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I went on the 14th. I had dated tickets for a while now because it was my youngest's birthday. If I would have known the weather would be so cold, I would not have purchased them. We made the best of it though. Finally saw Scrooge No More and caught the Festhaus show. I do have issues with a ticket including X, but only being able to receive Y with no way to substitute. I know weather can't be controlled but come on. When rides are closed and the park is closing early, offer up a free drink or something especially to daily/ pre-purchased tickets. I bet they knew before the park was opened that it would close early. Customer service goes a long way for me and they are far from getting me to become a member again. There needs to be at LEAST one more indoor attraction!

The lights.... The main reason we go to this event. I'm just not impressed anymore. The number of strands out and the overall lack of lights is sad. The P in on the peace on earth sign had issues. The train had an entire "tunnel wall" section out. Darkoaster is a missed opportunity to have a xmas overlay. Verbolten should be taken into consideration with the retheme to have an easy means of changing it for the season.

I'm disappointed with the park and how they handle the cold for the employees. Once you are in the 30s, outdoor locations should be set up with some sort of heaters. Sitting/Standing in the cold is not fun. Yes, employees should know how to dress appropriately but come on BGW. Cashiers in Italy shouldn't be exposed like they are. Gas lines are already in the location, hopefully the pipes can support a few more heaters.

Food. I purchased a dinning plan and got to use it 2 times. I think it covered the cost. I got the Christmas dinner at Festhaus. What a load of crap on a plate. They were out of mashed potatoes, the vegetables tasted funny and the chicken barely had any meat. The mac & cheese was edible only because I refused to waste money. We got a salad with turkey as well and even the turkey seemed like poor quality lunch meat. It's sad that the only thing we got enjoyable are the things that aren't good for you like hot chocolate and the black forest cake. I still remember when you got a decent slab of cake instead of a large cupcake.

Not xmas town related but ride ops in general. Darkoaster. If you have someone sitting before the steps to the loading platform, their job should include telling people, you need to place X in the bin. My eyeglasses were on my face the entire time. Tell me to do something with them instead of me sitting down and then being told to remove them with no safe spot to place them at that point. My glasses aren't falling off my face on any of the rides in the park and certainly not that one. My wife had an issue with her purse which can be worn like a hip bag/fanny pack and she's done this on other occasions and it was never an issue. Ride lockers need to be free, I'm going to die on that hill.

This was our first time back at this event in a few years and we'll probably stay away again. I want to check out Hershey's event. I received a survey and I was brutally honest about the food. I fear with no competition now, they have zero reason to make this better.

I got to hand it to the 3 man band that was playing in France around 7:30 pm. I didn't get to catch any of it, but I don't know how they were able to strum a guitar and play drums in this temp.
Some people get used to it. Football players are out here playing in short sleeves running around in the negatives. Whats different than you walking around in the cold vs playing a guitar?
 
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Some people get used to it. Football players are out here playing in short sleeves running around in the negatives. Whats different than you walking around in the cold vs playing a guitar?
I don't even know how to respond to this.... Do you play? I play very little and I know I want to be able to feel the strings. Walking around in the cold with my hands in my pocket or gloves sometimes clenching my fists to warm them, keep blood flowing is completely different than having hands exposed to the elements while actively trying to play correctly. I beleive the feels like was in the teens at that moment and the wind was brutal at that part of the park. Comparing playing a guitar to football players is not even in the same realm.
 
I don't even know how to respond to this.... Do you play? I play very little and I know I want to be able to feel the strings. Walking around in the cold with my hands in my pocket or gloves sometimes clenching my fists to warm them, keep blood flowing is completely different than having hands exposed to the elements while actively trying to play correctly. I beleive the feels like was in the teens at that moment and the wind was brutal at that part of the park. Comparing playing a guitar to football players is not even in the same realm.
Im just saying the world doesnt stop because it's cold. They can help with space heaters and stuff but bands/musicians peform in worse conditions all the time and many other jobs.

The comparison of walking around vs playing guitar might of been dumb on my part lol

I think im taking your comment to literal and assuming youre saying they shouldn't even be out there
 
As a musician who has played outdoors and indoors in various settings and bad weather, I can attest that it’s incredibly difficult to maintain good guitar strumming and holding chord patterns in cold weather. Your hand definitely locks up and it makes for a super challenging experience.
 
Until you had your tuba mouth piece freeze to your split lips I will hear no complaints.
. Football players are out here playing in short sleeves running around in the negatives.
Running around being key. Also many of them (I used to do this in my lacrosse days) will lather on Tiger Balm to cause the pours to close (traps heat), then put a layer of Vaseline on (stops wind and traps heat). On the sidelines their benches are heated to ~75 degrees, the mats are heated into the upper 60's, and they have multiple propane salamander heaters pumping out 120+. The jackets they put on are also very heavy with a impermeable outer layer with no arm sleeves to help trap heat. I've been on the sideline of an NFL game in 5 degree weather with 10+ mph and our sideline thermometer said it was 55 degrees.
 
Until you had your tuba mouth piece freeze to your split lips I will hear no complaints.

Running around being key. Also many of them (I used to do this in my lacrosse days) will lather on Tiger Balm to cause the pours to close (traps heat), then put a layer of Vaseline on (stops wind and traps heat). On the sidelines their benches are heated to ~75 degrees, the mats are heated into the upper 60's, and they have multiple propane salamander heaters pumping out 120+. The jackets they put on are also very heavy with a impermeable outer layer with no arm sleeves to help trap heat. I've been on the sideline of an NFL game in 5 degree weather with 10+ mph and our sideline thermometer said it was 55 degrees.
Holy shit. I never heard about the tiger balm and vaseline strat
 
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Many years ago, when KVB performed during CT, they would often move them into Grogan's on the cold nights. They would also move the England Carolers into the lobby of the Globe.
I'm not sure why this group wasn't moved. I think the wind started to kick up when we were on the train and the park was closing soon anyways.
 
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I also feel your pain. I was a drummer and drumline instructor in marching band organizations for many years and marched in a DCI drum and bugle corps. Freezing weather is not only an ordeal on your hands, lips, etc. but terrible for the instrument itself. Wood can crack, guitar strings can over constrict and break. I’ve had friends’ brass instrument valves and woodwind keys freeze.
 
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Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch Christmas Town Live for the first time, and it was a significant improvement over previous years. It was an incredibly fun production featuring outstanding performers. Today, I also experienced Gloria for the first time, and let me just say WOW! I can confidently say it is a true gem. Every aspect of the show was executed to absolute perfection.
 
Here is my review of how my night went. We ended up getting to the park around three something and crowds weren’t too bad. I think it was because of the cold weather or the fact that we went on a Sunday but probably the cold weather since last year was absolutely packed. So we ended up going and we only ended up seeing the Christmas town live show and the Twas the night on ice show because I had not seen twice the night on ice in a long time and Christmastown live was new but I had seen all the other shows. Shows were amazing as always, and I will say that I did notice a lot of Christmas lights not working especially the P on the peace on earth sign. Did not end up doing the train but walked around the park and got plenty of footage at night. I’m not going to complain about the lights that are out because even though there were a lot of sections were lights were not working like Christmas lights or RGB bar lights the event was still amazing and I had a really good time being there. Eventually, it got really cold during the Twas the night on ice show and started getting windy and that’s when they made the announcement about 20 minutes later after the show that they were closing the park down at eight due to inclement weather conditions. Aside from all that and the lights being out I had a really great time
 
^^-- Security guy last night said 10,000. I wasn't that happy with my decision to go, but it was OK. Probably the nicest weather all month. Le Frites line was over to the shop next door, even still at 9 PM. Merry Misfits show near there seemed very good but missed all but 45 seconds getting food. Twas the Night skating show very good, although almost same as last one I saw. Walked in on C Town Live, the cheese was too thick for me.
 
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On Christmas Eve, we attended 'Santa's Fireside Feast'. It was outstanding. The buffet contained salad, mac n cheese, stuffing, mixed vegetables, sweet potato casserole, meatballs, turkey, chili, cheddar broccoli soup, hot dogs and chicken nuggets for the kids. All the food was great. It proves that BG can make good food. It was so much better than Festhuas and Trappers. The Santa interaction and story time brought a special feel to the event. Sure, its expensive, but it was soooo worth it. We will do it again!
 
Does anyone know how crowded the park is on Christmas?
I was there Christmas day.

Apart from having only one line open at Trappers and the funnel cake stand next door having a line out the door, the crowds weren't terrible. There were a lot of people on the pathways and it did get congested when a show let out, but the ride lines were pretty short apart from the usual suspects (Verbolten and Darkoaster). We had no issues getting seats at Twas That Night and Scrooge.
 
I was there Christmas day.

Apart from having only one line open at Trappers and the funnel cake stand next door having a line out the door, the crowds weren't terrible. There were a lot of people on the pathways and it did get congested when a show let out, but the ride lines were pretty short apart from the usual suspects (Verbolten and Darkoaster). We had no issues getting seats at Twas That Night and Scrooge.
Christmas day was also significantly more busy then was forcast based on previous days my understanding was attendance was around 12,000 by the end of the day. I believe the estimate was for closer to 7 which is probably why they were running few food staffing.
 
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