super7

It was much colder last year and I remember seeing them work consistently then. Maybe their procedure changed.

I have been to Winterfest at KI 7 times this year (its my favorite time to go lol) and have never seen the snow machines working. They were working in full force at visits to kings dominion and Carowinds this year. Did something happen to make them turn them off at ki?

It was appx 26-28 degrees when I arrived last Saturday at 4:30 is and I think it bottomed out at 24 degrees. Both coasters were running all night long everytime I went by them.

I totally agree with you about the Winterfest show in the KI Theatre, so I have to back peddle a little on my statement about the quality of Cedar Fair entertainment. I wasn't thinking about that show when I made my previous statement. I saw it once last year and then forgot about it. Why are they using the best venue in the park for such a low quality show? To me, the Peanuts characters are what absolutely ruins that show and takes it to such a low level. They already have a Peanuts show in the Peanuts Showplace. I agree, this should be a full scale broadway type show with a live orchestra. No this lip syncing, corny character monstrosity that it is. It also is a shame that some of the BEST vocalists that the park has ever had are performing in an awful venue with the goats, donkeys, no seating and a sound system that has been cutting out, while the KI theatre is being used for that awful show and International Showplace is unused. Gloria at Busch is an amazing show. They are close enough to NYC that they always have tremendous vocalists in that show, plus the live orchestra. They also had show called Miracles but ended it in 2016. That one was such a beautiful production with 4 female vocalists and ballet style choreography, but they replaced it with a ow production acapella show last year. The crowd on Saturday 12/8 was huge despite a high of around 25ish when the park opened. THAT is a great sign for Winterfest.

I'm good with that!

Orignally the park had umbrella tables, not trashy looking white picnic tables. I think those tables at KI are more Paramount era damage aren't they? Although this still isn't as great of a setup as KD. At KD the seating areas are along the fountains, totally shaded by trees and umbrellas. KD is much more lush.

I agree with that. The mounded landscaping blocks the fountain at KD from the entrance view and the gate photos.

Some of us that have been around a while still think of that coaster as Scoobie Doo and want it to be yellow again.

Kings Island International Street looks like the slums compared to Kings Dominion's. KD (and Canada's Wonderland) have better looking buildings, which will not change at KI. But the biggest factor that makes KD look so much better is the landscaping and the tables. KD has more of a tree canopy, and several nice places to sit by the fountains with umbrella tables. Those areas are separated from the main walkway by islands of landscaping. At KI, the cheap trashy looking white picnic tables (with no shade whatsoever) are directly in the walkways. Kings Dominion International Street is a great place to just sit and take a break in the shade. At KI, the only place to sit is those awful picnic tables in the sun.

The cinnamon bread was at the turkey leg stand on international street last weekend.

My thoughts on 2018. It is definitely a better event than 2017, which was to be expected since 2017 was the first year. It's an amazing event that keeps on getting better. This year the entire park has lights with only a few dark zones. First of all, there is nothing as magical as I Street for Christmas in any other theme park. (KI, KD and next year CW). The lights are much better this year. They feel more immersive, with many more canopies of lights in the big trees. My biggest suggestion about the entire event is still the lighting though. There are 6 colors in the rainbow, plus cool white and warm white. But a high majority of the lighting is cool and warm white lighting. They should do what Busch does at Williamsburg, and have a different color lighting scheme in each themed section. They moved the synchronized lighting show to Coney this year, which is an improvement. I compliment them on how many trees they put lights on in Coney. Even outlying trees by Racer station. One wish is that they would put them higher in the trees next year. Since they moved the light show to Coney, Winterfest Way is not really distinctive. Although the canopy of lights is gorgeous (again another color would help make this section distinctive). The lighted booth things are pretty weird and a little creepy though lol. They moved 4 Drummers Drumming just slightly and gave them a stage. It's less of a traffic jam now. They fully lit up The Vortex walkway and moved the Ice Prince and Princess back there. The Flight of Fear area looks good with the random rope lights. They could actually create another themed Christmas section back there if they wanted since the lighting is unique. Tinseltown is nice, and a great place for the Mistletones to be relocted. I like that they added music to their show this year. It gives more of the nostalgic feel. Main suggestion about Tinseltown is that is is done in warm white lights. 50's style lighting is the big bulbed, multi-color lights. They have those lights at Carowinds but not KI for some reason. Tinseltown will probably even feel better next year with Antique Cars in place. Carriage rides added as an upcharge attraction based in Tinseltown. Jingle Jazz and Sounds of the Nativity have increased to 5 vocalists in the shows this year. Both shows have amazing talent and very tight harmony, as well as the Mistletones. There is a LOT of familiar talent from the other seasons at the park with just about all of the top recent vocalists in the shows, plus a top vocalist from 4 years ago. KI has done great job retaining their talent as of lately. I do wish that the event was at least 6 hours. There are so many shows to see within the 5 hour time frame. This is my favorite time to go to the park. A theme park in the dark is always magical, and with all of the lighting it is just incredible. I am hoping that I can hit it again one night when it snows. That was the best thing I have ever experienced at a theme park!

Silver Dollar City probably does a better job with the lights. They have lights on every board of every building. I would rate both equivalent on the amount of entertainment, although Cedar Fairs entertainment excels over Herschends hokey entertainment in general (Hershend has some outstanding talent, but their shows are generally not that well produced). But nothing compares to the awe of International Street for Christmas.

We should feel lucky this ride survived the wrath of Paramount! They removed the railroads at Kings Dominion and Great America. Location of the waterpark was probably the saving grace of this ride.

Sigh. From the days when the dark ride was a quality 3-d ride, and not cheap 2-d plywood cutouts......

I think the Oktoberfest Skyride station was also a yogurt shop at one time, when yogurt was first trendy.

The best thing they could do with that warehouse-y building is tear it down! It doesn't belong with the theme of Rivertown. Keelboat Canal was quite beautiful in that spot with the train running along the lake. This is one of the big pieces of damage that Paramount did to the park.

I saw somewhere that the Breakdance that CF bought was the one that the little girl was killed on at Holiday Park in Germany. If so, its the ugly version like Six Flags America has with the turntables on arms. If its that ride, it has a morbid history and not sure why they would have purchased it.

King's Dominion's Racer and Thunder Road is/was a superior model to King's Islands Racer. King's Island's has that stupid split at the turn arounds where the other train is a football field away. Racer 75 and Thunder Road keep the trains side by side longer before the turn around. KI Racer looses the feeling of racing at that point. The ultimate retrackign would make the turn arounds come together into a deulling turn around (like Lightning Racer), but that probably will not happen.

Action Zone is horrible. Totally generic and barren. The easiest re-theme would be Transylvania for that area, since they already did some type of theming on Banshee and all of the other buildings in the area are non-themed. Plus The Bat is already named for Transylvania. Oktoberfest needs a flat ride package like Carowinds got for their new County Fair and retheme Adventure Express to Barvarian Mountain railroad. That would bring the area alive again.

And red-to-yellow trains, complete redwood staining of the coaster, trees around the entire station instead of that hideous aluminum building......

Its one of the best run rides in the park. The lines move fast because of the way they operate it. They aren't waiting for people to cross the train and drop off items on the other side. All coasters should be operated like this, with no carry-ons (and reasonable all-day locker prices).

Renovate International Street so it is similar to Kings Dominions set up with shade and separated sitting areas along the fountain. Right now it is VERY trashy looking with little shade and those white tables. Renovate Oktoberfest with new flat rides and retheming Adventure Express into Barvarian theme. Renovate Action Zone into an actual themed area. Probably Transylvania given the coasters that are there Return of the cable skyway Replace Vortex with a B & M floorless Giga similar to Fury Replace Boo Blasters with a quality dark ride like was previously there (Phantom Theatre and Enchanted Voyage were both quality) Get rid of the 2 ugliest things in the park, Stunt Coaster & Tomb Raider buidling

I agree! Two of the rides mentioned here wanted by Tim Fisher to "modernize the park" are the 2 biggest eyesores in the park. The Tomb Raider building and Stunt Coaster. The Keelboats with the lake and the Antique Cars with their landscaping were definitely not eyesores, they added beauty to the park. So the person that did the most damage to Kings Island now has a name! Tim Fisher.

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Exciting or annoying? I vote annoying. The atmosphere looks great all in orange lighting, but sitting by the fountain its annoying have the random flames shooting. Kings Dominion does not such thing. Just fog.