Captain Picard Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Do you think of PKI would build a new attraction all next season to open with Winterfest? They would have the good weather to work in and everyone would want to go to Winterfest to ride it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialk141 Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 no... :cowboy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CougarBabyT Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I dont know. But I think it would be cool if they did. And it would deffintly attract tourists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I agree with SpecialK, no. It is my understanding that the feeling that they were trying to promote with Winterfest was that you weren't walking into King's Island: The Theme Park, but rather King's Island: The Winter Wonder Land. The few rides that were open was an extra perk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 I am not over optimistic that WinterFest will come back. Mr. Siebert stated that when Winterfest was available....the park closed in September, which gave KI months to prepare. Now they close in November...less time. Additionally, I don't think that PKI's accountants would find WinterFest lucrative enough to justify the cost of operation. Additionally, during the days of WinterFest, PKI almost had a monopoly on the Christmas event market. Nowadays, they must compete with The Beach Water Park (Holiday Fest with a REAL nativity scene), the Newport Aquarium, a revived Main Strasse Village, etc. Those are my thoughts. However, if WinterFest should return...I'm there dude! yours truly, Italian Chef :chef: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 Additionally, during the days of WinterFest, PKI almost had a monopoly on the Christmas event market. Nowadays, they must compete with The Beach Water Park (Holiday Fest with a REAL nativity scene), the Newport Aquarium, a revived Main Strasse Village, etc. Nah, if PKI announced Winterfest, people would forget what the heck the Beach is in a matter of minutes. I think the costs would be low. I mean, setting things up would be expensive, but only a handful of employees would have to work, and I truely believe that they would be able to attract large enough crowds to make it worth while. So long as they make sure to advertise it as a Christmas thing, and not as that the park would be entirely opening. A lot of people would be disappointed with a misconception about that. PKI also has a LOT more money to play with, so anything that the Beach could offer, PKI would match or even top. Keep the faith my friend, if you keep asking about it, it will come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 After reading your editorial of The Beach's Holiday Fest, I got the impression that you were actually impressed....but felt pity for the animals. Surely PKI could return WinterFest......but the question is, will they??????? :santa: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Love Airtime Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Can someone tell me what Winterfest was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 I'm not the best person to tell you because I never attended. However, I'll give you a super-ficial answer. Before Paramount bought Kings Island the park used to have a winter festival in December. It featured ice skating, food vendors, Santa Claus, and other features that I don't know about. It was an off-season event. I hope that helps. Italian Chef :santa: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coney_man Posted January 9, 2004 Share Posted January 9, 2004 Can someone tell me what Winterfest was? Well Winterfest was bacically a winter celebration started in '73 (a year after italianchef was born). PKI stated it to be a winter wonerland for years to come, but sadly Winterfest ended in '93 or '94. But back then they did a tremendous job decorating I-Street in lights and decking the eiffiel to look like a christmas tree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySteve Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 My family and I attended Winterfest every year for about 9 years. I can still remember quite a bit about it. It was a lot like the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights. The park was decorated for christmas, with the usual lights. The coolest being the Eifle Tower. It had a huge star on top of it, with strings of lights coming all the way to the ground. I have pictures of it somewhere. There weren't many rides open at all. I remember the carousel was open. Maybe the Antique Cars. The Festhaus was decorated as well...in fact...the decorations stayed up in there for a few years after Winterfest ended. Well, most of them. They had a special ice skating show in there. All in all, it was a lot like the Festival of Lights. I'll find my pictures of it and send them in soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Sadly I never attended Winterfest as it was discontinued before I ever moved to this region. Maybe someday it'll come back. Have a great day! Italian Chef :chef: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbari Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 I have never been to W. F. Did any rides run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySteve Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 Most of the rides for WF were closed. A few exceptions I remember being open were the train, and the carousel. I think for a couple of years they had carriage rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 "Well Winterfest was bacically a winter celebration started in '73 (a year after italianchef was born). PKI stated it to be a winter wonerland for years to come, but sadly Winterfest ended in '93 or '94. " Bzzzzzzzzzzt... wrong answer. Kings Island started Winterfest in 1982 and it ran for exactly 10 years until 1992. Winterfest premiered as part of the park's 10th anniversary. The year that the event began was also the same year that the Festhaus opened (as well as Timberwolf Amphitheater which premiered much earlier in the season.) The Festhaus construction was finished just in time for the first Winterfest. Festhaus took the place of the Bavarian Beetle (Schwarzkopf Galaxy coaster) and Rotor (spinning floor-drop ride) which were both former Cincinnati Coney Island rides. These opened with KI but were dismantled and scrapped early in the 1981 season for construction. 1992, the last year that the park operated without the Paramount name, was the final year of the event. When Paramount took over, the concept was deemed as unnecessary and the park felt it's novelty had worn off. Also, the event was not the draw it had once been, and was not a money maker by any means. Admission, if I am not mistaken, was only in the $5-7 range. I distinctly recall attending the last Winterfest simply because at the time Top Gun was under construction. (Well that and the fact that I have never been so cold in all of my life.) Of course you couldn't get anywhere near the coaster construction, however there were coaster parts in the parking lot and the intrigue about the new ride and the new "Paramount" name was quite great. Once Winterfest was discontinued, all props, decorations and even the ice rink refrigeration units were sold or donated to outside sources. Very few rides operated during Winterfest. The event was not about rides, rather it was a themed holiday festival heavy on shows, decorations and crafts. Some indoor rides, and tame rides near International Street did operate through the years. Those included: The Enchanted Voyage, Smurf's Enchanted Voyage, Phantom Theatre (final Winterfest only) Carousel, Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad, antique cars, and a few HB rides. The Eiffel Tower did not operate. The event did feature horse-drawn carriage and buggy rides though the park. One of the biggest highlights was the infamous "Scrooge's House" where unsuspecting guests were barraged with insults by a mean spirited scrooge puppet. Guests loved it, and it was one of the big draws of the event every year. Scrooge's house was situated just in front of the International Showplace. For Winterfest, KI only utilized International Street HB and a very small portion of Rivertown (train area only) and Octoberfest (Festhaus area only.) All other areas were blocked off from the public. The paths were simply cut off by rows of decorated trees and tall wooden fencing. A bit of trivia about Winterfest: A common misconception is that Kings Island "froze" the International Street Fountains and allowed ice skating on them. This is completely untrue. In all actuality, the fountains had steel scaffolding placed in them and the entire fountain area was covered with sturdy platforms. The ice rink was then constructed on top of the platforms. The platforms had cut out areas where each pedistal resides so skaters "skated around" them. Since the pedistals remained in place, many thought that the park had simply "fozen" the fountains. When in all actuality, the drained fountains lied a few feet below the rink. Also, the skating rink did not stretch the entire length of the fountain area, rather it only took up about 1/2 of the space. You entered the skate rental area at the front of International Street, and because the rink sat on platforms above the fountains, it was parallel with the midway, not sunken down. Another fun bit of trivia about the event... in preperation for Winterfest, PKI had their grounds crew spend day after day hand picking off each and every leaf from all the trees on International Street prior to stringing lights. Shaggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZosoBeast Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Shaggy, That has to be one of the BEST written answers to a forum question I have ever got the pleasure to read in all my years on the internet (since 95). Reading your post brought back a whole lot of Winterfests past for me. My hats off to ya (if I wore a hat)! Thank you!! WWW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 That was a great responce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySteve Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 I was at one of the very last nights of Winterfest, and not all of the decorations were taken down right away. Some remained in the Festhause for several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Bowser Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 The only Thing I Really Remember about Winterfest was The Smurfs Enchanted voyage that and Scrappy Doo's Skating Rink..I remember That there was Statues of Smurfs Sitting on The Benches in Hanna-Barbera Land and you could sit next to them while waiting to skate...thats all I really Remember I think it would be great if PKI would bring back WinterFest Many of my good friends cant stand FearFest and wont go with me to FearFest.( can you blame them after last years event?) so another a event at PKI wouldnt hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce1994 Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 So granted that WOF Winterfest rides are listed, can we assume the same with KI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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