Okay, so imagine this. You’ve been planning your WinterFest visit for WEEKS. You booked a hotel, coordinated schedules with your whole family, maybe even drove hours to get there. You wake up Sunday morning ready for a magical day of holiday vibes, twinkling lights, hot chocolate, and all the festive theme park goodness. And then you check your phone and see that the park just… isn’t opening. At all. Cancelled. Closed. Not happening.
That’s literally what happened to thousands of guests at Canada’s Wonderland this morning, and people are DEVASTATED. Winter theme park operations are already kind of a gamble, right?
Parks that stay open during cold months are basically rolling the dice every single day hoping that weather cooperates enough to make it work. Unlike summer when you pretty much know what you’re getting (hot, maybe some afternoon thunderstorms if you’re in Florida), winter is just CHAOS. Snow, ice, freezing rain, wind that makes everything feel ten degrees colder than it actually is.
It’s a whole thing. And parks know this! They invest millions into winter events like WinterFest specifically because they want to capture revenue during months when they’d normally be sitting empty and making zero money. The holiday theming, the special lights, the seasonal food offerings, all of that costs serious cash to develop and implement. So when they have to close because weather gets too gnarly, it’s not just disappointing for guests.
It’s a financial hit that parks really, really don’t want to take, especially during the week between Christmas and New Year’s when attendance should be at its absolute peak. Like, this is THE week that’s supposed to help justify all the investment in winter programming. Missing even one day during this crucial period is a BIG deal. But you know what’s a bigger deal?
Guests getting hurt because the park tried to stay open during dangerous conditions. So sometimes parks just have to bite the bullet and make the call that nobody wants to make. And that’s exactly what happened at Canada’s Wonderland on Sunday, December 28. Right in the middle of their busiest week. During prime holiday season. When guests had already made plans and spent money. Yikes.
The Announcement That Ruined Everyone’s Sunday
Canada’s Wonderland posted on X (yeah, we’re still calling it Twitter in our hearts) Sunday morning with news that absolutely nobody wanted to hear. “Due to inclement weather the park will be closed today Sunday, Dec. 28. WinterFest will return Dec. 29 (3-9pm).”
🚨 Due to inclement weather the park will be closed today Sunday, Dec. 28. WinterFest will return Dec. 29 (3-9pm).❄️
Unused tickets dated for 12/28, can be used any public operating day thru January 3, 2026. pic.twitter.com/Lw5jC6dbHn
— Canada’s Wonderland (@WonderlandNews) December 28, 2025
That’s IT. That’s the whole announcement. No dramatic buildup, no lengthy explanation, just “we’re closed, see you tomorrow hopefully.”
And look, we GET IT. When weather is genuinely unsafe, you can’t mess around. But for the thousands of people who had Sunday plans? This is absolutely brutal timing. We’re talking about one of the last days of WinterFest, during the holiday week that’s supposed to be the busiest time of the season. Families who traveled from hours away. People staying in hotels. Kids who’ve been excited about this for days.
The park posted early enough that SOME people could change their plans before leaving home, which is something at least. But if you were already staying in a nearby hotel or halfway through your drive? Too bad. You’re finding out along with everyone else that your day just got completely derailed.
At Least They’re Being Cool About the Tickets
Here’s where Canada’s Wonderland actually did something pretty decent. Instead of just saying “sorry about your luck” and keeping everyone’s money, they announced that unused tickets dated for December 28 can be used on any public operating day through January 3, 2026.
TWENTY TWENTY-SIX. That’s a full YEAR to use your tickets. Not just “come back tomorrow” or “you’ve got until the end of WinterFest.” A whole year.
That’s honestly pretty generous, especially considering that a lot of parks would probably just extend it through the current season and call it a day. The year-long extension acknowledges that not everyone can just reschedule for the next day or even the next week. Some people traveled from far away. Some people used precious vacation days specifically for this trip. Some people literally cannot come back during the current WinterFest run.
So at least if you got screwed by Sunday’s closure, you’re not completely out the money you spent on tickets. Silver lining, I guess? Though it doesn’t really help with hotel costs or the disappointment of ruined plans.
They’re Supposed to Reopen Monday
The good news (if you can call it that) is WinterFest is scheduled to come back Monday, December 29. The park will be open from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., which is a pretty typical winter schedule focusing on evening hours when all the lights and holiday atmosphere really shine.
Weather is supposed to improve enough by Monday that they can safely operate, but honestly? If you’re planning to go Monday, CHECK BEFORE YOU LEAVE. Winter weather is unpredictable as hell, and what looks fine in the morning can turn into a disaster by afternoon. The last thing you want is to show up Monday only to find out they’ve closed again.
Monday’s reopening is super important for the park because they’re running out of time. New Year’s Eve is Wednesday, and then WinterFest wraps up shortly after. Sunday’s closure already cost them one of their biggest potential revenue days, so they really can’t afford to lose any more operating days this week.
Meanwhile, Six Flags Is Opening a MASSIVE New Park
While Canada’s Wonderland is dealing with weather drama, the rest of the theme park world is losing its mind over Six Flags Qiddiya City opening in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, December 31. Yes, New Year’s Eve. Because apparently when you promise stakeholders you’ll open by end of year, you REALLY mean end of year.
There’s an opening ceremony happening Monday at 9 p.m. Saudi time (that’s 1 p.m. Eastern or 10 a.m. Pacific for those of us in North America), and Qiddiya City is livestreaming the whole thing. This is a BIG DEAL because we might finally get official POV footage of Falcons Flight, the record-breaking roller coaster that everyone’s been obsessing over.
And this isn’t just like, a small park. Six Flags Qiddiya City is part of this absolutely MASSIVE development project backed by the Saudi government. They’re planning to add a studio-themed park later (probably Universal, based on all the rumors), so this is meant to be a major international theme park destination.
Opening a western-style theme park in Saudi Arabia is kind of wild when you think about it. The country has historically been pretty restrictive about entertainment options, so this represents a huge cultural shift. It’s all part of Saudi Arabia’s plan to diversify their economy beyond oil and create new tourism destinations.
New Year’s Eve Is Going to Be PACKED Everywhere
Speaking of New Year’s Eve, every theme park that’s open Wednesday is preparing for absolute CHAOS. NYE traditionally brings capacity-level crowds to parks doing midnight celebrations and fireworks. Everyone wants to ring in the new year somewhere special, and theme parks fit the bill perfectly.
But there’s a problem: Southern California is supposed to get rain during the holiday period. Which means Disneyland and other California parks might have to deal with attraction closures and generally miserable conditions even if they stay open. Rain doesn’t usually force California parks to close completely, but it definitely ruins the experience.
Refurbishment Season Is About to HIT
Oh, and if you’re planning theme park trips in early 2025, you need to know about all the refurbishments coming. Like, SO MANY attractions are about to close.
Disney California Adventure is shutting down Incredicoaster, Grizzly River Run, and Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind on January 5 with no reopening dates announced yet. Islands of Adventure is closing Jurassic Park River Adventure for almost a YEAR starting January 5 (it doesn’t reopen until November 19).
Disneyland has a bunch of closures too. Haunted Mansion closes January 12-22 to remove the holiday overlay. It’s a Small World closes January 26 for the same reason. And Star Wars Rise of the Resistance closes January 20 with NO reopening date, which suggests something major is happening.
The biggest closure? Dinosaur at Disney’s Animal Kingdom shuts down February 2 for a complete Indiana Jones retheme. It’s not reopening until 2027. TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN. That’s a long time to wait.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios has its last day March 1, presumably getting ready for its own retheme.
If you’re booking a Disney trip for early 2025, seriously check the refurbishment calendar first. Nothing worse than showing up and finding out your favorite ride is closed for months.
What This All Means for Theme Park Fans
Look, weather closures suck. There’s no way around it. They’re disappointing, they mess up plans, and they cost money that’s hard to recover even with generous ticket policies. But they’re also necessary when conditions get genuinely dangerous.
Canada’s Wonderland made the right call closing Sunday even though it absolutely killed their revenue for one of the busiest days of the season. Guest safety has to come first, even when it means disappointing thousands of people and taking a financial hit.
If you were affected by Sunday’s closure, at least you’ve got a full year to use those tickets. And if you’re still planning to visit this week, just keep a close eye on weather forecasts and official park announcements. Winter theme park trips always come with this risk, and it’s better to know what you’re getting into than to be surprised by a closure after you’ve already spent money on travel.
And hey, at least we’ve got the Six Flags Qiddiya City opening to distract us from weather woes. That livestream on Monday should be interesting!
