Winter Event Returning to Kings Dominion in 2026?

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Guests showed up the first couple of years like crazy expecting to ride rides. They found many of them closed so didn't come back. If the focus IS to be rides, they need to open earlier than a half an hour before temperatures drop like a stone and coasters often close, or be clear more rides will run anyway than in the past, or do flexible scheduling. And I think rides are an inherent part of a amusement park event, at some level.

I went to the Hershey event in 2024 and it was pretty good, but really Carowinds this last year is the only Christmas event I'd consider fully worthwhile driving a long way for, solid lineup and reasonable weather situation, although would have been nice to stay open later.

As to throwing away decorations, I think they were looking at a refresh expense if they were to continue on the same path.

I wouldn't be that disappointed if they continued at KD the same as this last year, bonus November was a good time.
 
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November Bonus Days were legitimately the most fun I’ve had in the park. If they can somehow get all those rides open for a new Winterfest event they’d be able to satisfy everyone. I’m sure they will prioritize keeping Rapterra open so I think it’s a good chance they will decorate Jungle-X. Green Christmas lights would look pretty cool draped over all the trees
 
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One thing that needs to happen is the park needs to expand if they wanna keep up with the surrounding competition. If Hershey and BGW are adding new lights, new shows and increasing their ride counts, KD needs to be on the same trajectory. One of the problems I had with Winterfest was that they kept stagnating. The lights were pretty but they were the exact same Christmas lights that they've had since 2018. I know BGW's event could be seen as stagnating too, but they always seem to add little things around to keep things fresh like a new Festhaus/Italy show, the light show on Pompeii, and the updated lights on the Christmas tree show.

I recall arriving at the park after sundown and still leaving early because there isn't enough to do in the park to justify spending the whole night. That was every visit I made to the park.
 
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netdvn said:
One thing that needs to happen is the park needs to expand if they wanna keep up with the surrounding competition. If Hershey and BGW are adding new lights, new shows and increasing their ride counts, KD needs to be on the same trajectory. One of the problems I had with Winterfest was that they kept stagnating. The lights were pretty but they were the exact same Christmas lights that they've had since 2018. I know BGW's event could be seen as stagnating too, but they always seem to add little things around to keep things fresh like a new Festhaus/Italy show, the light show on Pompeii, and the updated lights on the Christmas tree show.

I recall arriving at the park after sundown and still leaving early because there isn't enough to do in the park to justify spending the whole night. That was every visit I made to the park.
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Not a show person, are you? I would make the 4-hour drive to KD's Winterfest knowing that it would likely be too cold for coasters to run for the shows and decorations alone, sometimes even splurging on a hotel, and did so almost every year that it was run in modern times. BGW's event had shows of a slighly higher quality, but certainly not the quantity, and the lighting (I felt) was subpar compared to KD's. KD even replaced the lights on the Eiffel Tower in 2023, I believe. The synchronized light show on Pompeii never held a candle to the atmosphere of the synchronized light show in Candy Apple Grove for the first few years. Yes, they deteriorated somewhat in the last few years, but the same can be said about BGW's event.

And for the record, KD did add "new" shows periodically - they may have had the same titles, but the Cool Yule Christmas and the other musical shows had slightly different song selections each year (there's only so much Christmas music to go around), and Tinker's Toy Factory ended on it's third completely different plot.
 
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Question 4 is asking between traditional Winterfest and what Carowinds did last year. From the online reports, it does not seem that Carowinds event was successful. Also the fact that they had to change operating hours after the first weekend, indicating attendance was down that weekend.

Traditional Winterfest is the one time of year that non-thrill riders can come to the park and have a full range of activities and shows to fill their night. I believe this event actually brings in new people and sells some tickets versus just regurgitating season pass holders like the Carowinds even most likely did.

Ultimately though they need more indoor attractions, theaters and dining (although KD has unused indoor dining at this time) to make these events sucessful when the weather can be a factor. For KD to compete with Christmastown, the live entertainment and the lack of transportation rides is an issue.
 
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AmyUD06 said:
Not a show person, are you? I would make the 4-hour drive to KD's Winterfest knowing that it would likely be too cold for coasters to run for the shows and decorations alone, sometimes even splurging on a hotel, and did so almost every year that it was run in modern times. BGW's event had shows of a slighly higher quality, but certainly not the quantity, and the lighting (I felt) was subpar compared to KD's. KD even replaced the lights on the Eiffel Tower in 2023, I believe. The synchronized light show on Pompeii never held a candle to the atmosphere of the synchronized light show in Candy Apple Grove for the first few years. Yes, they deteriorated somewhat in the last few years, but the same can be said about BGW's event.

And for the record, KD did add "new" shows periodically - they may have had the same titles, but the Cool Yule Christmas and the other musical shows had slightly different song selections each year (there's only so much Christmas music to go around), and Tinker's Toy Factory ended on it's third completely different plot.
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I enjoy shows but I prefer larger stage productions over the smaller setups KD had. I really liked the Peanuts show they did a few years ago in the KD Theater. I wish they did more of those instead of mainly being smaller outdoor setups. I'm not looking at KD having Dollywood level productions, but they should move a few of the outdoor shows indoors

As for lights, I always enjoyed both events for different reasons. I like BGW's classier, but more low key approach to Christmas because it fits the vibe with the park. KD's displays felt more elaborate and a bit more modern. If that's what they were trying to go for, I think that's perfectly fine. I would much rather have two different Christmas events with different vibes than two parks with the same displays and same light shows. On top of that, I like that BGW is willing to change up their event for better or worse. Even if it's smaller changes like adding a show to Pompeii.

I just wanna see KD expand a bit more with their holiday event. I wouldn't be opposed to having FOF and Rapterra open as more options to ride. Then for colder nights, have the KD theater and Action theater running as indoor show venues. Having smaller setups is nice, but I'd love to see them take advantage of the venues they have now.
 
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Thriller said:
Question 4 is asking between traditional Winterfest and what Carowinds did last year. From the online reports, it does not seem that Carowinds event was successful. Also the fact that they had to change operating hours after the first weekend, indicating attendance was down that weekend.

Traditional Winterfest is the one time of year that non-thrill riders can come to the park and have a full range of activities and shows to fill their night. I believe this event actually brings in new people and sells some tickets versus just regurgitating season pass holders like the Carowinds even most likely did.

Ultimately though they need more indoor attractions, theaters and dining (although KD has unused indoor dining at this time) to make these events sucessful when the weather can be a factor. For KD to compete with Christmastown, the live entertainment and the lack of transportation rides is an issue.
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Wasn’t Carowinds basically a daytime event this year? An ideal Winterfest event that would satisfy everyone would be one that opens earlier in the day, and still closes at 10/11PM. That way people can ride rides during the day, and partake in the special holiday festivities at night.

And I know you like to shit on returning passholders, but is not wise to completely ignore your returning clientele. If the park optimizes their rewards program, passholders actually do bring in people who would otherwise not go with their Bring-A-Friend tickets. Additionally, perks that offer discounts on in-park items incentivizes passholders and their friends to take advantage of them. KD’s rewards program this year was actually pretty solid, so they are on the right track there.

The volume of shows and activities for Winterfest is already good enough. Just got a little stale towards the end as others have mentioned. But what KD can really benefit from year-round is something like Harmony Hall @ Carowinds. An indoor dining cafeteria with a stage.
 
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guy305 said:
Wasn’t Carowinds basically a daytime event this year? An ideal Winterfest event that would satisfy everyone would be one that opens earlier in the day, and still closes at 10/11PM. That way people can ride rides during the day, and partake in the special holiday festivities at night.

And I know you like to shit on returning passholders, but is not wise to completely ignore your returning clientele. If the park optimizes their rewards program, passholders actually do bring in people who would otherwise not go with their Bring-A-Friend tickets. Additionally, perks that offer discounts on in-park items incentivizes passholders and their friends to take advantage of them. KD’s rewards program this year was actually pretty solid, so they are on the right track there.

The volume of shows and activities for Winterfest is already good enough. Just got a little stale towards the end as others have mentioned. But what KD can really benefit from year-round is something like Harmony Hall @ Carowinds. An indoor dining cafeteria with a stage.
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I am not crapping on returning passholders. But they don't spend the same $ the one time ticket buyers do in the park. Especially at the end of the year.....
 
Why do they knowingly send the surveys to me, who they know is a minor? The last I checked if you didn't lie about your age it would just send you to the end screen.
 
Thriller said:
I am not crapping on returning passholders. But they don't spend the same $ the one time ticket buyers do in the park. Especially at the end of the year.....
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This is true, but a winter event can also have a huge event on the perceived value of season passes. That means more passes sold, more passes renewed, more pass add-ons, and the ability to charge more money for a pass. I assume that's why they seem to be circulating this survey to pass members, and why Winterfest was reportedly a big topic of conversation in the fan roundtable meeting with the new CEO a few weeks ago.

I get your push to expand the event's audience, but I don't think we can just write off the value of pass members, and the power that a winter event can have in drawing pass sales. In fact, I'd wager that this is the exact miscalculation that SF made when they killed Winterfest - they figured it wasn't pulling in a lot of new people, just regurgitating pass holders, so it wouldn't hurt to cut it; but they failed to consider that many people were pass holders because of Winterfest.
 
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Crazy thought. Make it a drive thru lights event. The paths are wide enough and the one down the street makes a boat load of money
 
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bradd1319 said:
Crazy thought. Make it a drive thru lights event. The paths are wide enough and the one down the street makes a boat load of money
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Now that would be a cash grab while delivering only a very very small portion of what we love about WinterFest as it was. And as someone who once worked at a park and had the "privilege" of driving around inside it, no, you do not want the general public driving through your park that close to things that you do not want damaged. Yes, it's been done before (SFGAdv in 2020), but I still think it's a needless risk to a park's structures.
 
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Compromise Shrug GIF


There’s enough space south of SC.
 
Thriller said:
I am not crapping on returning passholders. But they don't spend the same $ the one time ticket buyers do in the park. Especially at the end of the year.....
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That onetime ticket buyer, if they only go once, pays less than a passholder for the privledge of entering the park. If you add them all up at the end of the year, who pays more? Everytime a passholder goes is an opportunity for the park to make some money.
 
Something we likely would never see that is the better determining factor is dollars spent per visit. You want to tailor your experience to the group that does that. That’s always the group that will make you the most money. I don’t know if they track time per visit as well but that would be an additional factor. Most likely any decisions they are making revolves around factors like that and they are doing it because they know wit will make them more money.
 
guy305 said:
That onetime ticket buyer, if they only go once, pays less than a passholder for the privledge of entering the park. If you add them all up at the end of the year, who pays more? Everytime a passholder goes is an opportunity for the park to make some money.
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They pay less gate, but they also cost the park far, far less, they're more likely to buy addons, food, drinks, merch, etc, and they're probably more likely to come alongside a group of other non-pass-holders (who are all more likely to behave like them). That group pays less for admission, but the margin on that customer overall is far more desirable than the simple admission dollar value.

Strong pass holder bases are crucial to the health of regional parks nowadays, don't get me wrong, but non-core-season operations depend heavily on non-season-long ticket holders to justify their excess budgets.
 
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