First Trip to Holidayworld Trip Report

[jmicha]

About a month or so ago, I was talking to my friend whom attends Holiwood Nights every year. We began talking about Holidayworld and I mentioned I had yet to make my way there and how I longed to visit after all the fantastic things I had heard about the park. We then decided that a trip was definitely in order and the two of us as well as another one of our friends picked a date and decided to go yesterday, May 22. Leading up to Sunday the weather reports weren't looking all that promising. Predictions went from looking pretty clear to looking like there was going to be thunderstorms every hour or so the entire day. Thankfully before leaving that morning, the reports had changed to say storms would most likely happen at around 10 am as well as 6 pm. This was much better than what had been predicted before so it was already turning out to be a good day. We left that morning at around 7:45 (eastern time) from Cincinnati and arrived at the park at around 10 (central time). We got our tickets and headed in.

 

No photos and lots of text lies ahead, just as warning to those not fans of written trip reports.

 

Upon walking into the entrance I saw who I believe to be Pat Koch greeting guests. It was clear there is a reason people speak so highly of the friendliness at this park. This showed throughout the entire day. Once in the park, the family aspect was apparent with many families walking around and riding the rides. A different group than I'm used to with Cedar Point and Kings Island. The first ride we rode was Raven in the back. The ride was fantastic. Quality wood coasters aren't something I've really experienced much of so it was nice to ride a great wooden coaster that has obviously had loving care put into its maintenance. The ride was incredibly smooth, yet aggressive in a fun way. The first drop offered a nice pop of air and the lake turn offered much more lateral force than I had been anticipating. The large drop into the woods also offered a nice moment of airtime in the back. The rest of the high speed run through the forest was fantastic offering a nice variety of forces and felt so much faster than it actually is. The setting for this coaster is great. I also love how it sits next to the entrance to the park. A very scenic ride.

 

After riding Raven we headed over to Legend. I've heard mixed things over the years about the ride and wasn't sure what to expect other than a lot of laterals. And laterals is what I received. The first sweeping drop into the tunnel was a lot of fun and starting with the sweeping right hand drop around Zinga the lateral G's kept coming. The two hills after that sweeping drop also offered two nice moments of airtime. The second of those hills offers an odd (possibly not intentional, I'm not really sure) sudden moment of forceful airtime in the back right as you enter the tunnel. The track's angle quickly changes for only a split second and the train kind of falls out beneath you. It seemed like it was just a consequence of the trackwork, but I liked it The helix was probably the most intense helix I've ever experienced. I feel like I got an upper body workout trying to keep myself from flailing about sideways the entire time. It was fantastic. I also really like the quick right hand turn that then leads into the small drop that goes underneath the hill of Frightful Falls. Great lateral forces. Overall I liked Legend a little more than I liked Raven. The extra length was great and I really liked the focus on lateral G's. That's not something that I really see at the parks I frequent.

 

We then worked our way over to Voyage. We decided to ride in the back seat for the first ride and that was a great choice. After riding all day in various places, I like the back the most. The first drop offers quite a large amount of sustained airtime as do the rest of the hills on the "out" run. The tunnels and the one small, low to the ground hill/turn that flies between tunnels were great moments on this part of the ride. Going over the hill before the turnaround offered a nice view of the awesomeness that was about to be had. The entire turnaround was just one incredible element after another. The amount of random pops of airtime and crazy laterals as well as the great feeling of the 90 degree turns was a perfect combination. The triple down in the tunnel after the MCBR didn't offer quite as much air as I had expected, but the feeling of shooting out of the bottom of the tunnel and into the next few hills was fantastic. The next few hills were great for airtime and lateral air. The third 90 degree turn was as good as the others. From that point to the brake run is just crazy. The turn that jumps over the lift approach throws you from side to side and the other turn/hill following that tunnel offers a great, quick transition. The last tunnel and final turn keep up the crazy pacing of this ride and finish up what is by far my favorite wooden coaster. The ride was quite smooth and aggressive in all the right ways. I can see how riding over and over again could be difficult though for some people as I realized after exiting how exhausted I suddenly felt from the ride. But this was a good thing. I love how aggressive the ride is. It has a great combination of forces, elements, and extreme length and pacing. If the timberliners improve this ride, I will be sure to make my way out to experience its epicness over and over again. Such an amazing ride.

 

We made our way over to Pilgrim's Plunge which seems quite lonely all the way out on the edge of the park. I am not a huge fan of heights on anything other than roller coasters and knew this ride would get to me. The moment we started climbing the tower, this fear was realized. My heart was racing and my grip tightened dramatically on my lap bar. This lessened at the top, but I was still quite uncomfortable. The drop was decent, nothing too extreme, but it offered a nice buildup to the final splashdown. The splash itself was not that large, but I did not mind as I wasn't looking to get soaked. The ride is pretty fun. It need friends or landscaping though. It just feels so alone out on the edge of the park.

 

At this point it was around 11:30 or so (the park was pretty much empty due to the threat of thunderstorms) and we decided that it was time to go to the water park. All of our swimsuits and such were back in the car so we made our way back towards the front of the park, riding Legend twice and Raven twice along the way. Both times we just stayed in the train as the stations were generally only every half full when we returned and they were still running two trains on all the coasters at that time. We got our stuff from the car and headed to Splashin' Safari. We started off with Wildebeest as my friend is quite a fan of the ride. I have only heard awesome things about the ride so I was expecting a great ride. Every single one of my expectations was met and exceeded. From the moment we went down the first drop the ride never let up. The feeling of shooting upwards on a water ride was such an odd, but amazing feeling. And the amount of crazy airtime on the tops of all the hills was not something I could have ever expected. My butt left the seat so many times it amazed me I was even still in the raft by the end of the ride. I never would have thought a water ride would offer this type of airtime. The drop into the tunnel towards the end of the ride in the back offered the best moment of airtime in that seat. We finished the ride and quickly got back in line (which was about ten people long ). This time I rode in the front. The amount of airtime in the front was even greater than in the back. There were a few moments that I was caught so off guard by the airtime at the tops of the hills that I actually yelled out in surprise. I cannot even describe how much fun this ride is. I have a new bar for water park rides now. It was that amazing. We rode it two more times before heading on.

 

We went over to the racing slides (I forget their name) and I lost epically to my friend whom has some sort of magical form for this ride. I pushed off as hard as I could and the moment I did all I see is him flying by at about twice my speed. I am unsure of how he did this. The only explanation is physics hax. That's it. After that we rode Zinga which, like all funnels, was awesome. We seemed to get higher and spend more time in the funnel than the one at Geauga Lake. A good ride as always. We then went on Zoombabwe, the ride with the greatest name ever The ride itself was decent, nothing special. The very end, however, offered a complete personality change. The whole ride offered nice sweeping turns that were taken gracefully. During the last turn and drop into the pool, however, the ride seemed to gain an impossible amount of speed. When we hit the end pool, we were thrown into an awkward pile resulting in complete loss of direction. A fantastic ending to a pretty typical waterslide. From there we rode Bukali which was fun. It was my first toilet bowl slide. We got three revolutions. A short but sweet ride. After this we decided to reride all the slides, including multiple rerides on Wildebeest. Seriously, Wildebeest is the best thing to ever happen to water parks. Every park should have one. Overall Splashin' Safari was a great break from the heat and I am happy it is included in the admission. At this time it was about 2:30 and we decided we were hungry. We changed and made our way over to Plymouth Rock Cafe. My meal was pretty good (much better than the food at Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks) and at only $8.99 I was satisfied. Also, I would like to take this time to say how incredibly awesome free soft drinks are. Never once was I thirsty which is rare at an amusement park. The amount of soda I drank throughout the day would have covered the cost of admission at Cedar Point or Kings Island. This detail is one of many that made the trip so much fun and satisfying.

 

We brought our stuff back to the car and came back in and continued riding rides. We started with Liberty Launch. I'm not a fan of drop rides due to my dislike of heights, but the small stature of this ride was not intimidating enough to get to me. I'm glad I rode as it offered a pretty intense ride for such a short drop tower. Two moments of great airtime at the top and some nice floater air thereafter. The ride packs a pretty good punch for its size. We rode The Revolution after this. I haven't ridden a roundup since my days of frequenting Whalom Lake Park so it was a nice nostalgic ride. A nostalgic ride that made me crazy dizzy I stumbled out of the ride like a drunk. It was classic amusement park fun. We rode Frightful Falls after this. The ride is quirky with its quite narrow trough, cinder block tunnel, and random cemetery/alligator/lizard theme. The drop was pure log flume fun. We rode three times in a row as nobody was in the station. Nothing like rerides to make your day better. After this we started our glorious set of rerides on the three coasters. I have no idea how many times we rode each, but all I know is that by the end of the day I was sore. In the best way possible. I only counted how many times we rode Legend in a row. Ten times and several thigh bruises later, I was satisfied. We rode Raven at least five times in a row as well as after the Legend run and then made our way over to The Voyage for the end of the night. We waited for the front which took about 15 minutes (only one train was running at this time) but it was worth it. The front offers a great view and heightens the immense sense of speed during the ride. People were waiting for the front when we got back to the station so we moved to the second to last row. This is where we stayed for either four or five more rides in a row before the park closed. I understand why people have trouble reriding this coaster, but if it means less people waiting then I'm happy. I could have enjoyed several times that many rides.

 

As general notes about the park, the care the owners and employees have for the quality of experience is obvious. Everything was kept to the highest standard. Not once did I see a piece of trash, overflowing garbage can, grumpy ride op, lazy employee texting, etc. On the way out from Voyage, no less than five employees smiled, told us to have a great night and a safe drive home, and went on their way cleaning the park up. What the park may lack in terms of quantity in comparison to larger parks it more than makes up for in immense quality. All the rides were clean, well kept, brightly painted, running all day, etc. The only moment of a ride not running I noticed was Legend stopped at the top of the lift for about five minutes. Other than that I noticed no closures or stops anywhere. The park is exceptional. There is no other way to describe it. All in all I only spent $55 dollars yesterday for tickets (discounted with AAA), two meals, and gas. I would have gladly paid twice that for yesterday's experience. Thank you so much Holidayworld for running such an amazing park. Large chain parks should look at your park as a reference for how to do EVERYTHING properly. Thank you and I hope to be back soon.

[KI Kidd]

Thanks for sharing your trip! It really is an awesome park, I'm glad you had a good time.