BoddaH1994 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Just creating a thread to talk about the most high-energy night of the year at KI. Some notes: Park was cold and crowded. Maybe our good luck stretch of post-rain 60 degrees on NYE is over. But to be honest, being warm on NYE is like spending Christmas on the beach. The parade did not do shop stops due to the cold (I presume). I had heard about this happening but had never seen it myself. What’s weird is they still stop momentarily when the show stop is supposed to occur and then go again after a few seconds. Must be a timing thing. The fact that the parade didn’t feel terribly lacking without show stops is a testament to how good the parade is! The balloon drop worked perfectly for the first time in my memory. Such a great event and the kids LOVE it! The DJ on the stage was very loud, but you need that for the energy. Fireworks show was amazing! I really enjoyed it! They advertised several times, including the DJ’s spiel, that they’d have a countdown on the tower. They’ve done that in the past. Instead they had the tree “climb” kind of like the tree lighting and it hit the top at midnight. Clearly this was intentional, and it worked very well. I wonder what was up with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawaiian Coasters 325 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I was there and it was my first time actually doing the New Year's Eve thing at the park. In the past I would work and then head home and watch the ball drop there. Since I was scheduled a swing (4:30-8) I decided to stay in the park and check it out. Like what @BoddaH1994 said, the balloon drop worked perfectly this year. Makes me wonder if the park did a test run of it after the fail that was last year's balloon drop to make sure it worked. I also got to drive the last ride of the night on Antique Autos was also my first ever time riding the antique autos so that was fun. The energy was amazing and I always say the New Year's Eve party is like the big "End of season party" and it is a great way to end out the season and start to look forward to April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperial79 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Had a great time, the lights were amazing, wish I bought a hot chocolate, the line was long so I didn’t feel like standing in line, kinda wish I did now. The balloon drop for the kids and families was energetic. The 2023 season was so much fun, and can’t wait for the 2024 season to start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VortexBFForever Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I was there! I saw the last tree lighting, What the Dickens twice (and got to be Tiny Tim in the second show!), and Tinker's Toy Factory one more time before working my last parade. After the parade I joined @Sixflags82 and @Hawaiian Coasters 325 for the balloon drop, one more ride on the sled hill, two more rides on Cargo Loco (to get my count to 50!) and the last ride of the year on KMAA. We originally wanted to end the year on Sol Spin or Flight of Cheer, but it got a little too cold for the former and the latter's entrance was already closed by the time we checked at 10:40 (I figured that would happen with one train) but I'm just glad we were the last riders of the year on something. And of course, the fireworks show was amazing as well as the dance music leading up to it. Nothing like dancing to the Macarena and Cotton Eyed Joe with friends in the last moments of the year and The Greatest Show which played right before the countdown reminded us once again of how amazing the 2018 summer fireworks show was! Happy New Year! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco2000 Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 I was there as well. Fun to not have any expectations about the night and just enjoy the atmosphere. It was cold and just enough real snow (like a few flakes to say hey it is snowing) to give some ambience to the place. Now for the offseason.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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