Grand Carnivale no more in 2024?

[BoddaH1994]

This is pure speculation. 

I’ve noticed that GC is suspiciously absent from the “Seasons of Fun” campaign this year. This could mean one of two things:

1. They made the creative decision to change it to “Four seasons of fun.” With that, they’d omit GC since it’s not exactly a season. Spring, summer, winter and fall are all represented. TBH I thought this would have made more sense from the beginning.

2. Either there is no GC next year, or at least they aren’t sure if it is coming back. 
 

Thoughts?

l

[FUN&ONLY!]

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

This is pure speculation. 

I’ve noticed that GC is suspiciously absent from the “Seasons of Fun” campaign this year. This could mean one of two things:

1. They made the creative decision to change it to “Four seasons of fun.” With that, they’d omit GC since it’s not exactly a season. Spring, summer, winter and fall are all represented. TBH I thought this would have made more sense from the beginning.

2. Either there is no GC next year, or at least they aren’t sure if it is coming back. 
 

Thoughts?

l

A survey was sent out this past summer asking about new events and parades. Maybe we are getting something new?

[CoastersRZ]

I still love the atmosphere of a parade running through the park.  Just creates some excitement and buzz.  I know staffing it can be difficult.  And I still don`t like how the parade "runs" back to its tent, after it has concluded on I-Street.

[Timchat2]

The press release from Cedar Fair said that Grand Carnivale would "return to a number of parks" in 2024, so they might still be sorting out which ones. I wonder if smaller parks like Valleyfair or Worlds of Fun see more of a boost than the larger parks like Kings Island.

[Imperial79]

Hopefully Grand Carnivale is returning, I haven't seen it yet and was planning to go next year to check it out. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Tbh while I like Carnivale, it has been going on for 3 seasons now and has only been downsized over the years. I say if they aren't going to return the event back to how it was in 2019 (the different stages, more interactive character opportunities, the weekend concert series) I wouldn't be opposed to axing Carnivale and bringing in something new. At Coasterstock I asked Mike Koontz about doing a Frontier Festival or Kidzfest type thing and he said something along the lines of "we are looking into doing something in May and June that would be specific to Kings Island." For example he mentioned about how doing a boysenberry festival like Knotts wouldn't work at KI since that is a Knotts thing and there are no boysenberries here. Now if Carnivale leaves, maybe we could get an event along the lines of Knotts Summer Nights or the Busch Gardens Summer Celebration where the idea around the event is celebrating the season of summer. They could even tie the nightly fireworks into that and do concerts at Timberwolf on the weekends during the event (like BGW does). 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

5 hours ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

A survey was sent out this past summer asking about new events and parades. Maybe we are getting something new?

I haven't seen such survey myself. Can you provide a little more information on what they were surveying on. Like the themes of the events and parades?

[Snowball]

28 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

doing a boysenberry festival like Knotts wouldn't work at KI since that is a Knotts thing and there are no boysenberries here.

How about a cincinnati chili festival? 

[disco2000]

5 minutes ago, Snowball said:

How about a cincinnati chili festival? 

Would probably be options of Skyline and Skyline since Skyline pays to be at the park LOL

[flightoffear1996]

I dont see why they can't store the floats for an hour two elsewhere and put them away after the park closes. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

1 hour ago, Snowball said:

How about a cincinnati chili festival? 

He joked about it at Coasterstock and the place erupted in applause and laughter. Unfortunately won't happen though. 

[PKIVortex]

Considering they are selling merch buy one get one free makes me wonder if it is coming back. Plus they were still using the cups well after the event was over.

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[Orion-XL200]

Grand Carnivale is returning to KD this season:

https://www.facebook.com/kingsdominionva/posts/pfbid02Z17DqM1Kf8Qx5SRqH9AR71wiSW5rWGwausgaFsArxjVq5nY32gir3MmFt9NEPvSnl

Will we see it return to KI? Only time will tell....or when it just happens to show up online a few days to a week before it starts.

[BoddaH1994]

I posted this in the Other Parks thread. The thought of it going to KD does add some hope for KI. 

[Timchat2]

Grand Carnivale at Kings Dominion is listed as "select dates" and Carnivale at Orleans Place at California's Great America appears to be just Friday-Sunday for 2024, so if Grand Carnivale returns to Kings Island this season would it also have a limited schedule?

[BoddaH1994]

10 hours ago, Timchat2 said:

Grand Carnivale at Kings Dominion is listed as "select dates" and Carnivale at Orleans Place at California's Great America appears to be just Friday-Sunday for 2024, so if Grand Carnivale returns to Kings Island this season would it also have a limited schedule?

I almost wish they would do that. Have GC Wednesday through Sunday, but run for three or four weeks. That way They can run it longer, but the cast doesn't necessarily have to work the whole run without a day off.

[brenthodge]

12 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I almost wish they would do that. Have GC Wednesday through Sunday, but run for three or four weeks. That way They can run it longer, but the cast doesn't necessarily have to work the whole run without a day off.

Agree. And maybe by concentrating efforts, we could see a more robust offering than the skimpy event we got last year. 

[BoddaH1994]

7 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Agree. And maybe by concentrating efforts, we could see a more robust offering than the skimpy event we got last year. 

You’re going waaaaay to far.

If it comes back it’ll be how it was last year, or less. I think we both know that.

[Timchat2]

A weekends-only longer run might be possible if they aren't moving floats between parks. Presumably there are savings in only have three parks do the event without having to move everything to another three parks.

[BoddaH1994]

19 minutes ago, Timchat2 said:

A weekends-only longer run might be possible if they aren't moving floats between parks. Presumably there are savings in only have three parks do the event without having to move everything to another three parks.

Part of the benefit for the park is that it creates urgency to buy tickets. If they make it too short, there’s very little value. If they make it too long, it has no urgency. It would be interesting to see what the compromise would be. In today’s world, it would be the most efficient and cost effective. In the past, that decision would have been much more precise. 

[Timchat2]

Two previous Grand Carnivale parks are now listing new summer events for 2024 with Dorney Park Summer Nights and KC Nights at Worlds of Fun. If these are replacements for Grand Carnivale (along with any new unannounced summer events at Carowinds) this is leaves just Valleyfair and Kings Island as the only Grand Carnivale parks that haven't specified their summer event plans yet.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

1 hour ago, Timchat2 said:

Two previous Grand Carnivale parks are now listing new summer events for 2024 with Dorney Park Summer Nights and KC Nights at Worlds of Fun. If these are replacements for Grand Carnivale (along with any new unannounced summer events at Carowinds) this is leaves just Valleyfair and Kings Island as the only Grand Carnivale parks that haven't specified their summer event plans yet.

Personally I wouldn't mind a Summer Nights event seeing how popular it is at Knotts and Cedar Point. I believe KI was supposed to introduce such event in 2020, but Covid messed that up. 

[Timchat2]

As much as I love Grand Carnivale (or at least the pre-2023 versions) it would be nice to have summertime event that covers more of the summer season.

[chad_1138]

At the rate park announcements have been going, they will announce GC the day after it starts.

[brenthodge]

17 minutes ago, chad_1138 said:

At the rate park announcements have been going, they will announce GC the day after it starts.

So true. Or it will be reported by every OTHER site then they can just copy and paste. 

[Timchat2]

Valleyfair has announced their 2024 events and Grand Carnivale is not listed, so it appears that Kings Island, Kings Dominion and California's Great America will be the only three parks with Grand Carnivale this year.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Honestly I think Grand Carnivale makes most sense at KI, KD, and CGA as they mainly fit the theme of the parks well. CGA has Orleans Place which works with Carnivale at Orleans Place and Grand Carnivale at KI and KD work with International Street. In fact, I believe Mike Koontz said at Coasterstock last year that Carnivale started as an International Food Festival specfically for KI and it developed into Grand Carnivale. 

[Timchat2]

Valleyfair seemed to do a nice job on Grand Carnivale working within their means but it did seem like a large event for a smaller park.

Between the reduced 2023 version and now only three parks still offering the event in 2024, will this be the last year for Grand Carnivale overall?

[BeeastFarmer]

1 hour ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Honestly I think Grand Carnivale makes most sense at KI, KD, and CGA as they mainly fit the theme of the parks well. CGA has Orleans Place which works with Carnivale at Orleans Place and Grand Carnivale at KI and KD work with International Street. In fact, I believe Mike Koontz said at Coasterstock last year that Carnivale started as an International Food Festival specfically for KI and it developed into Grand Carnivale. 

Worlds of Fun has entered the chat:  "Bon après-midi! Je crois que je correspond très bien au thème ! L'événement m'a été volé!" 中國說：“我也是！而且冬季節也被拿走了！”

[brenthodge]

21 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Honestly I think Grand Carnivale makes most sense at KI, KD, and CGA as they mainly fit the theme of the parks well. CGA has Orleans Place which works with Carnivale at Orleans Place and Grand Carnivale at KI and KD work with International Street. In fact, I believe Mike Koontz said at Coasterstock last year that Carnivale started as an International Food Festival specfically for KI and it developed into Grand Carnivale. 

You can tell from the original concept art that all looked like the KINGS parks, that it was originally “concepted” for there.