-Edge of Beast- Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Yesterday I had the ability to attend Silver Dollar City's opening day. First thing to say: it was packed! Everywhere you walked, there were people. It was a rare occasion to not find guests. Ride lines gradually increased throughout the day; I think Powder Keg reached 2 hours at one point sooner or later. How were the rides themselves? Intense, short, and exciting. The park is basically made up of quick rides. Every once in a while you'll find a long ride like.. hmm... can't seem to think of any! But yes, for the rides SDC has, they are intense and speedy! I guess it's to keep the lines moving or something... Highlight of the day? Wildfire and Powder Keg are fan favorites for sure. There are also some flats like Electro Spin and Giant Swing that keep the lines coming. Silver Dollar City, like usual, has an outstanding line-up of shows, rides, and attractions. Something that I noticed in the "Wilson Farm" section of the park was construction. Lots of it. It's spanned behind Giant Swing, over the railroad, and to an area farther out. Does anybody else smell Rocky Mountain Coasters? While I was heading to the park we saw Celebration City. Poor park. I also noticed Thunderbolt was being dismantled to travel somewhere else. People. Move. I'm trying to take a picture of Silver Dollar City's entrance. Thanks sign. Without you we would get lost. Welcome... To... The park. Oh, hello! I rode Thunderation twice. Too bad this was the only decent picture I took. Enough of this "building" stuff. Let's get to the rides! *Sniff sniff* I smell fire... P-Keg! Who decides to do one train operation on the busiest ride in the park? I only got one pic of the coaster's train. ..and THIS was that one picture.. "Fire-in-da-holeeee!!!" River Blast is somewhere back there. I passed the opportunity on. The mansion. Home of the Giant Swing! Plus something else for next year... I smell drilling machinery... WAIT. Construction! Since that was all I could see, those are the two pictures of the future ride/attraction. -------- Let's head back to Wildfire... Erm. No thanks. I'd rather not have a soaking wet butt today. Going up... Going down... Who knows how many coaster nerds have taken this traditional Wildfire shot. -------- At the opposite end of the park, you'll find the Grand Exposition! I officially love this ride. Keep on walking... I see you back there Mr. Mighty Galleon! HEY. OLD LADY. Get out of my picture! Lightning would make this two times better. ..and that concludes this look at Silver Dollar City's 2012 Opening Day! I hope you enjoyed, see 'ya around the forums!
Shavethewhales Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Great photos! You got some angles I never even thought of. As for the rides, FITH and Flooded Mine are still pretty long at least. They got rid of some of the really good, long old rides like Jim Owen's Float Trip for some of these new quick ones. That sucks that they started PK off with only one train again though. I've heard they do this because they can't get enough staff in place during the spring and can only operate one train with the people that they have. Good to hear that the park is nice and crowded again though. After last season, we need a strong recovery. Ride the train next time if you want to get some great construction pics. There are tons of footers all over the train tracks now, and they aren't making any attempt to cover up what's going on.
-Edge of Beast- Posted March 16, 2012 Author Posted March 16, 2012 Thanks man! Glad you like the photos. I actually did see some foundation for (what it seems to be) footers from an angle on Giant Swing. All I can say is that the ride is going to be large.
gisco Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Some nice photos. Not a fan of the attempt at being artsie ones though.
QueerRudie Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Interesting TR, Sam- SDC is on the 'to do' list this year for me, but when becomes the question... I've neglected the mid-west for too long now, but I know to avoid certain seasons in the Branson area. Nice pictures all around.
johnychen Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Nice TR. I too need to make it to the mid west sometime. That's about the only area in the US that I have not traveled to so far.
-Edge of Beast- Posted March 16, 2012 Author Posted March 16, 2012 Silver Dollar City is definitely something you need to visit if you haven't. All around it's a great park. One thing that bugs me is the business, lines are horrible. It took an hour to get three hamburgers for my sisters' friends. Thanks guys!
GriffyTiffy Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 This is a park that my mom has been to that I haven't.... and she can't even look out the window of a car without getting sick! I need to go ASAP. Great pictures!
RCBoilermaker14 Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Cool Photos,hopefully one day I`ll get to go here.
chadster Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Sorry it took an hour to get food, that is not normal. At all. Can't believe you passed up the log flume, shame.
Jerrykoala2112 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Great TR! It's a shame that they were only running 1 train on Powder Keg, it's one of my favorite coasters and the loading time must have been really slow. And Thunderation is one of my favorite mine trains out there, I love how it starts off without a lift hill and it's in a great location. Sorry it took an hour to get food, that is not normal. At all. Can't believe you passed up the log flume, shame. To be honest, I found the log flume to be "alright" I guess. The extremely long black tunnel of nothing was really.... boring.
-Edge of Beast- Posted March 17, 2012 Author Posted March 17, 2012 Oh, I have horrible *soaking wet* memories on the American Plunge. I come off drenched every time, which is why I passed it on. Plus it's boring and very slow-paced until the final drop. I could personally do without it. Thanks Jer, Chad, Griffin, and others! I'm happy my thread made it to two pages!
Chittlins Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 One of the things contributing to the large crowd you described is the unusually warm weather. It was near 80 today here in the Ozarks. Area schools are also hitting their spring break periods. I think the weather may be taking the park by surprize and they weren't expecting this. I'm staying in Fayetteville watching my baseball Hogs this weekend for our SEC opener against Bama. I've seen our SEC opener played in snow in years past. One of the things that may have a positive impact on SDC is that NWA continues to grow and it's getting easier and easier to get to Branson as 412 gets worked on here and there. It's virtually in the backyard of an MSA of over 500,000 now. I know more and more folks buying season passes in the area and SDC really buys up ad time on the local tv stations. As for the prospect of the Rocky Mountain Coaster, it's fantasic. I'd like to see one of those spinning car wild mouse coasters themed as the Baldnobber's spiking the city's water supply with shine.
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