Holiday World TR

[jdawg1998]

(NO PICTURES. But, I filmed a lot and will make a video out of it; so please remember that!)

Friday I went to Holiday World because I won Twitter contest back in June. I got two free tickets, so the rest of my family bought their tickets and we all went.

We had planned ahead of time that we would not go to the waterpark; last time we tried to do it in one day we got barely anything done.

First thing we rode, of course, was The Voyage. Nobody goes to the Thanksgiving section first so we were pretty much the only ones there. My dad and I rode it together. It was our second time on it (my fifth time) but it had been two years so I forgot how it was. I loved it, though my dad couldn't take it for a second ride. I'll admit; it's a very rough ride. I wish they took out the ending turnaround and just put a brake run after you go under the lift hill. The ending is the roughest part of the ride, and sense it's an almost non stop ride, by this time you are beaten to death and you just want it to end! But, it's still my second favorite ride of all time. The airtime is amazing - and for me being very skinny, it's pretty scary!

We realized how empty it was in the whole park so we decided to just take things easy and relax a bit, something we didn't do our first trip. We oohed and ahhed over the cleanliness over the park. We had a bet that the first person to find a piece of trash would get $5. Nobody won.

For the whole family we rode Gobbler Getaway, a Sally Corporation ride similar to Boo Blasters but you shoot turkeys. I like it more than Boo Blasters, honestly. It's really colorful and fun, and I love the smell of it; also, since it's Holiday World, everything in there looks so clean and nothing is wearing or tearing.

For the rest of the day we skipped around; after Gobbler Getaway, we went all the way over the 4th of July to ride Eagles Flight. My sister and I rode together and she loved it. I love how you can control how high up you go.

Since we were in 4th of July my mom and sister let my dad and I ride Liberty Launch; a favorite of ours. I still love it! You get great airtime on the second launch, and while it may not look tall from below, once you get up there, it seems a lot taller.

Like I said; we skipped around. It was lunchtime so we ate at Plymouth Rock Cafe. I cannot say enough about this place. Best amusement park food, and amazing food in general. The stuffing is to die for (I love stuffing) and their mac and cheese is awesome. My ham was OK, but I had some of my sister's fried chicken and it was delicious. I love it! Everyone should eat here!

After our large meal we walked around for a little while then rode Frightfull Falls, a log flume, then my mom and I rode The Raven. She hated it. I think she was actually surprised at how intense it was. I told her it was the smallest out of the three, but that doesn't mean it isn't intense! That's also another very rough one, but also one of my favorites.

Emily (if you don't know by now from my trip reports, my sister) had enough of not riding things for fifteen minutes so just for her, we played in Rudolph's Reindeer Ranch and rode a couple of the little rides; she made me ride Reindeer Games (pretty much Kite Eating Tree at Kings Island) three times in a row with her.

On the walk away from the kid's area we decided to check out Lewis & Clark Trail (antique cars). I drove my mom and Emily drove my dad. I think she drove them better than me. I was all over the place!

Emily really wanted to ride Sparkler (mini Windseekr) after I showed it to her online. I told her she'd be disappointed and after the ride she was. "It didn't even go fast!" and she pouted on and on about it, although she still liked it because of the heights.

HoliDog's FunTown was right there so guess what I had to do now? Ride The Howler SIX times in a row with Emily. She was able to put her hands up but I couldn't...that thing whips you. I find it funny how I can put my hands up on Diamondback, but not on a 12 foot kid's ride.

I wanted to ride The Voyage before we left (it was only 3 but we were tired) so we headed over to the Thanksgiving section. My mom had a huge fear of the ride because she'd heard it was really rough. I started going into the queue when my mom handed her purse to my dad and went in line with me. She was determined to ride the #1 wooden coaster in the world! She loved the first part of the ride; the hills and the beginning of the turnaround. It's when we came out of the triple down that she'd had enough, like I had said earlier in this trip report. When we got into the station she was breathing so hard a freaking out. All because of the roughness of the ride. Stupid wooden coasters!

She liked the ride she told me, but the bumpiness took the enjoyment away from her. She told me, "I like Diamondback better" and said nothing else.

On the way out we rode Raging Rapids, our second water ride of the day. I like it better than White Water Canyon, honestly. You go through a small western town and there are a lot of geysers and rapids. Very fun, and, my sister can ride it, unlike White Water Canyon.

We still had some time left and there was still no crowds so I quickly rode HallowSwings, a chairswing ride. That's a very fun ride too and the designs on it look great. I also hadn't gotten a chance to ride The Legend - I waited no time for it (literal walk on) and I even got second to front seat. Whew, those lateral G's are intense! You get slammed from side to side throughout the ride. This is another ride that is much longer than it needs to be...it just keeps going and going and going.

Unfortunately our day ended then - but it was great. We rode pretty much every ride we wanted to ride without waiting in lines. I recommend Holiday World to everyone. While it may not have many thrill rides besides the three wooden coasters, it's still tons of fun. (P.S. There's some smell to the whole park that I love; that may seem weird but I smelled it throughout the park! I love it!)

A video will be coming soon; I will start to edit all my footage.

Should I do a music video or a raw footage video?

[Tanna]

I so want to go to HW someday, and this report is only adding to my desire to go. Thanks for mentioning the Voyage could be rough, I still want to ride it.

[TheBEASTunchained]

^^ If The Voyage is your second favorite ride, What is your first?

[malem]

Great TR. I also won two free tickets this spring, so I'm planning to visit soon - probably this week or next weekend. It's good to hear that the lines are short at this time of the season, so we can probably get a lot in. Regardless of crowds, I'll definitely be at the water park at least long enough for some Mammoth and Wildebeest rides. Those seem like the best things at the park after Voyage.

If I do end up going this week, it will probably be Monday (tomorrow) or Tuesday. If anyone else from here is going and wants to find me, I'll be heading to Voyage when it opens at 9:30cdt.

[jdawg1998]

^^ If The Voyage is your second favorite ride, What is your first?

I actually meant to say 3rd.

First is Millennium Force, second is Maverick, third is Voyage.

[jcgoble3]

Great report! I don't think there's any such thing as a bad day at HW.

First thing we rode, of course, was The Voyage. Nobody goes to the Thanksgiving section first so we were pretty much the only ones there. My dad and I rode it together. It was our second time on it (my fifth time) but it had been two years so I forgot how it was. I loved it, though my dad couldn't take it for a second ride. I'll admit; it's a very rough ride. I wish they took out the ending turnaround and just put a brake run after you go under the lift hill. The ending is the roughest part of the ride, and sense it's an almost non stop ride, by this time you are beaten to death and you just want it to end! But, it's still my second favorite ride of all time. The airtime is amazing - and for me being very skinny, it's pretty scary!

That rough already? It was running relatively smooth for a woodie back at the beginning of June.

We had a bet that the first person to find a piece of trash would get $5. Nobody won.

Pat Koch would love to hear that!

Like I said; we skipped around. It was lunchtime so we ate at Plymouth Rock Cafe. I cannot say enough about this place. Best amusement park food, and amazing food in general. The stuffing is to die for (I love stuffing) and their mac and cheese is awesome. My ham was OK, but I had some of my sister's fried chicken and it was delicious. I love it! Everyone should eat here!

I love that place also!

On the walk away from the kid's area we decided to check out Lewis & Clark Trail (antique cars). I drove my mom and Emily drove my dad. I think she drove them better than me. I was all over the place!

How close are you to being eligible for your driver's license, where do you live, and what car will you be driving? I want to know so I can avoid you.

A video will be coming soon; I will start to edit all my footage.

Should I do a music video or a raw footage video?

I prefer raw footage. There's something to be said for just listening to the ambient sounds of an amusement park: the roar of a coaster train going by, the screams of riders, etc. That's just my preference, though.

[jdawg1998]

I made a music video, mainly because I looked through the footage and in half of the filming my dad was yelling my name, or my sister was talking to me, etc. Haha.

I pretty much just put all my footage in and added music, I didn't really feel like making it "cool" looking. Also, I know the song Holiday by Green Day's lyrics aren't really "happy", but I thought, hey, it says the word holiday, so I'll put it in there!

I also made a Pilgrim's Plunge video where I just mess around with reverse and slow mo if you want me to post that as well.

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

Great report! I don't think there's any such thing as a bad day at HW.

First thing we rode, of course, was The Voyage. Nobody goes to the Thanksgiving section first so we were pretty much the only ones there. My dad and I rode it together. It was our second time on it (my fifth time) but it had been two years so I forgot how it was. I loved it, though my dad couldn't take it for a second ride. I'll admit; it's a very rough ride. I wish they took out the ending turnaround and just put a brake run after you go under the lift hill. The ending is the roughest part of the ride, and sense it's an almost non stop ride, by this time you are beaten to death and you just want it to end! But, it's still my second favorite ride of all time. The airtime is amazing - and for me being very skinny, it's pretty scary!

That rough already? It was running relatively smooth for a woodie back at the beginning of June.

We had a bet that the first person to find a piece of trash would get $5. Nobody won.

Pat Koch would love to hear that!

Like I said; we skipped around. It was lunchtime so we ate at Plymouth Rock Cafe. I cannot say enough about this place. Best amusement park food, and amazing food in general. The stuffing is to die for (I love stuffing) and their mac and cheese is awesome. My ham was OK, but I had some of my sister's fried chicken and it was delicious. I love it! Everyone should eat here!

I love that place also!

On the walk away from the kid's area we decided to check out Lewis & Clark Trail (antique cars). I drove my mom and Emily drove my dad. I think she drove them better than me. I was all over the place!

How close are you to being eligible for your driver's license, where do you live, and what car will you be driving? I want to know so I can avoid you.

A video will be coming soon; I will start to edit all my footage.

Should I do a music video or a raw footage video?

I prefer raw footage. There's something to be said for just listening to the ambient sounds of an amusement park: the roar of a coaster train going by, the screams of riders, etc. That's just my preference, though.

You may also want a license plate number

[ohiocolts]

Great trip report and video! I've only been down to HW once, but I was like 4. Glad you had a good time, and the crowds were on your side!

[thunderbeast1968]

I really enjoyed my first trip to Holiday World, glad to hear you had fun. I absolutely love wooden coasters over steel, but I would love to see HW, get a nice smooth railed "steel coaster". Do not get me wrong, Raven, Voyage, and Legend are not be be missed, but as I rode the coasters, I thought it might be nice to have a break from the "out of control" feel, that you get from a nice woodie.

That being said, I rode Raven, then to The Legend, onto The Voyage back to back. By the time I got off the second circuit on Voyage, I thought to myself, "It would be nice to have a steel coaster to break things up".

My poor body had a tough time taking the beatings from these wooden delights. After that, I decided to take in some flat ride, to take a break from. I just took in the whole atmosphere of my first trip to Holiday World. We did get in a few water slides, and hit Pilgrim Plunge, since we were already wet.

I will make a return to Holiday World in the near future. Friendly staff, great food, and an all-around good value. I suggest anyone on the fence about going should just do it, you won't be sorry.

[stashua123]

Nice trip report!

[jdawg1998]

I forgot to talk about the other parts of my trip!

We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Corydon, IN, only about 50 minutes away (1 hour and 50 minutes including the time change). I recommend this hotel to everyone, even if it may be a bit far away. It was clean, has great service, and is next door to a mini golf, indoor mini golf, and arcade center!

Saturday we went to Marengo Caves, in Marengo, IN (really?). It was my first time at a cave so it was pretty cool. They have 40 minute and 60 minute tours; we did the 40 minute. It was very interesting learning about the history and science behind the caves as we looked at some fascinating formations. Marengo Caves was really fun, and although I can't compare with other caves, I will still say I recommend you to visit this as well!

After that we drove to Louisville and stayed at the Seelbach Hilton in downtown. The hotel opened in the early 1900's and definitely showed its age; our toilet was broken, a spider and a bug made their way up to the seventh floor (not sure how), and the bathtub was rusty. But, it was a very neat hotel...and if you know me from other trip reports, I love Hiltons and we never stay in any other hotel. It was literally right next to Fourth Street Live (a block with restaurants, clubs, and bars, a lot like Universal City Walk except in the middle of the city!). We ate at Gordon Biersch, got fudge and ice cream from The Fudgery, and my parents went to night clubs while my sister and I stayed in. Louisville is a very neat city, I must say. Although at Gordon Biersch, a lady asked us where we were from. We said Cincinnati and she laughed and said, "Well you have a lot more than us!" and walked away. I took that as a compliment!

Unfortunately we couldn't stay another day in Louisville (I would have loved to go to the museums, zoo, etc.) so we left Sunday, and well, here we are now!

[dudecoasterman]

^ Cool,I love Marengo Caves, last year my Boy Scout troop went there for a camp out and we went spelunking. It was epic. Also, you say that you stayed at a Hampton Inn in Corydon but later you say that you would only stay in Hiltons.

[jdawg1998]

^ Cool,I love Marengo Caves, last year my Boy Scout troop went there for a camp out and we went spelunking. It was epic. Also, you say that you stayed at a Hampton Inn in Corydon but later you say that you would only stay in Hiltons.

Hampton Inn is owned by Hilton Hotels. My dad is part of their rewards program, Hilton Honors, so we get any Hilton hotel virtually for free.