Voyage

Touchdown said:
Reasons why we like Holiday World:
-Not just the Voyage but the Legend and Raven too
-Free Drinks
-Friendly staff
-Good, affordable food
-Great collection of non coaster rides
-Waterpark is one of the best in the country

Negatives:
-Park closes early (and thus very few chances at night rides)
-Park has a hard close making it hard to estimate when the lines for the coasters will close.

Why are you bored with it? If you're bored there then there are not much parks in the world that you wont be bored at. Now if you tell me that youve been there a lot (30+ times) and looking for something new then I understand but otherwise you lost me.

I've been four or five times and honestly wouldn't care if I ever go again. The Voyage is a good ride but I really don't find the legend and raven that good. Their staff is friendly but nothing extremely impressive. I've seen equally friendly staff at other parks. What are the non coaster rides that you like? I will give you the food though. I think that it would probablly be a great park for a family to take younger kids but for me (16 years old) I really don't find it much fun, and maybe that's the problem. For where I'm at I'd rather take a little longer of a drive to kings island, but everyone has their own opinions about what they like.

^I understand exactly where you're coming from. Holiday World just isn't some people's cup-of-tea...but no park is, really. I agree that, if you don't do Splashin' Safari, the park doesn't really have much to offer in comparison to a thrill-park like Kings Island. But that isn't what Holiday World is all about...the park promises quality family-fun...and if you look at it that way, it succeeds in every way.

Luckily, Holiday World adds a new attraction (or two) every season, and Paula has confirmed through Twitter that they are adding a ride for 2010. Maybe the addition will be enough to draw you back to the park?

I'm just awestruck by any sentence starting with the phrase "The Voyage is a good ride...". I'll probably think of a better reply once I recover from the shock...

Yea and it probablly is a great family park. Just I would like some more thrills, and thank you dan for having a conversation and not trying to start an argument. rollergator would you like to explain why your awestruck.

I don't see anyone trying to start an argument with you.

I know. I was thanking him for not trying to start an argument. If you post your opinion on the Internet it seems like someone has to argue about it. He didn't and it was nice.

I can see where you are coming from to strunk27. Obviously if you like your parks to also have high thrill steel coasters , HW just doesn't offer it.

HW to me is all about the atmosphere along with the great selection of woodies, some flats, free drinks, and cheap food. It has that traditional park vibe in a more modern setting.

But I would start to get bored with the place after multiple visits in a season.

Yea it's just not my style.

strunk27 said:
If you post your opinion on the Internet it seems like someone has to argue about it. He didn't and it was nice.

There has to be one of us. ;)

Another dirty little secret about Holiday World...

If you have not been there during a coaster event, then you really need to go there during a coaster event. You will find that, perhaps more than any other park, the place changes when it is full of coaster nuts. The changes are subtle to be sure, but thyey are real, and you may find that Holiday World on a day with an event is more to your liking than Holiday World on a day without. It's not big stuff, just little details, like how many people they let into the boarding platform at a time, and whether or not you have to go through a turnstile at the top of the stairs. But it is stuff that can add up and make a difference in your day.

The park does adjust to accommodate its core audience on any given day, something I attribute to the fact that it is a small park with (more important!) a very tight organizational structure.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

rollergator would you like to explain why your awestruck.

Sure! I've ridden nearly every wooden coaster in the US, and the sheer aggressive nature of The Voyage for me ranks FAR above any other wooden coaster I've experienced. My very first night rides on Beast were beyond belief, and I never thought I'd find a wooden coaster that made "the helix on Beast at night (with fireworks going off)" - seem tame in comparison. The awesome rides I've had on The Voyage during nighttime ERT sessions are like continuous three minutes of that helix. The physical ferocity is not only unmatched, it's unparalleled. Among TGG rides, only Hades packs even a similar punch. As always, IMO. :)

Well what a coincidence, Dave. There's just such an opportunity coming up in September!

Rollergator I completly agree though. The voyage is my favorite wooden roller coaster but I was just saying it in context of the park. When I do go there it will usually be one of the only things I ride multiple times. I don't find anything else to be fun enough except the Voyage, and to me I think any ride would get boring after many multiple rides. I've never gotten to experience an nightime ride.

Strunk, I'm just curious, were you hoping that someone would be able to tell you something about HW that you didn't know already, that may make the park less boring to you? I just don't understand your question. You asked what people see in it and then you offered your thoughts about what draws them.

I understand and respect that the park bores you or is not for you or is not your style. But I don't understand where you are going with this dialogue, except to spark a debate about park likability.

No I was just reading the begining of this topic and seeing everyone saying how much they love this park and I wanted to know why since I've never really been that impressed. I'm not trying to start a debate. What I meant about the voyage is that it's a great ride but I wouldn't pay to go to the park for that one ride.

Non coaster rides that are great at HW:
-Gobbler's Getaway
-Paul Revere's Midnight Ride
-Revolution
-The Flying Eagles Ride
-Frightful Falls
-Raft Ride
-Liberty Launch
-Zoombabwe
-Jungle Racers
-Zinga

I'd pay just to ride Voyage! :)

And they are right about the event thing. HW during an event sheds a whole new light on the place, imo. It's like the Wizard of Oz going from b&w to color. Everything about the place comes into focus. The night rides are just the icing on the cake! The free pizza and fudge aren't too bad either! :)

Tambo I'm going now just for free fudge

RideMan said:
If you have not been there during a coaster event, then you really need to go there during a coaster event. You will find that, perhaps more than any other park, the place changes when it is full of coaster nuts. The changes are subtle to be sure,

Sometimes not so subtle. I seriously doubt they would have kept Voyage (or the other woodies) open during all that lightning during Saturday night ERT during HWN this year if that was during normal business hours on a regular weekend. So many people were commenting on how they could not believe the ride was open, and how unbelievable the ride was. It was going crazier than ever and the lightning was so frequent and close it was hard to imagine why it was not raining on us. And I can almost gurantee you most other parks would keep the coasters shut down in that situation even if it were ERT.

Actually, on that particular point I shall disagree with you.

If you are saying they would not have kept the Voyage running because it was running so insanely, then clearly you were not there on 6/17/2006, a normal operating day where a strong thunderstorm caused a 3-hour delay and then kicked the Voyage into that same insane operating mode.

If you're saying they would have shut it down due to the lightning, I say again, I know the park has a lightning monitoring system in place, and I do not believe they would knowingly take any unreasonable risks with the safety of their customers, regardless of whether they were enthusiasts or not. What we got was a light show that capitalized on the fact that Indiana has a whole lot of flat land, so in spite of the hill that the Voyage sits on, from the top of the hill (just ahead of the turnaround) you can see sky extending out a long, long way from the coaster.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.