WinterFest
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
Carowinds has just announced a WinterFest Wonderland parade for 2019! No word yet on if any other parks will be getting it this season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if KD started their own parade in the next few seasons due to the success of Grand Carnivale!
cpfoodblog.com
2019 Winterfest Wonderland Parade - FUN Food Blog
Announcing the new 2019 Winterfest Wonderland Parade debuting at Carowinds, featuring floats by Kern Studios.
cpfoodblog.com
So the WinterFest hours have been put on the website, but I’m not sure if this was by error due to the fact that it says “2019 WinterFest Dates will be announced soon” at the bottom, but regardless...
Opening night is November 23rd and the park will be open on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving this year. Also, there are many more 4:00 openings, which is awesome for those who want to see the decorations in the daylight. The last big bit is that the park will be open on New Year’s Eve AND New Year’s Day this season.
I know Halloween is on the mind right now, but this makes me excited for the holiday season once again!
www.kingsdominion.com
Opening night is November 23rd and the park will be open on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving this year. Also, there are many more 4:00 openings, which is awesome for those who want to see the decorations in the daylight. The last big bit is that the park will be open on New Year’s Eve AND New Year’s Day this season.
I know Halloween is on the mind right now, but this makes me excited for the holiday season once again!
Calendar & Park Hours | WinterFest | Kings Dominion
Visiting WinterFest this season? Check out the park's hours and start planning your visit to one of the most enchanting events you've ever experienced!
So the WinterFest hours have been put on the website, but I’m not sure if this was by error due to the fact that it says “2019 WinterFest Dates will be announced soon” at the bottom, but regardless...
Opening night is November 23rd and the park will be open on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving this year. Also, there are many more 4:00 openings, which is awesome for those who want to see the decorations in the daylight. The last big bit is that the park will be open on New Year’s Eve AND New Year’s Day this season.
I know Halloween is on the mind right now, but this makes me excited for the holiday season once again!
Calendar & Park Hours | WinterFest | Kings Dominion
Visiting WinterFest this season? Check out the park's hours and start planning your visit to one of the most enchanting events you've ever experienced!
I really feel for the park decoration team. Since Haunt goes thru Fri-Sat November 1st-2nd and Winterfest starts the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the 23rd, this year, that gives them exactly 3 weeks to strip the Haunt decor and put up the Christmas decor. I assume the tower and fountains will shut down sometime in October for conversion to the Christmas tree and ice rink.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this last year given that only a few rides are open. But I did really enjoy it. We'll be going again for sure. This time I'll do the ice skating too.
Winterfest really was a fantastically executed event last season. It was just purely enjoyable and I had so much fun. I’m really excited to see where KD takes it this year.
I absolutely loved WinterFest last year...one of my all time favorite events. Shocking to say that but it really was great. Christmas Town is still great in its own respects but to me WinterFest just hits different. I am really excited for this years event!
I wish you could still go up the Eiffel Tower, though. Would be cool to see the lights from above.
I really hope they add more weekdays. Last year we went on the third Tuesday in December and it was glorious. Not overly crowded and we were able to see everything
That would be incredibly reckless on their part considering that Cedar Fair had to take cost concerns into effect after their 2018 season.
The majority of seasonal events like Winterfest across the US have been shown to increase operation costs without providing much in the way of earnings due to diluting the operations calendar and spreading their attendance over a larger period of time.
Would it be good for us? yes.
Would it be good for them? absolutely not.
The majority of seasonal events like Winterfest across the US have been shown to increase operation costs without providing much in the way of earnings due to diluting the operations calendar and spreading their attendance over a larger period of time.
Would it be good for us? yes.
Would it be good for them? absolutely not.
Well, you are getting one extra weekend (Sat-Sun) before Thanksgiving; Tuesday-Wednesday before Turkey day; I think at least one extra weekday when Winterfest goes to daily operations; and New Years Day. So, the Winterfest operating days have increased by 5-6 days. Not bad for it being its 2nd year.
Citation needed! Why would virtually every major theme park chain be adding these holiday events if they “increase operation costs without providing much in the way of earnings”?
To the contrary, I’ve heard in good confidence that Winterfest was among the most successful times of year for KD.
Give it a few years for the newness to wear off, the visitation for WinterFest offset how horrible of a season KD had last year. No winter event east of the Miss has replicated or improved upon its first year performance even at the more successful parks like BGW and Dollywood.
A lot of the speculation on the success of KD's Winterfest came because it was something different from Busch Gardens Williamsburg's which has been around for quite a few years.
The reason why parks are also expanding their operation calendars is because investors are demanding it for more revenue income during Q4 of the financial year, as prior to about 5 years ago only the 365 parks were open at that time.
This exact thought and concern was brought up during Cedar Fair's quarterly meetings last year, when it was pointed out that Cedar Point has had largely similar attendance to 20 years ago with minimal growth despite the addition of 20+ operating days thanks to Haunt.
Winter events are parks catering to investors demanding more earnings during what is supposed to be a dead quarter of the year, regardless of how much it adds in operating costs. They want to see more black numbers.
I think you’re miscalculating what makes for a successful performance. Sure, attendance beyond the first year may not be as high as the first year, but that doesn’t mean the parks aren’t still turning profits during those months - and that’s what matters. Plus, the expense of starting a brand new event the first year is far greater than setting it up again in future years.
Besides, I don’t think it’s wise to look to attendance as the holy grail of the park’s performance. I would conjecture (without evidence) that in-park spending is higher during Winterfest, and is a big part of the park’s earnings during the event.
I’d like to see evidence that the idea that winter events are solely for investors is true.
Look at the recent roll out of them among Six Flags parks and Cedar Fair parks along with the continued pressure and creation of seasonal events. Investors realized these sold and wanted them rolled out.
If you're looking for the blunt facts of it you'll have to get them from anyone in corporate financing at the major companies.
Realistically the events gross and profit at a much smaller rate compared to peak summer hours even when you divide the math into a park's individual operating day.
You also are adding on the pressure of turnover with rides that operate during the winter events and cutting what should be 5 or maybe 6 months of maintenance is cut into 3 months, and all the added reliability issues that come with that.
Except that’s not how investors work. I still don’t see any legitimate evidence that the reason Winterfest and similar events were created was to give investors a prettier 4th quarter. After all, nobody invests in a project that doesn’t generate additional profit. This strikes me as a classic correlation =/= causation scenario.
You haven't had discussions with people who had to report these performances to corporate.
There are more profound effects to expanding the operating season than just simple earnings and expenditures. All the companies rolled into this because the Q4 market was essentially untapped and investors wanted to see growth by any means.
You will see these added costs when Kings Dominion has to re-roll out corporate benefits packages for those who legally hit part time hours minimums, instead of repeatedly extending their seasonal hours to avoid paying for such benefits. Winterfest has completely removed that option from their financial playbook.
There are more profound effects to expanding the operating season than just simple earnings and expenditures. All the companies rolled into this because the Q4 market was essentially untapped and investors wanted to see growth by any means.
You will see these added costs when Kings Dominion has to re-roll out corporate benefits packages for those who legally hit part time hours minimums, instead of repeatedly extending their seasonal hours to avoid paying for such benefits. Winterfest has completely removed that option from their financial playbook.
It's also not a cut and dry thing about it being profitable or not.
It's a rightful concern that parks are extending their operating schedules for the sake of chasing a few extra bucks, when in historic reality they've performed just fine keeping with their traditional Spring and Summer operating schedules.
The parks and companies are chasing small dollars to look good, and the minimal overall profits that come from these seasonal events have rightly been questioned by some people.
Unfortunately because parks are so hush-hush about their actual numbers besides the overall, there's not much for the public to glean off of with regards to questioning if every park is benefitting from these events.