ZeroGravity55 Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Part of the reason the waterpark isn’t open yet. They have to figure out how they’re going to operate the attractions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Merch selection this year is much better. Better Tshirts, posters, all kinds of good stuff. That's cool to hear from a place that already had some of the better merchandise options for an amusement park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymouscactus Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Made to Thrill teamed up with Holiday World, which is really awesome because they don't make your typical merch. https://shop.madetothrill.com/ I could maybe see predetermined rafts keep the water dummies in them to allow the necessary weight for each raft and to help space people out. I don't know if straps to keep them in would get in the way of people's feet or not but you could probably place one in the back of Wildebeest and be ok? Curious if they will go that route or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tndank Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Can confirm the Made To Thrill stuff is all around the park and looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXman308 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 For those that don't know the reservation site is available to see outside the park: https://hwreservation.com/# I've been using it periodically to check wait times. Today is the first time they've moved some of the rides into a "reservation not required category". (Meaning you can have a reservation for say Voyage and be able to ride another ride while waiting). My guess is they can easily move attractions around, and good to see HW adapting to concerns that people have had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeykaise Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 I know you can only get tickets online but do Coaster groups still get a discount that has been offered by HW before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Made to Thrill teamed up with Holiday World, which is really awesome because they don't make your typical merch. https://shop.madetothrill.com/ Oh, wow, their offerings have gotten even better since the last time I looked. They've even designed a shirt for my home park! Was not expecting to see that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacherkim Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Bought tickets for our somewhat local road trip out of STL on 7/27. Technically as a SFSTL employee my son gets two free tickets, which we have been used before, but there was no way to do that on the website and in the current climate it seems churlish to make an issue out of it. I will just support the park and pay for the day and be happy they are happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravity55 Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 HW has officially canceled their Halloween event and will be closing at the end of September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Has anyone else been lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 ^ I was there last Tuesday. It was torrential downpours all day so the park was empty. For that reason, it was easy to social distance. Staff members were wearing masks, but most guests were not. The hand sanitizer was widely available at ride exits. I didn't notice any wipedowns in between trains, but they could have rigged the virtual queue system so the wipedowns occurred during an unavailable time. Holiday World was having at least one empty row between parties except on Thunderbird, where they loaded every row. The virtual queue system worked seamlessly. I walked right onto every ride when my time was called. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Nice! Were they running more than 1 train? Did you enjoy Voyage more this visit vs previous? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 All of the coasters were running one train, but that may have been because of the bad weather. The park was really empty. I thought Voyage was running just as good this year as it was last year for HoliWood Nights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dankeykang Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I was at the park a few weekends ago (on a Saturday), and they were running 2 trains on both Voyage and Thunderbird. Just one train on Raven/Legend. I can also attest to the park running the virtual lines about as well as one could really ask for. Towards the end of the day, as the crowd died down, most of the staff were letting people enter the rides even before the timer on the ride reservations was fully elapsed, which was pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravity55 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I was there on the 4th of July. Easily the busiest day they've had since they opened. There was around 15,000 people there. They didn't use virtual queues in the waterpark. They do plan on using it on the major water attractions soon. They're trying their best to encourage guests to social distance, but no one listens or cares. They're having trouble staffing the park. Raven and Legend only have enough staff for one train ops. They're still hiring and training lifeguards. 4 of their water attractions were closed. They were using the lazy river to train staff most of the day, but it did open later. Cheetah Chase is really fun and focuses on speed, but is third best water coaster in the park. I was able to score a night ride on Voyage and it was running unbelievable and absolutely out of control. They've definitely got some kinks to work out on busier days. My advice to everyone, avoid Saturday's and go any other day. That will be the only day of the week they're busy. Crowds have been really light this year besides the 4th. They've closed the park early due to low attendance at least 2 days I know of. They're gonna ride out the rest of the summer hoping the waterpark draws better crowds and cut their losses and close September 27th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I mentioned this in the Kentucky Kingdom thread, but I can't say that I'd recommend a visit to Holiday World this season. With the face masks / coverings being "recommended", I'd say we maybe saw 4-5 groups actually wearing a mask while we were there (on July 4 no less). If it weren't for most crowds being in the water park, we would have left immediately. We were able to get the four coasters done within a couple of hours, but the lack of distancing on top of no one wearing masks was all-around awful. The only silver-lining was that the virtual queuing worked really well - and we were able to "wait" for most of the rides while we were waiting to board after we were scanned in at the beginning of the queues. Just seems like a waste without a mandatary face covering policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALT2870 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 That's totally up to you. You knew going in that mask weren't mandatory so what did you think was going to happen? I've said this elsewhere but if you are truly worried about catching the virus, it's probably best not to go to an amusement park right now, even one with a mask requirement. I do agree if they have one they should be enforcing it but that isn't the case here. Anyway, it sounds people are really getting into the virtual queuing thing. I hope one of the positives that comes out of this is that it becomes more common place. If some park out in the middle of nowhere can do it, then others can too! (Still a regular standby line would be nice to have too.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 That's totally up to you. You knew going in that mask weren't mandatory so what did you think was going to happen? I've said this elsewhere but if you are truly worried about catching the virus, it's probably best not to go to an amusement park right now, even one with a mask requirement. I do agree if they have one they should be enforcing it but that isn't the case here. In all honesty - I thought there would be a 50-50 face covering crowd (similar to a grocery store that doesn't require them). I understand the risk involved - just wanted to share what I experienced in case others are on the fence - or had experienced other parks that do require them and thought it may not be as bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 I mentioned this in the Kentucky Kingdom thread, but I can't say that I'd recommend a visit to Holiday World this season. With the face masks / coverings being "recommended", I'd say we maybe saw 4-5 groups actually wearing a mask while we were there (on July 4 no less). If it weren't for most crowds being in the water park, we would have left immediately. We were able to get the four coasters done within a couple of hours, but the lack of distancing on top of no one wearing masks was all-around awful. The only silver-lining was that the virtual queuing worked really well - and we were able to "wait" for most of the rides while we were waiting to board after we were scanned in at the beginning of the queues. Just seems like a waste without a mandatary face covering policy. I didn't have a problem distancing from others because of how well the virtual queue system worked. And what I've seen at other parks seemed to hold true at Holiday World as well, if guests saw me in a mask, they tended to give me some distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBru Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 I unfortunately had a similar experience at Holiday World today, to the point where some guy was literally breathing on my neck and I had to turn around and politely ask him to give us some space. I was frankly shocked at how little most people seemed to care about distancing...or any other kind of etiquette. Regardless, I had a super fun day introducing my 21-month-old nephew to amusement rides! He’s definitely a thrill junkie in the making! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravity55 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 While I was at guest relations Saturday, I witnessed a family of like 4 or 5 walk right through the middle of a line of people without saying excuse me or anything. Some girl in the line said something to them and told them they’re supposed to be social distancing and the mom of the group turned around and told the girl who said something to “shut the hell up about that nonsense”. On another note, if you do go on a Saturday, get there early before opening. It’s not a free for all at the front gate and security anymore. They only let one group at a time at each metal detector and admissions gate. So it take a while to fish through all of that. The line to get in was over an hour long at noon on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tndank Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 The line to get in was over an hour long at noon on Saturday. Should have put that on InLine and hand out wristbands as you pull into the lots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 While I'd like to visit for the first time since ~2014 I just don't think I would feel comfortable or have that great of an experience. Maybe another year, Holiday World! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravity55 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 (edited) Was at the park today, again. For the park, I’m really glad to see attendance up. They’re really getting good at operating with the procedures they have in place. Security checks and admissions moves much faster today. Waterpark is fully operational outside of Kima Bay. Staffing is still an issue. Not all Food Stands are open. Raven and Legend only running with one train and two person crews. My gut feeling is there won’t be two train operation on either ride all year. Really took advantage of inline reservation today. Grabbed some fudge and sat in air conditioning while waiting for The Legend. Checked in line for The Voyage right after I scanned for Legend and basically waited in two lines at once, since the actual queue of Legend was moving slow with one train. When I got off Legend, my 25 min wait for Voyage was over and with 2 trains there, I walked right on to the ride. Also grabbed a quick lunch while waiting 40 mins for Thunderbird. Last time I was there, I had a hotel in Jasper. I left around 3 to go check in. We left to come back to the park at 7 and there was an hour wait for Thunderbird and I reserved a spot as we left. Drove 30 mins back to the park and by the time we got there and walked back to Thunderbird, it was time to ride. Also checked right into Voyage as we checked in for Thunderbird that night as that line was an hour long too. I was able to secure a night ride while also grabbing some dippin dots and sitting at a bench waiting for 30 mins. I’m really starting to see why a lot of people in the industry thing virtual queuing is the future. It’s a much more productive way of managing your time and securing the rides you want to ride. If only the majority of the gp were more accepting of new technology.. Edited July 14, 2020 by ZeroGravity55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan the Coaster Man Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I’m really starting to see why a lot of people in the industry thing virtual queuing is the future. It’s a much more productive way of managing your time and securing the rides you want to ride. If only the majority of the go were more accepting of new technology.. I have not been to a park with a full on/majority virtual queuing system. Just the occasional fast pass at Disney... I really hope it is the future though. Glad it's at HW. Six Flags sent out a survey about it a few weeks ago, I really hope they look into it beyond the survey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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