Santa: As seen on TV

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So what’s the deal with Santa in our new television commercials?

You know, this guy:

Santa in Holiday World's TV commercials

He gives a tour of our headquarters …

… he chairs the boardroom meeting …

… and holds his sizable head in his hands when the Pilgrim suggests offering Free Butter Churning Lessons at the park:

Free Butter Churning Lessons?

What’s the deal? The deal is, our iconic Santa Statue has come to life!

You know – this statue:

Santa Statue at Holiday World

Chances are, you’ve taken family photos in front of our Santa Statue more than once over the years.

Right?

Santa’s been here a long, long time. This photo is from 1956, during our Santa Claus Land days:

Iconic Santa Statue at Santa Claus Land

We take really good care of this iconic symbol of our park’s legacy. Our paint shop manager makes sure of it!

Painter giving Santa a new coat

Not everyone smiles for the camera, though; four-year-old (in 2009) cutie Avery Lee chose to make a silly face for her mommy’s scrapbook photo.

Avery Lee and the Santa statue

Here’s a fellow who is nearly tall enough to reach Santa’s ear for a good whisper:

Mick Foley whispers in Santa's ear

Yep, that’s our pal Mick Foley. A bit of an icon himself.

Since our commercials were produced just weeks before Christmas (when Santa is busier than busy up at the North Pole), our beloved Santa Statue stepped up to the plate.

Here he is, side by side: Statuesque Santa and As-Seen-On-TV Santa:

Side-by-side Santas

We ho-ho-hope you’ve enjoyed previewing our 2014 television commercials and entering our Reel Picks Sweepstakes (enter daily now through 2pm CDT on March 31, 2014)!

The first turkey of spring?

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Turkey Whirl assembly for 2014Do you watch carefully for the first robin of spring each year?

Here at Holiday World, it’s the first turkey of spring that makes our hearts leap with joy!

The Turkey Whirl is a classic tilt-a-whirl ride, themed for our Thanksgiving section, of course.

And yes, we’ve heard you call it “Turkey Hurl.” We don’t miss much …

Watch our maintenance crew thaw out these birds from their winter’s nap and reassemble our ride lickety-split in this time-lapse video!

“Reel Picks” Sweepstakes

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Thanks to all who entered our Reel Picks Sweepstakes – we truly appreciate all the voting and comment posting!

Our four winners (chosen at random) have been notified by email:

Debra A. from Chrisney, Indiana, is our Grand Prize Winner
Shella K. from Shepherdsville, Kentucky, is our Second Place Winner
Dawn F. from Indianapolis, Indiana, is our Third Place Winner
Joe T. from Pontiac, Illinois, is our Fourth Place Winner

Congratulations to all!
—–

When I was invited to sit down with team members from our new agency-of-record, Williams Randall, I couldn’t help myself:

“I can’t tell you how excited I am that we’re working with Williams Sonoma. I just ordered your new cookware!”

After a rather agonizing half-a-second, they broke into chuckles and we started the meeting with grins on our faces.

Thing is, now I have that silly joke in my brain as a curse. Whenever I write Williams Randall Marketing in a news release or correspondence, I have to triple-check that my favorite kitchen store didn’t sneak back into my business writing.

That said, we announce our partnership with Williams Randall and premiere our three new television commercials with our “Reel Picks” sweepstakes.

Holiday World's

You’re welcome to enter every day, using a variety of entry methods.

Your first step?

Take a look at our three new commercials and vote for your favorite.

The three 30-second spots will run one after another. The first is called “The Tour,” then “The Idea,” followed by “Value Meter.”

Found a favorite?

Please vote for your favorite commercial here:

[poll id=”2″]

After viewing the commercials and voting, you may enter our sweepstakes here from a mobile device; or if you’re using an immobile device, enter by using the widget, below. And not just today – daily through March 31 at 2pm CDT.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We’ll have one lucky Grand Prize Winner, chosen at random, who will receive four one-day tickets to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari and a two-night stay in one of Rudolph’s Christmas Cabins next door to us at Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort. Please note: the Christmas Cabin’s availability to the sweepstakes winner runs from May 1 to May 22, 2014, and May 26 to June 14, 2014. Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari tickets may be used any one day during the park’s 2014 season.

But that’s not all! We’ll have three more winners, also picked at random. Our Second Place Winner receives two one-day tickets to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Third Place receives a $50 HoliCash gift card and Fourth receives a $25 HoliCash gift card.

A few necessaries:

  • You must be at least 13 years old to enter (cabin reservations and check-in must be handled by an adult at least 21 years old who is a member of the visiting party);
  • You must not be an employee (or the immediate family member of an employee) of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort, or Williams Randall Marketing.

For the “post a comment on the blog” entry option, please let us know which commercial you like the most (or least) and why. Our comments are moderated, so as long as the comment’s language and content is HoliFriendly, it will appear before too long.

Did you know you can subscribe to the HoliBlog so that you receive all of our posts (and contests) by email? If you’re using a desktop computer or tablet, look for the “Subscribe to Blog” sidebar at the top-right corner of this page. On a smartphone? Just scroll down a tiny bit more.

We hope you enjoyed this sneak preview of our commercials. Don’t forget to enter daily through the end of the month!

Getting our ship together

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While our crews are working hard to prepare the Mayflower site:

Mayflower construction

… other crews, hundreds of miles away, are assembling our new ride.

Mayflower, being assembled

In the above photo, they’re attaching the boat ends to the long keel.

Getting our ship together, as it were.

Here’s James with a Hard Hat Chronicles update:

Here’s another look at our glorious Mayflower:

Mayflower, under construction

No “I’m king of the World!” scenes planned with Holidog and Kitty Claws (not yet, anyway …).

Boat ends added to Mayflower's keel

The decorative shields, which will be seen along each side of Mayflower, await paint.

Decorative shields for Mayflower

Back at the Mayflower construction site, I couldn’t help but think we were playing life-size Whac-A-Mole when I saw the photo. Thank goodness for hardhats, right?

Mayflower construction

We’ll have another episode of the Hard Hat Chronicles in a week or so, as our park president, Matt, takes a construction tour with James.

In case you’re keeping count, we open in just seven weeks!

A sweet question

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Have you heard that Mrs. Klaus’ Kitchen is getting a brand new look?

We’re expanding the bakery and sweet shop area – and adding to the theming.

A question from our F&B Director: Jason would like to know what sort of candy you would like to see us offer. The possibilities are nearly endless – but if you have a special treat you’d love to find at Mrs. Klaus’ Kitchen, please post it below.