Ride list has been posted.  Racer and Soap Box Racers added.   That will help capacity.    

Looks like only one new show (which sounds an awful lot like the show it's replacing) and What the Dickens was budget cut.

Jingle Jazz is returning, which might be a trade-off for What the Dickens being cut.

I'm excited to see Racer and SSR added! I'm looking forward to adding those to my "winter coaster ride" experiences!

Also, silly question in regards to Racer running during Winterfest. What makes it possible for it to run this year vs previous years? Was it the retracking or? Just curious. Either way I am really excited to see it on the roster for this year!

1 hour ago, Timchat2 said:

Jingle Jazz is returning, which might be a trade-off for What the Dickens being cut.

Also Blitzen's Brass Band is returning.

1 hour ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

Also, silly question in regards to Racer running during Winterfest. What makes it possible for it to run this year vs previous years? Was it the retracking or? Just curious. Either way I am really excited to see it on the roster for this year!

Word is retracking.  But I would think they are only going to run 2 trains.  Not sure if that's two trains on 1 side or a train on each.  From what I understand it makes it easier get a start on tearing down trains for off season rehab.

1 hour ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

Also, silly question in regards to Racer running during Winterfest. What makes it possible for it to run this year vs previous years? Was it the retracking or? Just curious. Either way I am really excited to see it on the roster for this year!

Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom! 

Sad to see What the Dickens got budget cut because that was one of my favorite shows however it was poorly attended both nights I saw it last year. I'll consider The Racer and Snoopys Soap Box Racers a worthy replacement for losing my second favorite Winterfest show. I'd like to see them bring back a Dickens Christmas Carol show at some point but perhaps do a bit bigger production with less comedy and make it a good Shakespeare style show. Different direction. 

8 hours ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

Also, silly question in regards to Racer running during Winterfest. What makes it possible for it to run this year vs previous years? Was it the retracking or? Just curious. Either way I am really excited to see it on the roster for this year!

 

7 hours ago, DonHelbig said:

Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom! 

“It couldn’t possibly run during those temperatures!”

”It wouldn’t be ready for spring if they opened it for Winterfest.”

Then KY Kingdom announced their event. 

KI ran out of excuses.

As with all things, it comes down to how little they can spend without people ceasing to show up. Clearly they feel that risk.

If you think KY kingdom doesn’t matter to Kings Island, it certainly does. Their success will force Kings Island to do slightly more than the bare minimum. 

 

55 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

 

If you think KY kingdom doesn’t matter to Kings Island, it certainly does. Their success will force Kings Island to do slightly more than the bare minimum. 

 

I remember when I was new here and KK was becoming reborn. That thread was a hot topic then. I was ridiculed for thinking the park would even survive the first season, much less pose any threat to KI 

At that time, I was told that Kings Island laughs about the thought of KK and Holiday World providing any competition. 

Times have changed, and Kings Island seems busier than ever.  But I never thought I would have a Kentucky Kingdom season pass and would let my Kings Island pass expire.

I’m not sure how much KK factors into having The Racer and SSBR operating for Winterfest this year at KI.

Last season I visited BGW’s Christmas Town and KD’s Winterfest. KD was operating the same amount of coasters KI was for Winterfest in 2023. An hour down the road at BGW and they only had 3 of there coasters not operating out of their entire lineup.

Also, Carowinds too was only operating a couple coasters. It will be interesting to see if the rest of the chain follows suit with having more coasters operate for Winterfest.

Here are my trip reports:

Regardless, having both The Racer and SSBR operating for Winterfest is a welcomed addition!

I kind of wish The Adventure Express was open as well for Winterfest because I think it would be a pretty nice addition to the lineup and it’s not a very intense roller coaster so I think it can operate most of the time. It’s nice to have The Racer though.

1 hour ago, MaestroJr said:

I kind of wish The Adventure Express was open as well for Winterfest because I think it would be a pretty nice addition to the lineup and it’s not a very intense roller coaster so I think it can operate most of the time. It’s nice to have The Racer though.

Me too; however, I think the minimum is somewhere in the 40s, which wouldn't work.

18 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I remember when I was new here and KK was becoming reborn. That thread was a hot topic then. I was ridiculed for thinking the park would even survive the first season, much less pose any threat to KI 

At that time, I was told that Kings Island laughs about the thought of KK and Holiday World providing any competition. 

Times have changed, and Kings Island seems busier than ever.  But I never thought I would have a Kentucky Kingdom season pass and would let my Kings Island pass expire.

Perhaps the time it was true, but it matters where it matters. With Six Flags having certain expectations, if they lose even 1% or 2% to people from Louisville who decide to just go to KK instead then that may wreck their entire season. As with Holiday World, it really only matters to certain markets. It won't be a  meaningful amount of people who will go from Cincinnati to Louisville or Cincinnati to Santa Claus; however, people in Louisville, Evansville, Indy, etc may. These are slightly outside markets but are still a must-win. Much like how Universal measures success with if they can chip away one extra day from your week at Disney, if these parks can stick the landing for a small percentage these geographies, they can win big. These numbers add up and that's how Kings Island is affected.

14 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

 

Perhaps the time it was true, but it matters where it matters. With Six Flags having certain expectations, if they lose even 1% or 2% to people from Louisville who decide to just go to KK instead then that may wreck their entire season. As with Holiday World, it really only matters to certain markets. It won't be a  meaningful amount of people who will go from Cincinnati to Louisville or Cincinnati to Santa Claus; however, people in Louisville, Evansville, Indy, etc may. These are slightly outside markets but are still a must-win. Much like how Universal measures success with if they can chip away one extra day from your week at Disney, if these parks can stick the landing for a small percentage these geographies, they can win big. These numbers add up and that's how Kings Island is affected.

That was my point at the time; I postulated that between the Louisville and Lexington market, if they lost 2500 season passes plus an unknown amount of daily passes, they would also loose the per caps.  I can't remember the rudimentary math , but if I company could laugh about losing, let's say $100k , thats significant.

Of course things have changed since then. If HFE stays long term, I think KI will have no choice but to respond in significant ways.

1 hour ago, MaestroJr said:

I kind of wish The Adventure Express was open as well for Winterfest because I think it would be a pretty nice addition to the lineup and it’s not a very intense roller coaster so I think it can operate most of the time. It’s nice to have The Racer though.

Going off what @BoddaH1994 said, Adventure Express's minimum operating temp is 45 degrees, and as soon as the thermometer goes below 50, it runs really slow.

With Racer, however, its minimum operating temp is 35 degrees. The other morning I was helping opening up Racer and it was about 38 degrees when we did our morning checks and Racer was running pretty good considering the cold temps. Having The Racer open for Winterfest is a great addition to the lineup.

Also idk if this is being discussed yet, but Fastlane for Winterfest? When I look online at Fastlane, says it will be on sale soon. Considering that two coasters are now joining the Winterfest lineup, could we see Fastlane implemented for Winterfest and the end of the single rider lines?

4 hours ago, Klabergian Empire said:

Going off what @BoddaH1994 said, Adventure Express's minimum operating temp is 45 degrees, and as soon as the thermometer goes below 50, it runs really slow.

With Racer, however, its minimum operating temp is 35 degrees. The other morning I was helping opening up Racer and it was about 38 degrees when we did our morning checks and Racer was running pretty good considering the cold temps. Having The Racer open for Winterfest is a great addition to the lineup.

Also idk if this is being discussed yet, but Fastlane for Winterfest? When I look online at Fastlane, says it will be on sale soon. Considering that two coasters are now joining the Winterfest lineup, could we see Fastlane implemented for Winterfest and the end of the single rider lines?

Ah thanks for the info I didn’t know that 

On 11/5/2024 at 10:47 AM, CedarPointer said:

Looks like only one new show (which sounds an awful lot like the show it's replacing) and What the Dickens was budget cut.

I must be missing what show was added.....

On 11/5/2024 at 8:00 PM, johnjniehaus said:

Sad to see What the Dickens got budget cut because that was one of my favorite shows however it was poorly attended both nights I saw it last year. I'll consider The Racer and Snoopys Soap Box Racers a worthy replacement for losing my second favorite Winterfest show. I'd like to see them bring back a Dickens Christmas Carol show at some point but perhaps do a bit bigger production with less comedy and make it a good Shakespeare style show. Different direction. 

What The Dickens was always fun...but that $10 Starbucks gift card apparently ran up too much they had to cut the otherwise low budget show. (BTW, that $10 Starbucks Gift Card was a nice gift!) 

Yuletide Follies is replacing Cool Yule at the Bandstand.

13 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said:

What The Dickens was always fun...but that $10 Starbucks gift card apparently ran up too much they had to cut the otherwise low budget show. (BTW, that $10 Starbucks Gift Card was a nice gift!) 

Yeah I can see that gift card increasing the show budget quite a bit...and I did feel like the show was less attended last year. Will say that $10 gift card was a nice perk to a participating audience member. My dad got to play Scrooge once and he was doing really well until he had to dance a jig. (My dad doesn't dance and whatever he did looked like a peanuts costume character dance that was kinda ridiculous) Overall great show and it'll be missed. 

Is the desert included with the buffet this season?

9 minutes ago, Tr0y said:

Is the desert included with the buffet this season?

Probably not, unless you add the all season unlimited desert prestige superdo pass

10 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Probably not, unless you add the all season unlimited desert prestige superdo pass

The International Restaurant can then also be renamed to Mike’s Budget Buffet for Winterfest. 
 

..On a serious note with the upgraded food offerings we have had this season. I’m hopeful that the buffet will follow suit.

Any chance for Songs of the Nativity to move back under cover at Beagle Scout Acres? The site just lists the show as being in Charlie Brown's Christmas Town.

52 minutes ago, Timchat2 said:

Any chance for Songs of the Nativity to move back under cover at Beagle Scout Acres? The site just lists the show as being in Charlie Brown's Christmas Town.

Is there still a stage over there? Have not been over there in a while.

22 hours ago, Klabergian Empire said:

Going off what @BoddaH1994 said, Adventure Express's minimum operating temp is 45 degrees, and as soon as the thermometer goes below 50, it runs really slow.

With Racer, however, its minimum operating temp is 35 degrees. The other morning I was helping opening up Racer and it was about 38 degrees when we did our morning checks and Racer was running pretty good considering the cold temps. Having The Racer open for Winterfest is a great addition to the lineup.

Also idk if this is being discussed yet, but Fastlane for Winterfest? When I look online at Fastlane, says it will be on sale soon. Considering that two coasters are now joining the Winterfest lineup, could we see Fastlane implemented for Winterfest and the end of the single rider lines?

I saw that Fastlane was listed too so I  contacted the park and they said Fastlane is not available for WinterFest 2024.

56 minutes ago, Timchat2 said:

Any chance for Songs of the Nativity to move back under cover at Beagle Scout Acres? The site just lists the show as being in Charlie Brown's Christmas Town.

Its current location isn’t bad, it just lacks seating. They really should reuse the straw bales from haunt as seating:

What’s everyone looking forward to the most for this Winterfest?

While I appreciate the show having a more prominent location, all the light and sound from Joe Cool's Dodgem School operating nearby can be a distraction, especially during the quieter songs.

4 minutes ago, SmartCat7162 said:

What’s everyone looking forward to the most for this Winterfest?

The Racer being open during the event because I personally like it better than Mystic Timbers. 

Love love love tinker's toy factory 

Thought I might try the buffet this year as I've never been in the International Street restaurant 

I also have the meal plan this time around so I am looking forward to getting food and hopefully some of the holiday offerings will be included on the meal plan