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Timchat2

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Everything posted by Timchat2

  1. Valleyfair seemed to do a nice job on Grand Carnivale working within their means but it did seem like a large event for a smaller park. Between the reduced 2023 version and now only three parks still offering the event in 2024, will this be the last year for Grand Carnivale overall?
  2. Valleyfair has announced their 2024 events and Grand Carnivale is not listed, so it appears that Kings Island, Kings Dominion and California's Great America will be the only three parks with Grand Carnivale this year.
  3. With the right kind of warm summer night the Bandstand can have a pleasant vibe. The nighttime atmosphere around the Royal Rhythms with a full band at Grand Carnivale remains one of my favorite experiences at Kings Island. Admittedly even that show was a bit uncomfortable for the early evening performances in the late-day sun.
  4. Without Grand Carnivale there likely won't be RetroSpect, so that is one large cast not returning. The Peanuts show The Music Goes 'Round & 'Round will be in Harmony Hall again, which has a fairly small cast. The major production at the Carowinds Theater will be the return of Brad Ross: International Star Illusionist. And at least from what is listed right now there are possibly down a couple of the street shows like the 325s band and the Swell Tones. Considering there had been large cast shows like Beach Blanket Beagle and other larger shows at Harmony Hall along with the various street shows in recent years, it appears that Carowinds has reduced its overall entertainment staffing for this season.
  5. Center Stage Live was probably one of the strongest Bandstand shows in recent years. Everything really came together well there. Club K.I. in 2022 seemed to get the short end of the stick with so much going on production-wise across the park. It's one of the few shows I can recall receiving some cuts and reblocking after debuting, so it appeared the park was aware it wasn't everything it could have been.
  6. Makes sense. Presumably Kings Dominion will also have RetroSpect this summer to go along with its Grand Carnivale.
  7. Trailblazers X-treme! sounds similar to the All Wheel Sports production Elevation Extreme which ran for a couple seasons at California's Great America.
  8. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events The events calendar has been updated for 2024. Passholder Preview Day will be on April 19 from 4:00-9:00PM. Haunt, Tricks and Treats Fall Fest and WinterFest do not have specific dates listed yet.
  9. I wonder if they'll book another outside performer at Kings Island Theater for the back half of summer.
  10. No mention of a Bandstand show. There was rumor of no live music so it is nice to see a live band mentioned with Country Crossroads at least.
  11. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/entertainment The 2024 summer show lineup has been posted. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/summerbration Grand Carnivale will be July 20-August 4.
  12. The seasonal Universal parades (Mardi Gras and Universal's Holiday Parade featuring Macy's) capture the feeling of a real big-city celebration, particularly if you watch them in the New York streets with the police motorcycles leading the Mardi Gras parade. The smile factor throughout the crowd at Mardi Gras is something special. People really click with the whole vibe.
  13. Interesting that it wouldn't even run as "just" a boat ride. The original version of Snake River Expedition was ambitious but it never quite found an audience.
  14. As much as I love Grand Carnivale (or at least the pre-2023 versions) it would be nice to have summertime event that covers more of the summer season.
  15. Two previous Grand Carnivale parks are now listing new summer events for 2024 with Dorney Park Summer Nights and KC Nights at Worlds of Fun. If these are replacements for Grand Carnivale (along with any new unannounced summer events at Carowinds) this is leaves just Valleyfair and Kings Island as the only Grand Carnivale parks that haven't specified their summer event plans yet.
  16. A weekends-only longer run might be possible if they aren't moving floats between parks. Presumably there are savings in only have three parks do the event without having to move everything to another three parks.
  17. If there is still supposed to be shows at Festhaus, the Bandstand and International Showplace this might be how the park is saving on performers while still have most venues active. Gazillion Bubbles might not be an amazing piece of theater but it can be a major crowd-pleaser for guests who aren't always into singing and dancing.
  18. Speaking with some performers and tech crew we got the impression the song rights have been an issue. There was a copyright lawsuit around the use of the song "Christmastime Is Here" in Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Pines a few years ago. Shortly after that Silver Dollar City's A Dickens Christmas Carol changed out its score of existing music (largely from the Alan Menken written A Christmas Carol and the 1970 film Scrooge) for an entirely original score of similar sounding songs. At Dollywood this past season the song "We Need a Little Christmas Now" was removed from both Christmas in the Smokies and Twas the Night Before Christmas. Having more shows that feature exclusively Dolly's music might keep these issues from coming up.
  19. With the recent song changes (presumably due to issues with the song rights) to Dreamland Drive-In we had a feeling it likely wasn't going to be around much longer. Sixteen years is an incredible run though. Dreamland was truly something special. Few theme park shows have that kind of heart and emotional impact. Hopefully the future productions will continue that tradition.
  20. Grand Carnivale at Kings Dominion is listed as "select dates" and Carnivale at Orleans Place at California's Great America appears to be just Friday-Sunday for 2024, so if Grand Carnivale returns to Kings Island this season would it also have a limited schedule?
  21. With Kings Dominion still getting Grand Carnivale I wonder if they'll just have three of the parks host the event with the three sets of floats. California's Great America appears to have its own New Orleans themed set of floats for its Carnivale at Orleans Place event.
  22. https://www.carowinds.com/events Apparently Grand Carnivale is not returning to Carowinds for 2024.
  23. The festivals are all wonderful but the Harvest Festival might just be the perfect mix of day (visiting artists/craftspeople and musicians) and night (Great Pumpkin LumiNights) attractions with the full regular assortment of Dollywood attractions and shows like Dreamland Drive-In. Along with the pleasant autumn weather it can be Dollywood at its best.
  24. How did we all feel about WinterFest 2023? We still had a wonderful time at the event across the season. The amount of effort from the park on so many fronts from merchandise to entertainment continues to impress despite the cuts. We were fortunate to have a relatively strong entertainment lineup considering how other WinterFests like California's Great America (with its six-person Cool Yule double-cast with Holly Jolly Trolley) and Kings Dominion (no parade) saw more noticeable trimming.
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