I think everyone knows we're adding a Mammoth to our list of water-park rides this year, but that's not the only critter we're introducing in May.

Meet Holidog's new friend ... Kitty Claws.

Kitty will join Holidog, Safari Sam and George the Eagle in May, with lots of hugs plus maybe even an occasional pirouette.

So what goes into designing a new park mascot? GM Matt shared the drawings (he has two young daughters, so you may see just a little of their influence as the design steps progress):

We start out with an outline and a sketch.

Here was the first rendition of Ms. Claws:

At this point, she sort of looked like an Olympic runner (spoiler alert: and a human needs to comfortably fit inside), so we let out the seams a bit:

Next it was time to add some theming. Kitty Claws is a black cat from ... Halloween!

All Kitty Claws still needed was some fancy footwear ... oh, and some eyelashes.

And here she is:

Her tutu will not be quite as stiff as pictured; she'll be all ready to hug lots of children this season.

Kitty Claws and Holidog promise to be good buddies -- no chasing each other up the big Christmas tree in our entrance plaza!

We'd love to hear your reaction (try to keep it from being too ... um ... catty) - please post your feedback below.