Holiday World Theme Park
When I visited
Holiday World Theme
Park in Santa Claus, Indiana I thought I might have to cancel my visit to
this park. As I drove through the picturesque roads leading to the park the
rain began to subside and by the time I arrived in the parking lot there was
only a fine mist left in the air. The cool temperatures and light rain kept the
crowds small, but there were still quite a few families enjoying the beauty of
the park and the short ride lines.
Holiday World is a beautiful family oriented park
nestled in a beautiful hilly wooded area. The nation's first theme park created
in 1946 by Evansville, Indiana industrialist Louis J. Koch originally was
called Santa Claus Land. Over the decades, Santa Claus Land grew and flurished
and under the leadership of Louis's son, Bill, the park expanded from a
Christmas theme to include Halloween and Fourth of July sections, and the
park's name was changed to Holiday World. Today, Holiday World, led by the
third generation Will Koch, features 100 acres of rides, shows, games, and
attractions. In 1993, a whole new park was added with Splashin' Safari Water
Park. Throughout its half-century of existence, Holiday World has set high
standards for the theme park industry, with beautiful grounds and landscaping,
plus a steadfast adherance to the values established in the company's
cornerstones: safety, service, cleanliness and friendliness.
The park is really beautiful and has a good blend of rides, a
petting zoo, and Waterpark to attract the family. The park personnel are very
friendly and helpful and the grounds are kept spotlessly clean. Santa can also
usually be found checking on whether the kids have been naughty or nice.
Holiday World has 4 themed sections (Christmas, Halloween, 4th of July, and
Spashin' Safari.) A new public campground is also available at Lake Rudolph
Outdoor Resort, adjacent to Holiday World. "Our sites are Class A, with
complete hook-ups, plus access to the resort's pool and other facilites,"
according to Holiday World & Splashin' Safari President Will Koch. I would
recommend this park to anyone traveling through this area and coaster fans
absolutely must ride the Raven.
The Raven
To celebrate
its 50th season, Holiday World introduced The Raven, a $2 million wooden
roller coaster, the largest in Indiana and Kentucky. Ranked #3 Coaster on the
Planet by the readers of Inside Track, The Raven, a world class
wooden CCI Terrain Coaster built in 1995 is truly action packed with non-stop
excitement and a combination of high speed transitions over a half a mile of
track at speeds up to 60 miles per hour.
The Raven is a
really fun coaster with elements to please every coaster fan. From the first 85
foot drop into a 120-foot tunnel, then a second 61-foot drop before sweeping
over Lake Rudolph followed by another small drop before the infamous Drop 5,
the "ejector seat," through an S-curve and quick turn to the brakes upon
returning to the loading station, this ride is packed with white-knuckle
action, lateral G's and plenty of air time.
My first nearly 2 minute
ride in the front seat gave me a good view of the track as we raced up to 60
miles per hour through the thickly wooded area. The speed of the coaster seems
to increase as the ride progresses, especially through the sweep over Lake
Rudolph and accentuated as you race through the trees The Raven is built
in and around. My second ride in the back seat yielded much more air time and
the famed surprise "ejector seat" 5th drop was great from this seat.
The single red PTC train
has 6 cars with 4 people per car with a ride capacity of 700 guests per hour.
The fairly comfortable cars have no headrests, low seat dividers and
traditional lap bars and seatbelts.
Holiday World "Stark Raven Mad" 2002 Video
Roller Coasters added since my visit in 1997:
The
Legend (2004) wooden roller coaster
The Voyage (2006) wooden
roller coaster. With a track 1.2 miles long and reaching speeds up to 67.5 mph,
The Voyage is among the world's top three longest and fastest wooden coasters.
"The Voyage is an air-time machine, with riders experiencing a feeling of
weightlessness for a total of 24.2 seconds," says Will Koch, the parks'
president.
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