When Iowa’s Adventureland was purchased by Palace Entertainment in 2021, it joined a list of other amusement centers owned by them. Certain levels of the Adventureland season pass gained access to other Palace properties.
With HFE’s original park, Silver Dollar City, a mere six hour drive from Des Moines, folks began to wonder if their Adventureland season pass would allow access to Silver Dollar City.
HFE confirmed early on (via website updates) that the Adventureland pass was still only good at other former-Palace Entertainment Parks. The HFE parks were not part of the perks, currently.
When we visited Silver Dollar City this year, we asked at the ticket counter if the Adventureland season pass offered a discount on day tickets there. They said no. We have since confirmed that they actually do, but not at the ticket counter. You have to go to guest relations first:
“Adventureland Pass Holders receive 50% off full priced one-day admission for the pass holder only. Please visit our Guest Relations team, located on the right-hand side of the pathway just before the park turnstiles and present your Adventureland pass to purchase the discounted ticket. The offer is only for the passholders.”
HFE Customer Support
When we inquired about discounts at other HFE parks, they did not know.
“We are very limited on this information. I have forwarded your email to the appropriate leadership team to answer your question. Thank you!”
HFE Customer Support
We have since received more details. HFE does not know, but…
“I have been advised that the Adventureland Pass Holder will need to reach out to Adventureland regarding discounts/benefits for other properties.”
HFE Customer Support
So … it might. HFE does not know which of their parks get a discount, but Adventureland should. Fair enough.
We have been Silver Dollar City passholders for the past few years and find the park very unique and charming. And, they have free parking for everyone, not just pass holders! Maybe we’ll see some of these perks make their way into the Iowa park.
NOTE: Herschend does not own Adventureland. They plan to own it, but the sale has not yet happened. Per HFE:
“We do not currently operate any Palace Entertainment properties. Until the sale is final, please direct any questions to the relevant property or a Palace HQ representative.” – Herschend
On March 18, 2025, Herschend Family Entertainment announced plans to acquire the Palace Entertainment U.S. properties, including Iowa’s Adventureland:
Herschend is the family that originally leased the Marvel Cave near Branson, Missouri and then opened Silver Dollar City in 1960. Today they are a large corporation that owns a number of attractions around America (and some outside of it).
Adventureland had been acquired by Palace Entertainment in December 2021:
Palace Entertainment is a subsidiary of Madrid, Spain-based Parques Reunidos which owns properties around the world.
I haven’t visited Adventureland since their 21+ Halloween event in 2018 so I cannot directly comment on the final years under the original Krantz family’s ownership, nor can I comment on the three seasons Palace Entertainment has operated the park (2022-2024), but I certainly have alot to say about Silver Dollar City.
What is Silver Dollar City?
I first visited Silver Dollar City as a teenager in 1984. It was a lovely park, and I thought “I should really get back here in 40 years.” So I did, returning in 2024 and buying their low-cost annual pass which let us visit several times that year. The main reason for making the 6-hour drive to Silver Dollar City so many times last year, and twice (so far!) this year, is their special events.
Silver Dollar City has more events each year than even Walt Disney World’s Epcot does — and that’s saying something. This year, the are hosting:
Spring Exposition
Bluegrass and Barbecue
Summer Celebration
Southern Gospel Picnic
Harvest Festival
An Old Time Christmas
We saw several of these events last year, and their Harvest Festival had more pumpkins than any place I have ever been, including pumpkin patch. An Old Time Christmas has more Christmas lights than any place I can think of other than the discontinued Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights that used to be held at the Disney/MGM Studios in Florida.
You can take a look at this original Herschend park by browsing through my (currently) 6000 photos:
This is the question fans of (insert name of Palace Entertainment park that HFE is about to start running) have been asking online. There are plenty of folks upset with what Palace Entertainment did with their home park (see the various Kennywood groups for great examples of this), but also plenty that really liked the new energy they brought.
The same can be said for Adventureland. Many classic rides and shops and long-running entertainment offerings were removed, but the park received new rides and new paint.
What will Herschend do?
Looking at Silver Dollar City is most likely not going to be a way we can figure this out. SDC is operated as a theme park, not an amusement park. They have themed areas where the workers wear costumes to match. Even the people working in the popcorn wagon are wearing 1800s outfits. The workers on their prison-themed Flooded Mine boat attraction are dressed in black and white striped convict outfits (and, you get a gun that looks like a real gun to shoot at targets).
Flooded Mine works wear themed costumes in the park, as do all other workers.
The folks working their steam train are dressed as conductors. It is a completely different type of park than Adventureland.
The park also does its best to make things fit with the area they are in. Even the Dippin’ Dots stands are themed and not just the same modern food stand you would see at a carnival.
Silver Dollar City tries to hide modern lighting in the landscaping.
Also, while Adventureland has served beer for decades, there is no alcohol sold at SDC or its water park. Other attractions they operate in the area are also alcohol-free, though I have been told some of the hotels they run have booze. I am waiting on an official list from HFE on which of their properties allow alcohol.
When Palace took over Adventureland, I was told by management of the park that they were not really keen on having an Oktoberfest. Since that event continued as planned the next three years under Palace, perhaps they looked at the amount of money it made and decided to keep it.
Praise the Lord and Thank You for your Service!
While Adventureland has a church, SDC takes Christianity much further. Many fans of the park call Herschend a “Christian business.”
SDC is a place where, if you sneeze, someone will say “bless you” instead of “gesundheit”. Entertainment in the park will share Christian stories, or offer prayer requests at the end of the show. Their Christmas event actually says Christmas, and features a living nativity show as well as a stop on the steam train to hear “the true story of Christmas.” The park even has a church with Sunday service.
The Wilderness Church serves as a history display, and real church.
Each day starts with a flag ceremony, recognizing veterans. Many shows will ask veterans to stand and be recognized. This is not specific to SDC — it is common at many of the attractions in the Branson area. For this reason, all of this may just be “because the park is there” rather than “because Herschend owns it.”
What about the cinnamon bread?
If you have seen anyone commenting on this acquisition, you might have seen references to cinnamon bread. Cinnamon bread appears to be the “Dole whip” of Silver Dollar City (and also at the sister park, Dollywood, which originally was a second SDC). There can be long lines to buy a fresh loaf of this stuff. The park even has an express lane at the shop that sells it JUST for buying loafs!
Clara Belle’s world famous cinnamon bread can create long lines to buy it.
Fans of it are hopeful this might make its way to the Iowa park.
What does this mean?
Nothing. We know nothing but there is an intent to buy the Palace Entertainment parks. We can only look at other properties SDC has acquired to look at changes they made — and, changes may be localized and not apply at any other property. (For instance, alcohol being served at one Herschend property did not mean it would be served at all of them.)
Time will tell. Meanwhile, Adventureland has already had two different general managers since they took over the park, so another change of boss may not be as disruptive as it was the first time it changed.
At the Sonoma Terrace at Disney California Adventure is a $16 (as of 10/2022) pineapple rum cocktail. It’s 10% alcohol, and packs more of a punch for the money than any other drink in the park (beyond something the real bars at Lamplight Lounge or Carthay Circle could make, of course).
And, it’s a bit unique — from Hawaii and not available many states. If you are looking for it, here it is:
Added Google screen shot for ”stand up me hearties yo ho” version.
Added YouTube video of that version.
Updated title. Will there be more versions found?
ADVISORY: This article uses the ”r“ word, mostly so search engines can find it in case anyone else stumbles upon this topic.
While researching something completely unrelated, I ended up exploring some old internet newsgroup messages. (You see, kids, before there was a World Wide Web, Disney fans used text and things called ”news groups” to communicate with each other.)
I stumbled across a 1997 posting about the breaking news that Disneyland was going to be changing Pirates of the Caribbean. This was followed by a comment wondering if they were going to remove the word ”rape” from the Yo Ho theme song, too. As a kid who visited Disneyland and Magic Kingdom in the 1970s, I also grew up thinking there was a line in that song that used that word. As an adult, I had assumed Disney must have edited out that inappropriate verse.
It wasn’t until years later when fans had access to full source audio and scans of he original sheet music that we could confirm that there never was such a line in the original song. All such memories were false. Seeing others, back in the mid-1990s, make references to it let me know that at least I wasn’t alone in mishearing a song lyric.
But I digress.
In that discussion, someone pointed out that this word never appeared in the theme song, but that Disney had removed ”drink up me hearties, yo ho!” from a CD release of the theme song.
Some quick research led me to the album: Music From the Parks, 1996. I had this album on cassette. It contained remakes of Disney theme park songs done by other artists. Read more about it here:
“Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” – The Pointer Sisters
“It’s a Small World/When You Wish Upon a Star Medley” – Etta James
“The Ballad of Davy Crockett” – Tim Curry
“Grim Grinning Ghosts” – Barenaked Ladies
“Hakuna Matata Medley” – The Rembrandts
“Circle of Life/Can You Feel the Love Tonight Medley” – Richard Page
“SpectroMagic Medley (Instrumental)” – David Benoit
“A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” – Linda Ronstadt
“Part of Your World” – Olivia Newton-John
“Mickey Mouse March/Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Medley (Instrumental)” – The Disney Big Band
“When You Wish Upon a Star” – Take 6
“Remember the Magic (Theme Song) – Brian McKnight
“IllumiNations 25” – The Disney Big Band
…and while researching this, I learned there was a bonus track on the CD I never heard. I only had it on cassette. (And still do, somewhere.)
I bought this album specifically because it had remakes of the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean theme songs. About the only other thing on the album that stands out in my mind to this day is the Davy Crocket song sung in Rocky Horror Picture Show style by Tim Curry. It’s quite the hoot! (“Davy …. David, Crocket… King of the …*wild* frontier…”)
I found The Pointer Sister’s version of Yo Ho on YouTube, and sure enough, the song had been re-arranged and omitted ”Drink up me hearties, yo ho”:
Since this was around the same time decisions were being made to alter the ride, it does make me wonder if the changes in these lyrics were done for a similar reason — or maybe they just decided to change the song for artistic reasons, leaving out the one line all of us know even if we cannot remember the versus. (Typing that out now, that would seem to be a very odd decision, if so.)
The original:
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me. We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho. We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot. Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
The Pointer Sisters version:
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me. Yo ho, yo YO, a pirate’s life for me. We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot. We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot.
The same pattern follows through the rest of the song.
If I ever noticed this at the time, I forgot that I noticed. But I think that I didn’t. At that time, we did not have access to full versions of these soundtracks. I remember being quite happy at discovering one could pull of some audio files from the Walt Disney World Explorer CD-ROM and get some instrumental background snippets that had never been released publicly before.
So, while the R word never appeared in the original song, a Disney remake of the song did alter the lyrics to remove lines about drinking.
The more you know…
Stand up me hearties, yo ho?
And further proving you can’t really trust what a search engine chooses for you as the best possible answer, look at what Google brings up for the lyrics:
Stand up me hearties, yo ho?
There must be some Disney Kids album that has a censored version of the song on it… I guess.
Update: Jonas Brothers, Disney Mania 4. https://youtu.be/ywUujyCsNZE
Anniversary of the fire that destroyed have of Main Street (hat tip to Elizabeth Dunn Huether for mentioning this). The rebuilt Main Street re-opened for the 2011 season.
The big for 2020 was when Adventureland post this on May 17, 2020 to their Facebook page:
Mary 17, 2020 Facebook teaser.
The image of a knight slaying a dragon immediately started speculation that something would be happening to the double-loop Dragon coaster.
Two days later, on May 19, the park posted an animated GIF that has the same image rotating in to view with the text “The Dragon Slayer” above it:
May 19, 2020 Facebook post.
Facebook group member Alec Rushford posted that SkyHigh Coasters LLC had reshared the teaser on their Facebook page, with Tag Gable following up with a post saying that they were the ones that did the build job on last year’s Phoenix roller coaster.
Also on May 19, local TV station KCCI posted an article that included drone footage of the Dragon being dismantled at the park:
That post was quickly removed from the page, but said a zoomed photo taken off property confirms this was actually happening.
As of this posting, it looks like the park will have two rides less for the 2020 season, with something new to replace the Dragon next year. Nothing has been announced about a replacement for the Splash Over (though some have speculated maybe it is just being disassembled to be refurbished and will return).
Here is a real quick one… It recently dawned on me that someone could probably dedicate a whole series of articles to how admission to the Disney theme parks has changed over the years. Up until the 1990s, this would have only been a discussion about coupon books versus single and multi-day general admission tickets. Since then, however, there have been a number of changes to how admission is handled.
I will just contribute two photos taken in 1996 of how you used to get in to the Magic Kingdom in Florida.
First, notice the orange area in the following photo:
Magic Kingdom turnstile on August 26, 1996.
At that time, admission was a paper-plastic type ticket with a magnetic strip on it. At the turnstile you would insert that ticket into the orange slot and it would scan and allow (or deny) you access to the park.
Here is what my ticket, an annual pass, looked like in 1996:
1996 WDW Annual Pass (back).
And here is the front artwork:
1996 WDW Annual Pass (front).
Yes, my Walt Disney World annual pass was just a piece of plastic-paper with my name on it.
At the time, I thought this was quite cheesy compared to how Disneyland did theirs. They had an actual plastic ID card with a photo on it, and no magnetic strip that could become demagnetized. Here is the Disneyland pass from the same year:
1996 Disneyland AP (back).
And here is the back, promoting the recently opened Indiana Jones Adventure attraction:
1996 Disneyland AP (front).
Quite a difference in quality! In those years, it was said that Disneyland visitors were 70% locals from Southern California, while Walt Disney World was about 70% out-of-state tourists. I guess Disney just had more “regulars” to make feel special when they spent so much money on an annual pass. (After all, a one day pass to Disneyland in 1996 has just seen its price jacked up to $34!)
I never had a day pass to Disneyland, so I don’t know what they used for single day tickets at the time.
I recently found all of my Disneyland and Walt Disney World passes I’ve had since 1995. In a future post, I’ll do a photo essay showing the changes over the years.
One more thing before I go… The backside of the Magic Kingdom turnstile in 1996:
Sometimes it’s the little things that make a visit special. For today’s “Cast Member Kudos” article, I wanted to thank Brad from Pennsylvania. We met him while enjoying drinks and snacks at the BaseLine Tap House at Disney’s Hollowood Studios.
BaseLine Tap House at DHS on September 10, 2018.
The Tap House is relatively new. I did not recognize it as the former location of Costume Shop…
Costume Shop at D/MGM on August 26, 1996.
…or Ellen’s Buy the Book…
Ellen’s Buy the Book at D/MGM on May 19, 1997.
…or Disney’s Buy the Book…
Disney’s Buy the Book at D/MGM on October 16, 1998.
…or even Writer’s Stop:
Writer’s Stop at D/MGM on October 3, 2007.
In fact, I probably still wouldn’t know this if it weren’t for Werner of yesterland.com clueing me in last year.
But I digress…
This spot is hot and trendy on with folks on Twitter, so I wanted to check it out. Since it was new to me, I would probably have popped in anyway to see what it was.
During my most recent visit, we stopped by just as it was opening at 10 a.m. (“What’s a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?” Wait until 10 a.m., apparently.) I am not a huge beer fan, so I tend to just try things that are special (local craft brews, or beers made exclusively for a theme park). This visit, I inquired about the shelves of liquor that were on display. It seems they can make all kinds of drinks beyond what is on the menu.
I had a Long Island Iced Tea, and noticed the number of liquor shots that went into it made it a much better cash-to-booze value than probably anything else I had in the park during my visit 😉 I forget what the second drink was, but perhaps a California Sunset or the Ace Space Bloody Orange Hard Cider.
BaseLine Tap House drinks and eats on March 3, 2019.
As we sat outside enjoying the crowd-less patio, I asked the cast member who was near us about their costumes. I was curious about what components might be their’s, personally, versus supplied by Disney. (Many company dress codes might say “black slacks, black shoes” and only provide a Polo shirt or apron or whatever.)
We ended up having a delightful chat with Brad from Pennsylvania and learned more about how much attention to detail Disney puts in to even the shoes their employees wear to work. Everything seems to have a reason.
I won’t try to bore you with a recount of my Q&A session asking about footwear, but suffice it to say, we found Brad to be a great example of the type of cast we expect from a Disney visit. (And, hey, he’s even been to Kennywood in West Mifflin, PA!)
Thanks, Brad, for taking a few moments to spend some quality time with a few random tourists from Iowa.
Previously, I mentioned tracking down my 2007 bartender from Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This led me to write some “kudos” articles about other cool workers I’d encountered at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. Today I will continue, this time focusing on providers of tasty adult beverages at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
It was a cold and rainy day. By 10 o’clock, we’d already made the loop around the park and seen much of what we wanted to see, thanks to the lines being non-existent. We found ourselves back at Port of Entry near the park entrance just in time for the Backwater Bar to open for the day.
Backwater Bar at Islands of Adventure on a cold, rainy March 27, 2019.
Although I’d walked past it many times, this was my first time inside. It was small, cozy and, most importantly, dry and warm.
Unfortunately, no spiked hot drinks were to be found here. After checking with Universal’s Twitter folks, it seems spiked hot drinks were just not available inside the park (though they did suggest trying Toothsome in CityWalk). Instead, we decided on cold drinks at hot soup.
Hot soup and a cold drink at Backwater Bar at Islands of Adventure on March 23, 2019.
Since the bar was empty (maybe one other group the entire time we were there), we had a wonderful chat with our bartender, Sam. It was a pleasant and personable experience that let us warm up and pass some time while waiting for the rain to stop. (Yes, I know this is how a bartender should be, but it was definitely not the case at many “bars” I visited during my Orlando trips.)
Thanks, Sam!
A few hours later, I was working on checking off some more items on my Twitter “to do” list and I found The Watering Hole in Jurassic Park.
Watering Hole at Islands of Adventure on March 23, 2019.
This place was recommended due to having some specialty drinks, including some seasonal ones.
Watering Hole specialty drinks.
Watering Hole seasonal drinks.
Twitter suggested that I try the Prehistoric Punch, so I did. My girlfriend tried a (I think) the Prehistoric Rocks. Both came in souvenir (plastic) cups.
Watering Hole specialty drinks in the souvenir cups on March 23, 2019.
This is were our bartender Haley comes in. She was letting us know about the various drinks and also that this refill cup would get a discount on them later in the day. It was also good for $1 off beer refills at certain places with draft beer. I appreciated the effort to let me know something that could help make my visit a bit more affordable.
Thanks, Haley!
And last on the list was a stop at Hog’s Head in the Hogsmead: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This popular place had a line going out the back door.
Hog’s Head at Islands of Adventure on March 27, 2019.
When I finally made my way to the counter, Kayla was nice enough to let me sample some of their custom beers before I committed to one. They don’t do that at Disney’s California Adventure, for sure. In the end, she convinced me to go with my Twitter suggestion of The Triple and try this interesting combination drink of beer, cider and beer.
The Triple at Islands of Adventure on March 23, 2019.
I’ve had a “black and tan” before, and it really wasn’t my thing, so I didn’t expect to like this any better. The Triple was just a variation of a common drink I can get locally, except being made using one of the “brewed just for Universal Studios” beers, which I can’t get locally. It was at least unique from that perspective. And, hey, though it didn’t qualify for a refill discount, I did get to use that souvenir cup at least once!
Thanks, Kayla!
Although these interactions were simple and minor, they were enough to stand out among hundreds of other interactions I had during this trip. Sometimes it’s the little things that can make the difference.
I have made a small update to this article about one of the “turning points” of Walt Disney World and alcohol. Special thanks to DisneyDrinking.com for allowing use of a 2014 photo they shared on their @DrunkAtDisney Twitter account.
