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Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread


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HW is on central and it seems like the rest of the area is on eastern.

 

Haha we ran into that. We stayed at the Jasper Inn (dingy but cheap and clean) which is in eastern, and the airport is also in eastern, it's like Holiday World is just floating in this magical place where you always have an hour more than you think you do. We were so tired Saturday night we didn't even notice the time change back when we checked in.

 

Hey, while I'm posting in this thread:

 

Dear Holiday World,

 

Please run the Voyage breakless at Holiwood Nights 2016, even if it's only for an hour or so.

 

Love,

Neil009

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This is how surprised I am that they have had to hire additional staff due to the success of Thunderbird:

 

It really is the talk of the area. Just going around town here in Evansville/Newburgh you hear a lot of "Have you been on Thunderbird yet? you need to!" I can tell this is a HUGE win for the park....like HUGE. I still don't hear any mention about Kentucky Kingdom(not that they compete) and the only advertising I've seen from them is a billboard that states "we have fun rides again" I kid you not.

 

As far as severe weather, those guys really know what they are doing. I've been there when being asked to take cover before and they have it down to a science. People around here know tornados well so usually there are no problems anywhere with people heeding the warning. I am once again amazed at their guest service though. I think they state on their website they don't issue rain checks or anything due to weather. So for them to go above and beyond and offer that is incredible!

 

As far as lodging... I really see them getting into the lodging business sometime soon. It's becoming an issue I think. I would suggest anyone try getting hotels here in Evansville as you can find every chain imaginable all up and down the scale of prices. Some even right off the interstate so getting to the park is super easy. Plus if you have the extra time there are a BILLION cool things to do and see in Evansville.

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I can't stress enough how strong the line up of coasters at HW is. I'm not sure if the locals know how good they have it. They have literally the very best rides of their class. Raven is a solid introductory coaster,

Legend is king of lats, and Voyage is one of the greatest experiences I've ever had, you throw in Thunderbird as the park's launched looping wing rider and you see how it rounds out the park very nicely. It's a real contender in my list as potentially the best of modern day b&m's. It's paced perfectly and the elements deliver fun and unique sensations. I'm not sure what else HW could add because their 4 coasters are all better than many parks with over 10+ coasters.

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Gnome - it's safe to say we DO indeed know how lucky we are. Even the non enthusiasts around here known how amazing this place is and how lucky we all are. Way back in the day it was taken for granted... But then they started adding their coasters and built Splashin Safari and that all started to change.

 

I might add that Holiday World has always seemed to be more about quality rather than quantity. It's evident that it's extremely important to them that all their rides (even the flats and kiddie rides) deliver a fun experience. I remember when they first got Liberty Launch and rode it. Before riding I was expecting to be disappointed because it wasn't nearly as tall as other similar rides elsewhere.....then I rode it and realized that it doesn't have to be a billion feet tall to be incredibly fun. After that I actually enjoyed it more than its larger and taller sister rides in other parks. And that isn't even one of their big rides! It really is all about one word to them - FUN. If it isn't a blast, they won't build it, regardless of how many records it may break. I seriously challenge people to go there and not have a blast. It's next to impossible.

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^^ Yes and ^ yes! I visited Holiday World for the first time for HoliWood Nights and I have to completely agree with both of these posts. It's definitely the quality of not just the rides, but everything the park does that makes it such a great experience. Nothing that I saw seemed to be just thrown together, it appeared that they put a lot of thought into every single attraction and most of the buildings in the park as well. The Dippin' Dots stand in Halloween was even painted appropriately! It's all the little things that Holiday World does that adds to their incredible lineup of coasters (with no filler at all) to create one of the best experiences I've ever had at a park. Not to mention the financial aspect of visiting HW. Between the free parking, free drinks, reasonable entrance fee, and food that is not only a better value but much better quality than most places, it's easier on the wallet as well, especially for families.

 

A point that cannot be made enough is the quality of their four coasters. I knew they were going to be good, especially The Voyage and Thunderbird, but I didn't know just how good all four would be. All custom designs, and all are amazing. Quality over quantity indeed. Raven in the second to back at night is one of the best experiences I've ever had on a roller coaster. The Legend is awesome if you sit front left. The laterals were pretty rough on my rides but it was still great. The Voyage is incredible, enough said (with and without the MCBR - got 23 rides with and 4 without). And everybody knows how good Thunderbird is. It's a blast and I love all the little theming touches throughout the barn and plaza. I plan on coming back very soon, probably next year for HoliWood Nights again.

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How have the lines been on the weekends so far, especially Thunderbird? My wife and I are taking a 2 day trip for my 30th birthday this weekend. I'm not sure how this is going to go since she has a bruised rib from a case of bronchitis she had earlier in the month. Luckily we don't really like Voyage and Legend.

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How have the lines been on the weekends so far, especially Thunderbird? My wife and I are taking a 2 day trip for my 30th birthday this weekend. I'm not sure how this is going to go since she has a bruised rib from a case of bronchitis she had earlier in the month. Luckily we don't really like Voyage and Legend.

Pretty busy. Lines for Thundrbird have been ranging 45 min to an hour on Saturdays and sometimes Sunday's. Wildebeest and Mammoth still pull in the longest lines being close to 90 minutes. Raven and Legend will maybe be 20-30 while voyage can be 30-45. Legend and Voyage run great in the front seat this season, so you should give them a try. Your wife may want to avoid all the woodies and stick to Thunderbird.

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45 minutes for Thunderbird, eh? Damn. Makes me not want to go.

There will be plenty of times throughout the day where the line will be shorter than that. Expect 15-20 minutes or less at various points. There's no real pattern to it, though.

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How have the lines been on the weekends so far, especially Thunderbird? My wife and I are taking a 2 day trip for my 30th birthday this weekend. I'm not sure how this is going to go since she has a bruised rib from a case of bronchitis she had earlier in the month. Luckily we don't really like Voyage and Legend.

 

45 minutes for Thunderbird, eh? Damn. Makes me not want to go.

 

Well as others have said, it won't be 45 minutes all day. I don't know what your personal preferences are, (like if you want to spend a little time or a lot of time in the waterpark) but if I was in your situation (going over a 2 day period), I would probably not even show up until 10:30. I would head straight for the waterpark (it opens at 11) and get back and ride Mammoth and Wildebeest first while the line isn't ridiculously long. Then I would do whatever else I wanted to do in the waterpark and get changed around 1:30, then go have a late lunch. After that, I would go marathon the coasters from 2-4 while the lines are the shortest. From there, you have several options. You could leave the park and go have dinner somewhere (have a couple beers, as you've said you like to do) come back to the park around 7-8 (the park is open until 10 on Saturday) and ride the coasters. The lines will only get shorter as the night goes on. I didn't go on a weekend, but I had 5 rides in a row on Thunderbird at 8:30 without getting up when I went. Your other options are having dinner at the park and going around riding flats or of you want to get more Wildebeest and Mammoth rides. You could re-enter the waterpark around 6 (the lines should start to thin out and I believe the waterpark closes at 8) and hopefully get some short lines on both rides. Then go ride coasters for the rest of the night.

 

As for Sunday, I would either take the same approach or kind of take it slow and enjoy my day at the park. I hope this helps. I will say that June weekends, are not as bad as July or August weekends, so there's that. Also, it's going to be in the low 80's this weekend, so there is a chance it won't be that crowded. Hope you have a good trip!

 

Edit: I just noticed on the webcam that the park is using the generators to power TB (they were also using them the day I was at the park). The other day when I was looking at the webcam and they weren't using them. As somebody who always looks at something from a business perspective, I would venture out and guess that there is nothing wrong with the substation flywheel setup. My guess would be that the park is probably paying pretty penny to have those things on site, and they're going to get their use out of them and I don't blame them.

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I'm gonna be spending a day at Holiday World on Monday July 20. My wife and I are gonna do the waterpark but only after we've taken in the coasters. Does anyone have a good recommendation for what order I should do the coasters in and some other general strategy tips? I plan on showing up right at opening. General idea is ride all the rides we want first, hit the waterpark in entirety, then hit the coasters for second round. As the last post indicated, I could probably avoid some bad lines if I got the waterpark done pretty quick, but I'm there for the coasters so I'm gonna ride them first. FYI neither of us care for flat rides.

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^ get to the back of the park immediately at opening to ride Thunderbird and Voyage and then be at the secondary SS entrance right as the waterpark opens. Head straight to the water coasters and get as many rides in as possible before lines get long. Then do anything else you want in the water park (Jungle Racers are surprisingly fun). Head back into the dry park and ride Raven and Legend while the waterpark is the most crowded. Return back to Thanksgiving to get more rides in on Thunderbird and Voyage as it gets close to closing time

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45 minutes for Thunderbird, eh? Damn. Makes me not want to go.

I can't speak for the usual saturday, but last Saturday, the wait wasn't too bad. It was very good weather. Mostly sunny, was about 80 degrees. Sprinkled a bit in the morning and then cleared up. This was the day after the park shut down early for a tornado warning. With that said, the wait time for Thunderbird was about 45 minutes from opening until noonish or 1 approximately. A lot of people ended up going to the water park, and during this time, I waited about 5-15 minutes. Around 7ish, as people started leaving the water park, the line began to fill up again but I don't believe I waited more than 20 minutes. We got 3 back to back rides at night as there virtually no line for Thunderbird and HW has the surprising policy of letting you reride if no one is waiting to take your seat.

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It's crazy saying this, but anymore this is a two day park. They have so many must dos in both parks that to really get to it all you need a day in one park and a day in the other. I realize most people from out of town don't have this option, but going on the weekdays really is awesome.

 

On another note, we all know Holiday World generally hates long lines for their rides. But really what the heck else could they add to the water park to help with capacity? It amazes me that BOTH Wildebeest and Mammoth are pulling in those crazy lines. I mean they are fantastic rides, but wow. I'm just not sure with rides as popular and amazing as they are putting in these days that they can really avoid it.

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HW has the surprising policy of letting you reride if no one is waiting to take your seat.

 

This is awesome. I did this a lot the two days I was there for HoliWood Nights and I wondered if it was their policy all the time or if they were just making exceptions with all the people there for the event. I'm glad to hear they allow it all the time.

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^&^^^

 

Yep. That's their policy. Also, if there is someone waiting for your seat and there are empty seats with no one in line to fill them, they'll let you move to those empty seats and let you ride again that way. As I said earlier, I had 5 rides in a row on Thunderbird without getting up.

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but they are assigning rows and seats on Thunderbird. They stopped doing so when there was virtually no line when I was there. You can ask if you can go left or right and the front or back, or at least they let my group. The first 3 times we rode it, we were assigned left wing back row three times in a row. The forth time we went through, I asked if we could go right, then I asked if we could get the front row, since we had been in the back three times in a row and they gave it to us.

 

But really what the heck else could they add to the water park to help with capacity?

 

Something that will want to make people actually walk out to Hyena Falls. This will spread the water park out tremendously, as most of the popular attractions are crammed in one space and Hyena Falls isn't really worth walking to. This would disperse the crowds a bit. Honestly, another water coaster wouldn't be a bad idea or something with that type of capacity.

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45 minutes for Thunderbird, eh? Damn. Makes me not want to go.

 

You won't like Asian parks then, I've seen 45 minute waits for even the smallest of family rides and coasters on Saturdays.

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Something that will want to make people actually walk out to Hyena Falls. This will spread the water park out tremendously, as most of the popular attractions are crammed in one space and Hyena Falls isn't really worth walking to.

I think hyena falls is fantastic. Part of the reason why I love it so much is that it's away from the crowds and relaxing. I do understand the need to fill the gap though

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So what do you all think will become of the old Pilgrims Plunge site? It appears that the only thing removed was the tower and everything else is still there. Another boat ride of some sort perhaps? It would be nice if they could at least re-purpose the station and boats some how.

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