Winter Chill Out 2018

What part of MEDIA on media day don’t some people understand?

^I understand it's for media. Just because it's media day doesn't mean the park can't invite enthusiasts. But some on this forum have taken the attitude that not only does the park not have to invite enthusiasts (toitally true), but they actively shouldn't allow enthusiasts into the event because we're all greedy entitled pigs who shouldn't get anything (why would you discourage a special event?)

It's possible to ask for and suggest that the park do something while recognizing that they don't have to. I don't think the park has to do "open" Media Day, but I think it's well within such a huge company's financial means to do so.

I don’t think anyone’s taken any attitude toward anything. The park can invite who ever they want. If that means just a select few, then so be it. Life goes on.

coast said:
I don’t think I’m entitled, I think WE are entitled.

And you know you’ll be invited. You were to Valravn. You didn’t have a fight with Tony, right?

I go on weekdays so Chick-Fil-A will be open. I just hope the dining plan could be used there for an item.

GigaG said:
I do think Coast exaggerates a bit. But I think he has a point, too, because it seems like some people here actively encourage the park to restrict media day and keep the status quo, and self-flagellate themselves, belittling the community...

I actually do actively encourage the park to restrict media day and keep the status quo. Have you seen the way some enthusiasts behave at these events? It's disgusting. Sure, it's only a handful. Sure, it may not be you. Or me. But that is not something the park needs to even think about on media day. Media Day is a day to get TV footage, do interviews, and allow the press to experience the new ride or attraction in the hopes of receiving positive press. The last thing they need to worry about is babysitting enthusiasts, which is what it turns into.

EXACTLY! I saw things during the Gatekeeper and Banshee media day that really peeved me off. Things people were wearing, or acting to the free items were being handed out. After the Banshee media day, a friend of mine said "I wouldn't be surprised if this was the last time they do this." I couldn't have agreed more and, sure enough, that's what the parks have decided to do. They shouldn't have to spend time worrying about what people are doing or how they're acting around camera crews. They need people who they can trust and they know will act according to their rules.

I don't care who you are or how much you think your enthusiasm for coasters entitles you to go to a parks media day. It just doesn't. If the park decides to let enthusiasts into the park before opening day, it'll be via a preview kind of event.

And if they completely stop doing those because of butthurt enthusiasts who are upset they didn't get a free key chain or a 4 course meal, then so be it. Those select few have ruined it for the rest.

Also, seeing Dragster's launch motor was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

To actively encourage the park to stop an event because a tiny fraction of enthusiasts b**ch and moan about free swag amongst themselves (not like the media saw it...) is ridiculous to be honest.

And it's not just media day, it's basically every preview event that has been eroded, it seems (HalloWeekends preview, passholder preview possibly... etc.) It's easy for me get annoyed when most of these great events have been torn away not because of any fault of my own, but rather because a few people complaining about a keychain or sweatshirt is seen as a good reason to ditch an event that the majority of the attendees loved.

That said, I'm hoping that CP has some great stuff up their sleeve. WCO was amazing, and if they keep that up for the regular season events, maybe my fears of the slow erosion of special events will be proven wrong.

When people on this site make up 99.9% of Cedar Fair's revenue, then enthusiasts on here can have the right to be entitled. That'll never happen, so just be happy they do anything extra for us.

A very wise PR lady that I know once said “Why would you invite anyone to your wedding that you know will ruin it?” And that’s exactly what’s happened here. Even a tiny fraction is enough. What I’ve heard and what I’ve witnessed would be plenty enough for me to call a halt to it.

I’ll never forget media day for Gemini midway. Something caused a delay and attendees were lined up outside forced to wait maybe an extra fifteen minutes. It was unusually warm that afternoon. When the doors didn’t open on time people back in the line started yelling and complaining loudly. “Hurry the hell up!” “This is ridiculous” “Hey, what’s the matter up there? Let us in!” I about died of embarrassment for those jerks. An employeee, who I’m sure had better things to do, had to come out and walk the line to explain the delay and calm people down. They still weren’t happy and then complained about the gifts.

I’m not surprised in the least that they’ve left us behind.

GigaG said:
It's easy for me get annoyed when most of these great events have been torn away not because of any fault of my own, but rather because a few people complaining about a keychain or sweatshirt is seen as a good reason to ditch an event that the majority of the attendees loved.

They are doing lots of events, more than ever before, the difference is that these events now bring more people into the park and enhance the time spent there. Events like Brew & BBQ and Cedar Point Nights are great events that both benefit the park and the guests.

I think you will find that CoasterMania is probably the only enthusiast event and if they do something with Steel Vengeance it will be for passholders or for charity, not for so called "enthusiasts". If that annoys you, well that is too bad. You would be happier if you just go to the park and enjoy it without expecting any special treatment.

Serious questions coast. What specifically do feel makes you any more worthy of special treatment from the park than any other ticket or pass holder? You know for certain you are more enthusiastic about the park than joe blow who doesn’t spend his leisure time posting on the internet? How so? Is it becuase you paid money to some club? You do realize they can’t invite all Platinum Passholders to Media Day as it would be a huge crowd and then the Media would maybe get one or two rides.

I would wager a beer that there is more Media that wants to attend Media Day than they have room to accommodate and provide a positive experience for.

It seems his point is that because we love the park and buy passes, we DESERVE to be invited to special events like media day OR have events catered to only us.

I’ve never been to a media day, but I always pictured it as the “fancy corporate business dinner where everyone is wearing name tags” of amusement parks. As much as I would love to go to a media event, I understand that I’m not invited, nor should I be there. I’m embarrassed to even hear that people were acting like complete hooligans. It’s a day of business. There’s work being done at those events.

GigaG said:

^I understand it's for media.

Obviously not, you continue to promote your belief the park should invite you.

Just because the park is financially viable does not mean the should or will.

Business and marketing models change. As I stated before you have to manage that change.

I loved Winter Chill Out this year. As my 2nd one, I thought it was great. The only thing it really missed for me was that we didn't get to go into Planning and Design to sit on the Steel Vengeance trains :(

But, I really enjoyed being able to walk into the infield of the ride, get right next to the track and take it all in.

Walking through Zombie High School was pretty cool (I think it was my favorite maze out of Halloweekends last year), but I would have rather visited inside Eerie Estates. I enjoyed the stop as always by Millennium Force. Seeing the trains in staging waiting to be put together to get back on track is awesome. I felt our walk back to SV could have been a little bit slower...we didn't really get to look at Frontier Trail in it's winterized position (imo). It was nice that we were able to stop on the bridge between Maverick and SRF. As we progressed around Frontier Town, you could tell it was really going to be changing. So many shops missing their signs, a big dirt pile where the patio was gone next to Round Up. Listening to Adam Pooch was great, he was really informative and I even asked him a few questions while in field of SV. I had hoped we were going to out next to Planning and Design but we went out the way we came in. :/

We walked quickly through the Gemini Midway, not much had changed there....when we got to the TTD tower, I was surprised to see Dino's Alive there (crossing my fingers it's gone soon). It was great to peek into where they keep the Hydrolic Motor for TTD. From there, we headed toward the presentation. We had to wait for the previous group to get out, so it was nice to be able to run to the bathroom. The only thing about it, was I'm so surprised the bathroom isn't that big, especially with groups using the facilities throughout the summer.

I thought Jason and Tony did great presenting the information. I'm looking forward to the entertainment upgrades. While I loved Luminosity, the last time I saw it, it felt tired. I'm a bit sad that AWE is gone, but hoping some of those folks come back to be in the new show. The general park improvements look to be spectacular. Looking forward to the boardwalk. As far as the food updates go, I'm about 1/2 and 1/2 on it. I was really surprised Chick Fil-A is coming back. If it's on the meal plan, that's the only way I'll go to it. I hate that they are closed on Sundays...but I haven't been to CP on a Sunday in years. There is a lot of BBQ coming this season. I'm not the biggest fan, so I'm not too thrilled with the new options. As long as I can still get my standards I'm good. I love the sidewinder fry options....I know there are a couple styles that I like but would like to subtract an ingredient if possible. Hoping they'll be on the meal plan. I was a bit disappointed they didn't announce an actual mac n cheese bar for the park. The one under skyride was just eh to me last year. Tony had me rolling with the Crazy Cotton Candy Stand 1 joke.

We then checked out the marketing presentation. I was really impressed with the presentation. I love the video spot that was created. It was well done. #APlaceLikeNoOther The only downfall to this was, I had 2 ladies in front of me talking the entire presentation. Several folks turned and gave them looks (including myself) and they wouldn't shut up.

After we left there, we headed to the maintenance shop I visited 2 years ago when I did WCO. for me it was kind of bleh...but I'm thankful for the guys who stuck around to talk and to talk a bit about what's going on. I apparently didn't realize these guys would split into 3 shifts right around season start.

Next up was laundry services. I didn't get to see this last year, but I was really surprised on how big an operation it is. Our group was split and my friend as well as my self were the last in the first group to go through. We couldn't really hear what was being said but I was impressed. Loved watching the associates working and showing how some of the machines worked.

Thankfully, after that was lunch! It was pretty good! I'm not a big BBQ wing eater, but these wings hit the spot. The Mac n Cheese Bar was good too, I could have had a few more toppings to choose from though.

The tour was officially over, so we grabbed our 2018 CP calendar and headed toward the Amazement shop. That was really cool! I had always wondered what it was like inside of there. The staff in there was knowledgeable and were great when answering questions. The one point that was told to us, that surprised me, was that Valravn's trains are too wide, to heavy and in general too big to bring to the Amazement Shop on the road, so they just do the maintenance in the storage facility there. I was most excited to see the paint shop. It was cool seeing the Witch's Wheel cars in various stages of being painted. Of course, it was great going out into the lot to take a look at all of the cars awaiting to be fixed or to be transported back to the park.

TLDR?: I liked WCO.

After WCO my friends and I went across the street from the Amazement Shop to Castaway Bay...spent about 3.5 hours enjoying the water park. I really enjoyed it!

Please tell me it's not true... They can't get rid of Luminosity! This is even more heartbreaking than finding out AWE was gone.

So there aren't any night-time shows, then? No dance parties, lights, nothing? I was sad when Luminosity replaced Starlight Experience, but now we have neither and that's really upsetting.

It's changing. They're combining aspects of All Wheels Extreme, Luminosity and, to a certain extent, Skeleton Crew. I'm looking forward to seeing a new show utilizing some of the things that made those shows awesome. Also, completely forgot about the custom cotton candy thing coming. It sounded VERY intriguing.

With the return of the Maverick tunnel theming , does anyone know if that will include cleaning up the water shoots and returning them to their old shooting pattern. It may be unimportant but the last several years I’ve really missed that “duh—buh-buh——duh” pattern. Recently it’s just been three shots and none offset. I don’t know if one has been broken or what.

Being in a natural water pond, they tend to get clogged up with algae a lot. And I doubt it's on the parks list of things to keep up on. :P