disneygurlz2s Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 So, for the third summer in a row, Sammi and I loaded up at the butt crack of dawn and headed 3 hours southwest to Holiday World. This year, it was with a bit of mixed emotion... Sad, because my mom Max, who accompanied us the past two seasons and LOVED the park, passed away less than two weeks ago... Excited, however, because we would FINALLY get to meet Robb and Elissa (and baby KidTums!) and be a part of the TPR wackiness we have been following online for the past few years. I woke up at 4 am (my husband says I am worse than a little kid) and we were on the road by 6:15. Samantha insisted we make our "traditional" stop at Cracker Barrel in Corydon, IN for breakfast, since that is what we had done the past two years with my mom. With breakfast out of the way, it was on to Holiday World. As soon as we approached the gate we saw all the TPRers with their blue backpacks and I instructed Sam to look for the stroller.... I have to admit to being pretty excited to meet KidTums (and her parents, too!) Since Paula at HW had arranged for the tour to have a few minutes of Voyage goodness before the park opened to the rest of us, Sammi and I caught up with the group in the Thanksgiving section and immediately had an awesome ride on Voyage. I LOVE that coaster. It has quickly become my favorite! Afterwards we checked out the new Turkey Whirl, and then were repeatedly beaten at Gobbler Getaway by Elissa and her dad. Sam and I spent the rest of the morning checking out the Fourth of July section and Holidog's Fun town, where the Howler kiddie coaster was quickly taken over by TPR's international visitors! At lunch, Elissa asked Sam if she would be interested in joining the tour group on the walk back of the Voyage. By now, Elissa could have asked Samantha to jump off the Holiday World water tower and Samantha would say "Yes!", because I could tell Samantha had found herself a new BFF. It was really cool to go "behind the scenes" as Sammi called it, and we got some great viewpoints and pictures. It was also a chance to meet a few members and start figuring out who was who. Following the walkback, we hit the Voyage for another ride and then Sammi and I headed to the waterpark for a few hours because it was HOT! HOT! HOT! The new Bakuli waterslide is a lot of fun, but Sammi's favorite remains the Bahari wave pool which is just brutal. I don't think I have been in a wilder wave pool ever! After dinner, Elissa promised to demonstrate for Samantha the proper peach basket ball-throwing technique. Of course, this totally wiped out nine years of my telling this child "No one can win that game", because Elissa easily scored a win for her new BFF. By now I could have just left the park and Sammi wouldn't have missed me........ We rode several other rides throughout the day and evening, and had planned to cap off the evening with Legend and Raven. Legend was up first, and frankly, it was brutal. In a BAD way. Two years ago, when we first visited, I preferred Legend to Raven, but on this night, it reminded me too much of the Beast in that I was concerned about a brain bleed. We headed next for Raven, only to be denied.... it was not running due to a maintenance problem we were told. So, with darkness upon us, Sammi and I began chugging towards Voyage, only to pass Robb and several others who informed us it, too, was down. Although it appeared both had reopened before the night was over, I knew we had a long drive ahead of us, and I was getting a bit of a headache. So, we capped off the night with a spin on the flyers, which, for the first time, had NO line at all, and Samantha (who up to that point failed to understand the glory of the Flying Scooter) enjoyed her ride a lot. With a quick stop to tell Elissa, Kristen and the Whites (Elissa's folks are super NICE people! Her dad is a riot!!) goodnight, we hit the gift shop for some quick shopping and then headed home to Cincinnati. I'll say it again and again... for a great theme park experience, head to Santa Claus, Indiana. The Kochs deserve every award they get for hosting such an outstanding family park! Shari "Thanks to all for such a great day" Shoufler (and Sammi, too!) Sammi and her new BFF (and her peach basket prize). Thanks Elissa!! "No one ever wins.....er, nevermind" The Alveys get a pet for Kristen! More Voyage goodness! The backside of NINETY DEGREES! And coming back out the other side! Into a tunnel..... Samantha, Super DuckTums and NINETY DEGREES! Sammi and Super DuckTums loved going "behind the scenes". Sammi's favorite flat ride, Revolution. KidTums meets her new pal, DuckTums! TPR's international vistors were not about to miss a credit! Sammi appears upset to be the only KID on the KIDDIE coaster! The new Turkey Whirl! Loved it!! With this on the welcome board it was easy to know there would be a fun day ahead!
ParkTrips Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 How many tries did Elissa take to get that prize? Nice photos! I'm glad yall had fun!
thefitness Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 Wow I can't believe I read all of that! Cool TR! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I'm sorry to hear about the loss in your family but I'm sure she would’ve wanted you to continue with your "tradition". Anyways, that’s awesome you guys were able to go on the walk back with the group. Thanks for the Pictures and TR!
cfc Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 I have got to check out Indiana one of these days; you know, before TPR, I doubt that I ever would've made that statement (mainly out of pure ignorance). Glad you had a good time!
spaceace12 Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 I am personally hoping for a raven and legend walkback next year at hwn, because the voyage one rocked at hwn. I love how everyone here loves hw, but on one of my car mb, they were like HW sucks, I would rather goto kings island.
Ed Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 Who knew throwing a ball could make you sweat that much. Out of shape!
Skramp Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 Sounds like a lot of fun!! Glad you got to hang with the TPR crew. But I gotta ask, what's up with El's shorts in that photo? Didn't those got out of style with parachute pants and such back in the 80's? Haha, lol, but that's cool. Woozers!!! Those are some great shorts Elissa
ginzo Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 I am personally hoping for a raven and legend walkback next year at hwn, because the voyage one rocked at hwn. I love how everyone here loves hw, but on one of my car mb, they were like HW sucks, I would rather goto kings island. It must be all those blows to the head that makes a person prefer Kings Island over Holiday World. Not that HW is the greatest park ever, but KI doesn't even have ONE good coaster. Tiny little Raven whomps all the coasters at KI.
robbalvey Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 <> Hey losers!!! What's the deal making fun of me! First off those were my board shorts from the waterpark, second...I was wet from the waterpark!!!! Hey Ladies!!! It was awesome meeting you, can't wait to see you at Kings Island!
Groteslurf Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 Loved reading your TR. Seems you had a fun time.
ginzo Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 I have got to check out Indiana one of these days; you know, before TPR, I doubt that I ever would've made that statement (mainly out of pure ignorance). Glad you had a good time! There's more than corn in Indiana, Chuck!
disneygurlz2s Posted August 5, 2007 Author Posted August 5, 2007 How many tries did Elissa take to get that prize? I believe she got it on her second try... I know they each had six balls, which still defeats my "mother knows best" theory of that game being impossible. Samantha is not going to let me forget it either!
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