RollerColt Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Christmas in July, brought to you by The Hallmark Channel! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonODiamondback Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Check out @GlauserDan13's Tweet: https://twitter.com/GlauserDan13/status/752599809308188673?s=09 I could be wrong but I think the wood is for fencing probably to go around the open part in the WWC entrance. If not we might have another SOB on our hands this doesn't look like coaster grade lumber to me Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondson Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Is it possible that those beams are a part of updating the train experience? They have been mentioning that the train will be a new experience next year. They could be saying it will be a different experience as an allusion to how the new coaster will interact with it (assuming part of the new coaster layout will cross over/under the train tracks). Wonder if this has something to do with the train ride or the construction zone... https://instagram.com/p/BHur6GNh8xI/ https://instagram.com/p/BHvCkFGhP_A/ They are throwing out the hints for sure. Lots of people thinking a return of Winterfest. I don't know about that with the unpredictable Winter weather in Ohio. I'm hoping it's the Christmas In July announcement of something big. Winter weather in Ohio has ALWAYS been "unpredictable", even back when they had Winterfest in the 80s. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 And by all accounts I have heard, the original incarnation of Winterfest was successful, both from an attendance and a financial standpoint. The reimagined version they did in 2005 had several issues. They overcharged for the event which was one of its biggest hurdles. The event cost $24.99 to enter, and pass holders only saved $2 or $3 off of the admission price. And passholders had to pay the normal rate for parking. Santa`s Toy Factory and the train were wonderful experiences. The parade was also a good time. However, there was not much to do beyond that. The Grand Carousel, and a couple rides in Planet Snoopy were open. In 1991, they had the Antique Cars and Dodgems open. Competition now is a little more intense for winter event dollars, especially with the Zoo having Festival of Lights for so many years now. The one thing I felt was missing in the 2005 version was a lot of Christmas lights, especially given the amount of lights that Dollywood puts up. It will be interesting to see how things go with California`s Great America WinterFest this year. Which, by the way, is free with a Gold season pass to that park. It should be interesting to see if KI does get Winterfest again. This post has been way off topic. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 And by all accounts I have heard, the original incarnation of Winterfest was successful, both from an attendance and a financial standpoint. The reimagined version they did in 2005 had several issues. They overcharged for the event which was one of its biggest hurdles. The event cost $24.99 to enter, and pass holders only saved $2 or $3 off of the admission price. And passholders had to pay the normal rate for parking. Santa`s Toy Factory and the train were wonderful experiences. The parade was also a good time. However, there was not much to do beyond that. The Grand Carousel, and a couple rides in Planet Snoopy were open. In 1991, they had the Antique Cars and Dodgems open. Competition now is a little more intense for winter event dollars, especially with the Zoo having Festival of Lights for so many years now. The one thing I felt was missing in the 2005 version was a lot of Christmas lights, especially given the amount of lights that Dollywood puts up. It will be interesting to see how things go with California`s Great America WinterFest this year. Which, by the way, is free with a Gold season pass to that park. It should be interesting to see if KI does get Winterfest again. This post has been way off topic. Don't forget Illuminations on the old Swan Lake. That was awesome too. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Yes, that was a fun time, as was stopping by to see Scrooge. If they brought it back, I would imagine they would have the Festhaus open, and potentially have another show going on in there, in addition to the one in the Kings Island Theater. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presto123 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Is it possible that those beams are a part of updating the train experience? They have been mentioning that the train will be a new experience next year. They could be saying it will be a different experience as an allusion to how the new coaster will interact with it (assuming part of the new coaster layout will cross over/under the train tracks.) Wonder if this has something to do with the train ride or the construction zone... https://instagram.com/p/BHur6GNh8xI/ https://instagram.com/p/BHvCkFGhP_A/ They are throwing out the hints for sure. Lots of people thinking a return of Winterfest. I don't know about that with the unpredictable Winter weather in Ohio. I'm hoping it's the Christmas In July announcement of something big. Winter weather in Ohio has ALWAYS been "unpredictable", even back when they had Winterfest in the 80s. I remember hearing in a documentary that the unpredictable weather was the main reason they got rid of winterfest in the first place. They did bring it back in 2005, but it only lasted one season. I don't know if I can see them doing it again, but the announcement for the 2005 winterfest was in late July so who knows? Here is the teaser trailer: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 The main reason Paramount cited for discontinuing Winterfest was not the unpredictable weather, but the fact that they wanted to extend the season in October and would thus not have time to prepare the park for Winterfest. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddog Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 So...anymore falling trees? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presto123 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 The main reason Paramount cited for discontinuing Winterfest was not the unpredictable weather, but the fact that they wanted to extend the season in October and would thus not have time to prepare the park for Winterfest. I was talking about the first version of Winterfest. Just watched the doc the other day. If Paramount only did one season, their winter might have been more stable, but the original guys talked about weather that was either too warm and ice would melt or too frigid for people to show up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 One complication that exists today, that also existed back in 2005, but did not exist back in the original winterfest days (at least not that I recall, though I was pretty young) is the presence of the boo fest. Halloween is a very profitable time for the park, and stretches to the of October/early November depending on the Calendar. Any Winterfest event really needs to be up and operational the week of thanksgiving, which would leave the park with roughly 3 weeks to turn the park around from a boo fest atmosphere to a winter atmosphere all while keeping in mind that the time frame for off season repairs and refurbishment will narrow down that much more. Additionally, KI would have to shut down many of its attractions due to the weather or the likelihood that they wouldn't be operational a decent enough chunk of the winterfest season to offset the costs of staffing said attractions in the chance that we have a decent December weather wise. If you do open up an attraction, say Diamondback while understaffed, then you are just begging for problems. A Winterfest could potentially work again financially, on a limited scale, but at a park the size of KI, many of the public would expect something much larger than a "limited scale" and some would get upset that The Beast wasn't open despite a nice 60 degree day in the middle of December. That can quickly become a huge PR disaster. Despite having fond memories of the event as a kid, IMHO its likely in the parks best interest to let the Zoo and other places take on the holiday season while remaining the major player in the area during October. There are just too many obstacles working against them. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I too was referring to the original Winterfest. Other than some of the flat rides, and the Great Pumpkin coaster, no roller coasters were ever open for Winterfest. There are minimum temperature requirements for those rides to operate, see also Dollywood which will not run their coasters in December if the temp drops below a certain threshold. They did not have the entire park open either. You were pretty much limited to International Street, part of kiddy land, Rivetown to the train station, and Oktoberfest. Action Zone, and Coney Mall were almost completely off limits in 2005. I do not think it would be as big of an issue as you think. The event is not marketed towards thrill seekers, but rather families. The entertainment offerings at the 2005 version were top notch. That being said, I have always thought that Flight of Fear would be a ride they could run during Winterfest since it is in doors. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upstop Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 They announced the return of Winterfest the last time on July 25th according to the teaser video....and the 25th is just around the corner.... Coincidence? 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixohdieselrage Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 So...anymore falling trees? They have the Excavator/Trackhoe over in the old WWC queue now. Pics in a moment. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonODiamondback Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I swear I remember that they had ice skating in fountains during Winterfest I only went to once when I was younger. Am I right about this ? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I too was referring to the original Winterfest. Other than some of the flat rides, and the Great Pumpkin coaster, no roller coasters were ever open for Winterfest. There are minimum temperature requirements for those rides to operate, see also Dollywood which will not run their coasters in December if the temp drops below a certain threshold. They did not have the entire park open either. You were pretty much limited to International Street, part of kiddy land, Rivetown to the train station, and Oktoberfest. Action Zone, and Coney Mall were almost completely off limits in 2005. I do not think it would be as big of an issue as you think. The event is not marketed towards thrill seekers, but rather families. The entertainment offerings at the 2005 version were top notch. That being said, I have always thought that Flight of Fear would be a ride they could run during Winterfest since it is in doors. They wouldn't market the event towards thrill seekers, but that doesn't mean that thrill seekers won't just show up expecting Diamondback to be open in the snow, then get ****ed off and demand a refund. You'd also have the case where it gets up into the 60s as often happens at some point in December and a thrill seeker shows up expecting the coasters to run because its nice and sunny out, nicer than several of the weekends in October even, but the park can't open the ride because they can't properly staff them in advance. I'm no advertising or PR expert, but I imagine the last thing you want to do in your advertising is start telling people what won't be available; similar to the drug ads, it would put a huge damper on the first 30 seconds of the spot where you try to convince them to spend some of their time and money at KI during a typically busy month of December. My main point, in light of the hugely successful boo season, Winterfest seems like it would be one big headache for the park with limited opportunity to bring in positive cash flow. If the park was situated somewhere warmer, with slightly more predictable weather patterns, perhaps that alters the equation. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it happen, and would likely attend, just seems like there are far too many obstacles when looking from the outside. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I swear I remember that they had ice skating in fountains during Winterfest I only went to once when I was younger. Am I right about this ? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk yes they did. IIRC, they removed the capabilities from the fountain several years (perhaps even a decade) ago. Equipment was too costly to maintain for a feature that doesn't work when it gets too warm. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I too was referring to the original Winterfest. Other than some of the flat rides, and the Great Pumpkin coaster, no roller coasters were ever open for Winterfest. There are minimum temperature requirements for those rides to operate, see also Dollywood which will not run their coasters in December if the temp drops below a certain threshold. They did not have the entire park open either. You were pretty much limited to International Street, part of kiddy land, Rivetown to the train station, and Oktoberfest. Action Zone, and Coney Mall were almost completely off limits in 2005. I do not think it would be as big of an issue as you think. The event is not marketed towards thrill seekers, but rather families. The entertainment offerings at the 2005 version were top notch. That being said, I have always thought that Flight of Fear would be a ride they could run during Winterfest since it is in doors. You'd also have the case where it gets up into the 60s as often happens at some point in December and a thrill seeker shows up expecting the coasters to run because its nice and sunny out, nicer than several of the weekends in October even, but the park can't open the ride because they can't properly staff them in advance. It's not just an issue of staffing but maintenance. The day after Haunt, the rides start going through maintenance to be prepared for the next season. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonODiamondback Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I swear I remember that they had ice skating in fountains during Winterfest I only went to once when I was younger. Am I right about this ? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk yes they did. IIRC, they removed the capabilities from the fountain several years (perhaps even a decade) ago. Equipment was too costly to maintain for a feature that doesn't work when it gets too warm.Thanks . Everyone thinks I'm crazy when I mention that.Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RingMaster Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I swear I remember that they had ice skating in fountains during Winterfest I only went to once when I was younger. Am I right about this ? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk yes they did. IIRC, they removed the capabilities from the fountain several years (perhaps even a decade) ago. Equipment was too costly to maintain for a feature that doesn't work when it gets too warm. Halfway through the '05 Festival du Fear, they started doing infrastructure work on the fountains for the skating rink, including the concrete ramps on opposite ends of the fountain. They may have also sneakily started installing the many Christmas lights around International Street. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddog Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 So...anymore falling trees? They have the Excavator/Trackhoe over in the old WWC queue now. Pics in a moment. Thanks for taking the time to upload! Not really wanting to think about snow/winter just yet 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Lizard Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Can't believe I posted pictures of an actual concrete mixer truck on location yesterday and nearly the whole thread since then has been Winterfest discussion... 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixohdieselrage Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presto123 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I finally see a footer......oh wait.... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixohdieselrage Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 There are several feet if that makes a difference. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhimes90 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Is it possible that those beams are a part of updating the train experience? They have been mentioning that the train will be a new experience next year. They could be saying it will be a different experience as an allusion to how the new coaster will interact with it (assuming part of the new coaster layout will cross over/under the train tracks.) Wonder if this has something to do with the train ride or the construction zone... https://instagram.com/p/BHur6GNh8xI/ https://instagram.com/p/BHvCkFGhP_A/ They are throwing out the hints for sure. Lots of people thinking a return of Winterfest. I don't know about that with the unpredictable Winter weather in Ohio. I'm hoping it's the Christmas In July announcement of something big. Winter weather in Ohio has ALWAYS been "unpredictable", even back when they had Winterfest in the 80s. I remember hearing in a documentary that the unpredictable weather was the main reason they got rid of winterfest in the first place. They did bring it back in 2005, but it only lasted one season. I don't know if I can see them doing it again, but the announcement for the 2005 winterfest was in late July so who knows? Here is the teaser trailer: The park has plans for a Christmas in July event. I'm not sure if they're really planning on announcing anything, but I do know there are plans for Santa to be there. Most of the associates know that something is happening for Christmas in July. I'm just not sure if the park is officially announcing it. From what I've heard they're using KI as the test site for Carowinds and Great America's 2017 Winter event. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EjectorAir Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Hey guys, I just put up a new KIProject2017 construction update video with LOTS of footage of all the construction and "falling trees" Check it out here: Subscribe to my channel if you want to see more, we put out weekly updates! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 1. Respectfully how do you know they are doing Christmas in July. It's a cool idea but you'd think they'd promote it maybe more than 2 weeks out. But hey maybe... 2. To say there is not enough time to switch from Halloween to Christmas is an excuse. Other parks across the country put the time and money into it. If you want it done, you can do it. It may cost a bit more but it can be done. 3. Was the original Winterfest killed by Linder or the Paramount purchase? 4. Lastly any new concrete or fence building happening? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhyano Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I JUST bumped the Winterfest topic, back on topic, any falling trees today? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Existential Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Winterfest was lame. I loved skating on the fountains, riding the train, hanging out at fires and seeing lame ass shows...not so much there. The carrousel was open and at the end of the hours spent there in the cold... You are standing in an amusement park with phenomenal rides around you...that are flicking you off because it's crappy outside. I'm probably in the minority, but I had fun ice skating and that was about all you could do to prolong the trip. Unless you wanted to visit Int. Street stores some more. They were cooler back then I might add. Probably not though. Oh yeah, the Hanna Barbara boat ride was open as well. I guess for those that adore the park it's nice to enjoy it a little longer...but during the holidays I'll take zoo lights and an abundance of decor. Just me though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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