Winter Chill Out Live

My expectation is the number of tickets that were available on the "first come, first served" basis was relatively few (compared to the total tickets that were sold over the weekend). Such that the vast majority of the tickets were made available through the lottery. They had several options for the last remaining tickets. One, don't sell them at all but that means less money to the charity. Two, go with another lottery drawing (I think the 4th?). But that would take some time (another day or two). You can't send emails to people saying you won the right to buy tickets and have it expire in 2 hours. And some of those people presumably would not have been able to attend leaving a smaller number of tickets still unpurchased. Another lottery? Then then another?

You could try the "highest bidder" approach but that takes time. To set it up logistically. And to run its course. Wouldn't make sense to have that process open for a couple hours (particularly going into a holiday weekend). Some people would say they wouldn't check their email open until Tuesday when back at work so it would need to be open until at least then.

In part, I expect they needed some certainty for planning purposes (for food for instance). There were not many tickets left so they went with a process that was the most simple. When they woke up on Friday morning, people who entered the lottery who had not previously been selected thought they had no chance to go. Even if they missed the Friday email in total or at least didn't see it until all remaining tickets were gone, they were in the same place as when they woke up: not going to the event.

I think the number of people who are actually upset at the process is few. Particularly outside this site. And no matter how they run the process, there would be some upset people. So be it.

I think a fun idea (that could be great for A Kid Again) would be to make the entire thing "highest bidder" based (ideally with the current $75 price point as the minimum).

Say there are 1,000 spots for each day. Set a a date where a bid has to be submitted. Then the top 1,000 get chosen with offers to purchase tickets at the price they bid. Then after 'x' number of days, offer it down the line to anyone else after any from the original 1,000 choose not to purchase.

That would be an auction. And something similar is what they used to do for the First Rider events.
The only thing standing in the way of that in this case would be the sheer number. A train or two on the first or last day is far fewer tickets than this event would be.
And even that can get screwed up. I was thrilled to have won a seat on Steel Vengeance for the First Train private event. But then a day or two later came the call that they had selected and notified too many names and I was one in the overage. So my choices were to lower my donation to general admission status and forget about it (which they kindly hoped I wouldn’t do) or accept a position on the second train which (naturally) is what I chose. Then if I recall correctly they let the first and second train go twice if we desired. The third train out was for dignitaries and beneficiaries of the James Foundation (and the kids’ moms, whose reactions were hilarious). Then the line opened up to the rest of the attendees. It was a fun evening and worth every penny to me.

New email today with some details about what to expect this weekend. Raffle tickets will be sold to win the Steel Vengeance model that sits in the arcade. (Who has room for that gigantic thing anyways?)

Not surprised to see it go. Don't think it was ever finished, and just taking up space since they started it. Did they even build the trains for it? Don't remember seeing them.

Nice to get a chance to see it again before they get rid of it though. Would be a fun project to finish myself, but I agree, don't have the space or expertise to do it well. Would be cool if whoever wins it works on it and posts about it somewhere.

Yeah that's an interesting prize... It's very awesome, but also very large. Also how are you gonna transport that thing and get it into someone's house? Hopefully it somewhat-easily separates into portable sections.

Definitely more challenging than the Antique Car they raffled off last year.

Hmmm, maybe that’s a hint that they are wanting to move along with the Town Hall project.

Wasn't that model in the arcade in 2022?

One of those model railroad club facilities would be a good place to display the SV model, if there is room. Good luck to whoever wins the raffle and relocating the model. Looks like it's made of that fragile balsa wood.

Don't forget...last year they also raffled the Wicked Twister signs (and I think some wheels), much easier to deal with.

We did win the WT Exit sign. It's in our garage, on the regular walk thru door (not on garage door). The comment of "Was it worth $100 for the tickets?? ABSOLUTELY!!

We always tell folks, "If you happen to get lost in the garage,...just look for the EXIT sign!"

Thought the car would have been fun to put in the yard and decorate for different seasons, like prop

Santa or Grinch for Christmas, Bunny for Easter...

I wonder if it'll be addressed why they went away from the very popular free roam style back to the much less enjoyable guided tour for chill out. I bet some guests last year went into restricted areas and ruined it for everyone, but that's just an assumption. I much preferred the last few years setting our own pace and route.

Per the CP Food Blog / Sandusky Register, Chick-fil-A is gutted and not returning. Didn't expect that.

Sounds like a lot more than just Chick fil A. Wild Turnip and Mac Shack are out. Forbidden Frontier isn't returning. The popular Cedar Point Nights on the beach is gone. The Townhall Museum update is permanently off the table.

It sounded more like a RIF list than an exciting day of announcements.

Cp food blog did a much better update that I could, but I had heard (and posted about) a rumor that Chickie & Petes and Johnny Rockets were closing too. Neither of those were mentioned today, and their signage was all still up. Then again, the Mac shack sign was still there too.

Nothing was said about the stands at the south end of the boardwalk, and I didn't notice anything changed from the 1 distant vantage point.

The presentation and tour did seem shorter this year. No exact times for comparison though. With the guide there were times I felt rushed, and times I was just waiting. I also preferred the self guided tour format.

Getting to see the MF tunnel, dragster and boardwalk construction up close were the hilights. Lunch was decent, but no surprises there either. No idea how I'll feel about it next feb, but based on today, I'll probably skip it.

Yeah. For a park that has spent the last several years pushing more food options and special park events as the "strategy", seeing all that just get abandoned at the same time is perplexing.

If they plan to focus more on the large restaurants, Including farmhouse and the new pavilion, then it may make sense to close some smaller ones to redirect staffing.

Right. The new locations are high volume places with full menus. I think it’s wise on their part to funnel guests to places where there’s fewer workers to manage, and the set up for the new restaurants means flexibility on an hour to hour/day to day basis. It also means less product to order and commissary. Mac Shack, for instance, was a small location with limited variety. For that reason I was never prompted to even try it.
I stated a while back, maybe in the Forbidden Frontier thread, that I was pretty sure that attraction wasn’t designed to last forever. It was labor intensive and was a Live-E project. Those employees make a little more than everyone else. Now I wonder what will happen with the interactive aspect of the boat ride. It was designed to intertwine which I thought was pretty clever.

And good riddance to Chick-fil-A. I couldn’t be happier.

I think the main focus here is consolidation of staff, just in case no one shows up again.
I suppose the park is under no obligation to break this sort of news at an event like this. And at the same time there should be no expectation of exciting announcements. What they’ve planned to say at this point has clearly already been said.

For me, one of the coolest announcements was that all of Grand Pavilion's windows will open. Neat touch. That alone will make it one of the nicest, most unique places to eat in a regional amusement park.

Oh no. I’m going to drop a reminder in the suggestion box that the gulls and the midges are particular busy on the lake side of the park. A breeze is nice but I’d be considering screens.
Years ago I ran a stand right about where the Pavilion is located and every night I’d shutter the place and set off a bug bomb. In the morning every surface would be thick with dead flies to clean up.