Summer Nights

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RE: Summer Nights

I was there with my family this past Sunday and I agree that it was disappointing. It just didn't seem like much was going on to justify going. The shows weren't playing late as was mentioned earlier, the crowds were light, the food booths opened later than they were supposed to, etc. It just seemed like the park was unorganized. Hopefully, it being the first weekend for it, they'll get it together this coming weekend.

I will say on a positive note, we tried the Coca~Cola Brownie Sunday at Minus 321 and we all thought it was really good. That being said, it was $7 and the portion size was quite small. As good as it was, I don't think it was worth 7 bucks.

Oh well, I'll give the park a pass for the first weekend, but if it's not improved by the 2nd or 3rd weekend, I can't see myself going as often as I thought I would.
 
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RE: Summer Nights

snowman6996 said:
Has anyone tried the nitrogen frozen desserts yet?
Click to expand...

I gave the Coca-Cola Sundae a try and, honestly, I was disappointed. I don't know that there was anything wrong with it exactly, but, despite really liking Coke, the sundae really didn't do it for me. I left feeling like I could have gotten better ice cream (and more bang for my buck) at Josephine's.

Next trip I'm planning on giving the Orange Fanta Sundae a try. Hoping I'll enjoy that one a little more.
 
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RE: Summer Nights

The video for Summer nights they posted looks so fun but the event is a disspointment. Feels like no one planned anything other than the concerts themselves.
 
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RE: Summer Nights

They advertised 20,000 lights, but the only lights I see are the ones on the ground and air located in whats left of the wild reserve. And the past 2 nights about 1/3 of them weren't working. At least invadr has been almost a walk on the past 2 days.
 
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RE: Summer Nights

^I counted a little over 1/10th of that taking into consideration that each Colorband DJ light has 12 LEDs and each Tri-color LED light has 14 LEDs. Each mini globe strand contain 45 lights.

I counted 94 Colorbands, 51 Tri-color LEDs and 8(?) mini globe strands. Maybe someone just added another "0" at the end by mistake.
 
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Zachary said:
snowman6996 said:
Has anyone tried the nitrogen frozen desserts yet?
Click to expand...

I gave the Coca-Cola Sundae a try and, honestly, I was disappointed. I don't know that there was anything wrong with it exactly, but, despite really liking Coke, the sundae really didn't do it for me. I left feeling like I could have gotten better ice cream (and more bang for my buck) at Josephine's.

Next trip I'm planning on giving the Orange Fanta Sundae a try. Hoping I'll enjoy that one a little more.
Click to expand...
I'm with Zachary on this one. I also feel they're doing the nitrogen-style wrong. I understand it's a coke-sponsered event, however, if they used plain vanilla ice cream with the nitrogen, you can truly taste the difference it makes being made with nitrogen. (Nitrogen ice cream is much creamier!)

Also, usually with nitrogen ice cream it's usually made to order for the best taste and quality. Not to mention, it looks really cool! Busch simply makes it, keeps it in the freezer, and scoops it. With theme park crowds, I can understand that being easier, but it takes away from the experience and quality you're supposed to get with nitrogen ice cream.
 
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So a few of us went to park today for #FoodScience. I rather enjoyed the whole experience. The food, particularly at the VA booth surprised me. I can say say not all the food was perfect. (I will not comment on the SPAM, except to say it was sub-optimal.) The lights in the evening were lovely, and frankly a rather inspired use of LED floods and strips. (see any of my previous rants about the evils of LED lighting) I gather there is some concern about the number of instruments, lamps, etc. I did not count so I don't know, but what they did have was put to good use.

I like the new Coke area at least at night, if not the ice-cream, loss of animals, and cabanas.

I was less pleased with the music, but that is just my personal taste which is purely subjective and frankly I have no recommendations for anything else.

I must say, at the end of the day, (figuratively) this event was really a significant improvement over the tinsel covered nightmares from the past few years. I love that I can actually see the park and it is does not have any tacky mylar, out of proportion statues of Liberty, unfortunate badly placed bars, and lest we forget, horrible hotdogs.

Traditionally this time of year is peak for my snark and acid, but today I have no complaints. It was just a lovely, subtle, and lite overly of the park. It was not in your face and I really appreciate that. In the past few years all the events have seemed, well over baked. This was not, and if there are not as many lights as advertised, I would not want more. Very often less is more, and this is a great example.

I gather there were to be fireworks today. I did not see them, but I was also not looking so I can not speak to their quality.
 
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Kyle said:
jornor said:
Anybody check out the "swag" today or last week?
Click to expand...
The "swag" items were Coca-Cola sunglasses, which is honestly better than what I was expecting!
Click to expand...

Sick! Those were the swag items for the 15th (yesterday) or for every Saturday?
 
I guess I am in the minority, because I really enjoyed Summer Nights.

We were there last night and I had a lovely time. The lights, especially in the Wild Reserve, were beautiful after dark, regardless of how many there were. The food at two of the kiosks was great. The nitro ice cream was not my favorite, but I enjoyed the spectacle and I will always give the park kudos for experimenting with something new.

I really appreciated that they didn't overlay the entire park with jingoistic Star Spangled Crap. I liked the atmosphere created by the lights and the interesting culinary options.

I had two main complaints, however:
1. The fact that an animal area has been replaced by Coke marketing turns my stomach; and
2. The music was jarring.

Perhaps it is because I am specifically NOT looking for a HOS or CT level event, that I was pleased with my experience last night. I also noticed myself tuning out the pop music, which probably helped.
 
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The music is on a short loop. They need to add more songs and more variety. I think I heard Ariana Grande 3 times in less than an hour. They also need to let music play during the fireworks.
 
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The music is really the only thing I detest. I can forgive the Coke banners in the Wild Reserve, and honestly I think the little ice cream cottage looks sort of nice; it fits the area. I only got a peak at the nighttime light show, and it looked beautiful in the way it transformed the Wild Reserve into a mesmerizing wonderland of color (although I do wish they synced the show to music like KD's Starlight Spectacular).

But the music ruins the tranquility of Wild Reserve. I tried sitting in the new seating area (where the cabanas were) and in the gazebo, but I couldn't stand listening to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande in such a beautiful place. I hate the theme park industry's philosophy that "pop music = energetic atmosphere." Busch could easily capture the fun, energetic nighttime vibe by playing instrumental trance music, which still provides a change of pace while blending more majestically into the Wild Reserve.

The same could be said for the other areas of the park once the soundtrack deteriorates to pop. For instance, in Heatherdowns, the soundtrack could switch to a trance/bagpipe remix, which again carries a sleek, upbeat nighttime feel while still staying true to the area's theme.

Overall, the event is far better than Illuminights and Star Spangled Nights, and with the right soundtrack, it could be near-perfection.
 
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