iheartHW

I love comparing Holiday World maps each year too!!

I'm pretty sure that's around the area where Lake Rudolph has been constructing a mini waterpark with some old slides they bought from HW. I could be wrong on that though, since I didn't go there last time I stayed at Lake Rudolph. Also someone's been lurking on this forum and asked what HW was doing behind Jungle Racer on FB and Paula responded confirming that it's Lake Rudolph's property. I think Lake Rudolph's mini waterpark might be finished, but I haven't been there lately to know for sure. On Lake Rudolph's website it says they are building 20 new Holiday Cottages, and replacing 20 RVs. Sounds like they might have started working on the new cabins. EDIT TO ADD: I just noticed that Lake Rudolph's website says stay tuned for another major announcement coming soon! http://www.lakerudolph.com/new-for-2016/

Does anyone know what the area is that kind of goes through the middle of Holiday World in the GIS map? I have been wondering about that for a while, but have never been able to figure it out for sure. You can see it by looking at the lines that separate properties on the GIS map. It looks like maybe it is supposed to be a road, but it isn't really a road. One end is by Holidog's Fun Town, and the other end is behind the Zinga, and it just kind of runs right through the middle of Holiday World.

I got in The Wave yesterday, and overheard someone say "Those people are still stuck on The Voyage!". I looked up and a full train was stopped at the end, right before going back into the station. I am not sure how long they had been there at that point, but it was at least another 5 - 10 minutes before they moved into the station. Then some empty trains were sent out. I probably wouldn't even have noticed it if I didn't hear someone else mention it, and not sure how long it was down because I got distracted enjoying Splashin' Safari. We left Splashin' Safari a little before 6 and decided to head to Thanksgiving to get a pretzel. The pretzel stand ended up being closed, but I noticed someone in a yellow shirt standing where The Voyage goes over the walkway into Thanksgiving and looking up at the brakes or track or something every time a train passed over. It looked like he was keeping track of something, but also kind of trying to pretend like he wasn't doing anything. The Voyage was running normally at the time, with people riding, so I don't think anything was wrong. But that area could have possibly been what caused it to be down earlier in the day.

I'd like your take on this since it was a fresh experience for you. The helix had some hella intense laterals, right? How did the final three turns feel compared to that? Would you call them regular GCI-style "hardly there" laterals or did they actually have any kind of punch? I felt a "punch" and also a major "pop" among other things when I rode with a full train. Not so much when I rode with only 5 people in the train. Both rides were fun, but the full train ride was amazing!

I rode The Legend again today. When I rode it the other day there were only 5 people in the train. Today the train was full, and I think that made a huge difference. I liked it the other day, but I loved it today! I saw them ringing the bell today, but I could barely hear it. Still no howl, but I am sure it will be back soon.

I rode The Legend on Sunday. It is very smooth and so much more enjoyable to me. They did a great job with the improvements! I didn't hear the howl or bell, but I am sure they will be back. The new tunnel was not finished or themed yet. Can't wait to see the theming.

Double post. Sorry!

This is not as exciting as flywheels, but I just noticed that they renamed the canoe ride Tippecanoes. (Sorry if this was something that was already announced. It is possible I missed it.) 2016 is Indiana's bicentennial year and the name change is related to that. They could put the kids bumper boats next to the canoes if they are still planning on bringing them back and renaming them Water Bumpaloes. I think Water Bumpaloes would fit the bicentennial theme. I saw a holiblog post not too long ago about a bicentennial themed carousel horse. 4th of July is also getting the Freedom Train / 70th Anniversary display. My imagination is running wild thinking of what else they could be planning for 4th of July for next season and also in the next few years. There is a bicentenial torch relay that will be going through every county in Indiana in September. I read that the torch relay was going to stop at Holiday World when it goes through Spencer County, so they might have some kind of bicentennial event for that. I also read that the Town of Santa Claus was wanting to build a trail between Holiday World and Lincoln's boyhood home as a bicentennial project and they planned to have rental bikes for the trail.

Thank you! That makes sense. I saw the generators running all season, but I never knew if the generators were being used to power and/or backup the flywheels, or if they were using the generators instead of the flywheels. I noticed that the generator trailers were gone (or moved) when I drove by in December.

On season pass holder preview night there was a very loud motor noise coming from the Will Power building. I figured it was probably the flywheel, but I don't know for sure what it was. It didn't bother me too much, and it didn't sound like anything was wrong. I was just surprised at how loud it was. I got stuck in line near the Will Power building for almost 2 hours, so that might be why it sounded so loud that night. I have gone back several times since then and have not heard the sound at all since that first night. I have been curious what happened to the loud sound. Was it not really as loud as I remembered? Did they sound proof the building to reduce noise? Was something different about the flywheel that night that made more noise? Maybe the noise was from a generator? Did they move a generator farther away? Why? What's the significance? I don't know! It really doesn't matter. I am just curious what it was.

I finally got a chance to listen to the podcast and it was great! I was so happy for the update on Freedom Train! I am always super excited about the new rides at Holiday World, but the older rides will always hold a special place in my heart. I can't wait for the next podcast.

I have been saying for a few years that I want The Legend howl as my text ringtone. I hope they add it to the list. But either way I am excited about the podcasts and love the ringtones they have made available so far! I am hoping they have some nostalgic things planned for the podcast and around the park for their 70th season. Like maybe displaying a restored Freedom Train coach. If they have any other old rides in storage it would be cool to have a displays of cars from other retired rides. Or maybe just some signs around the park showing what used to be there.

I just noticed that the webcams are working again (they had not been working for me for a few days). The splash cam has some new views of The Legend.

I am super excited about everything they are doing! I can't wait until next season! These videos with Leah and Lauren always make me happy because you can see how much they love the park and the coasters. I have never listened to a Podcast before, but I will have to learn how to so I can listen to Holiday World podcasts.