Winterfest
- Thread starter jornor
- Start date
Love that! They also had spaceship ride vehicles from George Jetson’s Spaceport in Tinsel Town. Another clever reuse of park history!
My 2 girls and I really enjoyed the dressed up preformers, Jack frost, scrooge/present/past...candy cane girl/guy to name a few ..They had many themes/set designs (where u could take free pictures) and where done very well.. .. My kids did the Ms Claus cookies.... Had a good time.. I liked how you did not have to buy per/person and you could share the 4 cookies...also liked how they allowed pick up of the cookies at the entrance when u left the park so u didn't have to carry them around... Ms Claus I thought could of gotten into her role a bit more but maybe it was first day gitters...
The best act we thought was the sing along with the Charlie Brown gang at the kings dominion theater. ...Worst (prob b/c) of the venues bad sound was the Toy Factory. .A shame b/c the set looked great.... again, I blame this on the location and the music coming into the venue from the park ..you could barely understand what they where saying at times... (Ill never understand why the park dosnt ever use the outdoor concert venue for any of the park acts..esp during the summer.. The coke a cola dance/games next to the dominator my kids really enjoyed but the area didnt have many people around i assume was dead b/c of the ride being down... overall the park did a nice job especially being their first attempt at this... I'll be curious to see what happens if they get a big crowd like at haunt... some of these areas /bulidings really could get tight with more people around..
Oh btw anyone know why the 3D sleigh movie was down?
Also where was Santa claus located? We must of never gone to the area he was at...
The best act we thought was the sing along with the Charlie Brown gang at the kings dominion theater. ...Worst (prob b/c) of the venues bad sound was the Toy Factory. .A shame b/c the set looked great.... again, I blame this on the location and the music coming into the venue from the park ..you could barely understand what they where saying at times... (Ill never understand why the park dosnt ever use the outdoor concert venue for any of the park acts..esp during the summer.. The coke a cola dance/games next to the dominator my kids really enjoyed but the area didnt have many people around i assume was dead b/c of the ride being down... overall the park did a nice job especially being their first attempt at this... I'll be curious to see what happens if they get a big crowd like at haunt... some of these areas /bulidings really could get tight with more people around..
Oh btw anyone know why the 3D sleigh movie was down?
Also where was Santa claus located? We must of never gone to the area he was at...
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We ate there too. The food was delicious although its not that real. We could clearly see them cutting open the clear plastic bags and squeezing them out into the pans. I had the ham and it was really good. The cranberry sauce was also tasty. We also had the turkey and tried the red velvet cake.....delicious! Really if I had anything to complain about was the heat.....upstairs it literally must have be over 90 degrees. All the windows were open and people propped open every door and it was still hot...very hot. Overall though I enjoyed it very much.
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I had high hopes for Winterfest and really though the event was going to be good but I was blown away. They really did an amazing job. There are lights on everything and so many various types of lights, and the old school blowmolds are my favorite. The staff was all very friendly and all the elves and costumed characters played their parts very well. The shows were also much better than I had expected and the Peanuts characters dancing in Charlie Brown's Christmas Spectacular was really good. The 12 Days of Christmas on the old cars was well done as was the Natavity petting zoo. We did the Santa meet early in the night and the Charle Brown Tree Lot meet later in the night. Waits for bothwere less than 5 minutes and my favorite part.....they werent pushy about buying the photos and at both places even offered to take a cell phone photo for us. The ice rink seemed to be the most popular part as there was always a crowd on the ice and a long line to get skates so I guess all the complaining about the upchareg seemed worth it for many people. Yes there were many trees and decorations that were not working but it wast that noticable unless you really looked hard, it made a big diffrence not seeing workins all over the place in the busches and piles of lights and tools everywhere. As far as crowds, the park was moderately busy but it didnt feel crowded, and lines were really short for everything except skates and the Christmas Cafe but thats no shock...its always slow there.
Overall its a huge sucess in my book and after doing both Christmas Town and Winterfest, even though Winterfest is about a hour further drive for us we will be back a few more night this season!
Overall its a huge sucess in my book and after doing both Christmas Town and Winterfest, even though Winterfest is about a hour further drive for us we will be back a few more night this season!
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THANKS. .we did go to the entrance there but decided not to go in there since the line seemed like it wasn't moving that fast.. Probably would of stayed if we knew he was in the back... maybe next time... I saw mixed reviews on Facebook that they wouldn't let you take your own picture and Santa didn't ask some what kids wanted ha
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I’m going to point out that while I really enjoyed Winterfest, and I thought the lights were lovely, I encountered many first-night problems. Just as I am willing to give BGW a pass, I will wait to see if KD fixes them. That said, I don’t want people to believe that nothing went wrong last night.
One critical example, the lights at the Eiffel Tower did not appear to be complete. Additionally, I thought there were serious health issues with the cookie decorating set-up. Further, I’m pretty, based on the map and things I have heard, that the carriage rides were NOT supposed to go around Candy Apple Grove, which may indicate another section of the park was still incomplete (in fact people were not getting out of the horses way, which seemed dangerous). Also, I know it probably a matter of taste, but I prefer the shopping and drinks at CT. Most importantly for me, many things (including my pre-ordered food) were mishandled at my $300 igloo.
All of that said, I do think the lights that were gorgeous, and the staff were enthusiastic. It was well done for the opening night of their inaugural year. Hopefully, they can work out the kinks and put on something as good as Carowinds’ event.
One critical example, the lights at the Eiffel Tower did not appear to be complete. Additionally, I thought there were serious health issues with the cookie decorating set-up. Further, I’m pretty, based on the map and things I have heard, that the carriage rides were NOT supposed to go around Candy Apple Grove, which may indicate another section of the park was still incomplete (in fact people were not getting out of the horses way, which seemed dangerous). Also, I know it probably a matter of taste, but I prefer the shopping and drinks at CT. Most importantly for me, many things (including my pre-ordered food) were mishandled at my $300 igloo.
All of that said, I do think the lights that were gorgeous, and the staff were enthusiastic. It was well done for the opening night of their inaugural year. Hopefully, they can work out the kinks and put on something as good as Carowinds’ event.
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We had a great time last night, got there just before 5:30pm and when we parked the lights in Eiffel Tower were not yet lit - but just as we were walking up to the park entrance they came on so I snapped a pic.
I had already purchased a couple of the hot chocolate mugs online, then we decided to get a third and cashier asked if we had a season pass and applied the 10% discount, which I didn't get on my online purchase - so lesson learned, better to wait and get the season pass discount at the park than to buy online.
And those few bucks I would have saved would have been used up anyway at the part of Winterfest that we weren't aware of, which is the petting/feeding zoo. My wife went through a stack of dollar bills like a drunken sailor in a strip joint, each cup or grain or hay was $2 and I bet she got 10 of those things for herself, our daughter and friend, and other little kids that wanted to feed the goats. But they all had a great time doing that.
Every time we walked past the skating rink throughout the night it was busy but not overcrowded, and each time we saw a horse-drawn carriage pass by down in Candy Apple Grove there was a full load of people aboard.
Like a PP already noted, I also saw a few trees that were covered in lights but lights were not on, but I think you had to be looking for those as there were so many lights that looked great.
The number of restaurants were a bit limited, as with Safari Village blocked off that means Hungry Hippo and Outer Hanks was closed, as was Juke Box over near Windseeker. We ate pizza down at "Prancer's Pizza" (the artist formerly known as Victoria Pizza) and there was plenty of staff cranking out food to customers, but only one cashier. And I swear I have stood there dozens of times in the past few years watching the cashier have to punch about 8-10 assorted buttons on the screen just to check out a customer, their POS system does seem like a POS if you ask me. The self-service kiosks at Outer Hanks and Juke Box only takes me about 8-10 seconds to scan my cards and click 4 icons on the screen and my ticket spits out, no idea why they can't revise the POS screens todo the same </soapbox>
But all in all it was a great night everything was done very well, especially given it was opening night! We will be back several more times, probably with larger stacks of dollar bills too...
I had already purchased a couple of the hot chocolate mugs online, then we decided to get a third and cashier asked if we had a season pass and applied the 10% discount, which I didn't get on my online purchase - so lesson learned, better to wait and get the season pass discount at the park than to buy online.
And those few bucks I would have saved would have been used up anyway at the part of Winterfest that we weren't aware of, which is the petting/feeding zoo. My wife went through a stack of dollar bills like a drunken sailor in a strip joint, each cup or grain or hay was $2 and I bet she got 10 of those things for herself, our daughter and friend, and other little kids that wanted to feed the goats. But they all had a great time doing that.
Every time we walked past the skating rink throughout the night it was busy but not overcrowded, and each time we saw a horse-drawn carriage pass by down in Candy Apple Grove there was a full load of people aboard.
Like a PP already noted, I also saw a few trees that were covered in lights but lights were not on, but I think you had to be looking for those as there were so many lights that looked great.
The number of restaurants were a bit limited, as with Safari Village blocked off that means Hungry Hippo and Outer Hanks was closed, as was Juke Box over near Windseeker. We ate pizza down at "Prancer's Pizza" (the artist formerly known as Victoria Pizza) and there was plenty of staff cranking out food to customers, but only one cashier. And I swear I have stood there dozens of times in the past few years watching the cashier have to punch about 8-10 assorted buttons on the screen just to check out a customer, their POS system does seem like a POS if you ask me. The self-service kiosks at Outer Hanks and Juke Box only takes me about 8-10 seconds to scan my cards and click 4 icons on the screen and my ticket spits out, no idea why they can't revise the POS screens todo the same </soapbox>
But all in all it was a great night everything was done very well, especially given it was opening night! We will be back several more times, probably with larger stacks of dollar bills too...
Just curious of your thoughts with the cookie decorating and the "serious" health issues where?(( All Employees/guest not wearing gloves?)) My kids and I where among the first in there so barely anything was touched before we went in..But did think about how messy/disorganized it prob would get after a few hours /days
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There was nothing to put my cookie on, when I was decorating my cookie. So, I had to use a napkin. Additionally, there was nothing to put the sprinkles in. So either children were holding their cookies under the dispernsers, getting icing everywhere, or people were using napkins as containers. I didn’t see anyone cleaning the tables between use, either.
Agree ...They should of been cleaning the tables after each use. (this really is a problem with almost every restaurant there all year around) A few containers next to the stations would Definitely of helped and kept things for spilling as much... At least offering disposal gloves to everyone would be a good idea.. Trash cans where also hard to find and should of been closer to each table ... Again, glad we where in early..
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That actually sounds pretty bad. That might even rate health code violations.
My biggest critiques from last night come from the igloos, but those belong in their own thread.
Yeah, the cookie decorating needed some work. Carowinds had more frosting colors, way more sprinkle options, and a better, larger setup overall. That said, the ability to do package pickup with your box of decorated cookies is an incredible theme park Christmas event cookie decorating innovation.
The antique cars' light displays were perfect in my opinion. They need music out there though. The silence made the cars the least festive thing I experienced last night.
The carriage rides need to go through Safari Village (as suggested on the map) or the water park (like at Carowinds). On busy nights, the current solution will be somewhere between a sloppy mess and a serious accident waiting to happen.
The lack of two Santas will be hugely problematic if WinterFest gets anywhere near as popular as Christmas Town.
There is a general lack of gift shops around the park. This is really due to typical gift locations being occupied with other attractions and it is mitigated somewhat by the huge number of outside venders, but I'd like to see something done on this front regardless. Why does Snoopy lose his shop to arts and crafts? Isn't Blackout in its current location partially so it can be used as seasonal flex space? That would have been a far better arts and crafts location in my opinion.
Center Street leaves something to be desired with its decorations. It's a cute and interesting concept (snow factory I think?) but the execution is poor.
Overall, despite these critiques, the core WinterFest event is excellent. The elaborate lighting and attraction diversity alone make WinterFest a real, honest to god, Christmas Town challenger. Furthermore, WinterFest has accomplished that feat in its first year while Christmas Town has had a full decade to mature and develop. If we can get additional areas of Kings Dominion open in future years (the rest of Planet Snoopy and at least part of Safari Village would make a huge difference), Busch Gardens Williamsburg should be seriously concerned that their event is going to be eclipsed.
Yeah, the cookie decorating needed some work. Carowinds had more frosting colors, way more sprinkle options, and a better, larger setup overall. That said, the ability to do package pickup with your box of decorated cookies is an incredible theme park Christmas event cookie decorating innovation.
The antique cars' light displays were perfect in my opinion. They need music out there though. The silence made the cars the least festive thing I experienced last night.
The carriage rides need to go through Safari Village (as suggested on the map) or the water park (like at Carowinds). On busy nights, the current solution will be somewhere between a sloppy mess and a serious accident waiting to happen.
The lack of two Santas will be hugely problematic if WinterFest gets anywhere near as popular as Christmas Town.
There is a general lack of gift shops around the park. This is really due to typical gift locations being occupied with other attractions and it is mitigated somewhat by the huge number of outside venders, but I'd like to see something done on this front regardless. Why does Snoopy lose his shop to arts and crafts? Isn't Blackout in its current location partially so it can be used as seasonal flex space? That would have been a far better arts and crafts location in my opinion.
Center Street leaves something to be desired with its decorations. It's a cute and interesting concept (snow factory I think?) but the execution is poor.
Overall, despite these critiques, the core WinterFest event is excellent. The elaborate lighting and attraction diversity alone make WinterFest a real, honest to god, Christmas Town challenger. Furthermore, WinterFest has accomplished that feat in its first year while Christmas Town has had a full decade to mature and develop. If we can get additional areas of Kings Dominion open in future years (the rest of Planet Snoopy and at least part of Safari Village would make a huge difference), Busch Gardens Williamsburg should be seriously concerned that their event is going to be eclipsed.
My biggest gripe where food services. The decision to not use Safari Village is questionable to me. The park has two indoor restaurants that are there right now they are down to three indoor ones for a winter event and will lose one those for about a third of their operating days with chick-fill-a closed on Sundays. The food lines were pretty long most of the night.
I tried the country kitchen for dinner and was highly disappointed. The food tastes good but was cold some of it tasted like it had barely been heated at all. They also only had one drink machine working so I had to get out ofblind snd get in the other line to use my refillable cup.
I also saw a lot of non functional lights especially in Candy Apple Grove. Alsdo notable was that the trees used to block the entrance to Safari Village by the 3 point shot game were unlit leaving a dark corner that just looked and felt wrong.
Also did anyone else notice that their ghost of Christmas present is almost an exact replica of the one from Scrooge No More? The only difference I could see is that it was a white colored outfit instead of green.
I tried the country kitchen for dinner and was highly disappointed. The food tastes good but was cold some of it tasted like it had barely been heated at all. They also only had one drink machine working so I had to get out ofblind snd get in the other line to use my refillable cup.
I also saw a lot of non functional lights especially in Candy Apple Grove. Alsdo notable was that the trees used to block the entrance to Safari Village by the 3 point shot game were unlit leaving a dark corner that just looked and felt wrong.
Also did anyone else notice that their ghost of Christmas present is almost an exact replica of the one from Scrooge No More? The only difference I could see is that it was a white colored outfit instead of green.
I Guess they could of opened up & cleaned out one of the haunt buildings for vendors or flipped it with the ex dino buliding for the crafts but anything that keeps the kids occupied and warm for free I am for..
However....They should have a Christmas themed building full of the peanuts products /dolls (even if they aren't the most popular these days) Again, maybe flipping the ex dino building and putting Santa in the snoppy building with a Santa snoppy with peanuts items would be better..
However....They should have a Christmas themed building full of the peanuts products /dolls (even if they aren't the most popular these days) Again, maybe flipping the ex dino building and putting Santa in the snoppy building with a Santa snoppy with peanuts items would be better..
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