Losantiville Mining Co.

Tonight's visit to Winterfest was short and sweet! We only popped into the park for dinner, but still got to experience some of the magic of Winterfest during our time there. I used my Six Flags app in the park for the first time since the big v5.0.0 update and it worked every time I used it. We got to see about the first minute of Yuletide Follies on our way over to the Tannenbaumhaus for Swingin' Into Christmas. The line for LaRosa's felt a little long, but not enough to warrant opening the second line. We saw the show twice and I noticed that two of the performers were wearing the same costume. That's odd because normally all of the performers are wearing outfits that go together, but nobody normally has the same exact outfit. It's just something I noticed was different and led me to believe that someone else might've called in sick with this being a quick change. (Side note: I think I heard that the Cedar Fair costume department is based out of Worlds of Fun/Kansas City in general. Is that true?) I really enjoyed Swingin' Into Christmas and thought it was very energetic! The live band really helped and might be what was missing from Ghouls Gone Wild that made it feel so bland for me.

Kings Island has put out its first round of America 250 merchandise in preparation for the national Quarter Millennium celebration coming in 2026. The new merchandise comes complete with the official logo (as seen in other park chains' celebrations) and a new park name/skyline design. Other patriotic apparel is available from previous releases. There are currently: a new America 250 t-shirt (big design on the front, logo on left sleeve) a new America 250 hoodie (big design on the back, logo on the breast) a new America 250 cross body bag (logo on front pocket, no KI logo) a new America 250 baseball cap (logo on front, no KI logo) an older patriotic Kings Island t-shirt (KI logo on the front, no America 250 logo) an older patriotic Kings Island baseball cap (KI logo on the front, no America 250 logo) I think the flag might be the only piece of AI art on the new merchandise (given it has 11 stripes at most and does not follow regular physical conventions between the obverse/reverse sides where visible) but overall looks very nice.

I think someone said these "visitor cities" were where people visited from, not the cities where parks are located. My question is this: how do they know the home cities and how is NYC 2nd on this list? I believe the numbers, but it's interesting to see. Kings Island being in the top 5 overall is not surprising. As much as I want the other parks to also increase, I very much hope KI maintains its top 4 status overall. We have a very special thing going on and I'd hate to see anything happen to it.

They were having a Winterfest Media Day either yesterday or today. I think it might be today because I saw posts with all of the specialty food posted today.

Rivertown Expansion V2: Most of this is the same as before, but now with better visuals and a new reason for being. For its 50th anniversary season, the world's longest wooden coaster receives new surroundings and brings some of the old Rivertown back to life. What this expansion trades in quantity of attractions, it gains in long-term beauty. I'd love to see a small food stand — like Rivertown Potato Works but smaller — added somewhere in there as well. The mystique of walking down a dead-end path to The Beast would be lost, but I think this expansion would be better than nothing. These photos could serve as inspiration for what the new additions could look like. Image: Bob Joiner / KICentral; the old Rivertown | The bottom of the photo shows the old Rivertown Reel amphitheater. The lake under KCKC would serve as the basis for the new lake. A new gazebo next to the lake might also be a good option for smaller shows like Jingle Jazz. This would also be an opportunity to add a few more trees and shrubs back next to the railroad tracks. Image: Bill Rinehart / WVXU; Kemper House in Heritage Village, Sharon Woods Park | New Indoor VIP Lounge or other building. This style would play into Rivertown's "History of Cincinnati" theme. Credit: Google Street View; Rivertown Junction at Dollywood | New Indoor/Outdoor VIP Lounge. This kind of building would be closer to the VIP Lounge at Kings Dominion and would include some outdoor seating for the nicer days. Credit: Google Street View; Wilderness Theater at Six Flags Great Adventure | New Outdoor Amphitheater. This would provide a venue with covered seating and the potential to be somewhat enclosed for Winterfest. Credit: Google Maps; Red Garter Saloon at Cedar Point | This building would be a good basis for a new indoor entertainment venue and is about the same size as the Rivertown Arcade. Its smaller stage would provide a more intimate environment for shows.

I could've sworn there was another one after that. If not, oh well then. I just saw a photo from the earliest Festhaus setup that had the old logo in that spot and realized it was no longer there. The sign for Diamondback also has the park name on it but the Banshee sign doesn't. The Diamondback logo might also be the only one with the park name that does not have the park logo on it. I know part of the reasoning is so they can use that logo in ads and such so people associate the MT name with KI (which is funny since the MT initials are also now used in Dorney Park). Queen City Stunt Coaster has the logo on its billboard. Orion has the park named just about everywhere except for the sign. Neither The Beast nor The Bat have the KI name on their main signs. I'd love to know the reasoning behind those choices. Side note: does anyone know when/why the capital "I" was changed on the classic Kings Island logo? I always thought there could be people who mistook it for a capital "J" and that might be why. Personally, I feel like it changed whenever the park started to use the classic logo more and made the dot of the first "i" into a Cedar Fair flag and especially when they remade the logo for Phantom Theater Encore.

Does anyone know when they removed the big Kings Island sign from over the Festhaus stage? I noticed its absence recently and realized that it hasn't been there for a while.

I wonder if the "escape room" model would really work at a park like Kings Island considering how SlingShot, Xtreme Skyflyer, and the laser tag games all went the way of the dodo bird. Maybe it'd be better if Universal's Horror Unleashed do well during the summer months. A Vekoma Madhouse would be my choice if the park chooses to keep the Tomb Raider building. Like I've been repeating recently, I'd rather have an area expansion with a new lake in that spot

One issue with adding something like Night Flight Expedition to Kings Island is that the building itself is at least double (maybe even triple) the size of the Tomb Raider building (100' x 100'). I can't get a good measurement of the NFE building, but it's quite a bit larger. For reference the entire Phantom Theater building is about 160' x 180', Action Theater is about 160' x 130', and Queen City Stunt Coaster is very approximately 375' x 250'. All of this to say: it would be very difficult to put a coaster of NFE's size on that plot while effectively using the Tomb Raider building. I really like the idea of updating Action Theater with modern technology and reopening it on a full-time basis. The biggest changes I think the park would need to complete before that would be the addition of a Vortex replacement coaster and a completely new queue line experience. The current queue is so far out of the way both physically and visually. It was better presented before WindSeeker with its plaza, but now even WindSeeker is less visible behind Kings Mills Antique Autos. I personally wish WindSeeker could have gone in Area 72, but either way its presence doesn't help to show off Action Theater. If the park can add a new dark ride, I'd really love to see it. A Vekoma Madhouse would probably fit very well within the Tomb Raider building if they don't take it down in favor of a Rivertown expansion. Otherwise, the park can do a lot with the open space they currently have IMO.

I've successfully logged into the app. It's very nice so far and looks a lot like the new Carowinds app I posted about last month. The overall experience is a lot like the Cedar Fair apps (like Oldiesmann said), but the presentation is in the style of the new websites. For the Legacy Six Flags parks I was able to use my Cedar Fair pass number to add my pass there, and it seems to be the same across all passes now. I'm a little worried about if any features were removed for it to be on one giant app, but the App Store preview shows mobile ordering and a nicer Wait Times view. My largest gripe about this new app is that it now takes two clicks to access your season pass to scan your QR code. I already use my Apple Wallet to get through the parking tolls, but it was already hard enough to get my QR code up when i was headed into the toll booth.

Six Flags 2026 Events (as of 12/01/2025) Most of these are group events, but I believe the Special Events calendars will be released closer to each park's 2026 Opening Day. I'm personally expecting the major parks to host an America 250-related festival, though only time will tell. Canada's Wonderland (Vaughan, Ontario) https://www.sixflags.com/canadaswonderland/events?event-type=groups Performance in the Park (Any Operating Day) Physics, Science & Math Days (Any Operating Day) Cadets Day (May 23) SHSM Certification Series (May 7, 14, 15, & 19) Festival of Music (Select Dates May 7 - June 12) Engineering Day (May 8) Wondercoaster Building Contest (May 8) WonderLEAD — Youth Leadership Conference (May 20 & 21) Marketing and Sales Seminar (May 22) Graduation Celebration Package (M-R in June, Excluding 6/29 and 6/30) Carowinds (Charlotte, NC) https://www.sixflags.com/carowinds/events?event-type=groups Performance in the Park (Select Public Operating Days) Festival of Music (Select Dates March 14 - May 30 | 10am-2pm) Education Days (Select Dates March 27 - May 22 | 10am-2pm) Youth Leadership Day (March 27, April 17, & May 8 | 9:30am-11am) Meteorology Day (April 10, May 15 | 10am-12pm in Aeronautica Landing) Future Health Professionals Day (April 24 | 10am) School-Only Thursdays (April 30, May 14 | 9am-5pm) Grad Nite (May 1 | 7pm-1am) Engineering Day (May 1 | 10am-12am) Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) https://www.sixflags.com/cedarpoint/events Performance in the Park (Any Public Operating Day) Amusement Park 101 (May 11, 14, & 15) Physics, Science, & Math Days (May 11, 14, & 15) Festival of Music (May 13, 14, & 15) Engineering Day (May 14) Girl Scouts Day (June 24) Dorney Park (Allentown, PA) https://www.sixflags.com/dorneypark/events Performance in the Park (Any Public Operating Day) Coaster Quest (Any Public Operating Day) Engineering Day (May 2026) Frontier City (Oklahoma City, OK) https://www.sixflags.com/frontiercity/events School Days (May 1 & 8) Kings Dominion (Doswell, VA) https://www.sixflags.com/kingsdominion/events Performance in the Park (Any Public Operating Day) Dance Festival (April 11) Festival of Music (Select Dates April 25 - June 6) Marketing Day (May 1) Education Days (Select Dates May 1 - June 5) Girl Scout Badging (June 6) Scare School (October 10) Kings Island (Mason, OH) https://www.sixflags.com/kingsisland/events?event-type=groups Performance in the Park (Any Public Operating Day) Festival of Music (April 24, May 1, May 8, & May 15) Physics, Science, & Math Days (April 24 & May 1, 8, 14, 15, & 22) STEM Days (May 8 & 15) Knott's Berry Farm (Buena Park, CA) https://www.sixflags.com/knotts/events?event-type=groups Performance in the Park (Any Public Operating Day) Adventures in Education (Any Public Operating Day; Excluding Sundays, based on availability) Fire & Law Tribute Days (January 5 - 22) Festival of Music (May 1) Knott's Grad Nite (May 14 & 28) Jr. High/Middle School (May 14 | 7pm-12am) High School (May 28 | 9pm-2am) Michigan's Adventure (Muskegon, MI) https://www.sixflags.com/miadventure/events Performance in the Park (Any Public Operating Day) School Opening Day (May 20) School Days (May 22, May 27-29, June 3-5) Darien Lake (Corfu, NY) https://www.sixflags.com/darienlake/events LIVE NATION® Concert Series (July 7, 11, 19, 26, 31, August 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 14, 30, September 3, 11, 17, & 28) Music Fest (May 15, 16, 18, 22, 29, 30, June 5, & 6) Education Days (May 18) Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, CA) https://www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom/events/groups/student-and-youth/education-days Education Days Discovery Field Trip Fiesta Texas (San Antonio, TX) https://www.sixflags.com/fiestatexas/events Education Days Grad Nite (May 14) Great Adventure (Jackson Township, NJ) https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/events Grad Nite (June 5 | 8pm-1am) Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, IL) https://www.sixflags.com/greatamerica/events Physics Day (April 23) Grad Nite (April 24, May 9 & 16 | 9:30pm-3am) Math & Science Days (Any Regularly Scheduled Operating Day April 25 - June 30) Dance Fest (May 3, 17, 31) Technology & Engineering Day (May 15) Great Escape (Lake George, NY) https://www.sixflags.com/greatescape/events Education Day Magic Mountain (Valencia, CA) https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain/events?event-type=groups AVID Party (March 13) Jr. Grad Nite (May 8 & 22 | 6pm-12am) Grad Nite (May 15 & 29 | 8pm-3am) Six Flags New England (Agawam, MA) https://www.sixflags.com/newengland/events Educational Days Six Flags Over Georgia (Arlington, TX) https://www.sixflags.com/overgeorgia/events Education Days (April 16 & 23, May 7 & 14 | 9am-4pm) Grad Nite (May 1 | 7pm-2am) Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington, TX) https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/events?event-type=groups Education Days (April 24, May 1, 8, 14, 15, 21, & 22) Grad Nite (May 8 | 6pm-12am) Six Flags St. Louis (Eureka, MO) https://www.sixflags.com/stlouis/events Physics Day (April 24) Education Days (May 1, 8, 15, & 22) Valleyfair (Shakopee, MN) https://www.sixflags.com/valleyfair/events Performance in the Park (Any Public Operating Day) Appreciation for Education Days Career Day Engineering Day School Days Marketing Day Homeschool Days Physics & Science Days Scout Days Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, MO) Festival of Music (Select Dates May 2 - 17) Education Days

Fiesta Texas has added a Prestige Passholder Midnight Bash event for December 31st happening from 10PM-midnight. Eligible participants will be able to access exclusive ride time while the rest of the park (minus these rides) stays open to guests. It would be nice to see this kind of event come to the other major parks next year. That's the kind of thing the Prestige Pass would be good for. It would also be a good place to bring in separately-ticketed events for non-Prestige passholders. I'd certainly consider upgrading to Prestige if this kind of event was included.

I'd love to see the lampposts brought back, I just wonder where the park would put them along the street. They'd probably be best going in the side areas and toward the front/back of International Street. Without the planters under the trees I don't think there's a great place to put them around the umbrellas. The lighting towers need to stay on the sides of the fountain as well so we can keep having the fountain shows. There are quite a few cracked pavers, the History Walk does not have a stone made for 2025, and there are a few parts of the fence around the fountain that are on the verge of being broken from people leaning on them/bumping into them. I hope we can see some repairs made if they decide to improve any other parts of the I-Street area (like I really hope they will).

The ongoing roof work has spread to the other half of the structure.

While I do think the additions were very well done and were needed it feels like the thought behind each one was less thorough than before. I'll praise the park and a lot of the things it has done until my fingers grow weak, but that doesn't change the fact that a large enough amount of others online have questioned those recent choices for me to have doubts. I wholeheartedly agree with the fact that these mini-lands were done very well and helped improve them compared to what was there before. Part of my worrying is that there will be visible gaps in the thought process behind Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare like there were with the other additions. Adventure Port and Camp Snoopy opened more than a month after the season started. Both Orion and River Racers were the smallest version of their models (giga coaster and water coasters) possible. Not all has been bad, though. Mystic Timbers remains one of my top rated coasters and has a great break run experience. The park added two amazing new restaurants and brought back the Antique Autos. Orion revitalized Area 72 and gave KI a veritable speed machine. The entire 50th Anniversary celebration hit the ball out of the park with its care and grandeur. Adventure Port and Camp Snoopy each took a dead area and breathed new life into it. Splash River Junction was a very good upgrade to Soak City alongside some much-needed restroom and facility renovations. The new Carousel Pavilion has provided a nicely shaded spot for guests to eat and a new venue for smaller shows. What we've seen from PT:ON so far has been absolutely amazing! The animatronics look really good and show that a lot of care has been put into the development of the new ride so far. My phrasing might have been better said as to call those additions "vastly allocated" instead of "budget" attractions. A lot of good was done with some things falling short in each project. Remember when members of this site were wondering about the rest of the roof not being red on Enrique's? I really like the smaller approaches for less money, I just wish the park management (or whoever's left to do this sort of thing) would take a little more care to ensure that these major additions open on time and do more of what they set out to do. One thing I'm really excited to see is how much more colorful this new Phantom Theater might be compared to the original. I really liked how vibrant the new sets and displays that were shown off at IAAPA were!

It's also cheaper to keep most of the castle. I'm hoping that Sally Dark Rides will help save this new ride from feeling like another "budget" addition like so many have expressed the last few major projects to have been. What we've seen so far gives me faith, but there are a lot of things that could still go wrong.

Would you consider paying next year if they still have the upcharge? The rollout of the announcement was awful either way. I know there is a near 0% chance they make the mazes free, but these leadership changes might lead to more than we think. If I recall correctly, someone on these forums mentioned that incoming Chair Marylin Spiegel has thoughts about events like Halloween Haunt that might drastically change it during her tenure.

I hope they can make the Safety Guide placement look better for PT:ON! The sign on a post is fine, but it doesn't really fit in too well. The up-lighting on the building is nice to see!

Oh yes I'm agreeing with you!

I wholly agree with you on that first point! The Crypt's building and area would be better suited to a Rivertown expansion so a new lake and town area could be added alongside a new dedicated entertainment venue. The Vortex plot should be occupied by a thrill coaster — not a family thrill coaster. It doesn't need to be the biggest or baddest of anything, but a Big Bear Mountain-style coaster would not fit what the area does need. Whatever replaces Vortex needs to be photogenic and vertically diverse. Photogenic to give guests a new visually stunning ride to view from the pathways. Vertically diverse so it both adds to Kings Island's skyline while filling out the space provided by the ravine. The park also has a desperate need for an inversion machine, and family coasters very notably do not feature inversions. If the park was looking to make their next coaster family-friendly, why would they use the Vekoma Ghostrider model on the most recent survey? I understand that Kings Island is a "family park", but those families grow up and want more thrilling coasters as their children get tired of what the park has. There's an argument to be made that it should have a 48" height requirement (or similar). I get why that might be. The issue is that Kings Island has been playing it safe and it has not worked out in their favor very much. Orion was made to appeal to families and didn't receive a high enough ROI: though Orion opened in July during the middle of a global pandemic, so there were other issues with its opening. River Racers was designed to appeal to a larger audience while leaving more budget for other attractions and did not receive very stellar reviews in its first season of operation. My point with these two examples is that appealing to a broader audience hasn't really worked out well for Kings Island. Yes, families who want thrills could go up to Cedar Point, but it's unlikely that they would go as often as they might if they could have something more thrilling at KI. As families struggle more with the economy there's also less chance that they'd be willing to travel the 3+ hours.

Polar Express train rides are offered at a lot of scenic railways and railroad museums. I'd much rather see either a return to the story train or the old-time-y Christmas displays that could come alongside a "History of the Ohio River Valley" upgrade. The KI&MV RR looked like it was nicer with the history aspect and when the speakers weren't calling it an "Old Western Town" since Rivertown is Cincinnati, not the Old West. I'd be all for getting a sponsor for it if it meant better decorations. Dollywood has less decorations for their train ride and still does very well since all of them work. Swapping the engines would be a really nice change! I could understand not wanting to put too much on the engines, but the lighted garland and bows on the passenger cars are very nice. It'd be awesome if there was an easy way to either add heaters to the cars or enclose them for Winterfest, though it'd probably add too much weight for the engines to handle.

Winterfest 2025 has officially started! A quick note: I normally try to use the special names (or close to those) for everything, but I won't do that here right now. My brain needs a little break after Thanksgiving I thoroughly enjoyed my night — despite the cold weather. We parked in some really good parking spots and proceeded through the left-most security gates. It was so nice to be able to use those. International Street looked beautiful in the daylight and felt nicely full of decorations/stuff. Kings Island sometimes has problems with having either too much or too little in an area so this was a nice balance. We stopped into KI Essentials and the KI Trading Co. and found a nice mix of Peanuts, Christmas/Winterfest, and general KI park merchandise. Definitely an improvement over the same-old stuff we saw in every store during the normal season. It was interesting to see how much I recognized as coming from either the Snoopy Boutique and the Emporium. The KI Trading Co. was especially interesting since they had some new metal can decorations ($7.99/each or 4 for $25). There was one for Orion, The Racer, The Beast, Diamondback, Adventure Express, Mystic Timbers, Flight of Fear (I think), Zodiac, Flying Eagles, and Firehawk. I'd have bought one if I wasn't on a no-buy phase right now. Sweet Spot's food offerings looked good. I noticed they haven't gotten another shipment of Boysenberry Jam though. The French Corner appeared to have two items available with the Dining Plan while the Cinnamon Pull-A-Part Bread did not have the dining plan indicator. Next, we watched the Tree Lighting Ceremony. I noticed the "lighter" prop was an ornament again, though I feel like the one from last year was larger and had the Winterfest logo on it. I miss the days of having the big light switch but understand that it was probably more relevant when Lykins Energy Solutions was an event sponsor. We also noted that Snow Flake Lake is itself missing a sponsor this year. In past years it's been sponsored by Kroger and/or Hershey, but this year it is without a sponsor. Winterfest feels like the event to have sponsors within (but not attached to the name), so I wonder what happened with those. The ceremony itself felt a little wobbly, but that was almost certainly because of it being opening night. Like a lot of KI shows they could've used some help with singing at different dynamics to allow the melody/solo parts to stand out, but again it was the first show of the year. My phone also showed that other shows also began at 6:30: I would've expected a little more showtimes offset from the Tree Lighting. Our next stop was to the Artisan Village. There were a lot of wonderful vendors out there, be sure to pay them each a visit! I particularly enjoyed Theme Park Art by Allen's shed where he looked to be working on a new Marathon Turnpike painting. Those vendors put a lot of time and money into their work and would love for you to take home some pieces! I've also heard the vendor fee is higher for Winterfest, so every sale would help them make some of that money back. Go find some wonderful holiday gifts for your families! After looking at showtimes we decided to go to Enrique's for the mac & cheese bar. The line was out the door and took about 30 minutes to get through. We noted that they were actively working to get the other serving line open, but there was no chain across the entrance to said closed line. The options looked to be about the same as last year and were well-enough sized portions. The soda fountains each had a massive amount of ice sitting on the drip tray. I wish the park would have someone go around to clear that out before it started to drop ice onto the floor. The dispenser also seemed to be out of spoons — a utensil some might want to use for their macaroni or tater tot concoctions. Proceeding out the door and over to the Festhaus was a little bit of a doozie because there is no door to go from the back of that enclosure to the Mercado patio. You have to go through the separately-enclosed bar area and then exit to the patio. The Festhaus was insanely packed full of guests with all tables full and more in lines and standing around to watch the show. I enjoyed Swingin' Into Christmas from the table we eventually found, though it would have been nice to have either some standing tables or at least someone to make sure the pathways were clear of strollers and other items. Next I went and used the restroom in Action Zone. I noticed that the big ice block with snow angel indents was missing while the inflatable snow globe was set up next to Coaster Connection. The restroom itself was nice and clean, but could've used some heat for the hand dryers or just paper towels instead. Moving to the other side of the park, we saw that Tinker's Jingle Bell Ball had long lines to go in both sets of doors. I'm a little curious now to see how Tinker's Toy Factory is doing down at Six Flags Over Texas with their 40th Anniversary "Largest Holiday In The Park Ever" event. It was a little darker as the night went on and International Street looked even more beautiful! The Boo Blasters signage are still up (contrary to our speculation) and no other exterior modifications seemed to be visible. The new Charlie Brown Christmas show and What The Dickens had show times listed on one sign and "NO SHOWS TODAY" listed on another. I hope they get those sorted out before too long. Brewhouse looked busy (as always) while Potato Works had no line. The 12 Days of Christmas train ride had zero line as they were trying to fill every available spot on both trains. We got to the line right as the green engine was on its way out of the station and the blue engine immediately pulled into place. I really like the fact that they decorate the train cars for Winterfest with the garland and bows. Something I wish the park could/would do would be to either pre-record the train spiel so it's consistent and clear. We experienced some things that detracted from the overall train experience and it was scuffed to say the least. Our announcer said the spiel, although it was a little hard to hear for a couple of reasons. There were quite a few lights out throughout the entire ride with multiple individual display pieces completely dark. The music sequencing was off even more than in previous years. The two 12 Days of Christmas tracks were each cut off by the next song playing and we were onto Frosty the Snowman before we'd even made it to the 12th day. The Reindeer Stables display (on Fort Coney) had about half of the lights on. I was very sad to see that the Old Town was entirely dark with no decorations to be seen (seen at 1:40 in this video from 1982 https://youtu.be/czgAGxYrRWM?si=jWFqQqrPdiINxREG). The last odd thing about our train ride was that we were stopped beside Mystic Timbers for a few minutes while we waited for the other train to depart the station. I don't know if the trains were running fast or if filling each train was going slow, but it would be very nice to see timing improved in the near future so this doesn't happen too often. To round out our night we headed back around the half loop of the park beginning in the Rivertown Arcade where I noticed that the Walking Dead game booth was off and that there was still a sign telling guests to go to the Coney Arcade to redeem tickets. This section of Rivertown is just begging for an indoor venue and some additional things to activate the space during Winterfest. Maybe they could look into a light show with trees in What's Left of Swan Lake like (I think) there was in one of the previous iterations of the event. We got to enjoy the second half of Jingle Jazz. I thought it used to face toward the Arcade instead of toward the pathway, but that might just be my memory. Shooting Star Lane was nice to see brought back, though I noticed that they removed some items that were present last year. The entrance gates on the Rivertown side were set up better than before. We saw that the movies they show were actually drastically shortened (justified) and cut out the entire part of It's A Wonderful Life where George Bailey never existed. It went straight from Clarence and George jumping in the river to George coming back from the edge. I was fine with missing the parade since it seemed to be the same as in previous years. That being said, I hope it sticks around since it's a staple of the event! Overall, some things I'd like to see improved or changes that could be made: The park desperately needs more indoor seating spaces and indoor activities. Between the Festhaus, Brewhouse, and KI Theater(house) there are a lot of people trying to fit inside than those spaces can really hold. The International Restaurant buffet would probably help, but it can only hold about 160 guests. An indoor show venue in Rivertown and some kind of warming tent or another big indoor restaurant would go a long way to at least providing an illusion of choice. The 12 Days of Christmas train ride has grown stale and its lights are failing. It needs some new life breathed into it. Leaving the Old Town without lights or decorations is a massively missed opportunity since there's documented evidence of how nice it could look! This staple of Kings Island's Winterfest deserves better than it has now and I hope it can be improved for 2026. Make Shooting Star Lane its own named area on the map. The area is so nicely decorated and is so different from the generic Winterfest Way (where now they only have the three religious setups that don't get lit until closer to/for their respective holidays). Bring back Everest the Elf! I know he's probably broken but I want him back! Move Yuletide Follies to the International Showplace or put some benches in front of the Bandstand. Anything would be better than standing there the whole time. I can understand that part of the Tree Lighting Ceremony is that you should be able to turn around to see the Eiffel Tower light up, which is why I suggested using the other open venue. They can use the Bandstand as a little home base for the roaming band/characters and/or a spot for the school ensembles the park is offering a venue to play on. Thanks for reading and Happy Winterfest!

I think some of this might be part of a roof repair. The spacing of the lines feel like they're either for patches in the roof seams (?)(I don't know how that roof was done) or for something like solar panels as was suggested in another post. The width of each line seems a little too wide to be anything besides that. BryanJay, you might be right about the electrical and ventilation work. It's probably time for some upgrades, especially if the new ride will need more power than SDatHC and BBoBH with the new features it's supposed to have.

Do you have an Android or an iPhone? I've noticed that the show times only tend to show on my iPhone app while my group member (an Android user) does not have them in the app. I thought the park was not packed when looking at the midways, but any time we wandered into a building or went along the parade route there were already a ton of people packed in there. The Festhaus, Brewhouse, and Kings Island Theater[house] were all packed and standing-room-only. Enrique's had a line out the door with only one side open, but they were working (a little slower than I'd have liked) to open the other serving line. There was somehow already a mountain of ice under both dispensers on the soda fountains. It would be nice if someone could come around and do something to clear those out before it starts falling off and onto the floor. My review of the night to come in the next post.

This one is a new favorite for me! I really liked the lettering and block-y style. The tree does feel a little like it was made to be put over an interchangeable background, but that doesn't hurt the shirt.