Pictures from this weekends Holiwood Nights Event

[Thrilryder]

Picked out a few pics of the many photos I took this weekend.

After so many months of construction updates, I finally see this beast in person!

Pat loves her guests!

What a beautiful new section of the park

Thanksgiving's new coaster, The Voyage!

Airtime!!

The 2nd hill

Coming out of the first tunnel

The third drop

Coming out of the 2nd tunnel

Back to back 90's on the turn around

Coming back on the insane return run!

Going into the last 90!

Shot from inside of the station tunnel, yes, The Voyage is that fasssst.

Voyage train coming out of the last tunnel

The line waiting for The Voyage ERT to start

You can't visit HW without riding the Flying Eagles

Voyage's train heading into the station tunnel

The sunset

Raven's station at night.

Raven train heading to the lift

Voyage's train driving into the station tunnel

One train going into the station tunnel, and one going up the lift

[Jeezus Juice]

What?! No POV shots!!

 

j/k, how did the event go? I'm wondering how long the night ERT waits were and if they had the third train on yet...

 

I'll be there on wednesday...I wonder if there's any fudge left, lol!

 

-Don

[Erik Johnson]

^^ Not sure if you know this. But Holiday World does not allow anything on the roller coasters anymore. Especially cameras.

[pvcoasterguy]

^ Good. And that's the way it should be. Loose articles+Roller Coasters= Accident waiting to happen.

[CoasterFanatic]

The waits really weren't too bad. Legend and Raven never made it past a train or two wait the whole weekend and Voyage was under 10 minutes most of the time. Granted, you did have to wait a little longer if you were picky about your row.

[disneygurlz2s]

Awesome photos.... can't wait! 3 weeks from today we'll be there!

 

Shari

[dougstanton]

I will be there tomorrow!!! I can't wait. I have never been before.

[arson]

http://photos.tideblue.com/ryan/themeparks/holidayworld06/

 

There are my pics from this weekend. Enjoy.

[Chadley]

A big thanks to HW! We were treated like coaster royalty around there this weekend. They really did go all out for the event. Three ERT's, three meals, and plenty of free time in between.

 

Pat and Will were grinning ear to ear everytime I saw them, and it was infectious for just about everybody for that matter. The Voyage lived up to it's hype, and crushed it too. I haven't personally been this excited about a coaster since Millenium Force' opening.

 

The walkback on Sat. was great. Lot's of photo ops, talks, and fun.

 

I'm am far away from being a dark ride enthusiasts but Gobbler Getaway was an awesome ride, and beats anything I've been on yet for fun.

 

Mrs. Koch even admitted she was glad the event was coming off so well since they had so many new employees, and had been through so much training as of late. But she was very confidnet.

 

The whole event was especially fun for me since we had two HW virgins with us. And their excitement was off the wall...their hooked for life now.

[CD]

Wow that was great! Looks like a lot of fun, I can't wait untill I make my trip to HW next year and ride Voyage.

[robbalvey]

The waits really weren't too bad. Legend and Raven never made it past a train or two wait the whole weekend and Voyage was under 10 minutes most of the time. Granted, you did have to wait a little longer if you were picky about your row.

Ok, so I've heard 30 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 45 minutes if you wanted the front or the back seat, etc.....

 

...so c'mon everyone. What's the real story? I know people want to show the park in the best light and all, and it's NOT a knock on the park AT ALL by saying there were lines....I mean, a heck of a lot of people showed up! That's a GOOD THING!!! And it sounds like that even at the longest, the line did move FAST.

 

But I think it's doing people a dis-service by exaggerating the wait times, and people go in expecting that short of a wait at next year's event. You're only setting people up for disappointment. And 20-30 minutes is still not that long to wait during one of the most popular events of the season!

 

We waited 30 minutes for Legend on average during 2003 SRM's and they were running two trains, it's a shorter ride than Voyage, and there were fewer people at that event.

 

I've seen the pictures people have posted. I don't doubt Holiday World did a GREAT job handling the crowd, but how is it even possible those were only 10 minute waits for Voyage? Unless you were a single rider jumping into any seat available.

 

So, what is really only 10 minutes, because if so that's AWESOME, or is that average exaggerating a little?

 

--Robb "Just want people to have realistic expectations for the next event!" Alvey

[Thrilryder]

The times that have been stated are correct, the longest we waited was 45 mins for a very back seat ride on the voyage friday night, this due to the fact they were running only 2 trains that night. Will told us that night that they were waiting on parts for the 3rd train. On sat. night HW had all 3 trains running on the voyage and I think wait times for a very front or very back seat ride was only 30 mins. Raven and Legend we walkon to 2-3 train waits for the front or back all weekend.

 

HW did a great job handling the crowds, and I'm sure when word speads about how great this event was, even more people will show up at next years event.

[diggerg56]

The rides times posted were accurate from my experience on Saturday also. I was a single rider most of the time so that may have cut my waits a bit as they were trying to keep all the seats filled. I never had a wait longer than 15 minutes during the ERT time with the 3rd train running.

[okinawaboy11]

I love your Dharma shirt. That is possibly the best show ever.

 

Nice TR! Hows Voyage at night?

[Buckeye Brad]

I was there for the whole event, and the reports of 10-40 minute waits (Voyage) are all valid. During the peak times the lower level of the station house was full, but the line was really moving. It was actually hard to hold a conversation with the peole behind us because the line was moving so fast. That wait was around 25 minutes (for random seats) We also got a 10:30PM ride on Voyage with the basement empty and a 10 minute wait. Gobbler was 10-15 minutes. There were hoards of folks just hanging around Thanksgiving, chatting and/or recovering.

 

Yes, Raven and Legend were walk-ons for basically the entire weekend, day or night. We never waited more than 10 minutes, usually just one or 2 trains. At 11PM Saturday, our train left Raven's station to the sight of 2 people in "line". Yes, 2 people. By the time we got back there were maybe 10. This also happened on Legend several times Saturday, day and night.

 

It was an awesome event, and the short waits were a great surprise!

 

-Buckeye Brad

[robbalvey]

During the peak times the lower level of the station house was full, but the line was really moving. It was actually hard to hold a conversation with the peole behind us because the line was moving so fast. That wait was around 25 minutes (for random seats) We also got a 10:30PM ride on Voyage with the basement empty and a 10 minute wait.

That's kind of what I figured. ERT times always get less and less the later the night goes as people drop out regardless of where the event is held. I would believe that the line would be around 10-15 minutes towards the later parts of the ERT, or if you were a single jumping into any available seat, but I just couldn't see how with that many people it could be "under 10 minutes most of the time" for the entire event.

 

I'm kind of sad to hear that Raven was a walk-on most of the night. But it's to be expected since Voyage was the main draw.

 

--Robb "Sounds like HW did a great job handling the crowd." Alvey

[Buckeye Brad]

I forgot to mention that the entire Voyage station (upstairs and down) was kept nice and chilly. There are fans and air vents following you every step of the way. Everybody really appreciated this, since the weather outside was quite hot and muggy.

 

-Buckeye Brad

[CoasterFanatic]

^^ Robb, I am really not trying to give a unfair assessment. Maybe I should describe my experience a little better.

 

Most of our waits for Voyage (at least 6 of 8) were in the 10-15 minute range. Our first two rides were right after the ERT started on Friday and were a little longer but unless you were looking for front/back seat rides they were never over 20 minutes.

 

I never saw Raven or Legend get over a 2-3 train wait. My group even managed some re-rides on both coasters.

 

I am not a big "marathon" type ride but I am sure that their were some people who grabbed well over 40-50 rides on the Voyage over the weekend. If you were determined, it could be done.

[Guest]

I never waited over 30 minutes for Voyage all weekend. Including ERT time. Back and Front seats had about another 10 minute wait. With the third train on Voyage Saturday night, the lines were amazingly fast.

 

I didn't have to get off Legend late Saturday night. Got 4 rides without getting off. Raven I only rode twice the entire weekend.

 

I have got to mention the Gobbler Getaway. It was so fun, and I got to ride it with the lights on, not that it really made the difference. My friend Rob got some POV. And yes it was allowed.

 

Ted, I never saw you all weekend, I was looking. Oh well. I am glad everyone had a great time.

[larrygator]

I didn't have the stopwatch running but 10-20 minutes was my average wait for a single rider. I think the hot weather beat a lot of people down. It was extremely humid and many people were very worn down by the middle of ERT on Saturday night. There seemed to be just as many people milling about or watching. FYI - there were practical walk-on rides during the walk-back tour with all geeks on the tour

[Sue]

I've been reading the TR's, but haven't seen mention of how many people were there. Did they happen to announce an attendance figure?

 

Sue

[DerekRx]

I never heard an official number at either of the dinners, so I'm not sure. Maybe Paula has an idea.

 

As for the wait times, Robb, I didn't really keep a good count, as I left my cell phone in the car, but from my internal clock, I never waited more than 30 minutes for any ride on Voyage. Now granted, I didn't bother waiting for the front seat or the back seat during ERT, but even the 2nd to back or 2nd from front wasn't more than a 4 train wait once you got into the station and figured everything out.

 

I don't know what it was about the event that handled the crowds so well. I think it may be because both Legend AND Raven now also have 2 trains, as well as Voyage's 2-3. I guess that extra train on Raven helped wear people out more. Plus, keep in mind that it was EXTREMELY humid and lots of people wore out quicker because of that. And Voyage is a very agressive coaster, so I guess the lightweights couldn't handle rides long into the night.

 

Whatever it was that made the crowds manageable, I hope it happens again next time. I was really worried about it before the trip, thinking I'd end up getting like 2 rides total, but Voyage's basement queue never got even half full, and Raven and Legend barely ever left the stations and never the stairs.

[Guest]

From what I hear the attendance for HWN was about 1,000 roughly.

 

Rumblefest they said 480. Not bad, since the lines were nothing. The Wild Mouse had more of a line then Rumbler did if that says anything.