Europa-Park starts its “Magical Winter Weeks”, Why not CP or another CF Park?

Did anyone see this at Europa-Park in Germany? It is on coasterbuzz from Amusement Today. They have a winter season! I think this would be a great addition to the CP experience. What do you think? OK, proceed to tell me how crazy an idea this is...:)

I'm not sure exactly where in Germany Europa-Park is located, but since Cedar Point is right next to Lake Eerie, I have a feeling that it might not be exactly Winter Wonderland like a lot of people tend to think it would be.

We've all been at the park on days when the wind is whipping off the lake. Now imagine being up there when it could be 20 degrees. Doesn't sound like my idea of a good time!

They tried this once, back in the mid 90's. There's a reason they only tried it once.

I remember hearing a quote from someone at the park along the lines of "we forgot that none of buldings are heated..." in regards to Christmas in the park back in the 90s.

*** Edited 12/14/2006 3:09:01 AM UTC by DBCP***

Are the rides at Europa Park open? I know Alton Towers is open all year, but the rides aren't. HersheyPark has the same thing. No coasters. Raptor can't even run in the fall without valleying - I can't imagine it in the winter. LOL!!

Most of the roller coasters at CP will probably valley because their not made to operate in the winter. Plus, snow, when going 70 mph, hurts when hitting your face.

I've been out in the park in Jan when the temp was a minus 46 degrees with the wind chill. Yes, it was friggin cold, one of the reasons I moved to the left coast.................

Based on what I saw on the weather channel web site, the weather appears to be comparable to what we experience in Ohio in December. Check out this web site for kicks and grins. From what I can gather it appears that 2 steel coasters are open (nder what conditions, I don't know, but the people in the photo are dressed in winter coats. I work outdoors in and around Sandusky frequently throughout the year and yes the wind can be frigid off of the lake, but no more than anywhere else in NWOH. There are an equal number of pleasant days, especially this year. I'd rather stand in line at 35 degrees than 90 degrees in the hot sun. :)

http://www.europa-park.de/page,2,818,en,Home.html

Well, from the looks of it, none of their normal amusement park rides are open as part of the winter wonderland. Its just a bunch of winter/Christmas themed stuff. Cedar Point tried this back in 94 with apparently poor enough turn-out to not try it again.

I just want to know one thing about the top pic in this link...

http://www.europapark.de/index.php?id=1449&lang=en

Is the mullet still popular over there?

C'mon, the park is in a country that worships The Hof. Are you that surprised that they would also embrace mullets?

Very true, I guess I'll just go back into my troll hole, sorry to bother y'all. ;)

It could possibly work. Look at how Halloween was not a big deal 10-11 years ago, and look at it now. It's a major draw these days.

Dollywood, my home park, is open until 12/31. I'm going tomorrow night to see all of the lights and ride Thunderhead and all the other rides. The holiday season at Dollywood is much more special and fun than the normal season, if for nothing else, its the only time of year the park is open after dark. Fortunately for us, we usually have mild winters in Tennessee, so that may be the reason why it was less successfull at CP - and KI for that matter.

Dollywood has Jan, Feb and part of March to get the park ready for another season, which seems to be plenty of time for them.

DW also only has 29 rides. Its not a surprise that it would take them less time to get the park ready to roll for another season.

You want to ride in 35' temperatures? Have at it. If I'm in Sandusky in December, it will be only in one of three places: Castaway Bay, Kalahari, or Great Wolf. Certainly not Cedar Point.

But, I think some of the more southern Paramount parks, particularly Carowinds, *could* pull this off. And, for what it's worth, Knott's already does this.

^ Well, but Knotts is in LA, open year-round :)

DW doesn't have to contend with the wind the way CP does,even when the temp's are in the thirty's the wind chill doesn't factor in near as much as other parks.

Sandusky doesn't have near the winter time draw that Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have.This is one of the main reasons that DW is able to pull off the christmas deal.

Good points. It is very true that Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are winter destinations...though summer and especially autumn are busy times as well. Someone mentioned it earlier, but I'm not sure how successfull a holiday at the park would be at SFOG or Carowinds, or PKI since they are not-neccessarilly-winter-destinations.

On Saturday, at DW, the park looked like it was at maximum capacity. Fortunately, the ride lines were short.

From a business perspective, I think DW could be a year round park. If they played up the idea of 'winter in the park' by leaving the holiday lights up, and change some of the shows around - I think people would go to the park. I know I would. And it would of course be providing jobs year-round for thousands of people. As long as the temperatures & weather cooperate, the rides are fun to ride all bundled up in coats and gloves.

In retrospect, with these 60 degree temperatures in mid December, it might have not been such a bad idea after all.