McSalsa's Coaster Adventures: King of the World (Holiday World 5/29/2010)

[McSalsa]

Disclaimer: I promised you pics prior to this TR, and did indeed take some, but due to some complications I cannot post them ATM. They will be here eventually though.

Welcome to McSalsa's Holiday World 5-29-10 Trip Report!

2 theme parks in 1 month. 16 roller coasters. What a month...at least by McSalsa standards. Let's begin the TR. I was with my best friend, his cousin, and his uncle for this trip.

WELCOME TO HOLIDAY WORLD, MCSALSA!!!

*****

After a very long 3-hour drive through the country, we arrived at Holiday World around 9:00AM. Voyage was the first ride we saw, and looking closely at it, I realized how steep the drop was. Since the park didn't open until 9:30, we had to wait. We waited 15-20 minutes for our tickets, got them, and headed towards the Halloween section of the park. Uncle vanished during this time, and then the park opened. We couldn't afford to let a golden chance for a short line go to waste, so without uncle, we headed to...Raven!

RIDE #1: THE RAVEN

*****

"Evermore!" Sorry I had to say it. Seeing this ride in the parking lot, I was actually shocked at how SMALL it was. Racer at KI even dwarfs its height. But, in spite of its smallish size...Raven packs a whallop!

The speeds, in reality, are no faster than 50mph, but it feels like 70 as this 15-year-old wooden coaster races around its track, mostly buried in the woods, and by Lake Rudolph. The coaster has serious airtime, and it suprised me- this was not the kind of airtime I was used to! It was "Ejector" airtime, where you "fly out of your seat and then come crashing down!". I can honestly say I like this kind of air better than floater air. Raven also pulled some serious G-Forces. It was fairly smooth for a wooden roller coaster. Raven is an amazing ride. The only thing that, at the time, kept Raven from overtaking Beast and becoming my #1 roller coaster was its short length. If it were a few hundred feet longer...

RATING: 10/10

After Raven, we decided to head towards The Legend, to ride the "Medium" sized woodie. Though, in reality, Legend is actually pretty big, standing 113 feet tall and over 4,000 feet long.

RIDE #2: THE LEGEND

*****

The line for Legend was a bit long but the coaster ate through it pretty fast and we were on in 20 minutes. This coaster is the most forceful ride I have ever encountered! The Lateral Gs are VERY high and intense, plus the ride boasts tunnels, head choppers, a savage helix, interacts with other rides, and has a lot of ejector airtime! It was rough, but I like woodies, so roughness doesn't really bother me. Legend simply blew me away. I had a new #1 coaster. Sorry Beast.

RATING: 10/10

With Legend behind us, we finally found uncle. Afterwords, we saw Voyage running (it was opening late for some reason, probably due to the recent Timberliner issues) and we headed for it and found a very short line. Due to the shortness of the line, my best friend suggested we ride...in front. I had NEVER done this before, but agreed to do so.

RIDE #3: THE VOYAGE

*****

Legend's reign as my favorite coaster lasted less than half an hour. Voyage is simply awesome. The first drop is huge, but, it gives zero airtime. This was about the only part of the ride that was "airtime-less" though! Every hill, it felt like I was FLYING OUT. And then Voyage USES the air- getting massive airtime and feeling like your head was going to smash into things only to drop into a tunnel or out of the way at the last second was AMAZING. However, I must warn potential Voyage riders...this CAN be rough. I'm not all that bugged out if a ride causes me some pain (not too much though) but I just felt you should be warned. The airtime and excitement factors, however, overcome any of Voyage's teeny little flaws.

RATING: 12/10!!!

During the climb up Voyage's lift, I saw Pilgrum's Plunge, and realized it wasn't as tall as Voyage, so we decided to brave what was billed as "a scary ride". But before that, I got some more free soda and bought some postcards, which were 3-for-$1. Then it was off to "The Plunge".

RIDE #4: PILGRUM'S PLUNGE

*****

Where were the lines? Wasn't this ride added last year? Why only a 2-minute wait? Oh well. (I found out where everyone was shortly afterwords).

Pilgrum's Plunge itself is actually...more bark than bite. The 148-foot height LOOKS scary, but the drop itself is no worse than that of a roller coaster. And the splash itself only matches Congo Falls. The ride was really fun, and I no longer fear this ride. In fact, due to the ultra-short line, we rode it twice in a row.

RATING: 8/10

After taking a plunge, we lost uncle again. We looked all over the waterpark, and that's when I realized it: everyone had come here! The waterpark was PACKED. We walked around the entire waterpark, then sat down to wait for my friend to find uncle. He did, although this ordeal wasted a good half hour. We then hit up Watubee for our first waterpark ride.

RIDE #5: WATUBEE

*****

After an agonizing 40-minute wait and climbing lots of stairs, we rode Watubee. It's pretty simple- all 3 of us boarded a circular boat-raft-thingy and slid down a tube, with water splashing everywhere and and a splash at the end. A fun ride but not really worth waiting 40 minutes...

RATING: 7/10

After Watubee, we sat down, and uncle asked if we wanted to buy a "pizza meal". We say yes, but I had to give up my $5 I had to do so, and thus was unable to buy fudge. (Sorry Terpy!) The Pizza was pretty good, and came with weird yet tasty "deep fried breadsticks" and 2 Oreos. After eating, we decided to ride the new Wildebeest.

RIDE #6: WILDEBEEST

*****

The line for Wildebeest was agonizingly long. We waited 2 hours to ride it! The ride itself is pretty good though, it has dark tunnels, splashing water sections, tunnels filled with mist, and waterfalls. A great way to cool off. But was it worth waiting 2 hours? No.

RATING: 8/10

After Wildebeest, we hit the Bahari Wave Pool...

RIDE #7: BAHARI WAVE POOL

*****

I'm not sure how to classify this as a ride, but I'll try. It...umm...sends big waves at you and Is otherwise a regular pool. I didn't really like it, the waves were a little too big and it was hard to move. Plus, my eyes were hurting around this time and I was getting tired of water rides.

RATING: 6/10

After the Bahari Wave Pool, we re-entered the dry park and headed for Legend once more, as "uncle" had missed it earlier:

RIDE #8: THE LEGEND "RETURNS"

*****

Pretty much the same as last time for me. See above. Legend was still awesome even after Voyage.

SEE ABOVE FOR LEGEND RATING

After Legend, we decided to ride the Holloswings. It was a walk-on.

RIDE #8: HOLLOSWINGS

*****

A classic swing ride, it seemed bigger than Zephyr @ Kings Island. It was very beautifully decorated and swung at speeds that weren't extreme but were still pretty fast. A fun, classic flatride. My friend got a wee bit sick though.

RATING: 7/10

After Holloswings, Uncle wanted to watch a show and ride the Antique cars, but we decided to ride Voyage again instead. So it was off to Thanksgiving again.

RIDE #9: THE VOYAGE "RETURNS"

*****

This time, I was still in the front car, but now the back of the front car. My friend and his cousin rode ahead of me in the very front this time. This ride was similar to the earlier one, but rougher. My back was hurting for a few minutes after the ride. I still loved it though.

SEE ABOVE FOR VOYAGE RATING

After Voyage, my friend & his cousin rode the Bahari River, but I wasn't in the mood for a water ride again yet and needed a bit of R&R anyway. Afterwords, they hit "The Wave". It was less intense on the waves, so after watching it for a while, I decided I had fully recovered and joined them.

RIDE #10: THE WAVE

*****

I liked this wave pool more than the other one. Smaller and less intense waves. A great way to cool off and get ready for other water rides.

RATING: 7/10

After The Wave, we headed for the Waterpark, to see if any more water rides had short lines. We saw the crazy-named "Otorongo" and rode it.

RIDE #11: OTORONGO

WHY MUST I CARRY THE HEAVY TUBES UP THE STAIRS FOR THIS RIDE!?!? Oh well. It was a simple ride- you just go in a "helix" and then splash down into a small pool. But it does so in total darkness. A fun little ride.

RATING: 7/10

After Otorongo, we headed for Zinga to find it closed. However, ZOOMbabwe was open, so we climbed the seemingly endless stairs that gave some excellent views of Splashin' Safari, Legend, & Voyage and then boarded the ride after a short wait (a lot of people were leaving the waterpark by now).

RIDE #12: ZOOMbabwe

This ride, like Otorongo, is in total darkness. But it's much bigger! You're at least 100 feet in the air, and thus are going pretty fast this time and there are splashes of water. There are decorative lights in the tunnels, but I didn't see them long enough to know what they all were. A fun ride that can get pretty intense.

RATING: 8/10

After ZOOMbabwe, Zinga had re-opened, so we headed for it.

RIDE #13: Zinga

Your basic "funnel" ride, Zinga was fun but after ZOOMbabwe, it was fun but a tad dissapointing. Though I got a scare from going in the tunnel BACKWARDS!!! The funnest part of the ride was actually watching my friend and his cousin after I got off from outside the funnel through the exit hole (they forced me to ride alone due to ride rules on ZOOMbabwe and Zinga).

RATING: 7/10

After Zinga, Splashin' Safari closed. Not willing to get dry just yet, we rode Raging Rapids next, and on the way we met back up with uncle.

RIDE #14: Raging Rapids

A White Water Canyon-style rapids ride, but with different scenery. There are gysers, rapids sections, and even a heavily themed wild west area that splashes you with a waterfall! It is totally biased though, half of our raft got soaked and the other stayed dry!

RATING: 8/10

After Raging Rapids, my friend's cousin really wanted to ride the Frightful Falls Log Flume (she had been saying she wanted to ride it since before ride #2 on Voyage!) and we finally gave in.

RIDE #15: Frightful Falls Log Flume

It had been quite some time since I had ridden a log flume, so this was going to be a "new" experience. I didn't realize log flumes don't have restraints...and this one had some creepy music, a scary lifthill, and a dark tunnel as well as a big splash finale! A fun ride. It also gets bonus points for interworking with Legend.

RATING: 8/10

After the Log Flume, my friend wanted to get home at a decent hour, plus the park was getting crowded, so we got our last free sodas and headed to the car, where we ate some sandwiches, and then headed home. A great trip was, sadly, over.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Holiday World is an amazing park that has some of the best wooden roller coasters I've ever ridden. All 3 of them either rival Beast or surpass it. The waterpark is also quite fun, but on this day it was quite packed.

THE PROS OF HOLIDAY WORLD

*****

+Great Wooden Roller Coasters. Raven, Legend, and Voyage have some of the best things going.

+Free Unlimited Soft Drinks. Do I need say more?

+More Free Stuff. Yay Free Stuff!

+Cheap Prices for a Amusement/Theme Park. Still a bit pricey, but it's nowhere near Kings Island.

+Theming and Landscaping. All the areas were themed and landscaped amazingly well. This is a true theme park.

THE CONS...

*****

-No Non-Automated Spiels. They seriously cannot do Spiels!?!?

-Slowish lines for some rides. Some of this wasn't the park's fault, but it still sucked.

-Early closing of the park (8:30). This means NO VOYAGE NIGHT RIDE.

And now, as final thoughts, how do I feel about Kings Island? I still love it, and would happily return, but now also have a soft spot in my heart for Holiday World. Same goes for Beast, while it is no longer #1, it will always be the coaster on which I finally overcame my fear of roller coasters and retains the title of "Beast Finale".

Thanks for reading this review. Now, while most of the pictures aren't yet avaliable, I do have 3 of them ready. These were taken by my friend:

The Voyage

The Raven

The Legend Entrance & Logo

When they are ready, I will post more pictures. Thanks for reading and looking!

[The Interpreter]

Save money for fudge!

You will not regret it...especially the bubble gum fudge, which Holiday World had years before most other parks. It's not Coffelt's (like Americana had), but it's darn good!

[McSalsa]

Save money for fudge!

You will not regret it...especially the bubble gum fudge, which Holiday World had years before most other parks. It's not Coffelt's (like Americana had), but it's darn good!

Next time, I will. I was kinda pressured into helping buy the Pizza.

[The Interpreter]

Oh, I understand. Been there, done that.

And this year, I like Holiday World's pizza...a lot.

I used to despise it. I am not sure whether it has changed, I have or both...

[McSalsa]

Oh, I understand. Been there, done that.

And this year, I like Holiday World's pizza...a lot.

I used to despise it. I am not sure whether it has changed, I have or both...

It wasn't elite, but it was pretty good. Reminded me of the pizza a local chain nearby makes in flavor.

[Guest Millennium]

Good PTR, but I'm wondering how you didn't get any airtime on first drop of the Voyage? That drop always gave huge airtime at HOLIWOOD last year.

I'm glad you liked Legend. Legend was actually my first roller coaster and after I got off I couldn't stop riding it over and over.

[DropZone99]

^You get amazing airtime if you ride near the back, but in the front seat you get an amazing hanging sensation! Glad to hear you love all three woodies, especially Legend since alot of people complain it's too rough.

[LongliveKingsCobra]

Hmm...

I am pretty sure it's not, "evermore"

It's never more!

Who is that rap tap tapping at my chamber door?

Sorry Cobra, who just HAD to.

[KI FANATIC 37]

This is one of the best TR's I have ever heard! Very good

[McSalsa]

This is one of the best TR's I have ever heard! Very good

Thanks!

I'm sorry about the lack of pictures. Me and my friend(same who went with me) are trying to get them off the camera but we need to find a cable and it's complicated.

A neat point, the 3 pictures I do show were taken with a phone! (Yes, it's a nice phone)

[Purplehaze]

Save money for fudge!

You will not regret it...especially the bubble gum fudge, which Holiday World had years before most other parks. It's not Coffelt's (like Americana had), but it's darn good!

You can still get it http://www.coffeltscandy.com/Coffelts_Candy_Company/Welcome.html

[flightoffear1996]

I went to Holiday World earlier this week and rode the Voyage about 10 times. I love the layout of the ride but it was pretty rough. The Legend just didnt do it for me but the Raven I loved thed Raven.

[McSalsa]

PICTURES IS READY!!! (Note: This was my first time taking pictures.)

Raven's Logo. It was the #1 rated woodie from 2000-2003!

Raven's lifthill. My friend also took a picture of this, shown above. Here is my version.

Waiting in line to get our tickets...

The Legend. Big, forceful, rough, and full of airtime. I loved it.

Voyage, Pilgrums Plunge, & Bakuli. 3 of HW's most famous rides. The Red Raven train is climbing Voyage's lift hill.

The Bahari Wave Pool, with Legend, ZOOMbabwe, and Zinga behind it.

The Wildebeest, new for 2010. Look at the ridiculously long line! A fun ride though.

Even from clear across the waterpark, Pilgrums Plunge is still clearly visible! A huge fun ride. Not as intense as it's size makes you think it is, though.

Legend's first drop and first tunnel. You get massive air coming down that drop and then this!

The Voyage...it's big. REALLY, REALLY BIG. And it has equally big airtime.

The parking lot, with the entrance, water tower, and Raven also visible. It was sad that we had to leave.

This big yellow water tower...uhh...thing greets you when you arrive and leave Holiday World.

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed the Trip Report and Pics. See you soon! MCSALSA AWAY!!!

(Flies away and doesn't look and smashes into the big yellow water tower thingy)

OUCH!!!

[The Interpreter]

And there are those of us who still think Raven is the number 1 wood...at Holiday World!

[CincyMan98]

It's funny how obviously they're just trying to attract you to come. In big letters on The Raven it says "#1 Wooden Coaster On The Planet!" and then in smaller letters: "2001-2003."

[The Interpreter]

That sign has been there since, I believe, the first year the coaster was so voted...

Also, by the time most people have seen that sign, they have already decided to go to the park. The sign adds excitement, it does not cause people to come to the park.

[dragsterfan420]

I can't wait to get back to HW. So much has happened since my only trip in 2007.