Winter Chill Out 2023

[IBEW_Sparky]

Just announced today, the event will be two days in 2023, February 25th and 26th, and tickets will be distributed utilizing the oh so legit "lottery" system.  More information on submitting your name and up to three guests names into said system can be found here 

 

https://www.cedarpoint.com/blog/2022/2023-events-now-live

[PKIVortex]

The two days are the same event, so if you get picked you can go Saturday or Sunday not both.

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[IBEW_Sparky]

Yes, thats clearly stated in the link I posted.

[IndyGuy4KI]

2 hours ago, IBEW_Sparky said:

Yes, thats clearly stated in the link I posted.

We changed the PW policy at work. I made nice pretty directions with pictures, screenshots, and made it as short as possible to kept their attention. Well, 95% of the problems reported are people not reading the directions. Yet they expect the same from their customers every day.

[PKIVortex]

I just wanted to make it clear, some people don't click links lol. My bad.

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[Browntggrr]

Two days is a nice change to try and satisfy the masses.

[IBEW_Sparky]

5 hours ago, Browntggrr said:

Two days is a nice change to try and satisfy the masses.

Absolutely, that aspect of it I am good with.

[IBEW_Sparky]

And in the "My jaw literally dropped in amazement" category... myself and my group actually got picked, I got the email early this afternoon. 

[JubJester]

Hopefully they go with another way of signing up next year besides the lottery system. I would say go back to the old system but I know a lot of people had issues with that, too.

The two day event was a great idea, I wonder if it increased capacity or just spread it out. 

 

Edit: Seeing people having tickets for both days and several posts about people selling extras. With a lottery system this was bound to happen.

[IBEW_Sparky]

Id like to get rid of the 3 I have to be honest, my two guests arent going and Id rather stay home than go alone.

[JubJester]

2 hours ago, IBEW_Sparky said:

Id like to get rid of the 3 I have to be honest, my two guests arent going and Id rather stay home than go alone.

Just a heads up. Never seen this tweeted before an event before. Good luck with that:

https://twitter.com/TonyClarkCP/status/1625527340083052544?t=z6bOX9bwlcynE_vpI7Q1EQ&s=19

[IBEW_Sparky]

Meh, the money means dip to me anyway, and the majority of it (should be all of it) goes to a great cause, so it wont bother me a bit to let them fade off into the digital abyss.

[BoddaH1994]

Remember all those things you enjoyed? We’re taking them away. Terms are subject to change. No refunds.

See also: Prestige Pass benefits 

 

[MDMC01]

I'm seeing a lot of "NOs" on that list... No more Forbidden Frontier, No more Chic-Fil-A. I wonder if they are planning to develop on the land that Forbidden Frontier (and Shoot the Rapids) sat on... Also, what is Wild Turnip?

[Rivertown Rider]

I'm sad to see Mac Shack go away.  That was one of our favorites at CP.

[disco2000]

7 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Remember all those things you enjoyed? We’re taking them away. Terms are subject to change. No refunds.

See also: Prestige Pass benefits 

 

A whole lot of going away and not a lot of what's coming....

[KIghostguy]

Can't say I'm too sad about Forbidden Frontier leaving. I felt that it was a waste of space. More live entertainment options are a good thing...but nobody goes to Cedar Point to LARP. Hopefully the redevelopment of that island becomes a top priority; it's a big, central plot of land and could be home to so many different options.

The thing about Town Hall being "indefinitely postponed" (aka cancelled) was also shared during last year's Winter Chill Out. It really, really sucks, in my opinion easily the worst news to come out of the past two Chill Outs. It's so sad they gutted the museum...and THEN cancelled it. Another vacant space for many more years, no doubt.

And here are two positives out of Chill Out: renderings were shared of the Grand Pavilion interior and it's stunning. It will probably be the nicest-looking restaurant at any regional amusement park--it even has stained-glass windows! And the marquee sign for The Boardwalk looks fantastic as well; it's going to mimic this old sign, which I love: 

[BoddaH1994]

Maybe their schedule for 2023 simply hasn’t been announced. They could have all new events, although I have to admit that CP Nights happened to be at a time when I was staying at Breakers and it was a great time. I’ll miss that.

I’m on the fence about Forbidden Frontier. I liked the floating bridges, the “Truce Day” idea, and the animals. Unfortunately, I feel like many of the tie-ins were probably late budget cuts which ruined the project.

Glad Grand Pavilion looks nice though. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I don't understand why they can't do CP Nights. I don't really think there is any other event they can do on the Beach that isn't the same thing. However, I have thought of how cool it would be to do a music festival/concert series on the Beach. There are Beaches that have done that in the past. 

source for photo: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.travelchannel.com%2Finterests%2Fbeaches%2Fphotos%2F10-great-us-beach-festivals&psig=AOvVaw1RjxmVK_8u_Y0Ow3_WYXCj&ust=1677518933355000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCMiG_pPbs_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

[disco2000]

^The issue is not that they can't do CP nights....I suspect the analysis has determined the return on the investment wasn't there.

Or maybe they plan to repackage/rebrand it.

[IBEW_Sparky]

4 hours ago, disco2000 said:

A whole lot of going away and not a lot of what's coming....

Non-PR B.S. answer to the question of what is coming is "Absolutely as little as we can possibly get away with and just barely enough to keep the mice listening to our flutes."

[BB1]

13 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Remember all those things you enjoyed? We’re taking them away. Terms are subject to change. No refunds.

See also: Prestige Pass benefits 

 

• Mac Shack was an instant loss for me. I tried it a few times and I didn't think it was worth it at all; especially in comparison to losing Pinks.
• Chick Fil A leaving is a serious blow, they brought it back due to guest demand and it always had a line when I was there. 
• I am extremely upset with the removal of the Juice stand as I only got it once, and ever since they never staffed it for me to get any more drinks. With everything considered, the "celebration" classic leaving is a major loss.
• Let's continue the pain with the loss of the Town Hall Museum, which I for one have been eagerly waiting for it's reopening from the "COVID" reason to the we are still working on it reason. For them to just up and say we're not continuing is a major blow as that was a great way for guests to get out of the heat and relax a little bit. 
• No first rider event/passholder preview absolutely is a slap in the face to passholders who in the past got these benefits, now sit here waiting longer for the attraction. I loved the way CP did these functions, having been to a few media days and some charity events, they took it up another level. 

The only good thing I can see here is that Famous Dave's is coming back to the park proper. The turnip never did anything special for me and honestly just felt like a waste of space as it wasn't that crowded. Having another meat option in the park will seriously enhance the food options overall. 

However, this is all screaming budget cuts to me. The fact that they are cutting back on basically discretionary expenses really makes me wonder how this season is going to run. Which also begs the question, why is Chick Fil A leaving and Johnny Rockets still there? I don't doubt that the park will have some decent culinary options coming, but this is after Keat's becoming a taco joint, Pink's going the way of the dodo, and now the Juice being demo'd. Everything tied in with the lack of CP Nights which I was planning on attending for the first time this year really just sours the deal.  

The only ray of sunshine is that with Frontier being gutted means that the park maybe planning a new attraction in that part of the park. I'll say it once, I'll say it again, the park needs a modern GCI or MACK launch coaster, which would fit snug in that section of the park. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

For Forbidden Frontier, if the park wanted to, they can easily relocate the playground. Ik a lot of people are upset about FF mainly bc of the playground. I was able to perfectly place it in Kiddy Kingdom. All they would need to do is remove or relocate a couple rides.

[TombRaiderFTW]

20 hours ago, IBEW_Sparky said:

Non-PR B.S. answer to the question of what is coming is "Absolutely as little as we can possibly get away with and just barely enough to keep the mice listening to our flutes."

Boy, have I got news for you about how businesses work.

19 hours ago, BB1 said:

However, this is all screaming budget cuts to me. The fact that they are cutting back on basically discretionary expenses really makes me wonder how this season is going to run. Which also begs the question, why is Chick Fil A leaving and Johnny Rockets still there? I don't doubt that the park will have some decent culinary options coming, but this is after Keat's becoming a taco joint, Pink's going the way of the dodo, and now the Juice being demo'd. Everything tied in with the lack of CP Nights which I was planning on attending for the first time this year really just sours the deal.

I don't know if this was true in every presentation or just in mine, but Tony did admit in ours that part of some of the decisions that were made for 2023 were based in staffing and trying to consistently offer quality in what remains. I don't think that's mutually exclusive with, "We're trying to save money."

I've had kind of a vibe from Cedar Fair recently (minus Kings Island and Carowinds) that they aren't particularly sure of what they are right now, and WCO 2023 only solidified that feeling for me. Cedar Fair post-Ouimet is giving me Disney post-Walt vibes--they seem to know that what was done 7-11 years ago worked but don't fully understand why, so they keep doing it in hopes that it'll keep working. I think that's why rides keep disappearing at Cedar Point and restaurants pop up in their wake, and why live entertainment hasn't moved past music revues (which has been standard amusement park fare since the 70's) and circus acts (which appeared circa 2012.)

LARP-style attractions (Ghost Town Alive, Forbidden Frontier) were an interesting step in the right direction with a lot of potential, but CP was always an odd choice to me for one, and they basically hid it from plain sight. You had to look for it, unlike at Knott's, where you'd easily stumble into it (since Ghost Town is effectively their International Street, for the purposes of this conversation.) I'm not shocked it wasn't pulling numbers (Tony's words, not mine) and it's gone. It's a shame that Forbidden Frontier seems to have put a bad taste in CF's mouths about the entire concept.

Cedar Fair circa 2012-2017 was redefining what the seasonal amusement park experience was, and it seems like we've faltered. Cedar Point's 2023 strategy being "we're adding a wild mouse and removing a bunch of other stuff" makes me feel like no one knows what to do with where things stand.

Putting Tony Clark in the spotlight to have to break that news in person to a bunch of enthusiasts was an odd move at best, and at least in my presentation, it showed. Tony was very subdued and even the littlest bit sharp with people. It's unsurprising to me that they did a "text your question to this number" system for the Q&A, because that gave him the ability to ignore disgruntled questions.

[Browntggrr]

Everyone has to consider the previously announced additions to the recently announced subtractions.

The new Boardwalk will pick up much of the slack for the new subtractions.

[BB1]

25 minutes ago, TombRaiderFTW said:

Putting Tony Clark in the spotlight to have to break that news in person to a bunch of enthusiasts was an odd move at best, and at least in my presentation, it showed. Tony was very subdued and even the littlest bit sharp with people. It's unsurprising to me that they did a "text your question to this number" system for the Q&A, because that gave him the ability to ignore disgruntled questions.

I'm going to be real with you, with my one and only experience at WCO I can say that there needs to be a question gate. Having some guy complain about one employee just solidified my reasonings behind not being a big fan of Q&A. I think if you weed out the fanboys they can be enlightening, but with the fanboy questions it was a waste of time. 

[SonofBaconator]

Remember when we all thought that Trio Tech was going to be at every park in the chain?

[KIghostguy]

57 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

Remember when we all thought that Trio Tech was going to be at every park in the chain?

And thank goodness that never happened. If I wanted to shoot things on a video screen, I can go to Dave and Buster's. 

[Kenban]

The town hall remodel being cancelled was announced last year.  At the time they said it would be impossible to reopen the old town hall because they had already gutted the building back after the season ended in 2019.  They also said that they anticipated it would be several years before something might happen and they were not certain if they would use the existing design or if it would be something new.  So I am unsure why this is considered news.

Wild Turnip was a quick service restaurant on frontier trail, the entire point was to serve people who had dietary restrictions.  The problem was it always had staffing issues and was rarely open, in part because it took special training to work there.  I do not remember ever seeing it operate, but I actually heard good things about the food.

From what I can tell there was no explanation as to what closing Forbidden Frontier even means.  Is it just the characters, or is the whole island that closed?  It feels like the entire thing is closing, not sure if that means it’s being removed which suggests something is happening out there, or to reduce labor to operate the park, and it might return in some form in the future.  They installed bathrooms on the island, some interactive elements, and a big play structure.

Overall I think Cedar Point is trying to reduce the number of employees it takes to operate the resort.  Finding enough employees has been hard for a while and it seems more difficult then ever, it does not help that the park does not pay that well.  I suspect that’s why the CP Nights is not happening, staffing.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

According to this video, there will still be nightime stuff on the beach, but more towards the hotel area and it won't really be an event. Just nightime activities. Honestly, I think it would be better if they did the activities from CP nights (like the glow stuff, DJ, and games), but had it all summer (Memorial day to Labor Day) not just the end of summer.