"silver" dollar city

We took the kids over to Silver Dollar City this weekend, a last ditch effort at getting our money's worth of our season passes. One thing that always surprises me is to see how many of the people going into the park are seniors. I don't want to sound bigoted in anyway, but I just don't get it.

We are talking about people who are going to an amusement park, and paying $45 for a one day pass to shop and buy overpriced food. Aside from the occasional music performance at one of their side stages, I just don't understand why anyone who doesn't ride roller coasters and thrill rides would be willing to pay that much cash to shop. In some cases, they are accompanying younger families or children, and I can understand that part of it but I really think that Silver Dollar City is taking advantage of seniors by charging them close to full price for admission. Since when does a senior discount only get you $2 off of a one day pass?

On the way into the park, we happened upon their "tree lighting ceremony" which the kids enjoyed, but I found somewhat ridiculous. It looked like one of those large green foam cones you see at Hobby Lobby, covered in lights of course. The announcer kicked off the event by introducing one of the most obnoxious piano players I have ever heard, and every time I thought he was done playing and the tree was going to be lit, he would start up again. It was nifty how they synchronized the lights to the music, but overall slightly boring. At least the kids enjoyed it. My favorite part was the prerecorded "Merry Christmas" voice at the end of the display. I guess that Christmas in Silver Dollar City didn't end of the 25th.