Trimming up for opening

Here's something you don't see every day:


Not just a van in the Christmas section ... a van full of huge Christmas ornaments.

Mrs. Koch is bringing even more.


And what about this fellow?

Is he helping to trim the tree?


Or does he have a sudden craving for a giant lemon lollipop?

"Are we Finnished?"

I don't think Mrs. Koch caught her own pun yesterday when she completed her interview with a TV crew from the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

That's right ... Finnish as in Finland.

Here's Mrs. Koch showing Mika around the Santa Claus Museum she opened last summer (it reopens for the season this weekend and is located in the shopping plaza, two doors down from the Santa Claus Post Office).


Mika promises to let us know when the story airs, as it will then be on their website for a week. We'll pass along the link when we get it.

For sale: One (slightly used) Voyage rug

...on eBay (where else?).


Folks loved the rugs at the doors at the gift shop next to The Voyage last season.

So many people asked if we'd ever sell them ... even used ... that we've put one
up for auction.

Check here for all the info.

Contest for the Indianapolis area

If you live in the Indianapolis TV market, you might want to check out this contest that WISH-TV is sponsoring with prize packages of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari tickets to be used in May.

Vanessa really wanted a pink golf cart this year...

...when that fell through, she went for the next best thing.

Not just silly...absolutely silly

Real Simple magazine published a "special travel issue" this month.

It includes all sorts of fun lists.

You know, like "U.S. Cities That Hardly Sound Inviting" (including Smelley, Alabama, and Satan's Kingdom, Vermont) and "Five Places Where You Can Climb A Tree--and Sleep In It."

And then there's this one: "Nine Roller Coasters That Will Scare You Absolutely Silly."

How lovely, we have two coasters on the list. And one of them is #1!

And here's one of those coasters, heading out for a test run.


To see the full list, head over to their website.

Another fun list that is worthy of mention: "Nine Off-the-Wall Minibar Amenities."

Would you believe ... harmonicas and gourmet dog biscuits?

Pretty bird!

This pretty parrot is nearly ready to head north to Splashin' Safari.

Can't help but wonder if the trip on the interstate will be as attention-getting as those turkeys for Turkey Whirl.

The final destination is in Crocodile Isle, topped by a colorful umbrella.

The pools are filling throughout the water park; in Holiday World, Raging Rapids, Frightful Falls and Thunder Bumpers are filled and ready for fun in just a few weeks.

And the temps are back in the 70s! What a relief; that return to winter was no fun.

And yes, the coasters are in testing mode.

Can you hear them? Click, click, clicking up the lift hills.

We'll get you some pictures of them soon.

Got 14 friends?

...and live in the Evansville area?

Then you might want to enter this contest.

WFIE-TV will give away a pack of 15 tickets to one lucky winner.

(Please note you must live in their viewing area to win.)

Good luck!

Practice makes perfect

If you didn't get to play a "victim" at our disaster drill yesterday (we pretended the park was hit by a tornado), you can still take a look by watching this story on WFIE-TV's website.

Please note that some of the victims are rather gory, so parents might want to view the footage before allowing young children to watch.

Many thanks go out to all those who helped make our drill such a success. We had about 60 wonderful volunteers, our full-time staff, plus more than 100 rescuers from the following agencies: Carter Township Fire, Dale Police, Dubois County EMS, St. Meinrad Fire, Santa Claus Police, Santa Claus Fire, Spencer County Dispatch, Spencer County EMA, Spencer County EMS, Spencer County Sheriff, Life Flight from St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville.

Oh, and the fellow up in the tree? Our own Craig.


The magnificent crew from St. Meinrad took excellent care of Craig. He's back on the job today.

And poor Dee Ann ... you might recognize her from our Front Gate. The way she has her head turned in the interview, you can't see the awful-looking head wound. Before the drill began, as they were applying her victim's make-up, Dee Ann searched in her pocket and pulled out a tube of lipstick.

"Guess I won't be needing this!"

We've been holding out on you

I don't think we've mentioned yet that we have a new game to debut in the Thanksgiving section this season.

It's called Pilgrims' Challenge. (Is anyone else old enough to think of John Wayne any time you see the word "pilgrim"?)


Oh, my ... it doesn't encourage the best posture, does it?

Pilgrims' Challenge is one of those games when a steady hand makes all the difference. Just aim the water at the center of the target, and hope you tremble less than the rest of the players.

And then...


Victory!

And so what are the prizes, you may ask?

If you win when two-to-four players are competing, the prize is a Holiday World embroidered pillow.

And if five or more are playing, the prizes will be a Shrek Baby, Spider-Man, or Bart Simpson.

I Googled "Bart Simpson" to look for a fun quote to end this post.

Sigh!

No wonder I wouldn't let my kids watch that show: Aren't we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas? You know, the birth of Santa.

Later, 'gator

It's still a bit chilly to take a ride on this new water slide for Crocodile Isle (did anyone else get snow on Friday?).



But in just over a month, the new slides will be in place (along with plenty of life guards) and all ready for the new season.

Back to Reality

We've already talked about our opportunity to be on a reality show; now it's your turn to think about it.

It's hard not to react with a start when asked, "Can you help us arrange a wife swap?"

WHAT?!

But we did recently get just such a call from a network TV producer.

He's looking for "a family that loves roller coasters."

Well...that's easy enough.

But the second part is ... this is for the ABC reality show "Wife Swap."

Here's what they're looking for ... two parents in the U.S. with at least one child (five or older) living at home. Oh, and they need to love riding roller coasters. The premise is, the families swap moms (it's always the moms, isn't it?) and the families get to experience each others' lives for a week.

If you're interested, click on the "Comments" button up near the top of this page and send a email briefly describing your family and your love of coasters (and it wouldn't hurt to mention--ahem!--your favorite park). Then I'll connect you with the producer and the rest is between you and them.

(Hint: Guys...you might want to check with your better half before offering her up for the "swap." She might want to have a little input on this, too.)

Counting down to 5/5

Gosh. One month to go.

Suddenly there's a loud thumping sound in the air.

At first I thought it was someone patching the roof....

Uh, no. It's my heart pounding at the thought.

One month to go.

So what's going on out there?

Cathy's getting the Bavarian Glassblowers Shop ready.



She told me they "take February off," but otherwise the off-season is spent ... blowing glass.

Whew!

And Elmer is tinkering around on Liberty Launch.



The trees are in bloom.

Recognize this tree? It's next to the entrance to the Lewis & Clark Trail.



By the way, over in the Admissions Department, Eric is planning a few days for processing season passes before the season starts. If you'd like to stop by to take advantage of this, check out the specifics here on our Rules & Services page.

And then there's Bakuli...

...waiting patiently for the clocks to tick, the calendar pages to flip...

...and the hearts to pound.

Come on, be honest

Once ... just once ... wouldn't you enjoy playing the victim?

Moaning and groaning and crying out for help?

Then having someone kind and strong coming to your aid?

Well, here's your opportunity.

No, we're not adding free, unlimited spa treatments ... we're hosting an Emergency Drill.

On Thursday, April 12, we're planning to simulate the aftermath of a weather emergency here at the park.

It's great training for our staff. We hope against hope not to actually have to deal with this sort of worst-case-scenario, of course, but so many of the skills practiced in a drill like this apply to any sort of storm. Police, fire and EMS will be here, too, performing the rescue techniques they would use in an actual emergency.

If you'd like to sign up to be a victim for this early-evening event, please email Lori (lgogel@holidayworld.com) by April 1o and she'll fill you in.

Oh...and we'll feed you a nice meal afterwards.

What should we call this?

A Drill & Dine?

Victims' Victuals?

Crisis & Consume?

Mayhem & Munch?

Survivors' Supper?

Hope you can join us!

The inside story

Lori, Jennifer and Whitney couldn't wait.

They had to check out "the bowl."



Bakuli's innards are colorful, that's for sure.

And slippery.

To get in, they had to climb up the exit slide.

Jennifer and Whitney had no trouble.

But Lori ... she made several tries.

Oops. Slipped and fell.

Again.

Then she tried it barefoot.

Same result.

Finally, a laughing Jennifer flung her sneakers down for her fearless leader to use.

Must have been Spider-Man sneaks, as Lori had no trouble that time.

Whitney waved a welcome.



She's assistant manager this year. It's a family tradition; her sister was in that position last season.

Whitney is standing in the "entrance" to the bowl, which is also the end of the enclosed slide.

'round and 'round you'll go, and then out of the bowl into the splash pool.



Bakuli is nearly complete.

At this point...

...just add water.