Castaway Bay and Winter Chill Out February 20-21 2015

I hadn't been to the Winter Chill Out since the PointBuzz only version back in December 2011, so this year seemed like a good opportunity to check out the park again in winter. We headed up to Castaway Bay on Friday (more on the resort stay later on). Then on Saturday, I headed to the park as part of the 8:30 tour group.

Right away it was clear this day was going to be unlike any other most of us had ever spent at the park. The short drive up the causeway from Castaway Bay was completely snow-covered, even after the plows had been around. I think 2-3 inches had fallen overnight. Headed through the season pass build to pick up a lanyard and very nice Rougarou winter hat, then over to Midway Market for hot chocolate and granola bars.

Tim Walsh was our group leader and we were the first group to head down the midway. It was quite a surprise that Dodgem was completely missing (aside from its sign laying in the snow near the Coasters restaurant). We made our way around the Frontier Trail to the planning and design building fairly quickly. There wasn't much to do near Rougarou except take pictures from the midway. The platform is still under construction so we couldn't get any closer.

At the P&D building, they had a raffle to give away a couple banners from last season. One from Blue Streak, Raptor, and Magnum's anniversaries was each given away. I suspect other various items were given away to the later groups. Tony Clark and Jason McClure gave their presentation about all the changes to the park this season...and they really are super extensive. 3 rides are being moved (Dodgem, Krazy Kars, Calypso), 2 are being removed (Antique Cars, Sir Rub-a-Dubs Tubs), at least 3 buildings being removed and renovated (Gazeebo and Theater gone, Sweet Spot replacing old recording studio).

I cringed a bit at some of the negative questions during the Q&A time, but I don't see how that is entirely avoidable when you have a group as large as 600 invited for an event. Rougarou will have a no loose articles policy, which is a good thing in my opinion. I don't buy into the conspiracy theories about souvenir bottles + lockers = cheap profits.

I'm sure there will be some enthusiasts who are bummed out that coaster clubs are not being invited to media day this year. Given the popularity of the Banshee media day last year, I'm sure there would have been a huge turn out, which may not be all that conducive for the real media people to do their jobs. They are doing a season passholder preview from 7-10pm on media day, which is similar to what they have done at Kings Island in the past. I'm sure the crowds will be like a mini-opening day. Tony did say that 100 random people from the Winter Chill Out would be invited to come for media day in the morning.

Lunch at Chickie's and Pete's was great. The only hard part was finding somewhere to sit. After that we finished the tour by checking out Hotel Breakers construction from the outside, as well as the Lakeside Pavilion and Wicked Twister midway. We went into the maintenance building to look around a bit and got to see the Dragster catch car. It is way bigger than I would have imagined. Dodgem looks gigantic in its new space near MaXair. It will be very hard to top this year's Winter Chill Out given the lack of freezing wind and the continual snow that fell all day long.

Back at Castaway Bay, I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by the overall experience. We had never stayed at an indoor water park before, so we were excited to check it out. The water park itself was just what we expected and was quite fun. We stayed in the most basic room type, so I didn't expect a lot of frills. However, the room didn't even have a decent chair to sit in. It had a table with 2 chairs, and then a 3rd desk chair shoved in a corner. It seems pretty evident that the hotel was originally not a water park. Our room was a long way from the water park entrance, which included having to walk through the cold lobby in order to get there. That wasn't so great. Also not so great was the fact that we couldn't find a parking spot any of the multiple times we returned to the hotel. Part of the problem is that part of the parking lot is on the other side of the building which not many people realize. However, our room was not on that side of the hotel. There is also no specified parking area for people buying day passes to the water park. It is not a good thing when a paying hotel guest can't find a place to park.

The Quaker Steak construction is well underway at the hotel. I never had a chance to eat the Friday's before it closed, but it seems like a great location. Hopefully they can use it well this season.

Overall, we enjoyed the water park, but I think we will try Great Wolf or Kalahari next time around. I wish Cedar Fair could get a little further beyond the mentality that "we know you are here just to go to the water/amusement park" and put a bit more effort into the overall hotel experience. The term "resort" seems to get thrown around a bit too loosely. Anyone recommend one of those places over the other? I seem to remember Jeff saying a few years ago that there really wasn't a great hotel room in Sandusky. I feel like I understand that a little more each year.

A huge thanks to Cedar Point for putting on this event and for donating the proceeds to Give Kids the World Village! The snow really enhanced the overall day and made it more memorable. I think I've been to the park on colder days in May to be honest, so we really were fortunate with the wind and temperatures.

You stated the Antique Cars are being removed. It is the Turnpike Cars that are being removed, not the Antique Cars. Otherwise good report and glad you enjoyed the day.