Hiccup Help

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Thunderbird's Immelmann Loop

Now that my kiddos are older, I’m not as in touch with modern teaching methods as in the past.

Reading my sons’ schoolwork – especially their writing assignments – was always interesting and often downright fun.

Here’s a new twist … a proud uncle shared his niece’s “Hiccup Help” assignment on Twitter:

Uncle Stephen adds there was a happy ending to this story; his niece’s height increased bit by bit so that by the end of last season, she was tall enough to ride Thunderbird.

Sun Illuminating Thunderbird's Vertical Loop and Fall Trees

Do you have an EV? Charge it!

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Tesla charging station

Does anyone else remember when the town of Santa Claus got its first traffic light?

That was quite a day, back in August of 2008.

EV charging station

We’re feeling a bit uptown once again

… as we introduce our new Tesla Destination Charging Station!

Here’s some information, which is also available on our Rules & Services page:

A Destination Charging Station for Tesla and other Electric Vehicles is now available in the Legend Parking Lot at Holiday World:

  • 8 dedicated parking spaces for Tesla charging
  • 4 of those dedicated parking spaces are also equipped with 110V receptacles for other EV charging (please bring your own charging cable)
  • Available free to Holiday World visitors on a first-come basis during regular park hours
  • Please alert a parking attendant of your intent to use the charging station once inside the Legend Lot

Please post any questions you might have below. We’ll be sure to get you answers!

Meanwhile, here’s a photo from another angle, in case you need a little help getting your bearings.

Tesla charging station

Podcast: Drone Man

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Close Up of Thunderbird's Immelmann from Drone

The guy we thank at the end of each episode for “making us sound so good” is our guest this time around.

Stephen, our Drone Man

Stephen is the guy who studied hard, took a test in clean-room conditions, created our SOP, and flew the HoliDrone to capture views like this:

Our drone, by the way, is a DJI Mavic Pro.
Close Up of Thunderbird's Immelmann from Drone

The HoliDrone works great in the winter, too:
Drone shot of Front Gate and Raven

Yes, it’s still winter. Mostly rain at this point, but sometimes it freezes:

We’ll wrap up our We Love Dippin’ Dots Sweepstakes on Monday. Be sure to enter daily; three winners will be chosen at random.

Santa Jim’s birthday is on Sunday. As promised, here’s a photo of that grand man’s first experience as Santa.

“Lord, get me through this war and I will forever be Santa …”

USS New York on Christmas Day, 1916

Santa Day for 100 New York City Orphans onboard USS New York, BB-34, on December 25, 1916

Hearts started to beat just a little faster when we realized Monday is just 75 days till Opening Day.

Baby Sawyer watching Curling on TV during the Winter Olympics

This little guy isn’t all that concerned about Opening Day, though.

Baby Sawyer just wants his Curling Team to win!

Auntie Leah is all about the Winter Olympics.

All. About.

Maybe they both need to catch this video that went a little crazy this week.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the Cornelius Van Snoodle clone:

 

 

Although he wasn’t able to join us this episode, Eric Rentz’s “presence” was felt throughout.

Because he has a gif that simply won’t let you forget

Eric Rentz Audience Member on Maury

Here’s that photo of longtime listener David Weihe and newborn Kevin:

 

 

The puns were flying once we took a close look at The Coaster Crew’s latest:

 

A soft – and highly absorbent – nod to the #PodSquad’s two-year anniversary.

Typical treatment of a middle child, we were nearly 10 minutes into the ‘cast when we (uh, I) thought to herald the return of Leah Koch to the table.

Leah Koch and her oboe

… purple hair and all!

Honk!

<Spoiler Alert> The first “25 Degrees” question was about this wedding ceremony from 1993.

Santa Claus hot air balloon

That was one huge Santa hot-air balloon!

And one lovely couple …

Santa with newlyweds Rosanna and Scott

Here’s a news clip from that amazing day:

Wed, Jul 14, 1993 – Page 8 · The Tribune (Seymour, Indiana) · Newspapers.com

Since Stephen likes to take the end of our podcast episodes with an occasional Easter egg, we’ll do the same for the blog post.

If you’re a loyal listener, you already know about Matt and his giant fountain drink from McDonald’s. Apparently, Stephen tried to put a stop to all that.

Stephen and the giant Coke cup

Thanks for listening!

A love letter

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Nick & Amanda

Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope you enjoy this guest post from a long-time seasonal employee. 

My name is Amanda Claise and I recently married my high school sweetheart. I should start off by saying that my last name is pronounced like “class,” as in classroom! My husband’s name is Nick and although we recently moved to Bowling Green, we grew up in the Santa Claus, Indiana, area. 

Real Country - Amanda BarnettNick and I met in high school and began dating when we were juniors. We were both 16 and in the same grade, so we took many of the same classes. My last name was Barnett and his, Claise, so we were placed beside each other in English, where the seating was alphabetical order.  

That same year, I had begun working at Holiday World in the Entertainment Department. Since I had turned 16 the previous year, I was able to audition to be in their main stage shows at the Hoosier Theater. Since 2008, I have worked at Holiday World almost every year and have been in a variety of shows such as Vinyl Daze, Real Country, and most recently the incredibly fun Lights Out!  

Lights Out: Amanda as RingmasterIn September of 2008, I asked Nick if he would like to go to Holiday World with me on a Saturday. He said, yes, and I was so excited. Per usual, I was behind schedule that morning and running late. Nick was on top of his game and arrived at the park early. He waited on a bench at the front of the park for me for almost 30 minutes until my dad dropped me off. What a trooper! We spent the whole day together, riding rides, watching shows, and eating some pretty amazing snacks!

Almost 10 years later, I can still say that was the best first date! 

Nick and I got married June 3, 2017 in Santa Claus. When it came time to talk about pictures for our wedding day, there was one picture I really wanted. I wanted a picture of us sitting on the bench where it all started! Yes, I am a romantic; I cry in every sappy movie and I love the corny, lovey-dovey stuff. I reached out to the management at Holiday World and they were more than happy to help us make this happen! Our photographers thought it was such a cool idea and were totally on board.

These pictures represent what is most important in my relationship with Nick: faith, hope, and love. Faith that God will carry you through the hard times and give you people to guide you along the way. Hope that your dreams can become reality if you work hard enough. Love from friends and family that will cross all bounds. 

Nick & Amanda

Bret & Brandie Photography

I truly cannot say enough good things about Holiday World. It is an amazing place to work, build friendships, gain confidence, and define the person you want to become. The people I have met through working at Holiday World are still some of my biggest supporters and greatest friends. I don’t know what the next years will bring for us or if I will be on the Holiday World stage again, but I would like to thank everyone for making my years there a wonderful adventure! 

Nick & Amanda at Front Gate

Bret & Brandie Photography

Love you all, Amanda

Some assembly required

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Tembo Falls Being Assembled

Think of Tembo Falls as a REALLY big toy construction set. First, pieces of fiberglass are delivered to us and then we assemble them on site.

There’s still work to do before the slides are moved into place next to Kima Bay, but for now we’re combining the smaller pieces into larger pieces. I took a trip to our Carpenter Shop yesterday to watch Tembo Falls’ racing slide start to come together.

The racing slide has 27 smaller pieces that will be assembled into three large sections over the course of two days.

Do you like numbers?

Here are a few numbers about Tembo Falls:

437

Tembo Falls Being Assembled

Feet long. If you were to place each of the slides from Tembo Falls back to back, they would stretch 437 feet. That’s longer than a football field!

147

Pieces. We have 147 pieces of fiberglass that have to be assembled to complete Tembo Falls. Think of each piece as a giant Lego, which will fit together with the next piece perfectly.

30

Which slide has the most pieces? Our yellow bowl slide, which has 30!

54

That’s under-54-inches tall, the maximum height limit for a rider to go down these junior slides alone. Tembo Falls and Tembo Tides were designed with the little ones in mind. That doesn’t mean grownups have to watch from the sidelines, though, because parents and taller siblings are welcome to ride with their under-54″ family member.

Here’s a sneak peek at what Tembo Falls and Tembo Tides will look like once they’re completed.

Tembo illustration

If you happen to have a young artist in the family, they might want to check out our downloadable Tembo coloring page. (Please tag us if you share their finished artwork on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, so we can share it.)

Speaking of social media – be sure to watch the HoliBlog later this week (subscribe here for emailed updates), as our crews plan to start assembling the yellow bowl slide (a miniature version of Bakuli) tomorrow!

Podcast: Dippin’ Dots Gal

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Dippin' Dots for podcast

There’s a long-running joke among coaster enthusiasts that all worthwhile rumors about parks come from … The Dippin’ Dots Guy. Because nearly every park sells that beloved treat and nearly every park has secrets to keep.

For today’s podcast episode, we got The Dippin’ Dots Gal – Billie Stuber – on the horn and learned all about Dots – past, present, and future:

 

We started out the morning the right way:

Those Dots were packed in dry ice (also a treat to anyone with STEM interests) and were ready to enjoy:

Dippin' Dots for podcast

Billie mentions this cool video (and yes, pun intended):

You want to enter our We Love Dippin’ Dots sweepstakes don’t you? Be sure to enter daily.

So now you really want to work here, right?

 

Yes, of course you do. Here’s where to see which departments are hiring (full-time, too): HolidayWorldJobs.com

Here’s our Thunderbird Launch video, as we swapped out trains last week, with just 100 days till opening.

And. bless her heart, here’s little June’s video. We hope she eventually forgives her mommy!

E-auditions are now open for Rock the World, our Christian Music Fest coming up on August 25.

And, if you want to experience our friendly Twitter War with Cedar Point earlier this week, start here:

 

When the topic turned to holidays, we caught a groundhog nibbling on the mayor’s ear in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin:

Stephen made this new Facebook “frame effect” for Valentine’s Day:

And this reminder, if you’ve been meaning to sign up for Easy Pay for monthly payments for Season Passes or Platinum Season Passes, the deadline is coming up on February 15.

In #HoWoPo Feedback, we got a lesson about the true, pure Wisconsin accent:

Take a look at the great coaster designs developed by 6th graders in Mt. Vernon.

We heard from some excited fans who are counting down the days until HoliWood Nights. Do you want to join us? Be sure to sign up for one of our partners clubs here on our HoliWood Nights page, as it’s a “members only” event.

We oohed and ahhed over Johnathon’s bacon dish

Here’s why:

Oh, and The Coaster Crew gave us a lot to talk about:

I didn’t get to tell my Brussel sprouts story: Shortly after we were married, some of Gary’s relatives dropped by from Louisville, with the makin’s for supper. Including frozen Brussel sprouts.

Gary eyed them with suspicion. Getting ready to steam them, I whispered, “Don’t worry, they’re just like little cabbages.”

My cabbage-loving husband has never forgiven me for that trick.

Maybe we just need to use Matt’s recipe:

Matt’s Brussel Sprouts
Basically, you take about 24 Brussel sprouts, cut off the stems and loose leaves. Shred them. Fry bacon until it is crisp. Take bacon out and then saute about 1/4 cup of onions and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic until the onion is soft. Then add the sprouts. Add a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to your liking. Then add the bacon back in and stir until sprouts are softened. Sometimes I will add a few splashes of soy sauce or teriyaki sauce for a little kick.

Thanks for joining us for this, our 51st episode. Please be sure to subscribe (and maybe even leave a review, pretty please?) on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more!