No matter what really happens I just hope the next coaster no matter the idea is steal!!!
But that doesn't address the Christmas issue, which I still find interesting. Your comment did get me thinking of another option, though: Build a new "Christmas" after Thanksgiving (hey, that works!) at the back of the park. Then the entry plaza could become a multi-holiday welcoming area.
My thoughts would be to utilize another holiday and build out past Thanksgiving. Deep down, I would like to see Memorial Day or Veterans day and then get the giant Intamin or B&M steel beastie that I think the park lacks.
When talking about rides and expansion for this park, one has to keep in mind the kind of operation Holiday World is. There is no deep pocketed corporate backing for them and they don't charge anything for parking or soft drinks, two things that are heavily marked up in most other parks. Their revenue is actually not as much as one may think because of those practices, despite being able to build world class coaster. They've never seemed interested in going into a bunch of debt to grow the park, rather they've grown it slowly over recent years and are finally getting well deserved attention from the community outside the tri-state area. Their attendance isn't much of an indicator of their quality (yet). Rather it's the steady (sometimes sharp) increase over the last 10 years or so that indicate the growth of this park and where it's headed.
I'm pulling hard for the Voyage to win this tournament. Small and well loved family owned amusement park defeats big bad Disney on a theme park site...I love it.
Steve
And, by the way, those are Indiana state highways on both sides, not County Roads.
I'd build a steel coaster that has many unique elements.
My coaster would load somewhere behind the spider and bumper boat rides, it would climb toward the howler and take a diving right turn running parallel to the 162/245 toward the water tower. where it would totally encircle the water tower in a slanted loop with the highest part of that loop being on the park side of the tower. exiting the loop a tunnel along 162\245 toward the entrance plaza flying up into a 1/2 loop or cobra roll just to the right of the main entrance gate. exiting the cobra roll directly next to the entrance booths the ride would head back toward the station running behind the perimeter buildings and rabbit hopping over the theatre then dropping again into a 2nd tunnel that would have trick track in the dark, then fly up into a double heartline spin in the air exiting into an immediate helix and a few more rabbit hops and then the brakes.
The name? Rockets Red Glare...
Sam Marks
With the issues they are having down there, my bet it they will be for sale in the next few months if not weeks.
And for those of you wishing for a steel coaster...keep dreaming! I think it's going to be many years before Holiday World...a family friendly park...sees a steel coaster!
I think they could put it starting in Christmas Land and have it in the area behind straddling 4th of July like you said. Great America's American Eagle does this by almost going the length of the park on one side.
Then again, what kind of roller coaster would Santa's Sleigh be? Another Voyage? A smaller roller coaster? Thats a bigger question IMO
Also, 'Santa's Sleigh' sounds lame - doesn't have the same ring to it as the 'legend' or the 'raven' or 'voyage'. Anything else christmas related, would probably be a lame name for a roller coaster as well. I think this section should remain mainly kids rides - where lame names and lame concepts for rides are ok. maybe a kids roller coaster 'santa's sleigh', would be a hit.
But, if it must be done, change the name of this section to 'Christmas Eve' - have a chair lift that carries guests to a new 'Christmas' section that is located on the far side of Thanksgiving. The chair lift could be called 'Santa's sleigh' - a corny name, for a relaxing, but cool, ride to see the park from up high.
In other suggestions, I also have been really hoping for a 3-D or 4-D ride (whatever those rides are called - the Back to the Future or, even better, Spiderman type rides that Universal is so good at) at Holiday World. I realize that the story line may not be as cool as Spiderman's (hopefully, wouldn't be as silly as the turkey gathering ride) but maybe a thanksgiving story line on a 4d ride could still be exciting for adults if done correctly.
Michelle, Newburgh, IN
Ok, thats a really bad B movie (IMDB it if you don't believe me)
I think a wild mouse would be a perfect family addition to the park, and if it were to be a spinning wild mouse, it could be themed as that ornament that keeps falling off the Christmas Tree every year.
Either feed in from SantaClause Land on west side and continue south of Raven OR on the west side, tunneling under the train, and south of Fourth of July in what currently appears to be a service area.
Okay not the 8+ rated coaster I would want but that does not work in the proposed area. This targets the tween audience which which is a better fit for this part of the park and the overall audience. Put next big name coaster further back in the park where they can take advantage of the terrain and trees a little better. Possibly integrated with the edges of the water park.
Big name coasters aren't a good fit at the front entrance as this draws people to the front of the park where they are more likely to leave. Also re-orients the park more towards large coasters rather than the family audience they very successfully target. First impressions are invaluable and this could be a negative as it would draw teenagers to the front entrance and possibly cause crowd control and enforcement problems.
For Santa Claus Land, I would spend the money on a great dark ride taking advantage of the Christmas theme. Holiday World dark rides are currently their weakness. A dark ride around Santa's workshop possibly themed on the last week before Christmas toy build-out rush. Or perhaps on Santa's visit to actually deliver the toys with some quick drops and take offs between scenes for the flight and landing at the next stop. Last stop is Santa's big return home to the North pole. Space is available south of Fourth of July and designed right the construction could actually support a couple of dark rides fitting both lands separately with separate entrances. Maybe a premier boat ride for Christmas (Christmas Small World) and a car ride for July 4 (American History). In the big picture, these two dark rides done very well would be cost effective and ride count effective supporting the family target market. It has to be better than the Thanksgiving shoot em up dark ride which is really weak
RB
Or, if no other room exists, just expand Christmas into the 4th of July area since most of those carnival style midway rides are fairly lame anyway, and have your ode to 4th of July being a nighttime fireworks show instead of a section of the park.
Either way, there are limitless possibilities for Holiday World as the theme is wide open and ripe for exploration. I would love to see more Disney-style themed attractions hit the park, but as long as the Voyage is operating, that's really all I truly care about. After all, it alone is worth the price of admission.
And I echo the earlier post mentioning dark rides. Holiday World is sorely lacking in these and the theming potential for a dark ride are many. Santa's Workshop? Awesome. A Haunted dark ride in the Halloween section? A natural.
I also like the idea of the parking lot being made into park land. There isn't enough room for Christmas and the other holidays are overshadowing it because of this. Would definitely like to see that land expanded and have the different lands more balanced ride wise.
There's a lot of possibilities!
Hey Robert, I'm reasonably sure that Holiday World has a ton of room for expansion beyond The Voyage and Pilgrims Plunge. And I understand that the Kochs have aggressive plans to expand.