Upcoming Holiday World Trip- 1st Time- Questions

Okay, I know that 'first timer' questions usually aren't welcome, or so it seems on other park/coaster/fanatic websites that I visited. But I'm a week and six hours away from leaving for Holiday World for our first-ever trip there and I'm seriously freaking out. The big question- Trip Route - I'll be coming from Bainbridge, IN and I've been warned against the 231 south route and really don't like most of the sections of 231 South that I am familiar with.

But, I'm also going to be driving my mom's car {2002 Kia Rio Cinco} and people have been telling me that the portion of the trip across 64 through the Hoosier National Forest is a steep incline and fast curve festival. It doesn't look that way on the map, but maps have been known to hide defects like that. So I'm freaking out.. is it really that bad? Would a small, basic engine car be able to make it?

Assuming we can get to the park, how crowded is 4th of July weekend? Some friends told us that the longest line they're ever in on the Fourth is fifteen minutes for the Raven, but after looking at the Trip Pics on negG, I find it hard to believe HW would make the q line that long and winding if the wait were only fifteen minutes long at most? {they come from Illinois so they haven't trekked thru the forest} Also, what is the weight capacity on the wagon rentals? I really don't want to over-pack my mom's car, since we'll be taking a cooler for the travel time and a beach bag for towels and changes of clothes, and that will just about take up all the trunk space. But my five year old is 44 or 47.9 inches depending on which doctor we see that visit, and almost 60 pounds and too heavy for the type of wagons the Children's Musuem rents, so I'm worried that she'll also be too heavy for those at HW....

Any and all advice concerning route, transporting a 5 & 3 year old around the park, etc is welcome. The route is the most important fear right now though...

Hi Judith...

US 231 is fine. All of your other potential routes are going to be two-lane highway too, so just make up your mind to enjoy the drive. Holiday World will be worth it. :)

Your car should be fine, too. Turn off your air conditioning if you feel like the engine is working too hard and take your time.

I'm sure someone will get to your other questions before long.

Enjoy your trip!

-dawn

edit: reread your post...your kid has a height difference of nearly 4 inches depending on which doctor you see?!? Time to start marking the height on the kitchen wall in pencil and measuring for yourself I think! ;) *** Edited 6/25/2004 4:15:26 PM UTC by dawnmarie313***

RRR isn't *just* Rip Roarin' Rampage ya know....it's also the kids' section at HW, Rudolph's Reindeer Ranch...there's also Holidog's area in the back with PLENTY of fun play stuff for "the younger crowd"...:)

And Paula thought I didn't pay attention to the kiddie rides...;)

What Dawn said about the roads, they're more like fun twisty turny hills. Having driven the Appalachians and the Rockies, those are the places where your car would have trouble with the GRADE....in Southern Indiana, it's *moderately hilly*....well, expect for Legend and Raven.

Also, Dawn mentioned the MOST important thing of all: "Holday World will be worth it"...she really IS *that smart*...;)

...speaking of Appalachia, what I wanna know is if my '86 Volvo with 229K miles is going to make the GRADE in Boone, NC? ;) What's a few hundred more miles? Only 50 of it is through mountains.

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Judith said: people have been telling me that the portion of the trip across 64 through the Hoosier National Forest is a steep incline and fast curve festival.

I-64? No...the inclines are gradual and the curves are gentle. Definitely hilly compared to the northern two-thirds of the state, but there's *nothing* frightening about I-64! :)

Here are driving directions from our website:
From Indianapolis, Indiana:
Take I-65 south, nearly to Louisville. Take I-265 west to I-64 west. Drive west on I-64 for nearly an hour, then take Exit 63. Turn left (south) onto Highway 162 and drive 7 miles until the road comes to a "T." Turn right (west) onto Highway 245, head up the hill, and you'll see Holiday World's parking lots. (Approximate travel time: 3 hours)

>Assuming we can get to the park, how crowded is >4th of July weekend?

I'd avoid Saturday the 3rd, and visit on the 4th and/or 5th for the shortest lines.

> Also, what is the weight capacity on the wagon >rentals?

The weight limit on our wagons is 60 pounds.

Enjoy your visit! Paula

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Thanks everyone. :) Thanks Paula. I called the business office yesterday and the girl I spoke with {sorry, I work nights and chase my kids by day, sometimes I'm lucky to remember my own name, let alone anyone else's :)} said that they weren't too bad, but she sounded WAY young, and I remember thinking the hills of tenn & ky were a blast and 'easy as pie' when I was about nine or ten years younger.... :)

I know holiday world will be well worth the journey, I can't wait! My parents promised to take all of us when I was younger, back in the 80's but Kroger's company picnic was always at KI or Old Indiana, so we never got to go.. :(

We were plotting the 3rd, but the fourth is definitely do-able. Where are the nearest fireworks displays to HW that would be comp/better than the White River Gardens show? My five year old is fireworks-obsessed, and highly upset that my new job requires me to work friday nights {Indianapolis Indians Fireworks Fridays}

Oh & Paula: THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH for the height-wristbands! I was sooo happy to see that when I checked out the new season pics on Neg-G last night. Like I said, the height of my five year old varies b/t her ped's office, the occupational/physical therapists' office, and our home chart is a whole-nother story {hundred plus year old house, uneven flooring} With the new chart/bands, she can NOT start the 'mean mommy' whining that I had to hear til she was tall enough for the mini coaster at the zoo. I showed her the pics and said "santa says so" and that settled it. :)

A week and a half-day. I. can't. Wait. And I get to go back a month later almost to the day! our company announced that their annual picnic on the weekend of Aug 7 will be at Holiday World! :)

The closest fireworks will be at Huntingburg City Park.

For the really big displays, you'd need to go farther...Evansville or Owensboro.

Have a wonderful trip! Paula

Okay, sorry to bump this up, but I'm getting conflicting reports. One station says 90% chance of showers/storms saturday thru Monday, but the one linked on HW on the webcam page says only chance of showers, but no percentage?? We really want to come down this weekend, but I'd hate to get within sight/in the park and have to tell the girls we can't stay and they'll have to wait another month... what are the newspapers/actual newscasts saying down there wrt Saturday in particular?

http://www.weather.com/activities/other/other/weather/weekend.html?locid=USIN0594

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Judith said: but the one linked on HW on the webcam page says only chance of showers, but no percentage??

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Just click on "get the 10-day forecast" and a new window will open...scroll down and the percentages are in the right column.

Enjoy your visit! Paula

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Gee, Paula thinks of everything, doesn't she? :)

Just to chime in here for a moment on the driving info with a basic comment--

If the route number you are using starts with an "I-", you can be pretty certain that it is easily passable for any road-worthy vehicle. By definition. If you are driving a passenger car, you should be able to drive every foot of such a road at 45 MPH even if it is a steep, winding road by Interstate standards, and chances are you can handle it at 65 MPH even in an econobox with a 4-banger.

You have to be a little more careful when you pick a route with route numbers that begin with "US-" or "SR-". But even those are generally approachable grades and alignments. Okay, I wouldn't want to take US-250 over the WV/VA line with a large RV, but in the passenger car it's challenging, but not difficult.

It's when those "I-" and "US-" and "SR-" designations disappear that you have to start worrying. When the numbered routes are designated with "TWP-" and "CR-", sometimes the pavement disappears... :)

And while Holiday World is a few miles from IR-64, the roads leading to it are not terribly severe, though admittedly my big Canadian sedan is equipped with a V-8 engine... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to take my first trip to Holiday World the Sunday after Beastbuzz on my elongated way home to Chicago. I drove the I-64 route through the National Forrest and to tell you the truth, I didn't even notice it was a hilly road. I noticed there was hills, but not that I was actually going up and down myself.

As for lines, The staff there has those lines moving pretty fast. We only had time to get a lap on Raven & 2 on Legend before we had to leave for home. Now I am just trying to figure out a way to get back down there.

- onceler (who is still in awe at that place)

Hey Onceler...I was there too after BeastBuzz and think I recognized you from the day before. Were you wearing an Xcelerator shirt? HW was way crowded compared to my visit in May of last year. I couldn't believe it when we drove up.

Yup, that was me. I was surprised at the amount of cars there.

I wasn't able to spend too much time there as we were trying to get to Chicago by midnight (which means we had to leave HW by 5pm). We also stopped at SFKK on the way to HW. It is almost comical going from a park as horrible as SFKK to a park that is so amazing as HW.

My beloved and I talked it over last night, and we're going to be going down Thursday morning as soon as our payroll checks hit our bank! :) We have cousins in New Albany and most of that area, so if something unforseen happens we'll go hang out at their house.. :) I can hardly wait...

I do have one small question left. Two actually, but one of them is probably a duh question...

1. What is the service fee on the ATMs at HW? We have a no-fee account thru TCU, so we'll only have to worry about the fees from the ATM owners/banks ?

2. We have our own life vests for the girls, are these allowed in the park or do we have to use the ones supplied there?

Judith...don't forget to bring an empty Pepsi can to the park admission booth for your discount. Sorry I don't know the answer to your other questions. Paula?

Onceler...I hear ya about getting back late from HW/BeastBuzz. I didn't roll back into Nashville til about 1:30 a.m. and had to get up for work at 5:45. UGH! It was sooooo worth it though. Hope you got a good ride on Thunder Run at SFKK.

Saturday's can be crowded, but I think the night rides the last hour and a half of the day are worth it. Legend does have a spot light on the lift hill, but the spiral drop is taken in total darkness.

I was there a few Saturday's ago, and Legend had about a 15 minute wait the last 45 minutes the park was open.

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Judith said: 1. What is the service fee on the ATMs at HW? We have a no-fee account thru TCU, so we'll only have to worry about the fees from the ATM owners/banks? 2. We have our own life vests for the girls, are these allowed in the park or do we have to use the ones supplied there?

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1. We have one ATM machine ... on the west side of the outside of Kringle's Kafe (near the fountain in the Christmas plaza). You're the first to ask me this...so frankly I don't know. I asked around and the consensus is the fee is $2, but please don't hunt me down if it turns out it's $1.50. :)

2. This I know...in fact it's on the Rules & Services page of www.holidayworld.com. :) Yes, you may bring your own.

Enjoy your visit! Paula