Holiday World Announcement to be in September!

Oh, I think a splash battle would be a PERFECT for Holiday World. But that would mean a new water ride, 3 years in a row... I bet they go with something that keeps people dry.

LostKause said:
Yes, kid's areas are a necessity. I believe that you are wrong when you discount their importance in drawing customers. Look how busy the kiddie rides are at any park. A lot of kid's go to parks from a young age, and work their way up until they can ride the bigger rides. It's a big deal for those tiny ones to reach a certain height so that they can get on the bigger rides, but while they are waiting to grow, they still need smaller rides to ride.

I disagree, to a point.

I don't believe that kids areas are a necessity. In fact, I kind of wonder how we got into the model of cramming a bunch of kiddie rides into their own little ghetto. *I* think that ultimately does a disservice to everybody except the Operations department and the few families that are there *exclusively* for the benefit of their small children. For everybody else, it basically requires dividing the day up into "kiddie rides" and "everything else". Or it means that somebody has to schlep the kids over to the kiddie ghetto while everybody else has their brand of fun. This is especially true in parks that are designed around the 6-hour "Duell Loop". So you go over to kiddieland, watch the kids on the Hamptons for an hour, then pack them into the perambulator and make them sit there the rest of the day while everybody else rides the big rides. Does that really sound like fun...for anybody?

I do believe that rides for the kiddies ARE a necessity, ESPECIALLY because getting kids hooked on the rides at an early age makes it easier to make them customers for life. 8-)

But I think that if there is going to be a separate kiddie ghetto, it really ought to be filled with rides that are designed for children, but that can accommodate their parents. Strict kiddie rides, by contrast, ought to be interspersed with the adult rides so that the little kiddies can ride all day long just like everybody else in the group. They just can't ride the same rides.

Hersheypark did a pretty good job of this. So did Busch Gardens Williamsburg; granted, they have put in a couple of kiddielands over the years, but the one (Land of the Dragons) is kind of like Holidog's Funtown in that it features playground stuff and a couple of kiddie rides, and the other (the Sesame Street thing they put in last year) is full of rides that can accommodate the whole family.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'm starting to like the Splash Battle idea. Paula said they are replacing a ride, and that she would start leaking hints. Does the Indian River Canoe ride have a leaking problem, that could be solved by a replaceemnt?

The canoes would be an older ride, one you don't see that much of anymore, but we could use "canoe" shaped boats on a Splash Battle. Better yet, they could put it in Thankgiving or the back of Splashin Safari and handle it just like Pilgrims Plunge - swimwear or streetwear, your choice. A SplashBattle that was set to drench, that you could ride in your bathing suit could be a great idea, and would benefit both parks. And what's more it would be an all ages kind of family ride experience.

Going down the list of other rides:

Tilt-A-Whirl - just replaced in 2007(?) with Turkey Whirl

Revolution - just replaced Roundhouse, what 10 years or so ago?

Eagles Flight - This could be a replacement opportunity, a chance to get a newer, larger, more snap friendly machine from Larson.

Pioneer Train - oldest ride in park, I really don't see them replacing this one unless it became unfit to run. Just too much nostalgia/history there. It just wouldn't look right with a CP Huntington...

Holodog's Fun town is relatively new, so I thing the Howler and Dogone trail are fine.

Carousel and Liberty Launch in 4th of July are both recent additions.

Rough Riders (dodgems) also got replaced within the decade.

Spider (Paul Revere) is a possibility - its an older ride and low capacity. Though someone said they just did a major rehab on it. But, might they have gotten the Polyp from Kiddieland in Chicago, similar ride that can load all tubs at once?

The car ride looks to be in good shape, don't see that being the candidate for replacement. Hallowings is too new (and popular) - unless they are getting that Windseeker! ("Windseekers for Everyone!")

At HoliWood Nights we were talking with somebody at the park that said they had just performed a major rehab on the Scrambler (and it sounds and rides like it to) - so I don't see that being the ride to go.

I'm also thinking they should go take a look at Ocean Motion to move to Thanksgiving to rename the Mayflower.

hmmm.... could they replace Eagle's Flight with a WindSeeker/StarFlyer?

For the love of all that is holy, I hope not.... Paula, please tell me you aren't following suit!

Replace the Eagles Flight with the Premier version (see Idlewild). The Larson version flies pretty good, but the Premier version flies like it was patterned after the old Kings Island machine. And it has 10 tubs.

The problem with Paul Revere is that there is a kind of a shortage of similar rides out there to replace it with. The Kiddieland Polyp is kind of similar, but the tubs don't spin. That said, I am not sure that the capacity on that one is quite as bad as it seems. Yes, it can only load four tubs at a time (of a total of 12) but with two or three operators (yeah, HW uses one...) it is actually possible to load all 12 tubs in less time than it takes to unload and reload, say, a Scrambler.

Nice rundown, Dave. It seems that the Flying Scooter, Spider, and Scrambler are the only non-tracked non-kiddie rides that haven't recently been replaced. And of those, we know the Spider and Scrambler have both apparently received significant overhauls.

In addition, didn't the rapids ride get some new boats recently? That leaves the train, the antique cars and the flume as the remaining non-kiddie rides that haven't received gratuitous TLC in the past few years.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^^^^SFoT did this about 5 years ago to great success. At the entrance to most of the major adult rides, they added a kiddie flat or mild thrill flat (scrambler, tea cups) and I routinely watch groups split up so half can ride Titan and half can ride the scrambler.

Anyone who saw our group on Eagles Flight at HoliWood Nights knows that ride is just fine the way it is. ;) RiverviewMike is THE MAN!

I think the point of the "Kiddie Ghettos" is so that Parent_1 can take Child_1 to the kiddie area while Parent_2 can take Child_2 and Child_0.2+ to the big rides. That saves the hassle of dragging Child_1 all over the park from kiddie ride to kiddie ride. If you're tall enough to ride the big rides, chances are you aren't going to want to bother with the kiddie rides (unless you're Gator) anyway. So if the kiddie rides are spread out, someone will still have to wait while the others are on the big rides or the little rides unless they fit the marketing demographic of the 2-parent family with the 2.2 kids (I think that was the number we used to throw around here), then they can split into two groups again. It doesn't seem to make much difference in the end.

Personally, I think parks "look" better when the kiddie rides are bundled together into a well themed kiddie land instead of randomly dropped down all over the park. I think the front midway to Hershey would look a lot better if it wasn't littered with kiddie rides.

I tend to think that, like Dollywood and the newer sections at Great Adventure, that if you put kids rides near all the big rides, and keep the theming, it looks nice.

I think there should definintely be areas that are more kidcentric, but that there should be stuff for everyone in all areas, but that shouldn't detract. I love that in Timburr Canyon, there is Thunderhead & Mystery Mine for the Thrill Seekers, a kids play area, Timburr Tower for families, other kid and family friendly attractions. It's all there, in one area, with one cohesive theme. With things like Parent swap, that just works.

The only area that I think Dollywood is 'lacking' with stuff for everyone to do is back by Tornado, which also seems like the last section of the park that hasn't been upgraded in the last 6 years. Now with Dreamland Forrest getting another thrill ride and a makeover with family friendly stuff, I'd say the next area to get something for the family will be near Tornado.

When they theme everything like your Dollywood example, I think that looks great. But even there, the rides are for the whole family, not micro flats that are uninteresting to anyone over the height of 42". ;)

I should have said kiddie rides and not kiddie areas... Unless, of course, I meant small kiddie areas that are near the bigger thrill rides, like DW and HP. If I ever had my own park, it would have a kiddieland, but it would also have sprinklings of kiddie rides near the big rides as well.

Great post disagreeing somewhat with mine, btw, Rideman. I agree with everything you said there.

This was found on HWSS facebook page:

Sara Harth: when will you be announcing any new rides for 2011?
Thursday at 11:33am
Holiday World & Splashin' Safari; Sometime next week...
Thursday at 11:39am

^Well, Sept is almost over, so I would hope!!

From facebook...Holiday World & Splashin' Safari: The announcement will be via YouTube this evening. We have dropped hints here over the past few weeks...

Well, I'm sure my young niece's and nephew's will dig the kiddie ride upgrades and I'll absolutely look forward to the Timberliners next year, and both Wildebeast and even PP were fantastic additions, I really hope something finally awesome awaits 2012...over 5 years since the Voyage!!

Well, lets play the meaningless numbers game...

Raven opened in 1995 at 2800' long 80' high and 48mph

Legend opened in 2000 at 4042' long 99' high and 59mph

Voyage opened in 2006 at 6442' long 163' high and 67.4mph

So, the new coaster at Holiday world will obviously be...

Opening in 2013 at about 10,000' long 380' tall and 75mph ;)

^That would be disrespectful to The Beast... ;)

^As disrespectful or less disrespectful than extra brakes, ratchet lap bars, individual retracting seatbelts, etc. etc...?

Anyone else think about what Voyage would have been like with some added Beast- like sections? Like long straight section of track... it would have pushed the length over that of the beast and also given the ride a little more 'breather' room. I know that is probably opening up a can of worms.

Whatever HW announces, they can't go wrong.

CoasterDemon said:
Whatever HW announces, they can't go wrong.

Now, now, this sounds like something only Holiday World's Number One Fan would say... ;)

Good job, Dan. Saw that this morning. Meant to post a link telling everyone to check it out.

2011 is about children and comfort. They're added much needed lockers!