Holiday World (HW) Discussion Thread

[jray21Why do I still have a donkey title???]

The train looks really nice! Glad to see them keeping up on the rides.

[jedimaster1227Open Up Happiness]

Holiday World has sent us a press release regarding their latest honor, this time from TripAdvisor.com.

For the third year in a row, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari have received a Certificate of Excellence award from TripAdvisor.com. The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor. It is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide.

Only the top-performing 10 percent of businesses listed on TripAdvisor receive this award. TripAdvisor is the world's largest travel website.

“This award is a huge pat on the back for our wonderful Hosts and Hostesses,” says Matt Eckert, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari’s president. “From our sweepers to our foods personnel, from lifeguards to ride operators and everyone else, our staff consistently delivers a memorable day of fun for our park guests – it’s our tradition!”

To qualify for a Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor, and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months. Holiday World has received a “Certificate of Excellence” all three years the designation has been awarded. To date, the park has received more than 700 visitor reviews.

“TripAdvisor is delighted to celebrate the success of businesses around the globe which are consistently offering TripAdvisor travelers a great customer experience,” said Alison Copus, Vice President of Marketing for TripAdvisor for Business. “The Certificate of Excellence award provides top performing establishments around the world the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most – their customers.”

TripAdvisor also named Splashin’ Safari the nation’s #1 Water Park in 2011, a title that has not since been awarded to any other park.

Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari are open daily for the season. For more information, visit the park’s website at http://www.HolidayWorld.com or call 1-877-463-2645.

[DirkFunkDon't make me kick you in the donkey!]

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130620/NEWS10/306200076/Holiday-World-family-feud-reveals-new-twists?nclick_check=1

Some chestnuts from this article:

Natalie helped bankroll Dan’s “purchase by ambush” of Will’s shares in late 2010, weeks after Dan said he couldn’t afford the price and just days before the deadline to buy them, according to Lori’s court brief. The $27 million offer, the brief says, was hastily cobbled together right after Natalie got a multimillion-dollar repayment of an old loan from Will’s estate, then under Lori’s control.

That raises the ironic scenario that Lori is objecting to a purchase offer that she essentially funded with the substantial payout to Natalie from the estate.

While president, Dan inflated his salary fourfold, to as much as $1.16 million a year, and took loans and bonuses totaling $875,000 in 2010, Lori’s brief says.

Dan defends his actions, saying he needed the loan and bonus to pay for his divorce and to start a new law firm. He said he paid the loan back.

[mikeykaise2 + 2 = donkey!]

I'm sorry but the more and more I read the more and more it paints Lori in a bad light. Dan has said he is more than willing to have Will's children be involved in working at and helping to manage the park. Dan offered a fair price from everything I read to Lori but it just wasn't enough for her and she wanted a higher amount. I don't see how it could be considered a breach of the agreement when Dan did make an offer and Lori is the one that said no. I really hope that Dan does get control. Lori hardly talked to anyone of the visitors at Hollywood nights and it just didn't have the same excitement that Dan and Pat always manged to put into Hollywood Nights.

[Philrad71Why do I still have a donkey title???]

Michael and I visited Holiday World and Splashin' Safari on Wednesday, June 12th. Temps were up around 95-100 with the heat index so you can probably guess where we spent the majority of our day!

Splashin' Safari:

Definitely one of the premier water parks in the world and one that the two of us enjoyed immensely. Mammoth and Wildebeest were top notch and there is plenty of good variety in the slide department. Despite the fact that it was uber hot, the lines were really not all that bad. Mammoth topped in at about 45 minutes, but was definitely the highlight of the park for both of us. I hope that more parks get these types of slides!

The free sunscreen and drinks were saviors with the type of weather we endured. We both made it through the entire day without becoming dehydrated and we didn't get sunburnt at all...thank you Holiday World!

The one really long line was (obviously) for Hyena Falls located over by Giraffica and being that the line was located in the hot sun, we decided to skip it. I can see where this might be theie next expansion as they definitely need a bit more to do in that area. I did see some slide pieces in the field, but could those have just been spares or for a new slide?

Giraffica - awesome name and definitely a unique ride. The lift totally scared the crap out of Michael and while the drop was fun, the back seat in which we rode had somewhat of a nasty bang when the boat landed in the water. Michael bit part of his tongue during the smack-down after screaming come down the entire hill!

Holiday World coasters:

The HW coaster fanboys might want to skip over this section as neither of us were particularly impressed with the coasters. I don't mean to come across as whiney enthusiasts that can't handle the roughness of a woodie, but there is a line between air time, some decent side to side laterals versus being tossed around and beat up like a rag doll whilst coming off with bruises and a headache. Being that Michael just turned 70 and I am creeping up on 45, it is getting harder and harder to endure some of these rougher wooden coasters. Maybe when we were 18, this would have been the best thing since sliced bread, but not now. This is one of the major reasons why we are dying to try one of the Rocky Mountain coasters!

Voyage: I could see why this coaster was ranked #1 for it's first few seasons, but it has not aged well...at all. The overall layout looks to be top notch and all of the tunnels were cool, but this thing needs a serious major rehab. I know that track work has been done, but we could not tell if that improved it being that we had never ridden it before. I can't imagine what it must have been like before they re-tracked some of the sections.

The airtime hills were fun, but the transitions were simply brutal as I came away with no fewer than three black and blue bruises from this one. I'm not so sure if the Timberliners could save this or not. Rocky Mountain needs to get it's grip on this and then I could easily see this becoming a #1 coaster again. Until then, it probably ranks near my bottom ten for wooden coasters. Believe it or not, I actually preferred Hades at Mt. Olympus!

After our Voyage ride, we had to walk through the gift shop. An employee asked if we rode Voyage and how did we like it? When Michael groaned and told him that "hell would probably be more fun", he laughed and did say that he had heard that they were trying to get new trains on it in hopes to make the ride better...we can only hope!

The Legend: Michael opted to sit out the other two coasters after Voyage chewed him up and spit him out, but I was determined to hit all three coasters before we left for the evening. Legend has a very unique layout, but I was again victimized by being thrown around in the train during most of the duration of the ride. I will give HW props for not having many trim brakes (if any?), but it definitely makes for a bit of a jolty ride. I could see where hardcore coaster enthusiasts would love a ride like this, but a bit too much for me. I told Michael that he made the right choice by sitting this one out.

The Raven: I found this to be the best coaster in the park and one that I think would be much fun to ride after dark. While the lake helices were somewhat jostling, it was no where near as rough as the other two coasters. I would assume that it's because it's the smaller of the three and doesn't run quite as fast.

The park itself was very nice with thrills for little one's as well as adults. The staff were top notch...above and beyond friendly and the food was above average for theme park food. I can also understand why this park won the award for cleanest park - there were attendants everywhere sweeping, cleaning, mopping - awesome. I never saw one yellow jacket near the Pepsi Oasis' where at Lake Compounce free soda stands, it was like trying to dodge 'The Swarm!'

We didn't get to ride everything due to we were just too tired from the heat, but we both felt that this is a park that we would love to return too...hopefully the coasters will be running in better shape next time!

[CondorI know more about donkeys than women!]

Holiday World coasters:

The HW coaster fanboys might want to skip over this section as neither of us were particularly impressed with the coasters. I don't mean to come across as whiney enthusiasts that can't handle the roughness of a woodie, but there is a line between air time, some decent side to side laterals versus being tossed around and beat up like a rag doll whilst coming off with bruises and a headache. Being that Michael just turned 70 and I am creeping up on 45, it is getting harder and harder to endure some of these rougher wooden coasters. Maybe when we were 18, this would have been the best thing since sliced bread, but not now. This is one of the major reasons why we are dying to try one of the Rocky Mountain coasters!

Voyage: I could see why this coaster was ranked #1 for it's first few seasons, but it has not aged well...at all. The overall layout looks to be top notch and all of the tunnels were cool, but this thing needs a serious major rehab. I know that track work has been done, but we could not tell if that improved it being that we had never ridden it before. I can't imagine what it must have been like before they re-tracked some of the sections.

The airtime hills were fun, but the transitions were simply brutal as I came away with no fewer than three black and blue bruises from this one. I'm not so sure if the Timberliners could save this or not. Rocky Mountain needs to get it's grip on this and then I could easily see this becoming a #1 coaster again. Until then, it probably ranks near my bottom ten for wooden coasters. Believe it or not, I actually preferred Hades at Mt. Olympus!

After our Voyage ride, we had to walk through the gift shop. An employee asked if we rode Voyage and how did we like it? When Michael groaned and told him that "hell would probably be more fun", he laughed and did say that he had heard that they were trying to get new trains on it in hopes to make the ride better...we can only hope!

The Legend: Michael opted to sit out the other two coasters after Voyage chewed him up and spit him out, but I was determined to hit all three coasters before we left for the evening. Legend has a very unique layout, but I was again victimized by being thrown around in the train during most of the duration of the ride. I will give HW props for not having many trim brakes (if any?), but it definitely makes for a bit of a jolty ride. I could see where hardcore coaster enthusiasts would love a ride like this, but a bit too much for me. I told Michael that he made the right choice by sitting this one out.

The Raven: I found this to be the best coaster in the park and one that I think would be much fun to ride after dark. While the lake helices were somewhat jostling, it was no where near as rough as the other two coasters. I would assume that it's because it's the smaller of the three and doesn't run quite as fast.

Preface: I say this out of humor rather than criticism (because your opinions are both completely understandable and well-supported) but.....

I completely disagree with just about everything you just said.


Glad you managed to enjoy the park despite not liking the coasters though.

[Wes.]

^ Huh?

[CondorI know more about donkeys than women!]

Sorry my humor can be too dry for my own good sometimes. I just thought it was amusing how my thoughts on the coasters were almost the polar opposite when I visited a few weeks ago. No offense intended.

[Koasterking48"Excuse me, miss, may I pound my large rooster into your donkey?"]

The thing about Holiday World is that reactions to the roller coasters are polarizing in general. My GP friends hate all of them and really wish they will build a steel coaster soon. I actually agree with them on this, but not their opinions about "wooden coasters sucking."

[B&MBoy1982A zonkey is a cross between a zebra and a donkey.]

I do have to say the Voyage gives it's best rides in the front row. It is the only place I ride on Voyage, and I marathon it.

Yes, the entire spaghetti bowl was completely demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. Although I have not ridden since the refurb.