By Leah Koch
Published

Secrets.

They don’t make you any friends, but an innocent one can certainly make for a lot of fun.

We’ve all done it—kept a little secret for the sake of fun. I mean, how boring would Christmas morning be without the promise of those wonderful secrets wrapped in shiny paper?

Our home was always filled with extra secrets I was not allowed to know, which was rather frustrating because my dad kept the coolest secrets in the world (in my humble opinion).

He seemed to have some trust issues with my siblings and me. I don’t know why. It’s not like I once gave away my mom’s surprise birthday party without even knowing about said party (which I actually did … apparently I used to get giggly in the face of ambiguity).

It took years for Dad to finally relinquish some of the secrets he held over to us. I think the first big Holiday World secret I got to hold was in 2005 when the Voyage/Thanksgiving expansion was coming.

For the first time, I was on the other side. When coworkers tried to guess what we were building and I responded, “I don’t know. Nobody ever tells me anything,” it wasn’t the truth!

The best part was that my dad finally thought I was ready to be trusted with the biggest secret the park had to date.

Loose lips sink shipsNow, I’m holding (and even creating) more secrets than ever. And they’re bigger than ever.

And the pressure is building.

It’s not easy. There are some days I want to burst with excitement, others I want to lock myself in my office so I don’t blab anything.

Mostly, I’m loving getting to respond to people the same way my dad always did to me: with a sly smile and an innocent, “Just wait and see.”

And as 2015 rolls closer …

Oh no, have I said too much?

(You’ve found this blog post because you heard – no doubt in hushed and whispered tones – that there’s an http://66DaysAtSea.com microsite set to go live on 5.19.14; you were redirected here in the meantime. Please check back on Monday. You won’t be sorry.)

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4 Responses to “Loose lips sink ships”

  1. Chris

    FWIW; The pilgrims reached Plymouth rock on December 11th 1620, after a sea journey of 66 days.

    Reply
    • Erik Millick

      If you want to get really technical about it, they actually landed on Cape Cod well before they continued their journey across Boston Harbor to Plymouth. This I never would have known had it not been for a vacation to Cape Cod with a stop in Plymouth.

      Reply
  2. Benjamin

    Good Morning @holidayworld!!! I am so glad to see Leah writing post here on the HoliBlog. I enjoy her stories. I am so glad that THE GIRLS (Leah and Lauren) are pushing full throttle to see the Park succeed and the planning of future expeditions. I love reading the stories about there child hood and the Memories of their dad. The late Will Koch. I can image being a kid growing up in a very small town, and put together that there dad is the President of the family Business. People always asking whats the new ride/attraction going to be? That has to be a lot of pressure. Keep up the great work Girls your dad is looking down and I can only image how proud he is.

    Reply