The Silver Dollar City/Dollywood dis

Wow....y'all are taking this SERIOUSLY.

Disrespecting an amusement park??? Do you think we hurt the amusement park's feelings? Did we hurt your feelings? If your feelings are wrapped around an amusement park, I'll apologize but......its an amusement park

Telling someone else their OPINION is irrelevant makes me laugh. You need to find the definition of opinion and realize that yours is just as irrelevant in the scheme of things.

My favorite..."take a cue from Thumper and not say anything at all". This one made me laugh the hardest. Look around. This is a discussion board and people have opinions and questions and thoughts. Otherwise.....its just a lecture and no one will come here to be lectured.

When we used to do the restaurant reviews, it was based on the idea that there are a lot of options and we shared our opinion. I used to get death threats because I said something bad about a restaurant someone liked. People would say VICIOUS things about me and wish my family harm....over my opinion of a restaurant.

I will tell you what I told them. Chill out. Its an opinion. Yours is valid, mine is valid, And in the long run......its just talk. I didn't have the ability to close restaurants down. I don't think my opinion of an amusement park Ive never heard of will have any bearing on their success.
 
Growing up, I considered Dorney Park, Six Flags Great Adventure, HersheyPark and Knoebel's as day trip amusement parks. When I traveled further west, then it became a vacation getaway (Kennywood, Cedar Point). But it is when my family went yearly (for spring training) to WDW, it then materialized as not only a vacation, but an escapism into another world. Palm tree? What's a palm tree look like?
 
Sorry to sound hostile Kevin but it bothers me when somebody, especially a mod, comes into a thread and tries to make assumptions and be dismissive of a place other people clearly like when they have no experience with it. It is just not a useful contribution to a discussion. Personally if I want to be involved in a discussion about something that is new to me I find it more appropriate to ask questions about it and learn a few things.
 
I’m gonna steer this riverboat back around...
Do you miss the Osborne Lights that were at HS? Look up Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City and you’ll have a tough time convincing me that this isn’t where they ended up. ;) This was the year we were finally going to make time to go see them but this won’t be the year for us.

My family is 4 hours away and we’ve been to SDC a few times. Once I got past all the bible-talk (typical for Branson), I was impressed at how clean, well-themed, and friendly this park was.
 


I’m gonna steer this riverboat back around...
Do you miss the Osborne Lights that were at HS? Look up Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City and you’ll have a tough time convincing me that this isn’t where they ended up. ;) This was the year we were finally going to make time to go see them but this won’t be the year for us.

My family is 4 hours away and we’ve been to SDC a few times. Once I got past all the bible-talk (typical for Branson), I was impressed at how clean, well-themed, and friendly this park was.
I have never been there but Cedar Point has well themed areas. I love walking through frontier town. All I will add is cause there is no IP attached it isn't a draw for most on this board which is sad.
 
Whether you like it or not.....hostility makes me think your point is not worth reading.

Discussions are far more enjoyable when we all talk. Telling someone (anyone) their opinion is relevant is not the way to do that.

I hope you don't think Im lecturing you. Im not.

And no offense ro Ryan (rteetz), but do you REALLY care what he thinks of Siver Dollar City?

Isn't it enough that you like it?
 
No I obviously don't care. But they've also added nothing useful to the discussion.

Imagine you had a favorite pizza place that was nationally ranked and you told people about how good it was who Maybe hadn't heard of it. Other people who have been there agreed. Then I came in and said it doesn't look like a place I want to go, those rankings are stupid, the top pizza place I go to that more people know about is better anyway (even though I haven't been to both), and people don't really travel that far to go there anyway (even though the said pizza place was in a town with millions of visitors pretty much solely funded by tourism). You would probably question what the hell am I even doing making comments on that thread?
 
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Please don’t be embarrassed for me. Ive never heard of Silver Dollar City. I’m okay with that. You should be too.
I'm glad to know that I wasn't the only one who had to google Silver Dollar City.
 
I was disappointed to hear the lack of respect for Silver Dollar City and Dollywood on the pod when the team was discussing the park rankings. Especially given the recent investments in these parks they are now some absolutely some of the best in the country and I think members of the team should consider making a visit to them.

I love the Disney parks and Universal Parks and think they are great experience but prices are so insanely high these days that I just wouldn't always consider them a great value. I think a lot of people rating some of these Parks consider how much they cost and not everybody quite frankly has a great time paying over $100 plus higher-than-average hotel and parking fees only to still miss out on some major rides even if they are making an effort to plan (eg. rise of the resistance lottery).

Both of these park have some really good food options, extensive entertainment offerings, lots of great theming, and a beautiful location. I personally consider Dollywood's Christmas event the best park Christmas event in the country although some say Silver Dollar City's is even superior. The parks are also located in regions where there is a ton of other things to do and more scenic lodging options than much of Orlando.

Disney for years has been raising their prices faster than a lot of other tourist destinations and I think these are two parks/regions where people might be surprised the kind of value they can get for their money for vacation.


I listened to the show and I didn't take it as them being disrespectful. I thought that it was the people on the shows honest opinion and I didn't feel like they said anything disrespectful about those parks, employees, ownership or the people that go there. Maybe it's just me. I live a little over 2 hours from Dollywood but I've never been. People I know have season passes and swear by it but it just doesn't interest me.
 
Its far from tame. Its made by the same people who did Lightening Rod at Dollywood. Outlaw Run is lapbar only
Lightning Rod seems kind of tame.

Competing with other guests for food at Aunt Granny's Buffett is what scares me.
 
Lightning Rod seems kind of tame.

Competing with other guests for food at Aunt Granny's Buffett is what scares me.
Its not tame at all. RMC coasters are the most intense ones out there. Most of their coasters you are off your seat the whole ride. Instead of just lifting off your seat just when you go over the hill like on most coasters, RMC ones keep you off your seat for most of the ride. Remember you are doing inversions with only a lap bar. Does that look tame to you?

 
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It is a shame they neutered lightning rod after the first season. It was one top 5 favorite rides in the world. It's still great but not as good as it was.
 
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Wow....y'all are taking this SERIOUSLY.

Disrespecting an amusement park??? Do you think we hurt the amusement park's feelings? Did we hurt your feelings? If your feelings are wrapped around an amusement park, I'll apologize but......its an amusement park

Telling someone else their OPINION is irrelevant makes me laugh. You need to find the definition of opinion and realize that yours is just as irrelevant in the scheme of things.

My favorite..."take a cue from Thumper and not say anything at all". This one made me laugh the hardest. Look around. This is a discussion board and people have opinions and questions and thoughts. Otherwise.....its just a lecture and no one will come here to be lectured.

When we used to do the restaurant reviews, it was based on the idea that there are a lot of options and we shared our opinion. I used to get death threats because I said something bad about a restaurant someone liked. People would say VICIOUS things about me and wish my family harm....over my opinion of a restaurant.

I will tell you what I told them. Chill out. Its an opinion. Yours is valid, mine is valid, And in the long run......its just talk. I didn't have the ability to close restaurants down. I don't think my opinion of an amusement park Ive never heard of will have any bearing on their success.

That's fair, but I think we should both take your advise and chill. As a midwesterner, you guys just came off as a bunch of east-coast snobs needlessly mocking something in the midwest just because it's in the midwest. I understand that wasn't your intent, but it just came off as very elitist and the five dollar store comment really bothered me. I know I shouldn't take these things personally, but when people trash a place I love and the region where I'm from for seemingly no reason, it does bother me. I also understand that the comment section on YouTube is ridiculous and that having such an experience would make you more defensive, but I haven't seen anyone here wishing you or your family harm (if I missed it, I apologize) and I don't have any ill will towards you or any of the other hosts / agents. Growing up in the midwest, we did go to Silver Dollar City and Branson for family vacations. We also went to Disney World. We also went on a Disney Cruise when I was really little. I have co-workers who took their families to Branson / Silver Dollar City this year and I've visited Disney World once this year and I'm planning a second trip later this year at my DVC. I'm certain that the intent wasn't to be snobby, but that's just how it came off to me at the time.

Let's just take the amusement park distinction for a second. Do you consider Disney World an amusement park or a theme park? If you consider Disney World a theme park and Silver Dollar City an amusement park, then how can you possibly make that distinction without ever going there and without having any prior knowledge of the place's existence? From my perspective, calling it just an amusement park comes off as a bit of a put down. I know that on the show that Disneyland is often referred to as a locals park, but I wouldn't call it just an overpriced regional amusement park with light theming and fair food or make comparisons to Six Flags because that would be an unfair and inaccurate description. Much like how I think that such characterizations of Silver Dollar City are unfair and inaccurate.

I have also pointed out that Silver Dollar City has been recognized by national publications and by the industry for being a great park. It has world record rides (Outlaw Run, Time Traveler, and Mystic River Falls), it has won awards for its cleanliness, family friendliness, its rides, its food, its Christmas event, for its beauty and for being a really good park. I also think that Craig calling people names like weirdos for reviewing it on TripAdvisor was somewhat uncalled for given that reviews are such a major part of the channel's content. It's not like Silver Dollar City has only 11 reviews, it has over 11,000. If you have a right to your opinion, then don't those 11,000 people have a right to theirs? What about the national publications? The industry publications? The other vloggers on YouTube? Tim Tracker is a Disney World vlogger and he seemed to have a very good experience when he went a few years ago and that was before they got my favorite coaster in the park. In their review, his wife said, "I really, really love this park. It is beautiful (and) the rides are amazing."





I don't expect normal people to know of every park in existence, but since you're a person who is in the industry selling trips to theme parks like Disney World, Universal and Disneyland; I guess I just had the false assumption that you'd have more knowledge about other parks outside of Orlando and LA. It's not like Silver Dollar City / Dollywood are small parks that no one has ever heard of by some fly-by-night operation. Silver Dollar City is celebrating its 60th Anniversary this year and the original cave attraction that the park was built around has been welcoming tourists since 1894. Personally, I'm just fascinated by rides, parks and their history along with my passion for all things Disney. I know I was wrong to assume that you shared that same general fascination and I apologize for that. I understand that this is not the product that you sell, but it's by no means a bad product. I think you'd find that the product is actually quite good, especially for the price. As Fiasco might say, it's an excellent price per value.

Having your preferences is perfectly fine, but I think it would have been better if you learned something about the place before coming to a conclusion. If it's not for you, it's not for you. That's totally cool.

Also if you have no desire to go anywhere that's not Disney owned, that's fine too. We all vacation differently. There's no right or wrong way to do it.
 
That's fair, but I think we should both take your advise and chill. As a midwesterner, you guys just came off as a bunch of east-coast snobs needlessly mocking something in the midwest just because it's in the midwest. I understand that wasn't your intent, but it just came off as very elitist and the five dollar store comment really bothered me. I know I shouldn't take these things personally, but when people trash a place I love and the region where I'm from for seemingly no reason, it does bother me. I also understand that the comment section on YouTube is ridiculous and that having such an experience would make you more defensive, but I haven't seen anyone here wishing you or your family harm (if I missed it, I apologize)
Wow, this is getting out of hand. I like joking around and even a minor bit of trolling about tame roller coasters but:
  • "east-coast snobs"
  • "mocking"
  • "trash a place I love"
  • "elistist"
  • "five-dollar store comment"
I realize times are anything but normal but these comments seem to me a good bit over the top.

I also hope you've never had someone you don't know make a death threat because of something you said. It isn't something to take lightly or to dismiss. It stays with you no matter how thick you think your skin might be.
 
No one here is making death threats. There is a difference between the robust but civil exchange of ideas among fans in a forum like this one and the gross, anonymous extremity of your typical comments section.

The DIS Unplugged isn't a fan forum. It's a show that averages 40,000 viewers a week on YouTube, plus however many people listen in podcast form. The channel has nearly 150,000 subscribers. Whether it's the main part of their job or not, the panelists are in the public eye. They have a responsibility to do their research, lead with kindness, and listen to their audience.

When listeners say "It's a bummer to hear you making fun of parks you've never been to and know nothing about because they're not Disney," don't say "You're taking things too seriously." Say "Wow. These parks offer so much more than we realized. Thank you for telling us more about them and why they're important to you."

When listeners say "It's racist to have all-white dining show panels who can't be bothered to learn the pronunciation of the most basic of non-American foods," don't say "You're overreacting." Say "Thank you for bringing that to our attention. We want our dining reviews to be accurate, enjoyable, and informative for everyone. We'll do more research in the future."

When the next topic like this comes up in the future, I hope the response will be "We're listening. Thank you." That's all it takes.
 

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