Photo TR: Holiday World (5-15-07)

[JNoonez]

A minor epiphany... or What a Difference Two Days Make...

 

After visiting HW on the 12th, and wrestling with my lackluster feelings for the place, it took a second full-day visit on Tuesday to cement my opinion on the park and its coasters.

 

Undeniably, I think my opinions of the park were filtered through the lens of review after stellar review written shortly after ERTs and enthusiast events when the park would be naturally running at its prime. Stepping back, and taking the parts of the park for what they truly are during normal operating hours, I have a clearer view of what the park actually is on my own terms. In short, it's a small park with big aspirations, some of which are fulfilled, and some yet to be realized.

 

After a wonderful visit to Splashin' Safari, I'm convinced this is where the park shines the brightest. Simply put, it is a *fantastic* waterpark, and I'm not even a huge waterpark fan. Interestingly enough, it was only when I visited the waterpark that I started to understand what the fuss was about in regards to the park's friendliness. Every single guard and attendant I encountered in the waterpark was exceedingly friendly and helpful, even though they were severely understaffed. It really did serve in stark contrast to the ops and employees on the dry side who, even after a second visit, seemed uninterested and apathetic. The young woman running the Midnight Ride was downright rude. So, yes, the waterpark gets a whole-hearted thumbs-up.

 

I think the fact that the dry park has three major wooden coasters obscures the perspective that it really is a very small-scale theme park with very few marquee attractions other than the coasters themselves. Take away Raven, Legend, and Voyage, and the park has a lineup equivalent to my local parks (Compounce, or even better, Canobie, which you can almost compare ride for ride when the coasters are subtracted). When compared with parks of that size and caliber, I think HW actually fares much better, and the coasters certainly push them way over the top. Tuesday's one-train op on all coasters was perfectly acceptable since the crowd was never large enough to warrant it. The dry park, too, was woefully understaffed. Thankfully, they made sure all of the rides were running, but it was depressing to see at least half of the food and game concessions closed. Running a park before when a majority of your workforce is unavailable is tough, and I do think HW is just able to pull it off successfully. I mean, the park couldn't have made much money on Tuesday with a hundred or so cars in lot, but I'm of course really pleased that they were open for a second visit.

 

To the coasters... I'll admit I've had a slight change of heart on The Voyage. After ten or twelve rides yesterday, I can definitely say the ride has moved up to at least top-ten standing for me. The single train they had on yesterday felt tighter and smoother than Saturday's rides, and I did spot some grease on the track. The ride was running fast and furious, and I did get airtime over the entire crest of the second hill--a spot where none was to be found on my first rides this past Saturday. I came to enjoy the ride's aggression a bit more, too. Once I knew where to anticipate the two or three most aggressive spots, I was able to let go and enjoy the ride more each time. Thunderhead and El Toro are certainly more my style of coaster, but I definitely appreciated The Voyage much more on this second visit.

 

The Raven was running well, but The Legend was an unfortunate bore. The first drop is great (except for the pullout, where there's a nasty pothole that kinked my back up pretty well), but the rest of the ride just feels a bit sleepy. I think if everything past the far turnaround were taken a bit closer to the ground, the ride would be a winner, but as it stands, it's definitely the weakest overall experience of the three. Granted, I'd rather ride The Legend than a great number of wooden coasters, so there you go.

 

I think the hype surrounding the park really did cloud my judgement during my first visit. On my second visit, I appreciated what the park 'is' instead of what it 'isn't'. Would I ever visit again? Yes, but probably during an event to get the ultimate HW experience as has been touted. I'm still perhaps not as enthusiastic about the park as some, but I will gladly admit that the park's strengths are really, very strong, and its few weaknesses are not prominent enough to take away from my enjoyment of the place, at all.

 

I must also mention how great Paula from the park's PR department is! I e-mailed a few questions before my trip, and expecting a form response, I was really impressed to receive a personal response that was kind and helpful. She's even a Massachusetts native! I can only imagine the number of e-mail requests the park gets daily, and I definitely appreciated the level of effort on their end in that respect.

 

I'll have pictures from the trip up later tonight (5-16). Thanks for reading, I've really enjoyed posting these TRs.

 

--Jarrad

Obligatory park logo shot. Welcome! You are sad-and-pathetic...

Thanks for reading.

Four days, six park visits, twelve new coasters. Sunburned, but happy.

Raven... through the fence. And the supports!

Quite a sight.

Great music in this area. X-Files theme, anyone?

Great vantage points in Splashin' Safari.

Sad... Check. Pathetic... Check.

Also an imposing sight.

Gulp.

Great rapids ride.

Heartbeat getting quicker.

Applause, applause. In my near-heatstroked state, I thought I saw the hands clapping.

Deserted park. No complaints here.

One of the few good vantage points to photograph Raven. This thing is buried in the woods!

[spaceace12]

If you really want to see what the park is like in full staff, go in june! Even on a weekday, if the crowds warrent it, they do all train ops. I have seen them pull the second train off raven after crowds go to other coasters then pull the second train back on later. Glad you enjoyed your visit. And yes, paula does a excellent job.

[Raven Maven]

She's even a Massachusetts native!

 

Actually ... I'm a native New Yorker. But my grade-school years were in Massachusetts.

 

Glad you gave us a second try ... yes, it's a huge struggle to be open this week. (You may not have looked across the road to our Legend Lot, as it had scores of school buses in it, hence the compelling reason to be open.)

 

Paula

[ginzo]

It really did serve in stark contrast to the ops and employees on the dry side who, even after a second visit, seemed uninterested and apathetic. The young woman running the Midnight Ride was downright rude. So, yes, the waterpark gets a whole-hearted thumbs-up.

 

I think your expectations from the ops might be a little high. Have you ever been to a park that has truly awful ops? *cough* *cough* Mt. Olympus.

[Manic Monte]

Whew!

 

I'm glad you gave the park another chance, minus the hype mentality. Advanced hype really does in part, kill part of the experience imo. Holiday World is best taken as a small, charm of a park with 3 top tier woodies and a killer water park.

 

After being underwhelmed by Superman at SFNE, while the rest of the online coaster community claimed it as the second coming, I've learned not to buy into hype, and just show up with the intention of having fun. Just because a bunch of people proclaim something to be #1, doesn't mean it's going to work out that way for me.

 

Holiday World isn't my favorite park (that honor is shared by Europa Park and IOA), but it's a VERY relaxing, comfortable place to visit, and the water park is fantastic!

 

Plus, being able to ride Voyage and Raven in the same place is my idea of coaster heaven!

[supertrooper]

I have enjoyed reading your Trip Reports...they have been some of the most well written ones that I have seen. That's all.

[spaceace12]

No pictures of Bakuli after all the praise of the water parks? Nice photos though.

 

Last year on closing weekend, the station of the Voyage looked like the photo of the raven's station.

[kennywood!007]

Voyage looks so awesome!! Great pictures!