Winterfest: It's time to move on.

On Monday, folks at Kings Island and Cedar Fair finally confirmed the on-going rumors: Winterfest has been cancelled for 2006.

Of course, in January, people for PKI, then owned by CBS Corporation, were touting the success of the 2005 return. Then, in April, when the park opened for the regular season, they began to sell tickets for Winterfest for the great low price of $9.95. There was little chance that Winterfest would go back into the history books.

Then came "the announcement" about "the sale" in May. People were questioning, "What changes is Cedar Fair gonna make this season." The acquisition press release and conferences gave no solid answer, but tickets were still being sold, but quietly. Then again, "quietly" is how the winter holiday event's life for 2006 would seem to end. Soon, around when the keys to the park were given to Dick Kinzel and his guys, the in-park ads and brochure ads were taken out. Winterfest bears appeared as game prizes. Then ticket sales were pulled...

I, for one, was disappointed that Winterfest faded away for the second time. The opportunity to skate on that great Royal Fountain. Heartwarming songs and scenes on the KI & MV Railroad. Scrooge's hilarious bathroom jokes. One of the best live shows I've ever seen in the park, Santa's Toy Factory. And one of the tallest structures in the region transformed into a Christmas tree. Sadly, I'm going to have to wait at least a year to see these things again.

However, somebody dropped the ball. And I won't name Cedar Fair as one of the guilty parties.
First and foremost, the pricing. $25 at the gate? Season Passes were not accepted for entry, and sometimes, no discount for passholders? Specific-day tickets? $5 parking? $7 skating rink fee?
This is compared to 1982-92. Gate admission closer to $10. Season Passholders got in free. Free parking. Translation: successful.

However, compared to 1992, more area holiday events have popped up, and/or gotten better since then. The Beach Waterpark offered 4 admissions for $40 to their Holiday Fest. Holiday in Lights at Sharon Woods, where you don't have to get out of the car. Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo was relatively affordable.
Also, peoples' views of Kings Island, as well as the makeup of the park itself, have changed. In the early 1990s, live shows were all around the park. There was a great collection of shopping and dining, more gentle rides for those of the youngest and oldest ages.
Now I know how PKI promotes itself as a family park, but sometimes, "family" does include 50, 60 and up. Have any of you ridden Runaway Reptar? Hint: it's a VEKOMA!

So, it seems they marketed it as "Winterfest is back by popular demand!' And again, like I said earlier, it was good! However, it wasn't the same Kings Island. I don't think they drove home enough that was filled with live entertainment - superior to that of other area winter attractions.

The people's response: As warm as the temperatures. I don't think many wanted to pay $30 or so to go to a cold Kings Island without thrill rides. Carowinds, another Paramount park, held their own Winterfest. At least they had the opportunity to run their B&M inverted coaster, Top Gun. Still, a Charlotte paper captioned one scene: "Waliking in an Empty Wonderland."

In defense of Winterfest, Kings Island was located in an area that was very accessible to many. Its layout was that of a theme park: great for a winter village event. This is compared to when Cedar Point held its first and only Christmas in the Park in 1994. Can you say a winter desert? Add horrible winds and temps along Lake Erie, and the smaller town that is Sandusky - just wasn't going to work. I think that if Cedar Fair were to price Winterfest right, it would have been a hit this year.

But here is the meat of this entry: At least for 2006, Cedar Fair's decision is final. No looking back. Any attempt to try to get Cedar Fair executives to reverse course will be futile (I feel like I'm quoting a Carowinds coaster's slogan). Rather than try to tweak a shaky winter event, I believe that it will be best for new ownership to spend the time to get the park up to Cedar Fair standards. My bet is that once early to mid-April 2007 comes, Kings Island will be a better park than it has in several years. A cleaner, friendlier, more efficient park.

There are some that wish that Cedar Fair will bring back KI to its pre-Paramount glory days. But for some of the mis-steps I believe that previous owners made, the park is still very successful. While I believe that things will be more consistent, some of the old charm the park had has faded away, and may likely never come back.
Now, I would love for them to bring back the old 1972-92 logo - very beautiful and sorta resembles Cincinnati's German heritage (yes, I took a class at UC related to that). This is one roll-back I hope Cedar Fair does, they can't go wrong with a classic.

But when all is said and done here, Winterfest isn't coming back this year. And I'm OK with that. Let's move on, and look forward to the rest of the operating season, and of course, 2007.