https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/winterfest
 

Notes after first glance:

Tinker’s Toy Factory is in the KIT this year, where it should have always been. Woohoo!!

Misletones are now roaming

New Festhaus show:

1 minute ago, BoddaH1994 said:

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/winterfest
 

Notes after first glance:

Tinker’s Toy Factory is in the KIT this year, where it should have always been. Woohoo!!

Misletones are now roaming

New Festhaus show:

Has the Great Pumpkin Coaster always been open at winter fest in the past? 

18 minutes ago, Orion742 said:

Has the Great Pumpkin Coaster always been open at winter fest in the past? 

Pretty sure it was open last season.

30 minutes ago, Orion742 said:

Has the Great Pumpkin Coaster always been open at winter fest in the past? 

 

11 minutes ago, Snowball said:

Pretty sure it was open last season.

Yes Great Pumpkin Coaster has always been open for Winterfest since 2017

Curious to see the Dining Plan upcharge for the Brewhouse Buffet this year.  Hopefully still only $10.

2 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/winterfest
 

Notes after first glance:

Tinker’s Toy Factory is in the KIT this year, where it should have always been. Woohoo!!

Misletones are now roaming

New Festhaus show:

Yes! The Big Band Sound returns to KI.  All hail Woodchopper's Ball Review!

Nice to see the new/relocated shows. I hope they make a really big deal about this year's Winterfest. It's the 40th anniversary of the first Christmas event at a seasonal park, and I hope they market it accordingly! It will be a huge missed opportunity if they don't have Walt Davis, the inventor of Winterfest, in the park opening night to do the Tree Lightning Ceremony.

I wonder if the train will do the 12 days of Christmas again or be different. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has done an awesome job with their train ride:

https://buschgardens.com/williamsburg/blog/christmas-town-villages/

Am I the only one that liked 2005's Festhaus entertainment setup of the in-the-round classical?

2 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

Am I the only one that liked 2005's Festhaus entertainment setup of the in-the-round classical?

Yes… yes you are. 
 

Then again, the sample size is, what? 40 people who saw that show?

I forget what it was called but did they discontinue the Charlie Brown Christmas show that was inside the KI Theater?! That was our family's favorite one and it looks like Tinker Toy Factory gave it the boot! 

Yes, that show has been discontinued. 

I am curious, A Peanuts Guide to Christmas is listed as being in "Charlie Brown`s Christmas Town." Bah Humbug, What the Dickens is listed as being in Peanuts Showplace. In the past, both shows were held in the same theater, the Peanuts Showplace, which is located behind the Great Pumpkin Coaster.  Is there another location for the Charlie Brown show?

I believe A Peanuts Guide to Christmas has been performed outside by Joe Cool's Dodgem School in previous years. Holly Jolly Trolley has been stopping in that general area more recently. Maybe Peanuts are moving back outside again?

What is the show that is usually on the Rivertown Pizza patio for Winterfest?

Jingle Jazz.

Everything has been announced, but out of curiosity…what is one ride that you would like to see open during Winterfest that hasn’t yet?

I’d say operating one side of The Racer is a possibility. It would be cool to see 4D theater return as a seasonal indoor attraction that could feature a holiday overlay.

Carowinds has a show for Winterfest called Sparkle City Swing Machine in Harmony Hall the new show at KI sounds like a version of this one.

in general the live entertainment at Winterfest is worn out after 4 seasons of the same exact material for the high majority of shows. at every CF park.      The least they could do is change the playlist of songs if they are keeping the same shows.     
 

Lets  hope for some snowy nights.  Those have been the absolute best Winterfest experiences.   Last year was warm. 
 

 

17 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

Am I the only one that liked 2005's Festhaus entertainment setup of the in-the-round classical?

Loved it. 

On 10/19/2022 at 12:44 AM, super7 said:

Carowinds has a show for Winterfest called Sparkle City Swing Machine in Harmony Hall the new show at KI sounds like a version of this one.

in general the live entertainment at Winterfest is worn out after 4 seasons of the same exact material for the high majority of shows. at every CF park.      The least they could do is change the playlist of songs if they are keeping the same shows.     
 

Lets  hope for some snowy nights.  Those have been the absolute best Winterfest experiences.   Last year was warm. 
 

 

To be clear:

-The tree lighting was completely reworked last year

-Cool Yule was reworked last year

-Tinker’s Toy Factory: Christmas Fever is a sequel to Tinker’s Toy Factory, with almost all different songs and a different plot

-Charlie Brown’s Christmas Spectacular was 5 or so years old, and is now retired 

I know some of the shows have a similar look and feel, but the product we have today is substantially different than what we had even in 2019.

Is Tinker`s Toy Factory this year going to be the Christmas Fever version?  I prefer the original version over Christmas Fever version.  Last year they had the original version.

2 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

-Charlie Brown’s Christmas Spectacular was 5 or so years old, and is now retired 

Thank goodness.

While I appreciate that others (families) may have enjoyed it... that show was bad.  I remember being glad that I had ear muffs with me. 

3 hours ago, Shaggy said:

Thank goodness.

While I appreciate that others (families) may have enjoyed it... that show was bad.  I remember being glad that I had ear muffs with me. 

My girlfriend is super disappointed that the show isn’t coming back. 
 

She appears to be the only one who feels that way. 
 

I didn’t think the show was bad, but I thought it was a terrible underutilization of the park’s best theater.

 

5 hours ago, CoastersRZ said:

Is Tinker`s Toy Factory this year going to be the Christmas Fever version?  I prefer the original version over Christmas Fever version.  Last year they had the original version.

Yes, any guesses why they didn’t do the Christmas Fever version last year? 

On 10/19/2022 at 11:02 AM, brenthodge said:

Loved it. 

We are now best friends who can die on that hill together.

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Yes, any guesses why they didn’t do the Christmas Fever version last year? 

I was bad and we had this thing called COVID that had… fevers. 

 

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

My girlfriend is super disappointed that the show isn’t coming back. 
 

She appears to be the only one who feels that way. 
 

I didn’t think the show was bad, but I thought it was a terrible underutilization of the park’s best theater.

Exactly. I still don’t know why they didn’t move it to the showplace. It’s right by PS and would’ve been a perfect tie in. You might need heaters or something, but it’s no worse than standing in the way of the crowd walking by trying to watch cool Yule. 

 

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

My girlfriend is super disappointed that the show isn’t coming back. 
 

She appears to be the only one who feels that way. 
 

I didn’t think the show was bad, but I thought it was a terrible underutilization of the park’s best theater.

If the short and sweet version of Tinkers with the crappy set moves over to the KI theatre then it’s basically a lateral move. 

 

1 hour ago, PKIDelirium said:

We are now best friends who can die on that hill together.

I even feel they could do both. A super simple stage show on the main stage and smaller acts in the middle in between. 

I'm glad Tinker is going to KIT. It will be much easier to concentrate on it. 

I enjoyed the Snoopy show, and the heart tug when the ho ho ho came over the speaker was great. I, for one, wish it to come back in a few years but not in the KIT. 

5 hours ago, Shaggy said:

Thank goodness.

While I appreciate that others (families) may have enjoyed it... that show was bad.  I remember being glad that I had ear muffs with me. 

I second (or third?) this; I was not a fan of that show! It will be cool to see Tinker's in the location it once was in back in the day. And I, too, am wondering which version of Tinker's will play this year. Whatever happens, I'm sure it will be great!

I never realized there was so much hate for Charlie Brown Christmas Spectacular! Everyone in my family LOVES that show BoddaH1994 girlfriend isn't the only one who is bummed I guess. I remember that show being very popular in the first few years but last year it definitely did have a drop in attendance. Hopefully it comes back in future Winterfest lineups. I have many fond memories of that show.....my dad finding a new fav Xmas song (Lucy's Santa Baby), my youngest sister who watched Charlie Brown Christmas all year round finally getting to see Snoopy for the first time, and my grandma going to winterfest for the first time last year and making us criss cross the park to see that show. I will definitely miss it but it will be nice to see Tinker Toy Factory in an actual theater where you can hear better than what you can in the festhaus. Also, are the actors for Santa and Tinker the same every year for that show? My sister swears they are and I've never paid close enough attention to it to say for sure....?   

1 hour ago, johnjniehaus said:

I never realized there was so much hate for Charlie Brown Christmas Spectacular! Everyone in my family LOVES that show BoddaH1994 girlfriend isn't the only one who is bummed I guess. I remember that show being very popular in the first few years but last year it definitely did have a drop in attendance. Hopefully it comes back in future Winterfest lineups. I have many fond memories of that show.....my dad finding a new fav Xmas song (Lucy's Santa Baby), my youngest sister who watched Charlie Brown Christmas all year round finally getting to see Snoopy for the first time, and my grandma going to winterfest for the first time last year and making us criss cross the park to see that show. I will definitely miss it but it will be nice to see Tinker Toy Factory in an actual theater where you can hear better than what you can in the festhaus. Also, are the actors for Santa and Tinker the same every year for that show? My sister swears they are and I've never paid close enough attention to it to say for sure....?   

The cast has been generally similar year-to-year with some natural attrition along the way. 

10 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

The cast has been generally similar year-to-year with some natural attrition along the way. 

Jim Stump is usually Santa in all the shows of all the years I’ve seen. 

Carowinds and Kings Dominion have Tinkers in outdoor theaters.  The suggestion for having it in the Showplace is appropriate. 
 

The Snoopy show was such as waste for the main theater.    I always felt bad for the singers and dancers having to perform with the cringe worthy character segments.  
 

The KI theater should really be used for a full production choreographed Christmas show that showcases the best talent. Not a show where talented vocalists sing in elf voices or a character based show like the one that was fortunately eliminated. 
 

The shows that need their playlists refreshed are Nativity Mistletones and Jingle Jazz.    It could easily be done since they are all fully vocal performances