Winterfestguy

Of the four parks visited thus far this season (KI, KD, CP, and Carowinds) KI has so far had the worst food/drink service - no drink stands open or non-functional, food outages, and a super slow micros cash register system that needs to be replaced. Will see if KI makes any changes since still early in the season and hope KI is closely monitoring these issues - Hats off to Carowinds for the best food/drink service I have ever had at a CF park.

Likely addressing the Indiana marketing competition with Kentucky Kingdom - KK also has a special deal for Indiana residents.

It used to be that the boiler for the steam engine on the train was only permitted by the state inspector to only operate for X number of hours per year. Instead of using the remainder of the permitted boiler hours for Haunt, the remaining boiler hours went towards operating for Winterfest.

According to the Carowinds 2018 Winterfest calendar they are opening the three days before Thanksgiving (November 19,20,21). Interesting that KI is not doing the same and waiting until November 23. https://www.carowinds.com/explore/calendar-and-hours

They should have left the Mac and Cheese bar (featured during Winterfest) at Hanks. Hanks current menu and taste is so hit and miss that I just avoid it.

At Universal there is a metal detector at Rip Rocket and Hulk coasters so no phones, coins, or metal objects allowed. (Back when Dragon Challenge was in operation several were hit with coins and the park settled several lawsuits.). Could Cedar Fair be considering the same of putting metal detectors at coaster entrances to reduce their liability of someone getting struck with an object).

Rotisserie chicken is really nothing new - many years ago the park had rotisserie chicken roasters on the outside wall of the now Reds restaurant in Rivertown (facing what is now the Diamondback queue). Guess the old park rotisserie chicken concept is new again? It would be nice if guest feedback was valued for the meal plan options. For example, the mac and cheese bar at KI Winterfest was a huge success (and wish that would have stayed instead of bringing back the horrible burritos at Hanks), but where is that mac and cheese bar at KI based upon guest feedback? Kings Dominion copied the concept and created The Mac Bowl which has been a huge hit this early in the season (and it is on the meal plan). With more emphasis these days on healthier options, why did KI remove Salads from the Festhaus meal plan (thereby decreasing healthier options)? Carowinds added a build your own Salad option as well as other salad options (all of which are on the meal plan) at Harmony Hall which again have been very popular with guests so early in the season.

The Disney Dining App for Walt Disney World does accept the Disney dining plan in addition to major credit cards. (So in theory could work for Cedar Fair meal plans including season passes). It was just announced this weekend that the dining app is being expanded to Disneyland within the next month. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/mobile-food-orders/

Of course subject to change, but Carowinds has already posted their Winterfest 2018 calendar/hours. Last year many wished that Winterfest would open before Thanksgiving, open earlier on the weekends like the old Winterfest did at 2PM, and wished for New Year's Eve/Day hours. https://www.carowinds.com/explore/calendar-and-hours Will Kings Island follow a similar Winterfest schedule like Carowinds and open the three days before Thanksgiving (Nov 19,20,21) or wait until after Thanksgiving. With Haunt ending Oct 28 it will be a very tight squeeze to have all things in place 3 days prior to Thanksgiving, unless more Christmas décor than what was seen last year starts showing up much earlier in September/October. (Winterfest staff last season worked Thanksgiving day in the park and worked right up to the last minute before the Friday opening trying to finish up). It is also interesting to note that Dollywood will be running their extended fall pumpkin lights through Sat November 3 and delaying starting their Christmas celebration by one week until Nov 10. However, to keep the same number of operating days, Dollywood Christmas will run past New Years through January 5 this season.

Cedar Fair profits were up about 9% due to Winterfest activities at the three parks (and that was after paying for the all the contracted shows). It seems they could easily repurpose the expensive trolley used for the Winterfest show (remove the Christmas garland and put some flowers on it) somewhere in the park to easily create another summer show. And what about the clown band that everyone enjoyed at one time at Kings Island? Just seems quality of entertainment is going to be lacking this summer season.

Some of the Kings Island 2018 entertainment schedule has now been officially posted. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/play/shows Still waiting to see what show will be playing in the Kings Island theater. Think Winterfest had many more entertainment options around the park.

Kings Island should experiment at both smokehouses (wet and dry sides) with new app ordering and paying just like the MyDisneyExperience app does - simply view the menu, place your order, and pay with a credit card (all on the app), and when you arrive to eat at the location, simply tap the app button that you have arrived, and your food comes out at a special pick up window dedicated to only to app order pickups- no waiting in line, no clueless check out employees, and very quick and efficient (not to mention all the labor cost savings to the park).

Kentucky Kingdom to operate a Zipline Kingdom 20 miles away from the amusement park. Best part is one free visit with a Kentucky Kingdom season pass and reservations are required. http://www.ziplinekingdom.com/

Two things make me think that the train will not be running during Haunt - 1) There is a boiler permit issued by the state for the steam engines to operate X number of hours per year. The train did not run for 2005 Haunt so it could run during Winterfest that year. There is a small chance with the over one year notice of the Christmas event, the boiler permit could have included the extra hours needed to run for both Haunt and Winterfest. 2) The 12 days of Christmas are already being staged over the train route so I doubt the train will run much past Labor Day. (as posted in a previous post, the survey markers along the train route are already tagged with what wire frame display will go where)

As shown on the interview with Don this week, the giant Candy Canes have been placed in the Tower Gardens and all the electrical updates throughout the park are just about complete (the controller boxes go all the way down Coney Mall to WindSeeker, so this area is sure to be very festive (will be interesting to see if construction of the "Dry side Smokehouse" where Attitudes/warehouse was on Coney Mall will start before Winterfest or immediately after). Now that the daily operations are over, watch for lights soon to appear in places throughout the park.

This is going to be an awesome park event. With only 7 days to transform Timber Canyon from these Halloween lighted displays October 29 to Christmas trees by November 4 will be interesting to watch. Too bad Kings Island did not think of this (but then again they have heavily invested in Winterfest, at least for now). The video of the lighted pumpkins is funny and cute http://www.dollywood.com/themepark/Entertainment/GreatPumpkinLuminights

The old footers on KI & MVRR are not going to be used for Winterfest. If you look closely as your ride the train now, you will see wooden survey sticks along the way with writing on them representing the components of the 12 days of Christmas. (there are a few miscellaneous animals thrown in as well) These wire frames representing the 12 days (just as seen in other city displays) are free standing with post and guide wire supports. From what I heard, most of the pieces have arrived and are in the new storage building. Dollywood this past weekend started to hang their lights (but their season starts Nov 4) so would expect as soon as the regular daily schedule ends Aug 20 at KI, they too will start hanging lights.

These LED bed lights are just part of the lighting package being installed for Winterfest (but these LED controlled lights can also be used for other events such as Haunt -making all red or orange, 4th July - red/white/blue, or even Pride night -all multicolor - if you look carefully, there are several new control boxes in addition to those left behind from Starlight a few years back). The park is already undergoing the transformation for Winterfest, although the changes may not seem noticeable to most. The median from the parking lot has had both electrical and speaker boxes installed, so look for ground displays as well as pole decorations leading up to the entrance. As announced during Coasterstock in May, the crabapple trees just outside the gates were removed, and replaced with a circular stone bed (now containing flowers). This will serve as the base for the 70 foot welcome LED tree (note light pole in the middle to support this 70 foot tree -very carefully designed and engineered specifically for Winterfest). Once in the gates, note the concrete pads around the royal fountain. These will server for the expanding ice rink, doubling the size of the rink from previous Winterfests. Note the old lighting on the I-street buildings is being taking off and replaced by all LED lighting for Winterfest, which will also be tied into the controllers of the other LEDs through out the park, making one impressive light show. Rumor is for summer of 2018 there will be a new pre-firework show with all these new LED controlled ground/building lights with the royal fountain lights (similar to IllumiNations at EPCOT). Around the Eiffel Tower notice big concrete anchors which will hold the new LED light strings coming down from the top of the tower to form the 314 foot tree (and these strings are scheduled to go completely around the tower forming a full tree, which will then hold the record for the largest LED color changing tree in the world). The tree tree topper for the tower tree is being a well kept secret. Also note in preparation for the tree, all shrubs and trees have now been removed from around the tower, and several new large control panel boxes installed near the base of the tower to control the LED tree lights. Just to the left of the Showcase outdoor theater, note another circular stone bed installed (where the big red/white/blue stars used to be for Snoopy Starlight). This will likely be the location of another 70 foot LED tree light show similar to what Dollywood has or what was on Swan Lake with Holiday Illuminations for the 2005 Winterfest (Swan Lake was drained for Diamondback construction). Notice concrete anchors along the path to Stunt Coaster to support various light display such as Candy Cane Lane. And if you look closely in Tower gardens there are more concrete anchors for additional decorations. It was also announced at Coasterstock that Coney Mall would be open with reindeer games, so look for additional Winterfest preparations in this area to occur over the summer - hopefully, they may be able to think of a way to bring back the Coney Mall lighted sign for Winterfest. The same show line up that was featured at California Great America Winterfest this past season are expected to come to Kings Island, Home for the Holidays, It's Christmas Snoopy Ice Show, etc., and remains to be seen if the crowd popular King's Island Santa's Toy Factory from the former Winterfests will return, hopefully so. Will there be coasters running for Winterfest? It is rumored that the winter maintenance schedule is carefully being studied to see if at least Mystic Timbers might be able to operate depending upon the unpredictable Midwest winter weather, or at least run the indoor Flight of Fear. Keep watching carefully around the park for more Winterfest preparations or upgrades (such as heat) that don't seem that obvious now, but are happening right before your eyes now in preparation for the grand return of Winterfest.

Just like Dollywood does for Blazing Fury at Christmas, it should be rather simple to add a few Santa hats and a few lighted Christmas trees here and there to make the attraction festive for Christmas. Although not currently listed on the site as one of the attractions open during Winterfest, let's hope management takes note of this thread to add it to the open list.

I too got freaked out when the e-mail came saying that I had not done the second part of the registration for me and my friends (when I actually was very careful after buying the season pass tickets and then separately registering each of us). Must have been a pretty big glitch or someone not paying attention to how they were running the comparison report (e.g. tickets purchased vs actually registered). As most have said before, it would be nice if the system sent an e-mail confirmation that registration was complete, rather than relying on the "on-screen" message.

I would like to see a 30 min show of the highlights of Rocky Horror Picture Show in the King's Island Theater for Haunt (just like Universal Orlando used to have during Halloween Horror nights in the Beetlejuice theater before the construction on the new rides did away with both the theater and show, such a shame!) The rights to produce were pretty cheap from what I understood since this was not the entire production, just musical bit and pieces.

Same Winterfest hours that CA Great America had this past season, but kind of sad that they are not opening up early afternoon on Saturday and Sunday at 2PM as did the 2005 or the Original Winterfest. It was nice to ice skate, have a snack, eat the Turkey Dinner in the Festhaus, and then see the lights come on, and leave before the huge crowds arrived (well, no crowd in 2005!). If Santa's Toy Factory returns to the Kings Island Theater, I wonder if Snoopy on Ice will return to the Festhaus (The Festhaus has had ice shows years ago)

Banner ad and purchase selection for all season drink cup has disappeared from KI site - did they listen to the poll this time about cups? The souvenir bottle with free refills for a day with $1 return visit still listed for purchase.

Looks like the wire frame displays are starting to arrive - wire frames typically have to be ordered a year in advance from the factory. Let's hope they fix all the building lights on international street so that they can be used during summer nights this year - the last time they were repaired and all working on the international street buildings was for the 2005 Winterfest.

Does anyone know which engineering/decorating firm KI will be using to decorate the park? Hopefully, these guys will take some lessons from Dollywood of how to properly light up an amusement park for the holidays with not only lights, but festive trees, garlands, and displays (and let's hope the I street buildings get their roof-top/outline lights repaired and all back in working order, the last time the building outline lights were all repaired was for the last Winterfest 12 years ago).