Holiday World’s Voyage roller coaster is the Best New Ride of 2006. This top honor was announced this afternoon by Amusement Today magazine, which presented the results of its annual survey of the “best of the best” in the amusement park industry during the Golden Ticket Awards ceremony, hosted this year by Holiday World.

A second Golden Ticket Award, Best New Waterpark Ride, was presented to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari’s president, Will Koch, for Splashin’ Safari’s new Bahari River.

“It was quite humbling to sit in our theater, surrounded by a veritable Who’s Who of the amusement industry – Kings Island, Sea World, Dollywood, Busch Gardens, and Cedar Point to name a few – and hear your park proclaimed the best in the world,” says Koch.

Presented by Amusement Today publisher Gary Slade, the industry’s “Academy Awards” included theme, amusement and water parks from around the world.

The Golden Ticket Awards named Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari the #1 Friendliest Park for the ninth consecutive year and #1 Cleanest Park for the seventh year in a row, outranking such parks as Disney World, Kings Island, Busch Gardens, and Cedar Point.

In addition, Holiday World is the only theme or amusement park with three top-ten wooden roller coasters; The Raven was voted #7 and The Legend named #9 and The Voyage, at #2, holds the highest-ranking a new wooden coaster has ever achieved in the survey’s nine years.

Splashin’ Safari remained the world’s #2 Water Park in this year’s survey and was ranked #4 in the Best Landscaping in a Waterpark category. Splashin’ Safari’s Zinga took high honors as the #2 Waterpark Ride, while ZOOMbabwe was named the #3 Waterpark Ride.

Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari also tied for #5 in the Best Park category and tied for #4 in the Best Capacity rankings.

Amusement Today is an international monthly trade journal for the amusement and water park industries, based in Arlington, Texas. The Golden Ticket Awards are determined by surveys submitted by well-traveled park enthusiasts from around the world.

For more information about Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, visit the parks’ website www.holidayworld.com or call 1-877-Go-Family.

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Released: 27 August, 2006
Media contact: Paula Werne, fun@holidayworld.com; 812-937-5209