For the third straight year I accepted the challenge and drove down to Santa Claus, IN. There seems to be many things Santa Claus is known for: A big Christmas Store, a Candy Castle, Jay Cutler, and of course, Holiday World & Splashin' Safari. For those of you readers who aren't familiar with this park, Holiday World boasts just 4 roller coasters, but more than makes up for quantity with quality. Quality is something this park prides itself on and it is readily apparent from the first sight of the Main Entrance.
The event officially kicked off at 4:30 Friday evening; but attendees were invited to spend the whole day at the park if they were so inclined. Shortly after arrival, attendees were escorted into the outdoor music venue where the event was introduced for the first time to HWN Virgins, and refreshed for the veterans. Something new this year was Friday night Exclusive Ride Time (ERT) at Splashin' Safari. In the past this ERT session was held Saturday morning. For two uninterrupted hours I joined some great friends and we rode Wildebeest and Mammoth, the parks two world-class water coasters, more times than we could count.
While Hors d'oeuvres were served on the beach of the wave pool, we continued to marathon the airtime-filled Wildebeest. When the session finally ended we passed by the appetizer table only
to see soggy tuna salad sandwiches, something titled "dog barf" and something that resembled jello. Not my cup of tea, to say the least. Upon drying off, we climbed the mountain up to the Christmas section for many a ACE member's favorite delight: The Pizza and Fudge Buffet. Sadly, for those ACErs they didn't offer copious amounts of gravy for the pizza. Did I mention Holiday World serves free unlimited Pepsi products? Well they do, and it kicks ass.
After dinner we made the mad dash for The Voyage for what would be my first ride on her in 2014. For those of you who have not yet met me; The Voyage is by far my favorite overall coaster and sometimes it seems like that is all I talk about. What can I say, 2014 Voyage is the best its ever been. And if you ride in the very front row, its the smoothest ride out there. Raven, their other super star woody is just as it always is, perfect. Legend this year, however, was rather disappointing and would only see 4 rides from me overall. Friday's festivities wrapped up at 11:00.
Saturday is a typical day at the park. Breakfast was at Kringle's Cafe where I thoroughly enjoyed a Honey-butter Chicken biscuit. Many coasters and flat rides later we had an afternoon Thanksgiving Dinner at Plymouth Rock Cafe. Then we entered the "backstage" area of Holiday World to take photos and videos of The Voyage. This tour is approximately two hours and has a lot of terrain to hike to see all of the ride. As the devout Voyage fan that I am, I cannot get enough of this beauty.
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| The female to male ratio on this train is definitely favorable |
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| Not even sure what is happening with that top back there... |
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| Insert ACE joke here... |
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| Please somebody tell me why there is an employee riding the Voyage during park hours... |
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| And so the trek begins up Mount Voyage... |
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| The Spaghetti Bowl, AKA "Where all Hell Breaks Loose" |
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| The 90 degree banks drive me so crazy I cannot sleep. |
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| Some people even prefer the feeling of being kicked in the ribs by keeping their hands up in the air. |
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| Tough guys. |
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| Voyage has so many tricks up its sleeve, including 8 underground moments. |
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| Not sure if row one swallowed a fly... or... |
After the tour, not much takes place until dinner other than a silent auction on some Holiday World signs, flags, coaster parts, etc. Dinner was another buffet, but much to ACE's delight, there was gravy for the potatoes! Upon finishing stuffing your face you are invited to ride all 3 woodys, the miniature train, the swings, and the interactive dark ride for 4 hours... IN THE DARK...
This pretty much sums up my trip, I hope you enjoy these photos. Oh and if you want to go to the event in 2015, I highly recommend you get reservations for Santa's Lodge as soon as the rooms go on sale, as 2015 will be a huge year for this park.
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