Shavethewhales

Massive, sudden storm in Branson tonight. Lots of tree damage at the park from what I hear. What is much worse is that a ride the duck boat was out on the lake when it blew through unexpectedly hard and ended up being capsized. 30 people on board and rumors that some may have perished. Hopefully that turns out to be false and everyone makes it out ok.

Unfortunately, the more complaints the park gets about Flooded Mine and FITH, the more likely they are to just bulldoze them. I am certain they see those rides more as problems vs. something people cherish. There is an awesome, dedicated crew for both rides, but the lack of funding over the years to fix major things has compounded over time and now the park is faced with the decision to either gut them and try to rebuild or simply bulldoze and replace with something completely different. There was a rumor a few years ago that FL would be completely bulldozed and the space used for a new coaster... I have a feeling the Herschends speak up from time to time to try to keep them from tearing down all the "old" SDC. We'll see what happens. I keep feeling like FL and FITH are the next things to get replaced or re-done, but it hasn't happened yet.

lol, Bill, took the words out of my mouth. There's no way no one pointed out to them that this was a bad idea. Wonder how much oil is still on the tracks. Makes you wonder how serious they are about re-opening that coaster. I could see them only trying to re-open Leap The Dips at this rate.

There's a pretty firmly established pattern that they don't add anything the year after a major addition, especially coasters. Plus, rumor is that they spent way more on TT than advertised and it is still breaking down pretty much every day. It might be awhile before we see them start on the next big thing. I'd be thrilled if they started on other necessary enhancements like more parking and a better entrance/tram drop-off.

Ugh, I'm so ticked that it didn't work out for me to get there this year. West PA is top of my priority list for next year. I'm glad to see it doing well, so hopefully it will be even better next year. Keep the photos coming! I absolutely love old parks. Like JT325 mentioned, I have more fun at these little classic places than the big parks. There's just some kind of genuine quality to an old establishment that you can't put into words.

I'm sorry you have so much trouble with break-downs verruckt1. It seems like it has been awful this year. Word on the street is that the park has been having some serious staffing issues, which has been a problem off and on for years. A lot of the older staff that knew how to actually get stuff done and keep the place running smoothly have moved on - and speaking broadly, a lot of the newer people are just there to get by and don't stick around long enough to really fill their shoes. The park has been dealing with a lot of shifting demographics in that regard. Like you said, the park doesn't have many flat rides, but if you went back about ten years or so ago there were hardly any. They didn't really start focusing on rides till Wildfire was installed, and most of the park's flats were added in massive waves in 2006 (Grand Exposition) and 2015 (Fireman's Landing). Before the 2000's the main draws of the park still revolved around music, crafts, and other soft stuff. It is still in the process of transforming into more of a "normal" amusement park, and unfortunately the ride headaches are the growing pains of that transition. It doesn't help that they like to choose ground-breaking, but finicky rides. Buzzsaw Falls was a prototype that didn't last, Powderkeg replaced it but was also kind of a prototype that has plenty of it's own problems, Outlaw Run was a prototype and isn't aging well, Time Traveler is of course basically a prototype with a lot of world's firsts... I'm sure I'm missing some. Even Lost River was a prototype I think - wasn't it the first Intamin River Rapids?

AWESOME photos. Are you a professional? I've been meaning to get out to the Wichita mountains for ages now. These photos are really driving me to schedule a trip! Dd you know you were really close to an SBNO amusement park? In Cache, OK there are the remains of Eagle Park, which still has a few rides rusting away. Would love for someone to get permission to do a photo update of that place someday.

Had a great time at SFFT last weekend. The park blew me away. I had been told it was the best SF park, but it surpassed my expectations. The attention to detail all over the park makes it clear that there is a lot of labor of love behind it, rather than everything being smacked down as cheaply as possible. Wonder Woman had all three trains going Sunday morning. They ended up going down and coming back up with only two trains later on, and several seats were blocked off. Lots of restraint issues. It was a very fun little ride. With all three trains running the line actually moved OK.

It does kind of look like that, as it does drop into a trough. I have no idea how you'd do that on a wooden coaster, though! The funny thing is that the train goes through that part fairly slowly, as the brake run is just before it. I want to say that the original water break on a wooden coaster was somewhere in England? This one was a huge cluster****. They screwed up the back half of Wildcat even more to fit it in, and then found that it was tearing up the trains so after the first season it was no longer in use. They seriously need to re-do the entire second half of Wildcat. Now that "fixing" old wooden coasters is becoming a norm, I'm hoping they get the drift.

Excellent photos. FC is an interesting little park. For a park of it's size, it hits so many good notes. It's just missing something big to really bring some interest back to it. I live just an hour and a half away, but it's hard to get too excited about heading down there often. If they would just re-profile the second half of Wildcat, that would really tip the scales for me. The theming has really come back. They've made a lot of effort on visual improvements. I hope that Six Flags doesn't let it all go to waste again.

The construction is apparently just a new back-of-house building to replace an old building that was falling apart. There were some sudden water line issues as well. Or at least that is the current speculation/best guess. As for Reunion Hall, sometimes they simply don't open if the park isn't crowded enough. They seem to be really short on staff as it is. Great update as always. Do they still have that one back car roped off on Time Traveler? I'm wondering if they'll get that fixed this year.

I had to push back my Western PA trip to next year... so naturally they'll announce that they are closing forever this Fall. So good to see it running nicely though.

Definitely a two day park if it's your first time, IMO. Weekdays you won't have any problem with lines. Most everything will be a walk-on. Time Traveler keeps a line, but on a weekday I doubt it's more than 45 minutes at the most. Basically just TT, the Lost River (river rapids), and American Plunge (arrow log flume), keep lines during the summer. My suggestion is to take it easy and take in the non-ride things around the park. Lots of neat stores, authentic crafts, good food, and the saloon show is actually pretty good. Also can't forget the cave!

Aw, that sucks. I'm going to be there next weekend and I was looking forward to the mine train. Doesn't sound like the type of thing that will be resolved in a week. But what could break so badly that it takes a coaster out of commission for half a season or more? Structural problem?

I was last there in 2016, and the park was definitely in good shape. By that I mean the buildings, pathways, and flower beds were all taken care of. I think we can all agree that the rides and operations suck. That's to be expected when they keep going back and forth on whether they even want a dry side of the park. This new drop tower is going to be something like the third time that they go back to adding rides after ripping a bunch out. Hopefully it doesn't just get ripped out and shipped somewhere else in a few years. If they can finally agree that having an amusement park in addition to the water park is a priority, then hopefully ride operations and maintenance will improve. I am hoping that the drop tower signals a shift in that direction.

Why is everyone so sure SF is better for these parks? Do you guys not remember 10 years ago? Six Flags is not some savior of small parks. If they acquired Magic Springs, they would probably gut it and rebrand the water park into a hurricane harbor. Premier has been doing a good job of management, and just like FC, the park has obviously had tons of TLC put into it. The new drop tower is another big step in the right direction. Speaking of, anyone been on it yet? I might make it down there in August. Curious if there are any other changes at the park this year.

I'm pretty sure they cut the line at the end of the day. I'm also pretty sure they have gotten more restrictive with rides in the rain. Of course, they already shut everything down if there's even a hint of lightning in Missouri, so it's usually moot.

I highly doubt that. That was a kids playground area at Silver Dollar City (Branson) for over 15 years. It is unlikely HFEC would reuse the name/theme even if it were at a sister park. Why wouldn't they reuse a name? It's a decent, unique name and they already have the trademarks. They re-use everything else between the parks anyway, more-so now than ever. I could see them not thinking that it fits the park well enough though. Not a lot of geysers in the smokies that I know of. The "geyser" at SDC was a wacky imaginative thing that tied into the zany kids area. Other than Mystery Mine, they don't seem quite as creative at DW. I could see them calling it something like "Cascade Canyon". I still think Screamscape just regurgitates a lot of what they read on message boards. Who knows if there's any veracity to those rumors, or if that's just the communities best guess at the moment. It sounds good though. The problem with the original river battle was never the ride style itself, it was just that they cheaped out so much on it. Some non-plastic theming would have gone a long way. It was already pretty short though... not sure it would be worth waiting in line for if it ends up even shorter.

This is the real question here... are they lease-operating with the intent to buy in a few years? These REITs don't tend to hold onto properties forever. If SF has the right terms in place to be assured that they have the rights to buy in a few years, then that means they are more likely to use their own capital to improve and expand the parks. I know DL has been kind of up and down, mostly due to their reluctance to buy and operate more than one train on their coasters, but FC has come a long way since SF sold it off. FC has gotten a new coaster, a new water park, and a number of old rides switched out for newer ones. That is in addition to massive infrastructure and TLC projects across the park that have incrementally rebuilt it from the ruinous state SF left it in. Will SF let it wither on the vine again? I feel like OKC and FC have grown and shown their potential to support bigger operations. Even just getting one new major coaster to switch out one of the "classics" would be a big deal. I love the classic sczwartzkopfs, but Silver Bullet has had a lot of bad publicity and replacing it with a new G-Fighter or similar would be huge for them. My dream is for them to replace Wildcat with a new GCI or rebuild the second half. With all the other older wood coasters in the area getting refurb projects, maybe SF will realize it makes sense?

They make awesome cinnamon rolls fresh in E&D's bakery up front as well. Gotta branch out a little I didn't notice Outlaw Run being any more rough than usual. I didn't get any back row rides in, but in the middle/front rows it seemed fine to me. I barely noticed the supposed jolt in TNT's tunnel either. Some people are more sensitive to these things I guess. Usually I'm the one complaining about rides getting worn.

The ACE spring conference was amazing. Each day featured an awesome food spread from the park, plus plenty of ERT. Yes, the park went out of their way to give us some of the first night rides on Time Traveler, and they printed shirts stating such that they gave us that night. Another nice touch on their part. They did so much for us, and they did it on probably the craziest weekend of the year for them with their biggest corporate client also coming in. A crazy, amazing weekend had by all. Everyone seems to agree: Time Traveler is more fun each time you ride it. Once you get over your initial reaction, you start to really appreciate it for what it is. It is a huge hit with everyone, especially the GP.

Planning a trip to the San Antonio metro for the second weekend in June. Does it make sense to do Seaworld on Saturday, then SF on Sunday? I'm just assuming the crowds could be slightly more manageable that way. Is that a correct assumption here? I'm also planning on rolling through ZDT's on Friday night. I assume a couple hours there that evening will be enough to get a few rides on the coaster. I'm stoked to see the park for the first time, but dreading the wait for Wonder Woman. I'm sure it will be hours long that weekend since it's one of the first major weekends of summer and not long after the ride's opening. Hopefully it takes the heat off of IRat at least.

^Be aware that SDC uses a different system than DW. I haven't used them before myself, but I believe the trailblazer passes have limited uses on TT. The standard issue only gives you one use on it, or so I've heard. The queues for TT have reached 3 hours on some days (or so I've been told by people who were there at the time). The problem is that right now there's nothing else going on in the park to spread the crowd out more. No shows, half the shops closed, very few craftsmen on park yet, etc. Spring ride days only give you half the experience of SDC, and everyone is in line for the coasters. TT has also had some teething problems that have made things more interesting with judging how to get rides in. It's not at the level of Lightning Rod or anything, but it has been up and down over the past couple weeks due to issues with the cars not lining up right in the station causing the restraints to not open. I think it's getting better already? Or at least I didn't hear as much complaining last weekend. I'm sure it will only get more reliable as they work on it towards Summer. I think the park will be much more enjoyable in April. This summer will see some long ass lines on TT, but the rest of the park should be closer to "normal" with crowds better dispersed.

It was alright. It's basically mashed sweet and regular potatoes with a bit of onions and spices and some sausage on top. The consistency can vary throughout the day. I think the other skillets are probably better, but I wanted to try this again since it is "new".

Here's some photos from my weekend. The Fun Spot is doing some serious construction. I have been curious what their scale is. I thought it might just be a few rides and portapotties, but they are in fact building some permanent structures and laying a lot of ground work. Just one question: where are people going to park? Yup, opening weekend crowd. This is right before rope drop. The opening queue wrapped all the way to the dippin dots stand. It took awhile just to finally reach the entrance. I was hoping for a little more down here, but it's nice to have another fully indoor climate-controlled queue. Hopefully we won't be stuck down here too much in the coming years anyway. It is nice how well you can see the ride from the windows. It's awesome for first time riders, and fun to see the reactions. The top level is pretty cool, and I like the thought put into things like the lights. Need to work on that soundtrack though, the bell tolls are very shrill. You can hardly tell that a pathway used to cut through here. There was a dense thicket of trees here as well, and the old eating area was where the main path is now. It honestly looks like it has always been this way though apart from the fresh concrete. They blended it in with the existing park perfectly. Those trees are actually brand new to the park. They brought in mature trees. Bit of an issue for people exiting Flooded Mine though... they have to figure out how to get through the eating area, around the shops, and back to the FM entrance. Not easy for people new to the park. The poles for the Christmas in Midtown aerial stuff are now "flag poles". Kinda mars the old midtown feel, but what can you do... Love this. Want it everywhere. Glad they have this much though. Still love the Flooded Mine One of the old SDC steam trains has been retired and is now on display across from the station. Awesome little shop. I had the ostrich. Tater patch skillet. This is stamped 1797. There's a good chance it is authentic. The steam powered lathe looks ready to go this year. This is one of my favorite off-the-beaten-track things at SDC. Birdle's cabin is back open after being closed off late last year. Doesn't look like anything has been done inside though... it's kinda falling apart. Marvel Cave is one of those things you hear about and don't necessarily get around to doing since there are coasters to ride, but it is an EXCELLENT cave. It's no wonder it got so popular that they had to add stuff for people waiting in line. Fun Spot/Park/Place