September 2012
Looking Back... September 2012
29 September 2012 - 2:58pm
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Here's the German version of the NatGeo Channel "World's Toughest Fixes" episode shot here back in 2009:
It was a wunderbar experience for all involved!
28 September 2012 - 6:01pm
This season's hottest accessory ...
... is this snazzy pair of 3D glasses you'll get just before you enter Holidog's 3D Halloween Adventure.
This new attraction opens October 6, on the first day of Happy Halloween Weekends.
The walk-through attraction is in our Holiday Theater in the Christmas Plaza. It's family friendly - no hideous zombies will chase after you, promise!
This colorful fellow won't chase you, either - but he may reach out to you ...
We're just a week away from the start of Happy Halloween Weekends (please click on the link for more information, including how to order discounted tickets online). We hope you'll join us!
27 September 2012 - 6:58pm
A gourd by any other name
Do you remember the first time you saw a gourd?
Did you think it was a "pumpkin reject"?
I did.
My mom always loved decorating for autumn and Halloween. The first time she brought home these little gnarly pumpkin-cousins, I thought maybe there was a pumpkin shortage.
Mom assured me these were the first step in her decorating plans - and that she'd take me with her to pick out our pumpkin-for-carving.
We never got this fancy with our carving, but a talented fellow posted this on our Facebook page last fall; it's worthy of praise and a re-post, don't you think?
Another wonderful Halloween tradition is dressing up in costume.
And yes, that will be part of Happy Halloween Weekends.
In keeping with our G-rated park atmosphere, we do have a few rules for costume-wearers:
1. Family-friendly only, please - no blood, guts, gore, or revealing costumes
2. No weapons (real or fake)
3. No masks
When riding rides, you will need to remove any capes, hats, wigs, handheld props/accessories and anything else that might change the shape of your body or height.
So are you planning to visit is in costume next month? What will you be?
25 September 2012 - 2:15pm
Counting pumpkins
Neither torrential rain nor ear-splitting thunder nor hide-under-your-desk lightning kept our Pumpkin Delivery Man from his appointed rounds this morning.
Loads and loads of pumpkins!
So ... how many pumpkins do you think we ordered?
Guess the exact number correctly and you could win two one-day tickets to Happy Halloween Weekends.
A few rules:
1. Must be 13 or older to enter.
2. Must not be an employee or immediate family member of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari or the Pumpkin Delivery Man.
3. Yes, you may enter more than once. But five times is the limit, okay? And only one guess per email, please.
4. First person to hit the correct number wins. If no one guesses the exact number of pumpkins, we'll go with whoever came closest but didn't go over the correct number. (So I guess that means we need to set a deadline ... okay, Monday at noon. That's 10/1/12 at 12 noon CDT.)
How to enter? Must be by email and to this address: contest@holidayworld.com.
Good luck! And we hope you can join us, weekends in October, for Happy Halloween Weekends!
24 September 2012 - 7:56pm
Brushing up on skills
So what do you do when you're a lifeguard and the water park is closed for the season?
You look for other ways to make yourself invaluable.
And what might be a valuable skill to have for our upcoming Happy Halloween Weekends?
Face-painting, of course!
The gentleman in the above photo is Gary Cole from a company called Snazaroo. (Although he shares the name with a famous actor, our face-painting teacher didn't look at all like the actor who creeped me out so badly in Fatal Vision that I didn't sleep through the night for weeks. He looks more like Tony Randall in a Doris Day movie, don't you think?)
Here's Gary at work, demonstrating his craft on Anna:
Anna's sister Mary was next...
... and the youngest of the three sisters, Ellen, was transformed into a beautiful, bejeweled butterfly.
Next, their daddy stepped up to the brush. (With great face paint comes great ... um, photogenicability?)
Here's Katie all pretty in pink ... with her lovely dragon matching her shirt and hair bow.
Our best Face Painting Artists will be on hand throughout Happy Halloween Weekends (at Good Ol' Days Picnic Grove - which we're transforming into Goblin Grove) to paint your favorite little (or big) faces for $4.95 plus tax each. Goblin Grove will also include free activities, such as trick-or-treating and pumpkin painting for those 12 and younger. We'll have a Halloween magic show, too, and much more!
