Shavethewhales

HFEC has three parks that they own outright (SDC, DW, and Wild Adventures), three water parks, two attractions based on natural wonders (Stone Mountain in Georgia and Talking Rocks Cavern in MO), two aquariums, a dinner theatre, a show boat, a major sight-seeing franchise, lots of lodging enterprises, and they manage DL and Elitch. It's a big, diverse company. There are several spin-off companies owned by various members of the Herschend family too, such as the Butterfly Palace in Branson. I'm quite frankly surprised that they still do what they do so well, though you can always spot the creeping corporatism. I don't think any of the family are involved in the direct operation of SDC anymore, though Pete and his wife often visit. I think on some level however they still understand what has made them so special to so many generations.

HFEC has been using guest surveys going all the way back to Mary Herschend and the early days of the Silver Dollar City Company. The more recent practice of pitching ride/attraction concepts directly to guests has often been very direct at showing off what the company is looking at adding to the park. However, they are certainly not guarantees that a particular concept is coming to the park, and sometimes it takes a a year or two before the concept makes it into a park, even if it is favored by guests. There's a lot of budgeting and planning that goes on behind the scenes between these surveys and an actual announcement, but they certainly do give a very clear insight into what they are at least leaning towards. I thoroughly expect DL to get this RMC coaster. It just might be in 2015 at the earliest.

I'm placing bets now for it being a wing-rider named the Bat. I just think that's what it looks like from the plans, and that logo looks like it took some time to make. I used to work as a web developer, and I created sites with dummy content like that all the time before the client sent us the final copy/images to use. That's just my bet - I'll be checking in tomorrow to see if I have finally guessed an announcement right. I'm like 0/4 at this point.

Bell's has begun announcing that they are "back" in tulsa. They've changed their facebook around a bit and have begun to more aggressively market themselves and their campaign. They've added over 15,000 followers in just the last couple of days. They have also released a new website and video that can be found here: http://www.bellsisback.com/ Basically, they have formally announced that they plan to rebuild the entire park, including the log flume and Zingo, and then go even bigger by adding a water park (take that, Murphy's!), and an indoor area of some sort. Right now they are still sitting at about five kiddie rides, but the Tilt-a-whirl is coming along slowly but surely. The spider and the scrambler will come shortly after, and then the carousel and some other kiddie rides. He is also setting up a concession booth soon that should help with the fundraising efforts. It also sounded like they might have a new fundraiser soon. They've currently raised about $1,000 or so though Paypal alone.

^What about Blastoff was a failure? It seems like a pretty good, common ride to me. Where people just expecting more?

Sometimes I'm guilty of letting it go unstated how much SDC "just gets it". They have always seemed to do it all right. Not just the rides, but the whole experience of visiting the park. That's really what's always struck me about it - once you're in the park you know you're in for a good time. What else did you guys get to take in? I heard Joel Manby was out there singing in his band. Never knew that guy was so talented.

I advise against anyone trying to make this in No-Limits based off some shaky plans. Several people tried that when Outlaw Run was leaked and got it all wrong and made it look lame. Just wait for the real announcement. Honestly, I cringe when I see these leaks nowadays because it spoils the effect of seeing a proper reveal. Maybe I'm just old now, but I want everything to be laid out clearly for me so I can actually tell what's going on and I'm willing to wait until the park is ready to do that.

^Guessing the crowds at SDC is extremely tough, especially this year. I would say that there is a high likelyhood that it will be fairly crowded this weekend, especially with the midnight madness promotion, but you really never know. Crowds can be as low as 8,000 on days where it sprinkles in the morning, but then if the forecasters are saying it will be cool and clear then it will be backed out at 24,000. People here are so anxious about the weather. Either way though you could certainly go and have a lot of fun. OR and PK might have fairly big lines, but everything else is usually easy enough to get on. Big lines at SDC are like 45mins-1hr, as opposed to the multi-hour waits you might see at other parks. If you are picking between the two days, Tuesday is certainly a safer bet, though you won't have as much time.

The park will be open until midnight this Saturday for the first time ever. It's yet another extension of their Moonlight Madness event each summer. I think it's rather strange, but it essentially allows them to bring in two sets of crowds on a single day, giving them much higher attendance. It also encourages people who want to come out just to ride the rides for cheap or avoid the daytime heat. Regarding the OR changes, I'm sure there are more adjustments that can and will be made. There is a right way to approach the issue, and while I certainly understand the frustrations, we just have to be patient that it will all be sorted out soon. I do kind of wish HFEC would stop buying prototypes for this reason though - they used to have a really good reputation for ride reliability before PK was added. I guess it helped that they had far fewer rides back then as well.

Wow, FC is looking better than ever. I feel like the park is so ready for a big new attraction of some type. Everything looks like it has been refurbished, and they are still doing a good job of keeping the park relevant in the community with lots of concerts and promotions. I wish they would rebuild the Wildcat. The first section of the ride, especially going into the trees, is really quaint and nostalgic for me, but everything after the turnaround is just awkward and pointless. I wouldn't mind if they tore it all down and put a GCII in there instead. Thanks for the photos chadster.

It sounds like they're evaluating various ways of throwing a few more Zamperla rides into the park. That's cool with me, but as I've rambled about on my forums I hope they do a better job than they did with GE. I know a lot of us here have experienced the special atmosphere that SDC has, and I feel like this is the first of a number of projects aimed at refurbishing areas of the park with modern amenities such as off-the-shelf rides. What they do here will possibly have a major impact on the feel on the rest of the park and how they approach additions in the future. To understand my thoughts on the matter, you have to know that I have always viewed SDC as an experience in and of itself from the moment you step into the park, rather than a collection of experiences (ie: rides) like how most SF and CF parks are setup. The SDC "purists" always bitch and moan about developments like these because we worry the park will loose the charm that made it so successful from the beginning. Of course, the park and chain isn't run by idiots and they fully well know the power that the SDC brand and atmosphere has, and they've done a pretty good job at sustaining it into the many new areas of the park that have been built over the last decade. It's always interesting year after year to watch the park negotiate around the minefield of expanding to meet modern tastes and demands while also staying true to what has always made them successful - that's why I've always followed the park so closely. Anyway, all that to say that if they end up going forward with something like this I hope they continue to improve their thematics this time around if they're going to be renovating an area. The Geyser Gulch area has always been a bit off from the rest of the park already, but it at least had a lot of influence from the original storylines of the park. Rube Dugan was originally going to be re-introduced as a character in the area with a little stage show and everything. A firework factory would just be completely out of left field.

I seriously doubt it would be a HUSS Frisbee as HFEC has surely sworn them off, but Zamperla has a good relationship with them and makes a similar product. Just to give more perspective, back in 2006 SDC sent out a group of surveys with three ride options - a Frisbee style ride, a Screamin' Swing, and a Topple Tower. The Sceamin' Swing was picked, but I'm hoping that one day they go back to the frisbee concept. I'm sure if another park in the chain gets one and it works out for them you'll see SDC and DW pick one up as well. I don't think it means they'll necessarily delay the coaster project as Screamscape has suggested. There could be other reasons for delays, but I don't think it's that simple.

LOL, SDC has 2 major flat rides and only a handful of smaller ones for the kids. Looks like there's no stopping the tide of SDC becoming a typical thrill park now. It's been so long since I've heard people talk about SDC and not mention a coaster (excluding on SDCFans of course). I just want them to stay unique. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I'd rather have something like Adventure mountain. I wish that had worked out for DW, because it seemed like an attempt to do something to set themselves apart from all the other parks out there. All the rumors now suggest that they're just going to fill the place with rides and compete directly with SF. This probably isn't the best place to get on my soapbox about this again, but the things I enjoy the most about SDC are the things they do differently than every other park. Not that I'd mind another new coaster, I just hope it's more immerse this time. I'd love to see them model after a Disney attraction again.

^The loading platform you are referring to is left over from the Waterworks (formerly Wilderness) Waterboggin. It was almost exactly like DW's Waterboggin, but in 2003 someone got the bright idea to try to change it to make it wilder and wetter. Those changes apparently resulted in making it more dangerous, and sometime around 2008/2009 it was completely removed without warning or replacement. The path by Geyser Gulch was where Splash Harbor used to be, which was an awesome little water play area. It was removed at the same time without warning or replacement. I guess they though the new Riverblast was a good way to consolidate all of that. I forgot to respond to the gluten comments earlier, but unfortunately I don't have much good advice to give you. My father is also a celiac patient, and we now pretty much find it easier to just leave the park to eat. They used to have a few options available, but it seems like each year they forget how to deal with food allergies and the options get more limited. The Mine buffet off of the main square might have a few options (ask for directions).

Not to mention the Flooded Mine (both parks), the waterboggins (both parks), Grandfather's Mansion/Inventor's Mansion, and past attractions such as the Gandy Dancer and Rube Dugin's Diving Bell at SDC. I'm sure I'm forgetting a number of attractions as well. I know both parks used to have lots of play structures and little side-attractions that were custom as well. The Silver Dollar City Company used to almost be seen as the Disney of the Midwest... Lots of interesting stories behind that era.

It's pretty darn smooth considering the extreme speeds and forces that the train is going through. There's one point in the ride where there's a bit of a jar because there isn't enough banking and the side-wheels slam into the inner part of the track, but most of the elements are very nice. It's worth noting though that OR's track was built out of pre-fab sections, rather than a piece of steel being added onto an existing track bed. I think the specific details in the concept pitch reveal that RMC and HFEC have already been in serious consultation for some time now. I think we can just about assume that this coaster is going to come to DL at some point, but I wouldn't assume that it is coming in 2014 necessarily. I know lots of major HFEC projects get delayed for various reasons, and they may not even be that far along with this yet anyway and are shooting for 2015/2016 as it is. I think the point of pitching the concept to pass-holders is to see if there are other major issues with the park that need to be resolved first before they throw a major attraction in.

Not surprised to see HFEC return to RMC. Outlaw Run is an amazing ride experience and HFEC sure likes to replicate success across all of their parks. The name is certainly not final, outlaw run's original concept name was "The Bull". This concept pitch does indicate that this is the direction they're headed though. All of SDC's recent major attractions were introduced through similar surveys. Seems like a logical step for them to take now that they've fixed up a fair bit of the park. I hope they design/build from scratch rather than rebuilding Predator since it seems like RMC does even better when they have a clean slate to work with.

I just realized I screwed up the link. Here's a better link that shows the donation count and a donate button: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bells-at-the-Saturday-Flea-Market/227315583990587?sk=app_208195102528120

Bells has set up a Paypal for donations for anyone interested in pitching them a few bucks to help them get on their feet. I have heard one person pledge almost $1500 if the other fans can raise the same amount. That alone should cover the cost of rebuilding the spider. The tilt-a-whirl and another kiddie ride are still coming along. Again, all of this is essentially being done by one guy who refuses to give up and his family and friends who are trying to pitch in and help. I would encourage any fans to pitch a few bucks his way as a show of encouragement from the community. Literally any gift, even just $2 from a bunch of us would make a huge difference. https://paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_express-checkout-mobile&useraction=commit&token=EC-45H49994Y10102340

It very well might just be a HFEC policy; like I said, I couldn't remember for sure. They did start making a big deal about it though a few years ago. It's all hazy now, but there must have been some sort of lawsuit/study/death that happened due to excessive coaster riding. I seem to remember WOF being involved, with someone riding the boomerang over and over again and having some sort of complication. In any case, don't expect them to ever give you a re-ride. I haven't been to an ERT event at the park yet, but even then I thought I heard that they made people get off and go through the line again even with an empty station and no customers.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there's a law in Missouri against consecutive rides on coasters during normal operations. At least that's the excuse they gave when they stopped letting people stay on rides on slow days.

I'm super stoked for this. It seems like these guys have the right idea and they seem to have all of their ducks in a row. This has the potential to be a neat park, and I really want to see a new amusement park succeed in America for once. Fourth time's the charm?

^It's a bit of both really. The ops are surprisingly fast even though SDC guests are extremely sluggish and expect the ride attendants to personally take their loose items from their hands and put them in cubbies for them. At least they do have cubbies in the station now. They were trying to pull a SF move earlier this year and enforce a locker policy, but the patrons are just not used to that and they seem to expect more personal service since it costs more to get into SDC. I enjoyed the fact that the line was constantly moving. The only real holdups were when people waiting for the front seat would clog up the entire line so that people couldn't get into the area to wait for individual seats.

This might be the greatest video I've ever seen a park produce. I'm pretty stoked about this whole whale thing and I don't think I even know where the Great Escape is.

I had a really good visit to the park this weekend. I got to ride OR around a dozen times. I won't go into exhaustive detail since it's already been covered, but man does it live up to all the hype. I've never ridden anything quite like it before - every little section of track was so perfectly designed to give the highest thrill factor. I've never involuntarily gone "WHOA WHOA WHOA" for an entire ride before, I honestly wasn't expecting it to be so intense. I had complained before about the short length, but by the time you get through it you're ready for it to be over so you can catch your breath. Any more and it would give first time riders a heart attack. Edit: forgot to mention, but the sideways airtime hill is probably one of the best things I've experience on a coaster so far. That and the double barrel rolls just make this ride ridiculously incredible. Not much else to report about that you guys don't already know. The park is as gorgeous as ever, the theming and atmosphere is still unparalleled, and the shows and music were great. I caught the saloon show twice and enjoyed it, and I got to listen to some bluegrass/folk music done right, which I always enjoy as well. Outlaw Run does have a few kinks that are still being worked out, so don't be surprised if it goes down when you visit. It went down a couple of times this weekend, but they were able to get it up and running again before the park closed. I didn't do a whole photo TR thing this time since the park has gotten so much coverage already and I was lazy, but I got a few photos that I'll get around to posting later this week.