Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread

[Vonni]

^ I could see a St. Patricks day area. Or maybe a New Year area.

[Guy T. Koepp]

Valentine's Day! They could have a shooting dark ride themed to Cupid. You would shoot arrows into people/things and make them fall in love. The points would multiply when you shot people that were compatible. Like for instance, if you shot a boy and a girl, you would get 100 points. But if you shot a boy and an armoire, you would only get 5. Like chicks and shoes would be 1000. Gay man and a Marilyn dress 500. Bull dyke and combat boots 750. The possibilities are endless.

[HWLover]

I think what would be smart is to add a new Easter section, and it could either all be a new kiddie area or just part of it. They could make like Easter Bunnies Eggland and put a bunch of jr rides there, and maybe move some from their others to free up more space.

[kyleparks77]

^ I could see a St. Patricks day area. Or maybe a New Year area.

Since its 2015 and everything is "offensive" or "culturally insensitive", I don't see St Patrick's Day happening

[Midgetman82]

^ I could see a St. Patricks day area. Or maybe a New Year area.

Since its 2015 and everything is "offensive" or "culturally insensitive", I don't see St Patrick's Day happening

From that type of thinking, the Thanksgiving area should be completely changed to something different!

[RCF]

^ I could see a St. Patricks day area. Or maybe a New Year area.

Since its 2015 and everything is "offensive" or "culturally insensitive", I don't see St Patrick's Day happening

From that type of thinking, the Thanksgiving area should be completely changed to something different!

Thanksgiving isn't offensive because America gets to stuff their face with more food than they can handle.

 

'Murica

[tidecat]

So the park is starting to talk a bit about 2016...

 

Kind of intriguing. Nobody has really talked about the survey they sent out a couple months ago. There was a question on there about them possibly adding a new event in the future. Perhaps a Thanksgiving event....maybe even Christmas. There was handful of others, but those were two that stuck out to me. Should be interesting to see what they have in store for the future.

November weather in the Ohio Valley can be unpredictable, but with the success of Thinderbird this would be the year to launch a "Happy Thanksgiving Weekends" like the park does for Halloween. If area schools let out for Veterans Day it might even be possible to open then.

[iheartHW]

I hope they have a Christmas event. Every December Lake Rudolph Campground gets turned into The Santa Claus Land of Lights, which is a drive thru light show. We go to that a couple times a year and I always wish that Holiday World was open, even if they only opened a small section of the park. I know that it isn't possible for Holiday World to be open year round, but maybe they could have some kind of event going on during December. There isn't much to do in Santa Claus, Indiana in December other than go to the light show and then stop by the Christmas Store.

 

I like to look through newspaper archives in my spare time and I have been reading old articles about Santa Claus Land lately. I don't have the articles in front of me, but I think I read that Santa Claus Land used to be open from Easter through Christmas Eve every year. I understand why the season was shortened as the park has changed over the years, but maybe extending the season to open a month sooner, or staying open a month longer is not totally out of the question for the future. A longer operating season is at the top of my wish list, but I know it might not be possible. No matter what they have planned I am sure it will be great.

[kyleparks77]

I find it odd that we haven't heard about anything for 2016 yet. Nothing big, of course, but wouldn't you expect SOMETHING announced by now? Even if it's as simple as a new pathway to enhance people flow. And that leads me to another thought, a couple of years ago I believe that announced the parking lots would be paved. It seems like that has gotten pushed back now. I would assume it would be because of the Thunderbird investment (paving an area that large is a huge financial undertaking), and really, the small amount of time people spend in the parking lot doesn't make it a huge priority investment-wise.

[Vonni]

^ Personally, I don't mind the parking lots as is. Like you said, your vehicle just sits there. And they are exceptionally maintained anyway, and I'm sure at a much cheaper expense than a paved lot. Besides, paving the lots could result in the loss of free parking to cover the costs.

[ZeroGravity55]

The parking lots will get paved. I believe they're under an ordinance from town of Santa Claus to have them paved in the next several years.

[ajfelice]

Paved parking lots are a nice touch, but holy crap are they expensive when you already have very little paved. The cost of asphalt as well as the drainage system required is pretty sky high. Thankfully Holiday World seems to do a good job of keeping the lots relatively smooth and maintained to avoid excessive muddiness or puddles during inclement weather. The main downside being a little dusty on a warm, windy day. Dust aside, I will take a well-maintained gravel lot over a grassy, muddy lot any day of the week. I would much rather see Holiday World continue to develop themselves as a regional draw with their unique lineup of rides, slides, and attractions.

 

Perhaps a gradual project of paving lots in sections to defray the cost over time and keep more capital available for in-park improvements.

[ZeroGravity55]

^ That's exactly what they were trying to propose at this time last year. There is nothing else on the matter after this, so I'm assuming the park got what they wanted.

 

http://www.townofsantaclaus.com/joomla/index.php/2013-02-06-00-11-46/2013-07-25-13-21-14/2014/310-november-24-2014

[ZeroGravity55]

So the park has started posting some 2016 info on their website in regards to e-ticket prices and the 2016 park schedule. I'm pretty sure all the e-ticket prices have dropped by at least a dollar for next season. I believe a fully operational day this past season was $39.99. In 2016, it's going to be $38.99. Another change I noticed is that they won't be staying open until 9 p.m. Sunday-Friday until the middle of June next year. This past season, that started on the first day of June. They also won't be doing that weird thing where they end daily operation mid-week the second week of August next year. Just some minor stuff I noticed.

 

Here's the link to the 2016 calendar:

 

http://www.holidayworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016-Holiday-World-and-Splashin-Safari-Schedule.pdf

[ragerunner2]

They could branch out and do areas themed to international holidays from other countries.

[Nrthwnd]

They could branch out and do areas themed to international holidays from other countries.

 

Oooooo Cinco de Mayo Land.

 

[Guy T. Koepp]

St. Patty's Day. It would give them a good excuse to start unlimited beer taps all through the park.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

They could branch out and do areas themed to international holidays from other countries.

 

Oooooo Cinco de Mayo Land.

 

They already have plenty of American holidays!

 

St. Patty's Day. It would give them a good excuse to start unlimited beer taps all through the park.

I like the way you think.

 

Personally, I would love to see a Diwali area--it'd be totally unique, and since I am much closer to Indiana than India, I probably won't ever get to experience the real thing. That said, probably never going to happen. How many people in the Midwest really know what Diwali is?

[SFOGdude25]

Anyone else think Voyage could really benefit from PTC's new 360 trains? I personally would love to see that as I think Voyage's layout would work so much better with 2-seater cars since the track has so many tight twists and transitions.

[ZeroGravity55]

^ I'm on the fence about it. While I'm sure they might reduce maintenance costs, I'm not confident that they'll deliver a smoother ride experience unless the ride is completely re-tracked. These two-seater cars seem to pick up more of the bumps/potholes along the track than the 4 seaters.

[gp1086]

Mini and delayed trip report from my first visit ever to Holiday World and Santa Claus, Indiana this past July (went Friday, 7/24). Overall had a great time and thanks for suggestions before I went!

 

Good

 

- Rides are fun. Spent most of the day actually in the waterpark, where lines were pretty long. For coasters, loved Thunderbird, Legend, and Voyage (missed Raven). For slides, Mammouth was fantastic, Wildebeast was great, and liked Zinga.

 

- Food and park reasonably priced. Perhaps I'm immune to inflated food prices living in NYC, but didn't seem all that bad.

 

- Locker system was great and easy to use, especially for the watepark.

 

- Enjoyed the holiday theming in the park.

 

Bad

 

- Why does the waterpark close so early? There was still literally 1-1.5 hrs of light left, the lines were bumping, and the slides were being shut down. Womp womp.

 

- Town of Santa Claus, IN. I would have expected better theming for a Christmas town. Was let down by the lack of holiday spirit from the few stores in town I went to. Was looking for a legit Christmas-in-July experience.

 

Other Observation

 

- Boy am I glad I went to the park on Friday (7/24). When driving out on 7/25, the line of cars to get into the park was literally gridlock all the way out to Highway 231. Can't imagine it would have been fun to be at the park that day!

[Vonni]

They could branch out and do areas themed to international holidays from other countries.

 

 

An Oktoberfest area could be really cool, and HW would pull it off perfectly!

[cfc]

They could branch out and do areas themed to international holidays from other countries.

 

 

An Oktoberfest area could be really cool, and HW would pull it off perfectly!

 

Not without beer.

[SFOGdude25]

^ I'm on the fence about it. While I'm sure they might reduce maintenance costs, I'm not confident that they'll deliver a smoother ride experience unless the ride is completely re-tracked. These two-seater cars seem to pick up more of the bumps/potholes along the track than the 4 seaters.

Oh don't get me wrong. I agree that if they did a train switch that a full Ghostrider-esque retrack would be needed.

[michaellynn4]

(missed Raven)

 

That's a shame - it's the best coaster in the park IMO (and many others). Just another excuse for a return visit!