Rivertown Rider

Great job Brad! I too was intrigued by the "making old things new again" comment. I think there are plenty of things that it could mean but I can't see them RMCing The Racer. If it were up to me there are several things I would do along that route: 1. Turning the old Action Theater into a year round facility. Something like Plants vs. Zombies at Carowinds (with stationary seats) would be something nice to do on hot days plus it could also be used during Winterfest since it would be indoors. You could still use half of the building for Haunt and the other half for a P vs. Z type attraction. 2. Using the old arcade by Zephyr for a flat ride. I would love to see them gut the front part of that building and put a Musik Express / Himalaya there. That ride would totally fit Coney Mall and would be a great addition. 3. Using the Flight Commander pad for something/anything. I'm really hoping next year the park adds some flats. I think an Electro Spin would be great there. I personally probably wouldn't ride it (fear of protein spills) but that area could use a thrilling flat. 4. The other thing I thought of was the Antiques. There are some locations around the park where you could put an Antique Car ride. The area between Chicken Shack and KI Theater is an underutilized spot and would a good area for a family ride (if the area is big enough for it). Grandparents also wouldn't have to walk too far since it is close to the park entrance. 5. Re-doing the Festhaus to make it more like Carowinds' Harmony Hall. Yes this would probably involve adding on to Festhaus but having a more efficient and effective set up along with more food choices would make a ton of sense.

A little delayed trip report but I wanted to give an update on what we ended up doing. We ended up driving part of the way out to Branson on that Wednesday night and stopped just south of Meramec Caverns. On Thursday morning we ended up going back up to Meramec Caverns. I had not been there since I was a little kid nearly 30 years ago so it was interesting to see how my memories held up. It was a great stop and something I would definitely recommend doing. We were there on a calm day so there were only about 7 or so people in our group but I know it can get much busier. After we left Meramec Caverns, we ended up stopping just north of Branson at Lambert's for a late lunch. My wife and I had both had grandparents that stopped there many years ago and it was a good place to eat. The food portions were huge and it was kitschy but a neat place to see. It was also affordable for a tourist trap. After we left there we headed on down to Branson. We stopped by College of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, and Branson Landing as well as drove around Branson a little bit. As it was getting late we headed on the way to our hotel. The ACE event we were attending started on Friday morning so we got to the park early the next morning and headed straight for Time Traveler. It was an exceptional coaster and definitely a different sensation than I have ever felt on a coaster. The spinning was not over-the-top and definitely not like teacups or something along those lines. The only downside to Time Traveler was the low capacity. It had two-to-three hour waits most of the time we were there. Knowing that as part of the ACE event we would have ERT that night I ended up moving around the rest of the park. After riding Time Traveler, I headed right next to the ride beside it, Thunderation. Thunderation, an Arrow mine train, was the surprise of the trip and may be the best mine train I have ever been on. After a couple rides on it I went and did the Flooded Mine which was a fun ride. As far as coasters, the next coaster I did was Wildfire, the park's lone B & M. Wildfire was great and provided the best views of the Ozarks in the park. We stopped and watched the saloon show and by this time it was around lunch time so I ended up getting one of the park's skillets for lunch. Everything was cooked great. After lunch I ended up hitting Outlaw Run. I thought it was a great RMC. With the wildness and inversions it made it a wilder ride than Lightning Rod. The only thing negative I can say about it was that it was a short. I ended up riding it several times and it is definitely one of the best rides in the park. I went to Fire in the Hole next. I probably like the Baldknobbers theme better than the theme that Blazing Fury at Dollywood has. It is a fine dark ride / coaster and it is a nice thing that families can do. Powder Keg went down in the afternoon so I didn't get a chance to ride it that day. I ended up doing Grand Exposition Coaster, the kiddie coaster, which was fine for what it was. That night the park had a great spread with sampling helpings of all of the parks best foods including their skillets, pizza, salads, and dessert. If you ever get the chance to go to Silver Dollar City when they have an event you should do it. They roll out the carpet and do an exceptional job. My wife and I got the chance to briefly speak with Brad Thomas, the park president, who was going around talking to guests. He was super nice and you could really tell that he was someone who loved his job. We ended up seeing some people with Worlds of Fun shirts that evening and went over and talked to them about Worlds of Fun. Like some of you, they agreed that rather than going to Worlds of Fun on this trip that they would recommend just staying and enjoying Silver Dollar City. My wife and I ended up debating it that night and next day and decided to just stick in Silver Dollar City. I ended up getting on Powder Keg the next day along with re-rides on a lot of the other coasters. Silver Dollar City is a great park and well worth making the trip for. As frequent Dollywood attendees, Silver Dollar City had a lot of comparisons. Comparing them, I would say that Dollywood has the better shows and Silver Dollar City had the better food. From a top to bottom coaster lineup I don't know who I would give the edge to as they are both unique in their own way. Ranking the Coasters: 1. Time Traveler- one of the smoothest coasters I've ever been on and you'll never get the same exact ride in a row 2. Outlaw Run- a very close number two and it could easily be number one 3. Wildfire- super smooth and underrated 4. Thunderation- incredibly fun 5. Powder Keg- it has a great launch and gets a little strange once it starts traversing the different track but still a fun ride 6. Fire in the Hole- more dark ride than coaster but still fun 7. Grand Exposition Coaster- make sure to brace for the brakes at the end as it can be a little jerky Thanks for reading.

I got a Zen ride on Blue Racer a couple weeks ago. It was great. I think at KI that and the Carousel have been my only Zen rides. Probably my favorite Zen ride that I have had elsewhere was Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Something I think would also make sense is to have at least two people working at each of the freestyle/refill locations at all times, but especially on weekends. If you had thirty people in line all day long it would be hard to stay motivated. Even if they upped the drink plan cost by $5 a year to hire more workers, I think most everybody would be fine as long as the lines were shorter.

They were on the meal plan. I think they were only available during the Peanuts celebration but I don't see why they couldn't have them all the time.

I got around to trying the Pigpen nachos yesterday at Hank's. They were pretty good and would be a decent option to have year round.

Looking forward to seeing Peanuts celebration in person. I did meet Pigpen at Kings Dominion earlier today though.

Hopefully with high schools and colleges letting out they will have enough staffing to keep that location open all the time. It makes no sense to have a location within ear shot of three of the biggest coasters in the park closed all the time.

The Flight of Fear tour was amazing. Getting to see the full spaghetti bowl was great. Hopefully they do it again next year. In regards to utilizing land, there are plenty of areas where flats would fit nicely. When we did the Banshee tour yesterday I thought that would be a great area to add some additional flats and have another pathway to the front of Adventure Express.

I realize they are capacity nightmares but I would love to see a Wild Mouse preferably in the old Crypt building or in Planet Snoopy.

I personally liked Days of Thunder much better than anything else that was ever in that building. A lot the other ones were pretty bad.

The good part about them using this space is that it will also give them another stage area to use for Winterfest.

I'm headed to Silver Dollar City this weekend. I was there about thirty years ago but obviously don't remember much about the park. Does anyone have any tips for navigating the park or favorite foods / rides, etc.? We are season passholders at Dollywood and from the maps, trip reports, and videos I have watched it looks very similar. We plan to be there two days but are debating maybe heading to Worlds of Fun on Saturday afternoon / evening and using our platinum passes / dining. Is it worth going the three and half hours out of the way to go to Worlds of Fun or are we better off just staying at Silver Dollar City the full two days? We both have to be back at work on Monday so we were going to drive part of the way back home to Northern Kentucky on Saturday night. Thanks in advance.

Overall I would say today is the busiest day I have seen the park this year. I also like all of the small changes they have made this year.

It is starting to get a little busier with temps increasing but it is still not bad.

It is a shame Michigan's Adventure doesn't get more love. It is a nice little park and deserves a nice coaster addition. Something small like Railblazer or Hangtime would be great there.

The Beast clearing is very minimal. It is just like every other year where trees are removed here and there. I do think it makes the most sense to use part of the former DA area for more flats and flattening out more of the area for a new set of Antiques. The park has one of the best overall coaster collections already. What we don't have is a deep collection of flats. Rides like a Musik Express or a Tilt a Whirl will appeal to people who may like flats but never ride coasters. I don't think a giga is coming in '19. We know Wonderland is getting a new coaster next year (based upon construction), it sounds like Carowinds is getting one, and both Dorney and Worlds of Fun have been rumored for one. I would like to see them focus on the other half of Coney Mall next year and some flats as well.

I'm 6'1" and SOB was rough on my knees as well.

Screamin' Demon, Bavarian Beetle, the Original Bat, and Screechin' Eagle.

General observations from preview night: The area around the Carousel, Coney BBQ, and Subway all look nice. Coney BBQ's food and layout was great. The restaurant blends in with the area nicely and looks it was always there. I was impressed to see Chef Major and Chef Nate both working in the kitchen and making sure everything was going good. The Dinos area looks like some trees have been taken out. It looks like they have been taken out selectively though. The Racer gives a good view as does the Eiffel Tower of this area. I'm leaning against the giga for next year and I wouldn't be surprised if they level some of that area out and put Antiques back there along with a flat or two. There is plenty of land that they could gradually build it up and eventually put a giga back there in the next 3-5 years. The LED lighting on International Street was nice. I really liked the bluegrass/folk vibe in Rivertown and the music was a nice touch. It is amazing how a simple item like music can really change the feel of an area. Also great to see the instrumental music back on IS.

I would say to get the full year dining plan. If you are going to eat over 9 meals in the park this year you will be over break even after 9 and then it will start paying for itself.

I'm really happy about the expanded Reds options. The smokehouse was one side every time I went as well. I am glad to see more variety in the options offered overall.

It is nice to see Flight of Fear getting some love in the poll. While The Beast is my favorite, Mystic is a close second and it would probably be number one if it were a tad longer.

The unlimited option is well worth it at Waldameer. You'll want to marathon Ravine Flyer II and that is the most economical way of doing it. They also have some great flats as well and Comet is a fun coaster for what it is.

On the 2018 map it does list International Restaurant as a dining location so I would guess it will be open for the regular season.