Orion-XL200

Anything but Polar Express. Hate that movie. lol

Winterfest, definitely was chilly! Got into the park as turnstiles had opened, first thing we did was redeem our Fast Lane and use the restroom. We checked out the merch shops on I-Street. The former KI Collections (I can't remember what they named it for this event) had Orion and some other merch for $2.00, plus 70% off Christmas decorations. Throughout the night, I noted that there was a lack of Winterfest merch as in years past and there wasn't a shop completely dedicated to Christmas decor (thankful for that). We then headed to Enrique's for the Mac n Cheese bar. The line moved quite slow, so I took the opportunity to join the wifi. Pictured below is who Winterfest/Halloween Haunt is sponsored by . The food was just okay. Plenty of options, but I felt like mine became soup after they had drenched my tots with queso blanco. We rode Racer North and then made our way around the park. The park mostly looked great. One thing I had noticed was sound in the park was very off. Some areas were real quiet, while some weren't. The giant LED tree in Coney Mall had a rectangular section just glitching out, that was fun. The pathway between Coney and Rivertown by the open plot where Vortex still should be, felt lackluster. Would love for something to revitalize that area, maybe an arrow looper? We ended up going to see What The Dickens. It was a good show as always....love that the same jokes have survived including the Six Flags bit! We then made our way to Tinkers. To be honest, the best part of the show was the set. I struggled to hear any of the words that were being sung. I did like that Tinker played a bigger part and Poindexter took the background more. We rode Racer South and then joined the parade crowd. To me the parade lacked energy, the sound was awful....only coming off the floats (maybe it was an area sound issue, not sure how it was elsewhere on the route), and it is unchanged. I think the parade needs to be updated a bit. We wanted to grab a ride on the train. It was the train with some lights. They didn't play the 12 Days of Christmas...which in a way was better, since the lights don't match up with the song as you pass along them. But yeah, some lights. It's pretty embarrassing to have these beautiful light displays that only half of them work properly and the ones that the half work have only half of the halfs working. I get that it's not necessarily a priority to the park, but there's an entire season after Winterfest to work on the displays (I'm sure there's a point where some staff wonder what to do or could have a 1/2 hour here and there to work on lights). It's just sad. Pic below for an example of one of the brand new displays dead. After the train, it was time for food. I wanted Coney BBQ and a 9:15 (when I could get my 2nd meal since I ate at 5:15), there was no turkey or any of the festive foods. How nice that they didn't prepare enough for opening night. We then decided to try Chicken Shack....doors were locked. So we settled on Festhaus. I got lackluster chicken tenders and fries (they didn't have any of the festive foods). While there, we caught the show and it was great! By the time we finished eating, we strolled I-Street. I picked up a King Kobra Coasterdymanix ride car for $5 at Emporium because I bought something else in the store (a pack of trading cards). Headed out for the night after this. Noted the sign (pic below) with a QR code to have the event voted for in the USA Poll. I'd give opening night a solid 6/10. Could have been worse, but definitely could have been better. If you go to any antique store, you're likely to find these blow molds.

I always enjoy my time at HWN, but with this theme, I'm really excited, haha.

Very sad, though the menu the last couple of years weren't appetizing to me. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C8qPYaVmz/

Looks like the blog portion of the sites are starting to have entries and park specific ones at that, even if they're older ones.

I, for one, trust Tony way more than what's been shown prior to him taking over PR. As you said @Indyguy4KI we know how he operates and know that information can and will be shared.

If it's available during Winterfest, I definitely will try it.

Truly, I think they could utilize the service road (heading toward Slaughterhouse) by adding some quick rails and adjusting the fencing/walls. That would be more ideal than what is available right now.

When I did it in 2019, the messaging was definitely not clear and it was more like you would lose guaranteed access if you left to go into the park. I remember asking someone working what happened if I left and they basically said if the room gets full, I couldn't get back in.

The first time it was offered....didn't like it as much. I thought I'd rather be out in the park (at that point it was as if you left, you lost your spot and iirc you may have had to pay for admission again).

I just ask that there would eventually be a re-route of the exit ramp/Fast Lane path (or widen the path).

There have always only been 3 "characters"...6 "endings" aka 3 characters in either daytime or nighttime.

Opening Food Lockers IIRC at CP was through the app. You had to hit a button that said you arrived and then it would tell you to go to a certain locker and hit a certain code/item on the locker for it to open. They definitely implemented the failed launch rather poorly. Hopefully the larger parks (KI, CP, Caro, etc.) would be the ones to roll it out (properly). Festhaus would be one of the few places that it is done right in regards to trays. If I go to Tom & Chee or Potato Works, there isn't a good place to leave a tray (nor is there to get one). Coney BBQ yeah a bit, but if the patio is full, there really isn't a good return place for them. At Cedar Point, Grand Pavilion, Farmhouse, Back Beat, Happy Friar, Hugos, could really use trays (Farmhouse and Back Beat sometimes have them, but not near enough). Farmhouse is really the only place that I know at the park that has return places for the trays. Either way, I don't find getting food convenient at either park without some sort of tray or an easier way to get into the dining areas.

https://www.sixflags.com/kingsisland/shows/what-the-dickens

Yes please! I can generally remember a time frame but never down to 20 or less minutes lol. It'd just be nice to look at the app and see "meal redeemed at ___" or "___ minutes until next meal can be redeemed." I wish there was a way to get these ideas sent to the powers that be so they could find a way to implement them.

-Order number system would be great, especially with some kind of monitor. I am hard hearing, so unless I'm directly at the pick-up location/window, trying to hear my name is quite difficult. It gets especially harder if there is a ride semi close to the location. -I would love to have the ability to view past "orders" in the app to see the value of the use of the dining pass. -Even with small orders, I'd rather have a tray. It's much easier to carry everything (a drink with the meal) and open the doors without spilling or fighting to open the door with full hands. It's unfortunate though that guests ruin the whole tray thing by leaving them in the most random places. Having dedicated places to return them near any seating area would be good at KI (not limited to, but I'm thinking by the Funnel Cake Stand on I-Street, by the train station in Rivertown, etc). -Coke Refresh Stations - yes....or if they'd just have enough employees in the locations as is, I think it'd be okay. The whole ice thing baffles me. I think the biggest issue is people just over fill their ice and then just dump it. It'd be great if Coke as a company could program the machines to only dispense enough ice per cup size (thinking of how they do it in fast food restaurants for drinks and ice in their drive thrus). The machines are already smart enough to use QR Codes, know when flavor types are out, drinks are out, etc. so why not program the ability to dispense ice. -Food lockers. I have only done mobile ordering at Cedar Point (a couple of years ago) at Coasters. Ordering on the app was easy. Going to the mobile order pickup area was a breeze and I don't know why they don't utilize this anymore or just more. I know Grand Pavilion at CP has the lockers, they just never got set up to actually be used for mobile ordering.

For me, I don't live close enough to any park (though I'm 1/2 way between KI and CP geographically (ish). With my job I can't just take off at the end of a shift and head to a park and ride whenever I want. Visiting the park(s) is not convenient for my location/schedule as those who "live next door." One of my best friends visits a park close to them at least two or three times a week (I wish I could, just can't without sacrificing family time, sleep, $ etc.). So I utilize the all season long (all park) Fast Lane because: standing in line and not getting many rides in during the visit is not worth the hassle of my ability to get to the park(s). Do I drive 3 hours one way to only be able to ride 10-15 rides throughout the day, or would it be better to have all season Fast Lane when I can get 30-45 rides in a day? When I visit a park, 90% of the time I'm there from before open to close, so time wise I want to make sure I get as many rides in as possible to make it "worth it." For me, Magnum XL-200 is my favorite ride at Cedar Point. Having the ability this past season to get 25-35 rides on it during a singular day is amazing. Why wouldn't I want to ride my favorite ride as much as I am physically while following park rules able to? I do like having the ability to ride the rides I want to despite the crowd level and have the ability to re-ride over and over. For me, it's not a flex/clout thing to have season long Fast Lane. Sure, it's "cool," to have it, but if I do end up visiting any park with friends who have it, it'd be hard to have a visit with them if I didn't have it. I am in no means rich, and I don't have all season Fast Lane because I am rich. I budget and utilize the easy pay program to be able to afford it. If they didn't have that ability, I would either not be visiting the park(s) nearly as much as I do or I would not have the all season Fast Lane. Not having all season Fast Lane would significantly lower the amount of visits I make. I think for 2025 at Cedar Point I made 16 visits into the park. Without all season Fast Lane, it may have been two or three visits. So I guess after all of the above words, lol, the appeal, it makes visits able to happen and to be able to ride what I want to ride. I agree with you, comfort and safety play into it for me too. I visit to relieve stress, not get more!

I like Winterfest, but who knows what it'll actually be like this year....it's hard to say it's the best for 2025 when it hasn't happened, especially under the management of Six Flags. If it was 2017 when it returned, sure I'd vote for it. But like @rexpostal's thought, Smoky Mountain Christmas is the superior event, especially because year after year it continues to get better. We can't say the same for Winterfest.

Between the two, I wouldn't utilize the lower tier. When FL first came out, it was the only option for a little bit and then the + version came out, I never looked back.

The pavilion is meh, but it's the old Cedar Fair era style that kind of gives me a little bit of nostalgia. I will say during Halloweekends, the "Midway Scarousel" is pretty great riding in reverse. I forgot about those seat belts...yeah not a fan. I dislike the pre-recorded tracks but it's better than nothing I guess. I do love the KI carousel and the band organ. I guess I never realized that they switched to pre-recorded during shows next door.

As much as I hated the whole "ahh get away from me" turntable setup for Scooby and Boo Blasters, that would be hilarious!

For sure! On here it's been great, other forums and Facebook groups/pages haven't been as positive. 'Thoosies drive me nuts in general, but especially when it comes to picking apart new rides (anywhere) complaining that the parks/companies should have done x,y,z instead. Then they're the first ones to cry when those rides eventually get removed/the ones who monopolize the conversations instead of just enjoying them for what they area. Maybe, as my age has progressed and life has hit me fairly hard over the past year, I just tend to enjoy things for what they are instead of wishing/hoping for something different.

I wouldn't call it abuse since it's been allowed...there's not been any thing that says "you must visit a separate attraction for each use." I have always had FLP so that change wouldn't do anything to me. I pay the premium to be able to lap my favorite rides. Sure I pay to ride the other rides too, but I'd rather spend time at my favorites for a bit before moving on.

After I did my once a season ride on the Kiddy Kingdom Carousel at Cedar Point, I realized it's such a pretty carousel and is in much better shape (IMO) than the Midway Carousel.

The only thing that would ruin it for me is the 'thoosies who complain about it from the start. Yeah, there are things we all would love to see and experience, but it's going to be what it is, the park/Six Flags/Sally planned the attraction, none of us did and unless someone donates a lot of $ to add something they may want, it'll be what it is when it opens. Sit down, enjoy the ride for what it is and get back in line (or don't).