super7

Everything they say. It didn’t take very long. The park has been dirty on my visits this year Although I will say the restrooms have always been filthy. They are even worse this year. Carowinds has started installing Six Flags sponsor billboards around the park Look forward to reduced hours in the future. Probably the elimination of fireworks, cut live entertainment etc.

The company’s entire pricing strategy is a failure to drive in park spending. They give away food to season passholders with the meal plans. A lot of people use these meal plans to the maximum and they cannot be that profitable. Then they overcharge for everything else which discourages all spending.

Tower Topics on YouTube has a video on this. They talk about some of the things that. Koontz fought for to keep at the park or bring to the park. Without someone like him there look forward to things like the fireworks going away. Kings Island is one of the few parks and the chain that opens anr 10 an d stays open until 10 o’clock on weekdays. So we will probably get reduced operating hours

The company railroaded all of their park VPs. This is NOT a good sign of things to come. These parks are going to the Six Flags level.

One can put lipstick on a pig, but one cannot take it to the prom. Or something like that. This coaster is still an eyesore.

I think this is the best Kings Island Winterfest so far. This is my favorite time of year to go to the park and it’s nice to have a winter fest that actually feels like winter with the temperature again. The entire park is open with lights in every single area. They have been adding more lights each year with the Drive In added this year. It’s the best light at KI so far. But their lightning in trees with lights in the canopy is still inferior to Carowinds who puts twice as many lights in every tree. Most of the trees where they wrap the trunk and branches look great though. I also don’t understand why they go to all the trouble of putting the live cut Christmas trees around the park and then only string 25 lights on each one. The ride lineup is definitely the best so far. Adding racer and soap box adds to the event. It’s great that they went to the staff expense of running both sides of racer for this event. It’s a much better coaster when it’s racing, although the racing element is flawed as red gets to the lift hill first. Also it’s impressive how cold of temperatures they have run the roller coasters in for this event The event operated in fall on a rainy Monday, so the park is sent out the message that it’s safe to go to the event any day and still enjoy it fully The live entertainment has never been good (the level of production, not the performers!). So this year is about the same quality as every other year. However, it is nice to see them add a new show as the same exact shows every year get stale. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there’s actually a few decent food items at this event. Especially at the bakery. The only thing that I have noticed that is not as good as previous years is the snow on international Street. The way they are presenting it is good, but there is hardly any snow. They only have three machines working on each side of the street and it only works once an hour for about a minute. I do think it’s time to do something else with the train ride. Many of the form lights aren’t working completely properly and it just isn’t that impressive of a ride to start with when they are working. Something like Busch Gardens Williamsburg does would be better. The Holly Jolly trolley and the DJ on Coney Midway could probably be eliminated and the labor could you be used better elsewhere for something like running the pirate ship There aren’t many people that participate with theand the Holly Jolly trolley is low capacity and it’s annoying walking down theand having to move to the side. Especially for the people watching the mistletones. Plus both play music that overrides the soundtrack in the area Really the only two things that are holding this back from being one of the best Christmas events is the density of the lights in the trees and the quality of the life entertainment

It was a great night and great that management operated as advertised despite the bad weather at the start. KI is open daily beginning today (Monday Dec 16) but they close New Year’s Eve KD doesn’t open daily until this Friday, but they are staying open until January 4 Carowinds has the best schedule. They are open daily from this Wednesday until January 4 plus opened 2 weeks before KI and KD As much labor as they have involved in decorating the park, they should find a way to operate as much as possible and get the people to support it. It’s a lot of effort for 23 operating days.

Racer is racing on Sat Nov 30 with 1 train on each side. It’s currently 31 degrees Soap Box is running too

Christmastown offers full production shows where KD has the typical high school production Winterfest shows. Christmastown also typically offers longer operating hours. Plus it has full family experiences like the train. Those factor into attendance at Christmastown as well. The only thing superior at KD Winterfest is the lights. Even in the regular season, KD only has attractions for thrill riders and little kids. BGW is a better rounded park that appeals to more people. That being said, the rides are absolutely necessary at Winterfest given that Six Flags/Cedar Fair only installs attractions for thrill riders and little kiddies. Those are the only two markets of customers that they attempt to attract on a regular basis. They have yo have rides to attract to them at Winterfest.

This show has the songs that allow the vocalists to showcase their abilities, but the screaming kids do take away from the experience. When they had animals they also had to sing above the braying donkeys. Last years location wasn’t good at all on a busy pathway and too close to the Boulder Bumpers. People were walking through the entire time.

Carowinds has 6 coasters operating this year for Winterfest. Fury, Copperhead, Ricochet, Cyclone, Woodstock and Kiddy Hawk. They have a longer schedule with 10 more operating days than KI. And the best lights of any Winterfest. KI could definitely do more given how much more attendance is there than Carowinds.

Ride list has been posted. Racer and Soap Box Racers added. That will help capacity.

They are starting 2 weeks later than Carowinds. CW doesn’t take a weekend off. They are open the weekend in between Scarowinds and Winterfest. KI has a lot of the lights on the trees already.

Canadas Wonderland is the best deal for all parks renewal. Even though the tax is higher (I think 13%), plus one will probably have to pay a credit card surcharge for foreign transaction, the exchange rate still overcomes that and it is a better price than US parks.

What’s also interesting is the Carowinds doesn’t even close for a weekend before Winterfest. And they also have a much better light display than Kings Island. They managed to get all the lights up without closing the park for a weekend. KI gets a higher attendance than Carowinds. One would think it would have more operating days for this event.