Winterfest 2021 Reviews and Updates

[super7]

22 hours ago, standbyme said:

You have me intrigued also...what are some of the songs that you are thinking of? 

Here is an example, Miracles at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  It was my favorite holiday event show, and got axed by their budget cuts.

The quality of this video is not the best, but one can see the general idea.

 

This show features 4 vocalists and 10 dancers including a point specialist.    Kings Island shows normally have too many vocalists-you don't get to hear each one enough, and not enough dancers.

The set and costumes are neutrally winter themed.  The word Christmas is used a few times in one of the songs and that's about the only direct reference to the holidays in the entire show.

This was FRESH material in a world of overplayed Christmas music.  There is unlimited beautiful music like in this show, that would open the doors creatively for higher quality entertainment at the event that would actually let the performers shine.

This show had the material to allow the vocalists and dancers to showcase their talents.

The song list of Miracles

Ordinary Miracle-Sarah McLachlan

Somewhere in my Memory - John Williams

Angels among Us - Alabama  (in this show is was a beautifully, fully sung song, not talked through the verses like the original.  That vocalist that sung this song in this show still rings thorough my head)

The Fire Within - Leann Rimes

Angels We Have Heard on High (piano insturmental version)   (this is a Christmas-y song, but the instrumental version neutralizes it)

Flying without Wings - Westlife

Christmas Canon - Trans Siberian Orchestra -  (this is the most Christmas-y song in the playlist, but it works great with the choreography.

I Believe - Nicky Yanofsky




 

[super7]

Let It Snow was working the best that I have seen it last night.  It filled the air with snow and wasn’t accumulating.  

[brenthodge]

9 hours ago, super7 said:

There are things "winter" about the event that have nothing to do with the holidays at the event.   Many of the roaming characters are winter themed like Jack Frost, etc.  The Ice Action Zone is non-holiday themed except the Jewish light ups they threw in there this year.   Area 72 is non-holiday.   The back walk with the blue lighting that features the ice king and queen is not holiday.  

Eftling is located in the Netherlands, and is open year-round.  They have a winter event called Winter Eftling.     If Carowinds and Kings Dominion being open until Jan 9 is an experiement in extending the event, this can be done with more winter theming at the event.  Christmas music gets really old fast after Christmas day.   Even Winterfest beginning Jan 26 feels like a huge leftover with the Christmas shows still playing.

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.

[brenthodge]

9 hours ago, super7 said:

Here is an example, Miracles at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  It was my favorite holiday event show, and got axed by their budget cuts.

The quality of this video is not the best, but one can see the general idea.

 

This show features 4 vocalists and 10 dancers including a point specialist.    Kings Island shows normally have too many vocalists-you don't get to hear each one enough, and not enough dancers.

The set and costumes are neutrally winter themed.  The word Christmas is used a few times in one of the songs and that's about the only direct reference to the holidays in the entire show.

This was FRESH material in a world of overplayed Christmas music.  There is unlimited beautiful music like in this show, that would open the doors creatively for higher quality entertainment at the event that would actually let the performers shine.

This show had the material to allow the vocalists and dancers to showcase their talents.

The song list of Miracles

Ordinary Miracle-Sarah McLachlan

Somewhere in my Memory - John Williams

Angels among Us - Alabama  (in this show is was a beautifully, fully sung song, not talked through the verses like the original.  That vocalist that sung this song in this show still rings thorough my head)

The Fire Within - Leann Rimes

Angels We Have Heard on High (piano insturmental version)   (this is a Christmas-y song, but the instrumental version neutralizes it)

Flying without Wings - Westlife

Christmas Canon - Trans Siberian Orchestra -  (this is the most Christmas-y song in the playlist, but it works great with the choreography.

I Believe - Nicky Yanofsky




 

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. 

[standbyme]

10 hours ago, super7 said:

Here is an example, Miracles at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. 

Thanks for the example.  

Personally though, I think it is better to have more well known songs in shows like these. (Especially for kids.) 

[Timchat2]

Another nice improvement is the new set for The Mistletones. The show has always been pleasant and fun but now it feels more like a proper show set (and possibly acts as something of a windbreaker for the performers). Hopefully they can get the little "On Air" sign light to work. That would be a cute touch.

[brenthodge]

5 hours ago, Timchat2 said:

Another nice improvement is the new set for The Mistletones. The show has always been pleasant and fun but now it feels more like a proper show set (and possibly acts as something of a windbreaker for the performers). Hopefully they can get the little "On Air" sign light to work. That would be a cute touch.

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

[robintodd]

Went with the wife last night and it was the busiest I've ever seen Winterfest.  We had 3 major goals, see the lights, eat at the Snow Day Buffett and see the parade.  Even with the large crowd we got everything in.  We got in line for the Buffett at 6:30 and waited half an hour.  The place was packed but we had an employee come and let us know that they were going to hold the line while tables became available.  It also seems like there is a time limit (different colored wristbands) not sure on that, maybe someone on here can elaborate.  Either way, the buffett was fantastic!  I keep being wowed by the culinary team.  More impressive was that they kept the buffett stocked.  I went back 3 times and only saw one empty pan and they were bringing out the refill at that time.  The wife and I noticed that when we left around 8 there were tables opening up, I'm assuming because everyone was getting in place for the parade.

Having a different view of the parade I must say it did feel much more like Carnivale and is a fantastic addition.  Kudo's again to the performers and staff that pull it off, it's amazing and a not to miss experience.

I did notice some things working that weren't up the first night.  All strands were on on the tower tree (the first night it seemed there were 5 - 10 out and the kinks in the parade were ironed out (music was much better synched and it passed by).

Another fantastic night and hoping to get 5 - 8 more trips in before the end of the year.  At first I was nervous because of the crowded parking lot, but the staff inside kept up with the demand and kept everything moving.  Great job KI Staff and Management!

 

[flightoffear1996]

We were at WinterFest last night too and it might have been the busiest I have ever seen the park.  We were shoulder to shoulder back to front walking down the midway!  However, with that being said we were had no issues getting into the see What the Dickens show which is my favorite show,  the parade, and nativity area.  We also were able to get food at Skyline and Panda express, and the Mac-N-Cheese bar.  The mac n cheese bar food was cold and not enough cheese sauce was used.  The parade was awesome!   The shops were mostly unnavigable because of crowds but hopefully we can visit again before the years end!  This is just an awesome event.

[BoddaH1994]

Here are a couple of quasi-Easter egg things I noticed this year that kind of impressed me:

When I-Street does the fake snow (Let It Snow), the intelligent lighting goes off of the ice and projects snowflakes onto the buildings. Additionally, the buildings all do the blue “ice” color without much variation. Kind of near!

Also, the pixel mapped lighting on the trees is synced up with the parade. It doesn’t match the colors (as that would be impossible with each parade having its own color scheme) but it does match the beat of the music and transition when the music does. It’s not something many people would notice but it add a lot to the ambiance. 
 

Anyone know why they don’t throw candy until the second show stop? That’s been my consistent experience. Weird, huh?

Overall, Winterfest, while it will never be perfect, is an A+ experience this year. 

[Timchat2]

A huge THANK YOU to the park for performing a modified version of the WinterFest Wonderland Parade tonight despite the iffy weather. It was such a pleasant surprise!

[MDMC01]

Agreed! The parade was nice and I'm glad they ended up doing it last night as the weather was indeed questionable (rain on and off - in fact, I rode Shake Rattle and Roll and Snow Works (tubing slide) in a downpour lol). Despite the weather, I had a blast celebrating my birthday at the park. It was great to enjoy time with friends as well as say hi to a lot of people I know from the park. Ridewise, the highlight of my night was Flight of Fear. It was so good to come back to that 90's coaster (I hadn't been to the park since August) and most of my 5 rides were fantastic! Also, I really like the glowing "flowers" around Area 72 and especially inside the two stations. Speaking of rides, my first ride on Mystic Timbers was the first time I've ridden any ride with a mask. Yes, it slid around, but it did not come off (and yes, I definitely felt the force on my face when sitting in the front of Flight of Fear).  I think that'll be my last trip for the season and it was surely a great one!

[Timchat2]

I appreciate all the little refreshes throughout many of the shows this season. Last night we noticed that Charlie Brown's Christmas Spectacular appears to have a new lighting design that brings some extra life to the show, like during the "sleigh ride" with Sally and Linus. Also, it looks like the stage deck of the Kings Island Theater has been redone. I remember looking fairly worn in previous years. All of this things add up ( like the new Mistletones set as well as the new signage and lighting to draw attention to Sounds of the Nativity) and it is great to see the park putting some extra thought and care into such an important part of what makes WinterFest so special. As others have said, this year's event feels as bright and alive as ever!

 

[super7]

Winterfest is definitely Dr Jeckyll Mr Hyde as far as crowds influenced by weather.     Saturday was miserably crowded.   Sunday was empty.   
 

Virtually everything was running/performing on Sunday despite the weather. I was surprised the  parade happened.  
 

That’s the way to get customers to come on questionable weather days.   Not closing the place down as some parks do (Kennywood, Kings Dominion, Carowinds)

 

[JimParker85]

I love the weather ops point. That's an area that has really hurt some parks. I think of Cedar Point, who has gotten ULTRA conservative with rain ops. Pretty much the entire lineup shuts down or goes to 1 train ops in any rain. 

[PKIDelirium]

That happened chainwide a while back now after Magnum had a minor fender-bender.

[BoddaH1994]

On 12/5/2021 at 8:04 AM, robintodd said:

Went with the wife last night and it was the busiest I've ever seen Winterfest.  We had 3 major goals, see the lights, eat at the Snow Day Buffett and see the parade.  Even with the large crowd we got everything in.  We got in line for the Buffett at 6:30 and waited half an hour.  The place was packed but we had an employee come and let us know that they were going to hold the line while tables became available.  It also seems like there is a time limit (different colored wristbands) not sure on that, maybe someone on here can elaborate.  Either way, the buffett was fantastic!  I keep being wowed by the culinary team.  More impressive was that they kept the buffett stocked.  I went back 3 times and only saw one empty pan and they were bringing out the refill at that time.  The wife and I noticed that when we left around 8 there were tables opening up, I'm assuming because everyone was getting in place for the parade.

Having a different view of the parade I must say it did feel much more like Carnivale and is a fantastic addition.  Kudo's again to the performers and staff that pull it off, it's amazing and a not to miss experience.

I did notice some things working that weren't up the first night.  All strands were on on the tower tree (the first night it seemed there were 5 - 10 out and the kinks in the parade were ironed out (music was much better synched and it passed by).

Another fantastic night and hoping to get 5 - 8 more trips in before the end of the year.  At first I was nervous because of the crowded parking lot, but the staff inside kept up with the demand and kept everything moving.  Great job KI Staff and Management!

 

It’s a 90 minute limit. 
 

6 hours ago, Timchat2 said:

I appreciate all the little refreshes throughout many of the shows this season. Last night we noticed that Charlie Brown's Christmas Spectacular appears to have a new lighting design that brings some extra life to the show, like during the "sleigh ride" with Sally and Linus. Also, it looks like the stage deck of the Kings Island Theater has been redone. I remember looking fairly worn in previous years. All of this things add up ( like the new Mistletones set as well as the new signage and lighting to draw attention to Sounds of the Nativity) and it is great to see the park putting some extra thought and care into such an important part of what makes WinterFest so special. As others have said, this year's event feels as bright and alive as ever!

 

It was done by someone else this year. I agree - it’s better this way. I’m not going to name names because I’m not sure how much that want to be “in front of the camera” but their style is definitely my preferred taste.

20 hours ago, Timchat2 said:

A huge THANK YOU to the park for performing a modified version of the WinterFest Wonderland Parade tonight despite the iffy weather. It was such a pleasant surprise!

What did they do different with the parade?

[JimParker85]

5 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

That happened chainwide a while back now after Magnum had a minor fender-bender.

Definitely not. My home park of Canada's Wonderland still aggressively runs the lineup in rain on multiple trains. Leviathan will run in a downpour if there is no lightning. 

[Timchat2]

4 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

What did they do different with the parade?

There weren't any show stops. The parade ran the entire route and non-float-riding characters did their usual peeling off by the Bandstand after what would have been the last show stop. Otherwise, it appeared to be the same number of performers and the choreography was unchanged.

[super7]

7 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

That happened chainwide a while back now after Magnum had a minor fender-bender.

I can understand limiting ride operations.  But I have been burnt multiple times by Cedar Fair at Kings Dominion and Carowinds closing for rain or cold when they could have operated. The Carowinds closure was a 50 degree day!

As much as I despised Paramounts destruction of the parks, I don’t recall them totally closing or closing earlier than scheduled    
 

KI normally operates as scheduled   It’s some of the other CF parks that I am hesitant to travel to after experiencing total park closures 

 

[BoddaH1994]

9 hours ago, Timchat2 said:

There weren't any show stops. The parade ran the entire route and non-float-riding characters did their usual peeling off by the Bandstand after what would have been the last show stop. Otherwise, it appeared to be the same number of performers and the choreography was unchanged.

You totally put a vision in my head of those floats white smoking and fish tailing toward the Eiffel Tower. Thank you for that. 

[Timchat2]

If the heavy rain had started up again during the parade that might have actually happened. 

[brenthodge]

If they are going to do the light show in coney, they really need to keep it up. I’d say 50% doesn’t do anything as of last night. Just unlit wire form trees and elf set pieces with no lights. It was also so odd last night at 7:30 there were guys out on a ladder replacing globes for the post lights. Why isn’t this happening before open? Just odd. That whole area seemed really thrown together this year. And none of the overhead garland/pole ornaments were used for tinsel town. I think because the left the overhead string lights up from haunt and don’t have enough poles they couldn’t install those. Seems like they need to figure out more permanent building based mounts for these things so they don’t have to keep hauling those giant concrete blocks around. 

 

On 12/7/2021 at 1:06 AM, Timchat2 said:

There weren't any show stops. The parade ran the entire route and non-float-riding characters did their usual peeling off by the Bandstand after what would have been the last show stop. Otherwise, it appeared to be the same number of performers and the choreography was unchanged.

How was that without the stops? I like them, but feel like if they slowed it down just a bit it wouldn’t seem a lesser experience without them. 

[chad_1138]

Had a great 2nd visit last night!  Here is the breakdown:

-Scanned in right at 4

-Hot Chocolate refill

-Rode the tube slides (first ride of the day) and Flight of Cheer both by 4:20

-Dinner at Coney

-Hot Chocolate refill

-Bit of shopping

-Tree Lighting show

-Caught the end of the Peanuts Guide to Christmas

-Watched What the Dickens?

-Hot Chocolate refill

-Sounds of the Nativity

-Holly Jolly Trolley

-Christmas Cookies

-The Mistletones

Completed all of that by 7:45, out and on our way home by 8.  I love that you can have a completely different experience each time you go.  Between our 2 visits we have seen all of the shows and the parade.

[Timchat2]

6 hours ago, brenthodge said:

How was that without the stops? I like them, but feel like if they slowed it down just a bit it wouldn’t seem a lesser experience without them. 

It was still a fun time, although you lost a lot of the up-close character interaction that comes with the stops. That said, I don't think the show stop for WinterFest Wonderland Parade is as strong at the stop for Spectacle of Color at Grand Carnivale. That stop seems to immediately pull in and energize guests in a way I've seen few park parades accomplish anywhere. The flow of music and dance just clicks with the audience. The stop for WinterFest Wonderland Parade is still fun and playful but it doesn't seem like guests click with it as readily. Admittedly the idea of a high-energy Christmas parade is fairly new to regional theme parks so I can understand if guests will take some time to get onboard.

[kikid74]

Does the parking lot open 60 minutes before the scheduled open time? And do they still open the gates 30 minutes before opening rides, attractions, and skating, etc.? TIA!

[brenthodge]

Trying to remember from a few years back, since rides and shows all end at 10, what happens till 12 fireworks on NYE? Remember being a bit bored for those 2 hours. 

[robintodd]

Merry Christmas!!  Hope all KICer's had a wonderful Xmas.

Winterfest will be open for a week after Christmas and I though it would be great to have a new last float after Santa Clause.  One with Don dressed up in a long beard as old year and Chad in a diaper as baby new year

[MDMC01]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:08 AM, brenthodge said:

Trying to remember from a few years back, since rides and shows all end at 10, what happens till 12 fireworks on NYE? Remember being a bit bored for those 2 hours. 

In 2019, there was a dance party at the bandstand until about 1 AM which featured the characters and a DJ. Also, IIRC, they allowed Mystic to be opened later than 10 that night (I think it ended up closing around 11:30?)

[PKIDelirium]

2 hours ago, MDMC01 said:

In 2019, there was a dance party at the bandstand until about 1 AM which featured the characters and a DJ. Also, IIRC, they allowed Mystic to be opened later than 10 that night (I think it ended up closing around 11:30?)

I wish the state would make an exemption for situations like WinterFest NYE and let the rides run until close. Currently, all rides have to be shut down by midnight because their annual certification expires.