, awesome ride. Diamondback is probably my favorite B&M hyper now. Orion might be the weakest of the three B&M gigas, but that still makes it a top 25 coaster. We also made what turned out to be the right decision to wait for dark to ride the Beast for the first time. Not only did we get an amazing experience that was one of the most fun coaster rides of my life, but while in line we lucked into a great view for the fireworks/drone show which was great too. I left the park with zero complaints.

So I haven't seen a lot about either the history section that has been set up in the gardens, or the Phantom Theater Encore show, so I'll deviate from my big trip report to talk about them and show the pictures here. First up, the 50th Anneversary history section set up in the gardens. This area has stones for every year with the big addition on the ground, with blank stones set up for another 15+ years. Along the path are signs talking about the parks history, broken down by era, as well as model Eiffel Towers painted in the colors of major rides. And the Phantom Theater Encore show. It was entertaining enough...I definitely enjoyed the acrobats, and the talent and production values were there, but not knowing anything about the original ride, I found the show kinda meh. There was also a little too much union bashing for my liking. In the lobby of the theater there's a whole bunch of history about the ride, including reproductions of the lenticular posters, and the original model of the ride (which apparently the park had to buy back from a collector who had purchased it). I love park history, so honestly this part was better than the show for me, but I'm sure people who remember the original Phantom Theater ride will be very entertained by the show. Out front, one of the original ride vehicles. The poster on the outside of the theater. Inside the theater (no photo or video allowed once the show began). And the history section: And I'll close out this post with some pictures of the art contest winners and runners up, on display in one of the stores: