ytterbiumanalyst

You're welcome! Providing way more information than is strictly necessary is my speciality. How about those Time Traveler cars at IAAPA?

Woohoo, IAAPA thread! Those Time Traveler cars...

I was waiting for that. I rode this last summer, and it was fine. It could have been smoother, sure, but roughness was not a problem. It was a very fun ride, and different from anything else I've ridden. If the new track makes it even better, then great!

Mine Blower looks so fun, and it looks so good in this video.

Wow, that's really great! Not very often you see Wild Adventures show up in a TR. Thanks!

I've only been on the one at Little Amerricka in Wisconsin, but I'm assuming there's not a huge difference. That ride looked cool, but it was absolutely as described above.

I'm not sure how any of that contradicts what I wrote. There's an economic divide here. You have a lot of very poor people and a lot of middle class. If you're a working class person with only a high school education, it's tough. It's not hard to find a job, but it is hard to find a good paying job. If you're working per hour, $15 is high here. Good luck trying to find $20. And you're going to be stuck there with no real chance at advancement. You seem to be seeing the Ozarks from an outsider's perspective. People who move here are already ahead. Those opportunities are going to be there for them because they have the money and education to make it happen. You come from a blue collar family or a farm family, it's going to be tough for you. This isn't an area that creates opportunities. It has opportunities for those who already are ahead. When setting your price, you've got to take the economy into consideration. SDC still has a large contingent of bobbie socks families who are there for crafts and gospel music. They don't want to alienate those people, who often are very price sensitive. When you're buying 10 season passes, you have to be. That's the reason season passes are less than most parks. It's the reason parkong is free. It's the reason you can bring your own food into the park. Yes, they're wanting to attract the new money here, but they have to keep their core audience too.

Very nice photos. I'm getting more excited about this. 3 trains will be fantastic, since this likely will have fewer passengers per train like Powder Keg does.

El Toro is so good. I also used to think it gives the best airtime...and then a few days later I rode Phoenix.

Nice cool fall weather. Highs in the 50s, lows around freezing, and millions of lights at Silver Dollar City.

Because that couple of dollars will scare off a good number of people who otherwise would have bought the season pass. If you live outside this area, you don't understand how economically depressed it really is. Missouri and Arkansas both don't provide a whole lot of services and have low tax rates. The people who move here generally like that and are choosing that situation. Those of us who grew up here may or may not favour it and may or may not have the means to be self-sufficient. The area is growing, and our median income is rising, but that's largely due to an influx of migrants from wealthier states such as California rather than an increase in wealth among those native to the Ozarks. Being a budget destination doesn't necessarily mean that everyone who comes is poor. When you evaluate the Branson attractions, they are largely focused on value for money. There really aren't a whole lot of luxury attractions that would cater to high end tourists. So in this respect, the high end tourists are still focused on the budget aspect; they may just go to a few more attractions. Contrast this with, for example, Miami Beach, which does a lot to attract high end tourists. They're just different.

Well, the cobra roll is kind of in the middle of Hang Time rather than on the far end of Boomerang. It's possible, though, if Hang Time comes closer to Sky Cabin, I suppose it could.

SDC just cuts corners in different areas than Six Flags does. Six Flags only has season passes at the price point they do because of advertising, but they're also highly dependent on locals. SDC sells season tickets in the SWMO/NWAR area, but a lot of their guests are visitors to Branson. They're cognizant that Branson is a budget destination, and they price accordingly.

Their season pass is super affordable too, $75 for kids and $85 for adults. You won't find this caliber of park for that cheao anywhere else. Not that I'm shilling for my local park, it just really is that good.

Nope, no plastic card. It's paper. Because it's cheaper. SDC is a great park, but they don't actually have a whole lot of money, at least not by theme park standards. They cut corners where they can, they're just intelligent about it. Nobody's really going to care that the season pass is printed on paper, so that's what they do.

No, that's a good question. Season tickets are identical to daily tickets, just that slightly glossy paper. I keep mine in my wallet all year, and though they do show some wear by the end of the season, they've never become unusable.

Oh man, sorry to hear this. Been there. I had a golden retriever that we had to put down after the cancer got the best of her. It's never fun, but in certain circumstances, it can be for the best. Sounds like you did the right thing. That will be little comfort now. You'll grieve for a while, and that's good. Eventually you'll just remember the good times. It sucks. It will suck for a while. But you do move on. It does get better from here.

I like the video. If this ends up being Monster with a dive coaster stall, it'll be really great! Definitely looking forward to getting back to Knott's, hopefully within the next couple of years.

Thanks for tracking that down, Jordy. Eli, Seriously??? We don't know anything. You ran across a damn blog post and come parading it around here like it's set in stone. Thanks for completely wasting my time. Next time you're going to post bullsh*t, how about you tell everybody where you got it.

Where are you getting that? I'm not seeing anything more specific than "Two new rides at Bernie's Barnyard" either on their site or Facebook.

Aw man, and here I thought Six Flags got rid of all the murdery types.

I'm not sure I understand why you're happy to see that Studios has the least to offer but give the park time as I'm sure that will be changing soon. This was one of those "needs to get worse before it gets better" scenarios and in two years this park should do a complete 180! Yeah, one of those things where I started to write something, then changed my mind, and didn't erase all the words. Anyway, yeah, really looks like they're working on things. We're still in the preliminary planning stages, so hopefully by the time we're there (likely spring '20), it'll be up to standards. I have very high expectations of WDW after the awesomeness that was Disneyland, and I don't think those expectations are misplaced.

^ Awesome! Have a good time! That's good information on Fun Spot as well. Things to consider for future trips....

Ok cool. Yeah, I've got one kid that will only ride Pandemonium and Mine Train, so hoping it is. We'll probably be going the 18th.

Sweet! I haven't gotten that email yet. Is Mine Train open?