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.