Shavethewhales

No doubt about it, that had to be one of the best enticement videos I've ever seen a park produce - especially the end bit. I'm so glad to see the park put so much creativity and effort into building up the experience like this. A very rare animal though, huh? Sounds like it will be a truly original theme for once.

By that logic, how do you explain Visionland or most Six Flags Parks? The music themes are carried out very well, and the park is an overall solid, professional attraction. The problem is simply the dynamics of their marketing. As Lance said on Screamscape, many people still don't even know the park exists yet. Say what you want about what attractions the place needs, but most parks half it's size and magnitude have fared better just by sending out tons of annoying radio ads. It's all a marketing thing.

Some heavy work has started on the ride now. A guy posted some photos over at SDCFans: http://sdcfans.com/forums/index.php?topic=150.msg4257#msg4257 It's hard to tell much yet though because of the way they're tip-toeing around some of the existing stuff in the area. They're definitely getting things going though, so it won't be long until we find out what this project is all about.

Some big updates from the park: The new ride project is coming along, though you can't tell much yet. The Landing area has been completely cleared of both the rides that were there, and the old play structure is mostly gone. All that remains are a few trees, the water channel, and the old petting zoo barn. The old concept art that was sent out a couple of months ago is apparently faulty, so I've heard from a park worker. It seems everything about this project is still up in the air except the fact that the ride itself will be a Mack Splash Battle. I've got some photos of the clearing here: http://www.sdcfans.com/gallery.php?g=13 The parking lot project is still way, way behind, but now that the weather has cleared progress has picked up somewhat. In addition to the new lot and the new road, additional parking is being added to both lots D and C. I've got some photos of the progress so far here: http://www.sdcfans.com/gallery.php?g=12 Finally, the new Culinary Arts School is nearly finished. The chimney and the shutters are the last things to be put up externally, and the rest will be done well in time for the Sept. 11 opening. By the way, the siding is made of wood, not vinyl - a few of us were worried about that . Again, I have a few shots of it here: http://www.sdcfans.com/gallery.php?g=11

If you're hardcore about finding a way to spend two days (which you may be after spending the first day at the park). You could look at spending the night in the campground or at at KOA. Between the choices of Sat. and Sun. I would choose Sun, though don't expect it to be that much different - at least in the afternoon. Early sunday mornings are usually pretty awesome; you'll be able to ride PK several times without waiting.

I have to say that parks really loose their appeal when you start getting this critical. I mean, obviously each park has it's ups and downs, but comparing them like this just doesn't really work. You can have a fantastic time at either DW or HRP, you just have to kick back and enjoy it all. If you let things like cheesy animations turn you off (read the comments), then you're doing it wrong. As long as we are comparing though, I prefer DW. Some of us actually like the crazy layout, and the atmosphere really takes the cake.

I guess we can bid so long to Ride-Tek, they will never sell another coaster again after making such a catastrophically idiotic oversight. I'm glad this happened before they made more coasters. I just hope the park doesn't end up eventually closing over this. This is the GP's worst nightmare at a park, and you know how this will reverberate. I'm sure the coaster itself is already history.

^That's pretty much it. Sounds like a redneck magnet to me - a big casino, a western theatre, and a craptacular collection of death trap rides. If murphy's rides fare as well in the new 'park' as they did at the Tulsa State Fair last year, this will put those parks in egypt to shame in the 'how can this place still be open?' category.

The interview is now online -> http://podcast.1170kfaq.com/ChrisMedlock/tabid/1839/Default.aspx I haven't heard a lot of the first half yet, but I know that he mentions his plans for the park throughout the second half. You have to sit through an hour of callers telling Robby how much they love him and hate Randi to piece it all together though. I've already stated the essence of what he said.

At last, Robby Bell has broken the silence on the direction of the park. In a radio interview I just now listened to, he stated that he is now in the middle of a land deal, and that plans for the new park are in the works. In case you aren't in the loop with Tulsa politics, everything about the Bell's situation has finally caught up with the offending politicians. The fairboard president, one of the leaders of the charge against Bell's and one of the Murphy's biggest friends, has been fired, with county commissioner Miller (the one who acknowledges accepting campaign contributions from the Murphy's) on the same route. Good to see some justice in Tulsa again. EDIT: Robby just stated that one of the first things he will do with the new park is add "a steel loop coaster" or possibly an inverted coaster. Mmm, I hope they go after that 2-loop schwartzkopf on ITAL.

^I think what people are saying is that you should scale back at first so that it isn't so hard to get things rolling. I mean, I've built a park fansite all by myself - it's not much, but it's a start, and other people have come in and helped it grow over just a few months. Starting off like this is a bad idea, it's too hard to get everything organized. Just throw something up and work it into what you want.

That place looks awesome, I love the classic dark ride, it reminds me of the Phantasmagoria at Bell's. In fact, the entire park kinda reminds me of Bell's. These are the kinds of parks that you can really kick back and have a good time at without the massive expenses. I wish people would quit calling them "ghetto" just because they aren't packed with multi-million dollar attractions.

They haven't built anything yet, so how do you know you're right or wrong?? Sketches do not always equal reality. The River Battle sketches were close, but not 100%. And you think River Battle is not "thematic"?? It's definitely the most themed ride in the park...have you seen it in person? But I'm glad SDC is getting a little ride love. I haven't heard a peep from this park all year. True, true, but from what I've been hearing from employees and from what the concept specs. said, it'll be themed a little more realistically and extensively than River Battle. RB is very thematic indeed, but it's themed in a Dollywood way, whereas theming at SDC is much more aimed at realistic charm. That and the fact that this is going right into the center of the park make me think that this is going to be a highly detailed package.

A wall has appeared around the favorited old Tom Sawyer's Landing area at SDC, complete with teasers of a wet ride to come. You can see some photos of it here: http://www.sdcfans.com/gallery.php?id=8 The Balloons and the carousel currently residing in the area are set to move out to the Grand Expo, close to the waveswinger. If you think this will be anything like the Splash Battle at DW, you're wrong. DW's variation is cool, but this will be much more thematic, and IMO, will have much cooler amenities. The concept artwork (http://www.sdcfans.com/gallery.php?id=7) shows off a lot of cool stuff like a little fort jutting out into the pond with cannons sticking out of it, and I'm sure the area will be packed with all sorts of cool oddities and gimmicks like the rest of the park. In fact, the ride itself is only part of the project; with it will come a revitalization of the entire area, bringing Tom Sawyer and his companions back into the SDC scene. I'm REALLY looking forward to see how this turns out, I'm thinking this will be a true test of SDC's brilliant thematics team, which has done some truly amazing, Disney-quality stuff over the years.

Sigh... I miss the old flash animation of the park. The new look is brighter and somewhat simpler to navigate, but still...

The restraints actually look relatively good to me. I mean, at least the shoulder harnesses look like they'll sit at a good place mostly below the head so that you won't bash into them going around a turn. The head backs look odd to me though. Are these basically the same as the Screaming Squirrel restraints? Anyone been on a Screaming Squirrel that can fill us in on how they feel?

Maybe you should consider looking at the situation in a different light if you don't see the problem of allowing knives into parks. I agree your additional security points are valid, but to say that a weapon used in a violent act is not a problem just doesn't make any sense. The thing is that where I live, knives are among the least dangerous things most people carry around on a daily basis, and we remain one of the safest areas in the nation. There's definitely advantages to stopping people from carrying these types of things into parks, but I still think most of the security features present around us today are merely superficial and don't actually effect our true safety. Like I said, the weapon could have been anything and this could have gone down many different ways. Anyway though, Airtime&Gravity made a good point - this probably happened way out in the parking lot, so tying SFA into this is a little unfair. Unless of course it actually did happen in the park, but nothing I've heard blatantly says that. They're using the park to hype this up, methinks.

^By far one of the better things I've heard about Shapiro. SDC is definitely the type of park he should try harder to mimic.

Meh, I would really rather they abandon the metal detectors all together and go back to manning the park with more personnel. I really don't see the fact that a man got into the park with a knife as being the big problem here - after all, if he didn't have a knife he could have used something else or just beaten the other man. If a guard or someone had been present, this could have been handled better. I get really tired of seeing so much security theatre popping up everywhere, with people flipping out over tiny pocketknifes, or even bottles of shampoo. Meanwhile, nothing really changes as far as real security goes.

Don't forget PowderKeg, which is AMAZING as well. After riding that, I get my hopes set really high for each new S&S project. I don't see why they aren't focusing more on rides like that - the ones they're actually good at. I guess there's just more appeal in the smaller, cheaper coaster market right now, hence Steel Hawg.

I'm fairly certain this ride would feel completely pointless, though the bit with the water seemed interesting. There's really nothing added to the experience here, though it is interesting to see some new (actually old by now I guess) ideas be thrown around. This is just like all the random crap Arrow used to do, glad to see the tradition is being carried on.

I love how spindly it looks; the cars will make it look oh so similar to those Knex models I made as a kid. Personally, I don't think it will be too bad - just to speculate. I know a lot of people will hate it, but I'll probably enjoy it even if it does bash people around. As long as I'm able to get up on my own out of the seats at the end of the ride - and am not bleeding - it's a good ride.

The videos on the Ride Tek site are pretty bad; they seemed somewhat unprofessional to me, especially with the weird and somewhat explicit music playing in them. I mean, it's not like they have to be that quality or anything, but they just don't make the products look as attractive as they could. Anyway though, I really want to see some shots of this coaster in action. The way it sounds, these could really gain a foothold if this one turns out well.

I always take a somewhat scenic detour through aurora on route 13 my way to SDC, coming from that direction, and while it is windy, I personally enjoy it more than the big highways - and it saves time. The drive from Joplin to Branson is really nothing either way. If you haven't been to the parks before, you'll definitely want to stay for the second day. Actually, either way you'll probably want to stay - SDC is worth two days for me and I've been going for years. However, CC may not be worth it for you if you are not totally into rides themselves. Like others have said, while OzCat is fantastic, the rest of the park is fun but meh. You can get two day SDC tickets for the price of one here: http://www.reservebranson.com/attractions/silver_dollar_city_branson_missouri.asp?utm_source=attractions&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=SDC Oh yeah, as far as which day is least crowded - god only knows. SDC is prone to these freak crowd days, but you'll probably be OK mid-week.

So now that the deal is finalized, what's going on? Are they releasing any more detailed plans? It sounded like they were just going to bulldoze the place, put in a parking lot, and throw in some carny rides.