Timchat2

We loved Home for the Holidays. I really liked how it recast the familiar train experience as part of a simple heartwarming holiday story. I don't recall if it slowed up load times but it is the kind of experience that would be great to see return.

The WinterFest show page for Carowinds has been updated for 2023. The parade will return at Carowinds even though it apparently will not return to Kings Dominion. Shows from 2022 that are no longer listed (and assumed to be cut) include Holly Jolly Trolley, Sparkle City Swing Machine, the Yule Logs, Tree-ditions, Christmas Bluegrass, Fezzywigs Brass Band, Four Drummers Drumming and the Mistletones.

I'm hoping/expecting Sounds of Nativity to be relocated as well, although that might put it closer to Four Drummers Drumming (if that returns as well). Perhaps the loss of Holly Jolly Trolley would mean that the major shows like Tinker's, Swingin' Into Christmas and Cool Yule can still remain?

The WinterFest shows pages for Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland aren't listing Holly Jolly Trolley despite having offered the show in previous years, so it's possible that is one production we'll see cut across the chain.

I was hopeful that Summerbration would get a second year since they put the effort into building the new set and then arranging music and making choreography for the new show. But I could see how pyro could be an issue with the back spike so close.

A replacement pogo performer was brought in by All Wheel Sports.

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.

With the shift to more of a family crowd (in the sense of the younger guests showing up and how the park seems to be adjusting to them) could we see Kings Island shift to all-day Tricks and Treats and no Haunt like Valleyfair or California's Great America? Presumably the Haunts at those parks were just as well-attended on their own terms as Kings Island's but there were strong enough reasons to drop the "scary" nighttime offerings.

If it does return this year they might be set up like it is at Kings Dominion and Carowinds with a temporary outdoor stage and enclosures for the animals.

It will be interesting to see how the offerings might be arranged this year for any budget cuts. If nothing else Sounds of the Nativity (assuming it returns) will need a different setup with the Camp Snoopy construction.

How does this year's Tricks and Treats compare to last year? Are there obvious cuts like with Haunt?

We were waiting for KillMart when it hit midnight when a supervisor associate announced to the line that the park was closed and no more groups would be admitted. Have the houses always closed exactly at midnight? We assumed they would have closed the queue early if getting the house clear by park closing was the priority.

Carowinds just posted information about their fall events including the new parade, which will apparently do double-duty as the Tricks and Treats Parade during the day and the Procession of Nightmares parade at night.

The new Korean (or Mongolian according to the KI Instagram) meatballs and fried rice are pretty good, grading on the Grain & Grill curve. Along with the naan it makes for a nice little meal. It's nice to see the park implicitly acknowledge that G&G hasn't been the greatest this season. Hopefully it can at least settle in like French Corner as a place for tasty (but tiny) dining credit burn-offs.

Which is all the more impressive on the part of SDC. I wonder if this will be a template for an indoor coaster at Dollywood.

This looks great! I didn't quite expect them to go the route of Monster Mansion at Six Flags Over Georgia where a classic attraction is essentially reborn with new scenery, lighting, etc.

That's encouraging to hear. We will see what form the event takes next season. Worlds of Fun seems to come up short on the seasonal events, especially if they lose Grand Carnivale after losing WinterFest.

A performer at Worlds of Fun posted a vlog where she mentions that this was the last season of Grand Carnivale at that park, so it seems possible the 2023 run was the last for the event chain-wide.

All Wheel Sports posted a casting notice for NyteWalkers in July, so it is presumably coming back to Kings Island since California's Great America no longer does Haunt.

Now that Grand Carnivale has concluded for 2023, will the event return for 2024? If it does return I'd imagine it will be very similar to this season and less like what we had in 2019 and 2021. How Kings Island specifically executes Grand Carnivale (the early parade start time, nearly all of the GC characters disappearing after the parade, etc.) will likely be tied to what the park decides to do for the regular season live entertainment.

The return of a cirque show feels like a distinct possibility. Cedar Fair still has a relationship with Les Productions Haut-Vol and their shows probably have a broader appeal than the straight singing-and-dancing shows.

I had a relatively positive experience with Grain & Grill yesterday. The pasta included beef as a welcome bit of protein and the naan was reasonably soft and fresh. Consistency of offerings and ingredients still varies greatly but this was enough to keep a little hope alive for me:

It will be interesting to see how this all manifests in Haunt and WinterFest this year. NyteWalkers appears to be returning but will the Bandstand have a show for Haunt? WinterFest is coming back but will something like the WinterFest Wonderland Parade still happen?

With the return of WinterFest to the original Grand Carnivale and then the Golden Celebration, Kings Island has really elevated the guest experience so it will be unfortunate if these "budget" seasons undermine what the park has built up recently. I hope those passionate associates can weather the times and keep pushing to make the park all it can be.

Watching video of the 2019 I was reminded of the self-contained floats, not to mention the larger scope of the parade with so many performers and three Mardi Gras bead floats at the end instead of the current single one.