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Does anyone have an idea if Twisted Timbers or Intimidator 305 operate in the rain? I'm planning on heading down for the first time this weekend.

 

When I went in July it was pouring most of the day and they were both running although I passed on Intimidator, the rain hurts super bad at 90 mph

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Does anyone have an idea if Twisted Timbers or Intimidator 305 operate in the rain? I'm planning on heading down for the first time this weekend.

 

Looking at the Saturday forecast, I305 will probably be up before TT will. Traditionally, we can run in the rain (lacking thunder of course). However, we find that one train tends run better than the other in the rain, and depending on how MUCH rain there is, we may stop for and wait for the rain to die down until we get the go-ahead to reopen.

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I've done haunt at most Cedar Fair parks multiple times, and a few different Six Flags fright fests the past few years, but stopped doing the mazes in most recent years at Six Flags: A. Because they are an additional charge and B. The quality of all the ones I have been in were truly awful.

 

That being said, some of the Cedar Fair haunts have been growing stale, and we had some pretty bad walkthroughs at Cedar Point this year, but we always go early in the season when we don't have to worry about lines or crowds. Doing either chain in October will probably require a Fright Lane/ Express Pass if you want to keep your sanity. I don't think any maze at either chain is worth more than a 30 min wait at an absolute max, but that's my opinion.

 

Cedar Fair is way ahead of Six Flags, but after doing tons of local haunts around the country, what they offer isn't nearly as great as some of the places we have been to. But for an amusement park, they are pretty good.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Screamscape stirring the pot about 2019 at Kings Dominion and CGA.

 

Park News - (11/2/18) Could new announcements for Kings Dominion and California's Great America be coming soon? According to a post on Twitter an early teaser poster for Yukon Striker that was up at Cedar Point has been removed and now there are a few new letter envelops to be found that contain some interesting longitude and latitude coordinates on them.

The first, 37.8399 N 77.4442 W, takes us to a landscape planter location inside Kings Dominion’s Planet Snoopy area.

The second set, 37.3984 N 121.9752 W, takes you to a location just outside the main entrance of California's Great America.

The #CanadasWonderland teaser poster has been swapped out at #CedarPoint, with some new envelopes to review...

 

Interesting coordinates:

37.8399 N 77.4442 W

37.3984 N 121.9752 W pic.twitter.com/67j3NGAWG2

 

— CP Food Blog (@CPFoodBlog) July 25, 2018

 

Not sure if this means anything in regards to the exact position. If it does then well more Planet Snoopy stuff, yay for those with children. But CGAs marker is outside the front gate which makes me think the coordinates are not exact. Digression if it's not a Planet Snoopy expansion my guess would be some kind of flat.............or nothing since it's November and both of these parks just opened Twisted Timbers and Railblazer.

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Twisted Timbers, Dominator and I305 are so good I really don't give a crap if the park adds anything next year (and I have a platinum pass for 2019). I just want them to fix Volcano.

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Twisted Timbers, Dominator and I305 are so good I really don't give a crap if the park adds anything next year (and I have a platinum pass for 2019). I just want them to fix Volcano.

 

I agree pretty much anything else Kings Dominion adds is just a "bonus" ride.

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  • 1 month later...

Kings Dominion Throws Its Santa Hat into the Ring: Winterfest VIP Event

 

Theme Park Review was invited to a VIP event for Winterfest at Kings Dominion on Saturday, December 8. Well, it was originally on December 1, but there was a rainy storm system passing though Virginia that day, so the park rescheduled it.

 

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Uh oh! Looks like Santa is taking off! We missed him!

 

Although it’s snowing like crazy in Virginia while I write this, the weather on December 8 was perfect--dry and cold, much like two past versions of Winterfest at Carowinds and Kings Island, which I attended years ago. (I think this was before Cedar Fair bought both parks.) But Winterfest went into extended hibernation, until Cedar Fair decided to bring it back this year.

 

It was worth the wait. Kings Dominion did an excellent job on their version of Winterfest. The park looked and sounded great, with beautiful lights and Christmas music everywhere. They also put out a nice spread for the VIP event before opening the park to the public; used quite a few “face characters” to set the mood; and offered a number of fun winter activities, such as ice skating on the lake in front of the Eiffel Tower, Christmas-cookie decorating, and plenty of shows and rides, including Racer 75 and Dominator (weather permitting), a themed version of the Blue Ridge Tollway, a 3D “Sleigh Ride” movie, and carriage rides. You can find more info on Winterfest here.

 

Unfortunately, the Eiffel Tower is not open for Winterfest, which seems like a missed opportunity. I imagine guests would enjoy a view of all the lights from the tower, but perhaps it wasn't practical to operate it.

 

It’s probably better to just show you Winterfest, rather than talk about it. This way to Winterfest!

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It’s going to be a lot tougher to get this photo later this evening.

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Starbucks looks very festive.

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Hmm--looks like Jack Frost has been up to some mischief. If they waited until Sunday, they wouldn’t need these machines. ;)

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Gingerbread funnel cake sounds pretty good to me. But how does a reindeer work a deep fryer?

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Looks like these two are waiting for their shift at the funnel-cake stand.

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“‘Panda Express’? I’ve never heard of them, because the good people of Winterfest exist solely on a diet of gingerbread funnel cakes, Christmas cookies, and sometimes turkey and ham--all prepared by reindeer at takeout stands."

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The honey harbanero “moonshine” has a kick--and a burn. No wonder Santa is so jolly.

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The park put out a nice spread for the VIP event.

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I particularly liked the little Beef Wellington “nugget.”

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There were yummy desserts, too.

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After an official welcome . . .

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. . . we were free to check out the activities and shopping on International Street . . . oh my god! Winterfest flash mob!

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It was cold, and Jack Frost and his ladies like it that way.

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You can get you photo with him here during Winterfest--Holiday Mule cocktail optional.

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Er, you two might want to steer clear of the funnel-cake stand. Just a word of advice.

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These two very friendly chaps are Captain Macaroon and General Napoleon (as in the pastry, I assume). They were my favorite face characters that night, thanks to their outrageous French accents.

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Some folks took advantage of free skating for the VIP event. They made a huge skating rink out of the International Street fountains.

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I can’t guarantee that these PJs are made of llamas.

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My favorite Christmas tree ever! Nice work, Charlie Brown.

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Time for a decorate-it-yourself sugar cookie.

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My cookie before . . .

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. . . and after.

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Brenda, my guest for the evening, decided on a Teddy Bear with a white vest. She’s also enjoying a Holiday Mule.

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Beware of strangers bearing candy canes.

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You can rent these “igloos” for the night at the Eiffel Tower.

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Looks like a nice place to warm up in the evening. The “fireplace” is a heater, and the rental includes "concierge" service and a free carriage ride or free skating. More to come.

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Ready for more Winterfest festiveness? Then you've come to the right place.

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It’s getting darker. Time to let the public in and check out the rest of the park.

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Reindeer love bean burritos, you know--especially on Christmas Eve. Watch out, Santa!

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Let’s explore the rest of the park . . .

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. . . starting with an Old Virginia Christmas.

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You can drive to the “12 Days of Christmas” on the Blue Ridge Tollway.

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Sheesh! Santa’s reindeer are cleaning up with the Winterfest food concessions.

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Old Virginia looked really nice.

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Enjoy a little musical interlude with the Mistletones.

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If you want to see Santa, head to Old Virginia.

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This walkway was infested with vampires during Haunt. I guess they don't celebrate Christmas.

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The carousel is all spruced up for Christmas, too.

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We had a fun, chilly ride on Racer 75--stopped here to get some clown to put his cell phone away.

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Let’s enjoy the synchronized lights and music on Winterfest Way (aka, Candy Apple Grove).

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This is a poor photo, but it illustrates how one can turn a Haunt facade (Trick or Treat) into a Winterfest decoration.

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Again, I was impressed with what Kings Dominion did here.

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Candy Apple Grove has never looked better.

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I don’t think the Mushrooms were singing that night, but they were dressed up for Christmas.

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The most festive trash can in Kings Dominion.

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I liked the giant “old-fashioned” Christmas lights in the trees at Charlie Brown’s Christmas Town (or Planet Snoopy).

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There are great views all over the park at Winterfest.

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Hmm--what’s this? Has Charlie Brown finally sold out and embraced Christmas commercialism?

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Peppermint Patty and Sally tried to sell us trees, but had to settle for a photo, instead.

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The Eiffel Tower is the single most spectacular decoration at Winterfest.

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Here’s look at the Cool Yule show on International Street.

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The skating rink takes on extra magic at night.

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Yep--everybody was trying to get a photo here as we left.

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Thanks for the cocoa and the mug, and for a fun night at Winterfest, Kings Dominion!

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Great report Chuck! I was there Saturday evening with family as well. The park looked GREAT! I didn’t get to sample any treats myself however. Did watch Charlie Browns Christmas Spectacular in the KD theater and thought the show was great as well as Cool Yule.

 

We waited about 45 minutes for the Blue Ridge Tollway and they’re doing this thing where they play then “12 days of Christmas” over and over and over.

 

The tower I agree was absolutely fantastic and I really enjoyed its presence throughout the night, Definitely a fun cool event. I think it will start to get crazy busy the closer to Christmas it gets.

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^We left around 7:00 pm, and there was a huge line of people waiting to get in. There was a traffic accident at the entrance of the parking lot, too, so that was backed up.

 

I might go at least one more time with my Cedar Fair pass. As I said earlier, KD did a really good job with event.

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Nice report! It looks like KD WinterFest has created a great event like Kings Island has. The lights look great and there are some nice offerings for family as well. It's rough when it's so cold but I'm glad they have a couple coasters open as well. Didn't sound like Flight of Fear was open, maybe next year?

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Nice report! It looks like KD WinterFest has created a great event like Kings Island has. The lights look great and there are some nice offerings for family as well. It's rough when it's so cold but I'm glad they have a couple coasters open as well. Didn't sound like Flight of Fear was open, maybe next year?

 

Flight of Fear has the issue of being very far in the back of Safari Village which that entire section is not open for Winterfest.

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Nice report! It looks like KD WinterFest has created a great event like Kings Island has. The lights look great and there are some nice offerings for family as well. It's rough when it's so cold but I'm glad they have a couple coasters open as well. Didn't sound like Flight of Fear was open, maybe next year?

 

Flight of Fear has the issue of being very far in the back of Safari Village which that entire section is not open for Winterfest.

Flight of Fear was closed last year for us but this year they opened it and added lighting in that area as well as opening and lighting the path that goes from Diamondback past Vortex toward FoF. Yes, yours is even more set back than ours but you never know. If WinterFest is a huge success I could see them scaling up and maybe someday adding some lighted trail or themed area or something with the endpoint being Flight of Fear.

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Winterfest stopped at the entrance to Safari Village, but if the event's a big enough hit, who knows? (Busch Gardens' Christmas Town gradually absorbed the whole park over its ten-year run.)

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