Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread

[Guy T. Koepp]

^ I didn't want to go there, but since you opened that can of worms. Yes, it does sound a bit naughty. Me likey!

[mikeykaise]

Nah, not dirty at all now maybe if Ho Ho Ho was mentioned that would definitely been naughty.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Paula, I hope this hasn't been answered/asked already.

 

Since Timberliner's aren't really working on Voyage (yet), Is there plans to add Timberliners to Raven or Legend?

[Raven Maven]

^ We're getting ready to test them on Voyage. We're taking it one step at a time.

[HWFan]

I spent my day off reading back over 100 pages to 2010 to get myself up to speed. I especially loved reading Paula's snarky remarks (aka the kind of stuff she can't put on the Facebook page).

I'm incredibly excited for 2013. Rhino Blaster looks great, and every year is a year closer to a steel coaster! I'm personally hoping they go with B&M, and I've heard that Dan doesn't care for the unreliableness of Intamin, citing Pilgrim's Plunge.

I'm not really a coaster enthusiast, but more of a Holiday World enthusiast, so I'm loving learning about all of the other parks, coasters, and terminology. Besides, as a junior in high school, it's a good way to procrastinate from homework.

 

By the way, it isn't TPR video, but here's an interview from IAAPA with Dan and Eric. (Dan, it's 34!)

I couldn't figure out how to do the YouTube thing, so here's the link!

[Moose]

^ We're getting ready to test them on Voyage. We're taking it one step at a time.

 

Gals to hear this. Good luck!

[3Mutts]

^ We're getting ready to test them on Voyage. We're taking it one step at a time.

GREAT! I think this year is the year for you guys due to the Hades refurb (GG can't mess up this year). Hope it all works out.

[IrishBuckeye]

New addition to the waterpark sounds great. I really hope to make my first trip to HW in 2013.

[kidcoaster 2]

The 2013 Holiwood Nights flier is up with some very interesting things!

 

https://www.holidayworld.com/sites/holidayworld.com/files/HWN13.pdf

 

May 31st and June 1st

 

Friday, May 31

6:30pm CDT: As you wished, the park closes to the public.

Please plan to enter the park shortly before close.

7pm CDT (approx.): ERT on all three woodies. Additional

ERT on Turkey Whirl and Gobbler Getaway.

7:30pm - 9pm CDT: Pizza, chips, veggies and fudge.

11pm CDT: ERT ends.

 

Saturday, June 1

8:15am CDT: Breakfast and Wildebeest/Mammoth/RhinoBlaster

ERT in Splashin’ Safari. Please be on time, we walk down as a

group. Okay, some skip.

3:30pm CDT: Walkback and other activities.

8pm – 9pm CDT: Buffet meal in Good Old Days Picnic Grove.

9pm CDT (approx.): ERT on all three woodies. Additional ERT

on HallowSwings and Scarecrow Scrambler.

12 midnight: ERT ends. Zoltar must be unplugged.

 

Price

A) HoliWood Nights (above schedule) $49.95 ($64.95 on site)

B) HoliWood Nights (above schedule + add all-day Friday) $70.95 ($85.95 on site)

C) HoliWood Nights (w/season pass) $28.95 ($43.95 on site)

Edited December 5, 2012 by kidcoaster 2

[mikeykaise]

The 2013 Holiwood Nights flier is up with some very interesting things!

 

https://www.holidayworld.com/sites/holidayworld.com/files/HWN13.pdf

 

Totally! I will definitely have to make plans to attend this one and hope to hear some amazing mind shattering announcement before the release it to the gq... maybe a whole brand new area with a massive fast steel coaster? *keeping fingers crossed*

[Kyle Coleman]

This might be a good reason to finally get down to holiday world.

[Raven Maven]

Can't quite figure out if BobblePat is hugging the TPR ornament ... or getting ready to sweep it out of her way with her omnipresent broom ...

[jray21]

Awesome! Both of those are amazing items!

[mikeykaise]

I'm thinking that since the ornament is almost as big as her body that she's going to sweep it home and into place with her mighty mighty broom. Fear the broom ne'er more!

[Locostitch]

Have you tested the Timberliners yet?

[GrapesLie]

I will most definitely be attending this next year! Should be a great time!

[Woodie Warrior]

I think my family will be returning to Holiday World in 2013.

It really is a great park with great coasters ( ) and the best waterpark in the nation.

[kidcoaster 2]

Holiday World names Matt Eckert new president and CEO.

 

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=57333

 

The Board of Directors for Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari has named Matt Eckert the park’s new president and CEO.

 

“Matt was hand-picked by my late husband, Will, to be in a leadership role at the park; I know he would be pleased with our choice,” says park vice president Lori Koch. “As president and CEO, Matt will work closely with our board to keep our family’s park flourishing.”

 

Eckert began his tenure with the park in 2000, when he was hired to be the park’s controller; he served as one of the park’s two general managers from 2007 to 2012. He is an International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions Certified Attractions Executive and has served on its Human Resources Committee.

 

Eckert is a graduate of Indiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and insurance. He is a certified public accountant.

 

“My brother-in-law Dan stepped in to serve as president following Will’s sudden death in 2010,” says Lori Koch. “We thank him for his leadership and wish him well as he returns full-time to his law firm in Florida.”

 

Holiday World, named the country’s Top Value Park by Consumers Digest, will open for its 67th season on May 4. Splashin’ Safari, ranked as the nation’s #1 Water Park by TripAdvisor.com, begins its season on May 10. For more information, visit HolidayWorld.com or call 1-800-467-2682.

 

Source: Holiday World & Splashin Safari

Edited January 8, 2013 by jedimaster1227

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I think this will be the 1st time in the parks history that the Koch family has not been fully in charge.

[OrthoMan]

What is the title of Pat's position?

[larrygator]

What is the title of Pat's position?

 

Owner

 

If I remember correctly she recently held the title of Director of Values

Edited January 9, 2013 by larrygator

[Guy T. Koepp]

What is the title of Pat's position?

 

Owner

 

If I remember correctly she recently held the title of Director of Values

 

I know she stands out front and greets everyone as she comes into the park every morning. She also wanders the park speaking to guests and spreading cheer. She is really nice, and I have had her sit down with us while we eat and tell us all the park going ons. She's awesome.

[Raven Maven]

Yes, she's our Director of Values.

[MillenniumCP]

I love Pepsi Oasis. To me, it is Mountain Dew Oasis. Due to my fair complexion the Suntan Oasis "should" be my favorite. I am looking forward to Holiwood Nights 2013 because I missed last years. Oh sweet night rides on Voyage...

 

Ride On Friends!

[larrygator]

It looks like there is a much larger story behind the leadership change at Holiday World. Please check out the attached article from The Spencer County Journal-Democrat.

 

http://www.spencercountyjournal.com/content/control-holiday-world-stake-legal-battle

 

Control of Holiday World at stake in legal battle

Dan Koch fired, replaced as park president; appeal of judge’s decision under way

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 12:52 pm (Updated: January 9, 1:01 pm)

By VINCE LUECKE

Editor

 

Dan Koch has been replaced as president of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari. Matt Eckert, who has worked at Saint Meinrad Archabbey since August, has been named park president and chief executive officer by company Vice President Lori Koch.

 

SANTA CLAUS – The Kochs of Santa Claus, Spencer County’s most recognized family, entered 2013 on a legal roller coaster that has left, at least for now, majority control of family-owned Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari in the hands of the widow of the park’s former president.

 

A December verdict in a civil suit fought over the past two years in Vanderburgh County left controlling interest of the nation’s oldest theme park with Lori Koch, widow of the park’s late president, Will Koch, and the personal representative of his estate.

 

Son of William A. Koch and grandson of park founder Louis J. Koch, Will Koch drowned at his home June 13, 2010. His brother, Dan Koch, who was elected president of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari shortly after Will Koch’s death, was fired by Lori Koch shortly after the verdict was handed down Dec. 3.

 

Dan Koch remains a minority shareholder in Koch Development Corp., the holding company for Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari.

 

He is appealing the verdict.

 

Lori Koch is now the park’s vice president and she announced Tuesday the appointment of a new president from outside the Koch family, Matt Eckert.

 

Eckert, a former controller and general manager of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari, left the park last fall for the job of treasurer and business manager at Saint Meinrad Archabbey. He is leaving his job at the archabbey at the end of this week. He is expected to begin his duties at Holiday World Monday.

 

A story on that appointment is included in Thursday’s issue.

 

Suit Filed Two Years Ago

 

Lori Koch filed her civil suit in January 2011, claiming Koch Development Corp. and Dan Koch failed to abide by a purchase agreement in which the company was obliged to purchase Will Koch’s shares in the company after his death.

 

In the lawsuit, Lori Koch claimed her husband’s 49,611 shares of Koch Development were worth more than $32 million but Dan Koch and Koch Development allegedly valued the shares at $26.5 million.

 

Vanderburgh County Judge Carl Heldt ruled last month in favor of the estate and Lori Koch, freeing her from any legal obligation to sell the shares to her husband’s brother or the family company.

 

An agreement signed in 2002 by Will and Dan Koch and their sister, Natalie Koch, stipulated that upon the death of any partner in the company, the holding company would purchase the deceased family member’s shares. At the time, each sibling owned equal shares of the company.

 

The agreement included a mathematical formula for valuing the company based on its earnings.

 

Lori Koch claimed that the estate was obliged to sell the shares at a price of $653.07 per share, a figure she said had been set before her husband’s death.

 

The stock-purchase agreement signed by the Koch siblings called for the company to purchase the shares within 180 days after Will Koch’s death, or Dec. 10, 2010. If the purchase wasn’t completed by that date, Dan Koch was supposed to make the purchase himself within 30 days, with a down payment of 25 percent and the balance paid over three years.

 

The estate’s suit claimed that Koch Development failed to abide by the agreement to pay the full amount owed for the shares. Instead, Koch Development Co. presented the estate a check for $5 million Dec. 7, 2010. On the same day, Dan Koch presented a check for $4.7 million and a promissory note for $14.1 million.

 

Lori Koch and the estate claimed Koch Development Corp. and Dan Koch improperly valued the shares owned by Will Koch at the time of his death and erred in reducing the amount offered to the estate due to a $2.6 million loan Will Koch owed to Koch Development.

 

Counterclaim

 

Dan Koch and Koch Development allege in a counterclaim to the suit that the estate refused to accept payments made to them under the stock-purchase agreement.

 

In their counterclaim, Dan Koch and Koch Development stated they abided fully by the agreement signed by the siblings. They claim the proper valuation for each share of Koch Development was $541.93, not the $653.07 claimed by the estate.

 

In court documents, Dan Koch and Koch Development said the higher per-share amount was discussed in a meeting of the company’s board of directors but was never set as the amount to be used in determining a formal price under terms of the agreement in case one of the owners were to die.

 

Will and Dan Koch purchased the shares from their sister, Natalie Koch, just months before Will Koch’s death. That sale, sources tell the Journal-Democrat, was based on negotiations between the siblings.

 

Dan Koch and Koch Development argued they tendered the proper amount to the estate under the correct calculation of the shares’ value.

 

The suit referred to Koch Development’s finances and a line of credit that had been secured to purchase Natalie Koch’s shares as well as park expansion. Dan Koch alleged the park’s business requires it to invest money in the early months of each year, before the park’s late-spring opening.

 

Dan Koch and Koch Development made an offer to the court to correct any default that the court may find but said any requirement to make an “immediate payment of the over $32 million demanded by Lori … may require the liquidation of KDC. …”

 

Koch and the company also asked the court to consider the historic role of the Koch family as owners of the business. Established in 1946 as Santa Claus Land Inc. by Louis J. Koch, the park has always been owned by family members. Dan Koch said the share-purchase agreement signed by the three siblings reflected a desire to keep ownership within the family. The suit, he said, threatened to overturn that control.

 

“Will’s estate, to the extent that it is successful, will wrest a controlling interest in KDC from the Koch family and place it in the control of the personal representative of Will’s estate for her to do with as she might desire.”

 

In his ruling, Heldt ruled that Dan Koch and Koch Development breached the agreement by failing to offer to purchase Will Koch’s shares at the correct price.

 

The estate argued in court that the alleged deficient payment constituted a breach of the agreement signed by the Koch siblings. Attorneys for the two sides presented evidence during a three-day trial in late November and early December. Heldt issued his ruling Dec. 3.

 

Heldt concluded the offer by Koch Development Co. and Dan Koch was insufficient. He also found that the company could have tendered between $10 million and $19.2 million at the time of purchase. “The tender of only $5 million by KDC was a material breach of the shareholder’s agreement,” Heldt stated.

 

Asked by the Journal-Democrat to comment on the legal battle for control of the company, Holiday World issued a statement saying the park, despite the court case, would remain in the Koch family’s hands.

 

“Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari have been owned and operated by the Koch family of Santa Claus, Indiana, since the park opened as Santa Claus Land in 1946. Following the death of park Chief Executive Officer and President Will Koch in 2010, questions involving the interpretation of the company’s shareholders agreement arose. Koch family members turned the issue over to the court system,” the statement said.

 

“Regardless of the outcome, the park will continue to be owned and operated by members of the Koch family. Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari will open for the 2013 season in May.”

Will and Lori Koch have three children, Lauren, Leah and William.

 

Lori Koch could not be reached for comment and park spokeswoman Paula Werne said there would be no further statements issued.

 

In a statement announcing the appointment of Eckert, Lori Koch said Dan Koch would return to Florida to resume his work as an attorney.

 

A call to Dan Koch’s Santa Claus attorney, Kevin Patmore, was not returned Tuesday.

 

Dan Koch announced last fall that the park would invest $6.5 million in improvements and upgrades for the parks’ 2013 seasons. It was unclear if the ongoing legal battle had affected those plans.

 

Including part-time and seasonal employees, Holiday World is the county’s largest employer and stands at the center of the county’s tourism industry. The park has attracted more than 1 million visitors each season for the past several years.