I'm amazed at how many members are near the Raleigh area on here. We should start a Southern ParkFans branch.
Taste of the Season
- Thread starter Dombot
- Start date
The Raleigh/Durham area is nestled in the perfect spot! Everything is a reasonably easy travel- BGW, KD, and Carowinds are all similar drive times, just Carowinds goes in the other direction. We were going to add Dollywood to our park rotation this year as well (I haven’t been since the early 00’s).
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I salute you two for doing that. Yes, Twisted Timbers is an amazing ride. The two rides I got to do were night rides. I feel the ride is better at night because it plays on the spooky lore of an old orchard in Hanover County, VA.
As for my 2020 ride count; you could count the January date of WinterFest 2019 and the Six Flags America Fright Fest I did for Halloween 2020. But nothing ends the year better than Kings Dominion. I believe reservations go on sale starting November 16th.
As for Twisted Timbers; the park needs to consider opening it for Taste of Season. If it doesn't open, I highly doubt people will drive to the park. I live 2 hours from KD, but I take the drive because the rides are great. It does seem a bit colder this year, than what it was last year around this time. But if weather was going to be a factor, why would the park even consider opening? My guess is that they want to get a head start for the 2021 season. Getting everyone into the mood of social distance operations, may give guest hope that the park is worthing visiting during the pandemic. Then there is also the threat of BGW and SFA swallowing a lot of KD's potential customers. The park doesn't want to be forgotten about as BGW and SFA find ways to make operations fun with low capacity numbers.
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We arrived close to 5 PM last year so all of our rides were in the dark (the last one being a ride after the queue closed).
If we did anything this year, we are slightly considering Carowinds for Copperhead Strike since it is open (Fury is to i305 as Copperhead is to Twisted as it relates to Carowinds and KD for us). This is a big ‘maybe’, however, considering everything that is going on. We may just wait for March and April of next year when the ride selection is larger (and the vaccine potential).
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People talk about Timbers running at different speeds, but even when that happens it mostly only affects the end -- the last bunny hop and how hard it hits the break run. However while it would be great for it to be open, the main thing is something other than just Dominator and kiddy coaster they won't let most of us ride (although once-only passes for it would make a good Christmas present for the ride count junkies). If Grizzly was ready, that and Racer would be great, or as it is Racer and Zapple would at least give a numerical match to Carowinds and BGW. With the more daytime emphasis of this year's event, cold isn't a big limitation. (BTW the weather.com temperature for Ashland seemed to match the actual close times.)
Maybe right now they're deciding if any of those can run on short notice.
Maybe right now they're deciding if any of those can run on short notice.
It's possible that part of the reason Timbers (allegedly) isn't joining the event is staffing limitations. Unlike Dominator and Racer, which have loose article bins, Timbers not only requires a greeter at the queue entrance to enforce the locker policy, but it also requires someone else to staff the metal detector in the station. Those could be two people that either KD doesn't have, doesn't want to pay, or could better be used to add another attraction or two to the event lineup.
Most people would much rather have Twisted Timbers open. Dominator is good, but Twisted Timbers is one of a kind. Why can't the park see that? Or just swap Delirium for Twisted Timbers. They have to make this year's Winter Fest/Taste of Season count for something. Please KD; if your reading this, please open TT.
Reservations go on sale tomorrow morning. I plan on booking mine, the same hour the go up.
Reservations go on sale tomorrow morning. I plan on booking mine, the same hour the go up.
For what it is worth, many people go to theme park holiday events for things other than thrill rides. Attractions like lights, music, shows, and specialty foods are often more important draws.
Additionally, in my personal experience, Timbers is sluggish throughout its course in the cold.
Additionally, in my personal experience, Timbers is sluggish throughout its course in the cold.
This is a big surprise to me because that thing HAULED last year in the cold. All they have to do is keep the wheels warm while it's in the station. You can say that for pretty much any steel or wooden coaster. Not to mention weight of the train also plays a roll in the speed. In respect to the attractions, you are right. People do in turn see other stuff. But also take time to consider the people who love in the Washington Metropolitan region that are going to drive 2 hours to visit the park. We're expecting at least two thrill attractions to be open. I keep hearing rumors of Rebel Yell/Racer 57 being open. That's also a wooden coaster that, according to your theory, may be sluggish in the cold. SFA ran both of it's wooden coasters during Halloween and it was cold that evening. Roar still hauled through its course.
Once again, I live in the DC suburbs. My impression is that my experiences are very different than yours. I would suggest that you don’t have a way to determine the preferences of everyone in the Capital Region.
My apologies.
Maybe I shouldn't compare SFA to KD. Not sure how they are able to keep Wild One and Roar open in cold temperatures, but they manage to do it without breaking a sweat. Here is also something to consider. KD is only staying open from 2pm-8pm. Not as late as Winter Fest 2019. Maybe the the weather leading up to 8pm won't be as cold. It could permit a swift ride experience for TT and Dominator. Both rides have balanced drops compared to SFA's Roar which features that steep curved drop. Compare Dominator to Fire Phoenix. Fire Phoenix is literally a junior version of Dominator. One could say it has less momentum to work with.
They could also be waiting to finalize the lineup after seeing how reservations go.
I expect I rode as much as any of you last year and both coasters were fine and ran fairly often (my personal limit is about 3 degrees colder than theirs). A disadvantage is it's hard to be flexible based on weather with reservations.
I expect I rode as much as any of you last year and both coasters were fine and ran fairly often (my personal limit is about 3 degrees colder than theirs). A disadvantage is it's hard to be flexible based on weather with reservations.
When it comes to reservations, I prediction is that they are going to sell out fast. When it comes to the Washington Metropolitan region; nobody was thrilled having to drive to Bush Gardens. And their reservation system was very tight and limited you to 4 hours. No way in the world I'm driving that distance to be kicked out after a certain time. Now that KD is open, most of us will probably review the ride lineup first. If it's the same as last season or better, most of us will drive down there.
Delirium requires 2-3 employees to operate. Twisted Timbers requires around 7. With limited staffing (and probably a limited budget), they can expand the lineup greatly by choosing to open 2-3 other rides instead of Twisted Timbers with the same amount of staff. (These are just my own observations.)
The bigger thing to consider though, and what I think you're missing, is that rides aren't the focus of this event. Look at all the marketing they've done so far; it's all talking about the food and the holiday experience. Or heck, just look at the name: Taste of the Season. Clearly, they want the event to be focused on the food and the holiday atmosphere, not the rides. In fact, if you go to the Taste of the Season page on the park's website, you have to scroll a good bit before rides are even mentioned.
So I think this line of thinking, that the park needs to open certain rides to appeal to thrill-seekers, is off-base because thrill-seekers aren't the target audience for this event.
You might have a point.
The roller skating is rather appealing. Same with the music. But outside of the food, many of the guest I saw last season were crowded at Delirium and Twisted Timbers. It was a blast. I'm going based off incentive to get in a car and drive over an hour. Outside of a few food items and music; what's the incentive to drive down to KD vs going to SFA?
One thing I did like about Winter Fest was the animals. Good job on their park for keeping the atmosphere pleasant. But TT still intensified. I know it doesn't play into the Christmas theme, but there's something about rocketing through the night in that old orchard lore that TT is set in. It literally threw me back in the fall.
The roller skating is rather appealing. Same with the music. But outside of the food, many of the guest I saw last season were crowded at Delirium and Twisted Timbers. It was a blast. I'm going based off incentive to get in a car and drive over an hour. Outside of a few food items and music; what's the incentive to drive down to KD vs going to SFA?
One thing I did like about Winter Fest was the animals. Good job on their park for keeping the atmosphere pleasant. But TT still intensified. I know it doesn't play into the Christmas theme, but there's something about rocketing through the night in that old orchard lore that TT is set in. It literally threw me back in the fall.
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Twisted Timbers being open matters to maybe 10% of the guests at an event like this, and they aren‘t the ones spending a lot on extras in the park. Family attractions and a festive atmosphere are a bigger draw and drive ancillary spending.
That being said I would much rather have Twisted Timbers open than Racer 75.
That being said I would much rather have Twisted Timbers open than Racer 75.
Well I'm glad you agree with me. You don't think too many people would care if was only Dominator and Delirium as the big rides? Imagine it just being those two? Do you think many would still drive down there? Twisted Timbers I feel is the major crowd drawer for the event. Don't think it would work too well without it?
Even if it's closed, I'm still happy I rode it twice last season. Something told me to ride it a second time. I just had this feeling it would be a long time before I rode it again. And look at what happened? It's been a long time since anyone has been able to ride it. If it's closed for Taste of Season, then it may be much longer depending on how the ongoing situation in our country is handled.
Curious what they chef and crew have been working on for this event, or if it's the same items as last time.
It was really neat to have the KD food truck in use plus having local vendors provide other options, though I imagine no outside vendors this year for obvious reasons.
It was really neat to have the KD food truck in use plus having local vendors provide other options, though I imagine no outside vendors this year for obvious reasons.
Honestly I don't think the majority of people coming to the Christmas events care about what rides are open. They are just a fun perk. Especially with limited capacity the park isn't concerned with selling as many tickets as possible. Simply they want to have as close to capacity as they can. I think this is the point that you are missing when you talk about people from northern VA coming to this event. They are probably only going to have 2-3k people in the park each night. I'd wager that most nights they won't have a problem.
So honestly dominator and delirium are probably big enough draws to satisfy people who want to ride some rides during the event.
Over 90% of WinterFest has nothing to do with coasters, so I see little reason why which wood coaster is open matters much to most guests. KD is getting a lot of families in the park and those who care about the ambiance and spectacle of the season, and then trying to get them to spend money on up charge activities such as the carriage rides, Santa pics, or skating. The ride lineup just doesn’t matter that much to that clientele. It’s the same thing at Busch Gardens - the place is packed at Christmas and it has little to do with Invadr or Verbolten.