robintodd

Just got back from the park and am pleased to report that broccoli beef is BACK at Panda Express!!!! (seems as it was addedback last week). It's not on the menu board but they were making a fresh batch at 9 and said it's doing very well.

Smart move. Props to those involved.

After seeing the "DEMO LOOP" from the IAPPA show with Maestro and No Legs Larrys, I wouldn't be surprised if that was continuously shown in the lobby where the queue is. Seem to tell the story and be about 15 minutes long. (of course I'd much rather have what was done before.):

Went last night and had a fantastic time. Here were the highlights: 1) The meatloaf burger at Juke Box was fantastic. Unlike the other offerings they have a meatloaf burger displayed (unwrapped) and when you order they grab one out of the hot box behind the counter! Definitely the same quality as when it was at the Brewhouse and it's nice to get fries, onion rings or both as a side. 2) Tinkers show is FANTASTIC (I saw the 2nd show, extremely long line(s)). It is a broadway style "review" with fantastic sets and props. Definetly more money was put into this than previous shows and is by FAR (in my opinion) the best Winterfest show they have ever had. I put it on par with Phantom Theatre Encore. So much energy and Santa no has a much bigger part in the show and the addition of Mrs. Clause is a welcome addition. I got a little teary eyed when the did the "in the mood" number, it brought back such great memories of Woodchopper's Ball Revue. Another favorite part was the TAP NUMBER!!!! Nice to see a couple of nods to the choreography from the tap number in PT Encore. 3) The park looked fantastic. Nice to see the Trolly not runnng along Coney Mall, always seemed to be more of a nucance than anything. 4) Cannot wait to try the 2 new Fry options at potato works. They look really good. I'm going to have to make extra trips down so get all the food options in this year (the turkey ball looks better than last year's version). 5) The parade was like last year and continues to be a must see for me. The energy that is put into the event is amazing and I can't tell anyone involved with pulling it off how much I truely appreciate the effort. 6) One noticable deletion was the replacement of the plastic old time figures in front of Antique Cars (I didn't see any on top of Juke Box either). There are new lighted trees there so I'm afraid they won't make a comeback. If they are no longer going to display/use them (I didn't see them anywhere else in the park). I hope they sell them online, I would love to have one. All in all it seems to be an upgrade from last year. I'm sure there are things that may show up in the weeks to come (crossing fingers for the return of the plastic old time figures somewhere else in the park). Well done to all involved and will be looking to return several times this season!!!!!!!!

In addition the ability to see how "much time is left" before your next drink/meal. that would save alot of confusion.

As some of you may know the first thing I do every morning is check the webcams at CP and KI. This season has been interesting watching the transformation of Snowflake Lake on the Towercam. It has been left on so everything can be seen. Since Monday I've seen at least 10 people working every day, 11-12 hour days including this morning getting it ready. As of this am they are almost done with the 1st layer of plywood. Not sure how many layers there are (I would guess 2 along with the "cooler" layer of panels. Also of note, looks like the 2x2's and plywood are all new this year or at least they all look like they came packaged from a lumber company. Not sure if they use new every year (seems like they would re-use every couple of seasons) and if it's true they re-use the lumber that may point to Snowflake Lake returning for the next couple of season. Either way kudo's to those working on the project along with the rest of the team, looks like most halloween stuff was down by mid-day on Monday. It's been interesting seeing the transformation in real time and it certainly looks like they aren't "cutting costs" in this aspect of the transformation. Well done by all involved and can't wait to see the park for the first time in the 2nd week of November today.

Don't forget the Moose, the one that should have told you the park was closed

I never recall seeing a floral clock, rather it was a floral representation of whatever attraction for what was new that year.

We also saw Fangs on Friday, wanted to see it because consistanly it is the best show in any park and I always look forward to the Red Garter Saloon Rock show. Wanted to see it Friday to catch it Saturday as well, and we decided not to catch it Saturday because the show was sub-par in our opinion. The sound was not on par with previous years (balance was way off) and just not the same intensity. Don't get me wrong we enjoyed it (KI needs something similar) it's just that we weren't blown away as we have been in previous years. I would suggest hitting the second to last weekend. Seems as though the last Sat/Sun is always crowded. Get there Thurs, it's less crowded and stay however many nights you want. We stay 3 because it acts as an insurance policy in case of bad weather. Maybe we'll run into you next year! Cheers.

My wife and I were also there Thusday - Sunday. We always go the last weekend, been doing it for 26 years now. Thursday as mostly a wash out. Friday the park attendance was VERY light. Never saw more than a half hour wait for SC all day. Expected it to get busier at night but it never did. I put it up to trick or treating. Kids may love CP, but the love candy more Saturday was completely busy. 90+ minute wait for SC. Only stayed till about Noon on Sunday just to get a last walk around the park. The main thing that stuck with me was the mazes. With the exception of Cornstalkers 2.0 (we didn't go thorough Slaughterhouse) but the other 4 all had changes/updates to them. I found the $10 worth it. Lines were 45-60 minutes so the crowd didn't seem to mind the cost either. The biggest change was they took the shower scene with the bugs out of Eerie Estates and replaced it with spiders and webs??? Didn't go thourgh Cove because the line was outrageous (no maze access required) and also skipped Bayou because it's a hike just to the walk through. All in all great trip but think we'll be doing the second to last weekend from now on. Tomo's inside Breakers was closed for the last weekend (happens from time-to-time) and we both really look forward to that dinner.

It's very nice. Web cam views are much larger.

Up here at CP they have had Thursday's for the past 3 years or so. They keep doing them up here even with very light crowds. That would signal to me the keeping them at KI. Up here with the wind and low park attendance the only coasters running were Maverick, Corkscrew, Iron Dragon and Mine Ride. Decent line for Conjuring but no other out or indoor scarezones/mazes were open. 12 Rv's, 6 cabins and only about 50 cars in the parking lot for Breakers this am. Should be a good day.

They also stated that it will be replaced with a different show. I don't believe Winterfest is going anywhere. People spend plenty of money there. I see several boxes of cookies being carried around, plenty of people skating, buying the specialty hot chocolates and pulling out credit cards at restraunts. There seems to have been several misses this year. At the beginning of the year people were talking about cutting hours and or days and instead we got extended hours (sundays till 11 for haunt) added days (thursdays) and an additional weekend after Haunt. (strange that if you are expecting anyone to admit missing those points you'll only hear crickets...) We are fortunate enough to have enough of a population around the park to keep it going with little to no competition. Kings Dominion competes Bush Garden Williamsburg an hour away. We have no major park that close to us. We compete against animals inside their shelters in a zoo and drive-through attractions. People during the winter tend not to drive too far away from home. If you want a sign of Winterfest going away I believe the first sign will be when Ice Skating is not offered one year. It takes ALOT of money to do that and since they have already seemed to drain the fountain in preparation for Winterfest, I think it's safe to say Winterfest is safe for the foreseeable future.

They are working around the base as well as 6 square black pieces of metal. You can see it from the Orion webcam. Plus there was a trick and a van parked there this am. My guess is they may have it ready for next weekend (Columbus day weekend) since it will be the busiest days of the fall seaon.

Activity around the Monster this morning. No sight of the arms back yet, but movement none the less.