Shavethewhales

Wouldn't be surprised if they got a couple more rides off of Larson's catalog. They seem to have the perfect system in place to build rides cheaply and quickly and get them out to parks in short notice. Either that or they got a good deal on some used rides from a broker that they plan on refurbishing. They already had a whopping 5 new rides coming for 2015 though, why add another two more? Surely it makes more sense to space things out better to get more marketing bang-for-their-buck, but perhaps they really think they need the capacity right now.

I love that they're not only taking it to the next level ride-wise, but also theme-wise. Theming really sets places apart and makes rides special. It's worth every penny to make this ride into a total immersive experience. I was just looking at deals to fly to Denver later this year for a short trip. Really seriously considering trying to figure out how to add on a SLC add-on somehow. If the reviews are stellar, it might just win me over.

Solid set of rides for this park. I'm glad the place is going to keep on expanding. Adding Zippin Pippin was such a big political risk, but it sure worked and now this park is such an excellent example to point to when discussing the potential of smaller community amusements. Falling Stars are really cool in any case. Don't see a whole lot of them around anymore either. Hope this one doesn't have the bearing troubles that have taken out some of the others.

To clear up any confusion: my interpretation is that the train was being lifted backwards up the lifthill to begin the ride when the front several cars of the train broke off of the back car and that portion of the train dropped through the station, through the cobra roll, and vallyed in front of the loop. The back car was probably simply lowered into the station again since it was still attached to the cable car. So somehow the train decoupled itself, which seems like it a definite maintenance fault.

^Definitely. I'm wondering if they'll do much to the backside of the lake as well. The old concrete facade is crumbling away near the Lost River, and the backside of the lake is just kind of unappealing as it is. If they poured river rock around that side it might look better. The nicer facades and having everything pushed back from the lake front is already a big improvement anyway. Only thing I would change is to have left a little bit of boardwalk with some water cannons. Still don't get why those were completely left out when they've been so popular all these years and they fit the new theme.

Not surprised they picked up a Larson ride, considering Premier bought a set of flyers from them last year for FC and was able to get them installed in a hurry before the season started. Good combination of affordability and quick delivery/installation for this situation.

That article failed to mention the fact that the theme park wasn't slated to open until 2016. The water park, RV, and sports parks are what were supposed to open in 2015. Sounds like everything will be pushed back another year, which is OK as long as they keep pushing things along. They seem to be chugging along with the clearing and work on the RV park, but I would like to hear something about their plans for the water park. At this point it's obvious it's not going to open in 2015, so they need to get ahead of the PR curve and hold an "official groundbreaking" + release some concepts to keep people from being anxious. Hopefully this will be the final delay.

That's the essential question, isn't it? Not sure why you think that's a controversial query, but here's my take on it. Here's a recent article talking about SDC and Branson's performance this past year: http://bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_72b450d0-92bc-11e4-9efc-5f39b498c962.html In the article SDC releases a rare attendance statistic, stating they met their goal of 1.9 million visitors for the year. This is a nice number for a regional theme park, certainly bigger than most parks, but it's roughly the same the park has seen for the past 15 or so years. Other parks in the region seem to be growing, but SDC and Branson are still stuck with questions on how to move forward without loosing what has made them popular in the first place. There's lots and lots of questions there for SDC as I've ranted and discussed over many times over the years. It's really hard for me to wrap my head around sometimes. SDC is so good to the consumer, and the other parks in the region are "meh" to bad when it comes to treating their customers well. SDC has free parking, amazing staff, great food, great operations, great scenery, a great line-up of rides, the park is enjoyable to visit even if you don't ride anything, and yet attendance isn't growing by leaps and bounds each year. What's missing? I think they need a new and different marketing push to show consumers what they're actually getting at SDC beyond just a bunch of rides. They also need to get back to setting themselves apart as an institution and a unique attraction. For the past decade there's been this growing divide between the aging population of the area that grew up with and appreciates the "classic" SDC and the newer generation that started coming in the years following the addition of Wildfire when the park started shifting more and more focus on adding rides similar to their competition. A lot of the park fans have always worried about the slippery slope to becoming just another run-of-the-mill amusement park, but apparently that's what works at the moment? I just don't get it sometimes. As far as Branson is concerned the message has been clear for years: the town needs to get it's crap together. The town is a mess, with lousy run-down developments thrown around all over the place, poorly laid out roads that can't handle the traffic, and absolutely no vision or target in mind about what the town is supposed to offer other than a few scattered theatre attractions and time shares. If it weren't for the lake the town would be dead by now, but even that isn't going to save it forever as more theatres close and other properties get more and more run-down. There are glimmers here and there when old stuff gets knocked down, but it just gets replaced with more chain restaurants and hotels that are just plopped down willy-nilly. There is a plan out there called "Spirit of 76" that looks promising, but it's not enough on it's own. They need a large, cross-town transportation system kick things off. Oh, and to actually answer the question, I think the park will continue to focus on the younger family demographic into the foreseeable future. I think they'll look into adding their own version of Firechaser Express near Fireman's Landing, and the employee parking lot behind Heritage Hall will eventually become part of the park so they can expand the Grand Exposition add more rides there. As far as rides changing, I think the American Plunge's days are numbered, and they'll be forced to do something with FiTH this decade...

^Nice find! I know people who would kill to find that record. I've heard it mentioned a number of times. The park used to produce a lot of quirky and creative stuff like this to increase it's brand recognition.

^Not quite, I wouldn't read too much into those little snippets if you don't know the specifics. "Underperforming tenants" doesn't necessarily describe their operators, and in any case, of course they're going to spin operator turn-overs into a positive move in their filings. Obviously they aren't going to publicly talk about any behind-the-scenes haggling and disputes.

I don't think it's that short. It's comparable to any G-fighter or Wicked. Keep in mind that the concept art didn't show all the track, or most of the theming elements. There's still a few surprises in store from this coaster. This is now easily the new ride I'm most excited about in 2015. I'm putting it on my schedule for 2016.

I agree actually. Big flashy centerpieces/statues for rides are become a trend anyway. I still feel like Thunderbird needs more visual connection to the supposed Thanksgiving/Mayflower theme. A tunnel/flythrough at the exit of the imelmann leading into the loop would be cool too.

Every year now for the better part of the past two decades my family has visited Silver Dollar City on the weekend after Thanksgiving for the Old Time Christmas Festival. It's always been a special trip for me, and this year was even more special as my three year old nephew was finally big enough to understand what was going on and enjoy a few rides. I took him on his first roller coaster ride on The Grand Exposition Coaster. The weekend after Thanksgiving is always a big weekend for the park, but this year with temperatures reaching into the 70's and low gas prices the park was just simply slammed. On Saturday they came within about 500 people of reaching their all-time attendance record, which I believe was just set earlier this year. They were parking people up and down the roadway leading to SDC in random open grass lots that I didn't even know they had after visiting for decades. However, one of the things that really makes me a huge fan of SDC is that even with the place jam packed, we managed to find lots of things to do and left very happy - all three generations of my family. My parents knocked out a lot of their Christmas shopping, my brother watched the homestead pickers (SDC's resident bluegrass band), my nephew enjoyed the kiddie rides, I wandered around some between various rides, shows, and craftsmen, and well all rode the train and flooded mine together a number of times. There are two things you really have to do at OTC: see the tree light show on the main square, and see the Dicken's Christmas Carol show. SDC's version of Dicken's is the best I've seen anywhere. It's probably better than Broadway. The food at SDC is, of course, exquisite. There are two restaurants that I don't think I've really seen get mentioned here much, so I want to point them out to anyone who plans to visit soon or in 2015. On the right hand side of the main square as you are coming in, there's a tall mill-themed building. The upper part of this building on the ground level is the Mill restaurant, while a small staircase that's easy to miss out in front leads down to a themed passage way that leads down to the mine restaurant. Both of these restaurants are a very similar all-you-can-eat buffet, I guess the theming is the biggest difference. I'm rather partial to the mine restaurant down below myself. I'd go on about SDC's rides, but you guys should already know they have a fantastic line-up. Outlaw Run just has to be experienced to believe. It's one of those rides that no footage can ever do justice. Onto the photos. I'm too lazy and tired to think up captions right now, so I'll let them speak for themselves. Sorry they're all out of order and that my camera sucks with night photos of Christmas lights.

^I was just at the park this weekend and took loads of pictures. I'll try to post them here tonight when I get off of work. I'll post them here first so I don't forget like I did with the coaster christmas pics that I still need to post.

^Good catch! That's exciting to hear. To be a game changer, I'd look a little further than "inverted woodie". That always sounded like a stupid idea and would be a short lived gimmick as a product. A launched woodie would be OK though, and we all know it's a matter of time until they build one. Perhaps they'll develop 4-across seating on a "wooden" coaster. That could really make a financially intriguing product with high PPH + cheaper wooden construction for the supports. There's also tricks like drop tracks, switch backs, and shuttle options. Or maybe they'll develop something truly new and not just a first for wooden coasters?

I head down to that flea market whenever I have a free Saturday. I always find something interesting to buy, and it's always interesting to chat with some of the people who open booths here. It's a weird place, but interesting none the less. Next time you're out there you should peak behind the row of outside "booths" ie, garages in the back again. That's where the work area is for Bell's. I was out there last week and he had the coaster cars painted (after being sandblasted) and the chassis looked like they were being worked on. So at least the cars are coming along. I wouldn't worry about the track structure right now, that can all be shored up pretty quickly. The focus right now seems to be on the cars, and with only one person + an occasional helper, he can only focus on one thing at a time. It sounds like he's also focused right now on selling a lot of the stuff he had in storage and getting rid of that extra expense. That's where some of that funding actually went I'm sure. I hope he can sell some of that old log flume stuff and get some working capital for the kiddie park. I've been trying to get into contact with Robby to see what his current status is and maybe even see about helping some just for the heck of it, but his schedule and mine don't work well together. He has a family and another job that he has to do to support them, so Bell's is kind of his hobby of passion on the side. I've been negative about all this in the past, but at this point it just is what it is. You just have to watch and hope they'll finally catch a break and get some momentum going someday. I have hope he'll get the coaster up and running by spring, and maybe the tilt will follow. Then maybe they can get over the hump and get some real progress going.

On first glance, it looks like a cheap knock off of twitter. Digging just a bit further, their primary "thing" is not having ads and not selling data, which is nice, but no longer a real concern for most people. A while back a bunch of sites like this were created when people freaked out about the new "social graph" stuff from Facebook and related privacy conundrums, but now that people have settled down and accepted all of that, I don't see a real hook here. They're not going to reach any kind of critical mass unless Facebook has another PR meltdown in the next few months. It's amazing how much our attitudes towards privacy and personal data has changed in just a few years, but there you have it. I see they got some venture capital funding and some press recently, but some people will bet on anything in the hopes they'll get on board the next Facebook before it takes off. Who knows though, maybe the tides of public opinion will swing wildly again soon and we'll go back to worrying about Big Brother again, and Ello will be there to ready to handle it.

So does that mean 24 million individuals have been exposed to TPR through this coverage, or just that it showed up on newsfeeds 24 million times? Very interesting... I wonder where the roof on this thing is? Will casual attraction following become as mainstream as following other industries like electronics? Probably not, but it's sure a step up from 10 years ago when all the coaster enthusiast sites felt like this weird odd corner of the internet that no one really understood.

Their facebook is being regularly updated -> https://www.facebook.com/GrandTexas There's a recent shot of major clearing going on for the RV park, and some of the attractions people went to IAAPA. You really just have to be patient. It might be sometime between 2018-2020 before the park actually opens, but that's just the way things are and always has been. The FB page is so annoying with all the "enthusiast" kids posting in anguish every day about how they think the park will never open, or whining because the project isn't revealing every up-to-the-minute detail of their planning. Patience children, at least construction is happening.

Now that's something to get excited about. That't the kind of picture that gets you to start adjusting your vacation schedule to include Utah. The park should be marketing the crap out of this. God I hope this thing is smooth.

Notice I was careful to say that TGG was taking over GCII's techniques, I wasn't implying that this a copy of their concept. ^^After watching the industry over the last 10 years, I'd actually say this development helps point to a broader industry re-bound. I became an enthusiast just in time to see something like a dozen parks around the U.S. fold, including a lot of classic small parks. I'm hoping projects like these are part of a new wave that will bring small ride-based attractions (ie, not necessarily traditional small parks) back to smaller communities.

Definitely an odd little attraction in a weird area, but I love it when an attraction like this throws down a wooden coaster. There's a small waterpark/FEC in Florida that has a classic out-and-back, plus Boomer's old Dania Beach Hurricane, and of course Fun Spot is the ultimate example of how to take an FEC to the next level. I think the switchback was implemented here more due to space concerns more than as a gimmick. They could have done a straight circuit, but the ride would have felt shorter and been even more awkward. And yeah, TGG is totally taking over GCII's techniques. Happens a lot in this industry, but it's always kinda unfortunate to watch as an enthusiast.

The concept of giving Predator an RMC make-over will live on no matter who gets the park in the end. I'm not sure RMC will even be able to get to it before 2020 though by the sounds of it. If HFEC gets the park, I think it will definitely be put on the front burner. We'll see if the bit about CNL trying to sell all the properties at once is true. Sounds like a lot of haggling behind the scenes and I don't think anyone not actually there to see it can know what's really going on.

Lots of tarp-themed coasters this year. Hyuk yuk yuk... The urban starflyer is really cool! We almost had one built in OKC, but everyone was super skeptical of how it would fit in and work. I told everyone that soon other urban areas would get them and OKC would once again miss out on being ahead of the curve... At least now we'll have something to point to if the concept ever gets revived. As I always say, I'm a big fan of integrating quality ride-based attractions into other types of urban attractions like shopping districts.

Yup, feels like Christmas and we're about to see what goodies are coming our way for 2015. Your IAAPA coverage is always stellar. Really looking forward to this year! I'll be really interested to see what GCII has this year. Seems like the company has gone through some huge transitions and is fighting fierce competition, but they make great rides and have some innovative and marketable ideas. I'm surprised they haven't sold one of those economy wooden coaster models yet. At least they've got Starliner. Vekoma seemed like they were in the same boat, though I haven't been keeping up with them. I hope Larson is there too. They've sold a ton of rides in the last couple of years, and I'm sure they have something else new up their sleeves.