CoastersRZ Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 My alarm clock went off at 6am on Saturday, May 15th. After a quick breakfast, I was out the door by 6:20 for the three hour drive to Santa Claus, IN. I plugged in the iPod Touch, and I was off. I arrived at the parking lot around 8:20 (CDT). I checked in and met up with Brad and Jesse. The first order of business was to kill some time since the Gobbler Getaway lights on tour would not begin until 8:45am (CDT). (Photo by Jesse Marchbanks). So I showed Brad and Jesse my new car in the parking lot. Unfortunately, today, I noticed I have a small scratch and tiny dent in the passengers side door. Not sure when I got that. After that short side trip, it was time for the walk back to Gobbler Getaway. The group was escorted around the restroom building, and over by Raven. We entered the park by walking through a gate. They collected our park tickets, and we waited there momentarily. Then it was off to the back section of the park. But we took some back gravel roads behind The Raven. It offered some excellent views of The Raven. This shot shows the turn over Lake Rudolph. From there we continued walking and were treated to some other unique views. Here Jesse and I are standing in front of The Raven. From there we continued walking and were also treated to a unique view of The Legend doing its morning test runs. After a long walk, we finally reached Gobbler Getaway. From there, we boarded the ride, with cameras allowed, to ride through the ride with the lights on. Pretty cool to ride it with the lights on. After that we, were able to wait in line for Voyage until the park opened at 9:30 (CDT). At this point our group consisted of myself, Brad, Jesse and Scott. We were on the first ride of the day on Voyage. The ride is one intense ride from start to finish and it never lets up. The air time is pretty intense and the triple down after the mid course block area is insane, all in complete darkness. Yes, Voyage was still running the PTC train, and it was one train op, but the crew was doing a great job of dispatching the train quickly. Especially considering they were taking loose articles and putting them in the bins or FREE lockers, while the train was out on the course. After the ride on the Voyage, we went off to Legend and Raven. Crowds were getting pretty thick considering they had a walk for Diabetes and there were LOTS of music groups in the park. We grabbed another ride on Voyage (with about a twenty five minute to thirty minute wait, even though the attendant at the front of the line was warning it could be an hour long line. We then tried to scope out the line for Pilgrim`s Plunge, but it had some mechanical issues. I was looking forward to riding that ride. We grabbed a good lunch at Plymouth Rock Cafe. It felt weird eating good food (ham, macoroni and cheese, cottage cheese, etc.) in an amusement park and not typical amusement park food. So we went for a spin on Gobbler Getaway, this time with the lights off. My gun was not working at ALL. Not a fun ride for me. Upon exiting the ride, it had began to rain. Which was just in time for the Voyage behind the scenes tour. We went through two locked gates and were escorted back to the Voyage. We walked all the way out to the mid course brake area. It is quite a hike back there and goes up some pretty steep terrain. After the tour, Brad and Jesse went out to their car to grab their swimgear to try out Wildebeest. While I had my swim stuff in the car, I opted not to go to the water park. Scott and I followed them into the water park and looked at Wildebeest. Looks like a fun ride. We later learned that this ride had a little bit of a wait when we later met up with Brad and Jesse. Scott and I then rode front seat in The Legend and grabbed a ride on Liberty Launch. Pilgrim`s Plunge was open by this point so we ventured over there just to take a look. People were getting fairly wet and it was evident the water temperature was rather chilly. Even moreso since the temperature outside was only in the low 70s. We then met up with Brad and Jesse again. They deposited there stuff in their cars and we grabbed another ride on Legend and Raven before grabbing a quick ride on Nightmare Falls. By this time it was time for our private dinner. Again, excellent food. (The fudge brownies are awesome). Will Koch was supposed to be at the dinner for a brief Q&A but had to be at a fundraiser with Pat. So Paula Werne was there. She expressed her appologies that the new Timberliners were not yet ready to go for us. As a sign of gratitute, she informed us that Holiday World would be giving everyone a ticket to come back to the park sometime later in the year and experience The Voyage with the new Timberliners! This was an awesome gesture by the park and totally unexpected by me. Kudos to Holiday World for this nice gesture and a VERY big THANK YOU. After Paula spoke Holiday Worlds head coaster maintenance man and a member from Gravity Group were present for a Q&A session while we waited for the park to clear out. We were also informed that the Voyage ERT had been switched to the early session and Raven and Legend moved back to the later session so that they could continue testing the new Timberliners after our ERT. So after the Q&A session, we were off to Voyage. I rode it five times. The last time was in almost complete darkness. We were also on the last ride of the night on The Voyage. After than, it was off to Raven and Legend. Night rides on these two rides is simply insane. I liked the night ride on Raven slightly better than The Voyage though. It is pitch black in areas. Dare I say it, but I think a night ride on Raven might be better than a night ride on The Beast! And what was even better, is the ERT that was supposed to end at 9 (CDT) actually ended closer to 9:20! Again, a big thanks to Holiday World. We also had met up with Kat and Nick for the ERTs. A big thank you to the wonderful crews at Holiday World. Particularly the ones that were running the rides for the ERT. They were very nice! All in all, a fun trip. The parting photo is of us on The Raven during at night. Thanks to the nice ride op (I think Lisa was her name) that took the picture. She worked most of the day at Voyage yesterday. I`m sure I`m leaving out some details. But it was a long, dark drive home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DropZone99 Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 I miss Holiday World so much, it really is probably my favorite park. I love that shot of Legend, I may have to make that my new background! Did you make it into Splashin' Safari? If so, how did you like Wildebeest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 I did walk around Splashin` Safari. However, I did not ride anything. Maybe next time, since I do have that ticket to return later this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DropZone99 Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 ^I will for sure be going back two more times this year. I also have 1 free ticket. How about we plan a day to go and invite other KICers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 Well, unfortunately for me, my schedule is quite full already. Between working at my "real job" on the weekdays, and working at Coney on the weekends, I don`t have much time. Needless to say, it will be easier for me to get a day off at Coney than it will be at my real job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avatar Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Great trip report Robbie and I am so glad you went to this event. I am glad I finally got to see your new car and you should be very proud of it I mean you have worked hard for it. I'll never forget the look on your face after riding Voyage 3 straight times and (after I had to talk you into the 3rd straight ride) then when we got into the station they said they would only dispatch one more train for the night, the look on your face while holding you upper left side of your body was priceless as you knew we where going around again. LOL thanks Robbie for going and being such a good friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbfan Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 To others who were there: How was Wildebeast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avatar Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Wildebeast Was fun if you have ever rode the one at Great Wolf Lodge it rides similar to theirs but just longer boats and much much longer ride with plenty of ups and downs. On Saturday the chlorine was so strong that it actually was stinging my eyes and I closed them for a bit until we passed areas that I knew we would get splashed. The Water Park is a very nice addition to the park and the other water rides I went on I was impressed with the length and quality of the attraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveStroem Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Glad to see you had a blast at HW. We discovered a little trick about the guns at Gobblers Getaway. The beam is not in the center of the gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 Well I was having no problem on the lights on tour. In fact, I wasn`t really even trying to shoot at all the targets, as I was also snapping some pictures. Then for the second ride, when I was actually trying, no such luck. I really enjoyed my visit to Holiday World. And I WILL be using my ticket to experience the Timberliners on Voyage at some point. And Jesse, my left side has been sore yesterday and today from where my side was hitting the seat divider after those marathon rides on Voyage. I would do it over again in a heartbeat though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 It makes me happy to see Pat Koch and know how much of her heart and soul she has poured into this park. Truly a wonderful woman she is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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