CoastersRZ

Dollywood. It is the only park besides Kings Island that I have ever had a pass to. While it is five hours away, I still consider it like a second home park. The shows, events, and rides are all pretty well rounded. I can`t wait to take my kids there. Have to give another shout out to that little park in Southern Indiana, Holiday World. Made a lot of pilgrimmages there as well.

They did alter the show that is in the Festhaus this year. I personally preferred the original from the last two years. Although, the show was better when it was in the Kings Island Theater for Winterfest 2005 (and had some added songs and elements).

Most newer B&Ms utilize drive tires in the load station to push the trains to the lift. Some rides, like Fury 325, Gatekeeper and Banshee have gift shops under the stations, but they still have areas dedicated to the ride electrical equipment. Even some rides the appear to be at grade have mechanical closets or buildings close by to house most of the electrical equipment and the plc.

A lot of it has to do with the mechanics of the ride. Most often, the rides require electrical rooms for the control systems, as well as compressors to run all the brakes, and the pneumatic gates in the station. These often end up being located below the station.

They had a parade in the incarnation of the Winterfest in 2005. I still find it odd that Kings Island hasn`t copied Carowinds` lead and opened Winterfest earlier, especially on the weekends. It would be nice in a way if they stayed open until 11, or opened earlier. As you noted, there is a lot of entertainment to choose from. It is almost impossible to do everything in one night. That is probably by design. They probably want people to visit multiple times so that they end up spending more money.

I would think that they are getting another set of parade floats. I think that they were going to have it at two or three additional parks in 2020.

The Double Ride thing was just on certain days, if I remember correctly. Double Ride Tuesday, perhaps? They also had Walk on Weekends, where you could get essentially a front of the line pass to some attractions by visiting a booth in the park. I still have one for Drop Tower somewhere around the house.

It is really hard to see those photos with those rides completely gone. I spent many year and many hours of my life down there running those rides and being a manager in the rides department. I will be returning next year, working over at Sunlite Water Adventure. I hope that Coney can be successful without the rides. But my personal opinion is that they will struggle. The rides filled a perfect niche, and my son loved all the kiddy rides and the Scream Machine. I was hoping to take my daughter there eventually to ride the rides too.

Funny you mention that, but I seem to recall seeing/hearing something similar back then as well.

I`m kind of surprised that they lasted as long as they did. The place hasn`t seen any major investments in the last several years. Hard to compete with Kings Island right next door. I remember going to their "HolidayFest" event and riding the pedal boats in the lazy river.

Sounds like a sure fire hit. Now if only we could get some TLC to Boo Blasters. I still miss the old Phantom Theater.

Where did the coaches from Kings Dominion end up?

I believe that all dining/drink plans will not be valid until the start of the 2019 season. That time you reference is still part of the 2019 season.

Ffej, The original Winterfest did not fail, as you state. In fact it was a very popular event. The reason it was canceled after the 1992 incarnation, was Paramount had just bought the park, Back then they had several rides open (Dodgems, Antique Cars, Carousel, the train, etc). and they wanted to focus on extending the post season longer into October. Back then, the park would only be open the first weekend or two of October, then close. It would be until the year 2000 that the park officially introduced FearFest. When Winterfest was brought back in 2005, there were very few rides and experiences. The only open rides were the Carousel, the train (which was far superior in 2005 than the current incarnation), Great Pumpkin Coaster, Character Carousel and Scooby Doo. There was no cookie decorating like there is now. Coney Mall was not open for Winterfest then. Winterfest 2005 also had a parade. I wish the current incarnation of Winterfest had a parade similar to the parade for Grand Carnivale (Carowinds is adding a parade to their Winterfest this year). Having visited all three incarnations of Winterfest, the current set up is by far the best. There are so many activities and shows going on. Yes, it would be nice if there was another coaster open, but the amounted of activities is amazing. (The sledding hill in Action Zone is a nice touch as well). Here is a map to Winterfest in 1987 from CP Food Blog: http://cpfoodblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/1987-Kings-Island-Winterfest-Map.jpg Here is the map to Winterfest in 2005 from Theme Park Brochures: https://www.themeparkbrochures.net/maps/paramounts-kings-island-winterfest/

And to that point, there are plenty of rides actually open. Be glad that they even have Mystic Timbers open. They have a lot more rides open for Winterfest now, then they did in its original incarnation in the 80`s.