Holiwood Nights 2018 + Kentucky Kingdom

[MDMC01]

Hey all, I had a fantastic weekend attending my first ever Holiwood Nights event. The whole event was fantastic and the staff was amazing. In addition to Holiday World, our group also stopped at Kentucky Kingdom on the way back. Here’s what happened on Day 1:

Day 1

                We got to the park around open and the first thing I did was to open Pokemon Go to catch some Pokemon. After getting a locker in the waterpark, I made The Legend my first ride of the day. It was a bit rough and tumble, but enjoyable. Afterwards, I headed to Splashin’ Safari and waited for the group. Once we found each other, we headed for Mammoth. Since I had never been to Splashin’ Safari, I wanted to do Wildebeest first (as this would be in order of the water coasters), but Mammoth was amazing! I loved how it got you wet in so many different ways; it was like a Blastoise had a spasm or something and just dumped water on you! After that, we did make it to Wildebeest. I believe I got front and it was an enjoyable ride with lots of “random airtime”, especially when I couldn’t see half of the time due to the water splashes. After that, we tried to get to some of the other slides (such as Zinga, the tornado bowl slide), but they were closed. So, we settled for Jungle Racers, which ended up being really fun. I got some hops on the drops and I actually won as I went the furthest!

                Afterwards, I split off from the group to log rides and explore more of the dry park. Once back in the dry park, I decided to try Hallowswings as I knew that was an option for ERT. It was sorta sketch as the seat tilted back when I boarded and the cycle went on for longer than I cared for. After that, I headed to Frightfall Falls. I really wanted to ride this as I didn’t get a chance the first time I went to Holiday World due to a storm had just gone through the park towards the end of our trip. It was a good wait, but it was worth it. Though there is an awesome shed-thing at the beginning of the ride, the ride itself is pretty short, which was why the line moved at a decent pace. Afterwards, I stopped at Spooky’s Hat Shop to get some sunglasses as I had left my good pair in a locker at KI about a month ago and they’ve been (presumably) donated to charity. I was really glad to be wearing cool shades again.

                While walking back into the waterpark, I saw some cones set up and noticed that there was a show (Safari Skippers) going on. Since they needed some volunteers, I decided to help out and held out a vine-rope for two guys on stilt-jumper things to jump over, which was pretty cool. After getting a picture (I later found out that all the participants posed for the camera and the end of each trick), I decided to ride Zoombabwe. It was a decent wait, but it was really cool as it just kept going and going as it was so long. I also noticed it wasn’t as dark in there as I thought it would be- there were “masks” (holes in the shape of masks) illuminating the way. Afterwards, I went over to Bakuli as that looked cool. It was not too bad of a wait and I rode with 2 other people (as I couldn’t ride by myself- I actually had to hawk for riders at Zoombabwe lol) and it was a crazy ride through a horizontal toilet bowl. Though I felt like I was going to fall off, I stayed on. However, one of my co-riders wasn’t so fortunate. As soon as we hit the splash pool, he flipped and ended up gashing his forehead. His girlfriend waited with him and I stood by them as well until she said it was ok to leave (as I asked if I needed to stay). While leaving the waterpark, I caught some more of Safari Skippers as they had another show. After watching the rest of the show, I headed to Raven to give it another try. I wasn’t a big fan the last time I visited and my opinion didn’t change after that ride as I got painfully bashed around during the ride.  After getting bashed around on The Raven, I decided to get a snack as I was hungry. Therefore, I wandered over to Christmas and got a pretzel. This thing was huge and eating it was like running a marathon- you couldn’t just scarf it down; it actually took time to eat! After finishing that and resting a few seconds afterward, I decided to head to Legend again and had a much shorter wait (I tried to ride earlier, but it was a pretty long line). I rode in the back and got an aggressive ride full of laterals.

                After enjoying the waterpark and Halloween, I visited Thanksgiviving for the first time that day and rode The Voyage. I sat near the front and felt like it needed some energy as the second haf was sluggish. I then rode again near the back and I think it got its energy back. At the same time, it felt like it was tearing itself apart as I could hear the wheels grinding at this one particular turn on the return trip. I then headed indoors for Gobbler Getaway. It was a decent wait and I think that Aunt Abigail and I have a better relationship as she doesn’t look as creepy as she did the first time I rode. It was a fun ride as always and I got 1560- just below the highest ranking! However, during the back half of the ride, we got E-Stopped so many times and it was pretty awesome. I then decided to try Mayflower, which IIRC, was also an option for that night’s ERT. It was a smaller (and therefore, faster) version of Viking Fury and it was ok. Upon exiting, I saw a sign advertising “The Great Turkey Chase Stunt Show” and wondered if that was signage for a past show (as I didn’t see it on the map). I then made my way to the Hoosier Celebration Theatre for the 5:30 showing of Mysterio. It was actually a pretty good show and it was cool how they combining singing and dancing with actual magic tricks. After the show, the music was so catchy that I tried to breakdance, but there was not a lot of room.

                After the show, Holiwood Night Attendees were treated to a Holiday World-esque version of one of the songs from Caddyshack (“Nailed It”!. There was also a gopher poking its head around during the housekeeping-related announcements (Fun Fact: Said gopher “attacked” me as we were leaving the park when I tried to pet it! lol). After the warm welcome, I talked with one of the hosts and told her I was featured on the podcast (for being creeped out by Abigail). We then all made our way to waterpark ERT, which included snacks (including some amazing Pita Chips) and high-fives from all the characters. Waterpark ERT was great: I ended up meeting some guy from California as well as rode Zoombabwe, Wildebeest and of course, Mammoth (we even got a dusk ride on Mammoth before Waterpark ERT ended!).

                After waterpark ERT, the park (Well, the coasters and other assorted rides, at least) was ours! I mostly marathoned Voyage and was blown away by the trimless night rides. During one particular ride, there was a guy who had glow rings on his knuckles and sat in front. I sat in the back and there were not a lot of people riding during that cycle. As we were speeding through the woods, I felt like I was riding in Santa’s sleigh (because of the lights up front) and that an evil Santa would pop out of the woods any minute. It was super terrifying, but somehow I ended up doing it five more times and told so many people about how that guy enhanced my experience. I also got some rides on Thunderbird, which was pretty cool. Although I think Valravn is slightly better, I still do have some love for this Native American themed orange coaster. Just like Valravn has a distinct personality, I feel like night rides on Thunderbird are like a Native American girl turning into a bird, similar to how Sky Attack works in Pokemon Stadium*. The other two coasters (Legend and Raven) had some time to shine, but Voyage was the main attraction for me Friday night. I actually thought Raven was slightly better at night, but still very rough).

That about wraps up the first day. Stay tuned for more awesomeness later…

*EDIT: See 16:51 on this video to see what I'm talking about...

 

[IndyGuy4KI]

Awesome report @MDMC01. It was fun being there with you on your first ever trip!

[MDMC01]

Thanks; there is still more to come... The next third (part 2) should be up by at least tomorrow afternoon.

[MDMC01]

Sorry for the delay, but Part 2 is finally up...

 

Day 2:

                After eating breakfast at the hotel, I rode with Eric to the park (as Malem and Goble went to a special Gobbler Getaway tour that required them to get to the park really). We were routed to the Legend Lot and after getting my bag checked by the same Security Guard from the day prior, I got into the park and eventually met up with everyone else. Upon rope drop, the group headed into 4^th of July and made Lewis and Clark’s Trail (an Antique Car ride) our first ride of the day.  While in line, I caught an Articuno as a Reward for the Daily Quests, so that was cool. As for the ride itself, I wasn’t a big fan as it took a ton of effort to push the pedal down and make the thing go. After riding, Nicole said that some of the cars are like this. We next rode the Star-Spangled Carousel. I chose a dragon and it was good, but the ceiling had an extremely low clearance. Afterwards, we headed to Firecracker, which was new for this season. It was a fun ride, but I really wish they had music playing during the cycle (as opposed to the patriotic fanfare that is played throughout the area) (to compensate, I sang ZoeGirl’s “Even If” during the ride). Next up was Rough Riders, a bumper car ride with great western theming. I picked a bison (not a buffalo lol) vehicle and was surprised to find that the gas pedal was on the left side (as opposed to the right, like a normal (American) vehicle). While it was encouraged to move in one direction, I was unexpectedly spun around during the ride and it made me think of those dark rides where your vehicle gets spun around if “they” shoot back.

                After getting spun around on Rough Riders, we headed to Liberty Launch, the park’s S&S Double Shot. It was an enjoyable ride and I thought of it as an adult Frog Hopper. After that, we took over the Train and even though it was much shorter than Kings Island’s train (you only get 0.1 km from “walking”), the nursery rhymes were cool. After the brief train ride around Holidog’s Fun Town, we rode Eagle’s Flight, Holiday World’s Flying Eagles ride. We had to wait a few cycles as we all wanted to ride together, but wanted individual buckets. The ride itself was good (I chose the Blue “chill” bird), but I thought they had re-painted as I thought it was grey-ish black the last time I rode (the ride op said that it has always been the current color). Afterwards, I rode the nearby Revolution with a few group members and it was crazy intense as you were pinned to the standing area quite suddenly. The one nice thing is that your body does move around a bit, providing a nice backscratcher effect. During the ride, Malem told me to try to move my arms mid-cycle and I was intrigued how my arms moved back to my sides after being extended, or as I called it, “flailing”. After that dizzying ride, we passed by a Dole Whip stand and I wanted to try one as I never had one and heard they were super popular at Disney. I got a Strawberry/Pineapple twist and though I liked the Strawberry side more, I threw it away after a few minutes (as I wasn’t going to eat it all).

                Next up was Frightful Falls. The ride was good, but I didn’t get all that wet. Because most of the group wanted to ride Raven, I chose the nearby Scarecrow Scrambler and enjoyed my ride on that. I liked it so much that I did it again. I really love that color scheme of orange with the lime green lines on the seats (picture below). After reuniting with the group, we rode the Voyage, which I thought was a bit slower than the night before. Next up was the nearby Gobbler Getaway. The line was shorter than the day before and we only got stopped a few times (my score was 660). Earlier in the day (or maybe Friday night), I was notified of some “hidden” targets on the ceiling during the covered bridge scene. However, I failed to hit those, even though I did see them. After Gobbler Getaway, I was walking with the rest of the group when malem thought about riding Hyena Falls after our tour (more on that in a sec.) as it wasn’t open at all on Friday. Therefore, the both of us hustled to the Legend lot to get our swim trunks, put my stuff in his car (since Eric was leaving early) and get back before the Voyage/Thunderbird backstage tour. We made it back in the nick of time, but I was “dying” during the tour. The tour itself was nice and we mostly got some great views of Thunderbird as well as seeing Voyage’s hills (apparently, no group has been back to the spaghetti bowl since Thunderbird was built). Along the way, I ran into Paul Drebek, a fellow coaster enthusiast who runs Negiative G-com. Way back when I worked in Food, I was working at the Festhaus one day and served him a soft drink. Therefore, it was great to see him again. I even got my picture with him (after asking permission, of course!). I also met his son Bond and Bond’s girlfriend. After the tour, we were provided water and a nacho bar (the latter of which I skipped out on).

                Following the tour, I got changed in the nearby bathrooms after getting a locker, malem and I hit the slides. We did the big side of Hyena Falls, which was really cool. I rode facing forward and it was fun, but the real awesomeness happened when I rode again facing backwards. Because I had lifted my body so it wasn’t complely stuck in the raft/tube, we flew down the drop and into the halfpipe. However, the really intense part came after that when we rumbled with the water. It was amazing and afterwards, we got (partially) changed and headed to the next event: The Legend/Raven walkback tour. We arrived at the front of the park in plenty of time and a security guard led us behind the Raven and we got a great view of Lake Rudolph (Eric even got some fountain ERT!). Though I forget the security guard’s name (I wanna say his name was Jake?), his speaking voice sounded like Gator’s a bit, so that was nice. After going through some brush, we got to the Y2K coaster and man was it a sight to behold! I took a ton of pictures and it was so cool to get that behind the scenes look. After thanking our tour guide, I exited out in Splashin’ Safari and decided to explore more of the aforementioned waterpark. My first choice was Otorongo, a group of 3 enclosed slides. I tried Otto first (as I noticed it was very twisty) while malem and Ryan Wilcox tried another slide. After we split, I went back and rode Ron, which was faster and twistier than Otto. I then decided to end my time in Splashin’ Safari on Mammoth. I got in the single rider line and was paired with a group in about 10 minutes. The cool thing was that all the riders in our group were from different states (OH, IN, and KY). It was a great ride as usual and while coming around one of the enclosed turns, I saw a giant water drain where lots of water pours on you. After the ride, I said farewell to my fellow riders and took some pictures of Mammoth (and ended up getting a little wet in the process). I also got some shots of Voyage from the waterpark.

                Since the waterpark was closed and I had some time to kill before dinner, I decide to take some laps on the Legend. During my first ride, I experimented with riding in the right seat (the seat closest to the entrance gates) but that was not a good choice as the laterals beat me up. I then rode again, but chose a left seat in the very front and it was great. Next was dinner and I got pulled pork and Mac and Cheese. The Mac and Cheese was so good that I ended up going back 3 more times to get some! By the end, I was pretty full! However, upon hearing the announcement that park was closing in a half-hour, I went back into the park as I needed to re-buy a Legend pin that I lost [Update: it turns out I actually lost my Thunderbird pin, not my Legend pin, so now I have an extra…]. During dinner, a silent auction was going on and I bid on some Legend flags.  While I was out in the park, malem called me to tell me my flags had been outbidded. With a minute left to go, I put down my offer and got outbidded with 30 seconds left. I congratulated the winner, but he ended up giving me one of the flags, which was nice. I then was hanging out with the guy to get the flags, but someone called me over for the KIC Group picture. I was given a broken glowstick, which I put on my new shades and it actually stayed there for the picture! After the pic, I went back to waiting for the guy to pay for the flags. During this time, I saw a guy who looked like Brian Hull (a Youtuber who does voice impressions), but it wasn’t him. After getting the flags; I chilled a little bit with everyone before ERT officially started. Also, a final note before the next part, George the Eagle, Kitty Claws and Holidog came out at the start of dinner and danced around; George especially got into it! It was during that time that I asked if Safari Sam (who unfortunately wasn’t out) was an alligator or a crocodile- it turns out he’s a crocodile!

                Once we were released for ERT, I went straight to Holidog’s Fun Town in hopes of riding the Howler (which would eventually be Coaster #101). However, the line was long, so I asked if I could play on the nearby playset. Because the ride op said “Go for it”, I got some pretty awesome playground ERT! It was hard to fit in some places because of my fanny pack being on me, but I made it work. The big slide was really fun and one of the workers told me that they ride it after it rains as they go flying off the slide (and it’s a pretty fast slide to begin with!)! Unfortunately, my playground ERT was shortned for the moment as there was a storm rolling in and I was told to get off. So, I went back to the shelter, excited about my brief playground ERT. The storm past about 15-20 minutes later and I headed back there to finally get my ride on Howler. I sat in the back while the curved first drop was crazy, the rest of the ride was boring. We got to go around twice, which was cool. After some more playground ERT, I headed over to Firecracker. Apparently, Firecracker was turned up a notch and it was really fun and dizzying. After that point, most of the rest of ERT was spent on The Legend where I rode during the water cup challenge (but didn’t participate). The ride was actually ran great every time and although ERT was delayed by another storm, it was a great ERT time nonetheless. During the downtime, I asked Vern (the main foods guy) what brand of Pita Chips were used for the snack Friday night (as they were so good). He checked and said he didn’t know, but wanted me to hold onto a bag so he didn’t have to walk up the hill lol (he basically let me have them, which I thought was extremely generous)

Once back on the ride, the water cup challenge was in full swing. During one ride, malem and I sat in Row 2 and got wet not by the people in front of us, but from two guys behind us! It was a great time! The thing that made it really great was the person driving/on the mic as she made spooky sounds up the lift and even (intentionally) had us stopped near the top for a few seconds before descending into the Legend’s twisted layout (she even said “I’ll call now” (from a 90’s air conditioning commercial) per request!). Though Legend was where I spent the majority of my time, I also went over to Voyage for a few rides, including a front seat ride through the woods. I also saw the glow-rings guy from Friday night, which was cool. On a semi-final note, I got to speak with Matt Eckert, the President of Holiday World and told him I was having a good time. I asked about construction in the water park and he told me that the only construction was regarding Tembo Falls (a new water area for kids) and an “entertainment offering” (which I’m assuming is the Great Turkey Stage Stunt show in the former Pilgrim’s Plunge/Giraffica station). At the end of the night, we got pins to commemorate our time there, which was nice.

As I said previously, this was my first Holiwood Nights event and I had a blast! The staff was super generous and my first trip to Splashin’ Safari was great. I will certainly be attending next year, hopefully not as a guest, but as a member of some Coaster Club (leaning towards rejoining Coaster Crew, but I haven’t actually done it yet). As a final note, on Saturday night, I was so blown away that I asked "Is this real life?"

Stay tuned for Part 3, the epic conclusion…  

[MDMC01]

Sorry to double post, but here are some references from Day 2:

"I'll call now":

 

"Is this real life?"

 

[MDMC01]

Hey all, I'm back with Part 3; here we go...

Part 3:

                So, on the way back from Kentucky Kingdom, we (malem, Goble, and I) stopped at Kentucky Kingdom for a few hours; here’s what happened:

                We got to the park after open and upon getting a locker in the waterpark, we headed to Storm Chaser. I chose front as I’d never ridden in front and I found it to be a violent little ride due to the numerous sections of intense airtime. However, it was both malem and Goble’s first time on Storm Chaser, and they both enjoyed it. Next up was the new-to-me ride, Eye of the Storm. For those in the know, this is your standard Larson Looper, NOT a coaster! Anyway, I rode to the extreme left (front?) as I didn’t want to face anyone and I found the ride to be boring, but awesome. Afterwards, we headed over to the waterpark and split off from there. I headed to the oldest slide complex in the park, Mt. Slide Hai. I started off with Vanishing Falls, the only body slide in the complex. It was really fun and fast. Next up was Voodoo Express. It wasn’t bad and was pretty twisty. After that was Conquistador Canyon, an open raft slide (the previous 2 were enclosed). The ride op asked me to hold my flip flops during my ride and although I complied, I wondered why (as I didn’t have to hold them for Voodoo Express) until the very end- I got knocked out of the raft as by the end, I was backwards! After meeting up with malem and logging my rides, we found Goble near Deep Water Dive. From there. The three of us went to Plummit Summit, a multiple person raft ride. It was pretty fun and not too thrilling. At the top, I noticed this case and asked the lifeguard what it was for- she told me it was a really heavy pool cover that needed to be put on/taken off the top of the slide.

After that ride, I wanted to do Wave Runner, the smaller of the two newer, taller, body slides. Though it wasn’t nearly as tall as Deep Water Dive, it was still quite the hike up there! It was actually pretty scratchy, as in, it scratched up your back (which was weird, as there was no such discomfort on Vanishing Falls…). However, I am glad I did it as it reminded me a bit of the old FastTracks slides at Kings Island that once stood where Rendezvous Run is now (aka Coolanganta Racers for you Boomerang Bay fans.) After that, we all headed to Adventure River, one of the water parks TWO lazy rivers. Instead of tubes, we were provided noodles, and I used mine like a (sea) “horsey”, which worked out very well for me (at one point, I tried two noodles, but that didn’t work out so well for me…). We went around a second time as I enjoyed it so much. After that fun, we were walking around and I ran into Taylor Bybee of Coaster Studios! I was so excited to meet him and he told the group he wasn’t going to be riding much as he was filming for his channel (it turns out he filmed Goble on Deep Water Dive earlier in the day!). After saying our goodbyes and just me getting excited that I had met a celebrity, we spit off once again and I rode Forbidden Passage, the yellow slide of Mt. Slide Hai. It was fun and twistier that the orange slide. I then made my final waterpark side Vanishing Falls. It was a fast and fun ride as I used momentum from the grab bar to get some serious crazy speed.

After the waterpark, Goble and I were hungry, so we headed to Casa Mia and got some pizza. The pizza itself was ok, but somehow, the main part was better than the crust (this is usually the opposite with most places). During our pizza time, Goble and I both opened Pokemon Go to see what was around. I put a Swampert in a nearby Gym, which I thought was fitting as we were visiting both the waterpark and the dry park that day (Swampert is a Water/Ground Pokemon) and Goble tried to take out said Gym as he is on a different team than I am. After pizza and Pokemon, we headed to the front of the park and rode Lightning Run. I hadn’t ridden it since 2014 and it was a great little ride. Although the airtime was fun, my favorite element are those S-curves toward the end as they remind me of Maverick. Afterwards, we headed to Roller Skater (Coaster #102) in true enthusiast fashion. I chose back seat and it was actually pretty smooth. Afterwards, we headed to Thunder Run, which was another new credit for malem (as he had never been to Kentucky Kingdom.). We at near the front, and I actually found it to be pretty smooth (as it was rough the last time I rode it). We then met up with Ryan Wilcox and his friend and headed to the Raging Rapids. The funny thing about riding one of these on short notice is that we had to scramble to waterproof everyone’s stuff via plastic bags. It was really fun and spinny, and I didn’t get terribly wet.

                After getting semi-wet, we split off once again, as I rode Eye of the Storm once more while the others rode Storm Chaser. I chose the opposite side as last time (which was the back) and got way better views. Overall, it was a fun ride and while this is not on my list for flats I want to come to Kings Island, I certainly wouldn’t be mad if a Larson Looper showed up in Coney Mall or X-Base. After regrouping at Storm Chaser, I split off again and rode Thunder Run while the others checked on T3. I rode in the back and while the airtime was rough, the laterals reminded me of The Legend and I really enjoyed that. Afterwards, I was going to get some sunscreen and then head to Cyclos, but then I was told (via text) that T3 ran an empty train, so I went back there to see if it was going to open. After 10 minutes of nothing happening, I made it to the front of the park for what would be my last ride of the day, Scream Xtreme. This is a Paratrooper/Enterprise ride that replaced the park’s old Enterprise. I enjoyed the ride and it felt different than a regular Huss Enterprise, which I appreciated. After that, we left the park in short order to head for home (well, malem and Ryan went to KI, but Goble and I got dropped off at my place to reach our respective final destinations).

Overall, it was fun, but I wish I had a little more time to spend at The Kingdom. I suppose I could go down later this summer to catch T3, Cyclos and more rides on Eye of the Storm, The Runs and Vanishing Falls.

Hope you enjoyed reading this lengthy trip report; pictures may follow in the coming days!

Laters,

-MDMC01

[BeeastFarmer]

A celebrity?  LOL

[BoddaH1994]

I may be in the minority here, but I think T3 is a fantastic ride.

[jcgoble3]

4 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I may be in the minority here, but I think T3 is a fantastic ride.

Now if only I could get a chance to ride it. This year I visited on the one day it was closed for an accident. Last time I visited was four days before T3 opened. ARGH!!!

[MDMC01]

10 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I may be in the minority here, but I think T3 is a fantastic ride.

I agree; I love T3 as it is a very unique ride!

 

Also, yes, I'd consider Taylor Bybee to be somewhat of a celebrity (well, a Youtube celebrity, that is...). Ok, so maybe "celebrity" is stretching it, but he is a well-known roller coaster Youtuber and I was very glad to meet him.

[rhyano]

Very fun weekend! Glad to spend it with you guys!