Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, entering its 62nd season in Santa Claus, Ind., is three hours west of Cincinnati, a short-enough drive for it to be a favorite weekend getaway with theme park fans in Cincinnati, Louisville and Indianapolis.

Owned and operated by the Koch family since 1946, the 125-acre park is themed around four holidays - 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas - and is unique among U.S. parks because of its unlimited free soft drinks and free sunscreen at stands around the park, along with free parking.

It also has won more awards than most parks, as voted by readers and editors of Amusement Today:

Three of the nation's top 11 wooden roller coasters - the two-minute, 45-second Voyage, with 24.2 seconds of "air time" at 67.4 mph, is No. 1 (it was designed by Cincinnati's Gravity Group); the 50-mph, heavily wooded Raven is No. 7; and the 65-mph Legend is No. 11 (Kings Island's Beast, the world's longest wooden coaster, is No. 8 on the same list).

No. 1 friendliest park, 10 years in a row

No. 8 cleanest park, eight years in a row

No. 4 best park in the country, tied with Anaheim's Disneyland

One of the things that keeps Holiday World at the top of the list every year is its commitment to improvement and expansion - more than $6 million was spent this year. New are the $1.7 million Kima Bay, a complex of seven water slides and 100 water play elements in the Splashin' Safari section; the 30-horse Star Spangled Carousel; and Reindeer Games (a junior version of the drop ride) in the 4th of July section. There are new restrooms and a parking lot tram, and outdoor facilities have been spruced up.

Holiday World is a theme park, but guests and industry types continually refer to it as a throwback to the pre-theme park, non-corporate days of family-owned amusement parks. The Koch family is on grounds every day of the season (it's not unusual to see president Will Koch or mother Pat Koch running around picking up candy wrappers) making sure of it.

Written by Jim Knippenberg - Cincinnati.Com