WinterFest Open For The 2022 Season

[IndyGuy4KI]

On November 25th Kings Island's WinterFest opened for its 5th season since Cedar Fair revived it to the park in 2017. If you are thinking this should be the 6th season, there was no WinterFest in 2020 due to Covid closures. Does it now seem odd that the 2020 season with all the delays with opening, the delay of Orion premiering, and the loss of the traditional Haunt season is now part of Kings Island History?  WinterFest being off by one year will be something your child will research on KICentral 10 years from now to debunk another friend debating with them that he is wrong with his count of the number of seasons it has been running. 

This year's opening night happened to be quite mild with it being in the mid 50's when the park opened at 5:00 PM. With the milder temperatures, this may have been the most attended opening night of WinterFest I have seen in the 6 opening nights that I have attended. That did not slow anyone down from having a good time for the evening. There is so much to take in, look at, watch, hear, taste, and just enjoy being outside at one of our favorite places to attend. I did not get on a single ride from arrival to leaving. I did not miss or regret it at all. I was entertained from start to finish.

 

Having attended WinterFest for now 6 seasons, I would say you need four, (yes I said 4) full nights of WinterFest to get everything in.

In no particular night order.

• Night 1 - Atmosphere: You need a night dedicated to just taking it all in. This includes seeing the lights, roaming entertainment, enjoy a meal and  sweet treat, taking photos, and shopping.
• Night 2 - Rides: Spend a night enjoying the holiday theme of the rides, enjoy a new meal, and get some selfies with roaming characters.
• Night 3 - Shows: Make a point to watch all the shows and enjoy a new meal.
• Night 4 - Highlights: Ice skate, hit anything that you have missed, Revisit or rewatch anything you loved seeing the first time, enjoy a new meal, and watch the parade.

Tell us below which night on the list would be your favorite and how many nights you think you need to fully enjoy all WinterFest has to offer!

For KICentral member reviews click here: https://kicentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/45324-winterfest-2022-reviews-and-updates/

Below is a 9-minute preview of the opening night of WinterFest. It does include the WinterFest Wonderland Parade, but it in no way conveys the magic of seeing it in person. You will not want to miss seeing it in person yourself.

 

Over 250 photos of Winterfest 2022

 

For more information about WinterFest visit our WinterFest page here: https://kicentral.com/park/kiwinterfest/

For tickets and other details visit the Kings Island website here: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/

 

 

[Dave_78]

Wonderful pictures!!!

[johnjniehaus]

Hey does anyone have a complete list of the shows and what times they start? All the previous years, showtimes were listed on the website and also in a small paper park guide at the front gate but this year both seem to be missing.... I'm going tonight and if anyone has any info it would be very helpful so my family doesn't have to run around the park 3x trying to figure out what time the shows start

[MeredithGrey]

Hey @johnjniehaus 

I haven't been yet, but I have looked at the app... & there's lots of info there that should help you.

Download the app from the Google play store... and once you open the app, on the left you'll see a red box titled "shows & events"

It will give you a time for each of today's shows- and I do assume that this is a complete list.

I'm not sure if a paper map/events list is available at the Park or not... maybe someone else can answer that?

In the app, once you click "shows & events" - you'll see a list of todays shows- each show will also provide you with the location -

so if you click on "A Peanuts Guide to Christmas" - it says that it's in Charlie Brown's Christmas Town- and when you click on that, it will tell you it's in Planet Snoopy

Hope that helps!

 

[johnjniehaus]

Thanks alot they have all the times on the app! While I still wish they had it on the website, the app will work just fine. Thanks @MeredithGrey

[MeredithGrey]

@johnjniehaus You're welcome! Let us know what show was your favorite.

[johnjniehaus]

Well I've always loved most of the shows I've seen at Winterfest. Over the years, Charlie Brown Christmas Spictactular (RIP) and Tinker's Toy Factory have consistently been my favorites. However, other people in my group last night said that What the Dickens was their favorite (which j enjoy alot as well). Tinker's Toy Factory is my favorite this year because it has such great performers and sets/props this year and the KI Theater is so much better than the Festhaus. Tinker is so good this year that I kinda forgave them for killing off Charlie Brown Christmas Spictactular. 

[BeeastFarmer]

Where are our Belsnickles?

[MeredithGrey]

On 12/4/2022 at 11:21 AM, BeeastFarmer said:

Where are our Belsnickles?

Dwight?? Dwight Schrute? 

[BeeastFarmer]

6 hours ago, MeredithGrey said:

Dwight?? Dwight Schrute? 

I think Dwight was more loosely modeled of Krampus:

 

We had three Belsnickles in 2018 or 2019.  Here is what the Belsnickles are up to at KD this year:

(30) The Belsnickles at Kings Dominions Winterfest - YouTube

 

[MDMC01]

14 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I think Dwight was more loosely modeled of Krampus:

 

We had three Belsnickles in 2018 or 2019.  Here is what the Belsnickles are up to at KD this year:

(30) The Belsnickles at Kings Dominions Winterfest - YouTube

 

Funny video! I love how the characters think the Belsnickles are from "O...h...i..o" 

Also, while the above picture of Krampus does not creep me out (I've seen worse by doing a Google search), I would very much not like to see one at Winterfest.