Posted
[Ed. note: Press release follows. -J]
Following a season of 20-percent attendance growth, Holiday World & Splashin' Safari will add three new rides to its lineup for 2003.
“With the unprecedented growth we’ve experienced this season, we need to increase capacity in both parks,” says Will Koch, the president of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari. “As we grow, we’re determined to keep lines short and families happy.”
Koch says the $3.8 million expansion project is the largest in his park’s 58-year history, and will include a new family water ride in Splashin' Safari and two new rides in Holiday World.
“We’re working with the company that designed ZOOMbabwe for us in introducing a brand new water-park ride—which we’re calling Zinga,” says Koch. Zinga, the Swahili word for “to move in a circle,” starts eight-stories high with a 108-inch diameter water slide tunnel. The slide propels riders into a 60-feet-wide, open “funnel” where the inner tubes zoom back and forth across the funnel, high up the banked sides, before exiting through a tunnel. Families will ride Zinga together in three- and four-passenger “clover leaf” inner tubes.
In Holiday World, two new rides will be added for the 2003 season: HallowSwings and Liberty Launch. HallowSwings is a four-story “flying carousel” ride, which will swing riders high up in the air. “This ride is being custom made for our Halloween section,” says Koch. “The design includes pumpkins, witches, scarecrows, bats, and lots of other colorful Halloween figures. HallowSwings will be a work of art.”
New for the 4th of July section is Liberty Launch, an eight-story “double shot” tower ride. Riders will be launched 80 feet in the air and will then experience a free-fall sensation as they are blasted back to earth, and are then launched a second time.
Other capacity-boosting projects for 2003 include expanded seating areas at several restaurants, widened walkways, a new gift shop in the Christmas section, and more than 1,500 new lockers.
The park plans to hire an additional 50 seasonal staff members for next season, totaling 1,050 employees. Koch expects the new ride package to increase the parks’ attendance by 10 percent in 2003.
Holiday World is open weekends through October 13. For more information, visit the parks’ website at www.holidayworld.com or call 1-877-Go-FAMILY.