Holiday World First Timer

Well I am back home in Eastern Time and I thought I would share my trip to Santa Claus with you guys. We got to the park around 9:30 and got our tickets (we had 15 people in my family so we got a nice discount). When the park finally opened we headed to Raven. I had always heard about the Raven being so great and amazing so wanted to ride it and the Legend before I rode Voyage to make sure I got the full affect.

Raven- Very fun. It was a great wooden coaster; it had a nice first drop and some good air in several spots. I was not let down by this ride at all but I was just a little surprised by it. I guess hearing all the hype about the 5th hill being so amazing and the final run through the woods being breathtaking I felt very surprised to not find this ride as great as it was hyped to be. It was a top ten woodie, but not close to Thunderhead.

Next we headed down the path to Legend. I grabbed some free soft drinks (I am a huge MD addict so I would have been willing to pay admission and just drink Dew all day) and got in line.

Legend- Decided to ride in the front car and just like Raven this ride was a surprise to me. I had pictured this ride being the let down of the three coasters but boy was I wrong. Right out of the chain lift I was flung down the spiral drop and into an intense turn in a tunnel. Right then I knew this ride was going to be good. It was very intense the whole ride it did not let up the whole circuit. It was very long and it had several surprise moments of air time that I felt were better than Ravens 5th. I got off this ride in complete bliss and wanting more. I felt almost guilty as a coaster enthusiast liking the Legend more than the Raven. It felt like I had missed something on the Raven, but after we another ride on each I still felt that the Legend was a better coaster.

After my two coaster surprises we made our way to Thanksgiving were “IT” was located. Everyone knows what I am talking about and every will not be surprised to hear that my thoughts on “THE” coaster are the same as everyone before me. “PERFECTION”. It is so hard to describe this coaster but I will try.

Voyage- Now for months I have been waiting to ride this ride and I had read every review, seen every picture, and downloaded every video out there. I was a die-hard Thunderhead fan and I was sure this ride would fall short of my favorite coaster like the Legend and Raven did earlier, but this ride would not settle for second best. Many have described every section of track in the many reviews out there so I will just skip to the brake run. After my first ride I sat in the brake run speechless. I could not believe that I had just ridden a ride that blew away every coaster I had ever ridden in just one lap. I had just experienced better drops than Millennium Force, better air time than Magnum, more intensity than Dragster, better double/triple down than Jack Rabbit, better laterals than Thunderbolt, a better setting than the Beast, more power than Montu, and more of a complete out of control total package ride than my former number one coaster Thunderhead. I was instantly in love with the Voyage after one ride, but a severe thunderstorm around 3 left the park empty for the rest of the night. When the rain let up around 6 everyone was gone so we hit the water park until seven and then went right back to Voyage. It was about 7 30 and the ride was only about a one train wait so we got on and just kept riding. We would ride twice grab a cup of Mountain Dew and ride again. We kept this up all the way up to closing and we ended up with 15 rides on the day. The last three were just amazing because it was extremely dark and the last ride (last train of the night) was in complete darkness and in the back seat (my personal favorite). This ride rode insane in the morning, but at night in complete darkness after it had rained for about three hours this ride was hands down the most insane experience I have ever had on a coaster. I could not get enough of this ride, and riding it in the dark made this ride untouchable in my opinion. I know this is only GG’s second coaster, but it will be very tough for them to top this beast.

We did a lot during the day, but I thought most would just like to hear about the coasters. The water park was a blast, I loved Zoombabwe, but I was not as impressed with Zinga and Jungle Racers as I thought. We spent a lot of time in Kringles Café due to the storm so I ate my fare share of pizza (delicious by the way) and drank at least 30 cups of Mountain Dew.

I wish I could describe more how much I loved the Voyage and Holiday World. I live about 1-½ hours from Cedar Point but I think my money would be well spent on a Holiday World season pass next year instead. I had an amazing time and I hope to get back as soon as possible. I am not looking forward to going back to Cedar Point Sunday and having to spend $2.50 for my Mountain Dew. *** Edited 7/24/2006 12:48:44 AM UTC by 08stien***

Pick me up next time you pass through Cincy to get there :)

BTW, Join Buzz club or any other reputable club and join us next memorial day weekend (Hopefully) for 6hrs of night rides on these coasters.

BTW 2. You've yet to ride Legend and Raven in insane mode or in the dark for that matter. It makes a difference.

BTW 3. I was well on my way to 15-20 rides on Voyage on July 3rd (One of the buisiest days of the year) But it went down for the day at 3pm but the four rides before hand were beyond words and the night rides at Holiwood nights were beyond description.

Glad you enjoyed it. Anyone who loves a intense wooden coaster is going to love Voyage. For those who've never expreienced anything like it. It might be too big a surprise.

Chuck, thanks for your report.

My first trip to HW was this year at Holiwood Nights. Ever since then, all I do is try to plot a way to get back out there again this season. It's a twelve hour drive. I think I've got a plan, though...

I've also thought about relocating entirely, so as to be no more than a day-trip away from The Best Park In The World Ever.

It's madness. Or is it?

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08stien said:
We spent a lot of time in Kringles Café due to the storm so I ate my fare share of pizza (delicious by the way) and drank at least 30 cups of Mountain Dew.

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Sounds like another "ACEer In Training"

:)

-Tambo

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The Real Robbie said:
I've also thought about relocating entirely, so as to be no more than a day-trip away from The Best Park In The World Ever.

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Hahaha... that's funny. I was thinking about that, too. And I live in day-tripping range of Great Adventure, Hersheypark, Kennywood, and Knoebels.

08stien - I couldn't have described it better! In fact...I do a terrible job describing things. ;) How awesome that you got to ride it 15 times! We got to ride Lightening Racer at Hershey Park 8 times in a row. A few of them we never got out of our seats! I could have gone longer, but the friends that I was with got tired. They're getting old! ;) ha ha!

Anyway...Great TR! Thanks for sharing!

Every time I read a Voyage review I get more pumped. I'm going in less than 2 weeks. I'm So pumped. I already opened my number 1 coaster spot for it.