ytterbiumanalyst

Today when cleaning out my 9-year-old's school bag (end of another school year), I found this essay about our trip to Valleyfair! last summer that she wrote as a school assignment back in February. My kid's first trip report! Here it is reproduced exactly as written. All capitalization, spelling, punctuation, etc. is all entirely hers. Valleyfair by Caitlin Wall Have you been to Minnesota? If you have, you will probably know a place called Valleyfair. (If your dad and brother are roller coaster freaks, like mine are.) Anyway, I've been there and I'm going to tell you about it. When we got there, I rode this thingy called Northern Lights. It's kinda like this Electro Spin thingy, yeah, let's go with that. I rode it at least twice. And then I pretended I a tour guide and rode a little taxi thingy...hoodlee hoo. Anyway, my brother is a "roder coaster" freak, (and so is my dad), so he goes on adventures about "roder coasters" and is probably on a quest to ride every "roder coaster" in the U.S. (That's a lot o "rodercoasters"!) Anyways, that's all, so [this is written very large, takes up three whole lines of school line-ruled paper] GOODBYE Everyone!

I don't know, removing that one at SFNE for that horrific joke of a raft ride is pretty unforgivable. I don't really know much about SFNE, or frankly, much about any parks outside the Midwest. Around here, Valleyfair and Cedar Point have removed their log flumes, but all the Midwest Six Flags still have theirs.

Six Flags generally still have all of theirs, even the parks with double flumes like St. Louis and Great America. There's a lot to criticize them for, sure, but removing log flumes is not among their crimes.

Looks like somebody needs some Weird Al! [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

I haven't seen any track yet. If it is on property, there are a ton of places they could hide it out of public view. SDC is a park with space like Kings Island. I'm planning to get some construction photos each time I go this year, since so much is happening. I'll be there this weekend, so if the track is in public view, I'll post it.

No sir. You have it all wrong. I was raised Roman Catholic, so beer and Jesus go together like peas and carrots.

Undoubtedly.

I'm with you on that. Having grown up around here, I've come to terms that SDC will never serve alcohol. I'm honestly impressed that Branson has a winery and a distillery. Plus Springfield just opened its third brewery. For an area that actually still has dry towns, this is progress. I agree that it IS definitely progress! While I have no problem with the wholesome family approach of SDC and Dollywood, sooner or later someone is going to get into management that is going to realize the high profit margin that comes with serving alcohol in a theme park. Now before the teetotalers all come with their axes swinging saying how it would kill the charm of the park and bring in the wrong type of crowds, I'll say up front that I know that alcohol can bring out the bad in a lot of people. But pricing it to the point where some redneck alcoholic that downs an 18 pack of Busch Light every day is going to say, "Dang, I ain't payin' no $8 for a Bud Light, yo!", you've already eliminated a high percentage of those who are going to get drunk and ruin the family vibe. And chances are that if they are a falling down type of drunk, they're likely to just leave the park and go get drunk at their car in the parking lot or go to a bar and come back anyway. Alcohol sales at parks has never been a problem at any other park that I have visited. Obviously if more and more parks are doing beer & wine with food festivals, they know what type of good revenue is coming in with it. They likely wouldn't do it otherwise. If SDC would ever do it, and I do not anticipate that happening as long as the current generation of the Herschend family are still in charge, I think a food festival would be how they would introduce it. Beer and moonshine during Bluegrass & BBQ, cider during Harvest Festival, proper wassail and eggnog during Christmas. It could be done very classy. SDC for all its kitsch has always been a classy place. We're dreaming here, of course, but it's nice to dream.

I doubt it. HFE just like to have lower height restrictions, like Wild Eagle's 50". Height restrictions are a combination of manufacturer's recommendations and insurance. Likely HFE worked out a deal with their insurance that allows more guests to ride.

Wildfire was designed as a floorless, but HFE asked B&M to add floors to reduce maintenance costs. The breakaway floors have a lot of moving parts, which means a lot of things can break. Wildfire's floors have no moving parts. Engineers and maintenance staff love that.

I'm with you on that. Having grown up around here, I've come to terms that SDC will never serve alcohol. I'm honestly impressed that Branson has a winery and a distillery. Plus Springfield just opened its third brewery. For an area that actually still has dry towns, this is progress.

Would you rather they be working on it or telling you about how they're working on it?

Absolute best actually feasible trip for me would be Dollywood, Holiday World, and Cedar Point.

It's not just you. Drop towers are all about the feeling of falling, which really can't be captured well by a camera. I may like some better than others, but I haven't encountered one yet I didn't like. I doubt Drop Line will change that.

Bluegrass & BBQ (but no moonshine) Summer's here and it's time for good music and good food, and Silver Dollar City is the place to be for both. The park was fairly busy today, but as so often happens, the ride queues were short. The longest we waited for any ride was 20 minutes for Powder Keg. The reason for going today was Rhonda Vincent & the Rage. If you're familiar with the bluegrass scene, I need say no more. If not, she has the nickname "Queen of Bluegrass" and for good reason. She is supremely talented and put on an amazing 45 minute set. She led with Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" and then went on to several of her own songs. A personal note here: Vincent's banjoist, Aaron McDaris, is from Hartsville, Missouri, roughly an hour northeast of Branson. I used to work with his brother and sister-in-law several years ago and got to meet him. They're very nice people. On to the BBQ! There were many things to choose from, including some new entries out in the plaza. Lots of good smokin' goin' on in these parts. I had the Pulled Pork Mason Jar Sundae. This was a layered meal with baked beans on the bottom, then pulled pork, cole slaw, more pulled pork, then topped with bacon and garnished with a tomato, pickle, and pepperoncini on a stick. It was great, and I thought I had taken a picture of it, but it's not there now that I'm going through them. Oh well. Trust me, it's awesome. Progress is being made on Roller Coaster 9, still mainly on the station. The framing appears to be nearly complete and the roof is really looking good now. Enjoy the photos! Rhonda Vincent & the Rage. It was hard to get a photo due to the blinding paleness of the performers, but that's bluegrass for ya. Let's look behind the fence! The Frisco Barn has all the smokin' and grillin' supplies you need. The Red Gold Heritage Hall can't handle all the awesomeness, and the festival is taking over the plaza too! It's maize madness, I tell you, madness! Grillin' demonstrations Ah, now that's the house I'm looking for. Yup. This is the place. It's a huge room with several vendors. Everything looked good--how to choose? Ooh, desserts! Not to be confused with deserts. You don't want to eat a mason jar desert. For those who like their BBQ sammichy. Ooh...ribs.... I don't make ribs money, but that looks good. Now this is something I haven't seen before. And I do make mason jar money! They also had full plates, which of course had the longest line, because Branson. Live shows going on all day at one end of the room. Great atmosphere, and air conditioned too! Come out to Bluegrass & BBQ if you get the chance!

Don't worry. Millennium Force still exists.

That's the most Murkan "cheese" there is! On a side note, my great uncle used to own a cheese shop. He never stocked Velveeta. Not ever.

Yes, SDC's opening weekend back in March. Are you going to a music festival this summer?

The whole ride area looks so good. Cannot wait to ride this--only 3 more weeks!

Burma

Nah, if you really want to go full Murkah, coat that sucker in nacho cheese. It isn't American unless it's not technically cheese!

Oh god yeah. I was listening to the whole album because I felt like punishing myself. Sufjan is a genius though. Today's music:

A local eatery is making apple pie tacos today. Is there anything more American?

Yes, SDC is 45 minutes away, with 6 coasters, and another under construction. During the Ozark Empire Fair, I have 7 within an hour, but that one's always a Wacky Worm. Do you build models with LEGO?

Thanks, Kyle! I always enjoy your trip reports, and I must say this one has many more murderous spiders than usual. Glad you had a good time! Made me even more excited for my visit in about 3 months.