Shavethewhales

There actually are a ton of hardcore religious types there. You always see large groups of people with the signature flannel shirts or long denim skirts. I am sure opinions on Halloween vary among them, but SDC being the park it is doesn't want to step on anyone's toes. Not to mention the fact that SDC pushes itself as a Christian theme park far more than even DW. That's why this pumpkin festival is perfect though. Even the ones most likely to be "offended" won't be THAT offended that they stop coming or anything. I'll be interested if there's any differences between SDC's and DW's version of the event, but one things seems for sure: it's coming. I expect the announcement in about a month when season passes go on sale. And yes, Terry Sanders is a legend. You'd be surprised just how many characters he has in his pocket.

Staffing, maintenance, insurance, utilities... It takes a lot to keep a ride going. Insurance especially is a cost that many enthusiasts don't even think of. In some states it can be ridiculous. The stuff they got rid of wasn't the stuff that people came to the park for. Due to their staffing, some of those rides barely operated anyway, from what I hear. Maybe they sold a few extra tickets for those rides, but probably not enough to make a profit on. Removing those rides might cut their revenue by 10%, but I'm sure their costs will drop by over 50%. Hopefully if they have some success they can focus on improving the park and adding new amenities that will also stand out on their own and pull a profit. They are showing several "concert" spaces, which kind of seems like an out for justifying the empty green spaces. If they do come up with some events to utilize those spaces it will be a boon for the park though. A lot of successful park management these days hinges on programing, even for municipal parks.

Nice! I'm stoked to get there on my Western PA trip next year. So glad that both coasters are finally confirmed safe and set to operate again. I was kind of hoping they would have more... something though to make the park more appealing and fresh though. They are basically advertising empty green spaces and volley ball courts. I guess they cut out the "fluff" and that will help them stay above water. The coasters, train, go-karts, and mini-golf are all star attractions on their own rights. We just had The Gathering Place open up in Tulsa, and that has totally redefined "park" for me. It's literally such a nice outdoor space that thousands of people come to hang out there every day. You don't get that at many random parks. Granted, Gathering Place cost like $450 million, but I think you could do some similar things for a lot cheaper.

Awesome addition. The gator attraction is very cool, and is exactly the kind of up-close zoo encounter they need to keep focusing on to develop their niche. The new area as a whole is a nice upgrade while simultaneously saving them money by refreshing old rides. The park is already pretty stacked with rides, so they don't really need anything "new" as far as young kids are concerned. Yet another well thought-out area addition from HFE. They are really specializing in these things lately. Even Time Traveler redeveloped the area around it.

Didn't see the mention of biggest announcement yet, but the teaser images put emphasis on wild and show part of a crocodile. Perhaps a new zoo addition/upgrade? Seems like more zoo based attractions would be something that could give them an edge. There are bigger and better rides and water parks all over Florida and Georgia, but not many that combine all three.

From following along on their FB, it appears they had their best year yet this year. They got the new speed slide open in August, but that was in addition to the rides and other things they opened up earlier this year. Park definitely looks like it is coming together and this was a big year for them. Anything up your sleeves for next year Dan?

Please don't buy a zamperla power surge. Is there an example anywhere of a park being able to keep theirs open?

^That would not surprise me. The canning of Stephen Ball (previous GM) shows that they are taking this park in a different direction. Stephen set the park up to go bigger. Six Flags wants to keep it smaller as a "feeder" park for SFOT and the chain in general. I'm sure we'll get a new thrill ride eventually, but once again you can feel the brakes being put on. It's a good addition, don't get me wrong. This is a serious investment, and much better than many of the additions we got under previous SF years. Like I said earlier though, I didn't think the kids area was the weak point. It also feels so cut-and-paste whereas FC was really starting to build up it's own theming and character in the past few years. SF will rip it all out I'm sure. The Great Escape is exactly the kind of treatment I expect. We can look forward to a decent ride every few years. Forget about a coaster unless it's a super cheap model or a hand-me-down.

Seems like such a waste. Primm looks awesome from satellite views, with those giant resorts and even a little monorail connecting everything. Almost seems too big to fail. If they had gotten a few more resorts with some added attractions, I wonder if they would have made it. Perhaps Buffalo Bill's screwed up by not focusing MORE on rides.

So my weekend in Denver was delightful. Not getting a rental car wasn't a problem at all, the Uber network + the train system here is great. I got the first flight from Tulsa to Denver at 6:03 AM and actually landed in Denver just before 7AM local time. A bit overkill, but the ticket was cheap. I took the train to downtown denver and wandered around looking at buildings and parks for a couple hours before finally heading over to Elitch. Denver is such a nice city and I will definitely have to come back and explore more someday. I wasn't expecting much from Elitch, but I was still kind of disappointed. Not a lot of rides here, some aren't operating, and what is left is pretty much old and busted. The best coaster in the park is the vekoma boomerang, which is actually a pretty good vekoma boomerang. The vekoma SLC is incredibly rough... like dangerously so. I don't understand why some parks don't put some effort into fixing these things so people don't get concussed. I'm OK with a lot of rough rides - I even liked Mean Streak, but this thing was ridiculous. The Intamin half pipe coaster was OK, but for some reason I didn't like the sensation - might just be getting old. Ghost Blasters and the Screamin Swing were the only rides I really liked, and naturally they just announced they are replacing GB. I probably would have enjoyed Elitch a bit more if Twister and Sidewinder had been open. I know Twister isn't supposed to be a good coaster, but I love old wooden coasters even if they aren't taken care of well (again, I actually liked Mean Streak ). Without Twister, Elitch just isn't much more than a credit stop, and I've never been a huge "coaster credits" guy. Lakeside, on the other hand, was fantastic. I love old parks and old rides, and that is exactly what Lakeside offers. It is true that the park isn't in great shape, and that some of the clientele are a bit sketch, but it is all very endearing and honestly it felt like I got 10x my money's worth here vs. Elitch. It feels like there are a few people at Lakeside that are really working hard to keep things going, but the park is probably more than they can handle with so many things needing work. You can see signs of TLC here and there, and they refurbished the spider ride this year. At the same time, there are so many things big and small that need attention. I was dismayed to see the famous tower is still rotting away with no work done. The coasters of Lakeside are a treat. Cyclone is such an interesting ride, and perhaps one of just a few left in the world with no real lapbars? The slanted drops are hard to understand though. Wild Chipmunk is just hilarious - like you are riding something some welder put together in his back yard. The one "modern" ride in the park is the drop tower, which is actually a relocation from my old home park, Bell's. It's a great ARM tower, and the views of the Rockies are awesome. The one real complaint I have about Lakeside is the lack of food and drink options. There is one little restaurant servicing the whole park, and the food they serve up is pretty dismal. They do have incredibly cheap prices, especially the $1 drinks and icees. I feel like they should go ahead and increase those prices by at least 50% though and add in another stand. That could bring in enough revenue to start getting ahead on things here. I came to the park hungry, and was disappointed that all they had was Great Value frozen crap heated up on a disgusting grill. I spent the next day exploring Golden, which is such a fantastic town. I took the river trail out of town into the hills and hiked around for a couple hours, then came back into town and drank a bunch of Coors at the dive bar. It was a ton of fun. The only shot I bothered to take in Elitch. So, I understand the nostaligia of keeping this, but why not clean it up? New for 2019... The other side of this booth was rotted/smashed away. I'm not even sure what happened here?

I have always thought they had one of the best kids areas of any park. I love the little play buildings, and there are a nice selection of rides, a petting zoo, a jungle gym thingy, and the foam ball play structure. Perhaps some rides could be switched out though. Quality thrill rides are what the park is really starved for. The problematic zamperla power surge didn't really hit the spot, IMO. I am holding out hope for a drop tower. That would really add something back without breaking the bank too much.

Honestly it seems pretty cute and should be fun for kids. Think of it as a kind of funky observation tower with swinging seats. This seems like the best way to approach it. When they proposed the earlier models they were going for a thrill aspect, which doesn't really work.

I'll definitely come back and do water world and glenwood caverns some day. I'm just popping into town this weekend because it's a cheap direct flight from Tulsa and I was feeling stir crazy after having to cancel my other trips this summer. What is the story about Lakeside and photography?

So I'm running off to Denver this weekend and have some questions on the status of the Denver Parks, Elitch and Lakeside. Unfortunately we don't have a discussion thread for these parks yet, so I'm throwing my questions down here to maybe get that started. Anyone ever flown in and "done" Denver without getting a rental car? My plan is to take the train from the airport to downtown and walk over to Elitch, then get a cab/uber over to Lakeside later in the day. Then I'm going to Golden sunday morning to walk the train and see some hills for a bit before returning downtown for a bit. Hopefully the train isn't too janky? Is Twister 2 open? Screamscape had a rumor it would be closed for the rest of the year due to a structural issue. Hope this isn't the case, because I'm a wooden coaster fan and while it isn't supposed to be a stellar ride it's obviously one of the most iconic in the area. Are there lockers at Lakeside? I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my "luggage" if I even bring any. I might bring a small backpack or drawstring since I'm only going to stick around for one night. Will I have to lug it around the park? Heard it's kind of a ghetto park/crowd, so I don't want to be leaving much lying around. Any other advice/tips would be appreciated.

Flooded Mine has had a much harder time in the past few years. Lots of stuff simply has simply needed replacement for too long, and SDC can't seem to make up their minds about how much they want to spend on it or what they want to do with the ride as a whole. It was obvious years ago that they needed to increase it's budget to keep it running like it should but they chose not to. I absolutely love the ride. It has always been something the entire family can really do together, from my grandmother to my little nieces and nephews. Besides the train, there's not many other activities we can all actively do together like that. I adore the effort that was put into the ride. So much handcrafted theming and depth. So many props, many of which are authentic. It's just a really solid attraction with a lot of love poured into it, and the recent challenges with maintenance don't tell the whole story about what the ride is or what it truly offers the park. SDC just needs to go ahead and commit a couple million into modernizing the gun and target system and fixing the props that need fixing. They are too fixated on getting the next marketing gimmick though, so I fear they will simply gut it soon and replace it with a modern dark ride with screens instead of props. I think they are letting it die a slow death on purpose so there is less outrage when they do so. I'll say one thing though, those "next level" rides like TT and OR sure have a lot of down-time lately, but FM keeps chugging along. Seems like the newer something is, the less reliable.

I wasn't expecting much, but I have to admit I'm a little disappointed. Oh well, hopefully it means they are gearing up for something big in 2020... It's neat that they are paying homage to a bit of WOF history again, but as usual it kind of falls short. Wish they had done something a little more whimsical with the architecture to make it look like one of the old boats, or give it a smokestack, or something. It looks pretty bland, in what is already the most cookie-cutter section of the park. For a park that was built on such a fun and imaginative theme, the slow progression of generic-ness throughout the park has always been a little sad. At least it's something though, and they made a little bit of effort to make it interesting.

They already rebuilt a small section of the road and moved an entire hill to do so. Earthwork isn't the challenge is used to be, though it is still somewhat expensive. They could easily widen the road without harming the cemetery. The problem is that SDC is the only real draw in that area, and I'm not sure MoDOT wants to be seen as playing favorites by widening their driveway for them. I'd rather they focus on the economic development aspect of it though, as moving people quickly between SDC and Branson means more $$$ spent on both ends. As for the music, I'm sure it was tough to get the licenses just to play those tunes in the park. It would take way more effort than it's worth to release a CD.

Still think it would be great as a retreat center/summer camp. They need to focus on lodging and add amenities, not the other way around.

I think the only thing keeping them from getting their own resort is infrastructure. They could build one today out at the old Celebration City property... but that wouldn't be close to any of their existing properties so they would have to run shuttles all over town. Out at SDC you have difficult topography, limited roads, and probably undersized sewer and water lines. The road is already a huge problem and has massive backups on many busy weekends. I'm not sure what they could do to fix that, but it's not going to happen soon.

Yet another unfortunate standard that Six Flags has set for the industry. In the OKC metro where cars rule, COL is low, and paid parking only exists in a few places, this isn't going over well. Eventually people will get used to it I guess, but it will cut down on casual visitors who just wanted to make one visit a year. Perhaps the increase in local passholders will make up for that. For me personally it's made me less likely to visit until they add something big, even though I live just up the turnpike. Just not worth $40+$20 when you can get into SDC for cheaper with free parking. Just my opinion - if I was right in the OKC metro maybe I would feel differently. I did notice a lot of excitement over the deal to get cheaper SFOT tickets with a FC pass. Perhaps the rumors are true that the strategy really is just to help drive people to Dallas. This go kart site development is something I'll be watching intently to see if they are adding something big to make the park fresh and exciting again, or just something simple like a haunt to bring it closer to basic SF standards. I have a feeling it's the latter.

The original forest wasn't the issue. It was the steep slopes those original trees were on. ADA access and all that. Remember that DW is already getting sued constantly for people tripping over their own feet. Don't need to add anymore steep inclines/stairs to the mix. Plus, this gives them a lot more flexibility with future additions on this side of the park. It will be wooded again soon.

Gorgeous. A little more "fantasy" than I expected, but it's the type of thoughtful addition that HFEC excels at. I love how they combine an interesting layered theme with a bunch of attractions and keep a focus on making the whole package work together as an experience instead of just a bunch of individual rides. The flyers intrigue me as well. I guess HFEC actually bought one of the first new-gen flyers from Larson way back in the CC days, but they haven't bought from them in awhile unless I've missed something. Hopefully they don't get sucked into a super loop package as well. The new relationship with Vekoma may be the most exciting part of all of this, given Vekoma's recent trajectory.

Branson Fun Park is already closing up shop. They didn't even make it two months. One of the coasters has already been sold. They are saying they'll be back in October in some fashion. Not sure what that means. I am very disappointed. I missed them in May since they were late in opening, but had plans to be there in August. It just seems so amateurish to me to not even be able to run an amusement business in the middle of Branson for longer than two months without going under. I had high hopes for them, and that they would spur further development along. It's very similar to that park in Alabama that also only made it two months and was also associated with a carnival operator.

I certainly understand the sentiment. The balance between the original ambiance and modern necessity has been something I've watched for years. When SDC was young, there was tremendous effort to save every tree they could. The pathways wound around trees and in some cases they even build buildings around some of the bigger older trees so that they were growing through the buildings. DW did a lot of similar things back when it was SDC East. It was "easy" back when they had thousands of visitors and not millions. There's just no way now with them becoming big resort destinations. It has to be planned and replanted forest instead of authentic. People already complain about the terrain and ADA access at the parks, and anything new is under much stricter scrutiny. The good news is that by getting all the clearing and leveling out of the way in one swoop, they can replant a lot in another swoop and in ten years it will look much better again. Wilderness pass is all rock, so I don't think they had such an easy time there with tree management, but this should be better. Some of the trees they planted at SDC this year are mature, several year old trees. The new eating area looks like it has always been there because the 'new' trees are so big. I'm sure they will do the same at DW.

lol, fake trees. Yes, a company famed for planting trees is going to fill an area with fake trees. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a big pseudo-disney fake tree in there somewhere, but there will be plenty of new real trees. It sucks that they had to clear cut and level the area, but that's what they have to work with. No one makes a big deal when anyone else does it. They had to move a whole hill to get Wilderness Pass through.