Silver Dollar City (SDC) Discussion Thread

Yeah, Outlaw Run is definitely a good enough addition to allow them to not have any major additions in 2014.

How is SDC's Christmas event in comparison to Dollywoods to people who have been to both? Is SDC on the same scale as Smokey Mountain Christmas?

How is SDC's Christmas event in comparison to Dollywoods to people who have been to both? Is SDC on the same scale as Smokey Mountain Christmas?

I have never been to the one at DW, but the one at SDC is absolutely amazing! I highly recommend it to everyone! It is truly a spectacle.

Besides Outlaw Run (and the extremely nice people) I will return again for lots of this...fresh out of the oven - Mmmm

^ All of the food at SDC is phenomenal!

How is SDC's Christmas event in comparison to Dollywoods to people who have been to both? Is SDC on the same scale as Smokey Mountain Christmas?

 

 

I have never been to the one at DW, but the one at SDC is absolutely amazing! I highly recommend it to everyone! It is truly a spectacle.

Especially the tree lighting and the train ride. Tip, Bring jackets just in case for the tree lighting. A lady was very crude to me cause I was saving spots for my family.

Aww... The picture of cinnamon bread made me think my dinner was horrible!

I think the park lacks a drop tower. Maybe it could show up on a new coaster in 2015?

Despite being to SDC six times before this past weekend, Saturday was my first time having the cinnamon bread, and it was like warm, sweet heaven.

The amount of lights SDC puts up is freaking awesome. No corner of the park is left unlit.

Besides Outlaw Run (and the extremely nice people) I will return again for lots of this...fresh out of the oven - Mmmm

My bucket list just got one item longer.

Besides Outlaw Run (and the extremely nice people) I will return again for lots of this...fresh out of the oven - Mmmm

Thank you. That picture of cinnamon bread just made my week!

I did find a recipe online, I don't know if it's the real one, but I'll have to give it a try!

^Do share, and let us now how it is!

Thanks for uploading that pic, I'm hungry now!

Especially the tree lighting and the train ride. Tip, Bring jackets just in case for the tree lighting. A lady was very crude to me cause I was saving spots for my family.

(I'm not doubting your story, I'm just courious) What kinds of crude things did she say/do to you?

Screamscape says there is discussion over if someone new is reopening Celebration City.

I'm hoping The Track buys it as their fifth location in Branson, and then reopens Wildcat, adds a few kiddie rides, and adds a few go-kart tracks as well. But it is probably just a pipe dream.

Screamscape says there is discussion over if someone new is reopening Celebration City.

 

I'm hoping The Track buys it as their fifth location in Branson, and then reopens Wildcat, adds a few kiddie rides, and adds a few go-kart tracks as well. But it is probably just a pipe dream.

I remember Elissa told us that GCI claimed Wildcat would never operate again

^ If somebody really wanted to sink all of the money into it, they could get it operating again. It's only been closed for four years. Obviously, it has deteriorated, but not enough to call the ride a lost cause.

HFEC is not going to sell the park to someone looking to re-open amusements on the property. That much I know for sure. Much of the reason behind their purchase of the property in the first place was to stifle low-budget competition to SDC.

Rumors about redeveloping CC have been swirling around since the place closed. I wouldn't get excited. If the road project doesn't get resurrected within the next five years, I think they'll sell it off in parcels for restaurants and hotels. There is a small possibility that they'll put a different kind of attraction there such as an aquarium, but I think they are still very wary about investing too much in Branson properties other than SDC at this point.

By the way, I made it out to the park last weekend. Spur of the moment decision to visit the park with my young nephew rather than study for finals. It was definitely the right choice - I got to see him experience Half Dollar Holler for the first time, which he loved dearly. Ate a lot of food of course and snagged rides on PK, Wildfire, and Outlaw Run.

The only big note I have to share is that the crowd levels fluctuate so, so much during the day at this time of year. At opening it's pretty mild. Around the late afternoon till the time the sun starts to go down the place will be packed. After the first holiday light parade though, the place quickly starts to empty out, doubly so if it's cold. Outlaw Run had hour+ waits for much of the afternoon, but if you came back during the last hour of the night it was a walk-on, even on one of the busiest days of the year.

Celebration City certainly seems like a pretty neat place, but outside of the initial opening year fanfare and the wooden coaster, I never really heard much about it.

What exactly caused it to close? Economy? Lack of attendance? Bad location?

Was it supposed to be a "Silver Dollar City after dark" type thing where the park would open in the afternoon and stay open til late night after SDC closed?

Celebration City certainly seems like a pretty neat place, but outside of the initial opening year fanfare and the wooden coaster, I never really heard much about it.

 

What exactly caused it to close? Economy? Lack of attendance? Bad location?

 

Was it supposed to be a "Silver Dollar City after dark" type thing where the park would open in the afternoon and stay open til late night after SDC closed?

It was SDC after Dark. The park opened from 3pm-11pm while as SDC was 9am to like 5pm or so.

I would guess that it wasn't making the money Herschend wanted. Pete said that rebuilding the park costed almost 50 million dollars.

^It was supposed to be an after-SDC experience for the night crowd in Branson. After a couple of years of trying this strategy, they decided to stop keeping the park open so late after dark. I think by the time they closed they were only open till 8pm... the details are fuzzy to me now. Branson has never really developed the 'night' crowd properly because it is so family oriented.

I don't know if I've ever heard an official, non-sugarcoated reason why they actually shut the place down completely after only 5 years. They spent $40 million on the initial build, millions more on new additions, and then after just 5 years they decided it was a failure and closed it with no plan to reopen or sell it in the near future. I know that a lot of their investment was aimed at simply shutting out competition. It's been speculated that CC became what they were trying to prevent others from doing - a lower budget alternative to SDC. I guess they just didnt see a way to mesh the two properties properly, even after all of that expense. It still seems like such a huge waste to me, and I'm a bit bitter about it still.

It's not that the park failed per se - it seemed to get fairly decent attendance - it's that it didn't actually increase visitors to Branson and make more money for HFEC as a whole.

If anyone was planning on coming to Branson, stay away! It's unbelievably cold and snowed in!

If anyone was planning on coming to Branson, stay away! It's unbelievably cold and snowed in!

Indeed, SDC has been closed the past two days for snow and ice.

If anyone was planning on coming to Branson, stay away! It's unbelievably cold and snowed in!

Indeed, SDC has been closed the past two days for snow and ice.

I imagine this isn't the first or last time this happens.

^It's actually one of the first times in recent memory, according to some of the employees I've talked to. It usually doesn't snow/ice this bad in until January or at least late December in this part of the country, and the park used to be more stubborn about staying open. Of course, it wasn't long ago that rides weren't even the main draw for the park, so it was easier to just keep the shops and covered attractions open. Also, this particular storm brought in so much pure ice.

^It's actually one of the first times in recent memory, according to some of the employees I've talked to. It usually doesn't snow/ice this bad in until January or at least late December in this part of the country, and the park used to be more stubborn about staying open. Of course, it wasn't long ago that rides weren't even the main draw for the park, so it was easier to just keep the shops and covered attractions open. Also, this particular storm brought in so much pure ice.

I bet. I've been watching this storm as it moves across the country. At least it should be over soon enough, and the park can reopen once again.

I visited over Thanksgiving and found out the park has other parking areas down the road. My family parked in "The Bank". How often does the park have to open up those lots?