brenthodge

That would be MUCH better solution. What they do now is bad show and dangerous as the “parade” is over and they are fast laning these things through the dark around the tower, then against the flow of people back down coney. They are actually honking horns at people, but then there are a few remaining characters that are secured to the floats that can’t get off still waving and chatting. It’s just a really bad way to end a great addition. I still don’t understand why maybe the floats can’t go through the gate by child center at least for the night, then get driven back home at close. The gate seems very tight, but that could be renovated. Even if a few parked on the backside of the tower for the night and a few went through the larger gate behind boo blasters beside the French cafe.

No snow tonight on coney. Really bad music sync issues on coney. The “light show music” didn’t cut out until the show stop. Then the parade track started and was a good 15-20 sec behind the float track. They eventually stopped the PA track and did just the float speakers, but then at some point got it synced back up. The “race to the start” around the back of the tower and back down coney is just weird and bad show. I personally think they should eliminate show stop 2 to shorten the run time and keep going with the parade back to coney going the route they took with carnivale to eliminate so much back tracking.

Guess that ship has sailed sadly

Good call out! Surprised no one mentioned it. Yes it looks nice.

Sorry, if I saw that show in mid January i would see it as a leftover sophisticated Christmas show. It’s pretty, but comes off as pretty holiday to me.

Ok. “Technically” those things are winter themed, but I doubt anyone mid January is going to get all hopped up to treck out to Kings Island to see Jack Frost and an ice princess. Those things play into the “winter” aspect of the holiday. The extension till the 9th is most likely to capitalize on breaks still going on through the weekend, not testing to see if they can do a general “winter themed” event. I honestly can’t see enough demand in the cold damp to keep being open viable. Maybe they should’ve named the event something else to not give you false hope, but I just don’t see it ever NOT being a Christmas holiday event.

I think that was an “unofficial” spiel change. LOL

I love that mystic gets into the act, but the decor is actually way too pretty for an abandoned lumber mill. I’d suggest use the trim somewhere else in river town. Maybe in my “Homespun Holidays” area and instead use tangled C9 light strings that are glitching and look like they are shorting out. Maybe some trim like from tinsel town, but aged as well. Why are there beautiful trimmed wreaths with white lights in a haunted shed? Old bubble lights, flickering light, shorting out blowmolds and PLEASE give us Krampus on the screen. And changing the name to “Merry Timbers” is just silly. I’d suggest Mystic Christmas. This is one place where the decor could really be used to tell the story instead of just tacked on pretty decorations.

Even last sat about 8 or so before the parade brought everyone back together it was looking a bit “depressing” as people had all dispersed to shows, food lines etc and the midways of Planet Snoopy were getting bare.

Coasters both pretty busy but both have single rider avail if that’s an option for you. Crowds heavier on Fri Sat but all nights a quick drop off right after parade if you can stay later. It’s a BEAUTIFUL night so I’d expect a pretty decent crowd, but it an event that feels better with a healthy amount of people around. Have a great time!

Ok. First it’s “Winterfest” only in name. It’s clearly a Holiday event and second… playlist of winter themed non holiday songs please? Ice Ice Baby?

The proposed “White Christmas Dreams” is actually that show. I just “renamed” it to fit the theme of the area. I really tried with that list to use existing elements and entertainment so it wasn’t a fanboy wish list that could never happen LOL!

Another way to look at it is, if they made it a true “artisan village” with a tree, cohesive decor etc, instead of a thing you just walk by on the way to something, it might actually do better. I’ve worked retail so many years and had managers tell me to put things right at the entrance because it’s got the higher traffic, and sales die because tons of people are just walking by. Sometimes “great traffic” isn’t great for sales.

Ok LONNNNG post but these were some ideas I posted last year about reallocating a lot of what the park already has to make WF stronger in theme and areas clearer. Some of these ideas I saw implemented this year LOL so maybe the park is paying attention. I’ll repost and update a bit and hope for the best next year! WINTERFEST ASSET REALLOCATION ENTRY - No major changes INTERNATIONAL STREET - No major changes - Every “area” gets a large 20’ tree like the one in Coney decorated and lit to match the theme of the area -like a “signpost” ARCTIC WAY (Walkway to Action Zone in front of theatre) CHARACTERS - Snowflake Fairy, Ice Queen and Prince All of the snowfall lights/ blue lights from the walkway between Rivertown and Coney move here. Blue/ white uplighting, Lots of character interaction Menorah and Dreidel stained glass decor (did 2020) Main theatre show becomes “White Christmas Dreams” a show with live orchestra, vocalists and dancers that tells the story of a family that experiences the magic of Christmas one winter’s eve. Arctic Way ties International Street into IceZone ICE ZONE - No major changes (Action Zone) CHARACTER - Jack Frost Ice Zone gets silver trusses with uplighting - maybe lots of LED snowflakes - modern and bright - all the spiral trees form Coney move here Big signature tree is modern, silver, maybe only lights AREA - ENCHANTED ELF VILLAGE (Octoberfest lake) CHARACTERS All elves Brass band becomes Elf Brass band Tinkers remains in Festhaus All elf set pieces move to the areas around the lake with better lighting to really enhance signature tree is lit red/green/gold with large traditional decor and toy ornaments FLORAL CLOCK - acts as major entrance feature for new Candy Cane Lane/Drum Line area Gets great lighting package. AREA - DRUM LINE CHARACTERS Nutcracker Suite Move trumpeters to the walkway leading to drummers with the MERRY CHRISTMAS sign and large gifts, toys etc Four Drummer Drumming moves to stage on Skyline seating pavilion Add uplighting to trees and possible 2-3 footers for lighting rigs to better light the soldier statues Area brightly lit Signature tree in red/blue/white AREA - CANDY CANE LANE CHARACTERS Candy Cane, Candy Dandy, Cotton Candy Fairy Moves to the path to River Town past floral clock Add large LED tree in red/white with light show on the old base where tree was WF’17 Add paved paths in this area (in the grass) to tree and to paved area for candy castle - these could be seating areas and landscaping during normal season and paths through cemetery for Haunt Footings from Winterfest Way WF’17 hold candy cane scaffolding with red/white overhead string lights Line main path and new paths with candy cane markers Kona Ice drink place becomes hot chocolate/candy “gingerbread House” food location TUNNEL OF LIGHTS - From where path straightens out leads into… AREA - HOMESPUN HOLIDAYS (Rivertown) Move all of the crafter booths to this area to play up the “homespun” theme. Some along the path, some set up like a little village in The Beast plaza signature tree with lanterns, white lights, homespun ornaments in the middle of crafters village (beast plaza) Improve look of crafter barns to make look like different style buildings in Rivertown More rustic decor Remainder of Rivertown as previous years AREA - Coca-Cola POLAR BEAR WAY (Path along former Vortex site) Red and white string lights overhead Coca-Cola billboards line the path (like a road to Tinsel Town) Plaza at Backlot becomes the Polar Bear Dance Party Basketball 3 point game gets Coca-Cola Holiday enhancement-maybe “ornament toss” Transition area in to Tinsel Town brighter and bolder AREA - TINSEL TOWN (End of Coney Mall) No major changes - giant tinsel trees are signature tree better clustering of trim elements AREA - CONEY CARNIVAL CHRISTMAS (Coney Mall) No major changes - add overhead color change LED lights from HAUNT (did this 2020) Make even gaudier, bolder, brighter - move the giant light sculptures from the path to River Town here More Silver Tinsel - almost an extension of Tinsel Town AREA - CHARLIE BROWN’S CHRISTMASTOWN (Planet Snoopy) Move the live performance aspect out of the petting zoo - Keep “Sounds of the Nativity” with lighting and music, but maybe Peanuts Narration and sings form theChristmas special instead. “What the Dickens” moves out to new area (keeps the indoor area for inclement weather) International Showplace adds better roof - possible temporary back and sides and heaters “Charlie Browns Christmas Spectacular” moves here with minor modifications. The two side stages of this performance space already work for this show. This brings all of thePeanuts entertainment to one area to create stronger destination AREA - DICKENS SQUARE (where 4 drummer drumming was) CHARACTERS Scrooge, Marley, Ghosts Makes sense tying into International Street Use Scrooge’s house set from 05 WF as background for “What The Dickens” - Can move to Peanuts Showcase during inclement weather Use some graveyard items to make Scrooges cemetary Add some “Old England” set pieces Bring this “Christmas Carol” theme to Boo Blasters AREA - OH HOLY NIGHT (Tower Gardens) Live performers from “Sounds of Nativity” move here - create stage area where Ginger Bread castle went when this was Candy Cane Lane Use existing footers to add light trusses to provide projected “light through stained glass windows” All stained glass nativity pieces move here - maybe not all on one big area, but in smaller clusters that are dim, but light up brighter when songs related to those characters are sung (shepherds, angels, wisemen etc) Twinkling lights in the trees for “stars” - Large star above (Star in the East) Benches provide seating for contemplation

Totally agree. I was just saying I’m not sure what they would do differently, and I don’t think they see the people staying till 8:30 then leaving a “backfire” as the op was suggesting. The fact that it’s as busy as it is at 8:30-9 seems to indicate it is a success, and I saw lots of people eating while they waited on I street for it to get there.

I’m not sure what the answer is. Run it earlier people will leave even sooner. Later… they will probably leave before it’s over. I was walking away from Mystic Sat night about 6:00 and overheard a dad saying to his kids “you guys about ready to head out?” They could’ve only been there 2 hours max even if they showed up right at open LOL. It’s also tricky because it pulls so much from all the other shows/ street characters that they have to fit it in around the other show times. It seemed like it was still busy FOR the parade, but I agree it was an empty out right after. So maybe keeping a significant crowd till 8:30-9 is considered a success.

There are a lot of things not lit this year. Garlands on the tinkers stage are not lit and have plugs just hanging out, several things have sections out etc. they keep filing in with a lot of “off the shelf” flimsy things that just look too small in scale and don’t last. The whole area with random cheap deer behind coney skyline is an example of qty over quality. You can definitely see the commercial grade things over the residential, but even some of that on year 3-4 needs to be retired and replaced. I get this is a hard year budget wise, and I love that we got the parade. I just hope they keep refreshing. As for the lights on the buildings, they either need to be removed after Winterfest each year, or upgrade to permanently installed lighting. The way they installed years ago really doesn’t stand up to year round use. I think the animals are cool, but are such a distraction that I don’t think the show gets the respect it deserves. I’d be cool with ditching the petting zoo all together. I think they were going for the living nativity idea, but those usually just have the set with static characters. That’s all I was expecting it to be the first year. I was blow away when all the vocalists came out. They seem like two separate ideas (pretty sophisticated vocals, mixed With a kids petting zoo) so that’s why I was thinking actually make the animal experience more kid focused. Don’t even call it sounds of the nativity, but maybe just “Away in the manger-a Peanuts nativity”

Really? It’s been done a lot. I mean if HALLMARK is ok with it…

And yea, coney is a disappointment. That was an improvement that has really not been kept up. A lot of elements weren’t even lit Sat night. The Elf props are wasted there. They aren’t lit at all and make no sense with the LED neon stuff. Wish they would move all of the elf props to Festhaus area where the elf show is, light them properly all around the lake and make it a focused elf village. Then really really play up the “CONEY CHRISTMAS” with Christmas dance music, a well maintained light show and incorporate the crazy drug trip tree into it.

Agree about nativity. That’s why I wish it was its own experience, and use cutouts of the peanuts gang for the petting zoo nativity. My idea was put the classic nativity and vocalists in tower gardens with the stained glass nativity. Add additional stained glass panels that light up as different parts of the story are narrated and sung. Call it “Silent Night, Holy Night”. Move Candy Cane Lane to the path to Rivertown using the footers from year one for the candy canes and even add a path in the grass fir some of the additional props. Bring back a big red/white lit tree to the base from year one.

Loved that the “presents” on the ice rink became giant ice cubes. Brought the whole theme together. That was a nice change. Liked how the blue/white wrapped trees framed the path to Ice zone. Not sure why they don’t move ALL of the icy elements to that area and do something different along the path to Coney from Rivertown Planet Snoopy lighting was much better/brighter without the oversized lightbulbs, but the trees/garland wreaths really need work. A lot of the lights don’t work. Maybe that’s a rolling refurbishment. Sounds of Nativity really got more enhancements to draw attention over there and it seemed to work. Still feel like the talent in that “show” is wasted in a venue competing with a petting zoo.

The ending of the parade at the 4th final show stop is ROUGH. I know it’s basically the same as CARNIVALE but that didn’t have as many float based characters. The show stop ends and all the sudden elves, princes, princesses and more just start jumping off floats and cast running by to hurry to their next post. It’s just sloppy. Then unpopulated floats just drive by. It kills the mood the parade just built, and it’s a bit of an operational nightmare while the parade just sits there blocking the oath. I’d sacrifice the final show stop to have them leave by the gate by the men’s restroom at the end of I street to have a cleaner end and then drive the floats back to the storage tent after close or something. Or cut the second show stop to be able to get the floats with cast back to storage sooner so the cast could go back to their spots. Not sure why the walking cast could go with the floats up to the tower and peel off from there. Whatever. It just ends a GREAT addition on a sloppy note.

Agree. I gave it a pass (a bit) when they first released it with the thought there might be some revisions. There were. It got worse. Why is the 50 so fat? I mean we did just have thanksgiving LOL. I looks like an acronym. What’s SAO?

I thought “fever” was a bit odd anyway.

I’m not sure “led lights” is a theme. More like a feature or element. I don’t mind the one that had the station that looked like a barn.