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Silver Dollar City (SDC) Discussion Thread

p. 274: New Fire in the Hole announced for 2024!

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Include XNA(Northwest Arkansas) TUL (Tulsa), LIT(Little Rock), SGF(Springfield MO not to be confused with Frontier at much smaller BKG) and even FSM(Fort Smith AR).

 

TUL and LIT have Southwest but you'll have to connect somewhere.

 

You are in the Philly area right?

American just added a nonstop to XNA from Philly for a couple of months from now. All of those are as close or closer than MCI(Kansas City) Hell, there's the Frontier MEM/PHI flights as well but that is a 5 hr drive like St. Louis.

 

Allegaint Flew BWI/TUL last summer it may be back.

 

Barclays has an AA Aviator Red card with a 60k point bonus for a single purchase and a 95 annual fee. It gives you free check in luggage. Combine that with the XNA/PHL, DCA or LGA nopstops and get to SDC that way

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Good call on XNA, I've checked the other ones but not that one. I'm in the New York area but I would absolutely go to Philly if it made sense. I've done it before. It's less than an hour and a half from Newark Airport and probably only about an hour different than me driving to JFK and dealing with that Van Wyck dumpster fire.

 

Honestly we're probably not going this year since we're out of days and ideally we would probably include Kansas City, Worlds of Fun, Kauffman Stadium, City Museum, Six Flags St. Louis and the arch / touristy stuff / possibly Busch Stadium in the same trip and that would require a lot of time off. Frontier flies from Philly to St. Louis and Kansas City but their prices lately have been less-than-impressive and the flight times suck.

 

It's looking like a 2020 trip.

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Good call on XNA, I've checked the other ones but not that one. I'm in the New York area but I would absolutely go to Philly if it made sense. I've done it before. It's less than an hour and a half from Newark Airport and probably only about an hour different than me driving to JFK and dealing with that Van Wyck dumpster fire.

 

XNA is Walmart International. Frontier is about to find great success from there. Lots of F-Off money in NWA these days but we like roll back prices and often frive to Tulsa for lower fares, lol, Booming area, check out Crystal Bridges in Bentonville if you like Art, it's free for the permanent galleries.

 

At one time, there were great air deals feom XNA to the NYC area but Delta killed off it's LGA service and left it to American and United and price have gone up a bit. Two years ago with some lead time it was sub 300 for nonstop R/Ts to the NYC area.

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Good call on XNA, I've checked the other ones but not that one. I'm in the New York area but I would absolutely go to Philly if it made sense. I've done it before. It's less than an hour and a half from Newark Airport and probably only about an hour different than me driving to JFK and dealing with that Van Wyck dumpster fire.

 

Honestly we're probably not going this year since we're out of days and ideally we would probably include Kansas City, Worlds of Fun, Kauffman Stadium, City Museum, Six Flags St. Louis and the arch / touristy stuff / possibly Busch Stadium in the same trip and that would require a lot of time off. Frontier flies from Philly to St. Louis and Kansas City but their prices lately have been less-than-impressive and the flight times suck.

 

It's looking like a 2020 trip.

 

If you like catching ballparks, Aurozone in Memphis is one of the best non MLB venues out there plus a block away from Beale Street.

 

Northwest Arkansas and Springfield have nice AA parks Royals and Cardinal affiliates.

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Honestly we're probably not going this year since we're out of days and ideally we would probably include Kansas City, Worlds of Fun, Kauffman Stadium, City Museum, Six Flags St. Louis and the arch / touristy stuff / possibly Busch Stadium in the same trip and that would require a lot of time off. Frontier flies from Philly to St. Louis and Kansas City but their prices lately have been less-than-impressive and the flight times suck.

 

It's looking like a 2020 trip.

Hey, maybe SFStL will finally get something good in 2020.

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Brit would enjoy Tiger Sanctuary in Branson and Wild Animal Safari in Strafford (suburb of Springfield). Don't go to Wonders of Wildlife in Springfield, it's less about how cool animals are and more about how cool it is to kill them.

 

 

You expected different from a place opened up by Bass Pro Shops flagship store?

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Just wanted to add that I haven’t seen Spirit mentioned anywhere here, and I know for a fact they fly into KC (MCI). Just thought I’d say that for whatever it’s worth - they’re a low-cost airline as well.

 

I’ve been seeing Memphis thrown around here too - as someone who lived in Memphis, I would avoiding flying in or out of there. We used to drive to STL to fly because it was usually cheaper. The problem is Memphis Airport is Fedex’s SuperHub and thus gets most the business it needs through them, so prices for passenger flights have always been higher (at least, this is how I always was explained it). They’re currently in the process of changing their passenger service from being a hub airport to a destination airport, so I don't know that has had any effect on prices lately - they started that just after I moved.

 

Also, Memphis is AT LEAST a solid five or six hour drive from anywhere in Missouri except the southeast corner of the state where there aren’t any destination cities anyway. I know this with plenty of experience (matter of fact, I just got back Sunday from a trip down there). Add on a couple hours for anything west Columbia (which for you would be Kansas City). It would probably be a stretch to add it unless you’re flying into or out of there.

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Just wanted to add that I haven’t seen Spirit mentioned anywhere here, and I know for a fact they fly into KC (MCI). Just thought I’d say that for whatever it’s worth - they’re a low-cost airline as well.

 

I’ve been seeing Memphis thrown around here too - as someone who lived in Memphis, I would avoiding flying in or out of there. We used to drive to STL to fly because it was usually cheaper. The problem is Memphis Airport is Fedex’s SuperHub and thus gets most the business it needs through them, so prices for passenger flights have always been higher (at least, this is how I always was explained it). They’re currently in the process of changing their passenger service from being a hub airport to a destination airport, so I don't know that has had any effect on prices lately - they started that just after I moved.

 

Also, Memphis is AT LEAST a solid five or six hour drive from anywhere in Missouri except the southeast corner of the state where there aren’t any destination cities anyway. I know this with plenty of experience (matter of fact, I just got back Sunday from a trip down there). Add on a couple hours for anything west Columbia (which for you would be Kansas City). It would probably be a stretch to add it unless you’re flying into or out of there.

 

 

Memphis fares were astronomical when it was a Northwest then Delta Fortress hub that was heavily defended when someone tried to enter the market not because of FedEx and it being the second largest cargo airport in the world. In fact, the FedEx volume keeps fees for new lcc passenger airlines low even with a complete redo of the terminal underway to right size it now that it isn't a hub anymore and fares have come way down. It has been transtitioning to an O&D airport for 5 years now. I wish FedEx would cotemplate their own passenger service with combi planes, half passenger/half cargo.

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A friend here at school who interned with the park last summer confirmed to me it’s a water ride but said it’s not an Infinity Falls style ride as we are thinking ... now it has me really thinking about what is coming. Of course, he signed an NDA so that was as much as he could tell me, but he wasn’t able to deny it’s a water ride as parts of the through are already visible.

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Speaking of, I just went to the park yesterday and here is a few photos I snapped thru the fence with my DSLR.

 

As mentioned by others, there are several troughs already constructed along with a large concrete structure, also noted a large rectangle pit about 30-50 feet wide and 6-7 feet deep with lots of reebar for what looks like a tower structure of sorts going up just to the west of the large concrete structure which I have also assumed to be the new station building. Also noted the fact that they apparently went thru a lot of trouble to salvage the rockwork from the previous ride as they have already carefully laid it down next to some of the troughs already constructed in the same style as the former ride. The next few months should be interesting to see regarding how things develop in this area.

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And lastly my videos from my first trip of the season yesterday. These feature the construction progress on the "new" Lost River Ride and the debut of Engine #14 this season on the Silver Dollar Line. Flooded Mine is looking great with a lot of effects working again that I haven't seen working in a few years. The lighting also looks to be improved.

 

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Heading out to SDC for the first time this weekend. I was just wondering if any SDC pros had any advice to give as in what are the best restaurants inside the park to eat and what rides have the longest queues during the day. We'll be there two days and we'll play it by ear to see if we need to buy the trailblazer passes or not if the crowds get to be too much. But just curious on which coasters have the slowest queues...Those would probably be the ones we head to first at park opening. Thanks for any info.

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Saturday the park is hosting Mercy Health System's company picnic. It's the second largest employer in the Ozarks, behind only Walmart, and thousands of Mercy people will be there. We have morning and evening ERT so getting there at opening isn't going to help you. It's also going to be great weather on the opening Saturday of Bluegrass and BBQ, and SDC is known for its barbecue sauce. Get a Trailblazer. No question.

 

Sunday should be far better; you may be ok without a Trailblazer. Powder Keg's line moves the slowest, but Time Traveler will be the longest wait. At this point I'm still recommending everyone go straight to Time Traveler.

 

Also, I haven't seen this yet this spring, but I have no doubt American Plunge's line is going to be awful this year. This weekend we're looking at upper 70s, so we're getting to that threshold where people begin to consider water rides en masse. With Lost River down, you can be sure the flume will be hopping.

 

House of BBQ is the special festival restaurant. It's in Red Gold Heritage Hall in the Grand Expo (top right corner of the map). Otherwise all of SDC's food is great. Pick a style you like, and you'll love it.

 

Eat cinnamon bread.

 

Take the cave tour (with all the recent rain, they may take the flood route; still worth it).

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Saturday the park is hosting Mercy Health System's company picnic. It's the second largest employer in the Ozarks, behind only Walmart, and thousands of Mercy people will be there. We have morning and evening ERT so getting there at opening isn't going to help you. It's also going to be great weather on the opening Saturday of Bluegrass and BBQ, and SDC is known for its barbecue sauce. Get a Trailblazer. No question.

 

Sunday should be far better; you may be ok without a Trailblazer. Powder Keg's line moves the slowest, but Time Traveler will be the longest wait. At this point I'm still recommending everyone go straight to Time Traveler.

 

Also, I haven't seen this yet this spring, but I have no doubt American Plunge's line is going to be awful this year. This weekend we're looking at upper 70s, so we're getting to that threshold where people begin to consider water rides en masse. With Lost River down, you can be sure the flume will be hopping.

 

House of BBQ is the special festival restaurant. It's in Red Gold Heritage Hall in the Grand Expo (top right corner of the map). Otherwise all of SDC's food is great. Pick a style you like, and you'll love it.

 

Eat cinnamon bread.

 

Take the cave tour (with all the recent rain, they may take the flood route; still worth it).

 

Thanks for all the info. We've been to Dollywood lots of times so I'm expecting SDC to be about the same with different rides and such. I love the cinnamon bread at Dollywood so I'm definitely going to be getting some at SDC too. Looking forward to all the BBQ...We're big BBQ lovers. I was hoping SDC had some indoor seating areas. Dollywood has some, so I expected SDC to also. Hopefully flooding won't be an issue but I realize this hasn't been the best week for weather near the Ozarks. Hopefully all that stuff is gone by the weekend. I think they're still calling for morning rain on Saturday, but maybe by opening it'll be gone. Wasn't aware of the company picnic...That is useful info. I was looking at a crowd calendar online and it said this weekend was expecting light crowds...But you can't believe everything you read on the internet. I may just go ahead and buy the advance trailblazer for Saturday. And definitely heading to Time Traveler first now. Thanks!

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Of course! Glad to help.

 

I don't think the Mercy picnic has been well publicized unless you work for the company (my wife does). Advance Trailblazer is a good idea. The Mercy picnic day is one of the few they have a real chance at selling out.

 

There's lots of indoor seating. Off the top of my head, the Mill, Mine, and Wagon Wheel restaurants on the square have indoor seating, as does Percy's in Midtown. Crossroads Pizza and Riverfront BBQ, both near Outlaw Run, have indoor seating, and the House of BBQ at Red Gold Heritage Hall is also indoors. I think that's all of them, might be forgetting one.

 

Weather has been awful recently, even had a few deaths in the storm yesterday. This weekend is looking great though. Keep in mind the cave may still be flooded even if the surface isn't, but they have a tour that goes higher up and still gives you a good view of all the major features, just from above rather than below. Still great. You'll have a good time.

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