Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread

[ytterbiumanalyst]

That's fantastic that they're letting the kids out of school for the eclipse. Our kids go back on the 17th and we're just pulling them out for the day on the 21st. They'll lose their perfect attendance 3 days in. I'm not worried; I think they'd learn more seeing the eclipse anyway.

[bluestreak]

Anybody know how long the line for Voyage is if the basement park of the line is full?

[KBrylczyk]

^ Longer than if it's empty.

[bluestreak]

For anybody else wondering, it turned out to be about a 50 minute wait. Also, voyage is a very close second to beast for best night ride.

 

Edit* Heres a debate for everybody. Voyage front seat at night vs. Beast front seat at night. Having just got off the front of voyage, my vote goes to Voyage.

That was the most kick ass ride I've ever had.

[thrillseeker4552]

That's fantastic that they're letting the kids out of school for the eclipse. Our kids go back on the 17th and we're just pulling them out for the day on the 21st. They'll lose their perfect attendance 3 days in. I'm not worried; I think they'd learn more seeing the eclipse anyway.

 

A little off topic, but that eclipse is going to be amazing. Apparently it's even better in Northern Utah, with 95.something visibility! Can't wait for the 21st. I love geeky stuff like this.

 

So yeah, anyway, back to Holiday World discussion.

[DILinator]

Heres a debate for everybody. Voyage front seat at night vs. Beast front seat at night. Having just got off the front of voyage, my vote goes to Voyage.

That was the most kick A$$ ride I've ever had.

 

 

Well, The Voyage is a MUCH better coaster than The Beast when you remove the factor of when it's ridden, so I'll definitely cast a vote for it being a better night ride than The Beast! I've also ridden it many more times than The Beast at night, including with no trims. For context, I have back to back (without getting off) rides on The Beast at night in the front seat after park closing at an enthusiast event, with the fog rising all around the coaster while we were riding it under my belt... And I still vote for The Voyage! So there's that...

 

BTW bluestreak, welcome to the club! The Voyage front seat at night rebirth is complete!

[cal1br3tto]

^It is a bit of a tricky comparison since Voyage is a superior coaster. I still think the Beast is a more special and surreal night ride, but really, they both are! It's more of a night-and-day difference with Beast, since that's more of a "high-speed scenic train ride" during the day, but a magical must-ride at night. Whereas Voyage still brings it with the airtime and such during the day. Raven's the real night ride star at the park!

[Guy T. Koepp]

^ Raven's the real star at the park!

 

Fixed!

[Stealth2k]

I went to the park last weekend and expected the woodies to be rough but the Voyage especially was much rougher than I expected. Did I just get unlucky because it was almost unbearable to the point were the night ride was like a horror movie due to the rough turns. Never the less I still really enjoyed the park and the Voyage moved up in my ranking but not the point where people put it over Maverick and MF. Legend is also a really close second .

[jonskinny12]

^ Where did you sit on The Voyage? Just like any wooden coaster with PTC trains, the even rows are quite a bit rougher than the odd rows. This seems especially bad in the very back row of The Voyage. I've also heard that it runs worse this time of year. My only visits to the park have been in the spring and I can re-ride it numerous times.

[djackson]

Does anyone know if the park has considered buying Timberliners for The Voyage?

[thrillseeker4552]

Does anyone know if the park has considered buying Timberliners for The Voyage?

 

Yes, they have considered it.

 

A few years ago (gosh, maybe it's been like what... 5 years now, or longer?), they had some Timberliners and were testing them on Voyage, but for whatever reason they stopped and it never happened. I can't remember why it never happened, but they have most definitely considered it.

 

EDIT: After some research, it turns out they were testing them in August 2010.

[SFOGdude25]

Does anyone know if the park has considered buying Timberliners for The Voyage?

Yep, back in 2010, but after 3 years of testing them on and off the park just scrapped them.

[SharkTums]

I am not a fan of the Timberliners and I do not think they would do that ride any good.

[PaTim]

Does anyone know if the park has considered buying Timberliners for The Voyage?

 

Yes, they have considered it.

 

A few years ago (gosh, maybe it's been like what... 5 years now, or longer?), they had some Timberliners and were testing them on Voyage, but for whatever reason they stopped and it never happened. I can't remember why it never happened, but they have most definitely considered it.

 

EDIT: After some research, it turns out they were testing them in August 2010.

 

According to Coaster-net.com, the Timberliners were scrapped because they ran slower due to their lighter weight. They claim Holiday World highly values the Voyage's intensity and the slower running trains took a lot of the bite out of the ride.

[DBru]

Does anyone know if the park has considered buying Timberliners for The Voyage?

 

I laughed really hard at this because I thought it was a joke. Then I laughed even harder because I realized it wasn't.

 

Ohhhh the days of waiting for the Voyage to finally run with Timberliners...good times.

[Vonni]

I remember seeing a video of Timberliners testing on Raven as well.

[Stealth2k]

^ Where did you sit on The Voyage? Just like any wooden coaster with PTC trains, the even rows are quite a bit rougher than the odd rows. This seems especially bad in the very back row of The Voyage. I've also heard that it runs worse this time of year. My only visits to the park have been in the spring and I can re-ride it numerous times.

 

I rode the front, back, and middle during my stay. That's what I thought that the ride is running worse into the season.

[JT325]

I believe there was a video of Will Koch on a Timberliner train, returning to the station on Voyage. Plenty of fans were excited about the potential of Timberliners, but after riding a few... I'm glad they are not on that ride!

 

Voyage is one of my favorite coasters. I'm also a fan of PTC trains. The peskiest thing about those trains is how the lap bar wraps around the side of your leg, followed by the seat divider. As much as I would LOVE to see Voyage (or any coaster with the same trains) run with out a seat divider and (Nurse) Ratchet bars, I'm not sure if that will ever happen. But whatever the case, they are much more comfortable and roomy than other trains out there - RMC, Timberliner, Millennium Flyers...

 

Plenty of people use the argument "box with wheels" to describe PTC trains, but that is what makes the ride feel like a roller coaster to me. Voyage would lose so much bite with single-bench cars. At a certain height, speed and twistyness, the single bench and/or trailer trains make sense. Like an RMC (trailer) or B&M (single bench AND trailer) or example. Voyage is just on the line of perfection, as is.

[CanobieFan]

^ Wow, I thought I was alone in my logic about PTC trains.

 

While I've never ridden Voyage, I feel the same way with the PTC trains in Boulder Dash. So many local enthusiasts would love Millennium Flyers to be used on Boulder Dash and wonder why they weren't purchased with the new Wildcat trains.

 

It would take out so much of the intensity of Boulder Dash. Feel like it would lose a huge piece of its vicious bite. I would imagine the same could be said about Voyage based on stats and videos I have seen.

 

I love PTC trains, judge me

[jonskinny12]

I'm with both of you, I really like PTC trains. I can see why a lot of people don't though. To each their own.

[CaptainUnknown]

I wonder how the new PTC 360 trains would ride?

[JT325]

and wonder why they weren't purchased with the new Wildcat trains.

 

SO BUMMED Wildcat got those GCI trains. Ugh. Goodbye airtime, goodbye wild nature... I mean, sure the track may have been needing a replacement, but those trains!? Uck. And you can bet if GCI had ANYTHING to do with 'redesigning' or 'modifying' the profile at all, it ain't Wildcat anymore. GCI has a way of moving ledgers just a few inches here and there, and completely nuking any airtime in places. But I guess that's all a different thread...

 

But it is relevant! As Legend is a top 5 woodie to me, and my favorite at Holiday World, we can look at the work GCI did to it. The first drop *pop* at the breakover is gone. It's still fun, but the airtime is almost completely gone in that spot. I will say that the rest of the ride, I have personally warmed up to, but did they really have to give their signature by removing the awesome pop of air on the first drop!? Thank the maker it didn't get GCI trains.

 

The thing that ruins PTCs reputation, in my opinion, are those L-ratchet bars and seat dividers. So savor the few we have left with buzz bars and no seat divider! The number gets smaller every year. It's the times we live in...

[CanobieFan]

I agree with GCI doing the track. Yankee Cannonball at Canobie Lake Park lost some amazing, powerful airtime and made the once spectacular classic coaster into a mediocre one... oh well.

 

I'm extremely happy Holiday World had kept the PTC trains on all their wooden coasters. They certainly make a difference.

[JT325]

I agree with GCI doing the track. Yankee Cannonball at Canobie Lake Park lost some amazing, powerful airtime and made the once spectacular classic coaster into a mediocre one... oh well.

 

Funny you would mention that, as Yankee Cannonball is the prime example. I was out there 2 years ago and almost every single hill had little or no airtime. When I took pictures along the ride from the parking lot, I could see the bolt holes where the ledgers used to be. It seems GCI nuked nearly every single hill!

 

Makes me that much happier Holiday World has PTCs on all of their world-class woodies! Now about the buzz bars teehee... As much as I love Raven, it was even better with them. And think about Legend would be even more awesome than it is!