Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari
Location	Santa Claus Spencer County, Indiana, United States
Coordinates	38°07′N 86°55′W / 38.12°N 86.91°W / 38.12; -86.91Coordinates: 38°07′N 86°55′W / 38.12°N 86.91°W / 38.12; -86.91
Address	452 East Christmas Blvd Santa Claus, Indiana 47579
Website	http://www.holidayworld.com
Owner	Will Koch
Opened	August 3, 1946
Operating season	May through October
Area	120 acres (0.49 km2)
Rides	47 total 4 roller coasters
Slogan	#1 for Family Fun!

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari is a family-owned and -operated theme park and water park combo, located near U.S. 231 in Santa Claus, Indiana, USA.

The theme park celebrates Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July with rides, live entertainment, games, and attractions. Holiday World is known for its wooden roller coasters, The Raven, The Legend, and The Voyage. The water park includes a number of family raft slides, two wave pools, two lazy rivers, two family "tipping bucket" water-play attractions, various water slides, plus water activities for children. Holiday World & Splashin' Safari offer guests free unlimited Pepsi soft drinks, free parking, and free sunscreen. The parks are smoke-free, with designated smoking areas available in each themed section of Holiday World plus one by each wave pool in Splashin' Safari.

History

The Voyage wooden roller coaster at Holiday World was voted Best Wooden Coaster on the Planet in 2006 and 2007

Holiday World opened on August 3, 1946; it was founded by Louis J. Koch under the name Santa Claus Land. Holiday World was the first themed amusement park in the world,^[1] preceding Disneyland by nine years. The park had rides and activities for children and their parents. It was a small park themed around Santa Claus and Christmas. The park still remembers Santa Claus with a large statue at the entrance of the park; it includes a large Christmas Tree and Nativity Scene as well.

In 1984, in order to appeal to a wider age group, the park expanded to include Halloween and Fourth of July sections, and the park's name was changed from Santa Claus Land to Holiday World to reflect the emphasis on additional holidays. Frightful Falls, a log flume ride, was added in 1984. As the park's name changed, so did the names of some of the rides, to reflect the new holidays. For example, the round-up ride called Arctic Circle became known as Roundhouse and later Revolution in the new 4th of July section.

In 1993, Splashin' Safari was added. The water park area initially included Crocodile Isle, a children's water-play area with some animal-themed water slides, an lazy river called Congo River, plus two large water slides. In 1994, a wave pool was added.

Holiday World gained national attention in 1995 when wooden roller coaster The Raven opened at the start of the park's 50th season. It has been rated as the first, second, and third best wooden roller coaster on the planet by Amusement Today^{[citation needed]} and Inside Track^{[citation needed]} magazines and continues to be named a top-10 wooden coaster in the Golden Ticket Awards given out annually by Amusement Today.^{[citation needed]}

Additional water slides and attractions were added to Splashin' Safari in the following years.

The wooden roller coaster The Legend opened in 2000 for the park's 55th season. It has consistently been rated in the top dozen wooden coasters in the Amusement Today Golden Ticket awards.^{[citation needed]} This was also the first year for the parks' popular free soft drinks program.

In 2002, Splashin' Safari opened the largest enclosed water slide in the world, called ZOOMbabwe.^[2]

In 2006, Holiday World added the Thanksgiving section and additions to Splashin' Safari for its 60th Anniversary. This marked the largest expansion ever for Holiday World and cost over US$13 million. These additions included a new wooden roller coaster, The Voyage.^[3] It won the Best New Ride Golden Ticket Award for 2006.^{[citation needed]} On September 13, 2006, the park's owner Will Koch taped a segment for The Colbert Report pitting Santa Claus against Abraham Lincoln, another historical figure with ties to southern Indiana. The park's 60th season concluded on October 8, 2006, park broke its all-time attendance record as more than one million visitors came through the gates that year.^[4]

In 2007, a $4.5 million expansion included Bakuli, a ProSlide Behemoth Bowl water slide, in Splashin' Safari and Turkey Whirl tilt-a-whirl in Thanksgiving. Also that year, The Voyage was given the Best Wooden Coaster award at the Golden Ticket Awards^{[citation needed]} and the park once again had over one million visitors pass through its gates which broke the attendance record set the previous year.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, a $6 million expansion included Kima Bay in Splashin Safari as well as the Star Spangled Carousel in Fourth of July and the Reindeer Games spring ride in the Christmas children's area. The park also retained its crown of Cleanest & Friendliest park at the Golden Ticket Awards. The Voyage also remained the #1 Wooden Roller Coaster at the awards.^[5]

In 2009, a Shoot-the-Chute ride called Pilgrim's Plunge was added. The Intamin Mega Splash ride is located in the Thanksgiving section and is also accessible from Splashin' Safari.

2010 expansion

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari's 2010 expansion, Wildebeest, is the world's longest water coaster. The ProSlide water coaster will be 1,710 feet long. Wildebeest will last two-and-a-half minutes and will consist of hills, drops, twists, and turns.

Wildebeest will begin with a conveyor ride up the water coaster’s lifthill. Following the four-story drop at a 45-degree angle, linear induction motors (LIMs) will propel the four-person rafts up seven additional hills, through three tunnels (two of them underground) and around a helix. Its top speed will be 24.5 mph. Wildebeest’s tallest elevation is 64 feet higher than its lowest drop; the conveyor-style lifthill replaces any slide-tower stairs.

Located in Splashin' Safari, to the north of Bahari wave pool, Wildebeest will cost $5.5 million, the second largest ride project in Holiday World's 64-year history.^{[citation needed]}

Mascots and characters

Rather than sign licensed characters for the park, Holiday World has developed several mascots and characters including:

• Holidog - A brown dog who is the mascot of Holiday World
• Safari Sam - A green crocodile who is the mascot of Splashin' Safari
• George the Eagle - A bald eagle wearing American flag-themed clothing

Park layout and current rides

Holiday World's attractions are divided into four sections: Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving (Holidog's FunTown is part of the 4th of July section). Splashin' Safari water park is connected to Holiday World.

Christmas

The Christmas section is at the entrance to Holiday World. It includes a Christmas tree, the Applause fountain, a nativity scene, Rudolph's Reindeer Ranch (a collection of kiddie rides), Holiday Theater, as well as Kringle's Kafe. Since the park opened in 1946, Santa Claus has been available daily throughout the season to chat with children. He also invites children on stage with him at Santa's Storytime Theater.

Halloween

The Halloween section includes the High Dive Theater which features daily high-dive shows, each ending with a high dive from 80 feet (24 m) into 10 feet (3.0 m) of water.

Fourth of July

The Fourth of July section is the largest area within the theme park. This section features live music shows and the Betsy Ross Doll house, a walk-through attraction with a collection of antique dolls.

Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving themed section of the park premiered on May 6, 2006, to commemorate Holiday World's 60th anniversary. In addition to the rides below, this section also has a gift shop and Plymouth Rock Cafe.

Holidog's FunTown

Holidog's FunTown is a play area geared toward children, located on the east edge the Fourth of July section and encircled by The Freedom Train where the defunct Firecracker rollercoaster used to be.

Splashin' Safari

Splashin Safari has the distinction of being the largest waterpark in Indiana,^[6] as well as one of the top water parks in the nation.^[7]

Defunct rides and attractions

Awards

In 2005, Holiday World received the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions' Applause Award.^[8] Holiday World is the smallest park to ever receive the Applause Award. The park marked the award by installing a large version of the award (applauding hands) and commemorative plaques naming the other winning parks in the fountain located in the Christmas section.

Holiday World has received many first place Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today magazine^[9][10][11]including:

Wacky weddings

Holiday World often plays host to weddings. In the park's history, couples have been married on The Voyage, The Legend, and, in 1995, a dozen couples simultaneously tied the knot on The Raven. Other couples have married in The Wave pool, on the park’s now defunct bungee jump, and in a Santa-themed hot air balloon over the park. During the 2008 season, a couple was married on the top of the Voyage lift hill by a professional Elvis impersonator.^[12]

See also

Incidents at Holiday World

References

External links

• Official website for Holiday World & Splashin' Safari