originally posted on 1/21/2020
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
As the first official ACE event of the new decade, Winterfest was hosted a bit earlier than normal this year on January 4. The primary reason was to accommodate the scheduling of annual maintenance on Kemah Boardwalk’s (Kemah, Texas) Boardwalk Bullet, which would be out of operation temporarily following the last weekend of the holiday season. The event took place in the upstairs private room of The Boardwalk’s Landry’s restaurant, with a “Welcome ACE Members” right out on the marquee.
The ACE South Central region has been meeting during the winter for more than three decades. As attendance grew and members were driving in from around Texas (and beyond), the event was officially named Winterfest in the early 1990s, long before Cedar Fair had reintroduced holiday events and picked up the abandoned moniker started at Kings Island. Soon it was hosted in larger meeting spaces and eventually began hopping around to regional host parks. Attendance this year hovered exactly around 100 members, along with numerous park presenters and their guests.
Attendees had comfortable tables at an upstairs private room at Landry’s.
Photo: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
The event has long — long! — managed to somehow continue to find new park presenters year after year. This year was no different. Kentucky Kingdom and Alabama Adventure were first-time presenters to the region. Also traveling quite a distance, Wes Ramey of Dollywood was making a second welcome appearance in Texas.
All other presenters were parks in the ACE South Central region. The lineup included Frontier City, SeaWorld San Antonio, Schlitterbahn, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags Over Texas. Each park presented on this season’s upcoming additions and events.
Kemah Boardwalk GM Jacob Bigger.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Kicking it off was Jacob Bigger, general manager from our host facility, Kemah Boardwalk. This made for nine park presenters; a tenth, Epic Waters, had to cancel at the last minute, but sent along some information. Bigger spoke on the continuous track work and re-engineering on the very compact Boardwalk Bullet. He reported that the coaster, designed by The Gravity Group and constructed by Martin & Vleminckx, was running faster and smoother than ever before.
Ramey spotlighted the upcoming festivals at Dollywood (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee) for the 2020 season. This year sees something new, the Flower and Food Festival. Free tickets to everyone in the room enticed ACE members to come see it.
Jessi O’Daniel and Carly Uglow from Kentucky Kingdom (Louisville, Kentucky) recapped the park’s successes of 2019, one of which was the ACE Preservation Conference. Attendees were updated on ACE discounts at Kentucky Kingdom for the 2020 season, including free drinks! Sarah Donhauser of ZDT’s (Sequin, Texas) teased ACEers with a scribbled-out image of some form of coaster artwork being added to the park’s Turning Point event venue. She didn’t want to give away much more and encouraged ACEers to stop in and see it. (We will!) ZDT’s also humbled ACE with a free day pass for the 2020 season.
ACEer Russell Rakowitz (center) was presented the Golden Track Award by the regional rep team.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Fiesta Texas’ Ron McKenzie and Jeff Filicko received the region’s Industry Appreciation Awards.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
Prior to lunch, the rep team took the microphone for some regional awards. Russell Rakowitz received the Golden Track Award for his behind-the-scenes volunteer work in ACE South Central events for two decades. Two recipients were bestowed with the ACE South Central Industry Appreciation Award. Both Jeff Filicko and Ron McKenzie of the Six Flags Fiesta Texas marketing department were acknowledged for their efforts in hosting ACE on multiple occasions each year, and notably Coaster Con XL in 2017.
Landry’s provided a fantastic lunch.
Photo: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
More than an hour for lunch not only offered attendees time to eat — a fantastic meal at that; it was Landry’s after all — but also step outside and grab a quick ride on a beautiful day, purchase an ACE calendar or peruse the door prize tables. AstroWorld reproductions were also available with all profit going to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives (NRCMA).
The sale of AstroWorld reproductions raised funds for the NRCMA.
Photo: Jay Jacobs. View full-sized image.
SeaWorld San Antonio (Texas) brought the crowd back to its seats for the afternoon. With the only new wooden roller coaster opening in North America in 2020, the marine life park has bragging rights. Not only did video of the new Great Coasters International, Inc. woodie testing whet the appetites of eager riders, presenters Chuck Cureau and Ray Gonzalez gave everyone in attendance embroidered Texas Stingray ski caps. SeaWorld has events throughout the year that were also highlighted, as was a new waterslide addition going into Aquatica. Now, about those teases for 2021 and 2022 …
RollerCoaster! editor Tim Baldwin was up next sharing details of the newest roller coaster concept — S&S Worldwide’s Axis. Presenting footage of not only the test track, but animated video of a complete layout was more than enough to get people excited about the first appearance of this new genre of ride. Hopefully soon.
Winterfest presenters gathered on the steps.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Schlitterbahn’s Angela Flournoy and Aaron Martinez conveyed their excitement about the upgrades and new look coming to the New Braunfels parks thanks to new ownership, Cedar Fair. Events are still planned for both the New Braunfels and Galveston (Texas) parks, and even with different owners, the parks look forward to continuing their relationship with ACE.
Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington, Texas) is jazzed to be receiving its first Mack Rides coaster. Aquaman Power Dive will be the first of its type in North America. Presenters Matt Hughey and Diana Vega-Rojas handed out blinking “coasters” (get it?) and shared the park updates beyond the new coaster. Year-round operation begins with the new year, so attendees were welcomed to stop in during January and February. Frontier City (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) had a team on hand, led this time by Operations Director Zach Vobornik. He explained the big focus this year is substantial upgrades to the park’s infrastructure, as well as the rebranding the former White Water Bay into the new Hurricane Harbor Oklahoma City, including the Wahoo Racer waterslide.
Alabama Adventure’s (Bessemer, Alabama) GM, Michael Schwitek, spoke of the forward momentum of the park as it continues its journey into the future, along with the ongoing TLC given to the park’s beloved wooden coaster, Rampage. To make sure ACE feels welcome, complimentary tickets were handed out to everyone in the audience. (It was quite the haul for Winterfest!) Rampage drink coasters were also distributed.
Whenever the day starts to feel long, Jeffrey Siebert, Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio) park president, is just the speaker to get ACEers re-energized. Many new things are happening at the park, far beyond the new Dare Devil Dive ride. Food, events, shows and upgrades will keep the San Antonio theme park feeling fresh the whole year. Siebert and his team handed out envelopes that contained Flash passes for numerous rides at the park.
Assistant Regional Representative David Lipnicky gave a presentation on Give Kids the World, as well as plans for Coasting for Kids in 2020. Even more parks are onboard for this great cause this season.
Everyone was able to choose a door prize.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
To close out the time in the room, raffle tickets were drawn for specific prizes, auction items were garnering bids and every attendee was able to select a door prize from the table. Door prizes were amassed thanks to area members and thoughtful parks. In all, the auction and raffle raised $917 for ACE’s funds and $400 spent on AstroWorld posters is headed to the NRCMA as a donation.
Once that was done, most people vacated the room planning to make use of the weekend wristband Kemah Boardwalk had provided and jumped on a few rides.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
Boardwalk Bullet was running in top form.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
For a January weekend, the milder weather brought out a healthy crowd to the Kemah Boardwalk. ACEers enjoyed mingling among them and sharing some camaraderie while in line or aboard some rides. With so many presenters, so much swag, fun rides and good food, the simple registration fee for Winterfest was once again a superb bargain. It’s no wonder the event is favorite weekend among regional members.
Photo: Tim Baldwin. View full-sized image.
After Winterfest, Frontier City’s Vobrnik commented, “As the newbie to the event, I must say that I was really impressed with the quality and clear passion of the event and everyone there. I truly enjoyed the experience.”
— Tim Baldwin
ACE News Editor
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