Winterfestguy

The huge sledding hill for KK Christmas is being built over the wave pool in Hurricane Bay - it’s a very impressive structure

CP should have used the months of down time to install free lockers in the somewhere in the queue line. Management knows how long the ride will be closed (although they don’t want to publicly admit the exact time frame, but given a re-design of “parts”, CP should have had time to be able to the add the free lockers in the queue (instead of saying not enough time prior to opening when the ride has been closed for months). Hopefully over the winter months free lockers will be added. ”Due to the later revision, the integration of lockers into the queue, similar to those at Steel Vengeance, was not possible.”

Agree that the fountain re-do was a bust and the re-do was a very cheap design with no spinner or swaying jets. While the park could have made the decision to re-construct the original fountain pedestals with updated plumbing and led lighting effects for a grand appearance, the park chose to replace the pedestals with only stationary jets which were much cheaper and within the budget allocated (as well as updating the filtration system under the stage). The idea of having Snoopy direct a daytime fountain show to music would definitely help utilize the fountain better and provide another summertime day show at a very cheap overall cost. It might be possible to construct a lower level platform facing the fountain on the back side of the current stage for which Snoopy and friends to direct such a water show.

CF/Six is not interested in park museums any longer. The Cedar Point town square museum closed during the pandemic for “remodeling” but later was announced it would not re-open. Such a shame as there were coaster models and interesting park exhibits in that park museum. Chain wide budget cuts make any park museum possibility very unlikely now.

Quickly sold out by 7pm

Tickets went on sale at 4pm today for Coastermania.

Almost every year at Coasterstock it has rained at least one of the days. Looks like the ACE event (in place of Coasterstock) will be no exception. Pack that rain gear and be prepared for last minute itinerary changes due to weather on Friday!

I would imagine that the Coastermania itinerary Q&A session will be updated for a different speaker given TT2’s current technical issue, but will see. 7:00 – 8:00 PM: Q&A Session A conversation and Q&A about Top Thrill 2 featuring Mike Maney, VP of Maintenance and Construction

“Details for #Coastermania are now live. Tickets will go on sale early next week. As always, read the info so you're fully prepared before planning your visit or purchasing a ticket!“ However, seeing that the TT2 trains having to be modified and the required retesting, remains to be seen if TT2 will even be open for Coastermania. Also, appears no t-shirt but a TT2 poster instead.

It was the double grilled chicken sandwich in the Brewhouse that was basically discontinued immediately after opening day. It has been widely reported that the double grilled chicken sandwich at the Rivertown Brewhouse, which was advertised to be a new food item along with the Dining Plans, has been permanently removed from the menu due to popular demand. This appears to now be official.

While I am sad to see the Melt go, this food location has always struggled through the years from a Pizza Hut, Snoopy’s Grill, to Melt. With all the food failures at this location I would think this location will become the new Prestige lounge similar to what occurred at Carowinds.

KK is offering 50% off of food for their season pass holder preview day May 5. That’s better than any of the CF Pass Perks of $2 off a pretzel or cotton candy.

Security doesn’t seem to know their own policy with line jumping - holding a place in line is not allowed (the “or” in the policy rule makes it clear), but then again KI always seems to be inconsistent in applying their own rules depending upon who responds Line Breaking- includes leaving and re-entering a line for any reason or place holding in line

Think the bigger issue will be anyone with loose fitting shoes having to be removed before the queue - which means you are basically barefoot for a considerable amount of time on gross, dirty, hot concrete - and what is considered loose fitting shoes by one queue entrance attemdant may not be considered loose fitting shoes by the next (no surprise as CP always has inconsistencies in enforcing their policies) Loose-fitting shoes (any shoe without a strap or back, such as flip-flops or sandals) are not permitted past the entrance. Please keep this in mind, as you may not enter the line barefoot nor leave your shoes near the ride’s entrance.

Just like with steel vengeance there are not enough lockers outside of the TT2 entrance to accommodate everyone’s loose articles, especially later in the day. Common sense would tell you no loose articles on a coaster of this magnitude so you design with the coaster with an in-queue lockers just like Universal does. What a stupid big miss my CP - can’t wait to see and hear all the complaints

Used our drink passes at Tower drinks today as virtually no line. It was interesting that a group of kids in front of us asked for “water cups”. The associate said water cups were not available at this location and to check with any of the eating places. Could KI finally have solved the kids hack of asking for a water cup at the drink refill stations and then proceeding to fill it with soda? Just thought it was interesting and will see if that policy holds all season or Tower drinks has just not yet stocked their water cups.

It is sad when they mention the nachos and smoked wings for the Brewhouse in the chef’s write up and then don’t even have them listed on the released menu link. Also noticed the menu link does not identify which menu items are actually on the meal plan (only identifies snack items on the premium dining plan). Will wait to see how many “up charges” occur with the various menu items later tonight.

Last season the steel vengeance lockers went down, and since serviced by an outside contractor, were out of service for several days forcing people to use the small bank of paid lockers outside the entrance (which were all use). We decided not to ride as it was way too far to go back to the closest locker set and return to ride. If CP wants to be like Universal, then they need to get an adequate supply of lockers to support the number of people that the queue can adequately hold (and have plans to fix the lockers quickly if they go down).

Not too surprising KI wants to push alcohol sales by adding another dedicated location since alcohol drinks have a huge profit margin, and as they say, alcohol sells (which equals more profits for the park). However, families are looking for food/snack options, not alcohol, and probably agree the choice of a cocktail location by the park was probably a poor one in terms of an overall family/child/teen park satisfaction.

New Holiday World Tours - seems like KI has really missed the boat in added extras to their potential summer attendees. KI could have easily restored their Beast early morning walkback with breakfast in the Feathaus for $199.

Now KK has also added a Petal Palooza festival as well as announcing a Forth of July festival with extended hours. Nice to see new and exciting functions coming to the park. https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/explore-the-park/festivals-events/petal-palooza/

It is interesting that the KK event runs through January 4 giving the school kids and families extra time to enjoy their vacation time while KI Winterfest ends on Dec 31. Wonder if more days will equal more profits for the park? Will be interesting to see how this event competes with the Louisville Down Undef Lights which is very popular.

Nice to see Carowinds open on Easter March 31 (Easter is early in 2024) and open for the entire week after Easter for spring breakers. But at the same time sad since Kings Island won’t be open on the Easter Sunday in March.

Getting in the front gate at opening time is ridiculous as everyone crammed shoulder to shoulder in a small, tight space along with the the secondary age/chaperon check. Lots of little kids, wagons and strollers. Lines for houses stretched over 70 minutes in some cases. Monsters Rock just needs to be retired (monster costumes were the worst in years and the band is louder than the singers). Nytewalkers had pretty much capacity crowds for all but their first show, a little better than last season. With a lack of a main show on the fountain stage, Haunt lacks the feeling it used to (miss the fire eater/spinner). I only saw two monsters on Coney Maul, and in general less monsters everywhere, even in the scare zones - budget cuts are very obvious. They are pushing alcohol this year as there is a new bar made from shipping containers in drop zone and a portable beer stand by the Eiffel Tower. Agree, it is an entirely different atmosphere than previous years (with all the little kids and strollers making Haunt almost family friendly). Time will tell if this new direction of a more family friendly Haunt is just as profitable.

I think they are experimenting with cleaning the park at Carowinds to make their bag policy more effective. If you enter during the day, you can bring purses, diaper bags, fanny packs, etc. (probably strollers prohibited as well) - With the cleaning of the park, in theory, all these times would leave the park (assuming they will reset and clear out the lockers of items left behind during the daytime hours?). Wonder when KI will have the park clearing and enforcement of the bag policy?