silver2005

Unfortunately, all those days of upper 90s and low 100s is catching up with my medical condition so I'm using my last day as a strict R&R day, so it appears I'm scrapping Marvel Cave. I still feel good about getting in everything else I wanted. I don't know how likely it is I will come back to Branson. I am pretty ready to go back to Cincy though.

I may wait until I get back to Cincy to do a full SDC TR.

I feel it may be one of those instances where they weren't going to tear it down unless they have plans for the area, much in the same way when they took seemingly forever to tear down the coaster pre-Banshee build. I think there's a good chance something may be happening in that area, I'd give it at least a coin flip of a chance. Which also now makes me worried about Bat...

So I got so many things done today with a long day that I am only doing a partial day tomorrow at SDC. I'm doing Marvel Cave early tomorrow and Flooded Mine didn't open today, but it had staff out front so I'm kinda hopeful. It's also cuz I have a 9.5 hour drive back to Cincy.

As for crowds, I've only used Trailblazer a handful of times. Anything with even a moderate capacity has been walk on.

Outlaw Run is my #2 RMC behind SteVe.

Currently having a solid cheese steak by Powder Keg for something a little different. I think overall SDC will end up being my 2nd favorite park. Something about Dolly's presence in PF plus I kind of prefer Dollywood's ride line up and location and less hilly pathing.

Dollywood Express has the cooler engines in that they are from a real railroad. SDC has the better overall train experience though. There's also a massive construction area between Powder Keg and Wildfire involving an oil rig structure and a LOT of footers.

SDC coaster thoughts- Wildfire- love the placement on the hill, nice sense of scale, a bit rattly though Powder Keg- nice launch, also a little rattly with weird seats and restraints, very fun Outlaw Run- my favorite coaster in the park, very good for an early RMC Fire in the Hole- love Blazing Fury, love this too Time Traveler- like they didn't let it spin too crazy, very smooth Thunderation- my favorite mine train, great drops and terrain, shame it's leaving

So apparently the way things lined up for me at SDC, they're open until 10 pm both days (plus midnight on Saturday) for Summer Celebration, so I get night rides tonight.

For the SOB station, isn't the structure steel? I think the only wood is the remaining track. The rest is steel and concrete, right? Also, aside from the SOB fan boys, I don't think anyone would raise an eyebrow if mother nature put it out of its misery.

Branson observation- its like you put together the cheesiness of Pigeon Forge with the traffic in Gatlinburg. Blah. At least the views are nice. Heading for the landing this evening (boy do people take it slow on the main strip). And- I have Trailblazer for tomorrow at SDC. Going to focus on Marvel Cave and non-rides on Friday (Friday may only be a partial day due to weather).

So weather has been an issue the entire time my days at Branson have been on the 7 day. I'm going Thursday and Friday to SDC, I have Trailblazer for Thursday. Luckily, Thursday now looks fantastic compared to the death heat I've had at St Louis and KC. Friday looks rainy, so I may do like a half day at SDC then. This park is one I have very high expectations for. My 2 current favorite parks are Dollywood and Busch Gardens Williamsburg so I have a bit of a high bar in Branson. Also, my route will be....odd. I chose way in advance that Thunderation is my choice for my 200th as a bunch of my past milestones have been more modern coasters and I have the chance to add a soon-to-be-removed Arrow mine train for a pretty big milestone. Unfortunately, its at the front, so I'm getting quite a walk in right out of the gate.

The museum seems kinda new as there are fleeing bits of history scattered throughout as well as a section on jazz theory 101 (like the 101 of 101). Some of the artists they focused on was Bird, Satchmo, Ella, Duke and a little bit of Miles Davis. They have a hall of fame-esque sidewalk out front with a bunch of the usual suspects etched in the sidewalk.

Had a short but fruitful cruise around KC. The American Jazz Museum, while not on par with the R&RHOF, was pretty decent. Also got to pay homage to one of my favorite saxophonists in Charlie Parker (he's from KC and has a statue close to the museum). Then went to the WWI memorial as it sits on a hill overlooking downtown and kinda saw all the iconic buildings in one go. Topped it off with KC style BBQ. So St Louis style uses grilled meats and uses a thinner, sweeter sauce. KC's slow cooks and has a more thicker sauce, kind of BBQ meets ketchup. I would say I prefer St Louis' sauce and KC's meat. The place I went to was playing blues through the restaurant. Name me a better combo than BBQ and Mannish Boy. Onto Branson. Speaking of which, I've been to Gatlinburg. Does Branson have the same kind of traffic as Gatlinburg at all, both in the town and driving there from KC?

For me, something about SFGAm's simplicity stood out to me. Its an easy park to navigate, something about their color pallet really stuck out for me, too. There's something about the overall look that I really liked. Their Batman is awesome, too. They really spruced the queue up and it runs great. Love they pump Prince and Danny Elfman music in the queue (leagues above the one I just rode in StL). Whizzer is an absolute gem. I get the tacky/cheap look in spots, but I feel there's enough good elsewhere that I liked.

Kind of a mixed TR in store- Worlds of Fun 7/27/26 So the initial plan was to do WoF Tuesday and do the KC stuff today. Rain in the forecast Tuesday with me seeing some coasters do close for rain, I swapped days. The downside- 100s for the temps in KC. Combine that with it being a Monday and I had nearly every ride be a zen ride (never got one proper on a coaster). I basically rode each coaster at least once, doing Mamba, Patriot, and the woodies a 2nd time. Also rode Viking Voyager and the train. The heat also made it to where i greyed out on ride types I normally don't, particularly Mamba and Patriot. Positives- this park is gorgeous. Great landscaping, theming was great (felt like I was in a good zoo in places, especially the African bits), decent themed areas for a legacy FUN park (way more than I even set my low bar at), and it was a very clean park. Due to the lack of time, didn't try any food. Negatives- the staff. Some rides took forever to dispatch, some staff were leaning and sitting on counters at food stalls, just not a good look. Like, MIA does better. I don't exactly compute how you have such a beautiful well kept park and then have staff like that. Something isn't adding up. Viking Voyager is a pretty simple flume, a small lift to do the layout and then a modest drop. The heat didn't help as the water was rather warm. I tried. Worlds of Fun Railroad- an okay train, just a scenic tour of the park with only 1 station. They need to tweak the speakers as the attendant using it wasn't heard very well. Coasters- Boomerang- I was legitimately afraid of this one as I've heard nothing good from those particular Vekoma trains. Turned out to just be okay, a hair better than SFStL's and worse than Carowinds' and HP's. Mamba- Super good, smooth with a small rattle in the helix, and due to the heat, it and Patriot were hauling. In Mamba's case, the air was close to ejector in the back. I do prefer Steel Force as its smoother in the helix and has a better setting with it's helix nestled on the hill at DP plus better ride interaction with the likes of Hydra, the flume and Thunderhawk. Tunnels help SF's cause, too. Also my 190th coaster. Patriot- now despite this hauling like Mamba, this was kind of lackluster. It lacks the intense punch of the likes of some of the better B&M inverts I've done. Still decent though as it is still a B&M invert Prowler- this would be Mystic Timbers and Thunderhead tier if not for the subtle but annoying jackhammering in the far end until the brakes. Some bits of Titan track did help, but only so much. Good pacing and setting at least. Spinning Dragons- I like this over Pandemonium if for only the fact that the area its in is probably my favorite area at WoF. Does suffer from a smaller station than Pandemonium plus FUN style wild mouse ops and just the bad ops of WoF (Pandemonium's crew smokes Spinning Dragon's and its not even close) Timber Wolf- I went into this kind of optimistic as its still a Dinn brethren of Beast. I do mostly like the layout, and the part from the first drop until the overbank had great air and laterals. After the overbank, it becomes a different coaster- very lackluster air and it kind of meanders back to the brakes. Also a bit trimmed to death. I feel this is a few minor changes from being a sleeper along side the likes of KD's Grizzly and SFGAm's Viper. Also, due to how the park opened rides staggered, this became my 50th wood coaster. Zambezi Zinger- Decent for a GCI. I rather like the tighter angles of the curves and hills. It has some crazy steep hills and really twisted track. I'm not a fan of the Infinity Flyers. They suffer from the same problem I have with Timberliners- they're over-engineered. They hug the track way too much so you feel the bumps more, especially as it transitions back and forth from the Titan Track (which will only get worse with age) and the lap bar on a wood coaster should have some give- this one has no give and is potentially bad for the male audience out there.

WoF cosster thoughts- Patriot only okay Mamba is a bit rattley in the helix, but nearly as good as Steel Force Really liked Prowler and Zinger Boomerang was meh Timber Wolf is a decent layout and quite comfy- just really lacking airtime. I expected more from a Dinn coaster

WoF looks nicer, but SFSTL blows it out of the water in terms of staff. WOF staff feels like MIAs.

I did not expect the entrance of Worlds of Fun to be so nice.

Luckily, WoF looks about the same size and ride count as Dorney, which I know I can blitz in under an hour, so I can really, really take my time at WoF plus I'm staying within walking distance of WoF.

I have a bit of a pressing question due to KC weather forecasts- does WoF operate rides in the rain? EDIT: I have read Spinning Dragons does shut down for rain. Its supposed to rain all day Tuesday, I may need to swap WoF for tomorrow and KC visiting for Tuesday.

^I normally am, but I despise the current Reds' ownership. Like, I'm nearing the point of not going to another game until the Castellini's sell the team. There's also a few other things about the way MLB operates that I'm not a fan of, either. MLB is in dire need of establishing a salary cap and revenue sharing.

So the heat today was somehow even more brutal than yesterday. It had that 'walk into a wall of hot air' vibe to it. Did manage to up the Arch, swung by Busch Stadium just to catch a glimpse (would have been terrible to sit through Reds win or loss), and then briefly ventured in the City Museum. I've done COSI before in Columbus. That was more cohesive than the St Louis museum. There were interesting stuff there, but its far more cluttered and it as way noisy for me. Maybe me 10-15 years ago would have liked it more, but for me now, its a bit too eccentric for my liking. The Arch was very nice. I wish the Reds were good because Busch Stadium looks like a great venue to catch a baseball game. Onto Kansas City.

Today is going to be a quick visit downtown. Today might be one of the hottest days of the trip. The Arch and City Museum are about a mile and a half apart. Doing the Arch first as I wanted to get down early to avoid Cardinals game day traffic, going to check out the riverfront as I've never really seen the Mississippi River up close before, and then the museum. I was going to attempt to see where the Missouri meets the Mississippi, but there's mostly industrial stuff around it and no good place to stop around that.