pki winterfest

I would give a Winterfest event at Cedar Point a go at least once. The cold never bothered me anyway, so it's chill.

There is some pretty significant financial risk to trying it at CP.

For comparison,we did SF Great America's Last Call of Fall this year. Weather didn't cooperate at all. I'm not sure what normal weather is for Chicago in November, but they closed early at least 3 out of 6 days it was scheduled, was iffy if they stayed open a 4th day, and didn't open at all for a 5th day.

We were there the first 2 days (Nov 4th and 5th). On the first day, crowds were light enough that every coaster that was running except Joker was allowing you to stay in your seat for re-rides, including Goliath. Park opened at noon, and closed at 4pm. The second day, we were there for park opening and crowds were even lighter. We left about 3pm for the drive home, and the parking lot was maybe half as full as it had been when the park closed the day before. The emptiness and ratio of guests to employees reminded me of our last visit to Geauga on a weekday in August 2007.

The following weekend I think they stayed open the full 8 hours one day but never opened the other day. The last weekend they closed early on the Saturday. I didn't see any updates on that last Sunday, but the weather was forecast to be no better than it had been any of the other days. They had to assure people the season pass processing office would stay open until 8pm both days, as there was more demand to activate the free gold pass upgrade than there was to go in the park.

Went to Winterfest last night for the first time ever and it was incredible. Well done KI. Well done.

Why won’t CP do something like this? Their missing out for sure. It’s not about the rides (even though it was awesome riding Mystic in 32F weather!) but the atmosphere. Sorry CP you’re missing out big time.

Ride on and if you can get to Winterfest! Well worth it!

Unfortunately not all December days will be 40°.

All it would take is for a couple of weekend snow emergencies, Ohio has stages of snow emergencies that effectively require businesses to close and restricts all regular travel, to make the investment quite risky for Cedar Point. As well as not having any major population centers nearby as has been pointed out before.

How often have we had a snow emergency in December? I can count it on one hand. January and February sure. It was 32 not 40!

Weather wise and latitudinally, Sandusky is very close to Chicago. This years first extended season for Six Flags Great America was really bad, and that was in November. They didn't even bother to open some days and closed early most of the others, and that is with 2.7 Million people within a bus ride.

Regarding unpredictable snow storms, Sandusky is much more likely to be affected than the southern areas of Ohio. it's just that a couple of freezing cold, windy days or snowstorms could effectively make the Point unbearable or undesirable for most people. It's a cost benefit analysis, if the CF thinks its worth the risk they will do it, but I can understand why they are holding off on CP as the last big property for a winter event.

Canada's Wonderland is far colder around November/December than Sandusky. If they can get Winterfest, so can CP.

Do they have the threat of lake effect snow dumping a foot overnight with little warning?

Sandusky doesn't.

It's false that the businesses are required to close during a Ohio government initiated snow emergency. The three levels of snow emergencies are just travel advisories that affect travel on roads. And only in a level three do they say that the roads are closed except for emergency vehicles. That said, it is highly doubtful that snow would be much of an issue during Winterfest at CP. Sandusky gets very little snow, only averages 18 inches per year with most of it falling in January and February. Compare that to Cleveland where the average is 60 inches at CLE airport and over 100 inches in the eastern snowbelt with many years approaching 150 inches. If I lived in Sandusky I wouldn't even bother buying a snowblower.

LEVEL 3: All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be driving during these conditions unless it is absolutely necessary to travel or a personal emergency exists. All employees should contact their employer to see if they should report to work. Those traveling on the roads may subject themselves to arrest.

-They are not forced to close, but many do, as there is no travel allowed subject to arrest.
Cedar Fair is a non-essential employer that does close during level 3.

I would guess the ultimate decision on whether Cedar Point ever gets Winterfest will come down to staffing and if they feel they can get a draw from Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit. The December weather in Sandusky isnt too extreme. Average highs are in the 30's the whole month and only average 4.6 inches of snow. Of course a winter storm can happen anytime, but overall, the weather isnt that bad.

Personally, I would love to see Cedar Point do Winterfest and open Breakers. Even though I dont live all that far from the park, Id do a weekend there (or two). After visiting Kings Island's Winterfest last weekend, Im looking forward to heading down to DollyWood in a couple of weeks for Smokey Mountain Christmas.

I never would have guessed Sandusky averages 18 inches of snow per year. Is there no lake effect snow that far west? What am I missing? We get blasted here in Rochester on the south shore of Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie beats up Buffalo pretty good, too. How does Cleveland get so much more snow than Sandusky?

I'm with you Shane, I figured Sandusky was in the same boat as Rochester. All of us that live near the lake wish it was only a snow storm that we have to worry about. If the wind is blowing the right way it's a nightmare and often very hard to predict.

There is no lake effect snow in Sandusky, even the west side of Cleveland gets significantly less than the east side and just disappears west of that. Because of the way the lake is shaped and where Cleveland is located winds, if blowing in the correct direction, blow across the lake for a considerable distance are able to carry moisture from the lake and create lake effect snow, same with Rochester and Buffalo. Not in Sandusky however, wrong location.

As far as snow emergency levels, I can't remember Sandusky ever having a level 3 in December, can anyone else remember such an event? If CP ever gets Winterfest, I think the worry will be that of at least getting some snow to make it pretty rather than worrying about a lot of snow.

Pete said:
There is no lake effect snow in Sandusky, even the west side of Cleveland gets significantly less than the east side and just disappears west of that. Because of the way the lake is shaped and where Cleveland is located winds, if blowing in the correct direction, blow across the lake for a considerable distance are able to carry moisture from the lake and create lake effect snow, same with Rochester and Buffalo. Not in Sandusky however, wrong location.

As far as snow emergency levels, I can't remember Sandusky ever having a level 3 in December, can anyone else remember such an event? If CP ever gets Winterfest, I think the worry will be that of at least getting some snow to make it pretty rather than worrying about a lot of snow.

AMEN

Cedar Point should give it a try ine year and see how things turn out.

My sister lives in Painesville (East of Cleveland), and there have been many a trip (when we are coming from the west) when there will literally be no snow on the roads until we get to the far-east side, and then KAPOW; inches of snow and zero-visibility when you hit one of those squalls.

I've lived in NE Ohio now for nearly a decade, and we have never had a Level 3 snow emergency in that time.

Heck, the past 2 years we have barely had any snow at all.

But yes, what Pete said. Snow would make it even better!

Staaber said:

Cedar Point should give it a try one year and see how things turn out.

Cedar Point hosting Winterfest is a major investment of planning, labor and capital. If/when Cedar Fair does decide that CP hosts Winterfest, I dont think it will be just a trial to see if it works. It will be a commitment to host it moving forward.

Pete said:
There is no lake effect snow in Sandusky, even the west side of Cleveland gets significantly less than the east side and just disappears west of that. Because of the way the lake is shaped and where Cleveland is located winds, if blowing in the correct direction, blow across the lake for a considerable distance are able to carry moisture from the lake and create lake effect snow, same with Rochester and Buffalo. Not in Sandusky however, wrong location.

As far as snow emergency levels, I can't remember Sandusky ever having a level 3 in December, can anyone else remember such an event? If CP ever gets Winterfest, I think the worry will be that of at least getting some snow to make it pretty rather than worrying about a lot of snow.

Yet another reason I kick myself for not pushing harder to move to Toledo when my wife had an opportunity almost 15 years ago...