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Grand Carnivale - June 15-July 7


chad_1138
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Yes, the parade was amazing! Like, it was so amazing that I almost wished I still worked there so I could be in the parade (well, you can join at the end, but you know what I mean...). Also, the dance party was amazing (and took so much out of me- of course I tore it up out there!), but only ran until 8:30ish (I thought it was supposed to be until park close, but... I think what was supposed to happen was the featured band (and/or Hot Rhythm Nights) was supposed to take over on the Bandstand, but due to weather, the featured band played in Festhaus).

Speaking of weather, most of the countries' showcase acts either had shortened appearances or none at all. I saw France and Germany's mini-shows, but did not get to see India's, China's (they were there, but they didn't end up performing) or Italy's. All things considered, it was a fantastic event and I'm so excited to see it with much more favorable weather conditions as it seems like all the pieces would fit together more smoothly. But from what they had to work with weather-wise (and it being the first official night of the event), it blew me away!!! 

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Does the KI parade have 9 floats? Anything I’ve seen matches Kings Dominion version (interesting that the German and Chinese floats are different) but KI I’ve only seen one final “Mardi Gras” float where KD has 3 (and interestingly these were some of the floats seen stored at Timberwolf a while back.) Maybe they stopped here for final “customization” before going on to KD, or there are 2 units I’ve not seen in any of the clips of the parade I’ve seen. Totally impressed by the scope and scale of this though(especially for such a short run) 

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I have the amazing privilege of helping in the Spectacle of Color parade. I'm trained to direct (and soon drive) the floats, mainly the Venetian (with the big mask on the front; third-to-last in line) and Rio (with the parrot on the back; last in line) floats! I directed the Venetian float during the soft opening on Friday and crowd control for the France float on Saturday and I have had a blast so far! During the show stops, EVERYONE participates in the dancing, which I love because I love dancing. I guess, in other words, you have the chance to see ride ops dance (as all the parade float directors and drivers are ride ops!) in the parade as well. :lol:

For someone whose "home" department is Rides, it's a special opportunity to help alongside the Entertainment department as the performers are literally right next to me, so I get to watch them and direct a float at the same time in addition to dancing during the show stops! :P I'm not scheduled to work every parade, but I'll be there often enough that chances of spotting me are good, like when @MDMC01 spotted me on Saturday!

It's even more special seeing the guests' faces as we pass them. They definitely love it!

 

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5 hours ago, brent said:

How many show stops from start in coney to end on I? 

4:

-Coney Mall (not far from the beginning)

-Coney Mall-ish again, but the front of the parade is near the I Street Funnel Cake place 

-I Street, Emporium/Skyline side

-I Street, Sweet Spot side 

After the last show stop, the parade is technically over and floats go to their respective countries (very cool that you can see them up close!) and the performers assist in a dance party on the bandstand.

Definitely worth checking out!

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Wow. I’m so impressed with the scope of this. I’m hoping to go this week. Washout weather didn’t seem like fun this past week! Gone the last week of it so hope it’s nicer weather. I’m impressed that it’s thus big for just a three week run (though I guess BECAUSE it’s so big much longer wouldn’t be worth the cost to run it) feeling like with events like this, the focus on “non marketable” improvements like the clock (no one other than locals and nostalgia buffs would make a special trip just to see it) the details that are going into aesthetics that a corner has been turned and CF is realizing there is a whole range of customers that visit their parks and “taller, higher, faster” is important to only a segment of their customer base. The complete experience is critical to focus on and a balanced approach to capitol expenses is important. 

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I went to the park today and I thought the parade was fantastic and I hope to see return. The parade route was lined with people so it definitely appears that this is a very popular event for attendees, everyone seemed to be having a great time.

   The food left a lot to be desired but I’m glad they’re offering more food options for this festive, everything was being served pretty quickly which was nice. The only thing I truly disliked was the Berry Citrus twist drink, had a weird after taste to it. 

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Seems like there was a decent investment for the parade floats, so I hope that means it will become an annual thing.

The non singing /dancing shows in each of the countries are awesome.
The Italian juggler, the French arielist spinning before the effle tower, the Chinese acrobats.
I think more people would enjoy these if they included the times of each show in the passport booklet.

Portions of the event seem a little unorganized (like the adventure quest) and I'd have liked to see the food on the dining plan (even if I had to use an entire meal credit to get one food item)... But overall I felt like they captured the "carnival" theme well and it was a fun family event.




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7 minutes ago, chuck norris said:

Seems like there was a decent investment for the parade floats, so I hope that means it will become an annual thing.

The non singing /dancing shows in each of the countries are awesome.
The Italian juggler, the French arielist spinning before the effle tower, the Chinese acrobats.
I think more people would enjoy these if they included the times of each show in the passport booklet.

Portions of the event seem a little unorganized (like the adventure quest) and I'd have liked to see the food on the dining plan (even if I had to use an entire meal credit to get one food item)... But overall I felt like they captured the "carnival" theme well and it was a fun family event.




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I REALLY wish they would have the entertainment and special offerings on the app too.  Right now it's just Grand Carnivale (5:00-10), Fireworks (10:00-10:20) and Hot Rhythm Nights (6:30, 9:30).  These are all "park" things rather than specialized entertainment.  It would be nice to know the show times and descriptions of stuff in the country sections so you don't just stumble across it.  It feels like China does well (and to be fair, it is the best collections of shows) but other countries don't draw nearly as big of crowds.  I think China's primo location helps a lot.  Putting descriptors and times on the app would help with that a lot.  Plus having it up to date with the washouts and stuff like we've had recently would help the guests know more about what's canceled and what isn't.  

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I've been going to KI as long as it's been open and I can truly say that with Grand Carnivale the have hit it out of the park and into the next state!  From all the color and decorations to the entertainment to the Grand Carnivale theme song.  It reminds me of the quality of entertainment that has not been seen at the park since the 80's when Taft were at the controls.  Looking forward to taking the grand kids tonight to see all the colors and the parade.  Everything on international street is centered around the event and it is one of the best events KI has ever done. 

If you like food (and who doesn't) don't miss the buffet at the International Restaurant.  My wife and I ate in the International Restaurant last night and it was FANTASTIC!  Everything was well seasoned and the view was the best!  Hats off to Chef Major and crew, they are really stepping up the food game!  If you get a chance $24.99 for gold & platinum pass holders is definitely a good deal in my wife's and my opinion (we both went back for seconds).  The deserts are great also and the coffee up there is top notch.

My only complaint may be that they aren't doing it till the end of July.  This is a really nice event and it's been very unfortunate this year with the rain.  I still have yet to see a parade (missed it last night because...SKILLET, who were awesome as usual).  Hopefully the rain will hold off tonight.  Either way I'll be missing it when it is gone but looking forward to next year.

Once again, thanks KI for an absolutely wonderful idea executed extremely well,  It's AMAZING in here :)

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@robintodd… speaking of Skillet, I went up on the Effial Tower last night after the parade and heard "Stars", "Monster", "Comatose", "Rebirthing" and "The Resistance" (along with a song I didn't recognize that was played before "Stars". Even from up there, they sounded great. Also caught a bit of Ledger while in Action Zone (I heard "Completely", "Cosmic" ( which I found out was her new song via YouTube last night) and "Not Dead Yet").

On to Carnivale, I got the full experience yesterday and it was fantastic. I saw/joined the parade in Coney Mall and it was fun, but exhausting! Also got to explore the countries and I must say, India and China have probably the most interesting acts (Italy was pretty cool as well)*. I even went to Star 93.3's booth (near Congo Falls) and had them sign my Adventure Book lol. I also love how the party really kept going as when I stepped off the Effial Tower, the party was still rockin'!

*Side-Note: Looks like someone's been reading the forums here and took my suggestion for a Scavenger Hunt (my idea was for Haunt) for Carnivale as that was a really cool aspect of the event.

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Been going to Kings Island for over 30 years and the Grand Carnivale was some of the most fun I've had there and the execution was very well done. The entertainment offerings were more than what I expected and the parade itself I thought was pretty darn good.

One complaint, and it's not even Kings Island at fault, but the level of rudeness of some guests towards park employees was unreal. I was a rides employee for 5 years about 10-15 years ago and I know how guests can get, but man last night during the parade I couldn't believe the way some guests acted. Blatantly ignoring some employees who were asking politely to stay behind the white line. Right in front of me this poor employee asked a guy to please stay behind the line to which the guest responded "nah I'm leaving" and nudged the employee out of the way and kept walking, less than a foot away from the moving floats.  Now I know theres not much room to walk, especially where we were standing, but man. The level of rudeness is epic these days. 

Food I had was good, not great, but still good. The reggae band they had was wonderful as well. And the french acrobat hanging from the Eiffel Tower was very good.

Here's a few shots I got from to carnivale

 

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Sunday 6/23 was my first experience of this event.  A monsoon hit shortly after it started, around 6:00 PM, which cut all of the smaller shows and activities short.  However, it dried out enough that they still had the parade and final Hot Rhythm Nights despite that most of the crowd left after the rain.

I can already say from what I seen, this event deserves and A+.   

 

The parade was a modified version without the costumes and it was still amazing    It was so full of energy.   SOOOOO many performers.    7 or so sets of performers, each with their own choreography (with movements matching the countries)  as the parade moved from location to location.    Then when it stopped for the participation segments, it absolutely looked incredible  as all of the performers did the dance moves  in sync. 

Hot Rhythm Nights is absolutely one of the best shows the park as ever had.  Live band, great vocalists and excellent dancers with top notch choreography and play list.  It too has so much energy!  It is a shame this show only runs 3 weeks, because the performers had a lot of material to learn and put so much into it

 

The smaller shows are great.   There is so much to see/do at this event. 

Cedar Fair has absolutely mastered these special events.  First Winterfest.  Now Grande Carnivale.  They aren't taking shortcuts with the number of performers at these events and it just creates a spectacular atmosphere.  We are so lucky with the direction that current CF management has taken with the Taft parks.

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We haven't been down yet and can't wait to see this! What is the best plan for seeing the parade and the performers? Is there a spot we should plan on waiting at at a certain time? It sounds like the parade does different things throughout the park based on the comments here. I have a 4 year old that shouldn't be up too terribly late so what time should we plan to stay til? I'll let him stay up if this is awesome. Thanks!

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11 hours ago, Delirium123 said:

One complaint, and it's not even Kings Island at fault, but the level of rudeness of some guests towards park employees was unreal. I was a rides employee for 5 years about 10-15 years ago and I know how guests can get, but man last night during the parade I couldn't believe the way some guests acted. Blatantly ignoring some employees who were asking politely to stay behind the white line. Right in front of me this poor employee asked a guy to please stay behind the line to which the guest responded "nah I'm leaving" and nudged the employee out of the way and kept walking, less than a foot away from the moving floats.  Now I know theres not much room to walk, especially where we were standing, but man. The level of rudeness is epic these days. 

 I witnessed some rudeness on Saturday. Some of it was just people with entitled attitudes, and some of it was literally some of the most obnoxious behavior I've ever seen at a theme park. I'm not sure at what point it became cool to not only be rude to people doing their jobs, but to announce to the people that are with you that you'd done it, and how that makes you better than them at a volume where everyone can hear it. I feel bad for the staff that they have to deal with that. 

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On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 7:29 AM, DonnaFan said:

We haven't been down yet and can't wait to see this! What is the best plan for seeing the parade and the performers? Is there a spot we should plan on waiting at at a certain time? It sounds like the parade does different things throughout the park based on the comments here. I have a 4 year old that shouldn't be up too terribly late so what time should we plan to stay til? I'll let him stay up if this is awesome. Thanks!

I think the best place to see it is the first stop in Coney because iit is the most open stop.  You can look down the entire parade there and see everyone in sync when they stop.  That’s around 8 when it starts.  Also around the park entrance is a pretty wide open place to see the parade go by, but the dance party doesn't stop exactly there. 

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I was at Kings Island yesterday and this event was a lot of fun! Usually in the evenings I start to get really tired and my legs start to hurt but I want to keep going because I don't want to feel like I'm just sitting around.  This was a great way to sit around and still have fun at the park.

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55 minutes ago, flightoffear1996 said:

Had anyone on here done the $30.00 food deal?  Is it worth it? Is the food quality better than the general park food?

I didn’t really care for the food to be honest, but I’m also a pretty picky eater. If there’s 6 things in the menu that you like then I’d say it’s worth it considering how much food you get.

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Food

1 hour ago, Ben43065 said:

I didn’t really care for the food to be honest, but I’m also a pretty picky eater. If there’s 6 things in the menu that you like then I’d say it’s worth it considering how much food you get.

Food items are $7ish, so $5 per item ($30 / 6) is a really good deal.  I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard good things.

Has anyone done the IR meal yet?  I plan on that this weekend.

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So one thing I noticed last night was that, when they do the augmented show for 9:30 they play the Grand Carnivale theme song live to accompany the fireworks.  The problem is, the fireworks are behind you.  For the time being though, don't worry about the fireworks.  Watch the show.  They have almost everyone from the parade on the stage singing and dancing.  It's actually one of the coolest things they've ever done on that bandstand.  

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Seems like a lot of the footage from KD it’s darker during the parade and you really see the lights more. Anyone know what time they do their parade? Also interesting KI added the disclaimer to the website “due to inclement weather parade may be cancelled” KD doesn’t have that. Seems like KI has been cursed with a bad weather run just as this started. Going tomorrow eve. Looks to be ok (hope!) 

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