Warm welcome at Winter Chill Out

Editor's note: Justin Dietz is a Register correspondent representing CPFoodBlog.com and @CPFoodBlog on Twitter. After an abnormally warm winter, on Saturday, guests were greeted at the gates of Cedar Point with a snow-kissed park for the annual Winter Chill Out event. The event is one of the park's largest annual charity events, raising more than $150,000 for A Kid Again. This year, Cedar Point opted to expand Winter Chill Out and spread the guests out over two days. Half of the guests were offered guided tours around the park on Saturday with the rest of them visiting Sunday. Winter Chill Out is typically the first time guests get the chance to see construction progress around the park since it closed the previous season. This year, of course, the highlight is the Boardwalk area, anchored by the new Grand Pavilion and Wild Mouse roller coaster. During the guided tour, guests walked down the main midway and toward the Millennium Force path. On the way, we noticed that, while Matterhorn and Scrambler have both been removed for restoration prior to being reinstalled on the Boardwalk, the small adjacent stand, known as the CP Juice Co., selling the souvenir sippers is also gone. A little further down the midway, the former Dive In in front of Valravn is gone. If guests had a keen eye, then they may notice that sections of the Iron Dragon track have been removed over in the area of the former Top Thrill Dragster. While not abnormal, as the track could be out for maintenance, it is also interesting based on its location. Guests were next escorted to the train engine house for a tour of the facility. Upon exiting, visitors walked alongside the station of Millennium Force, getting a good eye at the lift wheel assembly and into the exit tunnel which is always such a cool experience. For HalloWeekends fans, guests were next given a lights-on tour of the Slaughterhouse maze. The tour continued through the Frontier Trail where people noticed the Wild Turnip sign has been removed and the former Famous Dave's BBQ Shack was up. Further explanation from the park is yet to be announced. All around Skyhawk, new fencing and barricades are being installed. Chick-fil-A is confirmed to be gone with the inside of the building being completely gutted. No announcement was made on the new venue. The sign and prop shop is always a personal favorite tour of Winter Chill Out, getting to see production and refurbishment of current signs as well as a look back into some of the iconic logos and items that still exist. As guests were escorted to the front of the park, we were greeted with the fence down around the former Top Thrill Dragster area, showing us an up close look at the construction progress. While no announcement has been made on the future, we did see the station, with the exception of the canopy, has been completely removed, as well as all track and footers. Upon closer inspection of the Iron Dragon missing track, it was in the area behind the old Top Thrill photo booth. While many can speculate on what this could mean, at this point there is nothing apparent. Guests were also given a close up look at two of the new Wild Mouse cars, the purple mouse car and cheese car. During the question and answer session, the following items were addressed: • The Boardwalk area will feature two new marquee signs over the midway. • Wild Mouse will feature constantly moving vehicles through the station to improve capacity. • Ziggy, Zaggy, Dizzy, Maisey, Chase, Larry are the names of the Wild Mouse cars. • A new midway landscape logo was shown. • Updated photos were shown of the revamped Matterhorn, Scrambler and Calypso show. • New interior photos were shown of the Grand Pavilion. • The Grand Pavilion will feature stained glass from original building. • All windows will open in the pavilion. • The Grand Pavilion will feature menu items like dry rubbed pork tenderloin, slow-roasted turkey breast, island pineapple chicken, creole shrimp — and all of it will be on the dining plan. • The Walking Taco stand on the main midway will be converted to a bar. • Walking Taco will now be available at Derby Dogs. • Chick-fil-A is gone and new venue will be revealed in the future. • The Mac Shack is now gone. • The Forbidden Frontier is no more. • The Wild Turnip is no more. • There is no first rider event/passholder preview for Wild Mouse. • The Townhall Museum remodel is no longer planned. • The no plans for a repaint of Maverick. • The Iron Dragon will reopen in 2023. • There will be no entrance to the Grand Pavilion from the Boardwalk. • No passholder ride nights. • No Cedar Point Nights event this year. • Early entry list coming soon. Cedar Point opens for the 2023 season on Saturday, May 6.