robintodd

Had the Turkey Ball last night and it is not to be missed. 2nd favorite thing so far this year behind the Meatloaf Burger. Well done Culinary Team!

Going off the average price of a meal at ki is 14.99, it would make sense to me that the intention is you get $15.00 off the price but it counts as a "meal" on your meal plan. Just my guess.

Went on Friday and Saturday. The park looked fantastic. Seems like there are more merriment charachters than last year. I saw 4 by the time I reached the Eiffel Tower walking in the park. Plenty of places to get hot chocolate. The Winterfest mugs were definitely not a prominent with the new Drink Plan Plus coffee/hot chocholate option. I did notice many more cookie boxes this year. I can't remember how much Ms. Clause's cookies were last year but I think they were more than this year because I don't remeber seeing as many boxes around the park last year? 20.99 seems to be a better price. Finally Shooting Star is fantastic! Such a great call back. Nicely thought out and executed. Well done KI!!!!! Nice to see the park putting in something that is sure to inspire conversations between children and their parents/grandparents trying to explain exactly what a drive in is/was.

And the Meatloaf Burger....don't forget the Meatloaf Burger

If memory serves me correctly Flight of Cheer is fine but in the past it had to be above freezing when they started running Mystic Timbers. It could go below (29 - 26) after it started but the if the temperature was below 32 at park open, it would not run. I would believe the same would be true for The Racer and soap box racers, but haven't heard anything yet.

I have to point out that I believe the first 2 itterations of Winterfest had no coasters and was still so popular that people wanted it back. I believe most people go for the atmoshpere. Then comes the food with the meal plans. It will be cold this weekend, but I'm pretty sure it will be crowded. People gotta eat

I mentioned this on the comments of Tower Topics so I'll reiterate here. I think from the video TT showed that it would be fitting to use the Son of Beast station and the old Wild Animal Safari area to build the coaster. In the video it has different animals. Lots of room for it and the Lantern interaction during haunt would have served as a hint. I'm thinking they will use that building for something or they would have just demolished it alltogether. Anyway, I would be happy with that, assuming they will be saving capital for a coaster in 2027 in The Vortex plot.

Word is retracking. But I would think they are only going to run 2 trains. Not sure if that's two trains on 1 side or a train on each. From what I understand it makes it easier get a start on tearing down trains for off season rehab.

Also Blitzen's Brass Band is returning.

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I'd like to aknowledge the huge improvement to Cornstalkers this season. It's practically a new maze and I absolutely love the upgrade. Last weekend my grandson and I noticed a small burlap "sock puppet" with eyes and a mouth on the hand of a scareacter in a corn stalk suit. It was simply funny that people would look at the puppet and the actor would pop at them. I felt compelled to tell the yellow shirt I saw at the entrance that I appreciated the extra effort that brought a smile to our faces. Well played.

The booze machines were planned for from last year. I believe the supply/demand for the icees forced their hands on getting new machines. I also think they added another icee machine in the Ice Scream zone.

Which effects are you speaking of? I don't remember hearing any original Phantom Theatre sounds, Poe's poems, Police car, etc. in years past. But I get it, Disney and Universal do a thing and it's cool but when KI does it it's a "money grab".

Thanks for clearing that up. I can see your side now. The perfomances in China, France, etc. were axed for covid. Maybe they had a problem booking them back or the people wanted more money, didn't think it was worth their time, etc. I think there may be more into that decision than at first glance. The China one seemed popular but if only 1 or 2 draws crowds then what do you do with the others that don't? Would not seem right to only have a country or two with performers and the rest not have them. For me the lack of tasting cards was a bigger blunder. I think they realsize that and they will be back next year if I had to guess. I do think they definitely need someone on a cart who just goes around and takes care of the drink/icee stations all day. They could paint it up with "Hydration Department" and really have fun with it. It would show they are actively trying to resolve the problem and they could have icee and Coke all over it to increase visibility and therefore sales. For that matter, sell the drink plans from it. There's alot you can do. I would guess you would only have to send it out 2 or 4 times a day depending on how busy the park is. Just my 2 cents.

So what you seem to be saying is that if the park makes less money, they will spend more of it on decorations? Seems counter-intuitive. One would think the more people buy the more money the park would have to spend. I would point out the new food and wine festival (where as it could have been better, they at least made an attempt), the Lanterns (yes, they cost $40 but they did a lot of work with the activation points) and the new Icee stands/revamped French Quearter were added this year. We'll see how much love the water park gets along with the new addition. But I have a feeling 2026 will see a major park install coming.

I was surprised with the execution as well! That is why I'm writing a bit more than usual about them. As I've said before there is an "interactive" mode and a "tag game" mode. Not sure how the tag game works, but the lantern turns green and when you go to somone with a green lantern and press the "button" on the front of the lantern it turns their lantern red. Don't know how long it takes to reset but if someone buys them for each of their children they could use them all year long. If I figure out the tag game I'll write about it, or if anyone else has an idea how it works, please share with the class.