Silver Dollar City (SDC) Discussion Thread

[Jaykethekid]

I'm looking forward to whatever comes of this project! As much as I enjoy FITH, I'd rather they replace it with something new and high quality than just keep it running in its dilapidated, worn out state just for the sake of nostalgia. As long as the new version or replacement has immersive theming and a fun storyline, then I feel it's a worthy replacement. I don't understand the "SDC is turning into six flags" cries because of the removal of old attractions. Sure it's sad to see them go, however SDC puts a lot of thought into whatever replaces them so it doesn't feel like the park has lost anything, rather they gain something. Take Mystic River Falls for example. Much like FITH, Lost River was in a terrible state. I imagine they'd have to spend almost as much as a new attraction to get it back into a good state. But they chose to replace it and improve the experience that it provided. Aside from reliability, Mystic River Falls improves upon Lost River in almost all categories. Better theming, more creative storyline, more exciting ride experience etc. I imagine the same will be for whatever replaces FITH. It'll stick to the principles the parks has had for attractions since the beginning. The park still cares about making an immersive experience for guests. It's far from becoming Six Flags over Branson like some are saying. I'm yet to see SDC just slap a generic flat ride on a pad of concrete and call it a day. Change is hard for some, but I have faith in SDC to create an attraction that provides memories for future visitors just like FITH has for all who have visited by now.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Agreed, Jake. Every time they rehab/replace a ride they make it way better. I have loved FITH since I was a kid, it was my first roller coaster, but I can't wait to see how much better this new one is. 

[Chiselphane]

Man, I really cursed myself saying I never felt the need for fastpass this time of year.  We went Sat & Sun and it was crazy busy (and HOT) for the season, especially Saturday.  It did not help things at all that every coaster (except FITH) was running one train.  We rode Time Traveler first thing and I was all "wow the line is super short for this time of day, we really lucked out"  and then it became immediately obvious why, under normal operations that line would have been almost to the queue entrance.

I talked to some staff and they did not expect the level of crowds at all, there were lots of ingredient shortages and they were really scrambling at times.  The lady at the Apple Butter Shop said they ran out within an hour and she didn't think she'd be able to do much better by Sunday, she just didn't have enough ingredients to keep up with the demand surge. Sunday did end up being a bit better, we actually got some walk-ons for Mystic River Falls in the morning to the point we rerode it a few times back and overall things seemed a tiny bit less hectic then Saturday, but they still stuck to one train ops.

I actually got a little excited because the audio on Fire in the Hole's first half seems to have been tweaked, it was louder and clearer than I ever recall hearing it.  But the back half is still a mess, if not flat out broken. 

[VegasBaby]

7 hours ago, Chiselphane said:

Man, I really cursed myself saying I never felt the need for fastpass this time of year.  We went Sat & Sun and it was crazy busy (and HOT) for the season, especially Saturday.  It did not help things at all that every coaster (except FITH) was running one train.  We rode Time Traveler first thing and I was all "wow the line is super short for this time of day, we really lucked out"  and then it became immediately obvious why, under normal operations that line would have been almost to the queue entrance.

I was pretty disappointed with the rides ops when we went this summer.  Every coaster except FITH and Time Traveler was running one train, which is inexcusable in the middle of summer.  On top of that, Mystic Falls didn't open the entire day we were there.  It's really too bad bc it's a great park and has some really fun rides, but I'm not planning on going back anytime soon.

[Jaykethekid]

I can't really fault the park on the operations situation. From what I understand from a few conversations with some employees there, they legitimately do not have the staff to run more than one train. And this was a problem before the pandemic too. I don't know if it's a Missouri law or just park policy, but they have to have a high number of ride ops stationed at each ride to run multiple trains. That's a common policy at parks, but SDC seems to struggle with it more than other parks in the region. It also seems that the park is prioritizing having more rides open at low capacity instead of closing some rides and having those ops help run select rides at a higher capacity. With the employment situation for SDC having no signs of improvement, it's just become an expectation to see rides routinely running just one train. At least the ride ops themselves are incredibly fast and get trains sent out pretty quickly, keeping the lines moving at slightly higher than a snails pace. . 

Edited October 13, 2021 by Jaykethekid
spelling / grammar corrections

[PKI Jizzman]

Thanks for the updates, it's sounding more and more like their fast pass is required to get multiple rides in and avoid long painful one train ops.

[tndank]

Do FITH rumors suggest it's closing after this season or next?  Grew up with SDC/Dollywood and have always wanted to ride the other one.  Got close this year but had to cancel a trip last minute.  Planning on next year for sure.

[PKI Jizzman]

I'll do some digging through this thread but would love to know food recommendations! Is there a sit down restaurant yet or is it all cafeteria style? 

[Chiselphane]

42 minutes ago, PKI Jizzman said:

I'll do some digging through this thread but would love to know food recommendations! Is there a sit down restaurant yet or is it all cafeteria style? 

Molly's Mill is a buffet restaurant but that's about it at the moment; there's also a Mine buffet but that's currently closed.  The rest will be cafeteria or stands.   We tend to snack rather than full meals just because there's so much to choose from, and more than normal during a festival.  Its actually hard for me to recommend things because I like so much of it, but for a full meal I like Rivertown Smokehouse,  for a sandwich/lighter meal (lighter being relative lol) I like Fry Bread company (which was not operating last weekend) or a skillet from Lumbercamp Falls.    We never visit without getting a Tater Twist.

For sweets/dessert/etc everyone will tell you to get cinnamon bread from Clara Belle's and rightly so, but don't neglect Eva & Delilah's bakery right at the entrance of the park, and easy-to-miss Sullivan's Mill has some great stuff too (including coffee ground by a grinder powered by the waterwheel you see when crossing the swinging bridge!)

 

[VegasBaby]

15 hours ago, PKI Jizzman said:

Thanks for the updates, it's sounding more and more like their fast pass is required to get multiple rides in and avoid long painful one train ops.

Yes, if you want to get multiple rides on the coasters and Mystic River Falls, I would definitely recommend their fast pass.  As for food, the skillets offered at various locations are very good.  The BBQ place next to Mystic River Falls is cafeteria style, but it has lots of seating and the food is also good.  Plus it's right across from the cinnamon bread place!

[teacherkim]

We haven't actually made it down to the park since the re-opening week in June of 2020, one train ops that day too, but it was understandable at the time. Have they pretty much been on one train ops all this time? Yikes. Like I said we will be down there for Coaster Christmas in Nov and will be curious to see if the seasonal closure of a few of the rides (like the 3 water rides) relieves any of the staffing pressures and maybe allows a few of the bigger coasters to add a train.

[Jaykethekid]

Christmas season still seems to be fine when it comes to operations. It's pretty much one of the few times of the year that you'll have a good chance at seeing rides running at high capacity.

[PKI Jizzman]

Sorry last question, I am trying to find hours for the restaurants and food stands. Are they open certain hours or just until food runs out? I know I saw posts about some things selling out quickly.

[Chiselphane]

12 hours ago, PKI Jizzman said:

Sorry last question, I am trying to find hours for the restaurants and food stands. Are they open certain hours or just until food runs out? I know I saw posts about some things selling out quickly.

It can be a bit of a pain.  Each has its' own schedule which afaik is not posted anywhere except on the restaurants themselves (and sometimes not even then!) because they can and do change hours daily.   You'd think the app would at least have restaurant hours, but no. Most were pretty good about advertising their closing time if it was before park closing.  It can feel almost random though.  Like last weekend, some places that were open on Saturday didn't open at all on Sunday, and vice versa.  

Seems more staffing that stock but as I had mentioned before, they had a bunch of ingredient shortages.   I understand but at the same time, almost every time that happened you wouldn't find out until after they handed you the food.  "Hey wasn't this supposed to have green onions on it?"  'Yes, sorry, we're out. '  Just seems to me it'd be better to tell you that when ordering.   We take that kind of thing in stride but some guests were pretty vocal about it, especially after waiting 30+ minutes in unshaded lines. 

Speaking of that, the food lines can get a bit chaotic on busy days, especially the stands as they don't really have queues so people just blob up wherever.   Tater Twist is a good example, if there's more than a few people waiting there's nowhere for a line to form that doesn't block a path leading to other areas of the park.

[PKI Jizzman]

Outlaw Run was holding an hour wait all day yesterday with one train and 20 minutes Trailblazer, Time Traveler was 2-3 hours stand by and 30 min with Trailblazer. 

Outlaw Run is a saint, who said this thing is rough? It's running like a dream! No different than my rides 6 years ago, what a beast.

Time Traveler was running in total darkness which was really cool although I think I'll appreciate the turning more in the daytime as a first time rider. The first drop is definitely one of the best in the world, wow is that fantastic. 

Here's why it's one train for TT: they have 3 trains. Train 1 and 2 were running fine. They decided to put train 3 to bed for the season and it's in parts right now. At some point train 2 had 'major issues' with the wheels and it's waiting on parts from Mack/Germany so here we are with 1 train. Guests are frustrated and disappointed, so are the ops. At a 10pm closing they were likely going to have to work until midnight or 1am since TT is only 16 riders per train. Ouch. 

We were only at the park 6pm-10pm and rode Outlaw once and TT 2x with Trailblazer. 

If you're going to the park without Trailblazer, keep a look out in the last 2 hours at the park - people leaving the park were just hanging their lanyards up at the ride exit and or just giving them away to anyone they saw. Folks can be pretty friendly down here! There's still plenty of jackasses though (many people seriously pissed about the slow lines for regular and Trailblazer) along with unruly kids who couldn't understand why one line moved and theirs didn't.  

Full day 2 today coming up!

 

[xVicesAndVirtues]

^Thanks for the report! Ouch about Time Traveler only being able to run one train, hope they're able to get it back up to two later in the year. We just booked flights to SGF yesterday to go during An Old Time Christmas.

I agree about Outlaw Run. We went last year for the first time in several years and it was running sooo well. We got there after dark on our first day and I forgot how big OR's drop was, it was terrifying falling through seemingly endless darkness. OR is better than like 90% of the steel RMCs in my opinion.

[PKI Jizzman]

A quick update before I do a report later:

We heard yesterday/Saturday was one of the busiest days in recent history so that explains things. Almost 30k people at SDC! Sunday today was much more manageable. Even still food sells out and they don't tell you until you've waited 30 minutes to get to the cashier. 

The cinnamon bread house only uses one cashier and they combined it with a Starbucks. We waited 30-40 minutes for cinnamon bread, because there's 1 person getting coffee, cashing you out, so you're just standing there holding your bread as it goes from warm to lukewarm to room temp. Please separate those who want coffee from those who just want to swiftly pick up a loaf and move on.

Time Traveler's line wasn't that bad yet they closed it off at 815, when the park closed at 9pm. That was a major bummer but Outlaw Run kept open until 9pm so the trip ended with 4x rides in 30 minutes. 

As beautiful as the park is, the rides are awesome, I have to say the park is slipping. The pumpkin coconut chicken curry had barely any flavor, the tater patch skillet was gross mush, the artist selling bird paintings upon further look was selling printed off framed photos not hand drawn art... 

SDC is still an elite American park but when I started to look at the details of things it's just not as amazing as it once was.

Oh and yeah one train ops on everything. Even Giant Barn Swing was only running one side! You really need Trailblazer if you are going on weekends. 

So I hope it's just a flukey 2021 visit but SDC really needs to focus on the details to contend for best park in America. 

 

[Chiselphane]

It's sad and frustrating because I know they can do better.  Sure, some of it's not really their fault, but some of it is.  The more we talked about it after our trip, the more the food situation was bugging us.  It really did suck to have to wait so long for subpar service.  

 

8 hours ago, PKI Jizzman said:

  Even still food sells out and they don't tell you until you've waited 30 minutes to get to the cashier. 

 

This!   This is frankly inexcusable.  I can put up with a lot, I can be understanding of staffing issues or what have you, but respect my time please. 

[Shavethewhales2]

The park was slipping on some of these issues even before the pandemic due to worker shortages in Branson. The pandemic has massively accelerated it. I'm frankly surprised they are still able to operate as well as they are considering how short staffed they are. The CEO has been on site a lot recently, I am sure they are developing a plan to address it. They need worker dormitories or something. 

 

They apparently sold off one of the trains for Time Traveler a while back... notice how Ride to Happiness uses the EXACT same trains? Not sure what the story is there, but perhaps with the material shortages Mack couldn't build another train for RTH and SDC was offered a ton for it. Now when one train has an issue, which is almost always the case, they have one train ops on their most popular ride. It was designed to operate with three trains but they barely ever ran all three after the first season, when it broke down constantly anyway. Most of the other rides barely run more than one train anymore either due to staff and material shortages. 

 

It's just a difficult time for them. Christmas is going to be a fiasco. I really, really, really want all the market disruptions to end so businesses can figure stuff out. 

 

I will say that the craftsmen on the main square have been delightful this Harvest fest, and the music has been good if you enjoy the style. The pumpkinfest area has been a hoot, even though it basically looks like a big Zumba class most of the time, lol. I'm not a fan of some of the music they play over the speakers during this event, but I get that they are trying to enforce a vibe in spite of it all. There's some kids-bop involved... 

[SharkTums]

I hate reading stuff like this. I mean, I expect it with some parks, but when we see some of the top parks in the country having the same issues as regional SF/CF parks it just hurts.  Hoping this all gets sorted by next season.

[teacherkim]

In a sense they have some of the same worker issues as CP, popular park but in a small town with  no where enough locals to fill what are essentially seasonal positions, even though the "season" is much longer than it used to be. They may have to do what CP does and try to recruit at colleges around the state and as mentioned have dorms. I mean the area would not be a bad place to spend a summer if you are a college kid, there is a ton to do on days off. It will be interesting to see how they handle Christmas when we are down there. I too hope they can figure it out by next summer..... (I was gonna add 'when things are back to normal' but I'm never saying that phrase again)

[Shavethewhales2]

On 10/2/2021 at 10:29 AM, Chiselphane said:

I'm torn because I would miss both rides but I can definitely see the reasoning, at least for FITH.    It's nearly 50 years old and while the ride system is fine (other than the audio issues(which really are disappointing especially if you are a long time fan and know what's supposed to happen and where)), I wouldn't be surprised in the least if a big problem is the building it's housed in; the 'backstage' views you get of it when walking to Outlaw Run aren't very pretty.    And FM is even older, with the addition of it being a water ride and the structural problems that that entails.   

Most of the FITH rumors have been along the lines of  'destroy then rebuild'.  FM feels more like the one that would go away and not be replaced.  And I'd miss both, whether missing the old version of FITH no matter how good a job they do on a new one, or FM in general.   But none of that would change my attendance or even overall feeling towards the park; I get there are business decisions that I am not going to be privy to, etc.   I get that people don't like change, especially if from the outside it appears to be needless change. 

It does make me wonder if SDC should give more info on why these changes would be made, or is it not worth the trouble because people would be upset either way.  To me it would make sense if they said something like "To 'fix' Fire in the Hole's show building, it would cost X dollars;  to rebuild it would cost Z dollars which includes safety improvements over the original structure, other benefits, etc etc" but to those would reflexively react to any change as negative, would putting out an explanation even matter, or even make things worse.

Age is just a number, even with theme park rides. If you keep them in shape they will essentially last forever. You could have said FITH was too old 20 years ago and been "right" in the eyes of most casual observers. FITH remains a popular ride though, even with it's bumpiness and lack of true care into it's appearance and ride experience. If it's track was replaced and the building was patched up, it would remain a popular ride for decades to come. FITH hit a spot that few rides do, and replacing it will be a tall order. Undoubtedly they'll try to do something flashy with the new ride that will look great in advertisements but cause it to break down constantly or restrict who can ride it. 

There are some major issues to address with the FITH structure though, including the mold and water rot issues that come from it's 1960's era water brake system. It would take a few million at least to upgrade it properly, and the ROI would not be immediately evident. I think focusing on immediate ROI is a terrible idea though, and it is part of what has led the park down it's current path. The park used to be viewed as a total experience from the second you stepped in to the second you stepped out. Now it's one flashy ride after another, many of which have constant technical problems, and even when they do work right it's a two hour wait. That wasn't supposed to be the SDC experience. There's nothing wrong with the occasional line, but now it's almost all you do. 

I wish SDC focused more on non-festival experiences and in keeping what they have going strong. Too many things in the park are falling apart. So many of the cute themed areas have been cleared out. I look back on photos from twenty or more years ago and the park was so much more full of life. It's not just the rides that are getting thrown away now when they get old - it's everything. There used to be a big Hatfield and McCoy water fountain with a big fake sock filter that looked hilarious and had a million photos taken of it back in the day. Just an example of things that disappear without a thought anymore. Don't get me started on the signage and stuff that used to be tacked to the walls everywhere. 

Anyway, enough griping. I am excited to see a potential new indoor coaster. The area they are working in is pretty small. By the time you factor in the train tracks and what I assume will be a necessary service/emergency road, there's not much more room than the current location. Will be interesting to see how they could squeeze a new modern coaster into a building with effects and everything. My hope is that it will start a trend, both within HFEC and parks at large and focusing on indoor attractions again. 

[PKI Jizzman]

Did you forget you log in a have to create another username? Just asking for authenticity sake since you joined today but I'm pretty confident there's been a shavethewhales around here a while! 

2 hours ago, Shavethewhales2 said:

Age is just a number, even with theme park rides. If you keep them in shape they will essentially last forever. You could have said FITH was too old 20 years ago and been "right" in the eyes of most casual observers. FITH remains a popular ride though, even with it's bumpiness and lack of true care into it's appearance and ride experience. If it's track was replaced and the building was patched up, it would remain a popular ride for decades to come. FITH hit a spot that few rides do, and replacing it will be a tall order. Undoubtedly they'll try to do something flashy with the new ride that will look great in advertisements but cause it to break down constantly or restrict who can ride it. 

There are some major issues to address with the FITH structure though, including the mold and water rot issues that come from it's 1960's era water brake system. It would take a few million at least to upgrade it properly, and the ROI would not be immediately evident. I think focusing on immediate ROI is a terrible idea though, and it is part of what has led the park down it's current path. The park used to be viewed as a total experience from the second you stepped in to the second you stepped out. Now it's one flashy ride after another, many of which have constant technical problems, and even when they do work right it's a two hour wait. That wasn't supposed to be the SDC experience. There's nothing wrong with the occasional line, but now it's almost all you do. 

I wish SDC focused more on non-festival experiences and in keeping what they have going strong. Too many things in the park are falling apart. So many of the cute themed areas have been cleared out. I look back on photos from twenty or more years ago and the park was so much more full of life. It's not just the rides that are getting thrown away now when they get old - it's everything. There used to be a big Hatfield and McCoy water fountain with a big fake sock filter that looked hilarious and had a million photos taken of it back in the day. Just an example of things that disappear without a thought anymore. Don't get me started on the signage and stuff that used to be tacked to the walls everywhere. 

Anyway, enough griping. I am excited to see a potential new indoor coaster. The area they are working in is pretty small. By the time you factor in the train tracks and what I assume will be a necessary service/emergency road, there's not much more room than the current location. Will be interesting to see how they could squeeze a new modern coaster into a building with effects and everything. My hope is that it will start a trend, both within HFEC and parks at large and focusing on indoor attractions again. 

 

[PKI Jizzman]

FITH was supremely creepy with very very little audio the whole ride. Extra extra creepy riding after our Lantern Tour where I learned more about the Bald Knobbers. Meanwhile Flooded Mine seemed to have numerous big effects around every turn and had good capacity! 

[bert425]

^ "Bald Knobbers" ???


creeeeepy