2021 Park Operating Calendar

[rswashdc]

In addition to no more reservations, the park has also slightly extended its summer calendar! Summer Bonus Days will features a select assortment of rides, food, and games from 12-5 each day.

Extended Calendar Days | Summer Bonus Days | Kings Dominion

At Kings Dominion, we’re keeping the good times going with Summer Bonus Days. We’ve extended our calendar with 10 more weekdays of AMAZING!

www.kingsdominion.com

It looks like Planet Snoopy, Candy Apple Grove, and part of Soak City only. This would have been a good limited park option to open the park earlier in the spring when they weren't staffed for the whole park instead of waiting until late May to open.

 

[Memles]

It looks like Planet Snoopy, Candy Apple Grove, and part of Soak City only. This would have been a good limited park option to open the park earlier in the spring when they weren't staffed for the whole park instead of waiting until late May to open.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I offer up one of the Planet Snoopy columns as tribute for Twisted Timbers.................like I have any actual shot of going here on a weekday from 12-5

 

[rswashdc]

I offer up one of the Planet Snoopy columns as tribute for Twisted Timbers.................like I have any actual shot of going here on a weekday from 12-5

Considering school is in session in a lot of districts during these weeks, this event is really targeted at the under 5 crowd.

 

[Crunchewy]

That's a pretty paltry selection of rides except for kids, so yeah. Definitely targeted to families with young kids. The kids ride lots of kids rides and the parents can get on a few big rides too.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

^Honestly with that logic I would have left Dominator closed and opened Twisted Timbers because of the height requirement being only 48 inches.

 

[Crunchewy]

^Honestly with that logic I would have left Dominator closed and opened Twisted Timbers because of the height requirement being only 48 inches.

Dominator is at the front of the park and right near Planet Snoopy. All the open rides are in the same section of the park. I'm sure they also just want to open a smaller section of the park so they need less staffing. What's more surprising is they don't have Americana or the carousel open. Though maybe that's a matter of where they can block off the closed section of the park.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

^Ah that's a good point on the other rides near Timbers not being open. I was just thinking in relation to the height requirements.

 

[BTS202]

Anyone have any idea if they plan to return to more normal hours? We purchased season passes for the first time in 2019 so they carried over. We are from North Carolina and drive almost 3 hours to visit. We wanted to renew but the reduced hours have just made it so difficult for us to plan as I work at a church and Sundays are kind of out for us. Don't get me wrong, we are truly grateful for all they did this season and we had a good time but it was so tough for us to plan, we just don't know if season passes will be worth it again without normal hours. The reduced hours for great pumpkin fest were very disappointing as it's hardly worth the drive for us for four hours. Busch seems to be open 10-10, year round now? Just wondering why KD is having so much trouble staffing when BG is able to open full hours. Anyone able to offer some insight as to why the staffing thing seems to be an issue for one park and not for another? I just don't understand why one park seems to be able to open normal hours and the other isn't able. They are what, an hour from each other? Just curious. Trying to determine if we will renew passes again.

 

[Mushroom]

Anyone have any idea if they plan to return to more normal hours? We purchased season passes for the first time in 2019 so they carried over. We are from North Carolina and drive almost 3 hours to visit. We wanted to renew but the reduced hours have just made it so difficult for us to plan as I work at a church and Sundays are kind of out for us. Don't get me wrong, we are truly grateful for all they did this season and we had a good time but it was so tough for us to plan, we just don't know if season passes will be worth it again without normal hours. The reduced hours for great pumpkin fest were very disappointing as it's hardly worth the drive for us for four hours. Busch seems to be open 10-10, year round now? Just wondering why KD is having so much trouble staffing when BG is able to open full hours. Anyone able to offer some insight as to why the staffing thing seems to be an issue for one park and not for another? I just don't understand why one park seems to be able to open normal hours and the other isn't able. They are what, an hour from each other? Just curious. Trying to determine if we will renew passes again.

I think the general consensus is that BGW has the luxury of being located in a relatively high population urban/suburban area where lots of college-age workers live close by, whereas KD is located in an obscure area of rural Hanover County where few workers live. It's been said that many of KD's employees commute 30 minutes to an hour to get to the park, since the closest high-population areas are Richmond and Fredericksburg which are each at least half an hour away from the park. Meanwhile, BGW can easily draw workers from the surrounding community.

You can see this reflected in KD's higher starting wages - at least $15 an hour by the end of the summer - which were higher than BGW's, but staffing remained an issue at KD. Note that the shortened hours for Great Pumpkin Fest and Haunt are probably because the park doesn't have enough staff to cover multiple swing shifts. If the park's hours were longer, employees would have to work something 14+ hour shifts every operating day.

Fortunately, Winterfest's hours are already significantly shorter than the rest of the season, so staffing probably won't have as large an effect for that event. And if COVID-related travel restrictions are eased by next season, hopefully the park will have several hundred additional summer employees through the park's international student workers program.

 

[Nicole]

I think it is also worth pointing out that while BGW had longer hours this season, it also opened fewer restaurants and attractions, and operated its coasters at a lower capacity. KD seemed to provide a more comprehensive and normal experience, but at reduced hours,

 

[horsesboy]

KD relies heavily on foreign workers most years that was largely shut down this year I really wouldn't expect to see normal hours till they can go back to that which will hopefully occur next year but obviously is not a guaranteed.

One other thing on the KD vs BGW employee situation is that BGW now offers year round employment which may be attractive to someone looking for a part time job.

 

[mwhinva]

KD relies heavily on foreign workers most years that was largely shut down this year I really wouldn't expect to see normal hours till they can go back to that which will hopefully occur next year but obviously is not a guaranteed.

One other thing on the KD vs BGW employee situation is that BGW now offers year round employment which may be attractive to someone looking for a part time job.

KD, especially related to food and beverage, has a good number of full-time and part-time year round positions available. This is in additional to the seasonal positions. Hopefully, that will help with being staffed at the parks restaurants and food stands in the future.

 

[BTS202]

Thanks for the insight everyone. This was our first go round as season pass holders so we really couldn't quite understand why this was happening. I do not want to sound ungrateful as we had a great time this season and we are grateful to the staff who were there. We always had a great time and were treated so well by all the employees. It's just that with my work situation being part of a church mixed with being three hours away, we felt like even though we technically got our money's worth, we couldn't help but walk away feeling like we didn't get our money's worth if that makes sense. We had planned to come more than just summer and with having small kids on top of reduced fall hours for kids, it feels like we are being cheated since we can't really do Haunt with them. We would have to drive 3 hours for 4 hours in the park for just one day since I have to be back at our church on Sunday. But I do have a much better understanding now thanks to you all. Hopefully they can get back to having a larger hiring pool. KD certainly made the best of a terrible situation though and we are grateful. Any word on if they plan on going year-round like Busch?

 

[horsesboy]

Thanks for the insight everyone. This was our first go round as season pass holders so we really couldn't quite understand why this was happening. I do not want to sound ungrateful as we had a great time this season and we are grateful to the staff who were there. We always had a great time and were treated so well by all the employees. It's just that with my work situation being part of a church mixed with being three hours away, we felt like even though we technically got our money's worth, we couldn't help but walk away feeling like we didn't get our money's worth if that makes sense. We had planned to come more than just summer and with having small kids on top of reduced fall hours for kids, it feels like we are being cheated since we can't really do Haunt with them. We would have to drive 3 hours for 4 hours in the park for just one day since I have to be back at our church on Sunday. But I do have a much better understanding now thanks to you all. Hopefully they can get back to having a larger hiring pool. KD certainly made the best of a terrible situation though and we are grateful. Any word on if they plan on going year-round like Busch?

If you have small kids be sure to check out Winterfest KD really does an incredible job with that event and it's great family fun.