Holiday World Rocks The World

[Oldiesmann]

As many of you know, I finally made my first visit out to Holiday World this past Saturday and Sunday both to enjoy all the park has to offer and because of their annual Holiday World Rocks The World Christian Music Festival on Saturday. Since I was already staying overnight on Saturday, I took the advice of others here and made a trip to the park on Sunday as well. (Note: I'm writing this TR at work. Pictures will follow when I get home later tonight).

I left here Saturday morning around 8:30 and arrived at Holiday World a few hours later. The drive itself was rather uneventful, save for some heavy fog around the Verona area in Kentucky and the construction in Louisville, which wasn't any worse than what's going on here on I-75 right now. Following the signs, I parked in the Legend lot and was surprised to see how packed the park was despite it being just over an hour since they officially opened. I was also surprised at the sheer size of the lot, but relieved to see they have trams. After catching the tram and walking through the tunnel under the highway to the main entrance, I was greeted by a huge mob of people. 30 minutes or so later and I finally made it into the park (yes, it was that busy).

Although others had told me to hit the back of the park first, I was just in the mood for coasters and hit Raven first. The line for Raven was about 30 minutes. Fun but rough. After Raven, I hit Hallowswings since there wasn't much of a line. Fun ride, but nothing much more than a typical swing ride. After that, I wandered off to Legend, which had the longest line of the day, in part because the 2nd-last row was blocked off. I believe I ended up waiting a little over an hour for it, and got to see maintenance replace the seat in the back row while I was waiting, at which point the row re-opened. Legend could really use a second train. Following Voyage it was off to the biggest and baddest coaster in the park. As I got close to Voyage, I saw that the main stage for the night's concert was near there, so I decided to trek back to the car to get my chair. After returning with my chair, I was informed that my event ticket had to be scanned at the front entrance so I could get a wristband (I had purchased a two-day ticket and the season pass/"already have admission" event ticket), so I left the chair and once more made the hike back to the front gate. 20-30 minutes later, I returned yet again, completely exhausted from the long walks, and went to set up my chair before hitting Voyage.

Finally I got in line for Voyage. Surprisingly, this coaster had the shortest wait of the three. I'm not sure if it's because of its location at the back of the park, or because of its roughness. It's a fun ride, but a bit too rough for me to want to ride it more than once a day. Quite a nice coaster, and I can see how they have the station set up for the Timberliner trains they decided not to use. There are two more rows for the line than available rows on the car. These two were blocked off for obvious reasons.

Following Voyage, I hit the other two rides in Thanksgiving - Turkey Whirl (a Tilt-a-Whirl with custom Turkey-shaped tubs) and, my favorite, Gobbler Getaway, a well-themed Sally dark ride in which you use a turkey caller to help find Farmer Van Snootle's escaped turkeys. KI could really learn from Holiday World here about what a "family friendly" dark ride is and how to properly maintain said ride. Only one target was broken and the turkey callers seemed to work just fine. The pre-show was also very well done.

After this, I wandered around the park some more and went for a quick ride on Howler simply to get another coaster credit. Since the line was so short they sent us around a 2nd time without having to get off. Fun little ride. Surprisingly, nobody seemed to find it odd that I was riding it (since I was the only one there without a kid). By this time it was mid-afternoon and quite hot/humid. I wandered around Fourth of July some and made good use of the freely-available drinks. Seeing Eagles Flight, I immediately got in line, and was quite happy to see a kid going wild with the snapping. Nothing better than parks that don't seem to care at all about you snapping the scooters. I waited about 5 minutes for this and had a lot of fun. I still wish KI would bring them back (either the originals or a new set). The next ride was Rough Riders, an old-west themed bumper cars ride with cars shaped like horses and bison. This reminded me a lot of the bumper cars at Coney Island - highly maneuverable and quite fast. Shortly after I got off Rough Riders, they announced that storms were moving towards the area, so I skipped Liberty Launch and Sparkler, thinking storms would be on the way soon. In the mean time I went to Plymouth Rock Cafe to cool off and get some food. The food was delicious, and $15 for turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and a slice of pumpkin pie is a great deal. I hung around the cafe for a while to cool off before making a return to Gobbler Getaway (did I mention how much I like that ride? ).

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. The heat and humidity made things quite miserable and I wasn't in the mood to walk all the way back to the car to get my swimsuit out of my suitcase, so I mostly just hung around Thanksgiving. I rode Mayflower and took some pictures of what's left of Giraffica/Pilgrims Plunge as well as construction of Thunderbird. There is a lot of track on site and the station is taking shape quite nicely. Mayflower is a fun ride, but the cycle is too short. You only get a couple of full swings before the ride starts slowing down again.

Around 6:30, the storm clouds were starting to roll in and I went to go retrieve my chair, only to find that they weren't letting people back to the event (they deflated the portable entrance gate thing as well for obvious reasons). Most of my time the next couple of hours was spent crammed into Plymouth Rock Cafe with hundreds of others, watching the storm. It brought in an impressive lightning show and quite a bit of rain. Some groups started singing worship songs during this time, and many others joined in. One video even made it to the event's Facebook page.

Finally around 8 the rain was starting to let up and they began letting people back into the event. I hung around the merch tent for a while waiting for the rain to finish (I had brought an umbrella but left it in the car). The field was a mess and my chair was soaked, but at least the temperature was much more reasonable at that point. Shortly before things started up again around 9, they announced that they were going to try to get everyone on stage and they'd probably be done around midnight local time. I wasn't entirely thrilled by this announcement because I'd already been up for 14 hours at that point and was exhausted from wandering around in the heat. After watching One Girl Nation and Sanctus Real perform, I ended up leaving the concert for my hotel room around 10pm local time (ironically around the same time the concert was supposed to end). My shoes were soaked and muddy and my chair was soaked, but I'd had a lot of fun and was looking forward to the next day.

Sunday morning I got woken up to the sound of a hot rod roaring to life outside my window around 7:30 local time. I had noticed the cars the night before but didn't want to go out and take a picture of them since it was already late anyway. Feeling refreshed from a good night's sleep, I decided to get up early (I had set my phone alarm for 8) and drove down the road a short distance to Denny's for breakfast. When I came back, I packed everything up, checked out of the motel and drove 15 minutes to Holiday World through downtown Dale and the heart of Santa Claus. I arrived at the park around 9:15 local time and parked in the main lot this time. The park was busier than I expected it to be at that time, but not nearly as busy as it had been the day before. Once inside, I paid for a locker rental wristband and wandered off to ride things that I hadn't gotten to ride the day before. I was originally planning to ride Lewis & Clark Trail (antique cars) first, but then saw the signs saying "Minimum two riders per car", so I got out of line and headed for Sparkler. Fun ride, but I do have to wonder why they need two different swing rides. Following Sparkler, I hit Liberty Launch (an S&S Power Tower) and Revolution (a round-up). At that point I was ready for water rides, so I headed down to Splashin' Safari, got my locker and walked back to Frightful Falls. Pretty typical log flume ride. I then hit Raging Rapids, which is similar to White Water Canyon. After that, most of my day was spent wandering around Splashin' Safari, enjoying the many rides they have to offer. Once again I realized that the park is much larger than I thought it was. I stopped riding to re-apply sunscreen occasionally, and took a break for lunch around 3 (chicken bacon ranch warp at Wildebeestro). I finished up the day with two re-rides on Wildebeest before the water park closed. After retrieving my items from the locker, I went back to Thanksgiving for rides on Voyage, Gobbler Getaway and Turkey Twirl again before walking down to Hallowswings. I had also planned to catch another ride on Rough Riders before I left, but was starting to get tired again and wanted to get home before it got to be too late, so I ended up leaving around 6:30 Central time.

Total ride tally for the weekend:

Saturday: Eagles Flight - 1, Gobbler Getaway - 3, Hallowsings - 1, Howler - 2, Legend - 1, Mayflower - 1, Raven - 1, Rough Riders - 1, Voyage - 1

Sunday: Eagles Flight - 1, Frightful Falls - 1, Hallowsings - 1, Liberty Launch - 1, Mayflower - 1, Raging Rapids - 1, Raven - 1, Revolution - 1, Sparkler - 1, Star Spangled Carousel - 1, Turkey Whirl - 1, Voyage - 1; Bakuli - 1, Hyena Falls - 1 each on all four slides, Mammoth - 1, Otorongo - 1 each on all three slides, Wildebeest - 3, ZOOMbabwe - 1

Overall I was quite impressed with Holiday World. Great park, lots of things to do, well-themed and quite clean. I'm looking forward to visiting again, hopefully next year.

Also, KI and CF really need to take a good look at Gobbler Getway. That is how you do a family-friendly dark ride. Well-themed, well-maintained...

KI should also consider investing in the locker system that HW uses (Locker Link from Smarte Carte). This would all but eliminate the problems people have reported with locker theft since you need to scan your wristband at the appropriate set of lockers to open it.

And, contrary to what someone said in another topic, I still think KI needs a good water coaster at Soak City. Mammoth and Wildebeest were a ton of fun.

That's all for now. Pics will be added when I get home.

[McSalsa]

Nice trip report. Also, Legend is SUPPOSED to have two trains (as is the current case for all 3 woodies though Voyage originally had 3), so if the 2nd train was not on the transfer track for the ride (located near the ride's start) then it may be in the shop for some reason- they might even be already winding down operations on the coaster since it

historically does not operate during the fall as they begin the offseason work on it then (though Raven & Voyage stay open, likely due to the fact coaster nuts would go nuts if they closed either of those during the fall).

[MDMC01]

I enjoyed reading your trip report and I totally agree with the suggestion that KI should use Locker Link. Kentucky Kingdom has a similar, if not identical, system and it worked great when I visited last month.

[jcgoble3]

Great report! A few notes:

Voyage's last two rows being blocked off is not because of being set up for Timberliners. The trains on Voyage used to have seven cars; they were reduced to the current six cars early last summer. AFAIK we still don't know why.

Howler always does two laps because of its short length. The Great Pumpkin Coaster at KI does the same.

I'm surprised people were snapping the scooters. Everyone I've talked to has said that HW's scooters are virtually unsnappable because of their weight.

I've been to that Denny's several times, and the service for me has been hit-or-miss. How was your service? Also, next time be aware that Kringle's Kafe in the park serves breakfast in the mornings for very low prices; I can fill myself up on their breakfast for under $5.

That locker system is the best locker system I've ever seen in an amusement park, even edging out Universal's fingerprint system. And Kentucky Kingdom indeed has the exact same locker system. I would love to see KI get that system.

[McSalsa]

Rumor has it the reduction of cars on The Voyage is due to wear & tear- running 6 cars per train does less damage to the track than running 7. And keeping a 160+ foot high, 67mph, 6400ft. long wooden coaster with twists and turns like The Voyage has running well has to be a MONSTER task each and every offseason. I would dread to see what would happen to that ride if the wooden coaster upkeep budget got cut for whatever reason, or if Holiday World sold out to a big park chain (I don't think Cedar Fair, Six Flags, or any other big-name chain would be able to handle the task of keeping such a wooden coaster running even remotely well)...

And, thinking more, Legend can't be too easy to upkeep either with those super-hard laterals...I must give Holiday World's wooden coaster team props for keeping those rides running as well as they have.

[Oldiesmann]

Great report! A few notes:

Voyage's last two rows being blocked off is not because of being set up for Timberliners. The trains on Voyage used to have seven cars; they were reduced to the current six cars early last summer. AFAIK we still don't know why.

Howler always does two laps because of its short length. The Great Pumpkin Coaster at KI does the same.

I'm surprised people were snapping the scooters. Everyone I've talked to has said that HW's scooters are virtually unsnappable because of their weight.

I've been to that Denny's several times, and the service for me has been hit-or-miss. How was your service? Also, next time be aware that Kringle's Kafe in the park serves breakfast in the mornings for very low prices; I can fill myself up on their breakfast for under $5.

That locker system is the best locker system I've ever seen in an amusement park, even edging out Universal's fingerprint system. And Kentucky Kingdom indeed has the exact same locker system. I would love to see KI get that system.

Thanks for the info about Voyage.

Either I'm misunderstanding snapping or you've heard wrong. Neither I nor several other guests I saw had any trouble making them swing wildly out of control and nearly hit the ride op station.

My service at Denny's was great. I wasn't aware of the breakfast option at HW. I'll have to keep that in mind next time.

[Oldiesmann]

As promised, here are some pictures. I only took 34 pictures as I was mostly too busy riding things...

Maintenance getting ready to install a new seat on Legend:

IMG_3019 by oldiesmann, on Flickr

The awesome entrance part of Gobbler Getaway:

IMG_3022 by oldiesmann, on Flickr

The roof of Voyage's photo/gift shop seems to be the Holiday World equivalent of Beast's train shed roof:

IMG_3024 by oldiesmann, on Flickr

Scooters

IMG_3027 by oldiesmann, on Flickr

Thunderbird teaser sign:

IMG_3031 by oldiesmann, on Flickr

Thunderbird station:

IMG_3035 by oldiesmann, on Flickr

Coaster track, a backhoe and corn all in one spot. What's not to love?

IMG_3042 by oldiesmann, on Flickr

Full album at https://flic.kr/s/aHsk2u73TX

[BoddaH1994]

When the Timberliners for Voyage started its delay, they removed a train from The Legend (or Raven - I think it's Legend) and used it on Voyage. This had one less row than the Voyage's original trains. When the experiment failed, they got new train(s) from PTC. I'm not sure if they simply added the train to the Voyage (minus the last car) or if they put the original trains back onto both Voyage and Legend. None the less, since then they haven't run the last car.

It could be a bit smoother. Kings Island tried the same with Son of Beast.

[jcgoble3]

The extra train for Voyage came from Raven IIRC, which then had one-train operation for a season (2009 or 2010, I don't remember which). However, I think all three were restored to their original trains the next season (I know they all had two trains each). After that, Voyage did run full seven-car trains for a few seasons (at least 2011 to early 2013) before the seventh car was removed midseason in late June/early July of 2013.

[McSalsa]

2010 was the year of the Raven train on Voyage, as my first rides on Voyage happened that year and were on that train (Memorial Day Weekend 2010 was my first trip to Holiday World ever). The rides I got on that train, thus far, I still consider my best Voyage rides to date (My rides in 2011 were crazy rough, didn't visit HW in 2012, and 2013 was great for the first half and just OK the 2nd half).

Here's a photo I took that year which kinda "proves" this- If you look closely you can tell the train on Voyage in this picture is red:

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/McSalsa/VoyagePlungeampBakuli1_zps4f541b99.jpg~original

UPDATE: Got a bigger version of this image, taken May 29th 2010, which shows the red train on Voyage.

[Vortex]

I was at the park also on Saturday. Was so hot we spent most of the day at the water park. I was one of the ones that got the scooters snapping. All three coasters where rough and only road 2 times. We left early the heat got to use.

[Creed Bratton]

Great trip report! Hope you had a blast, despite the rain and crowds.

[Oldiesmann]

I definitely did have a great time. The crowds didn't really bother me too much (though waiting over an hour for Legend was a bit annoying). I'm definitely going to plan things better for next year (I'm hoping to make it to the event next year as well).

[Buckeye Brad]

Here is a video from 2010 where Will Koch explains the Timberliner/Voyage/Raven train situation.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lpc8L77qkA

[Wingless92]

Glad that you had a good time. I went to Holiday World for the first time earlier this year to ride The Voyage. That was all I rode that day. I ended up going back just recently with my ex and rode the other rides.

The reason for going was to ride The Voyage at night, really wanted to see if it could stand up to The Beast. IMO it is a much better ride. At night it's amazing! It is now my fav night coaster by far. The Beast is great at night, The Voyage is on a totally different level.