Event Holiday in the Park

[Nicole]

They have a small drive through display, yes. The lights around the park are really nice, as well.

It was a ghost town last Saturday. I would not expect Monday to be super busy.

 

[Thomas]

The cars had some lights and inflatables set up. Most were deflated or blown over from the wind. The park was absolutely dead on Saturday, so I assume it wouldn't be that bad on a Monday.

 

[Crunchewy]

We did go last night and had a really good time. It was fairly deserted, but we did get a full train ride on Roar which was great in the dark (had my first night rides on coasters at SFA, actually). Rode it again later in the evening to finish the night off. At that point it was pretty cold. Couldn’t keep my hands up the whole ride because of it.

The lights certainly aren’t on par with KD, but they were still nice. Loved the s’mores fire pit! Afterward wondered if we could have gotten that as our dining plan snack. I failed to ask. Oh well. 4 for $15 wasn’t terrible (they had buy 3 get 1 free).

We also rode Wild One (actually my friend and I rode it. For some reason my son and nephew hate it. And get this - they like Firebird. I don’t get it). I actually chose to ride Firebird as well after they did and that was even more awful than I remembered. Ridiculously severe head banging. The fireball effect is nice in the cold, though. Maybe it’s because we rode it immediately after Firebird, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with Mind Eraser. I had heard that it’s better in the back so we rode last two rows. Yeah it had some head banging for me, but it was just little taps. The ride does make sounds no coaster should make, but I’d ride it again for sure. It was fun.

 

[horsesboy]

I am surprised that no one has posted this but Holidays in the park 2020 is officially confirmed to still be happening.

 

[Dombot]

I wonder what wearing a mask in the frigid weather is gonna be like.

 

[belsaas]

I mean, kind of like wearing a scarf, right? Until the condensation in the mask freezes, and then you have a face shield made of ice.

 

[warfelg]

Until your lips freeze to your mouthpiece in Hershey Stadiums parking lot and you have to breath through your tuba, I think the condensation in the mask will be fine.

Or so I’ve heard....

 

[Nicole]

I am actually hopeful that wearing a mask will resolve my biggest problem at outdoor winter events: a freezing nose.

 

[horsesboy]

SFAfans are reporting that Gotham has been added to Holiday in the Park and that they will be running the train. This might be enough for me to consider a trip up.

 

[I64 Trekker]

SFAfans are reporting that Gotham has been added to Holiday in the Park and that they will be running the train. This might be enough for me to consider a trip up.

Interested to see if all rides will be open. I am planning to head up Saturday to pick up my all park season pass, and that would be a nice touch.

 

[Crunchewy]

Interested to see if all rides will be open. I am planning to head up Saturday to pick up my all park season pass, and that would be a nice touch.

I'm going to go sometime soon to do that too, but we have the meal plan on our current passes and not the new ones. So I guess we go in once with the voucher to get our new passes, then leave and go back in with our current ones so we can get meal plan food. At least I think I have to enter the gate with our existing ones in order to be able to get food on the meal plan on them.

 

[Nicole]

Although it may have changed, a few years ago we did exactly that. We got our new passes and then left and reentered with our old passes o take advantage of the meal plan.

I‘m not sure if that is still required, especially since they subsequently added the memberships.

 

[Zachary]

Definitely looks like Six Flags America's Holiday in the Park is dead. It has been removed from every corner of the website including the new pass structure benefits list.

I don't understand what SFA is thinking here to be honest. Holiday in the Park always looked relatively successful when I've attended. I've always questioned their rides focus—it seems like offerings to push in-park spending are the industry standard approach—but it seems obvious to me that SFA should be operating for Christmas. Essentially every other park in the region is.

It honestly feels to me that this is some serious writing in the wall regarding the future outlook for SFA—and it's not positive at all. If Six Flags judges that SFA doesn't even rate a holiday event, what investments would the park ever justify? SFA is a park that has needed to be pulled up by investment—this looks more to me like Six Flags allowing SFA to drown.

 

[warfelg]

Six Flags management seems clueless at times. They went through investing in small parks now they are cutting it? Dear lord.

Honestly their big parks don’t need more. They don’t need additional funding. SFA is so uniquely poised to be a winner of a park. And it’s so easy. Make the water park not be cut in half. Don’t have random themed things, go all in on a DC Comics theme. Have a Metropolis, a Gotham, a Star City. Make the entry US history themed for where you are. Make the area so uniquely themed that people want to come.

 

[Nicole]

Hypothetical: If SEAS acquires FUN and closes KD (or converts it to a family park) then BGW and SFA (and Hershey) would split the adult/thrills audience. So, this might be the wrong time to cut SFA.

 

[bill s]

It's a loss, but I didn't see them making a lot of money with this event outside a couple of Saturdays maybe. I didn't even make it up there this last time between them saying Mind Eraser was out and reports that Roar was also. Their approach of more rides has a greater maintenance cost, already an issue at SFA. They had 2 years before Winterfest and that's got to cut in, their event was "nice" and a "good effort" ...

 

[super7]

Definitely looks like Six Flags America's Holiday in the Park is dead. It has been removed from every corner of the website including the new pass structure benefits list.

I don't understand what SFA is thinking here to be honest. Holiday in the Park always looked relatively successful when I've attended. I've always questioned their rides focus—it seems like offerings to push in-park spending are the industry standard approach—but it seems obvious to me that SFA should be operating for Christmas. Essentially every other park in the region is.

It honestly feels to me that this is some serious writing in the wall regarding the future outlook for SFA—and it's not positive at all. If Six Flags judges that SFA doesn't even rate a holiday event, what investments would the park ever justify? SFA is a park that has needed to be pulled up by investment—this looks more to me like Six Flags allowing SFA to drown.

I wonder how profitable these holiday events actually are. If they are just regurgitating the same low paying season pass holders, there is no reason to hold these events as a business.

The parks backed themselves into a corner with their low cost season pass sale philosophy. And then they included the extended Christmas season without ab upcharge. Plus season meal pass holders just getting more free meals at a loss to the park.

These holiday events should actually have been an upcharge option on season passes and meal plans. Or have their own stand-alone event pass. They would be more financially viable.

These events are crowded but how many people are actually spending more money at the event? I go to Winterfest a lot and don’t have to spend anything additional. At Christmas Town I do spend on some food since there is no meal plan.

 

[Zachary]

I mean, you certainly don't have to convince me that meal plans are a cancer on parks—I've been banging that drum for years now.

As for Christmas events, it's my understanding that they often tap into audiences that don't frequent these parks during the normal season and that good ones are typically great at driving in-park spending. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say that during Christmas events, the percentage of people with things like meal plans or passes with heavily discounted dining actually decreases notably since many of the people who buy such offerings do so for the main season when rides are the focus—something that, optimally, should not be true during these holiday events.

That sorta gets back to what I said in my first post about HitP's removal from SFA: I sorta think Six Flags doesn't understand how these holiday events work and what makes them such incredible successes at SEAS and Cedar Fair parks. Their event looked successful, but maybe by ignoring ways to boost the in-park spending side of things (read: their rides-focused strategy) they really shot themselves in the foot.

 

[Jesy]

Six Flags management seems clueless at times. They went through investing in small parks now they are cutting it? Dear lord.

Honestly their big parks don’t need more. They don’t need additional funding. SFA is so uniquely poised to be a winner of a park. And it’s so easy. Make the water park not be cut in half. Don’t have random themed things, go all in on a DC Comics theme. Have a Metropolis, a Gotham, a Star City. Make the entry US history themed for where you are. Make the area so uniquely themed that people want to come.

 

[mtpelepele]

My wife and I literally have passes for SFA just for Holiday in the Park. That's the only time we go, and we definitely spend on food and merch. At least the 2022 renew was only $40!