Associated parks:
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Got up around 6:30 am and began my drive to the middle of nowhere pretty much. got to the Dale exit, and got off I-64. I continued straight and well, the roads are extremely weird in that part of the country and got lost. I finally found my way back and ended up on the William Koch Memorial Highway and parked across the highway.
We got to the park, and I had purchased my tickets through our local farm bureau at a discount. The line for tickets was pretty long right around 10 AM already and the parking lots were getting quite full.
After entering the park, we headed down to the Raven. The line was already pretty long so I decided it wasn't worth it and made the trip over to the Legend. There was only a few people in line so we waited. After they opened the line, we got up to the platform and hitched the ride in the front on the second train of the day.
The Legend was much better than I remembered it. It had air time in a few spots and was very intense with the first drop and the tunnels.
After this, we headed over to the Frightful Falls. Waited about 5 minutes and took a ride on it. this is where my first complaint came up; while the ride is alright, the ride is basically in a little cement ravine down in the ground. There are several sharp turns on the ride and when you get near those turns, you bump very hard into the cement sides and it jolts you pretty bad.
After this, we headed over to the HallowSwings and took a ride. Very relaxing and the ride was very good.
Over to Raging Rapids for a ride. It always seems when I ride Raging Rapids, I just barely get wet. Same thing this time.
Then, over to Eagle's Flight. There was about a 20 minute wait on this ride because there are only six "eagles" that will accomodate up to 12 people. The ride lasts about 3-4 minutes. It was another soothing ride.
After that, the rest of the day is pretty much a blur. I know that we ended up riding Liberty Launch, bumper boats, and the Raven several times.
Onto the Raven. Very good ride as usual. Snagged the first seat and waited in line for about 30-45 minutes for this. I remembered at one point that they had steam when going into the first tunnel, but it was not there each time we went.
There were a few things I noticed that I thought I would bring up. Overall, the park experience was very great, the staff was very friendly and courteous, and it had a clean, family atmosphere.
Holiday World adopted a no-smoking policy throughout the park except in designated areas. I still ended up seeing a few people smoking out in the open along the paths and not in the designated smoking areas. This was one thing I was wondering how they were going to handle if people did not smoke in the designated spots.
The other thing I had noticed while waiting for the Raven ride, up in the queue at the top of the stairs, there is a window off to the right. Looking out the window, there was a good assortment of gum and other stuff that people had thrown out on the roof. While Holiday World takes very good care of their park, this was the one and only place that I found was not cleaned.
The last thing we did that night was to ride the Legend again. Right before we got up to go, it stopped at the top of the lift hill. The ride operators quickly got on the phone and called some "backup." I was very amazed; Will Koch actually came up to see what was going on. He personally walked up the lift hill to calm down those that were stuck at the top along with a fellow crew member. They had it back and running within 10-15 minutes. That shows dedication and that their management is actively involved in day-to-day operations.
Because the day went well, I ended up paying the $17 for the next day tickets so we could go through the water park on Monday.
We stayed at the Lake Rudolph Campground and had a camping site for $25. We ended up camping on site 131 in the Dasher section. Lake Rudolph was great in the way of bathrooms and showers and then a free shuttle to the park. But, the campsite we had was very crammed in with other tent campers and we had another family with a few children less than 10 feet behind us. The electrical hookup was shared amongst three of the campsites so I felt bad about having to drape a cord through someone else's campsite. When I called to confirm my reservation, they said that I had campsite 75-D which was a nice site when we drove by it. But, we got there and they gave me a different site.
Woke up and went to Holiday World the second day. The first thing we did again was to ride the Liberty Launch. Everyone kept lining up in the "Single Riders" line, so I went back through the main line right after I got off and was on the next ride. The people in the "Single Riders" line were pretty upset. The staff then told them to go around to the other line so they did. After that, we went over to the Eagle's Flight and rode twice as well, one after the other. Lastly, we made our way to the Legend.
By this time, it was about 11:30 and was time to go to the water park. We went over to the Zoombabwe first and waited for about 20 minutes. Great ride, and the pinholes in the tube to let some light in were pretty neat. Made our way to the Zinga, another 30 minute wait but a very good thrill as well. Then to the Jungle Racer (5 minute wait).
In a matter of about 2.5 hours, we went on all of the water slides except for the ones at Crocodile Isle. I even managed to go on the ones in the Monsoon Lagoon and those were pretty good. About 5-6 laps around the Congo River and a little bit of time at The Wave.
Back to the theme park side to pick up a Funnel Cake. We rode a few more rides, and to finish the day off, we rode on the Legend in the back, and the Raven in the back. We left about 5:30 because we had a 3.5 hour drive back home.
Overall, it was a great trip; my first trip for the year to get out and do something. Holiday World knows how to please their guests and keep them coming back for more.
Both days were pretty busy. Sunday was just a little bit busier than Monday but not by very much at all. I expected on Monday we could ride everything in the water park a few times but it didn't happen. The parking lots were almost completely full on Sunday and the overflow parking on Monday was about half-full with the main lot completely full. We never waited more than 45 minutes for any given ride, and that was great. Sometimes at Six Flags you could wait an easy two hours just for a ride.
I plan on going back next year and camping out as well. Too bad it isn't in the 80's when the park first opens so the water park is warm enough to swim in. I wouldn't mind going on the water rides over and over again all day without the typical crowds.
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