CoastersRZ

Yes, I was surprised not to see lights on the trees on International Street. In the renderings of International Street, they show the trees lit with lights. So either they ran out of time to decorate them, becuase they were open that first weekend in November. Or they cut that from the list of things to do for whatever reason. Budget perhaps? Yes, there are no horse drawn carriage rides at WinterFest. At least not this season. On the topic of prices. From what I have heard, they had quite a lot of people buying advanced tickets in the summer, and a lot of companies buying tickets for their employees. I would not be surprised if they do have a couple sell outs this season. I also would not be surprised if they offer some steep discounts after Christmas. Especially since Santa will not be gracing Santa`s Christmas Town after Christmas as he will be back at the North Pole.

Well when is a wooden coaster at PKI not in the middle of a retracking program? It seems like every year a section of each wooden coaster at PKI (with the exception of The Beastie).

I cannot verify this. However, I did a quick search over on the Business Courier website, and found no results matching the article you describe within the last year. It could be happening, but I have no way to confirm or deny what you have heard. I do remember hearing a while back (at least I thought I remember hearing something about it) that Kings Island had settled the lawsuit, but did not hear any details of the settlement. 60% of the entire ride? Well, they claimed they shut it down early so they could start the retracking program early because they would have less time to work on the ride due to WinterFest. So, I`m thinking that this is likely not true, but I have heard stranger things that turn out to be true.

The chief reason that they are charging pass holders, is so that the park is not overwhelmed with guests. PKI has a large amoount of season pass holders. PKI did not want the event to be swamped with people, so they decided to charge for the event to thin out some of the season pass holders that would not be willing to pay to attend the event, thus reducing the crowds at the park with the limited number of attractions that would be open. As a side benefit, the park would make a little extra cash.

Jack Rouse Associates, the Cincinnati firm that deals with master planning, museums, entertainment as well as attraction design and development partnered with Paramount`s Kings Island to bring to life many of the attractions at WinterFest. From the company responsible for Bubba Gump Shrimp Shack and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum comes several of the star WinterFest attractions. Jack Rouse provided Kings Island with masterplanning for this event. They also designed and produced the theme and scenic elements for the White Christmas Express. They also designed and produced the Holiday Illuminations show on Swan Lake, as well as Santa`s Christmas Town and the WinterFesthaus. Additionally, they provided theming and scenic elements for Scrooge`s House on International Street. You can read the full news release on the Jack Rouse Associates website here.

I don`t necessarily think that they should abandon FearFest, as I find the haunts to be quite fun. I think that their decision to open the park the first weekend in November might not have been the best decision as it allowed them less time to transform the park from spooky chills to a winter wonderland.

But the amount of free tickets they offered probably brought an increase in food and merchandise sales. Although, I think they had some complaints about the disorder the park was in that weekend with FearFest stuff half taken down and the WinterFest preparations well under way. It definantely wasn`t the park`s best showing, but they had done a lot of work, and still had a lot to do to get the park ready for WinterFest.

CoasterKrazy, when I originally posted that link, it was directed toward the Feshaus image. When ZosoBeast and I added more images from opening night, that link was then changed to a different image. I have fixed the link, and it now links to the image of the round stage in the Festhaus.

No, the Trabant at Coney is not the same one that was formerly the Wheel of Fortune at Kings Island. The Wheel of Fortune at Kings Island was in fact the relocated Cloud Nine from Coney Island. After Kings Island removed Wheel of Fortune, they sold it to Fantasy Farm. When Fantasy Farm closed in 1992, its rides were auctioned off. Coney Island purchased the Tilt-A-Whirl from Fantasy Farm and the now defunct Sky Fighters. I`m not sure where the Kings Island Trabant was sent to.

Ok. On PC`s website, they were not stating that the "magic returns", so I thought that WinterFest was debuting there this season. I had known that they used to deck out their observation tower in much the same manner as what PKI did with their Eiffel Tower.

Yeah, I was really shocked that they were open that first weekend in November. Hopefully, they learned their lesson and will not be open the first weekend in November next year, so they will have an extra week to get ready for WinterFest. They could do a lot with an extra seven days.

JPButler365, WinterFest is also running at Paramount`s Carowinds in Charlotte, NC this year. It is their first winter festival in the history of the park, unlike at PKI.

That is what I am thinking. I`m thinking they possibly ran out of time. Also, in the rendering from when it was announced, they showed lights in the trees on International Street. I wonder if these too were not completed due to lack of time.

Nope, not even Santa hats on the ride operators.

Actually, when I saw Scrooge tonight he was singing different songs. (He was still using some of the same jokes.) I again saw the 9:00 show tonight, and discovered that there has been a magician both Friday night and tonight, in front of Scrooge`s house right before the 9 o`clock show. The Scrooge show is funny! Gotta love the way he picks on people and add libs.

Well, I just got back from WinterFest (this time I started out volunteering up there in the foodservice department before they released us into the park because that particular location was overstaffed). I can say that the crowds were about double what they were on Friday night. (The train ride was filling up every seat on the train car.) I do not think that this will just be a one year event. The park has clearly invested some money into preparations/hardware for this event. A new sound system on the train, all the decorations, even the coat uniforms for the employees were not cheap (I heard around $50 per hoodie) and will be reused again next year. Granted there are things that the park will discover that will make the event better in coming years. My only real gripe with the event is that with the exception of Hanna Barbera Land, and the two trees on the train ride, they don`t have any lights in the trees. It would be more magical if they added lights in some of the trees. That being said, I still think it is a pretty good event. As far as the price goes, it is priced a little steep. Especially when there is the Beach right across the street advertising a family of four gains admission for about $30 or $40 and pass holders get in free. I think PKI was wise not to let pass holders in, at least for the first weekends. The place would be mobbed with people. I can see them offering lower prices, and possibly free admission to pass holders the week after Christmas. I would definantely say that they have some learning to do on the new version of WinterFest. Just like they have learned about the Nick Parade (which was popular enough that they included a parade in WinterFest, which is also very popular).

I for one was very muched impressed with WinterFest. I thought it was wonderful. The live entertainment, was done very well. They made the train ride a very enjoyable and fun filled ride with the new sets and the live onboard entertainment. The parade was a wonderful addition, and was very well done. Yes, my one complaint about WinterFest is the lack of lights in the trees. There is always next year`s WinterFest. Yes, attendance was light yesterday, but I think the Thanksgiving weekend and it being the biggest shopping day of the year might have had something to do with it. Not to mention it was bitterly cold. I would imagine that as it gets closer to Christmas, more and more people will show up. I think the park is learning alot about how to set up and run WinterFest, so that next year they can improve upon this years. I saw PKI`s general manager out walking the midways last night, so I`m sure he know what is going on. On the topic of FearFest, I believe that this year`s FearFest was one of the best to date. They made a lot more general improvements to the theming. And the Cornstalkers area was a big hit. I`ve heard that they have even better things planned for next year.

I just uploaded a few pictures I took tonight, including one with the Mayor driving one of the old Antique Cars in the parade. As for the lodge, I actually spotted framing rising above the trees in the parking lot tonight, over by Top Gun. But at this point, it is nothing spectacular looking.

I`ll upload some more pictures from WinterFest later tonight. I have to say that the live entertainment is what makes WinterFest so magical. The Scrooge show on International Street is hilarious!

Yes, that stage is being used for live entertainment in the WinterFesthaus at WinterFest. You can see an image of the WinterFesthaus here, taken during media day.

I love the Christmas time of the year. It is the time after Christmas and New Year`s that is the gloomy time. The dark cold winter months, where the only bright spot is the hope of spring and PKI in April.

It has to be stored on a website somewhere. The forums do not actually store the images, but link to the webpage that the image is hosted on.

Yes, the batteries in my camera were drained quickly last night as will Rickster! I`m sure the cold weather was likely to blame as I fully charged my batteries before I went to the park.

Nicely written article, Italianchef.

Well, even a couple of strands of garland in the queue room would have made it feel more festive and like WinterFest. Once you stepped inside the building, it felt like you were there on just a normal summer day.