Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread

[mpmbee]

Went to the park today for the first time, what a great park! The free drinks are a really nice touch. All the rides were great except Voyage, that coaster was awful. Just so rough and I couldn't wait for it to end. I imagine it was great when it first opened though, imagine that layout with RMC topper track..

 

What a strange location the park was in, driving from St Louis to the park and on to Louisville after we saw pretty much nothing the whole way, I wonder where the park draws all it's crowds from..

[ZeroGravity55]

What a strange location the park was in, driving from St Louis to the park and on to Louisville after we saw pretty much nothing the whole way, I wonder where the park draws all it's crowds from..

 

This is probably the best explanation that can be given for how the park draws crowds in a remote area. This comes from an article where Paula was interviewed about the park's 70th Birthday season:

 

About one million visitors come to the park every season, bringing a significant tourism impact to the area. Werne says people often say the park is located in the "middle of no where." She sees it differently. "If you draw some spokes (on a map) and put us at the hub, we are actually about three hours from Indianapolis, three hours from Nashville, Tennessee, three hours from Cincinnati and three hours from St. Louis, so sometimes we like to think of ourselves as being in the middle of everything."

 

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/32602770/.V6HqXJksNGM.twitter

[Vonni]

In another note, anybody have ideas of what Holiday World will add in 2017? Not expecting anything major, but.. slides, a flat ride, another coaster retrack? What are we thinking.

I have a friend who works at the park. He said that when he got hired, he was with a bunch of other new employees and "one of the people who hired us" came in and said "I know what the new ride is next year! But can't tell you all!" So, I'm assuming it'll be something. However, I'm picturing a water park addition. It's been a bit since they've put anything in there. Although what I REALLY want is Topper Track Voyage. I love it's layout so much. It's just so rough, especially later in the year. I can't wait for a new coaster, though! I'm hoping for a B&M invert or hyper. I'm not too sure where they'd put them, but oh well. Anyway, enough daydreaming about something that's not coming for a long time

 

 

I'm expecting a water park addition for 2017 as well, and I think 2018 might be a big year for the dry park again.

[tykunkel1031]

^ I would think so as well. I know that they made a small fortune from Thunderbird. They had such an attendance increase that they had to hire more people midway through the season. Hopefully we'll be seeing something awesome like a huge flyer or invert or something. Or 100% topper track Voyage. Can you imagine?

[ZeroGravity55]

We had to wait 9 years for another coaster after The Voyage, so it might be awhile again. The next "big coaster" has to be bigger and better than Thunderbird and obviously be able to take the park to another level. There are things they need to do before they add that new "big coaster". They have to put thought into weather not the park can endure another attendance increase this quickly without having more infrastructure improvements and and weather or not they'll have the slide/ride capacity to handle said increase. The answer is probably no. The reality is that while a big steel coaster is going to draw in crowds, not everyone who visits is going to ride it and they need to have plenty of other things to do for those people who will not be riding. They will always be a family park first.

[tykunkel1031]

That's true. But the reason that there was such a big gap was the whole lawsuit. There was originally an invert planned for the park, but those got scrapped in the middle of the lawsuit. I can see maybe a couple of years of family-type improvements. Like possibly updating Holidog's Funtown/expanding it. I feel that that would balance it out a bit more. Or (hopefully) they would add something on that GIANT hike to Thunderbird.

[Midwesterner]

That's true. But the reason that there was such a big gap was the whole lawsuit. There was originally an invert planned for the park, but those got scrapped in the middle of the lawsuit. I can see maybe a couple of years of family-type improvements. Like possibly updating Holidog's Funtown/expanding it. I feel that that would balance it out a bit more. Or (hopefully) they would add something on that GIANT hike to Thunderbird.

Yeah I'd agree that their next B&M coaster will probably be a flyer or invert. But lets not throw out a hyper either. However, before any of that, I'd like to see a Mack Rides spinning coaster to fill the family coaster gap they are missing. It would be no more than 7 million and could be similar of Twist at Le Pal or Dwervelwind at Toverland. I think it would be a great investment for 2019-ish? Then send the next roller coaster focus to another B&M.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

That's true. But the reason that there was such a big gap was the whole lawsuit. There was originally an invert planned for the park, but those got scrapped in the middle of the lawsuit. I can see maybe a couple of years of family-type improvements. Like possibly updating Holidog's Funtown/expanding it. I feel that that would balance it out a bit more. Or (hopefully) they would add something on that GIANT hike to Thunderbird.

Also the recession hit the year after Voyage was built, and many parks were delaying major additions until the recession was behind us. For example, Silver Dollar City went 2004-2013 with no new coaster, and Cedar Point went 2006-2013.

[mpmbee]

Something like one of those S&S swing rides would be perfect in the Thunderbird area imo. As good as Thunderbird was, it felt a bit separated from the rest of the park back there.

[tykunkel1031]

Hopefully so. I'd love to see a refurb of the Fourth of July section. It has that old American feel, but not exactly in a good way. Tons of cracked pavement, and just seems a bit old. They could probably somehow theme a spinner to Fourth of July. As much as I'd love a wild, huge spinner, it wouldn't be necessary I don't think. That, and it would save them money, keeping it short and sweet.

 

I could see a hyper but it also really resembles Voyage in those first three hills. Although afterwards, it would obviously be a VERY different ride. I'd love a massive flyer. It'd be really cool if they would put it in the Pilgrim's Plunge spot, having the lift run over the Thunderbird hill. Lots of daydreaming in my head right now

[Vonni]

If or when they add a family coaster, I'd like to see something along the lines of Firechaser Express. Something like that would work really well in the Fourth of July section. I also wonder if they have any other Holiday Lands up their sleeves in the future?

[ZeroGravity55]

That's true. But the reason that there was such a big gap was the whole lawsuit. There was originally an invert planned for the park, but those got scrapped in the middle of the lawsuit. I can see maybe a couple of years of family-type improvements. Like possibly updating Holidog's Funtown/expanding it. I feel that that would balance it out a bit more. Or (hopefully) they would add something on that GIANT hike to Thunderbird.

 

The invert that was planned was for the 09' season and was put on the back burner when Will Koch was still alive. The lawsuits had nothing to do with that. I'll also point out that the park had expansion projects every year while the lawsuits were going one. No one will ever know Will Koch's line of thinking for not pulling the trigger on the invert, but you would have to think that he probably didn't feel like the park was ready to add a big steel coaster at that point. If you look at the rides and infrastructure improvements that were added from 09' on, it really seems like they were getting the park ready for a ride like Thunderbird. They improved the waterpark capacity tremendously in that time while expanding the entrance plaza to the water park and putting in all new lockers. They also expanded the parking lot greatly in that time and built their own road and entrance into the Legend Lot.

 

I think a B&M Hyper would be perfect for the park. I don't think it would have to resemble the standard Hyper either. I would love to see a Hyper version of Fury at the park.

[Vonni]

^ Or a Hyper Twister like Raging Bull

[ZeroGravity55]

^ Or a Hyper Twister like Raging Bull without the trims

 

Fixed that for you

[tykunkel1031]

Oh, I see. Well ya learn something every day. I guess I would say that that shows that they're stable, financially, to be able to add rides close together like that. I honestly don't think it'll be any longer than 2019 until a new coaster of some type comes. I agree about a Fury kind of hyper. Can you imagine something like that but then out in the woods? I actually would rather have a flyer or invert, though. The park has one coaster with inversions. I feel that would balance it a bit more. Then maybe the park could take the RMC train. It's kinda sad to think that this is all like 10 years away though.

[Vonni]

^ Or a Hyper Twister like Raging Bull without the trims

 

Fixed that for you

 

 

Oh yes, well that goes without saying

 

 

Also, there is the option for an Infinity Coaster like Monster at Adventureland. That ride is awesome!

[tykunkel1031]

That sounds pretty good too. I really wish their Intamin relationship wasn't jacked up. A Maverick in the woods is the definition of perfection. I guess Mack could possibly pull that off...

[Vonni]

I know others have posted in the past that if an Intamin Mega Lite were to come to the States, HW would be more apt to do this over CF or SF. That would be so cool. I'd like to think that this one issue would not deter them from the company all together.

[tykunkel1031]

I wouldn't think that it would. Especially considering that it was a water ride, not even a coaster. A small park like HW would be more likely than for sure CF and most likely SF, I agree to add some kind of mega lite. The only problem is that this ride is obviously going to be the new star attraction. I feel like they're going to end up with lots of angry guests when/if the ride is down for the majority of the day. This explains why Thunderbird has generators. If flywheels fail, those are there to pick it right back up, with no downtime. Just because of that, I'm thinking more against them adding a mega lite. Holiday World is extremely smart with their investments, and I feel like they wouldn't want to risk this one. Not yet at least...

[PhantomPoster32]

Hopefully so. I'd love to see a refurb of the Fourth of July section. It has that old American feel, but not exactly in a good way. Tons of cracked pavement, and just seems a bit old. They could probably somehow theme a spinner to Fourth of July. As much as I'd love a wild, huge spinner, it wouldn't be necessary I don't think. That, and it would save them money, keeping it short and sweet.

 

I could see a hyper but it also really resembles Voyage in those first three hills. Although afterwards, it would obviously be a VERY different ride. I'd love a massive flyer. It'd be really cool if they would put it in the Pilgrim's Plunge spot, having the lift run over the Thunderbird hill. Lots of daydreaming in my head right now

 

I'd like them to split 4th of July in half and add another Holiday. It's the largest land area anyway. Maybe Christmas could annex some of that land too?

[neil009]

What a strange location the park was in, driving from St Louis to the park and on to Louisville after we saw pretty much nothing the whole way, I wonder where the park draws all it's crowds from..

 

This is probably the best explanation that can be given for how the park draws crowds in a remote area. This comes from an article where Paula was interviewed about the park's 70th Birthday season:

 

About one million visitors come to the park every season, bringing a significant tourism impact to the area. Werne says people often say the park is located in the "middle of no where." She sees it differently. "If you draw some spokes (on a map) and put us at the hub, we are actually about three hours from Indianapolis, three hours from Nashville, Tennessee, three hours from Cincinnati and three hours from St. Louis, so sometimes we like to think of ourselves as being in the middle of everything."

 

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/32602770/.V6HqXJksNGM.twitter

 

I guess that's the Midwest for you. "Only three hours away! It's just a hop, skip, and a jump!"

[BigBad]

An out-and-back hyper strikes me as one of the least likely options for the park. That's kind of the same idea as the Voyage. There are parks that do it (Canada's Wonderland, Great Adventure, Carowinds), but those are huge parks with tons of coasters.

 

I really like the suggestion of a MegaLite, particularly if they were to do one like Alpina Blitz to get out of having to deal with Intamin. This is probably more within the budget than dropping $20-25 million on a B&M or Intamin hyper.

 

But if they went that route, something twisty could be fun. I'm thinking of something like Skyrush.

[ZeroGravity55]

^^ Well yeah, It's kinda the norm around here. Most place in the rural midwest are 2-3 Hours away from the closest theme park. The drive for me is 2 hours and it isn't even bad because there is no traffic whatsoever.

 

I'd actually like to see them add onto Christmas. I think it would be really cool if they built a replica North Pole, that would be on par with something you would expect to see at Universal or something like that. It would be cool to have a couple of toy shops where they have workers dressed like elfs building toys where everybody can see them and guests would be able to buy them. They could also add a dark ride/family rollercoaster combo themed to a trip on Santa's Sleigh or something like that. They could really open up their imagination with it, because there are so many interpretations of what the fictional North Pole looks like. It could really be that one of the kind attraction that would allow them to stay open until the New Year and have a Christmas event. Although, I think it would really feel out of place with the rest the park. Oh and before someone asks "where would they build it?", the park's main offices are located right next to the Christmas section and they certainly have the land available to relocate those offices to make more room to add onto the Christmas section. If you couldn't tell, I've put some thought into this

Edited August 8, 2016 by ZeroGravity55

[PhantomPoster32]

^I like it. Maybe have some sledding hills inside there as well.

[Vonni]

^^ Well yeah, It's kinda the norm around here. Most place in the rural midwest are 2-3 Hours away from the closest theme park. The drive for me is 2 hours and it isn't even bad because there is no traffic whatsoever.

 

I'd actually like to see them add onto Christmas. I think it would be really cool if they built a replica North Pole, that would be on par with something you would expect to see at Universal or something like that. It would be cool to have a couple of toy shops where they have workers dressed like elfs building toys where everybody can see them and guests would be able to buy them. They could also add a dark ride/family rollercoaster combo themed to a trip on Santa's Sleigh or something like that. They could really open up their imagination with it, because there are so many interpretations of what the fictional North Pole looks like. It could really be that one of the kind attraction that would allow them to stay open until the New Year and have a Christmas event. Although, I think it would really feel out of place with the rest the park. Oh and before someone asks "where would they build it?", the park's main offices are located right next to the Christmas section and they certainly have the land available to relocate those offices to make more room to add onto the Christmas section. If you couldn't tell, I've put some thought into this

 

 

Amazing idea. And yes, my first thought would have been as to where can they expand Christmas Land. I never thought about the moving of the main offices. You are certainly correct in that observation!