“Outstanding Concrete Achievement Award”

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Bahari theming

I kid you not.

This award exists.

And in a few weeks, that award will be proudly displayed here at Holiday World.

I’m afraid I may have offended Steve a bit; I grinned and started laughing when he told me about the Outstanding Concrete Achievement Award.

“You’re joking, right?” I chuckled. My chortle quickly choked into a cough when I saw that … he wasn’t.

Yes … here it comes … brace yourself … suddenly, I found myself between a rock and a hard place.

How narrow-minded I’ve been.

Sure, I know all about the organizations that I’m associated with here at the park, but I all but scoffed at the thought that the Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association might want to get together once in a while and pat each other on the back.

Bahari themingWhat more concrete evidence could you ask for but the Tiki fountains at Bahari?

So congratulations to Steve and his crew for the award. (Do they call each other “cement heads” in private?) You’ve all worked hard to earn this distinction.

Okay, one more and then I’ll stop.

The awards luncheon next month, will the social time before the meal be called … a Cement Mixer?
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Talking turkey trotters

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Yesterday, we got a look at the train for The Voyage.

And what about that other ride?

No trains for Gobbler Getaway, but rather Turkey Trotters:

turkey trotter vehicle

There will be a dozen Turkey Trotter cars, seating up to four persons each.

These Turkey Trotters will take us through the town of Autumn Falls as we try to help turkey farmer Cornelius Van Snoodle locate his missing flock.

We don’t want to give away too much of the “plot,” but rest assured no mayhem will ensue.

A bit of chaos, perhaps, but definitely no mayhem.
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Midnight train in Georgia

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Will and Mrs. Koch in train

Okay, so it’s not midnight blue, but close enough.

Will and Mrs. Koch in train

Will, his mom, and three of our directors were in Atlanta last week, attending the annual IAAPA Convention.

The folks at PTC had a display model, which garnered a lot of attention.

Interesting new seat divider:

Voyage seat divider

Remember, The Voyage will have three trains when it opens May 6. And each train will have seven cars (the trains on The Raven and The Legend all have six cars).

Here’s a side view:

Voyage train

The IAAPA Convention is huge (IAAPA stands for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions). There are loads of social events, seminars, workshops, plus a gigantic exhibition.

Look who Will and Mrs. Koch found …

Kochs and Gravity Group

It’s our friends from The Gravity Group.

From the left in the back row, that’s Korey, then Chad (affectionately named Chadwick by the Discovery Channel crew last month), Larry, and Mike.

This photo was taken by Justin, the head of the European Coaster Club. He’d emailed me from Atlanta to tell me he’d seen Will and Mrs. Koch in the exhibition hall. I emailed back in my standard professional manner that it was good to hear they weren’t goofing around.

I guess Justin figured I needed proof.

By the way, that additional element that has been added to The Voyage is a third 90-degree-banked curve.

It will be positioned just after the first one. You’ll bank 90 degrees to the left and then after about 100 feet of track, you’ll bank 90 degrees to the right.

Sort of a big “swoosh”

The third 90-degree-banked curve is the one closer to the end of the ride.

Heading out soon for Thanksgiving with family and friends? We wish you all a warm, wonderful, and safe holiday!
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Crossing Over

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Voyage's second hill

What a lovely fall day.

Much better than yesterday.

Not as chilly. Or as windy. Not even as muddy.

Tom, the editor of Construction Digest magazine, and I took a lovely stroll from one end of The Voyage site to the other.

Here’s something new …

As you start up the lift hill, you may see one of the other two trains heading back to the station.

Right over your head.

Voyage construction

That’s what the enthusiasts call a “head chopper.”

Not to worry; it’s all smoke and mirrors.

No heads will roll

Promise.

Voyage crossoverHere’s the crossover from another angle.

This is the bottom of the lift hill, crossed over by the beginning-of-the-end of the ride.

Remember, at this point you’ve only been through three of The Voyage‘s five underground tunnels.

The other two are on the other side of the station.

Or so I’m told.

As I told Tom, I don’t have one of those engineer/egghead brains.

When Will drags out some blueprints or other design graphics during staff meeting, it’s always the same. About six of the directors pop out of their seats and lean across the conference table, studying and questioning.

Mrs. Koch and I always catch each other’s attention from our seated position. Sometimes we shake our heads. Other times we roll our eyes. And once in a while, we just laugh.

We’ll get it all figured out by opening day.

That’s soon enough for us.

Voyage's second hill

Above is the second hill; the lower track is the return trip.

Let’s take a closer look.

Voyage's second hill

Tom tried to snap the very first photo of Hill #3 under construction.

Ever the gracious hostess, I sneaked behind him and took one first.

Voyage's third hill

And finally, we gawked at Tunnel #1 for a bit.

From this angle, the opening at the top (in the foreground) is where the train will fly out as it exits the tunnel.

See the opening to the right, more in the background?

Is there really enough room for the train to change directions (from down to up)?

 

Voyage tunnel

I don’t know…

Maybe I should ask Will for another glance at those blueprints.
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Skeletal remains

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Walking through the park in the off-season is sort of creepy. Skeletal remains of rides are everywhere.

Since we’re closed for the season, there are no happy families, no wondrous smells from the restaurants, no holiday-themed music.

Just a big ol’ empty park.

The fountain and all the pools are empty. The flags have been taken down.

The maintenance staff takes apart just about everything for winter rehab. All that’s left are skeletal remains. 

Skeletal "spider ride"

In the past several days, we’ve received a bunch of emails asking for more construction updates plus additional info about Gobbler Getaway.

Every last one of them included the phrase “… since this is your slow time — just kidding!”

Hmmm.

I’d post a photo of my desk, but I wouldn’t want to traumatize the children.

And as we get closer to Thanksgiving, I will provide more information about Gobbler Getaway.

Just a few nibbles, though. We wouldn’t want to over-indulge and spoil your appetite, now, would we?
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Keep a lid on it

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Voyage tunnel construction

Let’s get something straight: The “lid” for Tunnel #1 in no way resembles Tupperware.

And the tunnels are nothing like those on The Raven and The Legend.

Because the tunnels at The Voyage are underground.

Cedar worked for the wooden tunnels at The Legend (and offered a lovely whiff of relaxing aromatherapy). But for the underground tunnels at The Voyage there’s a need to use a material that termites won’t be able to nibble.

Voyage tunnel construction

Concrete. And lots of it.

One piece at a time (each piece weighs something like three tons), the pre-poured concrete slabs are being carefully lowered into place.

Voyage tunnel construction

Take a look at the upper right portion of the above photo. You’ll see some Voyage structure through the trees. See where we are? That structure is part of the second hill. Hill #3 has yet to be built; at the bottom of the hill, we’ll fly into Tunnel #1.

Wonder what it will sound like?

And will the internal temperature be cooler than outside in the summer, as caves are?

Rachel took this photo from the other side of the tunnel.

Voyage tunnel construction

Here it is from a bit farther away.

After all the pieces are in place, a final layer of concrete will be poured. The lid.

And then it all gets buried in dirt. (That’s the “underground” part of all this.)

Voyage tunnel construction

And regarding the added element mentioned a few weeks back, we’ll let you know more early next week. Will is going to be on another podcast with CoasterBuzz and will spill the beans then.

But for now, we’ll keep a lid on it.
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Honoring our Veterans

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Jim Yellig

The eleventh day of the eleventh month. Veterans Day.

Time to say thank you.

To people my parents’ age, my own age, my son’s age.

Each has a story. Some choose to talk about their military days, others don’t.

Jim YelligMrs. Koch likes to tell the story about her dad.

This is a photo of him. Jim Yellig was a Navy man during the first World War.

One Christmas, he was stationed on a ship at the Brooklyn Shipyard in New York.

Everyone on board, so far from home, agreed to hold a Christmas party for local underprivileged children.

But where was Santa?

“Hey, Jim — you do it! You’re from Santa Claus, after all.”

Truth be told, Jim Yellig was from nearby Mariah Hill. But who could resist talking about a town named Santa Claus? Not Jim.

Jim wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but agreed to do it.

The experience changed his life forever.

When he saw the hope and love and trust in the eyes of these little children, frightened by the war and hurt by poverty, his heart melted.

As he told the story years later, “Afterwards, I said a little prayer: God, if you get me through this war alive and send me home, I’ll forever be Santa.”

Both promises were kept.

God bless our Veterans on this, and all, days.
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Keeping track

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That big ol’ crane isn’t just lifting steel. That’s wood track flying high.

Voyage construction

How handy is that?

Voyage construction

At Monday’s staff meeting, Will told us the “lid” for Voyage‘s Tunnel #1 is supposed to arrive on Friday.

I’m picturing a gigantic Tupperware lid being lowered down onto that huge underground tunnel.

I sure don’t want to be around when they burp that thing.
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Coaster’s over yonder, Tom!

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Poor Tom

The guy’s worked here something like 30 years, and once in a while he still needs directions.

Tom, Jeff, Mike

Tom, Mike, and Jeff

All kidding aside, Tom is one of those go-to guys who always know what’s going on all over the park. He definitely knows where The Voyage is.

And he gives as good as he gets, so I may need to go into hiding for a while.
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Which one is worse … er, better?

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Which one? You decide.

This is the view heading up Voyage‘s lift hill.

Voyage hill

A coaster enthusiast emailed a suggestion that I climb up and take a photo from the very top.

Not gonna happen

Without question. Not a chance.

Not even if I could catch a ride on the crane.

Here’s another angle from the ground, though:

Voyage hill

We “crowned” the second hill yesterday.

That means the third hill gets attention soon. Which one are you the most excited about?
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