Holiwood Nights, June 1st-2nd, 2012 (Much Delayed TR)

[Joncars05]

Holiwood Nights June 1st- 2nd, 2012
I will start this off by saying I finally had my computer fixed so I was able to recover this TR. Sorry for taking so long to post this. I will preface this by saying this is a rather lengthy TR (as most of my TRs are) so please bear with me. Also I like writing these “detailed” reports more for myself so I can remember the time I had as well as others who are looking for what this event (Holiwood Nights) is like. I tried to edit this for mistakes as much as possible but I’m sure I missed some so please don’t let the minor grammar mistakes bother you. I hope you have some time to kill because this is a LONG report. So with that out of the way, here we go!

Holiwood Nights- Day 1, June 1st

This trip started out with my fiancé Jessi and I picking up a rental car from Indianapolis and driving down to Boonville, Indiana, (please make fun of the city name. I did when I found out that was the actual name of the town they lived in) to meet up with my step mother’s parents. Boonville is about 30 minutes out from HW. We got there at 4pm grabbed some food, dropped off our suitcases, and headed towards the park around 630. We arrived at the park around 7pm to pick up our packet and tickets for the event. We got an envelope of tickets, along with an event schedule that helped guide us along this trip. The ticket (which I regrettably found out when I had it in my hand) allowed us to get into the park at 530, over 2 hours before the park closed to the general public.

Entering the park we were ushered towards the back where we had a meeting held by park officials. Dan came in to the picnic area on an ambulance cart with the sirens blaring in full blown Ghostbusters costume and was zapping the marshmallow man that was “storming” the picnic area and shooting marshmallows at us. After singing a bit of remixed Ghostbusters theme song, it was revealed that Pat Koch was the person inside marshmallow man! It was pretty fun to see the owners and managers of the park laughing and playing around with guests during the initial meeting. After the song and dance they mentioned the event schedule again and went over the technicalities of park and event rules. Soon after they let us free and we ran off into the darkness and HWN 2012 was officially a go! My fiancé and I decided to skip the Voyage (since we believed everyone would go straight there) and headed right to the Legend.

The Legend is a spectacular ride when the sun is out. It is even better when the sun goes down! The ride has nothing but laterals and maybe two airtime moments. The ride took us up to the top of the lift hill and you could see the dark “skyline” of Splashin’ Safari right before the traditional howl and first drop. The feeling of the cool air rushing through our faces was simply amazing. The tunnels were even darker and cooler than the track outside of it. The ride at night was awesome because there was no park noise and it was dark. Just you and about 10 others (we rarely had a full train on any ride no matter what time we rode it) experiencing this ride in the dark. The double helix which includes up and down moments makes the ride a bit unpredictable because the area was so dark it was tough to know when it was coming up. The ride back after the helix was fun and more predictable as the lights from the park’s walkway started to lights he last of the track. Coming around the final turn and slamming into the rides final brake run the ride ended. Noticing there were no people waiting in our seats we asked the ride ops if we could just go again. She said yes and let us ride again. (This would be a reccuring event for almost every ride we had during this event) The Legend at night was a 10/10.

Next we headed to the Raven. This ride in the dark is stunning as well. The lift hill takes you along the parking lot and again you see the lights located there before you are thrown down hill and along for the rest of the ride. Again the tunnels were colder and much darker than the rest of the ride. Its two trademark points of the ride were awesome. The sweeping drop over Lake Rudolph was great because smoke from the campfires at the campground was drifting over the lake making it look like a foggy/creepy movie scene. The ride to the 5th drop was awesome and the view from the back of the 5th drop was great. Looking at the trees while riding through the woods gave the Raven the appearance of greater speed. The 5th drop was a bit more forceful in the dark and the return run through the woods in the dark was just exhilarating. Slamming into the brakes we ended our ride. Jessi and I looked at each other and said “We have to ride this again!” So we wrapped around about 3-4 times before we decided to head out to grab something to eat.

We had a ticket for the dinner they were serving during the middle of the event. So we stopped by to check it out. They had pizza, breadsticks, salad, chips, fudge and a couple of other things as well. It was definitely worth the time to stop by and hang out for 30 minutes or longer to
a. Take a break
b. Get some food in you
c. Meet up with some of your friends and hang out.
After about 35 minutes or so we headed out and took a ride on Sparkler. I will be the first to say that I can ride roller coasters all day but when it comes to rides that have circles I am horrible with them. So we decided to hop on just to experience the ride and chill before heading to the Voyage. We waited one cycle and then hopped on the ride. The lights on the ride were pretty nice as they twinkled and made the area look a bit more attractive. The swings themselves have a simple shared lap bar with 2 seats each per swing. The chair was attached to the ride by a chain. The ride lifted us up and then started swinging in circles about a third of the way up. I will say this is my first swing ride and I thought it was pretty fun. The view of the park is not too bad. You cannot see much of the entire park but at night we could see the lights of Splashin Safari as well as the lift hill lights of the Voyage and The Legend. The ride is mild but satisfying. The night view was great and we would compare the night ride to the day ride on the next day.

Finally for the final ride we decided to hit up the Voyage for the last hour or so. Headed down to the ride we hit it at the perfect time because when we got in the station there were two other people waiting on the returning train. The group that returned looked thrilled as we decided to take a back car seat in the middle row. The train was about 3/4ths full as the Voyage spiel came over the intercom notifying us our Voyage was to “begin without delay!” We got the go and up the lift hill we went. The view was pretty awesome at night. Looking to the left you could see Splashin Safari looking like a ghost town with few lights lighting up small portions of the area and all the water was at rest. Looking to the right you see Pilgrim’s Plunge Giraffica sleeping away in the dark waiting for its turn to give some rides the next day. Reaching the crest of the hill you look forward and see nothing but the enormous hills cast in moonlight as the train creaks over the top for the first drop. The speed of the ride is intensified by the cold air blown in your face as you travel along the airtime hills. Over the first airtime hill you realize how quiet the park is as you can actually hear the silence of the train as it floats over the top of the hill. Into the tunnels where there was no light to be found, you are hit with a smell and coolness that can’t be described. Up and out of the tunnels and past more airtime hills, filled with the repeated silence at the top of the hill, we head to the spaghetti bowl and here you realize how far away from the main park you really are. All you hear is the sound of the train chugging along the track and the screams of the few people who are on the ride with you. Visibility was extremely low through the spaghetti bowl so the 90 degree sections came up on us rather quickly. The bunny hops contain the same silent sound of the train floating off the tracks as the sounds of the ride goes from loud to quiet as if you were quickly turning up and down the volume or the sound break you hear when flipping channels on your television. Hitting the brake run before the triple down tunnel was the only time you had to catch your breath. The return run was the wildest part. Far ahead you could see the lights of the park but the track was still dark as you weaved left and right on you wild finale run. I believe the ride photo was turned off and thankfully it was because the flash would have blinded you from being in the dark for the past 1:45. The station flyby was loud as the train echoed off of the building and you swooped to the left and back to the right before hitting the brakes and coasting slowly back into the station.

I will say that this ride is one of those that must be experienced at night. The low visibility combined with the cool air, airtime, twists, turns, and eerie silence along the way makes this ride even more incredible. The re-tracking job that the park did was awesome as well. The only part that was a bit rough was the return section and the left handed turn just after the photo section headed to the station flyby. Even though no one was waiting in line for our seats, the ride was so intense that we had to get up and walk through the exit and hop back in line just to give us a chance to take a 2 minute breather before riding again.

After riding the Voyage about 6 times we ended up making our way back up to the front and hit the Legend and Raven a couple of times before leaving the park and heading back to the house for some sleep. The Koch’s were still waiting at the gates to wish us a good night and that they would see us the next day. Overall day 1 was awesome and we looked forward for Day 2 to begin.

Holiwood Nights- Day 2, June 2nd

Day two began with an extremely brisk morning. The weather was no conducive for waterpark fun in the morning but was predicted to warm up a bit later during the day. I believe the weather was around the low to mid 50’s when the walk-back to the water park ERT was to begin. My fiancé and I said if the temperature wasn't 55 or higher we were going to stay in a sleep while the waterpark ERT was going on. The temperature never made it there so we stayed home and caught up on some sleep.

We ended up coming to the park right around 11am. As we entered the park we decided to head to Mammoth. Mammoth is the new water roller coaster at Holiday World and looks exactly as it is name… The ride was stunningly large and can be viewed easily before entering the water park. We changed and headed towards the ride and noticed there was about an hour wait to get on the ride. The station was well shaded and would have been great on a hot and humid day but today it was chilly as the temperatures were barely in the 50s at the time we rode this massive ride. As we continued along the queue line we could see the people hopping off the ride and they looked like they were freezing! They said the ride was fun but it was almost too cold to enjoy. So as we hopped on the ride we sat in the circular tube and placed our feet and rear-ends in the water that was left in the boat we realized it was extremely cold! We made it to the beginning of the lift hill and the ride halted for a “valleyed” boat. After 5 minutes we were headed up the long conveyor to head down the ride. The ride is very similar to the Wildebeest in the fact that it uses tunnels, hills, LIMs, and spraying water to drench the riders. The major difference is that in the circular boat you can enjoy the ride facing multiple positions during just one ride. Some hills you are facing forward, others you are facing sideways or backwards. The final splashdown was pretty fun too as well. The ride was fun but again the water temperature made it almost too cold to enjoy. I will have to do a proper review of it later on when I get to ride it during the warm weather.

After riding the Mammoth we headed to the wave pool and swam for a cycle of waves and decided it was too cold for the waterpark so we dried off changed clothes and went to eat lunch. The nice part about the day like we had is there was no rush to ride rides because we had the park basically to ourselves for 3 hours after the park closed for the regular guests. So we took the time to enjoy the park and see things we usually wouldn't while we were visiting and trying to jam a trip in. We hit Sparkler for a day ride, Liberty Launch, a couple of day shows at the music stage, the dive show, a couple of day rides on the Voyage, Raven, and Legend, and two rounds on Gobbler Getaway, in no particular order.

In the middle of all of the rides and shows we caught at the park we gathered with the groups to head back for the behind the scenes tours of all three wooden roller coasters! We started out with the Raven and the Legend. Now this was the first behind the scenes tour that we have had of any roller coaster so I had no idea what to expect. I was a bit disappointed when I found out they just let the group walk back on the trails and didn’t give a spiel at different points of the tour. I wish they gave some facts about the ride as we travelled along the trail. I think that would have made the tour a bit more interesting but being in parts that few people have seen especially around these coasters was good enough for me. We travelled along the Raven and one thing that I noticed was that the ride is pretty short while riding it but you can tell that it isn’t very extensive along the walk as well.

Sweep over the lake

If you walked the trail that surrounded the track you could be done around 7 minutes or so.

Raven's 5th drop

High speed corner after 5th drop on Raven

The Legend’s walk around was very short. It took us through the double helix and around the curved first drop. Most everything else was hidden back in and over Splashin’ Safari so I understood why we couldn’t make it there.

Legends Double Helix

First Drop on The Legend

After a break we headed towards the Voyage walk-back and man was it impressive. Again there wasn’t anyone giving a spiel about the facts of the coaster but there was plenty to look at to keep you entertained.

Voyage's First Drop

Walking back from the first drop towards the spaghetti bowl you get a good look at how high and much ground the first airtime hills cover. They seem to extend forever. Towards the second airtime hill you start to realize how steep the ground is when heading towards the spaghetti bowl as well.

Train on return run w/ Airtime hills

The hills are pretty steep and the grade change definitely goes unnoticed when you are on the ride in the beginning. Heading back to the spaghetti bowl you notice how massive the actual area is. The bunny hops and two 90 degree turns as well as the turnaround make very good use of the area and sets up the final run well.

Part of the Spaghetti Bowl

The final section of the ride has such a great design. The track uses the terrain so well. The triple down is hidden from view but when the track reappears you can see it weaving through the hills and using the terrain to actually gain speed on the way back to the station.

One of many return run "bunny hops"

Twisty layout of the return run.

Overall the design of this ride maximizes the terrain that it was built on as well as the design of the track itself to make the 3 minute journey absolutely astounding.

Heading back from the tours we got back on the main property and met up with the owners of Club Coasterfusion. Joe and Louis were awesome guys and we ended up meeting some other members as well. We took a group picture and took a ride on Pilgrim’s Plunge Giraffica before walking around the park waiting for the place to close.

Once the park closed we were ushered back towards a picnic area where we were fed a very hearty buffet meal of baked beans, mac and cheese, burgers, fried chicken, unlimited soda, and plenty of other options for food and dessert. During this time we sat and ate with Louis, Joe, and others, as there was a silent auction that was going on as well for parts of track, trains, and other memorabilia from HW. We took a Club Coasterfusion picture with The Koch family and some staff of HW before the buffet ended.

After the buffet was done it was back to the ERT for the guests. We hit up all three rides and with right around 1:30 left in the ERT a quick shower hit the area. This started while I was on the Voyage. I will tell you rain plus speeding along this track makes for a painful experience. My face was stung by the raindrops as we chugged along the track. After about 10 minutes the rain was mostly done. This is where the fun really began… The Voyage’s track was soaked which meant that the train ran even faster. On my first run after the rain the train felt faster through the first drop and the airtime hills. Going into the spaghetti bowl it felt as if the train was going to hop off the tracks. The bunny hops felt more violent (but in a good way) and it felt like the train “fishtailed” through the 90 degree turns. Now here is where the ride just got silly. The trim brakes were soaked so when the train reached them instead of slowing down it felt like the train slipped right through the brakes without even slowing one bit. It made the final third of the ride just insane. The quick swings left and right felt so out of control as the ride continued to slither and slide along the track towards the station. The only time the ride let up was when we hit the final brake run and the ride screeched to a halt.

The rides on the Raven and Legend were improved to as the same effects were felt with the sliding and increased speed was noticed. The final ride of the weekend for the fiancé and I was a wet one on the Raven’s last train. The trip ended with us headed out of the park with Joe and Louis and well wishes from the Koch’s at the front gate.

Overall, the weekend was spectacular. I would recommend this event to anyone that is a fan of Holiday World, their coasters, HW’s atmosphere, good food, and good times. This was my first club event that I have ever attended and it has set the bar and my expectations really high for any other event that I will attend. Hopefully everyone who reads this will be able to attend or has attended this event. Hopefully this wasn’t too long for you guys and hopefully you enjoyed my trip report!

End ride totals: Voyage: 21 Raven: 11 Legend: 10

[Joncars05]

Oh geez it did it again I'll edit the line breaks in so you all can read it...

Edit: Ok it should be better now... Idk why it does that... I will be adding pictures to as well.

[The Interpreter]

What a delightful thing to read just before the official start of winter!

Thanks!

[Joncars05]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

I hope the photos are view able for some reason my computer at work doesn't show them posted yet. But I added them so hopefully they are working!

Edit: Aw man it looks like it messed up the template again. Hopefully I can get it fixed.

Edit, edit: Layout is fixed. Ill have to try and add the photos again later.

[malem]

Thanks for posting; I really enjoyed your elaborate details! It sounds like I really need to try HW's coasters at night.

I couldn't re-ride Voyage even with functioning trim brakes, so I can't imagine speeding into its final turn. Were you holding on or putting your hands up?

Did you find Mammoth more enjoyable during warmer weather? I'm not sure even I could have enjoyed it in the lower 50s, and I tend to be unusually tolerant of temperature extremes. (I rode it about a dozen times in the lower 60s last August.)

By the way, for your photos, you have three options: (if one doesn't work, try another.)

Use BB Code for each image, like: [img=http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg103/coasterfusion/20120602_210957-2.jpg]
Open your formatted HTML post in a web browser window, and paste the formatted text and images directly into the forum rich editor.
In the rich editor, click the Image button to manually insert each image. You'll get a popup form asking for the image URL.
Note: to change between the rich editor and the plaintext/code editor, use the lightswitch button when editing. If you're stuck in mobile mode, you'll need to use the workaround to get out of it before options #2 or #3 will work.

[Joncars05]

Thanks for posting; I really enjoyed your elaborate details! It sounds like I really need to try HW's coasters at night.

I couldn't re-ride Voyage even with functioning trim brakes, so I can't imagine speeding into its final turn. Were you holding on or putting your hands up?

Did you find Mammoth more enjoyable during warmer weather? I'm not sure even I could have enjoyed it in the lower 50s, and I tend to be unusually tolerant of temperature extremes. (I rode it about a dozen times in the lower 60s last August.)

By the way, for your photos, you have three options: (if one doesn't work, try another.)

Use BB Code for each image, like: [img=http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg103/coasterfusion/20120602_210957-2.jpg]
Open your formatted HTML post in a web browser window, and paste the formatted text and images directly into the forum rich editor.
In the rich editor, click the Image button to manually insert each image. You'll get a popup form asking for the image URL.
Note: to change between the rich editor and the plaintext/code editor, use the lightswitch button when editing. If you're stuck in mobile mode, you'll need to use the workaround to get out of it before options #2 or #3 will work.

Yeah the ride was really intense towards the end the laterals were pretty extreme especially when the track was wet. I like to ride the Voyage with my hands up on the airtime hills then as soon as it gets to the spaghetti bowl I hang on for dear life until the ride stops. I'm weird like that though on DB I will ride with my hands up for the whole ride yet on rides like The Beast, FOF, I hang on. I think its more fun hanging on tight maybe it makes the ride seem more intense to me, not sure, but that is how I do it.

I only rode Mammoth once this year and it was the one i wrote about here. I wish I would've ridden it in warmer weather. It was fun in the cold but the cold water really took away from the experience (can't really help the temperature though).

I'll try posting the photos again here in a bit the computer that I am writing on struggles with codes for some reason.

[Joncars05]

Edit: Pics should be up and functioning now. Hopefully they stay up so you all can see them!