When we told Bobbi she was a prize employee …
… we didn't think she'd take it quite so literally.
Cleaning up in Games
Yearly Archives: 2013
Tag, you’re it!
Over the past several months, we've gone back to add tags to our eight years of HoliBlog posts. (That's more than a thousand posts!)
The resulting "tag cloud" is pretty handy (it's floating over to the right of this post), as you can click on your favorite topics and read all the related blog posts, along with photos and videos from over the years.
For example, Voyage, Santa Claus Land, and – my personal favorite: puns!
We even have tags for a few young-uns who have made repeated guest appearances on the HoliBlog over the years, much to this father's Tweeted delight:
That special nerdy pride when your daughter has her own tag on the @holidayworld blog.holidayworld.com/holiblog/tags/…
— Bill Childs (@billchilds) April 23, 2013
It’s beginning to look a lot like …
… yes, Christmas!
While most folks are putting away their Easter decor, we're awakening the elves.
And here's Cheryl, fastening a big bow on one of the light poles in our Christmas Plaza. It's so nice to see our beautiful trees greening up.
Do you think Cheryl is noticing that a certain roller coaster in our Halloween section needs a little dressing up, too?
Ah, great minds think alike. The very next day, the Coaster Cats were up top with fresh, colorful flags.
Raven premiered back in 1995. Lots of flags have waved from on top of that lift hill over the years.
These flags went up on Wednesday – which was good timing, as Thursday was incredibly windy and the flags were whipping wildly all day.
We office drones have been hearing spring test runs on Raven all week. Most of us are longing to hop on board.
The click-click-click of the train heading up the lift hill is tantalizing, as is that rushing sound as the train flies down the first hill.
The sound is so familiar, and yet something's missing …
Screams.
Let the party begin
Kitty's Tea Party is here!
Of course, my juvenile brain reverts back to Bugs Bunny and "there's nothing as sociable as a nice cup of tea, I always say; how many lumps do you want?"
Maybe that explains the hard hats …
Tea for two?
Can't have a tea party without a tea pot.
That's one heck of a cozy …
Whether it's tea for two or tea for three (or tea for your whole brood – brood/brewed, get it?), we hope you'll give our new ride a spin this season up in Holidog's FunTown.
Kitty's Tea Party opens May 4, on Holiday World's opening day.
Stand By Me
One of the most popular songs in 1961, when this photo was taken, was Stand By Me.
It wasn't a Christmas song, but the title certainly suits ol' Santa.
According to Erin E., who shared this wonderful photo of her great-grandparents, that's Claude and Lennie Russell on the left, and Martha and Amel Knight. Claude and Lennie Russell were from West Baden, Indiana. And Martha and Amel Knight lived in West Baden at the time. This was a big trip as Claude drove his brand new 1961 Ford to Santa Claus.
That iconic Santa statue is still here, in the Christmas section of Holiday World. Can you imagine how many photos have been taken with Santa over the years?
With apologies to Francis Scott Key
The blooms bursting in air …
You know we're on Instagram, right? http://Instagram.com/HolidayWorld
These pretty pear trees are so beautiful right now. As we blogged back in 2005, It Always Snows in April.
Gosh, I hope I get it!
Kudos to all who were called back for second auditions to sing and dance with Holidog this summer.
Here's a peek at the auditions:
We still have a variety of seasonal (and full-time) positions available. Please check our Jobs Page for details.
He believed in Christmas
When I heard Philip Koch had signed paperwork to have his organs donated upon his death, it brought tears to my eyes.
How many of us intend to do that, but somehow never get it done?
Philip passed away early this morning, surrounded by his family. He was only 47. And we will miss him.
As one of Santa's grandchildren, Philip took Christmas very seriously. As he worked to turn Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort into the world-class campground it is today, he was also planning to bring Christmas back to the town of Santa Claus in a big way. A huge Christmas store, a month-long Christmas festival, an incredible drive-through attraction for families to enjoy together.
This sweet photo of Santa Jim and Philip was taken on this exact date back in 1970.
The good folks at the campground posted about Philip's legacy here on their blog. As a true believer in the kind and giving spirit of Christmas, Philip's legacy includes the gift of life to others.
The Holiday World family will miss his sense of humor, creativity, and booming “ho-ho-ho” at Christmastime.
Any more pieces over there?
Have you ever gotten toward the end of putting together a huge jigsaw puzzle and suddenly wondered if you had the right number of pieces left?
It's always a relief to drop that last piece into place.
We're getting toward the end of this huge puzzle, too.
So far, so good!
Contest: What little anniversary is this?
Congrats to our winners: Cassie C. from Greenwood, Indiana, and Breonna L. from Keavy, Kentucky. They knew that we were the first park in the world to blog – and that April 7 was the eighth anniversary of our first HoliBlog post. They each win two one-day tickets.
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Here's a quickie contest that runs through this Sunday night at midnight.
What's the deal with this Sunday? All we need to know is what the anniversary is, how many years it's been, and why it's significant.
Email us your entry (see link, below) and you could win two one-day tickets.
A few rules:
1. Must be 13 or older to enter.
2. Must not be an employee (or his/her immediate family member) of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.
3. Only one guess per email address, please. (No multiple entries this time around.) Oh, and though you're welcome to post a guess as a "comment" below, it will not count as an entry. To enter the contest, please follow the instructions in #7, below.
4. If you've won tickets from one of our contests within the past six months, you're not elegible to win. If it's been more than six months – have at it!
5. Judges' decision is final. It always is.
6. First person to email us with the correct answer wins. If you're not first, but you're correct, we'll throw your name in our HoliHat and will hold a drawing for a second winner.
7. How to enter? Must be by email and to this address: contest@holidayworld.com. (If you win, we'll contact you via email, so please be sure to use an address you check frequently.)
Oh, and this photo is not a hint. It's just a nice picture of Kitty Claws.
Good luck!