Kings Dominion moving to year-round operation in 2023

How does Busch Williamsburg do with the year round ops, both weather wise and ride availability? I feel like this is a good idea in theory (and has great potential for Carowinds) but I worry KD gets too much winter to make January and February a success, unless they do this in a way that emphasizes a winter festival type thing rather than rides.

These were my thoughts as well. Winters are cold and crappy, certainly not as bad as PA or Ohio but the thought of visiting in winter months that don't include Christmas doesn't appeal to me much at all, regardless of ride operation.

I may have said this in the other year round thread but I feel like this is a way for them to retain talent and not have to rehire year after year. There are plenty of parks around the world that remain open year round with similar weather. I think with some commitment and special events they can make this work.

I saw that somewhere else too. The idea that the extra cost of employing more full timers/year round part timers to do ride operations, food service, etc., may actually work out to be a savings (or enough of a break even point) where the yearly hiring/re-hiring process doesn't have to be as time consuming and expensive.

Staffing was the first thing I thought of - they could lose money on the operations but come out ahead by not having to continually recruit and train staff.

It’s all over Europe, and the remedy (as suggested above) is to adapt according to the season. I understand the parks aren’t terribly busy, but people find it nice for a scenic winter stroll, mild winter sports, shopping, a good meal, or a visit to a festival. And for US parks I’d put the emphasis on “adapt” for all five of those activities.
I was just reading today that that in my part of the country the signs of nature (wooly worm caterpillars, hornets nests, and tree nuts) all indicate a rather mild winter. I’ve paid attention to those things my entire life and I seldom find them wrong in their predictions. I know it’s not exactly science. (Or….is it?)

A few years ago, I would have laughed about the "good meal" part, but if the rest of the company has raised their game the way Cedar Point has, that could be legit.

Oh I know, I could barely make myself type it. So far it’s an opportunity if nothing else.
I think I’ve mentioned this gal before, but I have a friend who lives in Northern Kentucky with a season pass and meal plans for herself, her husband and her two sons. She doesn’t particularly like to cook and they’re all extremely busy. It’s not unusual at all for some or all of them to get in the car and go to the park for dinner. She’s an entertainment blogger and eschews the idea of eating at chain restaurants. But she really likes the variety at KI, and sometimes they even split up and eat where each of them would like then meet up later. Sometimes they take a spin on a ride or two or sometimes they go straight home.
Anyway, I suppose it’s entirely possible, even doable at a Cedar Fair park these days. If I had a home park closer I just might do the same.

I've been eating KI food all year with the pass, it's generally pretty good. Better than fast food, probably equivalent to Applebees or similar. Not quite as good as CP food we had during this year's visit, but way better than Six Flags food we've had in the past.

Cedar Fair and BGW almost completely miss the mark for successful winter operations. Few or no dark rides, non existent or kin operating slow transport rides and no notable indoor live entertainment. If they want year round operations they need to build the facilities. It would also benefit them on hot or rainy days.

BGWs winter operations last year were not worth a trip there. 6 hour days , no significant live entertainment. and rides that would probably be closed due to temps.

All of them should at least consider extending the Christmas lights through Jan They do all that work putting them up for a short benefit time span

I think Carowinds really changed the game for Cedar Fair as far as Winterfest and then year round operations. It won't be everything, but essentially everything big except Intimidator will be open. And I could potentially see Intimidator being available next winter if Fury then needs a downtime.

On the flip side, I think it's kind of silly to try year round at BGW & KD. You can open in March and stay open through New Year's, but I feel like January & February are too risky with the weather and I can't imagine the demand is really there. It's the same reason Cedar Point doesn't try to open in April.

I thought the opposite with respect to staffing. It’s all weekend work which are some of the least desirable shifts to work.

If I were a full time employee, there was a time where for at least part of the year I would have a normal schedule with weekends off. Slowly add in Halloween and Christmas, now a chunk of my work life balance having weekends off got taken away.

Now, working every weekend during the year is on the table. If I were looking for a year round position, especially in management, this would be one of the least desirable places to consider.

If I were a year round employee there now, I’d be a bit pissed that I now lost the few weekends I had off during the off-season. I worked in the theme park business in operations management for over 25 years and the off season to recharge the batteries and to work a normal schedule for a few weeks/months was something to look forward to each year.

100% for management, year round leads, etc. However, seasonal hourly positions can now become year-round part or full time positions, which could really help with retention if perks and benefits are good. One of the biggest issues with retention and returns for seasonal parks is that your core, dedicated hourly staff has to find something else 3-6 months out of the year and generally gets no benefits.

Winter 2023 has come and gone. I didn't end up making a trip to KD this Spring because I just couldn't justify the trip with just two coasters open. The weather really didn't work out for most of the winter weekends either. We had some really nice days that fell during the week, however each weekend was just cold and rainy as you would expect in Virginia in January-March. There were a few weekends that were OK weather wise, but that brought out the crowds, and then the waits were long due to single train operations and lack of staff. In the end, I decided that I am not going to KD without I305 open. I305 has not been open in 2023, however it just got removed off the "Scheduled Ride Closures" list, so that is a promising sign. I might be heading to KD in the next few weeks if that is indeed the case :)