Holiday World Makes A Big Splash

Wait - before that big splash I want to point out that Holiday World and Splashin' Safari has posted their newly redesigned park map for 2009 on their website. The map is very well done and a gigantic improvement over the previous incarnation. Kudos!

Also, the park had a preview event today for Pilgrims Plunge, Holiday World's new world's tallest water splash ride! There's a great news segment video of the ride in action at this link that you can go check out to see it in action. A splashy good time indeed.

Pilgrims Plunge Charity Ride Auction

For the next week, visitors to eBay will have the opportunity to bid on riding in the front seat of the very first boat launched from the World�s Tallest Water Ride when Holiday World opens for the season on May 2.

The charity auction will raise money for food banks in four states, as part of the park�s �Feeding Families Food Drive,� a two-month effort to collect 200,000 food items for the needy.

�The top five bidders will each win two tickets to opening day, the very first opening-day rides on Pilgrims Plunge, free lunch, plus Pilgrims Plunge beach towels,� says Holiday World & Splashin� Safari president Will Koch. �And it�s for such a great cause�feeding those in need.�

Another great move by the park! If you want to check out the auction's page on EBay, click here.

Daily Spin 4.15.2009

Tokyo Disneyland has officially opened their new attraction, the awesome looking darkride named Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek. The $100 million, 4 minute dark ride takes passengers on an amusing trip through the world of Monsters Inc and allows them to use their on-board flashlights to find characters and bring the sets around them to life. I know I say this a lot but I want to go!

Declare bankruptcy and get $3 million? Looks like that's what will happen for Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro if the company successfully completes a restructuring in or out of bankruptcy court. The "success bonus" comes as part of a renewed employment contract for the CEO that lasts through 2013. With what he's been doing for the company the past few years though - all the good that is, I say enjoy!

Good news for Conneaut Lake Park fans, it looks like "most" of the park's rides will be open this summer. BUT, sadly, the park's classic wooden coaster the Blue Streak will not be ready until 2010 at the earliest. The park's rides sat closed for the '07 and '08 seasons, so even with the closure of the coaster this is a great step forward! Stop by and visit this summer if you can!

Congratulations are in order for one of everyone's favorite parks, Holiday World. The park was the first in the nation to receive certification in the federally-recognized Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) from the Indiana Department of Labor. A commitment to safety is essential at any park and Holiday Worlds clearly shines at it!

Will Wild West World ever reopen? Nothing is certain at this point, aside from the fact that it will not reopen as hoped for this summer. The failed Kansas theme park was purchased out of bankruptcy and planned a reopening, but most of the rides were sold to pay off debts. The future doesn't look too good considering the economy, though.

SFNEonline has another great Bizarro update for those wanting to see more of the scenery and other items that can be found along the track. I'm rather impressed with the makeover that Six Flags New England is giving the ride!

Worlds of Fun is in its final stages of prepping their new wooden coaster, Prowler, for its opening. The trains were recently placed on the track which means that testing should start very soon. There's photos of that located here. Also, the park is having a first rider seat auction for charity as well - feel free to bid for a good reason through here!

This is pretty neat - Six Flags Over Georgia is holding a contest to name one of the monsters in the park's new Monster Mansion ride. The monster that needs a name is the official photographer for the park, and will be featured in the ride. Winner is to receive a 4 pack of season passes to the park and the new ride opens May 16th.

Holiday World's 'Feeding Families'

Holiday World has taken a bold step and decided to help local families by holding a food drive during the first two months of the season at the Indiana theme park.

In May and June, each ticket holder who donates two or more canned food items will be given $5 in �Holibucks� to spend in the park that day. Holibucks may be used to purchase meals, snacks, games and souvenirs at Holiday World theme park and Splashin' Safari water park. The food items collected those months will be donated to food banks in Evansville, Indianapolis, Louisville and Nashville, Tennessee.

"The food banks are asking primarily for shelf-stable meals and high-protein canned goods such as chicken and tuna," says Will Koch, park president. "With strong participation, we think up to 200,000 meals could be provided to families in need.�

Make sure if you're planning to visit you bring some goods for this wonderful cause.

Holiday World's 'Flower Lady' Retires at 98

Here's a neat 'human interest' story if there ever were one - at the age of 98, longtime Holiday World employee Frieda Foertsch says it�s time to become a �lady of leisure.�

Starting in 1954, Foertsch literally worked her way around the park, at first in the kitchen and admissions, followed by sewing Santa suits and cleaning the park, and, for the past two decades, caring for the park�s flowers.

At her retirement party, she thanked the Koch family for �putting up with me all these years� and teased park president Will Koch that she�d worked at the park �before you even existed.�

In 2000, Foertsch was named Indiana�s Outstanding Older Worker by Green Thumb, Inc. The national organization sent her to Washington D.C. for a week�s celebration and featured her in their 2001 calendar. Foertsch was also included in a �60 Minutes� segment about older workers.

While you may not be able to see Frieda working on the park's flowers, Holiday World opens for the 2009 season on May 2nd.

Daily Spin 3.19.09

Six Flags Magic Mountain has some new photos of Terminator: Salvation up on their official website. The pics allow us new views of the ride's first drop from a perspective we haven't seen yet. Check those out here.

Change is in the air for Hard Rock Park, this recent article has the new park owners stating that they do not plan to keep the park's Nights in White Satin dark ride operating as it does not fit in with a family appeal. The park does plan on adding more kiddie rides, though.

Holiday World's Holiblog has some pics of the boats for Pilgrims Plunge that have arrived at the park, and some videos of them as well. I like their style! I'm anxiously awaiting seeing them fly down that massive flume into the splash pool below...

Wondering what the official story is behind Voodoo at Dorney Park's name change to Possessed? Well the cat is officially out of the bag on that one, you can read the details in this

newspaper article.

Universal Studios Florida is almost ready to top off their new Rockit coaster, in the latest photos you can see that they've started to install the first drop. All that leaves is the vertical lift and the crest to install.

Walt Disney World's Epcot recently started this year's International Flower & Garden Festival. If you've ever been to the theme park during this event you know how beautiful the displays are. The Orlando Sentinel has photos from the opening of the event.

Worlds of Fun always has a Prowler update for us, don't they? The latest batch of photos features the ride's finishing details coming into place. The new wooden coaster will hopefully open with the park this April.

Pilgrims Plunge Topped Off

Being a seasoned amusement park enthusiast often means that it's not every day that you see a ride and think, "Just looking at that thing scares the heck outta me." Thankfully we've had Holiday World to buck that trend and create Pilgrims Plunge - the world's tallest splash ride.

It's not just the die hard park fans that will get a kick out of this one, and while it may look intimidating, Pilgrims Plunge is sure to please the whole family!

The park has added a new gallery of photos from the ride's topping ceremony which was this past Friday to their Facebook page. I know we were treated to wonderful images of the ride when it was announced, but seeing it, really seeing it now standing is quite the w-o-w moment!

^ Seriously. I want to go ride this!

Web 2.0 + Theme Parks

Paula Werne, of Holiday World fame, recently linked to this article on the park's Holiblog. It's about how more theme parks are starting to use all the new 'web 2.0' sites and features to reach out to potential customers.

Well, being a web 2.0 site I have to say that the article is pretty interesting. They speak of parks like Sea World San Antonio, which currently uses Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and more to connect with fans and other interested parties of the park.

More and more official park blogs, especially, are popping up constantly these days. Kings Island started one, Schlitterbahn has a very active one, and there's more on the horizon.

I say keep these type of developments coming!

Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Holiday World 2000

As usual, Mike has read my mind and published a great lead-in post for this week's SBS. From one wonderfully themed park to another, this week we take a virtual trip to Holiday World!

Oh, to be the middle child... A Legend was born at Holiday World in 2000 [cheesy pun intended]. At the time, its older sibling The Raven was a rambunctious 5-year-old. And The Voyage? Well, it wasn't even a twinkle in the Kochs' eyes! Today this trio of wooden prodigies makes a lovely family, although one can't help but wonder if The Voyage is also destined to become a middle child someday... *COUGH COUGH* Oh, excuse me--I seem to have something in my throat!!

The Legend was obviously the big headliner in 2000, but it was (and still is) in good company. The folks at Holiday World have a real knack for taking basic, staple attractions found at parks across the globe and kicking them up a notch with fantastic theming. And c'mon, where else can you visit jolly old St. Nick any day you want? He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, and he knows when you're screaming your head off! [Another cheesy Legend pun there. Anybody get it? No? Stand-up comedy is not in my future? Sigh... Do I at least get an "A" for effort??]

This spread gives a great overview of all the water attractions featured at Splashin' Safari back in 2000. Hey, were those inner tubes made to look like they have tiger stripes? How quaint! Obviously the theming does not end with the dry rides at this park.

Normally I wouldn't include lodging pages in SBS. But when you have the option of staying at places like "Lake Rudolph" and "Santa's Lodge"? Well by gosh, by golly--That's just fun! The map section is also helpful, and includes estimated driving times from various landmark cities.

Who said there's no such thing as a free soft drink? Holiday World challenges that statement! Truth be told, I'm sure this perk is built into the cost of admission. But regardless, it is a really convenient perk, and one that I wish more parks would adopt.

And finally, we conclude with this great shot of Monsoon Lagoon and its "twelve levels of interactive family fun".

Pilgrims Progress

� 2009 Holiday World

New photos of Pilgrims Plunge are available on Holiday World's official Facebook page. Now that vertical construction has been started, the ride is going up fast. The park expects to 'top off' the ride sometime next week, so long as things go to plan.

Even though I've said it before it also still stands true that the ride's station and queue building is awesome looking!

Click here to check out the photos.