I can now say with certainty that Country Kitchen is functional but is only being used as special event spacem
Kings Dominion WinterFest 2023
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
TRIP REPORT:
I attended winter fest just this Saturday and holy crap let me tell you about the absurd crowd that was there. ALL of 95 backed up and even “the back road” Washington highway was crazy. I’m sure it’s like this all the time considering it was rush hour, but it took what was supposed to be a 15 minute drive from Ashland about 40 minutes… even after I turned off of Washington highway we were still slowly driving in a LONG line of people waiting to get to Kd. my original arrival time was like 5:30 and we didn’t even get through the parking gate till 6:11… after we arrived we then had to park all the way in the second parking lot. We walked up to the entrance to be greeted with a long line of people waiting for security check THEN greeted with a SEA of people waiting for their tickets to be scanned and that ended up being like a 25 minute wait. After we finally got in it was crowded to the MAX I’m talking we had to weave our way through people like we were in time square. There were insane lines for food everywhere you could get it, and the petting zoo was so crowded you couldn’t squeez in to pet an animal if you wanted to. Now the ride lines weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, I assume because most people attending were familys. But TT had like a 30 minute wait, and they’re doing this thing now were they wait till the station is nearly clear till they start to let people through the medal detector again , I’m assuming it’s a safety thing so people aren’t waiting on the stairs but idk thought it was note worthy. But Drop tower was like a 20 minute wait and dominator was like a 15 minute wait. I did however get a glance of blue ridge tollways line and let me just say… uhuh. And with that being said yes it was very crowded but in no way shape or form did this feel like a haunt night. The crowds were calm and felt controlled unlike haunt where crowds are hectic but yeah. On another note we saw the show in old dominion theater I forget the name but it was very good. production and everything was a 10/10 as far as theme park shows go, actors were great, the singing was great, the lighting and use of props was top notch, no complaints. Also went to fire house bbq for dinner and had the ham, stuffing, sweet potato pudding, and cornbread, everything was delicious I highly recommend. But all in all had a great time and remind me to never go on a Saturday again
First photo is where I ended up parking and the second photo is to show how backed up everything was.
I attended winter fest just this Saturday and holy crap let me tell you about the absurd crowd that was there. ALL of 95 backed up and even “the back road” Washington highway was crazy. I’m sure it’s like this all the time considering it was rush hour, but it took what was supposed to be a 15 minute drive from Ashland about 40 minutes… even after I turned off of Washington highway we were still slowly driving in a LONG line of people waiting to get to Kd. my original arrival time was like 5:30 and we didn’t even get through the parking gate till 6:11… after we arrived we then had to park all the way in the second parking lot. We walked up to the entrance to be greeted with a long line of people waiting for security check THEN greeted with a SEA of people waiting for their tickets to be scanned and that ended up being like a 25 minute wait. After we finally got in it was crowded to the MAX I’m talking we had to weave our way through people like we were in time square. There were insane lines for food everywhere you could get it, and the petting zoo was so crowded you couldn’t squeez in to pet an animal if you wanted to. Now the ride lines weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, I assume because most people attending were familys. But TT had like a 30 minute wait, and they’re doing this thing now were they wait till the station is nearly clear till they start to let people through the medal detector again , I’m assuming it’s a safety thing so people aren’t waiting on the stairs but idk thought it was note worthy. But Drop tower was like a 20 minute wait and dominator was like a 15 minute wait. I did however get a glance of blue ridge tollways line and let me just say… uhuh. And with that being said yes it was very crowded but in no way shape or form did this feel like a haunt night. The crowds were calm and felt controlled unlike haunt where crowds are hectic but yeah. On another note we saw the show in old dominion theater I forget the name but it was very good. production and everything was a 10/10 as far as theme park shows go, actors were great, the singing was great, the lighting and use of props was top notch, no complaints. Also went to fire house bbq for dinner and had the ham, stuffing, sweet potato pudding, and cornbread, everything was delicious I highly recommend. But all in all had a great time and remind me to never go on a Saturday again
First photo is where I ended up parking and the second photo is to show how backed up everything was.
Love to hear they’re doing good business. With how full the parking lot was it feels like lines would be longer than Haunt since only 1/3 of the park is operating. Hopefully they open up Jungle X once they build the wing coaster.
Yeah I was very surprised with the lines but again it was just a lot of family’s with small kids everything but the big coasters had an insane line. Americanas line spilling out into the mid way, blue ridge tollways que was maxed out, apple zapples line also spilling out into the midway along with all the restaurant and food stands. Literally the midways were so full I was tripping over a stroller every 10 feet, I even over heard a lady complain that some man had ran over her foot with a stroller tryna squeeze through the Auntie Ann’s line that was literally blocking the way to the petting zoo and planet snoopy. Most people there were just there for lights, food, and shows. And with it being such a nice day and them just having the 3 day winterfest sale not to long ago I guess that just added to the caos and on top of that all that rain was supposed to come the next day so, I guess people just wanted to get out before then.
My coworker was there Saturday as well and said they waited a good 45 minutes just to get in to park. I'm glad I visited the Sunday before (3rd). Crowds weren't too bad, Twisted Timbers, Dominator and Drop Tower were walk ons for most of the night.
That said I'm glad to hear how popular Winterfest is doing. This was the second time I went (first time was 2019) and my family and I had great time. Lights look great and loved the fact they had Christmas activities as well. I will echo what others said and think it's pretty asinine that Country Kitchen is closed for this event. The food at Firehouse BBQ was good but we were lucky to find a table inside with how packed it was. I feel like CK has more capacity inside and out. TBF most of my trips during the summer Country Kitchen was closed. But all in all Winterfest was a great experience and I'm hoping to get back there one more time before the season ends.
That said I'm glad to hear how popular Winterfest is doing. This was the second time I went (first time was 2019) and my family and I had great time. Lights look great and loved the fact they had Christmas activities as well. I will echo what others said and think it's pretty asinine that Country Kitchen is closed for this event. The food at Firehouse BBQ was good but we were lucky to find a table inside with how packed it was. I feel like CK has more capacity inside and out. TBF most of my trips during the summer Country Kitchen was closed. But all in all Winterfest was a great experience and I'm hoping to get back there one more time before the season ends.
Btw I hate to flood this thread with my post but, does anyone know why racer or grizzly aren’t operating during winterfest? I haven’t been to winterfest since 2018 but racer was operating that year. I just found it odd since both are in areas of the park that are open.
Grizzly isn't running because of Santa's Workshop racer only ran for one Winterfest as best as I can remember not sure why.
I was there this past Saturday too, and can confirm the absolute insanity. I've actually been to WinterFest every operating day this season, with the exception of 12/1 - so 10 visits altogether - and Saturday was by far and away the worst I've seen this season (and close to all-time); where in contrast, on one or two days the past month, the attendance has been so low I was worried they may close the event early (which thankfully they have not).
Though I love seeing the park absolutely slammed in some ways - as more visitors, the more CF will hopefully recognize potential in the park - I dread thinking how for most guests with only one day to visit WinterFest in a season (like this past Saturday), cannot be much fun... and cannot help to inspire a repeat visit next year. But @Intimidator325 , I'm really glad to see how you were able to make the most of it, and had an enjoyable time.
And though we're getting nearer to Christmas, where Saturday attendance levels will continue to grow, I want to say this past Saturday's (inane) crowd levels were unique: Temperatures were nice for this time of the year, and most guests likely saw the rain forecast for Sunday, which caused both KD and BGW to close (in advance).
I'm glad you noticed this too, regarding the beer selection at the park, as I had been thinking it was just me in observing it.
Over the past several years, KD has had such a great relationship with Center of the Universe. But I'm so puzzled as they seem to be replacing most of their taps with just regular/national beers.
And aside from the bar situation at KD, it's also puzzling how irregularly some of the restaurants stock cans of any alcohol. I find this frustrating, as last thing I want to do when crowd levels are insane, is wait on one line to order food, and then wait on a completely different line if I simply want a beer during dinner; so certainly seems like a wasted revenue opportunity.
Hopefully KD can figure this out, as I enjoy the entire Center of the Universe selection, and of course really enjoy the custom brews like the Grizzly IPA this year, the Tumbili lager, and of course the Redrum IPA during Haunt -- which thankfully could be found at a number of locations during Haunt this year, and even better, can still be found even now at WinterFest; which honestly has been inspiring a large number of my WinterFest visits this year
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I believe that was the year they planned to have twisted Timbers open for Winterfest (opening year and all), but due to Timbers constantly valleying during initial testing they didn’t open it for Winterfest. I think racer was opened as a consolation, lol. This year might be because Apple Zapple is open. If I’m not mistaken, Apple Zapple and Timbers use the same crew, so it may make more sense from an operations perspective to run AZ and TT, instead of using 2 different crews to run TT and Racer. I think Racer’s crew runs Americana as well, but that’s never open for Winterfest.
With no WinterFest (nor Christmas Town) tonight, for the second straight Sunday due to the rain, I figured I would share some of my favorite WinterFest photos I've taken this season.
Where do I start with Winterfest. It's just amazing. The whole park feels so alive compared to my Busch expierence last weekend. Music playing everywhere, shows happening constantly, snow blowing. People gathered around the heaters
The shows - They have so many outside little pop up shows that are always going. I would watch 1 show and by the time I made my way walking around. I found another one going on. They do them every hour so I never had to really wait around to see them. The theatre show is pretty good. Kinda goofy and weird? But im a adult and not a kid.
The food - Me and my wife got hot chocolate and a pretzel and the holiday churro. The churro was kinda a let down espeically since it was 8 dag on dollars. The pretzel was good and whatevee cheese they use is SUPER good. Even though it tastes generic, it's just... different I cant descibe it. The hot chocolate blows Busches away. It's also HALF the price.
The lights - Winterfest hands DOWN has the best lights. I don't care if busch has 10 million or not, it doesnt feel like it. The entrance area to Kings is just BEAUTIFUL. I can't imagine how much of a pain it is hanging those lights in the trees. Candy apple grove is probably my favourite area in the park. Besides endlessly staring at the Eiffel tower where ever im standing in the park lol. Also the only lights I saw out were some of the gumdrops. It was pretty windy tonight so the branches moving around made the lights even more awesome in the trees.
Random mentions - Where is the Intimidator merch? I went in every single store and I did not see a SINGLE piece of one. Every other coaster has a shirt, mug, ornament, nano coaster, pin. I mean look at the shirt I posted, it's not even mentioned.... Drop Zone was testing all night, never saw anyone on it... Last thing, please god fix that parking lot. I can't imagine taking any sort of sport car through that parking lot.
All in all for a supposed "budget cut season" it sure did not feel like it.
The shows - They have so many outside little pop up shows that are always going. I would watch 1 show and by the time I made my way walking around. I found another one going on. They do them every hour so I never had to really wait around to see them. The theatre show is pretty good. Kinda goofy and weird? But im a adult and not a kid.
The food - Me and my wife got hot chocolate and a pretzel and the holiday churro. The churro was kinda a let down espeically since it was 8 dag on dollars. The pretzel was good and whatevee cheese they use is SUPER good. Even though it tastes generic, it's just... different I cant descibe it. The hot chocolate blows Busches away. It's also HALF the price.
The lights - Winterfest hands DOWN has the best lights. I don't care if busch has 10 million or not, it doesnt feel like it. The entrance area to Kings is just BEAUTIFUL. I can't imagine how much of a pain it is hanging those lights in the trees. Candy apple grove is probably my favourite area in the park. Besides endlessly staring at the Eiffel tower where ever im standing in the park lol. Also the only lights I saw out were some of the gumdrops. It was pretty windy tonight so the branches moving around made the lights even more awesome in the trees.
Random mentions - Where is the Intimidator merch? I went in every single store and I did not see a SINGLE piece of one. Every other coaster has a shirt, mug, ornament, nano coaster, pin. I mean look at the shirt I posted, it's not even mentioned.... Drop Zone was testing all night, never saw anyone on it... Last thing, please god fix that parking lot. I can't imagine taking any sort of sport car through that parking lot.
All in all for a supposed "budget cut season" it sure did not feel like it.
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Per your question on I305 Merch, my guess is it either went to storage to make space for other stuff, or sold out.
As far as the parking lot - it's functional if not pretty, don't really see them doing much to it for a long time excepting the occasional pothole patch or seam filling... Perhaps even a repaint at some point. Don't see why anyone would want to drive a high value vehicle there as there's so much potential for damage by others (minus the rogue shopping cart problem you have at stores), but that's just me I guess.
As far as the parking lot - it's functional if not pretty, don't really see them doing much to it for a long time excepting the occasional pothole patch or seam filling... Perhaps even a repaint at some point. Don't see why anyone would want to drive a high value vehicle there as there's so much potential for damage by others (minus the rogue shopping cart problem you have at stores), but that's just me I guess.
I mean some of the holes are bad enough you possibly could knock a front end out of align. It just should not be that bad. Iv'e never seen a worse parking lot or road
The parking lot is indeed pretty bad. The further from the park you are the worse it is. They really need to repave the whole thing.
We are currently planning to go Saturday. I imagine it's going to be pretty crowded, but that's the day we can go. Or would it not be crowded since it's so close to Christmas? Not sure how this has worked out in the past.
We are currently planning to go Saturday. I imagine it's going to be pretty crowded, but that's the day we can go. Or would it not be crowded since it's so close to Christmas? Not sure how this has worked out in the past.
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Parking lot may be the worse conditioned parking lots of all the theme parks I’ve been to.
Adventure Island in Tampa had a pretty horrific parking lot the last time I was there.
But let’s not stray too far from WinterFest.
But let’s not stray too far from WinterFest.
When do they typically announce if they are closing the park due to weather? I was considering going tonight, but it looks like it will be pretty wet. 
