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Holiday World: "Something New" for 2013 - UPDATE: Announcement Tuesday 10/23


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^

I'm not sure on that. Ed Hart said he thought it was, the Koch's say they really did mean to re-open and run KK, and they would be the only ones to know for sure. However, I'm leaning towards the Koch's telling the truth here. I also think the large expansion coming this year could be coming from some of the money the Koch's had built up for the BGBW project, but since that failed it could be going into Holiday World instead...and I have the strangest feeling they might have had more than $6.5M saved up for BGBW...which is good news for hopes of a new steel coaster going in at Holiday World.

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^

Yeah, probably...but, even if not now, I do still think the BGBW money could probably go into Holiday World at some point...unless the Koch's try buying another park soon, that is...in which case, that is where the BGBW money will probably go...

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"Preemptive strike"?

Of course. If KK is to reopen, it's quite logical the Koch Development Corp. would like to be the ones doing it. A better, more timely proposal increases the chances of this happening.

"...to discourage Kentucky Kingdom's reopening"

I don't see any evidence for this. Look at how aggressively HW and SS have been expanding their business....Voyage, Thanksgiving section, two huge water coasters, Happy Halloween Weekends, etc. It's only natural they would want to expand to another park at some point. They know the Louisville market, it's close to home, KK is similar in size to their own park, and KK was "on sale". Seems to me like a great opportunity to expand. In my opinion, they underestimated both the money needed to refurbish everything, and the government red tape that prevented them from striking a favorable deal.

Another thing...even if the Koch's didn't plan to reopen it, I don't see how their bid prevents another party from submitting a bid. Why wouldn't the Louisville government entertain any serious proposal?

All my opinion of course. I'm sure much goes on in the "war rooms" of these organizations that I will never know about. Or don't really care to know about. ;^)

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8. New after-dark light show for summer nights

Presumably this will require the park to be open then, making this good news for people who want night coaster rides and aren't able to come to HoliWood Nights or in the fall.

5. Pilgrims Plunge "moving" to Splashin' Safari with a new name: Giraffica

As-is, it's a rather "dry" ride, especially for a water park. Perhaps they'll look East add some spitting giraffes after the flume.

Then there's that long walk connecting Giraffica+RhinoBlaster+future expansion to the rest of Splashin' Safari. This is a park that pays attention to details, so I'm sure we'll see some changes along that route now that it's "in" the water park. (Misters, shade, and seating?)

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Sounds like great additions to me! Based on the schedule expansion, it sounds like Happy Halloween Weekends has been relatively successful (which I was hoping for, as that's a fun little event.) Also, it would be wonderful if the park's hours extended into the evenings during the summer for the light show, because I've been dying to try any of the coasters after dark but haven't ever been able to make it to Holiwood Nights.

I'm curious to know how further expansion of/beyond Thanksgiving will happen now if Pilgrim's Plunge is being annexed to Splashin' Safari. (They're not physically moving the ride, right?) I've read somewhere before that long-term plans for the park will make Thanksgiving the centerpiece of Holiday World, so I'm just wondering where else they could go with the paths. I always thought they'd extend over the tunnel from Splashin' Safari for Pilgrim's Plunge and continue adding rides, etc. beyond the ride, but that's where Rhino Blaster is going. Maybe they'll extend to the east of PP?

Also, here's hoping the Splashin' Safari entrance remodel will expand the nearby path to Thanksgiving (or at least improve the flow.) That thing congests pretty bad around opening when everyone's trying to get to SS.

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Overall, the new additions look nice. Glad to see SS getting something other than a watercoaster and cabanas. I do question the use of open-air straight sections on the water slides. Looks like a way to make it better somehow, although it should help with chlorine ventilation.

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I love it. Everything. I may have to consider more trips to HW next year other than just HoliWood Nights if I can afford it. Going just once a year really isn't often enough for as good of a park as HW.

I'm curious to know how further expansion of/beyond Thanksgiving will happen now if Pilgrim's Plunge is being annexed to Splashin' Safari. (They're not physically moving the ride, right?) I've read somewhere before that long-term plans for the park will make Thanksgiving the centerpiece of Holiday World, so I'm just wondering where else they could go with the paths. I always thought they'd extend over the tunnel from Splashin' Safari for Pilgrim's Plunge and continue adding rides, etc. beyond the ride, but that's where Rhino Blaster is going. Maybe they'll extend to the east of PP?

From the blog post:

This northeast portion of the park, by the way, will be the future site of expansion for both parks. Stay tuned as we add incredible new rides to both parks in years to come!

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That would make perfect sence to take down those two slides because frankly, they just are not fun anymore. Almost painful sometimes. That would definitely open up that area and create less of a bottleneck. Those two slides, as I recall, were the first two slides in SS's existence. In addition, no matter how crowded the waterpark is, those two slide rarely ever have a line.

Yet, Congo River? This just doesn't add up for me. Both of those rivers are populated at once. I can't see them wanting to get rid of it 'too' soon.

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I'm all for a new entry because the current one is tiny and doesn't stand out ... at all. There needs to be one that says "Spalshin' Safari" as big as the Holiday World sign before the parking lot. Not some little turnstiles and a small sign that says Splashin' Safari. After all, it is the more popular park.

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Wow, did not even notice when checking the HW website yesterday that those slides were gone as well as Congo River...well, RhinoBlaster can probably replace AmaZOOM and Bamboo Chute, but Congo River...that's an odd one, looking at one of my HW park maps it would not block any new entrance I can think of (the slides, however, do, creating a bottleneck in that section of the park along with the Thanksgiving section) and its removal will just increase the crowds over at Bahari River...granted, these Lazy Rivers are giant in capacity and it may not be a problem, but having 2 lazy rivers, even if one was better themed than the other (Bahari>Congo), I don't see why Holiday World would be removing it...worth noting is this will mean 3 of Splashin' Safari's original attractions will be gone in 2012...only Crocodile Isle remains...

Granted, there is also the chance this is a web site mess-up, and none of these rides could be leaving as no official announcement has been made...but, given the fact they are building a new entrance (hopefully one that gets rid of the bottleneck in that section)...and the location of the rides that are leaving...it seems feasible...

PS: Nemo, Holiday World did add a second wave pool...in 2005. But they do have 2...so a new wave pool for them would mean THREE wave pools! :P Also, out of randomness- I like the old wave pool, "The Wave", better than the new one...

Oh, and since I took some of your time, here are some pictures I found on Holiday World's Wikipedia page...in 1957, there was this...

SantaClausLand_Aerial.jpg

And now, in 2012, there is this... :P

Splashin_Safari_Panorama.jpg

And that's not to mention all the stuff on the other side of ZOOMbabwe (where this pic was taken): Raven, Legend, Sparkler, other rides, etc etc...

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Yeah I think the AmaZOOM,Bamboo Chute, and the Congo River are gonna be gone for next year. On Saturday there was large holes dug by them and the congo river had a bunch of dirt in it. So my guess is they are gone for the new entrance. Which is sad because I had fun sliding down the slides when I was really little and going around the Congo river with my family when I was a small child. Shame, but alas they are kinda in the way of a new entrance and a tad outdated. Bitter-sweet :unsure:

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AmaZoom and Bamboo Chute (the two slides near the entrance to the waterpark), as well as Congo River, no longer appear on the website. Are they being removed to make way for the new entrance plaza?

I emailed Paula to ask if these were being removed. Here is her response:

Yes, the original two slides and river (from 1993 – hard to believe it’s been two decades!) are making way for a much larger entrance/service area for the water park.

Thanks, Paula

Paula Werne

Director of Communications

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

I also got permission from her to post the response here.

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One thing I noticed missing from the announcement was timberliners

With all the delays those have suffered, they might not want to announce them again until they're delivered, on the track, and tested.

That has happened once before and then PTC's were ordered. Maybe when they are 100% sure they are going to use them!

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