Worlds of Fun cancels Winterfest

[BoddaH1994]

 

Quote

 

Farewell to WinterFest, But More Fun to Come

WinterFest will not be returning this season. It was a difficult business decision, but canceling the event allows us to focus on new park investments and enhancements. We’ll certainly miss seeing our guests enjoying the park covered in lights with all their favorite characters.

 

I know this was announced in March but it completely slipped by me and I don’t remember it being discussed here.

Does anyone know what the deal is? Did they have attendance issues? Was the weather commonly unfavorable? I was just a little shocked to hear this since it’s such a large investment. 

[Benjamin22]

Wow that’s surprising that it was permanently canceled. It’s even more surprising when you consider one of Cedar Fairs primary to grow revenue was to extend the calendar year. Wonder if any other parks will remove Winterfest.

[SonofBaconator]

Maybe the park didn't get the ROI they wanted

[CoastersRZ]

Have they said it was permanently canceled?  I saw back in March that they said they were canceling it for this season.  I kind of just assumed that it was a one time thing.  The GM at Worlds of Fun is a former KI operations manager.

If it is a permanent cancelation, it does kind of run counter intuitive to what Cedar Fair has been doing to try and expand the season (makes me wonder if this is just a one off cancelation).  If it is permanent, I bet the decorations they had will be redistributed to the other parks in the chain.

Having visited Worlds of Fun before, the park is nice.  It has a slightly weird layout to it. Prowler is kind of back off by itself.  It is much a much smaller park than KI.  When we went, I think we were done with everything we wanted to ride by about 4.  The longest wait of the day was for Spinning Dragons.  That park could definitely benefit from a new coaster at some point.  Although, the same could be said for Dorney, Valleyfair, and Michigan`s Adventure.

[disco2000]

Cedar Fair did not include WoF as getting Winterfest in their chain-wide 2022 update last week, nor is it showing up as a benefit for the 2022 season pass sale.

From the press release:  "And as the weather turns colder, WinterFest will return to Carowinds, California’s Great America, Kings Dominion, Canada’s Wonderland and Kings Island."

[SonofBaconator]

3 years have gone by and I’m still curious as to why it shut down. I know nothing about what the weather does in Kansas City during the winter but I always assumed conditions fluctuated just like us so I don’t know how much weather played a factor in the event’s demise.

Looking at the map, most of their coasters were closed; which makes sense. The one thing that confuses me a little is why they chose to close down their train ride. Most holiday events that feature a train ride are pretty popular: Winterfest, the Zoo’s Festival of Lights, Busch Gardens, Dollywood, etc. I’m not saying not running the train was a defining factor, but it helps- maybe it was a maintenance thing.

Another possibility is staffing issues but I don’t really know if thats a reasonable thought considering they’re able to staff both an amusement park and waterpark during the busy summer months.
 

Whatever the reason, it’s a shame it got shut down. I felt like the one thing WoF had going for it was its size. It’s not nearly as big as Kings Island so they could really pack the park full of lights and decorations.

 

[IBEW_Sparky]

It isnt the weather, their weather isnt much different than south central Indiana and/or the KI area.  Your statement from 2021 is absolutely correct, and CF knows it WONT get the ROI from that park, I promise you I know this because I considered it my home park from 95 when I started all of this park jazz, until 2006 when we moved to Indiana.  I then went back ONCE in 2011 for the disaster opening day, then again last year and oooohhhhhh how things have changed.  It would have worked back in the early-mid 2000s, it wont work now, which was proven when they tried.

[Oldiesmann]

I unfortunately haven't made it out there yet (a Missouri parks trip is on my to do list), but the wording of the statement from the announcement makes it sound like it was a financial decision - they weren't making enough money or were losing money on the event and decided they could put that money to better use somewhere else. A quick glance at the Visit KC website shows that there's a lot to do in the area during the holidays so maybe they had too much competition from other events as well.