Winterfestguy

Would like to see the Coney Mall sign return - when the concrete walkway was enlarged several years ago, the sign disappeared. Creative ways like at Haunt with portable concrete anchors or large flower pots could hold it

With the emphasis on attempting to make this successful, staff will be pulling out everything they can with the multiple events of the conference occurring at the same time. I agree there have been multiple events going on at the same time with Coasterstock before, but nothing of this magnitude (it would be like having Coasterstock the same day as Spirit Song - huge crowds and wait times). There really are not many other good dates that remain to select from without competing with other coaster events (not that makes any difference but two coaster events on same day can make a difficult decision) - May 10-12 ACE Preservation conference which includes Kentucky Kingdom, May 24-25 is Memorial Day weekend, May 31- June 1 Hollywood nights, and CP Coastermania confirmed for June 7. Can’t wait to see which dates are finally confirmed for Coasterstock and this summer to arrive.

I imagine the Kings Island Theater will be utilized with its large projection screen since Cirque does’t begin showing until the Memorial Day weekend.

See the Coasterstock thread under Kings Island Central News

Will the gaming convention announced today for May 18 have any impact on having Coasterstock the same weekend? With Saturday school field trips and the popularity of the gaming convention (combined with the park is not typically fully staffed this early in the season) the park will likely be extremely crowded on Saturday. Maybe better enjoy Coasterstock on Friday if the May 17-18 date still holds for Coasterstock.

Luckily, KI has not yet not separated out SC into a separate admission and has kept SC as part of their Gold season pass program (although I image the concept of separating the two continues to be studied by CF). CP Cedar Shores water park requires a separate admission and is not included with their CP season pass. At least with Platinum you can also get into CP Cedar Shores water park which I consider a perk while also visiting CP, especially on extremely hot days.

We can only hope with the current park management emphasis seeming to be on “what is old is new again” (e.g. antique autos), maybe they can restore the Feathaus clock (which would be a show in itself that could be programmed to operate at select hours) and a remodel of the Festhaus (the bathrooms are in desperate need of updates). It is sad that park management made the decision to stop the clock at the end of the 2007 season. ”The Festhaus clock was working every 15 minutes until the end of the 2007 season at which point the VP's of the park decided that they wanted the attraction turned off due to lack of interest from the public and a way to save money on repair costs. It sat dormant through the entire 2008 season, and the control system was then pulled out before the beginning of the 2009 season. As it currently sits, it has been a forgotten feature of almost everyone from the park's staff. It is truly unfortunate that they want to remove any charm/theming from the park”

Job well done - if KI would only install some sets of RGB that way on the tower just think of the endless summertime night fireworks shows they could have!

Might make sense for a small child to be paired with another small child but there is no way two single 200 pound guys would fit in one glider. I cannot see one adult ever being paired as there is little seat belt slack left, even if the operator tried squeeze play.

When we are at the Reds Buffet on the 23rd, they were already really low on cookies and they were limiting them to one small box per family, and if you were in a group like we were, one box per group (that equaled 1/2 a cookie for each person!). So it is no surprise they seemed to totally run out - Why they didn’t at least go buy and give out the individually wrapped chocolate chip cookies like they always serve at picnics will always be a mystery.

We enjoyed the park being open daily the week before Christmas - even though the days were work and school nights, we were able to enjoy dinner, a show, the lights, and leave by 830 with our mug of hot chocolate. What is missing is the advertising on TV and Radio (my friends in the tri-state area said there have been no Winterfest commercials or TV interviews about the event with staff whereas in the summer KI ran a commercial about every couple of hours).

Several years ago KI built a building behind the blackout haunt to house their Winterfest decorations. Since many decorations are new this year and many are different from last season, what percentage of decorations are leased for the season compared to actually being owned by KI (or CF)?

This is really is not similar to Disney or Universal - those plans (depending on which plan) give one full service sit down, one quick service, one snack item OR one quick service meal and one snack item. With the CF all day dining (assuming you eat every 90 min from 11am till 9pm in the summer) you could have a total of 6 meals. I cannot imagine adding another snack on top of the 6 meals (which the snack seemed to add another $5 bucks to their all day dining plans). In my opinion CF really missed the boat on what people were asking for. My friends feedback has always been why can’t you substitute a snack item at the 90 minute interval in place of a meal with the all day dining plan? (Example - So you might at 90 minute intervals have 3 meals, one ice cream, and 2 pretzels that day from 11am-9pm). Seems that CF might save some money on food costs if they would the structure the plan that way for just one person. Adding a snack on top of typically 6 meals a day will only encourge more sharing (which happens frequently because there is already too much food for just one person in a day).

Next year KI should advertise WF to the surrounding states like they do for their summer season. Many out of state people do not even know that KI is open for the winter Holiday season (and that there are coasters running weather permitting!). Hopefully KI will never cut back on their lights like Dollywood did this season.(Dollywood definitely had far less lights than in previous seasons which may be why they ended up third).

When the scoreboard closed to public viewing in the last few days of the contest, Branson was in first, KI Winterfest in second, and Dollywood in third. The top ten will be announced on Dec 21 so will see if KI could secure enough votes to move ahead of Branson to the top spot.

CP experimented with bringing out the huts (like those used during KI Winterfest Artisians Village) and serving foods from various countries on the weekends this last season. It sounds like CF wants to expand the same concept to other parks like KI. I wish KI would have a Beer and BBQ event like CP does in June. Since CF has said they need to reduce their labor budget, I would be surprised it next season’s budget has lots of extra dollars (but of course depends upon how much Winterfest at the four parks influences the overall Q4 results).

They should move Tinkers back to the Kings Island Theater to have a fantastic large set design, sound, and bring back the North Pole Penguins which were the original and 2005 Winterfest tradition (seems the penguins got dropped when the new Tinker production was made last year for Winterfest 3). Then a new production could play in the Festhaus. Charlie Brown and Friends can move over to the new Enchanted Theater venue. Bring back the North Pole Penguins!

See page 9 of this thread for the IS Winter Buffet menu (there is a blend of zucchini and squash in a red pepper sauce that might be appropriate for vegetarians). There is a different menu for the Reds buffet for which the menu is also listed earlier in this thread.

That’s the type of Star that is needed on the new Winterfest tree (with hundreds of twinkling bulbs) rather than the current dimly lit rope light star.

Some newer belts and belt buckles can now hide dangerous items. The purpose of the scanner is to help identify dangerous objects like knives so that they are not taken into the park for your safety. An example of a belt buckle with a knife blade. Why someone would wear something like this to an amusement park is a complete mystery to me. https://www.slidebelts.com/products/survival-belt?variant=5432466374671&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2Mjk-Nb03gIVgrfACh19qQHUEAQYBCABEgIwK_D_BwE

The park did a fantastic job of listening to all the comments from last year, and I was surprised to see nothing done with the very weakly lighted star on top of the tower (the same as last season), which had many comments about changing to something different because of being so dim. Maybe the park should buy back the old Winterfest star tree topper with hundreds of twinkling C7 bulbs to use as a pattern to create something new and exciting for next year.

Interesting that Carowinds is offering 50% off Winterfest pre-purchase admission tickets through Nov 14 and is also having a Season Pass Preview Night. Too bad KI is not offering the same deal.

Maybe for a change Holiwood Nights and CP Coastermania won’t be the same weekend so we can attend both (since CP Coastermania is typically the first Friday in June which would make it June 7).

There is ice skating at KD just like at KI. There are a few less lights at KD (approx 2 million), but there will be 12 live shows at KD which is more than Christmas Town will have (wonder if Six buys the SeaWorld chain how much Christmas Town might change?). Also, KD has the same 300 foot tree on the tower with LED lights as KI which is taller and more technologically advanced than any tree in Christmas Town. Since this is the first year of Winterfest at KD, look for it to be expanded in 2019 just has KI has done in their second season. It is likely KD will have some impact on Christmas Town attendance.

We can only hope KI also extends their Saturday Winterfest hours too - when asked during the podcast, they have indicated there are no plans to extend the current KI Saturday hours of 4-10pm (but as we know, they do sometimes change their mind at the last minute such as last year when they decided to open at 4 instead of 5 on Saturdays).