This week is a good week for Winterfest souvenir shopping if you've been putting it off. 

I got the Winterfest enamel pin, which I had managed to miss sitting up near the registers on my previous visits. It's very nice. 

I like that pin quite a bit! I might have to get get one of those.

Winterfest last night was fun only got to stay for about an hour cause my little one was getting cold and cranky. For my only visit to winterfest I had a good time. Wanted to ride the train which had no line but the wait was still 20 mins so we backed out of that. I did however see @VortexBFForever at the entrance with toothless, I hope u stayed warm it looked like u were freezing lol

8 hours ago, Magenta Lizard said:

This week is a good week for Winterfest souvenir shopping if you've been putting it off. 

I got the Winterfest enamel pin, which I had managed to miss sitting up near the registers on my previous visits. It's very nice. 

OMG I really want this sweatshirt I saw in the shop by the Eiffel Tower it just said "Kings Island" tho not "winterfest" so it's probably not considered "holiday"

Was it one of the ones with the lettering that looks like it has snow on top? If so, I am betting it is included in the sale. I think they don't want to warehouse all the wintery stuff until next November.

I could ask tomorrow evening when I'm at the park, if you like. 

That pin is so cute! I wish I could get one, but I’m in one of the shows, and can’t make it to any of the stores with my schedule. 

35 minutes ago, Magenta Lizard said:

Was it one of the ones with the lettering that looks like it has snow on top? If so, I am betting it is included in the sale. I think they don't want to warehouse all the wintery stuff until next November.

I could ask tomorrow evening when I'm at the park, if you like. 

I wish I had taken a pic... It was at the shop by the Eiffel Tower attached to where the kids were decorating cookies (cant remember the name of the store they had hats and gloves and stuff there too). It was aqua baby blue glittery sweatshirt (no hood) white writing saying Kings Island (not sure if it was snowy letters) . Hanging on a rack. It was $59.99. If you are gonna be there and could ask for me I would SO SO SO appreciate it. I wasn't planning on going back because of the weather but if its on sale I will drive up just to buy one I LOVE it haha

I believe that is the North Pole Mercantile. I will do my best to find the sweatshirt and inquire for you. It will give me something to do while temporarily warming up, because I think tomorrow is supposed to be quite cold again. 

We went the Friday before Christmas and it was great. It wasn’t bitterly cold. It rained a bit but no biggie. We wanted to go again but with temps in the single digits, I don’t think we are going back out.

That’s the only problem up here. The zoo is open long enough (days wise) that you can pick and choose your good day to go. Oh the weather is going to be 50 on a Tuesday at the end of November better go. Where the KI weekends only till the last week makes it hard to coordinate a good time, imo.


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I'd be interested to see if Kings Island considers a daily schedule all through December next year. Festival of Lights already does it and doesn't struggle to meet attendance needs. I think one of the struggles would be getting some of their shows to go daily as they don't even do that with the shows they have through the summer so they would need a day or two of rest for the entertainers. I don't think they would have the same reasons they have during the spring and fall of why they don't open during the weekdays (majority of the workforce being high school students) as from what I have observed is most of the employees at Winterfest have been above high school age.

On 12/25/2017 at 11:37 PM, jtro223 said:

I have type one diabetes, and the hot chocolate took me over 400! But for the one time it was worth it. And The Beast mug was my main goal.

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Same here, I wanted that mug. I was pretty lucky, the next morning my sugar was 126, but I drank maybe a quarter of it. I want another before they close but I'm having hard time justifying a 2 hr drive to get a hot cocoa and Xmas ornament. I'm bummed cause I really wanted a few more rides on Mystic Timbers. 

I would be interested to hear from anyone that went tonight or later in the week. I really want another hot chocolate and a beast Xmas ornament but I honestly don't know how i  would handle the cold, I have chronic hip pain that doesn't do very well in frigid temperatures. 

Thanks for the heads up about the sale, @Magenta Lizard! I'm planning to buy a Winterfest T-shirt (when I go Saturday) that I saw last weekend in Trim-a-Tree. Also, there are some really fascinating Nutcrackers and Santas in there that are worth a look (but are also expensive, IIRC).

Thanks for the heads up about the sale, [mention=9282]Magenta Lizard[/mention]! I'm planning to buy a Winterfest T-shirt (when I go Saturday) that I saw last weekend in Trim-a-Tree. Also, there are some really fascinating Nutcrackers and Santas in there that are worth a look (but are also expensive, IIRC).

If you’re looking for this that said Winterfest, they’re $7 with the discount, but there’s only youth through adult L left. They could have sold a ton of these if they were advertising it or handing out a flyer at the gate. That’s how I found out about this one at Knott’s. I also saw a white long sleeved shirt with a big blueish Winterfest scene on it.

That's the one I was thinking of getting (the white one).

17 hours ago, Mark4815 said:

That pin is so cute! I wish I could get one, but I’m in one of the shows, and can’t make it to any of the stores with my schedule. 

@Mark4815 I'm in one of the shows too but I've been able to go shopping after I get off.  Not sure what time you get off but I clock out around 10:00 each night and the stores on I-Street stay open later than that.

 OK I checked so it is on sale for about $44 

56 minutes ago, Magenta Lizard said:

 OK I checked so it is on sale for about $44 

Thank you so much! Did they have pretty many left did you notice by chance?

I think we're going to brave the snow---and the long drive---and try to go tomorrow.  Are any of the rides closing due to the cold other than Mystic Timbers?  Do they have Dodgem, Zephyr, and pretty much everything else announced up and running this week ride-wise?  More than anything we just want to walk the park, see the lights, maybe see some snow-flurries and ice-skaters, and ride the train.  We might try some rides if they're going, and we're not frozen.  This will be our first Winterfest visit, so not entirely sure what to expect honestly, especially this week with how cold it is.

Man I wish I could go. It would be awesome to ride a coaster in the winter.

I think we're going to brave the snow---and the long drive---and try to go tomorrow.  Are any of the rides closing due to the cold other than Mystic Timbers?  Do they have Dodgem, Zephyr, and pretty much everything else announced up and running this week ride-wise?  More than anything we just want to walk the park, see the lights, maybe see some snow-flurries and ice-skaters, and ride the train.  We might try some rides if they're going, and we're not frozen.  This will be our first Winterfest visit, so not entirely sure what to expect honestly, especially this week with how cold it is.

It’s amazing. I was there Tuesday and everything was open but MT. I’d suggest getting a couple packs of hand warmers and extra heavy wool socks. Then you’ll be set.

8 minutes ago, harveyhaddixfan said:

 

It’s amazing. I was there Tuesday and everything was open but MT. I’d suggest getting a couple packs of hand warmers and extra heavy wool socks. Then you’ll be set.

 

That sounds like great advice.  And thanks---that's great the rides are still open!  We'll bundle up!

I was there tonight for about four hours.  It was brutally cold out- my car said 18 degrees when I got in.  There was a decent crowd there for a Thursday night.  The Festhaus and Kings Island Theater were packed as they were warm places.  Boo Blasters had about a ten minute line.  I am not sure if I will make it back up on Saturday for the final night.

Kings Island has a big hit on their hands with WinterFest.  I can`t wait to see what changes they make for year two next year.

There was a full rack of the sweatshirts. I didn't take stock of what sizes they were tho.

There was a full rack of the sweatshirts. I didn't take stock of what sizes they were tho.

Probably because you were busy rubbing elbows with ol’ Ebeneezer! Lol!


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I went tonight for about 3 hours and my first visit, I had a blast at Winterfest but it was cold, very cold. The wind was worse and when we left the park it was 17 degrees but the park was great and festive, wonderful atmosphere. I rode Zephyr and Woodstock Gliders for the first time and man Zephyr was great fun but good lord was it freezing. Boo Blasters was fun as always and nice that they had some added Christmas themes added in, all in all a good visit and look forward to next year. MaestroJr Ride Total: Zephyr-2 Woodstock Gliders-1 Dodgem-1 Boo Blasters on Boo Hill-3 

 Sorry for the unescessary photos I couldn’t figure out how to delete stuff and I’m not used to posting on my phone so sorry for that. 

I only made it out once for Winterfest and my main two pieces of advice would be to open a little earlier - maybe 3:30 or 4, and maybe consider opening prior to Thanksgiving. I know I would have loved to have gone the weekend before Thanksgiving...plus the weather is a bit warmer. Heck, the radio stations start playing Christmas music the day after Halloween, it wouldn't be a stretch to see them open it up sooner. With the frigid cold we've had, I can imagine many folks were disappointed that they couldn't get out and go due to the temps. Overall though, I'd say they did an amazing job and I really hope they bring it back next year. 

The only issue with opening before Thanksgiving would be set up time.  I think given the limited amount of decorations we saw in October at the park, the transformation from then until opening night of Winterfest was incredible.  I would imagine they were racing to get everything done by opening night of Winterfest.  If it were to open earlier, they would have to start decorating earlier, and you would notice more Christmas decorations in the park in October.

This is true...but Disney transforms from Halloween to Christmas  literally overnight...lol  Surely they could do it in a couple of weeks     

There's probably a lot of decorations that could be put out that wouldn't be noticed as long as they weren't turned on. I did notice the lights in the trees in Planet Snoopy but I thought they were cute - actually, should be left up all year considering how dark it is at night over there. 

Maybe it was just unfortunate this year that we went from our normal Winter weather at the end of Nov. and early Dec. to straight up February crap during the last couple of weeks of Winterfest. 

The difference with KI and Disney is that Disney has a lot more man power and most aren't seasonal or part time.