Winterfest
- Thread starter jornor
- Start date
What an amazing event. We went last night and it was glorious. No crowd. Walk on to everything. The cast and performers are very talented. The roving characters are so much fun. Everyone was so very friendly. The lights are absolutely spellbinding. They had real snow, not just the soap foam stuff, but real snow. They had a live Nativity. They had real heaters and fire pits. BG needs to step up. If BG doesn't make some changes, this could become the premier Christmas event.
We went on Monday and enjoyed it. We've been to BG every year except this year. My only complaint is I wish KD would cut off the additional lighting and just let the christmas lights be the lighting similar to what BG does is most areas.
Well this was a nice polar bear who was all by himself by Dominator. He needed a hug. Besides if I die by a thousands pounds of fluff then just let me go. I can think of no better way to die.
Winterfest was pretty good though, I enjoyed myself. There were a lot of lights and they were really nice to look at, it wasn't just like a lot of empty-ish space and then lights. But rather, constant lights and I think the transition between the sections was nice.
The amount of costumed characters out and about was insane. They were all so fun. And the costume quality was SUPER NICE. There were so many outfits that I just wanted to just stop and stare and get a close look at all the details in them all. They didn't feel cheesy or boring. The Belsnickels (?) were neat. We played Pokemon Go with them. (I'm assuming they were supposed to be Belsnickels or those who work under him or maybe against him?? Because that's literally all they said to us. Just name "Belsnickel". Which I mean Belsnickel isn't exactly a super nice guy. but anyways)
Saw the animals at the Nativity scene and they were neat. I fed the camel and the goats got a little aggressive with food. But the Camel looked like it was dancing with the music of the Nativity singers. (Though I'm sure its more because it was SUPER COLD, so it was just moving to try and keep warm.)
The shows were okay. We saw the Charlie Brown one inside the KD theater. It wasn't bad, they should prolly work on their blocking a bit better, bc there were times where the dancers/singers were blocking the Charlie Brown characters. (Also Lucy is always a mood. Love her.)
We ended up catching a late showing of Tinker's Toy Factory, which I want to say nice things about, but that stage... It entirely too small for the amount of people they had for it, several mics kept blowing out, the audio was basically blown out so much you could barely understand them. NOT TO MENTION HOW COLD IT WAS. I froze sitting in that stadium, and I felt so bad for the actors and dancers. The crowd levels were so low there was barely anyone watching the show, which is fair enough. But a lot left the show half way through, and I can't blame them for it, it was too cold. By that point of the night it was down to 30 degrees, and like we've stated several times in various BGW threads, THATS WAY TOO COLD TO PERFORM IN. But what I gathered from the show was Tinker is an elf with low Christmas spirit, he just feels bad all the time. And all the other elves are like "YOU CAN'T BE SAD ITS CHRISTMAS. Also kids don't want old school toys like teddy bears make a -insert brand name here-." Then Santa comes in tells Tinker that it's okay to be depressed during Christmas, and shows him that somebody out there really wants a teddy bear. And yay Christmas is saved. Which is good message wise, because lord knows I have to deal with an absurd amount of people telling me to be happy it's Christmas time, when the weather sucks constantly, and I have zero energy for anything, and my brain goes to dark and cruel places. That it's okay to be sad around Christmas, its good for kids to know that sometimes you're just sad and its okay even if the world around you is trying to shove happiness down your throat. But again, NOBODY SHOULD BE PERFORMING IN SUBFREEZING TEMPERATURES.
We did the Sleigh Ride 3D experience thing. Well it was nice to be inside for 20 minutes. I forgot how small that theater is. I literally haven't been inside that theater since it was sim that featured Spongebob. (No Vacancy excluded.) it's not good by any sense of the word. Santa definitely was like "Fuck the police" and just straight up murdered them. But that's fine. big ol' spoiler there, but I need people to know that's what he did. It was decently animated, nothing ground breaking. It would have been a lot better if there had been sound effects and not just the music in the background. This was a short that needed sound effects.
It was nice. I don't think it's something I'd really go out of my way to frequent, but maybe once a year I'd go back to Winterfest. It felt really well put together.
PS: We found the one car that could accelerate on Blue Ridge. It was really fun to floor it and actually have the car move.
^^-- I noticed that Tinker's show and yeah that looks cold, outdoor theater sitting down.
I was walking by right as Four Drummers Drumming started and ended up watching the whole thing, really surprised. Like Blood Drums, it's drums to a recorded background. The backing sort of warped between traditional Xmas and techno, neither of which I'm a big fan of, but it was fairly clever and the resulting sound is really good, much more dynamic due to the snap of acoustic drums at close range outdoors.
I was walking by right as Four Drummers Drumming started and ended up watching the whole thing, really surprised. Like Blood Drums, it's drums to a recorded background. The backing sort of warped between traditional Xmas and techno, neither of which I'm a big fan of, but it was fairly clever and the resulting sound is really good, much more dynamic due to the snap of acoustic drums at close range outdoors.
The characters are truly my favorite part of the event for all the reasons you said and then some. It truly sets the event apart from Busch and I wouldn’t be surprised if Busch tried something similar in the future because it WORKS. Anyway, the name Belsnickel is correct and they’re basically mischievous creatures that run around the park acting funny and such. They’re not really that closely related to the Belsnickel in German folklore (even though the characters speak German), but they’re super fun nevertheless.
Winterfest was packed tonight! Cars all the way back to the fence when we left at 8:00. This was our third visit and I must say, Bravo KD! All restaurants had lines way out the door!(we weren’t there to eat) All rides were pouring out of their queue’s!(we weren’t there to ride) we were there to enjoy lights, and pick up some custom orders that we had previously made with vendors. I am so glad to see the success of this event. Bravo!
We were there last night as well, and it sure was packed with lines coming out the door of every restaurant that was open. The restaurant situation was one thing that I noted in a "tell us about your visit" survey invite email a couple weeks ago. My feedback to them was that their layout blocking off Safari Village closed off two restaurants that had a lot of warm indoor seating (Hungry Hippo, Outer Hanks), and that leaving those closed off was a bad decision. We've enjoyed going to WInterfest and the lights and atmosphere are great, but I think setting the boundary just a stone's throw short from those two indoor restaurants is something they should have known was going to drive lines out the door elsewhere.
I saw Tinker's Toy Factory last night, and I wanted to leave. The performers ran around for three minutes at the start of the show without singing. At least the costumes were nice, and the performers were energetic.
Went 4 times. Things I liked better than BGW:
Skating rink
Drinks
Things I didn’t like:
Lights were ok.
Lack of heated spaces.
Closing large parts of the park.
Skating rink
Drinks
Things I didn’t like:
Lights were ok.
Lack of heated spaces.
Closing large parts of the park.
Busch did the same thing it's opening year of CT, I imagine future years they'll open other parts of the park. The heated spaces would be included in the expansion with the addition of outer Hanks and hungry hippo.
BGW has actually lost heated areas since opening, all the patio heaters for the pathways are now gone, and some shops that were used as heated seating spaces were converted back into shops
Well we all know BGW's decisions making skills are terrible in any number of ways.
As long as KD eventually opens up more heated spaces(Outer Hanks, Hungry Hippo, Flight of Fear, Boo Blasters) or encloses more spaces (Example: the stadium where Tinker's Toy Factory is) I think they'll be doing alright.
As long as KD eventually opens up more heated spaces(Outer Hanks, Hungry Hippo, Flight of Fear, Boo Blasters) or encloses more spaces (Example: the stadium where Tinker's Toy Factory is) I think they'll be doing alright.
KD's event has a more outdoors style, plus they do have a lot of outdoor heaters. They've been moving their entertainment outdoors more during the summer and especially Halloween and this continues that. It makes sense they own the streets and they're not known for big shows. I really like the feel of their event, being not their target audience and yet I feel included.
I'd like to see more coasters open but I wouldn't trade FoF over Dominator more like Kings Island (not sure anyone's suggesting that but it would be a possible implication). Even not running it on colder nights, Dominator's so great (and this isn't Ohio).
It's not fair to compare it with early Christmas Town though, that was kind of an experiment at the time. They didn't close off much of the park because you had to be able to get around, but sections were relatively bare including Pompeii. One coaster, no redundancy.
I'd like to see more coasters open but I wouldn't trade FoF over Dominator more like Kings Island (not sure anyone's suggesting that but it would be a possible implication). Even not running it on colder nights, Dominator's so great (and this isn't Ohio).
It's not fair to compare it with early Christmas Town though, that was kind of an experiment at the time. They didn't close off much of the park because you had to be able to get around, but sections were relatively bare including Pompeii. One coaster, no redundancy.
I never implied to close Dominator?? I just said opening more indoor attractions would be good. We're not Ohio, but it still get cold out. Dominator is closed by like 6:30-7 because it's too cold to run anyways. Having the indoor rides like Flight of Fear and Boo Blasters open would mean more attractions to do, but it would also mean gaining more warmth. Because the outdoor heaters are nice, but you have to be standing in a specific spot to get the heat, and forget getting warm entirely if its windy. Having any indoor attraction or eating area open is kinda a need at the event. It's Cold.
I won't repeat the argument the forum's been having about outdoor performers, however, there's a difference between Streetmosphere and performing a show in the cold. You can have things like A Christmas Carol characters wandering about, that's not so much of an issue. Unlike performing the shows in the cold.
Also, I still think it's fair to compare the two events in their first years. Yeah CT was an experiment, but from Pompeii to San Marco wasn't open at all. They only eventually opened it because the event got too crowded, which is why they haphazardly threw up lights on that side of the park to let people walk through. You can go back and read the old CT threads and see that it was closed. That side of the park wasn't supposed to be open during it's first year. It's why San Marco was later marketed as being new (and then Pompeii with Polar Pathway and Festa with Holiday Hills) I feel like KD will eventually do the same thing. The event is small right now, but I know it's popular and had a really good turn out. Which means they can sink a little more money into the event and decorate the other half of Planet Snoopy, or open up Safari Village. Its a doable thing... eventually for the future. That's all.
I won't repeat the argument the forum's been having about outdoor performers, however, there's a difference between Streetmosphere and performing a show in the cold. You can have things like A Christmas Carol characters wandering about, that's not so much of an issue. Unlike performing the shows in the cold.
Also, I still think it's fair to compare the two events in their first years. Yeah CT was an experiment, but from Pompeii to San Marco wasn't open at all. They only eventually opened it because the event got too crowded, which is why they haphazardly threw up lights on that side of the park to let people walk through. You can go back and read the old CT threads and see that it was closed. That side of the park wasn't supposed to be open during it's first year. It's why San Marco was later marketed as being new (and then Pompeii with Polar Pathway and Festa with Holiday Hills) I feel like KD will eventually do the same thing. The event is small right now, but I know it's popular and had a really good turn out. Which means they can sink a little more money into the event and decorate the other half of Planet Snoopy, or open up Safari Village. Its a doable thing... eventually for the future. That's all.