Leaderboard

lol, it's a saying, but not what I would say after an accident with people injured... This whole thing is crazy. We don't know the cause, and I don't want to speculate too much, but this train has been in operation for 60 years now without any other major incidents that I know of. I wonder if some of the track sections are simply worn out from the years and near-constant use. I know they've done maintenance and some track work over the years, but as with everything else there may have been some things that slipped. Who knows what the lead time is on new train rails these days... Glad to hear of no serious injuries, which is incredibly lucky when you have such a huge group of people being literally tipped over together. The people on the left edge might have been thrown a good way. I wonder how quickly it happened. Going to be a tough Christmas without one of the biggest attractions.

Statement from the park on the train derailment: https://www.silverdollarcity.com/media-update?fbclid=IwAR2B5Jr92KSmtL8Ueh7Zyqp15OfgwnDaE5PHD7aXnTk4L-a9zTMB_zRhzHE Media Update Oct. 27, 2022 As of 12:45pm, October 27, Silver Dollar City confirms the following information regarding the accident that occurred yesterday evening involving the Frisco Silver Dollar City Line Steam Train. Shortly after 6:00 p.m. CT., three of the four train cars on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train derailed. There were approximately 160 guests on the train at the time of the accident. The train has a maximum capacity of 250 passengers. Silver Dollar City’s on-park EMS, operations, and safety personnel responded immediately. Train passengers were triaged at the scene and then transported by bus to a parking lot, where they were evaluated by Stone County first responders before either being released, treated on location, or transported to nearby medical facilities. Employees from Silver Dollar City’s CARE Team were deployed to the hospital last night to offer support to guests and family members. It is our understanding that five of the six guests transported to a medical facility have been released, along with the Silver Dollar City employee. It is a blessing that no-life threatening injuries have been reported. At Silver Dollar City, the safety and well-being of our guests and team members are paramount – which is why we have detailed emergency protocols and conduct regular drills in partnership with area emergency personnel. We are grateful for the quick, thoughtful action and teamwork of all involved in the response. At this time, our guest services team is in the process of following up with guests involved to offer additional support. We are also continuing to support the Missouri State Fire Marshall’s office, which is conducting an investigation. Further updates will be provided as they become available.

I know I'm in the middle of my massive Trip Report on the trip I took to Europe hitting parks and having fun with TPR. . . but interrupting that to gush about this fantastic thing I did last night. and hey, 'tis the season, right? my friends have been really trying to keep me pretty occupied, so I don't go under due to the grief of losing my spouse back in July. With Halloween quickly approaching, they've been booking me up every Weekend - with last weekend at FrightFest at SFFT, and two weeks before that Howl-O-Scream at SWSA. although I've lived in Austin for well over 35 years, I still have yet to do some of the "local" attractions that have popped up over the last couple of decades. (tho I'm really looking forward to COTALand opening up, as I'm sure I'll do that a LOT once they get more out there - tho I did go to the track/COTA occasionally with my late spouse for races and/or concerts). what made me think of COTA (Circuit of the Americas)? Well, it's F1 weekend here in Austin, but we also passed it last night on our way out to Scream Hollow. I'd seen Scream Hollow mentioned on the Travel Chanel, but wasn't really sure what it was, other than a "spooky" attraction. A haunted house for Halloween. Well, I was certainly mistaken. Located ~35 minutes from Austin, between Bastrop & Smithville - down a long, pretty deserted looking road (that passes right in front of "the Gas Station". . . where they filmed scenes from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre - and has been turned in to Slaughter BBQ & gift shop - so of course we stopped in there too on the way. . .LOL) is what's basically a permanent "Ren-fair" installation that's basically a theme park dedicated to all things "scare the shit out of you" the official tag for the place is "Wicked Halloween Park" - but I think my description better sums it up. The owners live in a big castle (spookily lit at night) that overlooks the property. And it's quite a large property - encompassing a Halloween Museum, several food stands, drink stands, gift shop, stage for live music, 4 very large houses, and a common area that's decked out in scary decorations & lights - not to mention the scare actors roaming freely among the patrons, very often scaring the crap out of them by sneaking up behind. tho I called it a "theme park" the only "ride" they have is the Haunted Hayride - which is groups of 20 or so pulled behind a tractor thru the woods as creatures come at you from all sides. It's brilliant, and had the longest line of the night (at about a 30 minute wait, and was still worth it). . . but damn this place is super immersive. You aren't allowed to take pictures or film inside the houses, and although I did get permission from the owner's Son, when i was introduced to him by my friend Amy (who is the one who really convinced me to go last night), I only took a few in the houses. Because really. . you need to experience them yourself. the Four houses are all really well done, with tons of long dark hallways, really impressive "gotchas" sprinkled thruout, my overall impression? Food: what we had was really good - tho they were out of a few things, and as it got later in the evening, and the place hit capacity (think the Manager told me it was 3000), many food items on the menus were sold out. Oh, we still found stuff to eat (the voodoo fries - french fries covered in Queso, pico, and brisket were fantastic, and are a great "sponge" to sop up an alcohol drank). And the Pizza seemed really popular and was still selling right up until closing time. the prices are super reasonable too. But if you are gonna eat, eat early if possible - maybe the 1st hour they open, but before the houses really open. Drinks: well below "park" prices, with water and soda only $2, and most drinks/beer in the $6 range. I didn't notice any mixed drinks - but there are several bars, and it wouldn't surprise me if at least one of them was pouring by hand. . . tho vast majority of the crowd was drinking Beer, or canned Margaritas (surprisingly quite good), or Cider (locally made. . the Honey Cider is so good!). the Haunts themselves/Scare actors: As many places are these days ? They are very short staffed - resulting in only a few scare actors in the houses (that should have over a dozen - there were tons of nooks and crannies where I would think a scare actor would hide to scare guests). But that means way fewer jump scares and you can enjoy the long (and really detailed) effects in the houses. Each of the 4 main houses has at least one stand out feature that makes that house worth going thru. and these are not "quick" houses - each one took at least 12-15 minutes to go thru. And in *more* than one of them, we got lost and had to backtrack to find the correct way to go in order to move forward - while a scare actor watched us from above and taunted/laughed at us. the only place there were "enough" scare actors is on the Haunted Hayride, which is where they clearly needed to put the most - it's a very large area - and they have been promoting as a new attraction (the storyline on the Haunted Hayride involved the Wendigo in the woods that has been killing people). So no issue at all with the lack of "in house" scares. . I still feel like we absolutely were terrified in each house, at least a few times. It’s a good time Entertainment: as noted, there are some scare actors roaming the grounds oustide of the houses, but the biggest entertainment aspect is right at the front of the property - next to the main bar/food stand: a stage with live music. That has a DJ spinning between sets, so there's always music coming from the front of the grounds. I saw quite a few folks dancing out on the floor in front of the state, so people really seemed to like it. Price: tho you can buy a ticket for just admission, or just admission and one attraction. . . the way to go is the combo ticket. Which we got on Saturday night. For only ~$40, you get access to the grounds (pretty cool on their own), all 4 houses, and the haunted hayride. That comes out to less than $10 a house. it's really a steal, and no wonder they hit capacity almost every night. So yeah, get your tickets online to ensure you can get in! best part? Tho they are only open from Mid-Sept thru end of year on certain days? the weekend after Halloween, they do "Scream Hollow: Pitch Dark Experience" - where the houses all operate with NO LIGHTS AT ALL. (the one that's mostly dark was already terrifiying. . I'm excited, and really considering going back for this event to do them all in the dark). and then in December? they do an Overlay of the houses/park for "Twisted Christmas" - hosted by Krampus. I'm *absolutely* going back for that. this place doesn't get near enough publicity, for as great as it is. . so that's partly why I wanted to write up a Trip Report on it. if you're in Texas, anywhere near the Austin area (tho some of my friends that met up with us last night came from San Antonio. . so still not too far) - this place is WELL worth a visit. now.. on to some pics! where we were going (snagged from online. . just so y'all have the website in case you wanted to check it out) Stopping at "the Gas Station". . where they filmed a key part of Tobe Hooper's original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" inside, is not only a place to order BBQ. . but a fantastic gift shop, filled with all things scary! the main group of folks I met up with for Scream Hollow in the Gas Station gift shop. (Clockwise from the front: Amy, me, Russell, Spy, Paige) a short trip down a deserted dirt road, into a massive field (free parking!!!). . and we were at the gates shortly before open. Gates open ~6:40pm, houses open at dusk ~7:40pm OPEN. . .time for food and drinks! but first let's check out the place the museum is a $9 upcharge, so didn't go into that (tho will on the next visit. . . it was my first time there, so wanted to do all the included stuff first, and knew it was a sold out night. . so focused on haunts, food, and drink tonight. And meeting folks that Amy knew thru Thrill Seekers United - several of whom work at Scream Hollow as fear actors, or were driving down from San Antonio to meet up with us. as mentioned..it's a permanent installation, even if not open year round. . you can see what I meant by comparing it to a Ren-faire. the mens urinals are "themed" LOL what's this? I feel like I'm being watched while I'm peeing (the sign outside DID say the bathrooms are "under surveillance" HAHAHAHAHA. . brilliant!! and I'll bet it freaks out a drunk or two every night. . . ok. . twist my arm. . will get some food and drink. NOTED! the Igor dog. . .and the amazing Honey Cider (that I really didn't *need* 5 of. . but damn were so good. The cider, I had 5 ciders. . only one wiener) the four "houses" are all at the end of the main entry walkway: the entrance to Sinister Circus. not open until dusk, so the scare actors/ticket takers, mingle with guests out front. oh hell yes. . I love me a throne! Mansion of Terror House: Mansion of Terror on the left, Wicked Darkness on the right Asylum house a better view of Wicked Darkness. . . .won't spoil any of the houses, but they are NOT kidding when they say darkness. this is one of the houses were were completely lost in, and a scare actor friend had to come direct us on the right path. . LOL two of the bars. . tho the one on the left also sells the hot dogs. on the far right is the pizza place. any good Halloween Attraction needs a black cat. this is Salem peeking into the Halloween Museum I really did like many of the shirts and most of the merch they have avail. . but I did NOT need another T-shirt, so settled for a pic of this one. free roaming scare actors. . tho it was starting to get dark, and the houses were about to open. first more drinks tho. . (the fangs were the "fun" gift if you ordered Margaritas. . which some in our group did) Adrian. . a new friend I met last night, and a boss (and scare actor) at Scream Hollow. he was dressed as a dead/demon Victorian girl doll? LOL.. I dunno, but it was creepy. very effective! yeah. . we're a bit buzzed now. . not bad, but just enough to start heading to the houses! just look how amazing this place starts to look at night! Live music already going near the front gates/bar. an Electric Chair photo op? Don't mind if i do. . .. starting to get busy. . let's hit the houses Paige is a giant scaredy cat. . . Russell had a ball sneaking up on her all night and scaring the pee out of her (and Amy). . . managed to catch this pic, while Paige is completely oblivious! the lines for the houses are all out in the open. . with the lighted trees being VERY effective in setting atmosphere. inside the houses are probably 80% indoors, with some outdoor sections connecting the buildings, as the houses all have multiple buildings to wind in and out of. and take her anywhere. . . one of the few indoor pics I took - all from Sinister Circus (and yes, had permission to take/post. . but not posting many, because don't want to spoil). but look how well done! our friend Erica showed up, as we were getting in line for Asylum. and more of our friend (this time from Houston) showed up NOTED! and ignored - cant turn this fabulous flame off! in front of the Horror Mansion house. It's over in a dark corner of the queue..but my night vision camera lights it up. . . and it is. . . ummmm. . maybe a bit awkward. that face! yup. . can def. tell they hit capacity! That's Kelly behind me making the face when I took this picture. I didn't know her, but she thought I didn't catch her making the face and was trying to photobomb my pic. I took it anyways, and when we passed her in the queue a few moments later, I asked her, her name. "why?" - oh, because I want to call you by name when I post the picture you were making the face in "I didn't make any face" - yes you did, in the picture I was taking, but you thought I didn't notice? "I didn't" -- shows her picture -- I'm going to do a trip report and use this pic, so I want to note your name. (sorta embarrassed I called her out, I think) "oh. . . . Kelly" LOL Wicked Darkness. . probably my favorite house. almost Pitch Black in there.. . for 15 minutes. . wandering a meandering trail, in the dark. loved this one. random scar actors mingling in the main square the entrance to the hayride LOL.. forgot about this. . . . in the Sinister Circus line.. with a clowns rubber chicken Tractors pulling trailers thru the woods, while attacked by zombies and wendigos. . . . so good! Adrian even joined us on our hayride. can't take him anywhere either. . . and then we hung out and drank and munched on Voodoo fries until it hit midnight, and they told us "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here' one of the staff was wearing the Twisted Christmas shirt. . that one I DO want to buy. so *have* to go back for this in Dec. hope you enjoyed the pics. it's a great place, and I can't believe it took me THIS long to discover it. I'll certainly be a return customer.

Nice report Bert, this event looks awesome. I love HHN and HOS as much as anyone but these "corporate" events do have kind of a cleaner consistent feel to them to the point that I kind of miss these grittier homemade style haunts. I would go to something like this in a heartbeat if it was around here. Thanks for sharing, looked like a great time.

^ Yes, the Cliffhanger trains were half-filled at best. In fact, the other one cycling — for quite a few laps — just had one rider also riding again and again and again. I'm guessing it's the train design as the roughest sections were basically the same moves (any turns that also doubled as dips). It can't be tracking issues for such a new ride, but it felt like tracking issues, as though the wheels were hitting potholes. It wasn't just rattly in a B&M sense but actually quite bumpy. For what it's worth, I preferred the front. I felt that the airtime on the first drop was more or less the same throughout, but the front gave a better sense of speed. Most of the mazes were just reboots, and I doubt they even dismantle them during the year. That might be why the new one felt so cheap and basic? Because they do need to dismantle that one? In terms of the missing effects in Buried Alive, it may have been a staffing issue. The elevator effect was there, but it wasn't functioning and it was basically just a section to walk through. Last year, or the year before, the doors closed and the room started shaking to make it seem like you're going down a mine shaft. Still, I dig mazes like what SFFT (and other SF parks) offer, perhaps even more than the big-budget places. There's a camp charm to store-bought rubbery props that I kind of like.

Found a plat map site. Here are the areas SDC owns/leases. The park proper is in the outlined box; other SDC holdings in that area are shaded. And then here's the plot SDC owns where Celebration City was. Definitely a lot of land to work with!

Legoland Korea's First Brick or Treat TR: Short disclaimer: I know lots of other sites have posted about the 'Legoland Shock' as the media have dubbed it and while I usually post the Korean news on TPR, I haven't here and won't be referencing it in this TR after this paragraph. The Korean company that helped in the development of Legoland and went bankrupt was backed by the government and I believe TPR tries to keep politics out of the site. Since the president has commented recently, and the opposition leader has commented today throwing blame I'm erring on the side of caution and won't mention it again unless it starts to actually impact the park. For now I will follow Legoland's official statement which is: So my son had a great day, bar one serious incident (hopefully someone can answer my question on the Driving School photo below). Despite the fact Everland is 40 minutes from our house and Seoul Land is 55 minutes, we now have yearly passes to Legoland mostly because,he's the perfect age for the park and the only one where he can ride anything, it's now cemented as his favorite and he doesn't mind the 3 hour trip each way to go there (lucky me who does the driving.) I've talked about this in other TR's but nearly all Korean parks are better to visit on weekends than weekdays and Legoland seems to be falling into that category. Seoul Land alternates certain rides and alternates which big roller-coaster is open each weekday, and Everland can sometimes run half-day shifts on rides in each area, one ride runs mornings and one evenings. Since these parks run until 10PM we sometimes go after school so he's familiar with the phrase 'on the weekend' when asking why a ride he wants is closed. We've made all our trips on Fridays so far. The first trip near opening, everything was open. The second the park was so dead it made sense to run rides at less capacity. This time however, lines were 40-50 mins across the board but the Wave Racers only ran one side, as did the horse track ride and a bunch of cars for the Driving School were roped off. This is also our first trip since paid fast-passes were introduced, but looking online lines seem to be the only sightly longer and in some cases shorter on Sundays when everything is running. I realize a lot of people skim the text but if anyone can chime in on the Driving School picture I'd appreciate it. It's near the bottom and will probably be the one with a word vomit underneath it. Welcome to Legoland Korea's first Brick or Treat. Children friendly Halloween means a lot of pumpkins. For all the negativity Legoland Korea gets about the cost, no one seems to mention it's one of the only parks with perks. One thing I'd forgotten after 10 years of Asian passes, is pass-holder benefits! In Asia, when you buy a year pass that's it, the perk is that you're getting in the park for a year cheaper than buying day tickets. There's no pass-holder previews or ERT or benefits. It almost felt weird to be let into a park 30 minutes early before the crowds. My son, being a Lego enthusiast, despite most of the headliner rides being open opted to have Miniland to himself and walk around there. And take advantage of having the interactive elements to himself. Kimchi flavored cola is not something I would buy. As the park opened, so did the monster houses. 5 of them around the park. 3 gave out candy, one a paper mask, and the final house gave a surprisingly nice bag. I was expecting paper but this bag has gained a lot of use since we've left the park. It was nice to see the park had alternate films and wasn't just running the Halloween film. I'd wanted to see it since it's new and a limited run but my son is a huge fan of the 4D effects of the car-wash scene in the Lego City movie. The Legoland lookout also had a Halloween overlay. My son loves Lego and trains currently, and still has a Lego Duplo train set he controls from an app set up in his room, so this was his first stop since it's a combination of his loves. A boy taking his toy train on a train made to look like a toy. Despite the weather not being too cold, a lot of people seemed to be opting out on riding the Splash Battle. As per all our trips the dark rides had some up and down time. Ninjago and the Factory ride both closed at points. The Factory Ride mirror was just a static image now, and the turning riders into figurines failed again to acknowledge there were riders. We're 0/4 on getting on Ninjago without some break-down, this time the car scoring system wasn't acknowledging any inputs. This is the Korean alphabet. I don't think there's a more Lego friendly alphabet out there. Most Korean names are only 3 syllable blocks as well so don't take up much space so most building areas were covered in children putting their names up. Fun fact: It's a requirement that on the side of every ancient medieval castle, there needs to be a tunnel constructed for a Japanese shinkansen train to pass through. I haven't included any roller-coaster pictures yet so here's the only one I took. One of the pass-holder benefits was a free kids meal at the buffet (on weekdays). This was one of the pizzas on the buffet line. To be fair I've had stranger pizzas in Korea. 2023 addition. I mentioned in my previous TRs despite the website mentioning meet and greets, apart from park opening we've never seen any at all on all our trips or been able to line up for the opening one. The park map listed 9 spots for Halloween and we hovered but never saw any. However near the end of the day we finally came across one. This was the highlight of my sons day. He was hugging, shaking hands and wanted as many pictures as he could before being made to move-on. Hopefully they become more common around the park. More of them please! Stop here! OK, onto the big downer of the day. We have only ever been to Legoland Korea so some more well traveled TPR people can comment. What is the line policy for the Driving School in other parks? Here it's been wildly inconsistent. First time, we could line up but not go into the pre-show. Second time we could go into the pre-show with our children. And this time, we were told the queue was very busy. so we had to let our children line up by themselves. The park even originally allowed adults to drive the cars when it first opened too but it was a capacity nightmare. The line was posted at 40 minutes and as mentioned a bunch of the cars were roped off so only a few children could go into the movie room at a time. I was a bit hesitant about leaving a kindergartner in the line alone, potentially out of eye-sight, in case something happened. A lot of parents were hovering but that was bottle-necking the fast-pass/hero access area. My son said he could do it so he lined up and I kept an eye from the entrance-way. Kids will be kids however and expecting that many young children to behave that long is a big ask. Within 5 minutes, something had happened in the queue and a couple and another dad were screaming obscenities in front of all the children, raising fists and the dad was yelling for the other man to fight him with the only thing stopping the fight was the mom getting in between (but still yelling). Security was called but by the time they came, the worst was over, and neither was removed. What was frustrating however was all the policies instantly changed. Despite the line being the same length, now parents could suddenly queue. So all the parents suddenly rushing through the line to get to their kids while others wonder where their parents were. And although I should be grateful, that it made the line shorter, with those 2 dads from the incident both in the line and close together, all those cars that had been roped off all day magically became available despite it only being 50 minutes until closing. I want to give the benefit of the doubt that the cars were added then because there was a corporate late night event that day but either way, it wasn't a good look and I hope they standardize the policies in the future because that was horrible for all those children to witness. I think my son was a little shook up being trapped in a line and very close to screaming fighting adults although when it kicked off, I made sure he could see me and I got very close to the incident to grab him over the fence if it got worse but he told me he was done with rides after that and just wanted to walk around and check out the subway trains they have around Miniland. It was close to closing anyway...maybe... the park hasn't updated the Korean or English announcements, because despite the 6pm closing, the announcements in the driving school kept saying 7PM... He had a lot of questions after what happened and I tried to answer as best I could. Why did I tell him he had to line up alone but then join him? Why did the line go quicker after parents lined up etc. He'd noticed the closed half's of rides/cars not running and said he wanted to go on a weekend from now on because 'It's slower now' [meaning Friday]. I learn with each trip with my son, and it was interesting to see his reasons for wanting the weekend. Maybe other parents can chime in but I've learnt that for him, time isn't judged on the wait-time of the ride but on progress. He would rather wait in a 40 minute line which constantly moves than a 25 minute line that doesn't move at all if that makes sense. Although the incident might also have something to do with reinforcing that belief. At the end of the day, I'm just grateful it didn't put him off the park. He's only 6 so it's easy to put him off something, and once calmed down, his biggest takeaway is that he wants to go on a weekend when lines will move faster (I think he felt trapped by the argument). He's already making plans that the weekend trip will be when the Christmas event starts so there doesn't seem any lasting damage. Te Driving School is/was his very favorite ride in the park so the big test will be if he lines up there again which is why some-one can tell me the other parks policies so I can talk him through it on the next car journey if he is hesitant. The next trip will probably be when there is a Christmas overlay here. I shouldn't be surprised but the protesters are still camped here. I guess they're protected and Legoland can't do anything because you still have to walk through all the signs. Most parks the last thing you see is 'See you next time' or 'Thank you for coming'. This sign told me I'm a fool for coming twice and not to come again. This was our 3rd time so not sure what that makes me.

Incredible news! Hey Carowinds if you need help hauling the world's-most-hated Christmas decoration to the dump, let me know.

We need more of these new Vekoma SLC's...they're amazing rides!!! Karacho is not a Smiler clone, but similar...like 1/3 of Smiler! Smoother and better in my opinion!

Big derailment on the Frisco Silver Dollar Line... Don't know anything other than this video (Screamscape shared it via Twitter). Hard to tell but it does look like the cars fully on their side were removed from the wheelsets at some point AFTER the derailment, I'm guessing either during the evacuation or in order to stabilize them after everyone got out. Hope no one was hurt! Update (10/26/2022 6:14pm PST): Sounds like several people were injured. From the local new station: "KOLR10 anchor Bailey Strohl has been in contact with a passenger on the train Wednesday. This passenger was in the second car from the back of the train. The passenger said right before the train tipped, her husband noticed the wheels on their car were silver instead of black rubber, and then they heard the train dragging. She said their car and the ones in front of them were completely on their sides and passengers had to smash the windows to climb out." More info here: https://www.ozarksfirst.com/local-news/local-news-local-news/heavy-emergency-responder-presence-at-silver-dollar-city/