The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that Winterfest was a success and will be back next holiday season.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...060444/-1/CINCI

Cool BUT I still wont pay 24-or more dollars to attend winterfest.

Thats Great ! maybe they'll add a couple attractions and more lights on the train ride!

At least it will be back:

Yeah, I read it while at school. Just another article clipping to add to my collection.

That's good new since I never got the chance to go out and see it this year, so I like forward to seeing it in 2006.

Maybe if the price is better, I'll go next time. I mean, for no rides (The point of an amusement park [Yes, Kings Island is an amusement park I think] is to be amused) its a pretty bad deal.

And the meal is so expensive. I'de rather have a little bite to eat then a huge meal. I'de just go to the BK lounge and get me a chicken sangwidch.

LOL Dane Cook is halarious!

(The point of an amusement park [Yes, Kings Island is an amusement park I think] is to be amused)

Yup, and seems that Winterfest had the entire "Amused" thing taken care of. I'm sorry if you feel the only way to be amused is to have rides.

Rides are only one component that make up an "Amusement Park."

Correct, there is the whole thing of live entertainment, which WinterFest excelled at marvelously. Granted, they could have sued some more lights in a couple of areas, but overall it was a fun time, and I thouroughly enjoyed my four visits there. I`m glad to see that they will be conducting it again next year. Hopefully they will make some improvements to it and hopefully it will become a holiday tradition for years to come!

I'd say the only downside to the product itself is that you can really do it all in a few hours when the park isn't really busy. If they added maybe two new attractions next year and perhaps added nightly fireworks, it would be a much more well-rounded event.

i hope they do drop the price.... even if a little. Newsletter subscribers did get a great deal later in the month.... but it wasn't just hand delivered.

For those who missed the "thrills".... then you want to go to Kings Island in the July, not WinterFest in December.

From what I've heard, Winterfest could have been more of a "success" if the prices had been reasonable. Lets say all discounts considered, $5 for parking, $15 for entrance, $15 for meal, and (apparently, correct me if I'm wrong) an extra $10 for ice skating. With no skating, thats a hefty $35, and when there are several other winter events around Cinci that run on the same scale as Winterfest but don't include the extremely high prices, the guests will go to the other places.

From what I've heard, Winterfest could have been more of a "success" if the prices had been reasonable. Lets say all discounts considered, $5 for parking, $15 for entrance, $15 for meal, and (apparently, correct me if I'm wrong) an extra $10 for ice skating. With no skating, thats a hefty $35, and when there are several other winter events around Cinci that run on the same scale as Winterfest but don't include the extremely high prices, the guests will go to the other places.

Actually, I think the base price was $24.99. I bet next year the prices will be the same but discounts and coupons wil be more readily available. Unfortunately, that would be a marketing tactic that I would disagree with. As soon as someone brings up the notion of going to Winterfest, the first thing that people will think about is the $25. Of course, people would get coupons and be more inclined to go if they saw the logo but I really think the payoff would be if people spent less to get in, they'd likely be more inclined to eat in the park and buy things in the shops.

I think they would have remarketed it with more television ads. The ads they had were really weak and didn't explain exactly what Winterfest was. So to the average person, I doubt they'd spend $25 on a product that they're not sure about, and in addition to that, if they did, they'd probably expect more rides to be open.

"In the competitive holiday event market, they pretty much priced themselves out of the event," complained one park goer in an Internet forum posting that appears on the park's Web site.

Whos web site said this???????

I'm pretty sure that was on this site, somewhere in the topic "Winterfest sinking faster than the titanic" Can someone else confirm this? (I'm lazy and its a big topic)

At least it will be back:

Yes i know and hopefully i will get to attend it next year.

I'm pretty sure that was on this site, somewhere in the topic "Winterfest sinking faster than the titanic" Can someone else confirm this? (I'm lazy and its a big topic)

I distinctly remember someone saying this one one post. Don't remember what topic/who said it, and I'm too lazy to look it up.

Lets say all discounts considered...

Actually, I think the base price was $24.99.

Hence, the "all discounts considered." I meant to emphasize the point that even with discounts, the price is still unreasonably high.

Anyone who doesn't like Winterfest should have spaghetti shot on them from Dane Cook's fingers.

Enjoy your spaghetti, you're very rude.

Well, some of the discounts they were offering (the $12.50 admission I thought was reasonable. However, The Beach and the Cincinnati Zoo`s Festival of Lights admission prices were still cheaper even at the reduced rate. For example, Holiday Fest at The Beach, a family of four could get in for thirty bucks, not to mention Beach passholders got free entry. So it is understandable that the park could have lost some attendance to those "cheaper" events. But at those events, I doubt they had the quality of live entertainment that PKI had.

My only real gripe with the event is that there were a couple areas where some more lights/decorations could have been used. Additionally, another signature attraction would have been nice, as the nights I went I completed everything before 8, leaving extra time. But all in all, I think that the event was well worth about $10-$15. $24.99 they were charging at the gate was a little steep.

I believe that next year Winterfest will be a huge hit now that more people might know about it.

I completely enjoyed my visit to Winterfest, and felt all the decorations and entertainment were top notch. People should really know that there are always ways to get in an amusement park cheaper than the gate price. That is the case during the normal PKI summer season as well. I thought it was great and I am glad Winterfest will be returning.

That being said, if they did lower the gate price to say 19.99 and added more lights, I think that would take care of other people's concerns for the most part...