“Impressed with the family values”

MY FAMILY CAME TO HOLIDAY WORLD YESTERDAY; FIFTEEN OF US. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE WERE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH EVERYTHING; THE CLEANLINESS, THE RIDES AND THE ATTENTION TO FAMILY.

 

WE SAW THE HOLIDAZZLES AND STORYTIME WITH SANTA, AND WE WERE IMPRESSED WITH THE FAMILY VALUES THAT WERE TAUGHT DURING THIS TIME.

 

THE FREE DRINKS WERE GREAT. 

 

WE ENJOYED THE SMALLNESS OF THE PARK AND THEY LAYOUT WAS GREAT.  EVERYTHING WAS EASY TO GET TO. 

 

FOR MYSELF, (THE COORDINATOR OF THE TRIP) I WAS ESPECIALLY HAPPY TO TAKE THIRTY MINUTES OF MY BUSY DAY TO SEE THE SING PRAISE SHOW.  THE GROUP WAS NOT JUST PERFORMERS BUT YOU COULD TELL THEY REALLY LOVED THE LORD.  I WAS SO GLAD TO SEE THAT GOD WAS REPRESENTED IN A FAMILY THEMED PARK.

 

WE WILL BE BACK AND WILL HIGHLY RECOMMEND HOLIDAY WORLD TO ANYONE WE MEET. 

 

GINA B. 

 

 

“Holiday World has spoiled us!”

A visit to Holiday World has been a tradition in our family since I was a little girl and it was Santa Claus Land. We have recently begun making our annual visit on Labor Day and it has always been great. The crowd seems smaller, wait times are less, etc. 
 
We recently took a vacation to Washington DC. While we were there we took our kids age’s 10 and 14 to Six Flags America. We visited there mid-week so the crowd size was small as was the wait time. It had both a theme park and a water park like Holiday World does. The theme park did offer a different experience with giant steel coasters, which our son had never experienced. However we noticed that the park was not nearly as clean and the staff was not nearly as professional and friendly. 
 
In the afternoon, we ventured to the water park. This is where we were all in agreement that there is no place like Splashin’ Safari! There were not nearly as many waterslides, especially the larger slides we could do as a family. It was very difficult to navigate through due to all of the game and merchandise booths. They had one wave pool and I think that the kids waited at least 20 minutes for 5 minutes of waves. The lazy river was simply a moving waterway…none of the attractive water features and fountains like you have at Splashin’ Safari. The bathrooms and changing rooms were not clean and had a horrible odor. What really got us was the large booth as you enter which rented inner tubes. It was very misleading…they did provide tubes…they just tried to get you think you needed to rent one.
 
In relationship to other costs, here are a few other ways that Holiday World tops other parks. The tickets for this park were $50 per person. No free sun screen.  The drinks were far from free. We were able to buy a reusable cup in which we could get free refills in for the day…for 13 dollars. However it was a chore to get someone to refill the cup. At 3 of the larger coasters, you had to rent a one time use locker for a dollar to store your belongings while you rode the coaster. The all day locker rental was $11 for a small locker and $15 for a family locker, with no deposit refunded.
 
Thank you so much for providing such a clean and family-friendly park that is so affordable and close to home.

We can’t wait to visit this year on Labor Day!
 
Kim L.
Fort Branch, Indiana
 

“Safety first”

I just wanted to let you know how wonderful your park is. My family goes to Holiday World at least once every summer. Any time we have family down from other states we always take them to Holiday World. Your park is the cleanest and has such polite workers. We have always enjoyed our trips there.

We recently went to a theme park this summer in Wisconsin and it makes us appreciate the theme park we have here at home. We have been to ones in Kentucky, Wisconsin and Minnesota and not a one of them has a home atmosphere like Holiday World.

We have also noticed that Holiday World puts safety first for all riders. If one of the rides is broken no one gets to ride it until its fixed. Some of the other parks do not care much for safety.

Just wanted to let you know what a great job I feel that the owners and workers of Holiday World are doing. Please keep up the good work. We will be back again next summer along with our family that’s coming down from Minnesota.
 
Have a Wonderful Summer,

Jeremiah, Tammy, Austin and Jaris H.

P.S. My kids are only 10 and 12 and they compare other parks to Holiday World too and notice the big differences. Great Job!!!
 

Nice kitty, kitty…

When we started our Facebook Fan Page Photo Contest, there were only 38 photos posted. Now there are 438!

The first week (last week), we actually had a tie. Coincidentally, both were photos taken of darling children on the Star Spangled Carousel.

It took a few extra days to contact Zachary’s mom, but Part 2 of our tie was well worth the wait.

Zachary on Star Spangled Carousel

Zachary is two years old and was born in Guatemala. His family lives in Terre Haute.

Do you have some great park photos, too? Please join our Fan Page and upload a few. We’re a week behind already and will announce another winner soon. Please remember you need to be at least 13 years old (and not a park employee or employee’s relative) to enter.

Will and the lucky quarter

Dear Pat:

It was nice to speak with you Wednesday afternoon. I think the kids are still a little awed that you (YOU!) would be walking around like a normal person.

We all appreciated the opportunity to tell you how nice your park is. After our chat, something happened that I just have to share it with you.

My 8-year-old son found a “lucky” quarter in the wave pool. Throughout the afternoon he talked about it, did tricks with it, and basically got way more that a quarter’s worth of enjoyment from it. Once the water park closed we headed over to the Thanksgiving part of the park. As we crossed the wooden bridge, he dropped it and we watched in dismay as it rolled to the edge and dropped into the grass near the service road below. Will was very sad. Way more than a quarter’s worth of sadness.

Like any mother desperate to keep this happy day as happy as possible, I headed back to Splashin’ Safari to try to get the coin back. There I found Ryan the Lifeguard and he quickly agreed to go get the quarter for me. In a minute or two he came back and handed it to me. I was delighted and ran back to my son. He was surprised and gave me a huge smile, but then pointed out that his lucky quarter was a 1998 “normal” one, but this one was a 2001 New York quarter. Either Ryan had found someone else’s quarter or he’d kindly given one of his own.

Isn’t that terrific? This would be a pretty good story, but it gets even better. Crossing the bridge again later, I saw three blue-shirted employees walking below. They happily retrieved Will’s quarter from the grass and tossed it back to me.

Will and his "lucky quarter"

And that’s just one more reason why our family loves Holiday World.

Thank you for all you and your staff do to make Holiday World the magical place it is. And if you can track down Ryan, please return this quarter to him. It just might be as lucky as Will’s has been.

Sincerely,
Marjorie H.
Noblesville, Indiana
(we received permission from both the sender and the recipient to post this)

“Very impressed with your park”

Just wanted to say we were in Santa Claus the weekend of July 10-13 for a softball tournament. I had never heard of Holiday World before even though I have a 13 yr old daughter. 

We loved it very much. It was very clean and very friendly. The rides were great. I think the Voyage is the best roller coaster I’ve ever been on. And I’ve ridden a few I’m 47!!

I was also very impressed with the message at the water park saying to wear decent clothing. It was not offensive and to the point. Also the guards in the water park were very attentive polite and well-trained. We noticed them being tested with a baby-sized dummy.

We were very impressed with your park and will be back next year. Keep up the good work.

We live 45 minutes from Six Flags in St. Louis but I would rather drive the 4 hours to visit your Park! Maybe you could give them some pointers!!!

Thank-you,

Kym Y.
Fults, Illinois

 

“Great job overall”

We just came back from our 2nd trip to your park. This time we brought guests (another family and their children) and camped at Lake Rudolph.  This allowed us to take advantage of the 2nd day pass for $20.00.

We all had a blast and loved the rides, hospitality, and inexpensive food. I also noticed that every employee at the park was genuinely friendly and doing their best at their job. That alone makes me want to come back again next year.

The only downside was lack of rides for my six year old.  He was a 1/4 inch shy of the mark to ride some of the thrill rides in Holiday World so he got left out.  I don’t know what the solution is (if any) but that was the only "bad" experience in the park.  He did, though, get to do quite a bit in Splashin’ Safari. 

Anyway, again, great job overall and we’ll definitely be back and most likely bring more people with us!

Warren B.
 

Family thrilled with food-allergen program

My family and I visited your park on Monday.I just wanted to tell you how pleased (thrilled, actually) we were with your handling of food allergies. We were able to dine at two of your restaurants without any problems.

Our son has multiple food allergies and your staff worked hard to protect him and give him a wonderful experience. They were educated about the seriousness of food allergies and were very helpful.

Also, I’d like to thank you for having food allergy information easily available on your website and in the restaurants themselves.

Thank you so much!

We had an awesome visit and we will be back soon!!!

Kathi M.

 

“Low stress destination”

I know many people normally e-mail places when there is a problem or if they are dissatisfied. However, I wanted to make sure you were notified of all the positive things I saw in your park recently. My wife and I and some friends visited your park this past weekend. I have not been to the park for many years but was incredibly impressed with your park and your staff. 

I noticed attendants picking up trash and removing the garbage from the garbage cans even where people were waiting to get on rides. I also noticed how alert the lifeguards were watching all areas of the water park. In addition, as the roller coaster left the station at the Voyage, the attendant watched closely to make sure each person that passed by had a secure seatbelt. Finally, every attendant we met was very friendly and smiled which I believe helps guests have a great time!  

I recently lost my job this year and it was very nice to get away for the day to such a low stress destination to just have fun with my wife and friends. We are hoping to come back again before you close this season if our budget allows.

I think you and your staff should be commended on operating such a clean, friendly, and family-oriented environment to the public and continuing to add rides that rank among some of the top rides in the area.  Awesome job by the way on the Pilgrim’s Plunge!
  
We have already told our family and will be telling many friends about our experience.  

Keep up the great work!

Michael
Kentucky

 

Mirror, mirror, on the … carousel

A week ago, our Facebook Fan page had a rather paltry number of fan photos.

Paltry as in 38. (And one of the 38 was a photo of our brochure askew on someone’s coffee table.)

Something had to be done.

How ’bout a little contest?

…with two free tickets awarded to those who post our favorite photos. Suddenly, our 24,000+ fans jumped into action. We now have a far more respectable selection of 350+ fan photos. Here’s this week’s winning photo: 

Canarissa on Star Spangled Carousel

This is Canarissa; she’s two years old and is from Illinois.

Do you have some great photos? Head over to Facebook and become a "fan" then upload some great photos, either taken here at the park or somehow related to a visit here. You must be at least 13 to enter and sorry, but you can’t be a park employee (or a relative of one). Your photo will show up on the HoliBlog and quite possibly in a photo slideshow on our website.

We’ll pick a photo a week for the next three weeks. And if you didn’t win this time, don’t worry — you still have a shot next week; we’ll select from the full pool of photos each week.