super7

IMO this edition of Winterfest was the best yet. It had the most lights, a solid ride lineup, plenty of live entertainment. snowy nights, and (surprising) no major cutbacks to the event despite what is going on elsewhere in the company. The only things that have been lost over the years for this event are 4 Drummers, Holly Jolly Trolley, the music-synchorinzed lights, and upcharge carriage rides. (Cool Yule and Charlie Brown's Spectacular were replaced) While coasters have been added since the 2017 edition where only Mystic Timbers operated. This is probably the most creative of all the theme park Christmas events, with the roaming characters, holiday activities and re-branding just about every shop and restaurant in the park. The weather was the coldest it has been in a while, and it seems to have affected the crowds this year. There were only 6 "warm" days with high attendance. Is that enough for survival of the event? The park did a great job operating on the colder days with low attendance. They reduced operations on those days but kept the park open as advertised. That is the best way to handle this kind of situation. There is a LOT of labor in the park decoration for only 24 operating days (which ended up being 21 2/3) this year. It seems to be an odd decision not to operate the 2 weekends before Thanksgiving when the weather is warmer. I understand that ride permits cause the Dec 31 closure. However, the Columbus Zoo is operating 2 rides at their Christmas event through Jan 4, so wondering what the difference is. It would seem that maximum operating days to recuperate the labor costs would be beneficial. This event would probably be more successful if the park had the indoor infrastructure for the event. At least another indoor theater, dark rides (1 coming soon!), another indoor restaurant etc There are 2 big former attraction buildings sitting empty that could accommodate if renovated. This event deserved the #2 award this year. Better quality live entertainment, continued increases in the lighting and more indoor options would push it to #1 IMO.

They cant even change the video or music in the shed of Mystic Timbers for the holidays…… which would be simple.

tonight, Saturday 12/20 is the perfect storm. It’s the warmest weather of the event, it’s Saturday, and school is out for break. It’s the first big crowd of this year’s event

Monday 12/15 was a great night to see the Christmas lights with snow completely covering the ground. The crowd however was very low but park management did a great job tonight. They kept the park opened for the advertised hours. Racer and Flight of Fear were operating all night. Racer was just operating the red side and the blue side still has snow on the tracks. Mystic Timbers, Soap Box and Sol Spin were closed. The train and Shake Rattle and Roll closed early and most of the outdoor entertainment was canceled. They also quietly closed down the duplicate restaurants earlier in the night (pizza, burgers). But there were rides open until Park close and restaurants open until at least 930.

The Schwarzkopf type monster is a trade-off. It is quicker loading because all gondolas load at the same time, but it does not have as high of a range of motion of their arms so it’s a bit less thrillIng ride

My passes showed up on it when i logged in. I had previously loaded them to the Kings Island Kings, Dominion Carowinds Canadas Wonderland and Cedar Point apps. So one of those carried it over. however, when I bring up the pass on my normal size iPhone, it only shows about 2/3 of the QR code and will not scroll over

They did a good job with the theme and appearance of Adventure Port. But they definitely skimped on the rides in that expansion Instead of a quality 42 person Huss Enterprise they have an uncomfortable, low capacity knock off that doesn’t even tilt 90°. Plus they didn’t even purchase a lighting package for it. The barrel ride is one of the lowest quality versions of this type of ride They also skimped on the little bit of cost. It would’ve required to have provided shade in the queues to make the customers more comfortable. So its a trade off In the case of Adventure Port, they put lipstick on a pig. It looks great, but that’s the best thing that can be said about that area.

This was something I completely didn’t notice. You are right it is an improvement. It was very annoying when one was walking in Coney.

It’s a shame that none of the Winterfest maintained their synchronized lights over the years

The park looks absolutely great. There are even more lights this year than previously. There are lights in the trees. There are lights on the shrubs. There are plenty of live Christmas trees. So far this year, I have been to both Dollywood and Busch Gardens and I think Kings Island does the lights better than either one of those. The lights at Kings Island are the most immersive being low on the shrubs at eye level and above you on trees. The only park I have seen with better lights was Carowinds but they have destroyed that event thus year 2 things that I noticed missing this year are The plastic (purposefully tacky) retro decorations in Tinseltown. They have been replaced by the cartoony trees that were previously in Planet Snoopy And none of the trees are up-lit this year on the train ride That is definitely a downgrade. A lot of live Christmas trees are big 7/8 ft trees. I do wish that since they go to all the effort to get these quality trees that they would light them properly with more than 50 lights on a tree One thing I do not care for this year is the change in music. Gone are most of the songs that Winterfest has played every year and i associated with the event. Plus, the the music is being broadcast at rather low volume this year. Finally Songs of the Nativity got a sitdown venue This also is the time of year when the food actually is good instead of just edible Overall this is a great event, and it is my favorite Christmas event because of the immersive lighting

A show with dedicated, choreographed dancers like Yuletide Follies or even the previous Cool Yule (after the split the cast into dancers and vocalists) belongs in doors for the sake of the dancers well being. The KI Theatre should host something that’s more of a total Christmas production like an expanded version of the Follies.

They have been removing eye sores from the park, such as the slingshot in the sky coaster. But the Tomb Raider building and the Stunt Coaster are the two remaining biggest eye sores. Doing anything with that tomb raider building would be an improvement for the entire park.

IMO the main thing holding back Winterfest is the low quality of the production of the live entertainment and the lack of sit-down entertainment locations. And perhaps its shorter five and six hour days compared to other events. The entire park is lit up with lights (although they could do a better job with the lights in the trees like Carowinds in previous years, there are enough rides open, and Winterfest has some creative activities that the other events lack.

I don’t think Kings Island Winterfest will ever win the best Christmas event simply because it only operates 20 something days compared to how many days the other events like Dollywood and Busch Gardens operate. More days means more people means more votes.

I agree it would be very difficult to take away the meal plans in anyway. But the meal plans should’ve never been part of Winterfest. That was a huge business error. In fact, implementing the meal plans at all was a huge business error. The whole point of the season passes is to get people to come back and spend money. This defeats that. I know there will be the people that say they spend money on something else since they don’t have to pay for the meals, but they’re still getting nonprofitable meals, and I would guess the majority of the people on the meal plan. Don’t feel obligated to spend anything when they come back. The holiday events that seem to be the most successful, Dollywood and Busch Gardens. Do not include any form of a meal plan. They also include higher quality, entertainment, and experiences such as the train that everyone can do together. I also don’t feel these events, push up charge attractions such as ice-skating and cooking decorating etc. these events are profitable through admissions and selling food. Both of which Six Flags/Cedar Fair has given away at the gate. One other note about these events is that they are an excellent opportunity for these companies to bring in new customers that have absolutely no interest in amusement rides. Because the park is now this magical Christmas village. The rides are secondary. Carowinds has chosen to totally abandon this aspect of the event and just provide more ride operating days by closing at 7 PM. Which is just going to attract the same people that come for the rides in the summertime and most likely have season passes a meal plans and won’t spend any money

I think having attractions like the train that the entire family can ride together are key to this event. Kings Dominion Winterfest failed competing against Busch Gardens, which has multiple family attractions to enjoy the lights. Carowinds Winterfest has also been drastically changed and it lacks a great family attraction as well. It appears that these events just regurgitate season passholders, and then Six Flags small cost cutting minds they don’t make any money because the season pass holders aren’t paying to get in the gate and the season meal plan holders aren’t buying any food. The season meal plans are a terrible business decision that has affected these events negatively. But cutting out these events, just reduces the value of the season pass. I know myself if they discontinue Winterfest in Kings Island I will no longer buy a season pass regardless of the price. it also speaks of the gross mismanagement of Cedar Fair that they could pull crowds at these events like they did not make them profitable. From the beginning, Winterfest should’ve been some kind of ad on the season pass and the season meal plan should’ve never been included with the event. also, they are so terrible at running theme parks. They cannot figure out how to run these events more than just the weekends except for the school break weeks. So the limited number of operating days makes it hard to justify the labor involved in the lights, etc. Dollywood runs their event daily, and even Busch Gardens runs their event daily in December. Their assets aren’t sitting dormant like six flags assets are during this event

The train would be better with lights in the trees/or uplit trees instead of the framework lights.

Can that ride even run in less than 50°? Every time I’ve been to the park when it’s below 50 in normal operating season it has been closed.

The trees are gone in area 1 now. Even though it was just a few trees, any more tree removal around that ride is concerning since thats a lot of its magic. Grizzly at KD was once totally surrounded by trees. Look at it now…..

They are reporting despite a 3% increase in attendance they have a 2% decrease in revenue. Also keep in mind that more people in the parks is going to increase expenses to maintain the parks. The loss and profits will be even greater than 2%. Their business plan is not “resilient.” It is a failure. Anytime more customers result in less revenue and less profits that’s a failure. The other thing to keep in mind is that if people weren’t buying, they already underpriced season passes and decided to buy them because of this lower price, they probably aren’t going to be the kind of customer that’s going to pay the high prices in the park and contribute to end Park spending We should enjoy what we can of what’s left of 2025 because I have a feeling that they are going to be massive cuts in 2026 if they’re revenue is decreasing They may have a short term bump in revenue because of their up charge of the haunted houses, but that is not going to reverse course.

, I agree. But they have dug their ditch with these meal plans. The customers expect them now. They can’t eliminate them or they lose customers, but if they keep them, they lose money.

Yes. They were a great souvenir. this was the kind of souvenir that would actually make you want to return to the park when looking at it. But they were another victim of cost cutting. What Kings Island did the last year they have them would’ve been the best way to handle it. They had a limited number of these maps over on the side by the customer service instead of in the main entryway. That way, the people that really wanted them would get them and there was less waste. these parks are missing a revenue opportunity and not having the souvenir poster size maps like they did back in the 70s and 80s. Especially now with computer computers, they would be easy to modify from year to year. oh yeah, Dollywood still has them. Because their goalis to provide the best experience possible to everyone. Apparently enough customers still want them.

Every other Cedar Fair park that I have been to has brisket at their barbecue. Which just further cements that Kings Island has the worst food of any Cedar Fair Park.

I don’t think a Disney executive could even save this sinking ship. The problem is cheap season passes, and meal plans, and then having to cost cut to make up for the low revenue leading to a lower customer experience and decreasing attendance. Plus, they also try to make up for the loss in revenue of the cheap season passes by overcharging for everything else, and that leads to lower spending. they also have the problem that they only install attractions for trail, riders and little children, so they can’t operate most of their assets when school is in session. These parks said vacant almost half the year. in order to right the ship, they would have to lose a significant amount of money for quite some time and invest in a very high quality customer experience. That includes investing in more midtier attractions that everyone can do like dark rides, transportation rides, and live entertainment. That would lead to an increase in attendance and the ability to raise season pass prices to a realistic prive. and eliminate the meal plans. It would also bring in a guest that would spend more at the park. They also need to reduce the in park prices for food merchandise, etc.To reasonable prices so people will actually spend if they are attracting more people and a higher quality customer than the spending will happen if the prices are reasonable but they can’t do it because they don’t have the cash to do it and they are too far in debt so it’s a downward spiral. instead, they keep following the formula of cheap season passes, meal plans, high prices on everything else and only having attractions for low spending thrill, seeker and little children. It’s definitely not a recipe for success.

I think it was Huckleberry Dairy after they removed Smurfs