HolidayWorldFTW

Awww! That's so great to see and hear! It's just so awesome to see her grow into many different roles in the park. And you can tell her, that I LOVE her HoliBlog posts. Seems as if she has learned a thing or two from you as well! Such a a amazing group of people you Holiday World folks are! So proud to say that its in my neck of the woods!

LOL Paula those two pics are awesome side by side!

I just read Leah's new holiblog post. Wow all kinds of misdirection and redirection can be taken from her blog, but two things stood out as being two things we can for sure bet one. This is ONE big thing. And she really stressed the ONE and the BIG. She also said this ONE BIG THING was "by far" their largest investment ever. So whatever it is, it's gonna be "massive" (her own words) and VERY VERY expensive with this ONE item costing more than their entire thanksgiving expansion. It has me pretty excited all over again, lol. Also I noticed that Leah really reminds me of her father which is so awesome to see. I know will would be proud and is probably looking down on them from heaven with a huge smile.

After todays clue... I myself wonder if this isn't a wooden coaster of some sort. But I still maintain wooden or steel, I think some of you are way underestimating whatever this "thing" is. HW Probably has more buying resources than what any of us think... even if they don't use all of said buying resource. A lot of you speak of what the coaster enthusiests want vs the general public. I can tell you from living in the area myself that the GP LOVES how intense The Voyage is. They get that coaster nuts love all their wooden coasters but they(the GP) are ready and wanting something more. It's not just a weird coincedence that their two water coasters have the longest lines out of both parks but probably the largest capacity. The GP around here (which lets be completely honest, is the majorithy of their business) is ready for more.I KNOW this to be true. I know HW is all about families and it will always be that way, but FAMILIES are wantilng something more even. I just think we all need not underestimate or over estimate whatever this is. HW knows what they need, they know what the can afford, NONE of us can even come close to knowing for sure either of those. Whatever this is, its going to be EXACTLY what they need. Because think about it... when did they ever add anything that they didn't need or didn't help their business? This is a company that makes VERY few mistakes... I don't even think PP/ Giraffica was a big mistake. Aside from its downtime and lack of the big water splash, the ride was actually VERY fun! Heck the ride up to the top was almost a ride all in of itself!

Wow.. the quality of their webcams is amazing... I remember the days when you seen a "refreshed" image every min or so, but these things are as live as the news.... and being able to take control of the splash cam? Thats pretty spiffy! As for the construction site.... all I can say is wow. I don't remember them having this much activity this early when they build the voyage. Also, that constrution site is HUGE!

20 million in expansion costs would not surprise me one bit at all. I think people are under estimating HW and the Koch family in general... Especially when it comes to resources. They don't watch what the spend because they HAVE to, they do it because it's good business sense most of the time.

Ahh gotcha. I was thinking rides not projects. Makes complete sense now. You know thinking about it, those two companies have to be REALLY crazy to screw something up with HW. I know they didn't do it intentionally, but if I were working on something with HW I would make DARN sure I delivered what I promised. HW, and the Kochs in general are known in this area to be VERY easy and pleasurable to do business with. But you still gotta do what you say they are going to do. Intamin and TGG really screwed up with a company I would not want to screw up with in this industry.... HW being one of the few parks(especially privately owned) thats still growing at a pretty good clip. Anyway I'm with you on that its prolly going to be something thats really not around in this region. Depending on who you ask, Dollywood and even Kings Island are places that people around here do talk about visiting occasionally. Although in the past I'd say 10 years I've heard WAY less talk about going to those other parks (even Kentucky Kingdom when it was open under Six Flags) and most people feel extremely lucky to have a place like Holiday World close by. I also thing because of these changes HW might be thinking about moving into some more thrill type rides. They have conditioned everyone here with the Raven, then the Legend, and now the Voyage. Plus people aren't going to those other parks mentioned nearly as much. Of course HW will always be all about families and it should be. But I could see how and why they would shift a bit more to more thrill rides. This region is ready for it now.

What is the other ride they got that didn't deliver? I know PP/Giraffica but I didn't realize they had gotten anything else that was considered as much of a failure?

LOL Paula, your the most awesome and amazing PR person for any company ever! Anyone else smell a clue in her statement? Lol

I live in Evansville and as said already, Jasper probably really is your best bet for lodging and food outside of Evansville. If you don't mind a 45 min drive then here in Evansville you can get any hotel from any chain and any food places you could imagine. If you really are going on a weekend I doubt you'll be able to get a room at Santa's lodge. There was a time when it was pretty easy as not many people from outside the region would visit the park enough to make a dent there, but in the past 10 years or so it's become almost impossible. There is always Lake Rudolph right next door to HW. I have stayed in their RVs before and they are quite nice. Of course you could always camp too. It's a Really nice camp/RV park and they will shuttle you to the front gates of HW. I Hope that at some point HW uses that Holiday World Hotel trademark they have and build their own hotel. Honestly since the local economy around Santa Claus hasn't taken up the cause yet, it's really becoming necessary.

I still think today's clue is a direct reference to a barrel roll element.

When I seen the two pics accompaning today's clue the first thing that instantly popped in my mind was "barrel roll". I think in ine clue sometime back the word barrel was actually used. Could that straight section of footers that easily visible be for a barrel roll element?

Wow these storms they have had as of late sound really scary... Not sure it sounds like a family ride lol. One thing is for sure, I'm glad I wasn't a pilgrim on that voyage, but I sure will take on whatever it is HW is constructing! A launch coaster would be super awesome. The GP here has been after HW for more thrills, a steel coaster, and things that go upside down. Anyone have any new photos? Also anyone else put together their shredded paper? Was curious if it was the same pic for all once out back together.

I seriously don't expect ANY part of this announcement to be generic at all, never did.... ESPECIALLY since a coaster is involved. Holiday World excels at not doing anything generic when it comes to major rides. With Thanksgiving they REALLY stepped up their themeing game...and have been doing so ever since. I bet the "tech" has to do with ride technology. Either in the headline coaster or/and any other smaller rides they add in this expansion. Remember, the coaster isn't going to be the only part of this expansion...... I just have a gut feeling that this is going to include some VERY VERY cool and nice addition(s) in the form of other ride(s) or attractions. For whatever reason I really think they have something up there sleeve that no one has even considered at all. We gotta remember that 13 mil or whatever it was not only got HW The Voyage, but also a whole new themed area, a new dark ride, Plymouth Rock Cafe (even though it was not completed until a year later) and many many many other smaller park improvements. This expansion is BIGGER than that... and I don't think by just a little bit either.. I really think we are all thinking too small. But again, maybe I"m wrong.

Holiday World expanded and grew like crazy when KK was a six flags park. HW also expanded and grew before KK was a six flags park. HW and KK are no strangers to each other and both will coexist just fine as they are both unique to each other and offer something different. Sure there is a level of competition between the two but I think the media makes it out to be a WAY bigger thing than it actually is. Here in Evansville we are in a unique position were we can go about 3 hours west to St. Louis for a six flags park or 2 hours east for what was a six flags park for a while, and then HW only 45 min away. There really never has been a shortage of theme parks in the broad area region. This isn't going to hurt HW one bit.

Glad your having fun with it too! And yes FTW = for the win... As holiday world always wins in my book!

Paula I just want to say you guys have caused QUITE the stir around Evansville (not online) your PR genius has for sure worked. No one is talking about KK thats for sure lol. Brilliant microsite and you've done amazing with the clues. You guys have really planned and executed this very very very well. World class, just like everything you guys do. I hope you get a kick out of us going crazy and trying to guess, lol, you deserve some fun out of all of this,lol. Thank you for what you do!

I don't want to come off as a back-seat moderator here, but I feel this is a bad time and place to be trying to go behind the park's back and dig up info. We have a representative from the park right here with us, and the park is going well out of its way to create a fun and elaborate teaser campaign for the enjoyment of enthusiasts and park-watchers. We are a mere 24 days from the announcement and if one was to uncover everything now, I think it would just make the community look bad. There's a thin line somewhere between intense research and speculation and just flat-out undermining the park's PR work. I know at some point soon we'll probably figure it out just from the footers and prep work, but that's different in my book than exploiting a legal filing or web slip-up. I still feel really bad about how the Outlaw Run announcement got botched, even though that was pretty much entirely the park's fault for thinking they could merely not link directly to the announcement page and no one would find it. I'm so so sorry. I feel awful now. The LAST thing I want to do is do anything to hurt HW. I love that place and its people more than you know. I really hope I didn't do anything to undermine anything and I sincerely apologize. I just get so excited about their announcements... I get wrapped up in it sometimes. I'm so so so sorry if I've spoiled your fun, also Paula - if you see this I give you and all at HW my most sincere and deepest apologies.

Ahhh dang it. I didn't have the patience to research more into that to see if that was a legit company not a part of Koch Development...

Well I seen something pertaining to "skywheel" ... Would fit SOME of the clues, it's something HW is lacking and needs, and they could do it BIG. I'm still pretty dead set on that not all of the 66daysatsea clues are pertaining to just one part of the expansion.

Well actually I did see the Holiday World Hotel....which is still active btw and Will did mentioning the possibility of doing lodging in the future if the local economy did produce it.. So I could see it as maybe a part of this announcement. What I found whats a bit "covered up" so to speak which I believe they have used similar tactics in the past to keep things from coming out. Also what I found wasn't a coaster related ride....however I think many of us expected more than one new ride addition. I really don't want to spoil anyone's fun in any of this though. Give me the ok and I'll spill it.

Ok I retract my previous comments as it seems I'm probably off the mark there, but that's ok because it wasn't pertaining to the major addition anyway. Sorry for posting so much and so late (early). I'm still on medical leave from my stroke and sleep is sometimes difficult so I spent all night looking for clues and reading peoples guesses. I really have to give Paula Werne aka Raven Maven credit. Her clues are....cryptic at best. I know she reads here, but I wonder if she gets enjoyment out of us wondering and guessing and changing our minds on this new expansion? Paula - care to throw us a bone? Has anyone on any website or media guessed any part correctly or even gotten close? This is the longest 66 days ever!!

I think I found something while doing a U.S. Trademark search. Not gonna say what I found in case I'm wrong and also out of respect for those who might want to be surprised. This is for something not related to the project photos you guys have all been talking about, but possibly another part of this expansion. Had to edit because I found more.... Just... Wow...that's all I gotta say

Wow that's CRAZY close to Hyena Falls. No wonder they can't let the campaign go beyond 66 days...it's right there for all to see. This project looks to be HUGE! And this appears to be just ONE ride. I don't think this is going to be a one ride expansion. I don't think this project is just going to be a million or two over the thanksgiving expansion. I think we are in for some very nice and amazing surprises. Which brings me it my next point, I was thinking this morning how everyone seems to be using the 66daysatsea clues to try to guess this one main ride.... I bet some of these clues aren't even pertaining to the main ride we are all talking about. Some of these clues could be for other rides or park improvements that are a all apart of this expansion. I just wonder of we aren't all just thinking too small. HW doesn't play games when it comes to stuff like this, and this is their chance to leave KK in the dust and show everyone that the family issues in the past couple of years have changed nothing at the park. This is kinda their we are back and better than ever statement. And you can be sure that this is something that was for sure a part of Will's original plan. Wow I'm just super excited now!

Just curious what everyone thought about the clue from yesterday with the two pics of the "deck"? Honestly I seen all kinds of stuff in the images.... So really it could be anything.. Was curious if anyone spotted anything significant?