My First Trip to Holiday World

[KatieF]

My bestie, Sabrina, and I ventured to Santa Claus for my first trip to Holiday World! Our whole goal of this trip was to ride "Good Gravy" because the advertisements for the coaster made us laugh so much. She knew I was a coaster junkie before, so we had an agreement she could ride anything in the park except Thunderbird.

We arrived at around 11 that Saturday (I know, Saturday's in July are gonna be hideous) but parking was kind of insane. There wasn't much direction from the park, and the line of cars  backed up onto the highway. We made it in though, and I was starting to get the "it's too crowded" jitters. We decided to book it to "Good Gravy" first, and the crowds did get better the farther back in the park we got. The line was surprisingly long for Good Gravy, and we waited there for probably 20 minutes until we finally reached the door of Grandma's house where we were met with an employee handing us cards with return times on them. Honestly, I thought this was a little confusing as there was no indication this was going to happen nor was there much line control out in the back of the line. I think I've been spoiled to Disney where there is the "the line starts here" guys. Whatever, we had some time to kill-- so I booked it back to Thunderbird while Sabrina went to get a bite to eat.

I was/am always super duper worried I will be too fluffy to fit in a coaster car. My last theme park visit before this was Kentucky Kingdom, and I had a close call with almost having to take the walk of shame. I had read that Holiday World was not the most plus sized friendly park, so I was nervous. I am about 230 lbs, and most of my weight is held in my belly and in my chest. I tried the test seat out front, and I could get everything closed but I couldn't quite get it to buckle, but I thought I'd give the actual car a shot because I would have help from attendant. The line was long that day, but it went quickly-- and the park said if you were bigger to aim for rows 2 or 3. I got in row 3 and had zero issues getting buckled up! I was so relieved! Thunderbird was outstanding! It was a smooth coaster, fun, thrilling, and I gotta say-- there's one little corkscrew right before the brake run that took my breath away! HIGHLY recommend it.

Finally it was time for our ride on Good Gravy. The crowd cards they gave out... uhhh... I'm not sure  how well it worked. The line was still pretty long for the ride, but luckily the queue line is very cool to look at and is very well themed. Obviously this ride only has one train on the track, and is a fairly small capacity so it is a slow wait. But it's very cute and the decorations and theming is very impressive! It's a fun, little ride which after riding everything else in the park-- they desperately needed it.  

We rode Gobbler Getaway, which is a fun little break. It made me miss Boo Blasters, oddly enough. Then we headed to the looooong line for The Voyage. Let me just say-- I thought this would be a nice little classic woodie. I was like "oh this is fun! This can't be more intense than The Beast." Holy freaking cannoli. It is. I don't know if I'm just getting old, but once this baby starts going-- it doesn't stop and it feels like it's never going to end. I'm pretty sure I got a back adjustment that day. When we finally reached the station again, Sabrina had blacked out once and I was shakey. It takes a lot to get me that torn up, and we had to sit down for a bit after that ride. I would 10000% ride it again, but I had zero idea it was going to throw me around that way. Would love to get a night ride on it.

Honestly, once we rode the Legend and the Raven-- they looked tame (and ROUGH in my opinion) after the Voyage. I actually felt they needed to be retracked in some spots that really jostled me. They didn't stick with me that much, as I  had just had my world changed by the Voyage.

We rode a few smaller little things. I did highly enjoy their little log flume. I'd love to see another water ride get brought into the park because it really refreshed me. We didn't do anything in the water parks. Either way, it was a fun day at Holiday World and I realized how old I am now (a whole 30) because I think it genuinely affected my inner ear after for a few days. The food was good, and I loved the merchandise they sold in the main gift shop. The stuff they had for Good Gravy was GENIUS. It's worth a trip. I felt their photo pass was well priced too. I was able to get it for $25-$30 bucks and it was easy to use, and I was able to attach Sabrina's phone number to it too so we didn't have to have two passes.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Great PTR. Voyage at night is simply another life changing event. 

[BB1]

I was at the park on Saturday and I can basically confirm Raven needs some serious work. Same can be said for Legend but it’s not as much in comparison. Voyage had a really solid portion where it was smooth; however the first major turn was really rough. That coupled with the dip that made me hit my ribs on the lap bar didn’t make for a great experience either. I’m under the impression that HW is an early season park so that the coasters that get TLC are more tolerable. Good Gravy wasn’t as impressive as Snoopys BUT I did buy the gravy boat which came with a gravy recipe! 
 

[PKIDelirium]

Perhaps Raven and Legend could benefit from some Gravity Group prefab track. They've already installed some on Voyage, and I'm hoping they can eventually get it to where running trim-free is back to being standard operation, instead of an event perk.

[KatieF]

Okay, but I'm glad it's not just me who thinks Raven and Legend are rough. I thought I was just being sensitive or getting old! The only way I could describe my feelings to my bestie was "The Beast is rough at the end, but the angle of the car and how the track is laid out doesn't make you feel like you might slip a disc."

 The Voyage is breathtaking to ride, and I hope to do it again soon. But man, I had went into it not watching a POV really clearly-- so I kind of had no idea.

[johnjniehaus]

I was there in Oct 2023 on a slightly rainy day and nobody was there. Could lap anything in the park but unfortunately I already had a cold and the weather didn't help me feel any better. I was constantly having to blow my nose and was getting chills so I only stayed maybe 3 hours. Got all the major credits (of course good gravy wasn't open yet). Voyage instantly became my #1 woodie knocking The Beast off its long time pedestal. I loved the legend as well and didn't think it was too rough. Not as smooth as voyage but I didn't find it uncomfortable in any way. The Raven on the other hand was a piece of garbage it was so rough. Only did it once and said that's enough. I don't understand why people love it so much...its super short and rough. Maybe it was better years ago when they first built it but in its current state, it's pretty bad! 

[jbeast]

I just got back from a two day visit to Holiday World with my youngest son a couple weeks ago. The Voyage absolutely rocks! Not as smooth as it once was, but very re-ridable for me anyway. Just truly, one of the best coaster experiences out there! Got 22 rides that day! I cannot get enough of that ride! Legend was running pretty good too...definitely rougher but still a wild fun ride. Raven on the other hand...not so much. First, as I have gotten bigger with age, those trains feel so small to fit into. And it was way rougher than I remembered from a few years ago when I last visited. The bonfire, a couple brews and comfy bed at the house we stayed at close to the park was much needed!

Spent the first day enjoying the waterpark. Trying to keep up with my 18 year old walking up all those stairs was fun! Ha! Those water coasters are so much fun though! Wildebeast is my favorite there and such a blast! Cheetah Chase was awesome too! Hopefully the new addition to KI's waterpark will be close to those.