When choosing a place to spend precious time with family and friends, many trip planners pay special attention to value.
Because we’re all on a budget, right?
We receive a lot of kudos each year for offering free soft drinks, free parking, and more.
Values, though, go much deeper than just the pocketbook.
About a dozen years ago, our owner and president, Will Koch, presented a list of Values to the staff. These were to be our touchstones, he told us – so that no matter what, we could stay true to ourselves.
When Will passed away unexpectedly five years ago, it was those Values I turned to when asked to help write his eulogy.
We revisited those Values over the winter months, adding a fifth. Introducing these Values to our new and returning seasonal employees is the topic of Matt’s first Holigram article this spring.
We’d like to share his Note from the President:
One thing I believe we all have in common here at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari is the amount of pride that we have in our Parks and in each other. That pride is driven by the Values that we have created and those Values in which we operate our business and live our daily lives.
Many years ago, we established these Values, and recently we revisited them to ensure we were truly living and acting accordingly. We are.
What are these Values? I would like to start off our 2015 Season by taking this opportunity to share with you, all of our Hosts and Hostesses, what they are and why they are so very important.
We Play by the Rules
Rules can be defined and interpreted in a lot of different ways. Rules not only include those operating rules that we have as employees to ensure that we are all doing our jobs, but it also includes regulations, ordinances, etc. At Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, we will always do what is right. Period.
We Respect the Individual
We welcome many Guests from all over the country – and throughout the world – to our Parks every year. Everyone is different, unique and special in their own way. We have, and we will always, respect every single Guest who chooses to spend their day with us, regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. Our Guests are giving us something very precious – their time. For that, we owe them our gratitude and fantastic service. We also must respect one another. Everyone has a right to their ideas and opinions and we must always be open to share those with one another.
We Encourage Work/Life Balance
We work hard – and we need to play hard, too. We recognize how precious time with our family and friends is in our lives. We are all about families, including our own. It is very important that we take time for ourselves to ensure that we are mentally present at all times. When you are here at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, your full attention should be given to our Guests, ensuring that Safety, Service, Friendliness and Cleanliness are your top priorities.
We are a Team
We must always put the growth and success of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari ahead of any one individual. We must work together, as a Team, to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to our Guests that we can.
We Have Fun!
We are a Theme Park! If we cannot have fun doing what we do, then we have picked the wrong industry! If we have fun, our Guests will have fun. Proven fact. Enjoy your job, enjoy our Guests and enjoy each other.
This may seem like a lot to take in and remember (don’t worry – we will have our Values posted throughout the Park). These Values are what we should live and breathe; in time (if they have not already) our Values will become your standard operating procedure. It is my hope that they will stay with you not only during your time with us at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, but forever.
Keep Smiling!
Matt
Thank you SO MUCH for posting at this time. I wish the entire state of Indiana felt as you do, and I feel this way when I am at your park. I love Holiday World and feel so comfortable there, it is like visiting my family. This is my second year with a season pass and I plan on returning often.
Again, thank you for your posting. This is something many of us already understand. It made me so happy and proud that I seriously teared up.
Love you all and what you do and stand for.
Gil
See you soon, Gil!
That is why holiday world is the #1 privately owned amusement park in the world!!!see you in April….
Looking forward to meeting you, Bob – we all just love your son! 🙂
Would expect nothing less from the fine folks at Holiday World. Well said.
As it is and as it should be. When my wife worked for you for several seasons, several years ago, I saw that through her attitude toward her job. She loved working for HW/SS, even if it was just part time, several months a year. She always talked about the family values and virtues that permeated throughout the staff, which transcended into the park and guests.
THANK YOU so much for posting this. It really means a lot. I was fearful of having to cancel our Holiday World trip because of the latest news in Indiana. I will be visiting your park, but my lodging and all other purchases will be outside of the state of Indiana. I have been and hope to always feel comfortable in your world class park.
Words we all should live by in this thing called life. We love Holiday World because of this. We saw Pat Koch greet us many times but were greatly impressed to see her working in the food courts and cleaning up the trash. I honestly can say there has never been a time there that we have seen any unpleasant behavior from any part of the staff. Keep up the great work and the new rides. Can’t wait to come this summer to ride the Thunderbird.
I would like to spend a weekend there with my daughter do you have any special rates on motels in a package deal
Here’s the link to our lodging page: https://www.holidayworld.com/plan-your-trip/hotels-camping/ Please contact them directly to ask about packages. Thank you!
I am so happy to read this. We live in Cincinnati and our favorite time in summer is when we travel to Holiday World. With the unfortunate political events in Indianapolis this week, I am very glad our favorite park welcomes all families.
THANK YOU. I was another who was torn about spending any time or money in Indiana now. I realized that boycotting the entire state would hurt those who don’t agree with the new law, which would be unfair. I had decided to wait and see if Holiday World would state publicly their views. Not ten minutes after making that decision, here was this Holiblog post. Dang, someone must’ve been chopping onions in here. Yeah, that’s it. See you next year at CoasterCon!
Matt, Paula and the whole staff:
Like Gil, your words made me very emotional and are particularly meaningful to me, and my husband Sean, at this particular time.
It will be a wonderful world when everyone – like the people of Holiday World – is able to not only tolerate our differences but celebrate and learn from that which makes each of us unique.
We really love you all and can’t wait to see you again.
Your the best! Thank you for ur surport! Teresa
Thank you SO MUCH for addressing this. The theme park/coaster community has long been an open and inclusive group and Holiday World is no different.
See you this Summer!!!
Our family really enjoy Holiday World. We have several food allergies and the staff has always made us feel happy and well taken care of. Thanks for making customer service a high priority! We look forward to visiting this summer. Till then keep up the good work and God Bless!
Thanks for sharing these with all of us…good reminders no matter our line of work! Looking forward to a visit this summer:)
Love your park. Havent been in awhile but will be there this year! Missed going there.
We love Holiday World! Been going there for years! Everyone has always treated us great. Now my daughters are grown and they take their families there. Thanks for everything
This post is so reassuring. I had lost pretty much all faith in Indiana after the recent bill was passed but it’s still good to know that there are still some people out there with at least a little common sense.
You got the best deals really good rides and food there nice gift shops. Even Santa. Lol. Free soft drink and Sun screen there’s no place in world can beat that unless they pay twice as much. Don’t stop making that place wonderful
our family loves Holiday World we go several times a year
I have always been proud and supportive of your ventures at Holdiay World. May you have many more years of success.
Wow! I can’t believe it has been 5 years since Will passed away. I’m glad to see his vision and values continue! Inspiring post!
Hopefully one day the whole world will share this view.
As a life-long resident of Indiana, I’ve been dismayed by the comments heard after the passage of the RFRA. It seems as though a switch has been flipped. Hoosiers evidently (according to the media and others) went to bed on Wednesday night espousing one set of views and woke up on Thursday morning ready to take ownership of something completely opposite. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s just not true!
Thank you, Holiday World, for taking a stand!
We have loved Holiday World as a family since our first visit in 1980! We don’t live as close now but still remember the memories and share the t-shirts.
We are from Tennessee, home of Dollywood, but we prefer to come to HolidayWorld and we buy season passes each year. With the recent discriminatory legislation having been enacted into Indiana law, we almost reconsidered buying passes this year. This post immediately changed our minds. We will not judge HolidayWorld unfairly, as HolidayWorld has made it clear that it does not judge its patrons unfairly. Thank you for being a continuous positive role model in every aspect of your organization.
Class and a human touch. I shouldn’t be surprised by the amount of this, but, you continue to impress/express. Thank you.
My husband and I visited your park for the first time in 2013, and were planning a roller coaster tour trip this summer to include your park (hello Thunderbird!) … until the latest news, that is. Seeing this post has us rethinking our trip. When we were there 2 years ago, we were treated like family, and no one batted an eye at us. In fact, the park staff (Pat included) were awesome with us and our dog, booking him a fabulous suite while we enjoyed our day at the park! Nothing but good things here, and thanks again for proving your inclusiveness!
Thank you Holiday World! We appreciate you!!
Thank you for realizing that family means so much more than mother, father, and children. I have been visiting since I was a child in the 60’s going to Santa Claus Land. I took my children, and now my grandchildren. I’m proud of your family values. See you in the summer. ??
Great article Matt…these are the values and reasons why Holiday World won the APPLAUSE AWARD when I sat on the board. Keep moving forward.
Best regards,
Bill Alter
You continue to be a class operation! Long live the Holiday World organization and what you stand for. Other businesses take note!
Great to see your “Values” in print. We have been very impressed with our working relationship with your facility and our brief visit last year was a highlight. Incorporating a philosophy in employees is a challenge – – you folks have done it well ! We trust this new season will be spectacular for you all !