Year round

[NightRider785]

Anything true to them possibly wanting to "experiment" with year round operation?

[DejaVu2001]

I've never heard any rumors about any thing like that. I don't think the park would ever be truly year round, but Kennywood seems to be doing good with their holiday event, so a Holiday In The Park could work possibly, but I don't think SF would try it.

[Necropolis]

If they did try it, I am most certain only the flat rides will be in operation. I know I would go to the park during the holidays for sure. I don't do anything over the winter so this would be a great opportunity to go and have fun. If Six Flags can create a kickass FrightFest, why not a very merry Xmas?? I think SF would benefit from such an event during the holidays. Though I can think of cons that can come with this too.

[FParker185]

If the park opened for a Holiday In The Park type event, which I think would be really cool, but pretty unlikely, few if any rides would be open. Pretty much every flat has all it's vehicles removed for inspection/rehab in the winter. If anything it'd probably just be Columbia.

In the end I think the one thing that would make it cool is what would doom the event to loose money and that'd be snow. With not many (any) rides open it wouldn't command all that much of an admission price, and one or 2 snowstorms which would close the park and force them to have to plow and salt all the open midways before reopening would cost a fortune.

[Galvan]

Brookfield Zoo hosts a Holiday Lights festival every year. Entirely outdoors...

Not sure SFGAm would make a Holiday in the Park event. As the weather is a serious factor to consider. But If you could some how get Columbia, STT, Rue Le Dodge, Ragin Cajun, TDK, Hometown etc open. Think about the areas in the front of the park along with the Railroad bathed in a sea of Christmas Lights as it went around the park.

[DejaVu2001]

^ You wouldn't see any outdoor coasters running. And Cajun would be one of the least capable of operating. I'd say the most cold-weather capable outdoor coaster we have is Batman: The Ride. Another issue is if Rue Le Dodge (or Chubasco) were open, the park would lose valuable winter storage space

[BBH]

I'm gonna jump into the forums with my first post here by saying running RC in the winter would be beyond moronic. Spinning mice aren't capable of running in the cold and the ice--too much possibility of the stops sliding on the guard rails and the cars jamming, which could be harmful. B:TR wouldn't be a good idea, especially since everything is so open. I think if any of them is capable of running, it would be TDKC, which is a huge let-down.

[Coaster Justin]

At Silver Dollar City, almost all of their attractions are outdoors and with the exception of the water rides, Were open. I know Branson and Gurnee have different climates but provided it doesn't go below 45 degrees, the rides should be able to operate.



They could even do a thing where it's free and food/drink sales go to Charities or something.

[BBH]

At Silver Dollar City, almost all of their attractions are outdoors and with the exception of the water rides, Were open. I know Branson and Gurnee have different climates but provided it doesn't go below 45 degrees, the rides should be able to operate.



They could even do a thing where it's free and food/drink sales go to Charities or something.

You can't count on Gurnee not going below 45 like you can Branson. It's just not doable.

[DeathbyDinn]

I don't get why parks in Japan can stay open in the winter with piles of snow on the coaster tracks and why Europe can have plenty of outdoor winter fairs with midways, but when it comes to the US it's all of the sudden too cold for any ride to run. Would it be enjoyable, probably not, but I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. If the park were to ever host any winter event, I would guess it would be like what Great Adventure had for a few years where it's a light up drive through, possibly followed by a few small kiddie rides and food stands.

http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/WinterLights.htm

[NightRider785]

Do all parks close for a bit during the winter? I know we do all rehab while closed, but how does SFMM do theirs?

[DejaVu2001]

^ At year round parks, flat rides will close for rehabs as needed. Single train coasters will close for rehab once a year. The multiple train coasters just rehab one train at a time. Rehab work still happens November-April just like seasonal parks.

[Goku1910]

Holiday in the Park for Great America would be complicated because Six Flags would need to find other methods of entertainment like shows, etc. It would have to be all about decorations and other stuff. Rides would obviously be ruled out.

[Coaster Justin]

Holiday in the Park for Great America would be complicated because Six Flags would need to find other methods of entertainment like shows, etc. It would have to be all about decorations and other stuff. Rides would obviously be ruled out.

This is what Kennywood operated in 2012
A Kennywood holiday lights show, timed to a soundtrack of classic holiday songs, will run several times each evening around the lagoon. A few holiday-themed rides will be open as well, including the carousel, Kangaroo, Paratrooper, select Kiddieland rides, and a Polar Express themed Olde Kennywood Railroad.

I would imagine the Carousel, Sky Trek Tower, Grand Music Hall, Train, Dark Knight, Pictorium, and a few other rides would be able to operate. Maybe even the Bumper Cars.

EDIT: In 2009, Mt. Olympus was running the Go-Karts in January (Trojan Horse and another one) with no problem.

[Geroshie]

If the park were to go year round (very unlikely), how do you think the ticket prices would change?

[NightRider785]

I wonder if there would be any cool perks offered to season pass holders only.
ie) coasters after dark in the summer, but for the holiday event

[Necropolis]

^ I think its been covered pretty good that all the major coasters will not be able to operate over the winter season. I hope there will never be a Coasters after Dark event in the dark winter hours....I do not want to die of frostbite. If its 40 degrees outside, surely on a coaster, the air will feel more like 25 degrees. Perhaps the park should have something like a holiday wonderland. Just have the park heavily themed for xmas and have a walkthrough like Necropolis during FrightFest. Who am I kidding, why am I thinking about this, when theres a 99% chance the park will never open during the holidays.

[w00dland]

If the park were to open weekends in winter:

Most days I believe no outdoor rides would run, mainly because nobody would want to ride them because if temps get under freezing, it's not going to be fun. (It might be fun to us, but not to most normal people)

Because of this they would have to get insanely creative with the entertainment options the park could dole out. I'd suggest winter activities inside the park - create an ice skating rink infront of Columbia, make a sledding hill in Hurricane Harbor, create a holiday lightshow with a Christmas Tree in Hometown Square.

I'd probably close the back half of the park completely because there wouldn't be anything open or to do.

When it comes down to it, it would cost way too much money for the park to open and I don't think they'd see high enough attendance to justify it.

[Chitown]

Marriott tried this back in the late 70's or early 80's and it failed miserably. Only lasted one winter. I doubt SF will try it.

[Luxornv]

Marriott tried this back in the late 70's or early 80's and it failed miserably. Only lasted one winter. I doubt SF will try it.

Things change over 30 years though. It might not be a bad idea for them to try it again.

[UWW-10]

The activities that the park would "provide" aren't really anything new because if you think about this in terms of the Chicago/Milwaukee areas....these two cities already have skating rinks, places to sled, holiday lights/displays. In other words, people already have places full of Winter activities that they'll occupy their time at if they want to. I don't think Great America needs to jump on this band wagon as they'd see very little return on this kind of investment.

[Coaster Justin]

Marriott tried this back in the late 70's or early 80's and it failed miserably. Only lasted one winter. I doubt SF will try it.

Proof please

[Ilovthevu']

The activities that the park would "provide" aren't really anything new because if you think about this in terms of the Chicago/Milwaukee areas....these two cities already have skating rinks, places to sled, holiday lights/displays. In other words, people already have places full of Winter activities that they'll occupy their time at if they want to. I don't think Great America needs to jump on this band wagon as they'd see very little return on this kind of investment.

You have a very good point. For a park like Busch Gardens Tampa, or Six Flags Over Texas, it's much warmer at those parks, and thus snow / skating is special for those people. In the Chicago area, it's almost a guarantee to get snow, and go skating at some place. A Six Flags park that would benefit from a Christmas event to me would be Georgia. I don't know why they don't have nothing.

For comparing the zoo to Great America, the reason why a zoo works is because a zoo is full of houses that are indoors plus people are just WALKING (not riding stuff for the most part) looking at animals outside. Great America is full of outside rides, and when most of the coasters aren't open, what would be the point? The lights are more of an added bonus, but you need something more. Sure, they could open up Triple Play, and the Hometown Fun Machine, but people are going to freezing like anything, and they would leave in a hour.

[Chitown]

Marriott tried this back in the late 70's or early 80's and it failed miserably. Only lasted one winter. I doubt SF will try it.

Proof please

I looked around on the web and couldn't find anything on it, but I remember my mother taking me there. The whole park wasn't open. The only parts open were the Carousel Plaza and the portion of Orleans Place before the railroad bridge. Basically all of the area before both railroad bridges. Columbia, Rue Le Dodge, and Sky Trek Tower were the only rides operating. They decorated it with alot of lights, served hot chocolate, had the gift shops open, and had Santa there. They just did this in the month of December.

If anyone can find a link to this info, please share it.

[Coaster Justin]

Too easy

http://www.greatamericaparks.com/forums ... p?f=8&t=68