Kings Dominion Goes Year-Round in 2023

[mtpelepele]

Dude. This is really, really simple. Yes, they closed because of low attendance. Why was it low? The weather. So, yes, they closed for weather. If there were thousands of people happily galavanting about in the cold ass rain, they would have stayed open. But there weren't, because of, oh yeah, weather. Oddly there were 10 cars in the lot, so that means tons of people didn't drive hours to get there. You know why? Guess. I do believe that it's because they checked the freaking weather!!!

 

[Coasternerd]

I don’t usually like to “poke the fire” so to speak, but @mtpelepele makes a good point. When you go to park, you check the weather first. If you don’t check the weather, it’s on you. I don’t mean to sound rude, but if you’re coming to Complain they closed for low attendance when the weather was the clear reason for the low turnout, respectfully, you need to adjust your expectations.

 

[Thriller]

If they're salary, then they just got their day back with no change in pay. I'd be happy with that scenario if it were me tbh.

Is it verified that they are salary or assumed? Miost states require non management labor positions to be hourly. Ti prevent companies from taking advantage of those employees

I honestly don’t care one way or another if they close early. I’m not attending this fiasco under any circumstance. Just pointing out what a financial failure winter operations is if they can only attract 10 cars of people on a day like yesterday. Like I said before they dug their own ditch with their reputation for closing.

And Busch hasn’t even stated to split the crowd yet.

These aren’t Disney parks. Disney operates yearvtound gecause they have lots of indoor attractions, and don’t close for rain. They have plenty tio do regardless of the weather. KD doesn’t.

If these winter weekends are supposed to target only locals it seems that they are j ky regurgitating season pass homsers through the gate and giving away more meals to meal plan holders. I don’t see were being open in January and February is necessarily going to increase season, pass sales over their former schedule either. It’s not like they added a must see event like Winterfest

Bottom line is they are trying to operate In the winter, without the infrastructure (attractions, shows). to do so. It’s such a half hearted effort it’s destined to fail

 

[bill s]

^-- I think you're overreacting because it seems very unlikely they would close even if the crowd was super small if there wasn't a reason for it, even though ultimately it was turnout that closed it yesterday. That or it's unlikely that the crowd would be that small. It's been small every Sunday this winter so far, but I think they'll start closing on bad forecasts if they start getting more picky. This was 6 cars on the right side of the parking lot and maybe 10-12 on the left by above reports. I don't think the kids section crowd showed up at all. Surely none of this will be a problem if the weather is actually better than it's been so far.

I do have a complaint though. Apparently the decision was made to close it so soon after that there was no advance notice online -- 15 minutes at most, probably not even that. I fully expected them to close as the weather got worse, but not at 1:00. Of course, not many were affected. I did see a car with KD stickers heading that direction at 1:30 though.

As to making money, they did get my renewal earlier this year.

 

[Jonesta6]

Is it verified that they are salary or assumed? Miost states require non management labor positions to be hourly. Ti prevent companies from taking advantage of those employees

I never said they were.

Also, as @horsesboy mentioned, it seems there already was plenty of backstage work to complete so it's unlikely anyone's hours actually got cut anyways.

 

[Crunchewy]

I would like to go even though I'm 2.5 hours away (on a good day) just because I missed winter fest, but then again I haven't actually done it yet, so maybe not. Getting a bunch of rides in on TT when I can enjoy it (when it's running slower, not faster) and with no line is one huge plus to making the trip.

 

[warfelg]

KD may have done things to make it nice (tents etc) but I’m not making the two hour drive for what’s available.

Heck I’ll admit that even when I lived in RVA I would go to BGW before KD on a non-perfect day. I got hit with storms and the random early closure in KD 3 times and there’s just nothing to do and there’s no hope of reopening. At least at BGW they tried to stay open, I could go inside, or if was going to be a longer but no closure event I could go to a restaurant or the outlets to kill time.

So to me the thought of cold, pared down, little special going on KD on top of potential closures is not an appealing idea.

 

[Jonesta6]

KD may have done things to make it nice (tents etc) but I’m not making the two hour drive for what’s available.

Heck I’ll admit that even when I lived in RVA I would go to BGW before KD on a non-perfect day. I got hit with storms and the random early closure in KD 3 times and there’s just nothing to do and there’s no hope of reopening. At least at BGW they tried to stay open, I could go inside, or if was going to be a longer but no closure event I could go to a restaurant or the outlets to kill time.

So to me the thought of cold, pared down, little special going on KD on top of potential closures is not an appealing idea.

I'm curious how each park's overall reputation and rides lineup also played into your decisions?

And I'm also curious if anyone has data that shows BGW remaining open with a similar weather/attendance scenario this time of year?

I've been plenty of times in the summer season where they reopen rides after a storm at both parks, but I don't think that's a fair comparison to a new winter season with super low attendance and little marketing.

 

[warfelg]

I'm curious how each park's overall reputation and rides lineup also played into your decisions?

The reputation played little. More what extra was available other than what's in the park. When I was in RVA BGW was 45 minutes, KD was 25. So if it was a bust after an hour, KD was a 2 hour thing to maybe ride 1 ride and 1 snack and gone, BGW after an hour bust I can spend 2 hours at the outlets and time at dinner.

 

[Jonesta6]

What, no Flying J Fuddruckers dinner? Or visiting the lovely town of Ashland (though I do like Center of the Universe brewing...)?

When I've said little marketing, I'm seeing some social posts and a billboard or two but not a concerted media push nor digital ads for this time of year.

I'd venture to guess even if they did do heavy advertising/marketing efforts in RVA, they'd still have to fight against their reputation vs. the previously established winter BGW operations as well as generally convince people it's worth coming to a theme park this time of year.

 

[Crunchewy]

Obviously I wouldn't make the trip if the weather was at all iffy. But if the weather looks good I can think of worse ways to spend some time. Also I really want to try Bad Apple, have for the longest time, and I think cool weather might give me a better chance of not getting sick. lol.

 

[Mushroom]

Is it verified that they are salary or assumed? Miost states require non management labor positions to be hourly. Ti prevent companies from taking advantage of those employees

Pretty sure most of KD’s non-managerial full-time employees are hourly, not salaried. They’re just guaranteed 40 paid hours per week plus full time benefits. At least that’s how I’ve interpreted their job postings.

 

[Thriller]

“I do have a complaint though. Apparently the decision was made to close it so soon after that there was no advance notice online -- 15 minutes at most, probably not even that. I fully expected them to close as the weather got worse, but not at 1:00. Of course, not many were affected. I did see a car with KD stickers heading that direction at 1:30 though.

As to making money, they did get my renewal earlier this year.

that’s what leads me to believe that most of these “weather closures” are actually because of attendance. They wait to see how many people show up in the bad weather before they make the decision.

Busch seems to have a better idea to attract people during the winter months with a unique event and things to do other than thrill rides in the cold. Still Not the infrastructure for good winter operations but it’s a better effort.

 

[Crunchewy]

Is March 11th the beginning of the 'regular season'? I ask because the flights and bites events continues past that, but at least in the monthly calendar only through March 5th is shown as "More Days, More Fun". So I'm wondering if the full slate of rides becomes available on March 11th?

 

[I305Evan]

It'll probably be more rides, but still phasing more in as the month goes on. In years past, the operations department would host large training weekends. And some rides weren't handed over to the operations department for commissioning until later on in the month. Also, a lot of training is going to have to happen for the seasonal team as they have to redo most of their trainings each year. The seasonal team is also required to have a 13 week gap from the previous season before starting in the new season which could hurt staffing depending on how late in the year they worked.

 

[Crunchewy]

I just realized I replied in the wrong thread. But basically KD told me that they could not say would rides would be open in March and they would open more rides as we get through Spring. Keep an eye on their website. I suppose that response is not surprising. At least it presents the possibility of more rides open in March, if not a guarantee.

 

[Thriller]

So they closed today for 35° weather. So they say. But you know it was because of low attendance. Winterfest regularly operates in temperatures like that.

I don’t know why anyone would waste their time going to this fiasco. They want to be open all winter if I can’t even have enough going for people to do on a clear winter day, when the temperatures above freezing

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Dude just shut up it’s cold as balls.

 

[RollyCoaster]

How cold are balls

 

[Gavin]

Love how they posted this at 3:30 across all their social media.

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How cold are balls

Depends on the holder, some are just down right bitter. I’m fine…

Dude just shut up it’s cold as balls.

I’m wearing shorts, T-Shirt, and a windbreaker while eating ice cream in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor right now. No need to be rude.