Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread

[CoasterGuy06]

Leah has mentioned it several times on the HoWoPo that her dream is to one day add a birthday holiday section to the park. When/if it happens we will see.

[Twisterfan1995]

Not to mention the potential for more group sales from families/groups for birthday parties at the park from the synergy for having a birthday themed land there. 

[thisdougsforu]

So any word on if Legend will be back up and running early this season?

[mikeykaise]

17 hours ago, Nrthwnd said:

^ Just asking, but ... when does a birthday equal being a holiday?

I think they'd be more into National/Worldwide Holidays, etc.

Hmmm. Maybe an Easter Land, perhaps? Bunnies, bunnies everywhere, Bwah - Ah - Ahhhhh.

 

Or you were kidding all along, darnya!

Well there's Christmas but we're not all that special.

[JT325]

If I'm remembering correctly, there was a story about Will's father wanted a St. Patrick's Day section with a pub?  (Could have been a page back, not great at skimming) It wasn't happening, but I bet it would be nice!  But then it's Holiday World, it's gonna be nice.  It's also nice to be in a good mood and looking forward to the 2022 coaster season.  I'd better check out the Holiday World Podcast, been too long.

[AmyUD06]

So I'm planning a stop here as part of my "big park trip" this year, on Friday July 1st, and have a few questions:

1.  Is 6 hours enough time to hit all of the coasters, the dark ride, log flume and drop tower, and the water park?

2.  Will they group single riders with strangers on the water coasters?  Are there any sort of dividers between seats on the non-Mammoth ones?  I don't meet the minimum solo weight for any of them.

3. Anything else I should know about this park?

Thanks in advance.

[anonymouscactus]

Not an expert but been enough times for some pointers.

I've never been RECENTLY In the heart of summer, but for a Friday, even with a holiday weekend, I don't think you'll have an issue getting everything given your itinerary. If it's nice weather your longest lines are going to be the water coasters, but, mammoth and wildebeest both have single rider lines and they will group you with others. Most people are family's and don't utilize it. I didn't notice if cheetah chase had one, but I don't think it did. That one was tough given the weight distributions for my party we had to find other people to ride with w/o the help of the ops. When you say water park, I'm just assuming the 3 water coasters and nothing else. You can spend all day in just the water park if you are doing all the other slides... easy. There are some other fun ones (but with no single rider lines be prepared to wait a LONG time for things in the waterpark), but really, for the truly unique experience just go with the 3 "coasters". There are dividers meaning people won't be in your lap for wildebeest and cheetah chase, but you'll still get people's feet near/to the side of you unless you're in the back row. Mammoth is a non issue and is very comfortable and you'll get on quick in the single rider line.

Don't make the rookie mistake of doing the dry coasters in order from the top of the hill when the park opens (UNLESS you can beat the rush) because pretty much EVERYONE goes to Raven first. And then when people see when that line is too long they go next on the pecking order to Legend. Etc. The lines for those two are long around opening time / the first hour or two until the water park opens.  Probably best to make the VERY long trek to Thunderbird (+ rerides) FIRST if you get there at open, then do voyage (+ retyides) and then do gobbler getaway right near the Voyage, then hop on over to the drop tower, log flume, and finally Legend and Raven. Then do the waterpark with single rider lines. Then if there is any extra time after the waterpark that's when you'll want rerides on the dry side and there will be no lines for Raven and Legend.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Some other locals might have better advice but that's generally what I've seen and my order of operations that I'd recommend to cram in as much as possible.

Don't forget the time zone difference from the rest of the area! Another rookie mistake, lol

[AmyUD06]

@anonymouscactusAwesome info, thanks!

I'll probably be also checking out tube slides (I don't really do body slides) and the lazy river in the water park.

[anonymouscactus]

No body slides at Holiday World so no worries there. You'll have time to do some of the other slides, lazy River, wave pool, etc for sure, just don't expect super short lines for anything in the waterpark. Zinga (tornado slide) and the enclosed purple one (ZOOMBOBWAY) have notoriously long and slow lines. While fun, not worth it IMO and you might have trouble finding a group to ride with. Otto-ron-go, the enclosed black slides, are fun for single riders and lines are quick. As always in the waterpark, the more weight per boat/tube/etc the faster you'll fly. I think they have scales on everything now though that will give you a red or green light for whatever group you end up with, so long are the days when you could put 4 adults on the purple slide of death lol. I'll never, ever, ever forget that ride and the biggest mindf*ck I've ever had on a ride.... lol.

It's a fun park and fantastic water park for sure. Don't listen to Coasterbill who will poo poo on your parade.

If you like turkey and thanksgiving-like food, eat at Plymouth Rock. The food court near the entrance there is a large variety, the food is OK, but if you want some unique eats go for Plymouth Rock Cafe down near Voyage instead.

Take advantage of the free sunscreen and the  free drinks/Gatorade/tea. Also they have Dole Whip in the waterpark if you're into that.

[tndank]

Beware...No diet Dr. Pepper right now in the park.  If the park is open after dark I can't recommend it enough.  Voyage at night puts everything else to shame.  

Everything else above is solid advice as well.  Enjoy your visit to this wonderful park.

 

 

[AmyUD06]

42 minutes ago, tndank said:

Beware...No diet Dr. Pepper right now in the park.  If the park is open after dark I can't recommend it enough.  Voyage at night puts everything else to shame.  

Everything else above is solid advice as well.  Enjoy your visit to this wonderful park.

No concerns about Dr. Pepper haha...I rarely drink sodas.  Unfortunately the park only closes at 8 on that day, so no chance of night rides.

Thanks!

[prozach626]

  

On 3/21/2022 at 7:46 PM, Nrthwnd said:

^ Just asking, but ... when does a birthday equal being a holiday?

Since the beginning of narcissism, which was somewhere between man creating fire and making things out of sticks.

[Rai Fox]

On 5/9/2022 at 6:37 PM, Mike240SX said:

So I'm planning a stop here as part of my "big park trip" this year, on Friday July 1st, and have a few questions:

1.  Is 6 hours enough time to hit all of the coasters, the dark ride, log flume and drop tower, and the water park?

2.  Will they group single riders with strangers on the water coasters?  Are there any sort of dividers between seats on the non-Mammoth ones?  I don't meet the minimum solo weight for any of them.

3. Anything else I should know about this park?

Thanks in advance.

It's really hard to plan how anything is going to go, the last couple years; nothing is "normal" or predictable and everything has to come with a mountain of salt and moderated expectations.

That said I hit HW on a Wednesday last summer, first week in August.  Raven was a 90 minute wait, Legend was two hours.  The flume was around 90 minutes too.  The Voyage was about 10 minutes.  No, doesn't make sense to me either.  Food at the goblin burger stand was 45 minutes (but good for a theme park burger, at least)

In six hours you can PROBABLY get all of the coasters, flume etc, but it's hard to say definitely, and the water park, that seems unlikely if it's anything like last year.

Of course, you could get there on a day when nothing has more than a five minute line too.  I miss parks being mostly easy to plan.

If it's an important stop on your trip and you really want to get everything in though, it might be better to try to plan more time so you're not disappointed, you're definitely gambling a little otherwise.

[teacherkim]

On 5/9/2022 at 5:37 PM, Mike240SX said:

So I'm planning a stop here as part of my "big park trip" this year, on Friday July 1st, and have a few questions:

1.  Is 6 hours enough time to hit all of the coasters, the dark ride, log flume and drop tower, and the water park?

2.  Will they group single riders with strangers on the water coasters?  Are there any sort of dividers between seats on the non-Mammoth ones?  I don't meet the minimum solo weight for any of them.

3. Anything else I should know about this park?

Thanks in advance.

1. Normally it is. You can access the lockers and changing area for wp before park open so I would stash your wp stuff there first, go to the back of the park and do Thunderbird and Voyage then switch over to the wp, do what you want there, and then switch back over to the dry park in the afternoon when the crowd heads to the wp.

2. Yes, works like any other single rider line. You will be in close proximity with strangers in your swimsuits so if that freaks you out keep that in mind. No way will they let you ride by yourself whether you meet the weight or not. There are dividers but the legs of the person behind you will encroach into your space.

[prozach626]

So because there was a pandemic we're going to pretend that park planning wasn't ever on the same level as the Farmer's Almanac? 

[mikeykaise]

Any word on Holliwood Nights this year, this is about the time of year for it.

[tndank]

31 minutes ago, mikeykaise said:

Any word on Holliwood Nights this year, this is about the time of year for it.

It's June 3 weekend. Had to enter and get selected in a lottery earlier this year. 

[jarmor]

Is anyone going?

[tndank]

I'll be there.  They seem to indicate it would be limited to 500 or so this year.  Lines for Voyage last couple of HWNs was fairly long so hopefully it's quicker this year.  Also walking all the way back on Voyage to the spaghetti bowl again this year.

Obv a lot of hate for the lottery, so no telling how they handle it next year.  It's just too popular right now.  They also made it 2 days with no option of only Fri night and Sat.  Made the price this year $125 which is a big higher than before, too.

 

 

 

[prozach626]

8 hours ago, tndank said:

It's June 3 weekend. Had to enter and get selected in a lottery earlier this year. 

Are there events into Sunday? My wife and I were thinking about taking our daughter there that Sunday afternoon, and all day Monday.

[tndank]

7 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Are there events into Sunday? My wife and I were thinking about taking our daughter there that Sunday afternoon, and all day Monday.

No. Just Friday and Saturday.

[prozach626]

Thanks. I'd rather avoid it being too crowded, although I doubt the event would make the antique cars packed.

[mikeykaise]

On 5/18/2022 at 2:48 PM, tndank said:

It's June 3 weekend. Had to enter and get selected in a lottery earlier this year. 

bah, totally didn't hear about that, oh well.

[bert425]

We’re there yesterday. And tho day got rained out around 1 pm, and the park was packed?  Had a great time

 

Voyage was ROUGH.  I mean really bad in row 2.  But we waited an hour and 25 minutes for it (they were using basement queue)

[MrFurious]

Planning my family's (and hopefully another family's so my daughter has a friend to ride with) first ever trip to Holiday World (AND POTENTIALLY KENTUCKY KINGDOM).

We are coming from St. Louis, and while I am pretty plugged in when it comes to parks (I am here after all), I have NO IDEA when it comes to these two parks.  SO...feel free to suggest alternatives, ideas, and poke holes in any thoughts/plans here.

My original thinking is to leave the STL on wednesday (7/20), and head straight for HW.  Of course, lodging seems....interesting.  I first looked at ticket packages, but some of the drives from their "preferred hotels" can be as high as one hour away!  I also noted that the "packages" don't really offer any serious savings, if at all, over standard pricing (hotel and tickets).  Basically, the Comfort Inn in Ferdinand seems to fit the bill.  Thought was to stay there wed night, and then hit HW hard core all day thursday.  I have seen some good plans here for attacking the day (lockers right away near splashing safari, then Voyage and Thunderbird in morning, SS during the day, but pulling the rip cord early and then hitting remaining coasters and flats late afternoon).  The park closes at 8pm.  Here is where my brain breaks: Should I get a two day ticket, and then hit stuff up for half of the day friday and THEN head to KK in Louisville....OR....just get the one day, and then get up and get to KK on Friday morning (we LOVE craft breweries, and Louisville seems to have a good selection!).  Regarding KK, no idea where to stay yet (getting research started ASAP), or whether to get a one day or a two day ticket.  Two day tickets only cost five additional bucks, so getting in Friday night, then FULL day saturday sounds pretty good.  

SO...opinions: 

1) Is Hurricane Harbor in KK worth spending some time in, especially after SS at Holiday World?

2) Am I doing this trip in the correct order?  Part of me thinks we should head directly to KK from STL, then work our way back.  My fear with this is HW crowds.  I am thinking that they may be more difficult on the weekend compared to KK, hence getting to HW on a thursday.

Sorry this is so long, and also that I should be more active in here!  Sadly, I don't feel that I have enough to contribute regularly, so I resign myself to lurking...which when typing that up...seems crazy creepy.

Last year our families hit CP and KI for the first time, and with advice from TPR, we KILLED....KI.  CP was a disaster (not due to advice...but crazy crowds...and the other family's indecisiveness on FL+...which when sprung for at KI led to the best park day of my life).