After spending Friday and Saturday at Kings Island, it was time for Sam and Kaylee to grab some new credits at another park neither had visited previously – Holiday World. Back in 2018, Mindy and I visited the park during a three day weekend that also saw us stop at Indiana Beach and Kentucky Kingdom. Mindy and I got in lots of rides on all of Holiday World’s featured coasters and I couldn’t wait to get back. I had heard about the re-tracking work done on Voyage since then and have been looking forward to seeing how the has ride improved.
Sadly, there would be no night rides at Holiday World with the park only open from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Having gotten in so many night rides the to previous nights, I was a little bummed, especially when it came to night rides on Voyage. I have yet to do that. One day…
Down One Woodie & Coaster-Related Merch
When we arrived at the park we noticed the sign going stating that the Legend would not be running. Although I already had the credit, I was bummed that both Sam and Kaylee would miss out on experiencing the park’s entire coaster collection. Of the three woodies at Holiday World, Legend was my least favorite in 2018, but by no means was it a bad coaster. Legend, Raven, and Voyage all rank within my Top 60 Overall Coasters. You can see those rankings by visiting my Complete Rankings page here on the site.
Before getting on any rides for the day, however, we made a quick stop at the park’s main gift. For the entire weekend, I was on the lookout for pins for Chris D. and magnets for Steven from Thrill Maxx. The three of us are always picking up merch from the various parks we visit and exchanging it with one another. Sadly, however, Holiday World had little to no offerings featuring their coaster line up. We saw one shirt, for Legend, but all in kids sizes. There were two magnets and no pins. We saw some Coaster Dynamix items and several coaster prints, but none of those are what any of us collect. Talk about a huge let down. That wasn’t the case three years ago at all.
Thunderbird
Like on Friday, I asked Sam what ride she wanted to go to first. She picked Thunderbird. After the long walk to the back end of the park, we jumped on the left side of the train first and went right back up for another ride on the right. On the right side, we waited for the front row, riding two different trains since they only seat two per row on each side.
After snapping a couple of photos we decided to run back up for a third ride while the lines were short. This time, we wanted to ride in the back and attempted to each do so on the opposite side of the same train. The length of the lines on each side didn’t match up, however, so I boarded two trains ahead of Sam and Kaylee. It didn’t really matter though because the ride went down for about 10 minutes. Eventually they had everyone get back in line and sent a few test trains. The main ride operator said things looked good, but one train later, that changed. We were told the ride would be going down for a bit and it was suggested that everyone go ride other rides at the park for the time being. Our third ride would have to wait until the end of the evening when we squeezed in one last ride on the day.
Voyage
When we jumped in line for Voyage, it looked like we were in for a long wait. The line was out on the walkway and wasn’t moving. Then all of a sudden, it began moving and moving quick. For some odd reason none of the bullpen area of the queue under the station was opened prior to all the movement. I don’t understand why parks don’t open at least some of these areas. Do they not think that more than a few dozen people are going to want to ride? Just have it ready to go.
Much like a few other lines we waited in throughout the day, this one moved rather slow. I’ve been in worse, but it just seemed like there was no hurry among guest to get in their seats, or the ride ops to get the train checked and ready to go. We could have probably boarded two trains earlier had we not waited for the front row. It was totally worth it, though. Nothing like taking in all that view on a coaster like the Voyage.
I must say, this ride was better than I remember. The outward portion of the ride was always good to me, it was some of the return trip back to the station that was a little rough in 2018. They definitely got those portions worked out. Voyage was already high on my favorites list, but it bumped up a couple of spots after Sunday.
Much to my dismay, we only ended up getting in one ride on Voyage. After our third ride on Thunderbird, we walked over to Voyage with about 15 minutes left before close. Unlike Kings Island, they apparently close the lines before the park closes. I understand why parks do this, but I can’t say I agree with it, especially on a day where you’re only open seven hours on a weekend.
Raven
Much like Voyage, we only grabbed one ride on Raven. It wasn’t because we disliked it or anything because we all actually really enjoyed the ride. It was just the ride had the slowest of slow operations, leaving a train stacked out on the brake run for what seemed like five minutes at a time or more. I honestly don’t even think restraints were begun to be checked until the other train had returned for each cycle. Not good.
Like with Voyage, I had heard about some re-tracking that had been done on Raven out by the turn over the lake. I honestly don’t remember Raven even being rough in any spots in 2018, but I’m always up for a park taking care of their wooden coasters. Let me just say, Raven ran great yet again and I can see why it’s a multi-year Golden Ticket award winner. Such a fun layout and setting.
Final Ride Counts
Frightful Falls (1)
Gobbler Getaway (1)
Howler (1)
Raven (1)
Thunderbird (3)
Voyage (1)
A Few Other Rides & Another Breakdown
In addition to the coasters discussed above, we also grabbed a ride on Howler. That was a bit of a wait, but Holidog’s Funtown was hopping! Lots of kids having a good time making some of their earliest amusement park memories. Hopefully ones they’ll treasure like many of us do from years gone by.
The two other rides we checked out were Gobbler Getaway. The three of us love dark rides, but we ended up waiting a good bit for this one too. We also ended up waited a long while for Frightful Falls. The line was practically a walk on, but the water levels dropped just before we boarded. A number of logs out on the course had to be evacuated, so were left to wait and we decided to stick it out. The idea of riding a log flume in mid-October was too good to pass up. The funny thing is, Raging Rapids was also open. That one, however, we decided not to do. A three and a half hour drive back to our hotel in wet clothes didn’t sound appealing.
All in all, Holiday World was a good time, but being such a short day, having one of the major rides down, experiencing slow operations, and finding a lack of coaster merchandise left us a little bummed. One of the things that did make up for it, however, was the food at Plymouth Rock Café. Seriously, that was some of the best park food we had ever eaten. Best of all, it was cheaper than your usual fried amusement park offerings found in most other parks. I sure could go for some right about now…
Holiday World Photo Gallery - October 17, 2021
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CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): Howler, Raven, Thunderbird, Voyage
Kaylee
Commander
New Credit(s): Howler, Raven, Thunderbird, Voyage
