I was going to post this earlier but then tragedy struck the park and it just didn’t feel right so I held off on it until now. I visited Holiday World the day before president Will Koch passed away. First, I want to apologize for dropping the ball. I didn’t take a single picture or video. Looking back, I should have at least gotten a few shots of the Timberliners sitting in the Voyage’s station. Speaking of which, there was still only one train on site. The train that is there appears to be fully assembled. Maybe they are just waiting for the second train to arrive? I heard they took the last two weeks off and did not work on them. Hopefully, the will continue testing again next week and the trains will be ready to go soon.
Since the Timberliners weren’t ready yet, I was a bit concerned about how good the Voyage would be with only six car trains. Less cars equals less weight equals slower ride, right? After our first ride I was thinking “that wasn’t as good as I remember it.” I was very concerned. Then we rode it at night. Yup, it’s still number one in my book by far. All my doubts were completely erased. I swear the ride was running five to ten miles per hour faster than it was earlier in the day. I know you probably don’t believe that but the ride was down for a little bit in the afternoon so maybe they greased the tracks, or lubed the wheels or something. Man were we flying. The airtime was ridiculous. You’ve got to experience it for yourself. Pure insanity! It’s hard to believe the Timberliners could make the ride even better.
The newest addition to the park is Wildebeest, the world’s longest water (slide) coaster. It may also be the most popular. Wildebeest had the longest line in the park by far, sometimes stretching to over an hour and a half. I got some pretty insane airtime for a water slide. I rode Wildebeest twice, once in the front and once in the back. The first time we waited in standby queue for probably an hour. The second time I did the single riders line, which was full, and got on in about twenty minutes. I think the trick is to sit in the front and put all the weight in the back. I was flying. My brother sat in the back and he said he could see me getting some good airtime. They have a single riders line so every raft has exactly four people in it.
Sadly, it was while waiting in the line for Wildebeest is the last time that I saw Will Koch. He was checking on the operations of the ride and making sure everyone was staying hydrated in line (they placed a couple of water coolers with cups throughout and at one point had an employee spraying down guests with a hose). I was going to say hi to Will but he looked like he was deep in thought, like he was planning the next great attraction for the park. That next great attraction will have to be carried out by the new president, Will’s younger brother Dan, who spoke to Will on the phone almost everyday and had discussed Will’s long term vision for the future of the park.
My biggest complaint (and really only actual complaint) was that Splashin’ Safari needs a new locker area bad. The current one is way too narrow. They could really use one on the other side of the park, by the Bahari River. That way you don’t have to walk all the way across the park on hot cement just to turn around and go back. Some kind of paperless money system would be a plus too. Something where you could put some money down on a key, wristband, card, or something that you can easily carry around with you and take on the slides would be extremely helpful. Maybe the new president will get this problem fixed. Good luck to new president Dan Koch and all of his staff!
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