Podcast: The One with the Rise and Shine

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This podcast is a sweet time capsule that we chose not to bury.

Despite now having an early June opening day, our team will soon begin safely preparing our world-class parks, which is the perfect segue to introduce our guests for Season two, episode eleven:

The wonderful Cathy G. and Chad Benefield joined us!

Cathy is our Director of Park Services which covers the bussers, sweepers, morning grounds, flowers, AND landscaping teams who keep our parks looking impeccable despite all the free sunscreen and soft drinks!

 

During the first half of this episode, Cathy talks us through what it takes to get the parks tucked in for winter and then ready to go for opening day. They literally clean everything from the rafters to the floors.

We could not be more thankful for her leadership and wonderful team!!

After the break, we chatted with the one and only Chad of WBKR
He’s a hardcore enthusiast from the top of his head right down to his tube socked feet.

Shoutout to Chad’s momma for digging out this gem:

Chad is no stranger to Holiday World!

You may also know him as our emcee extraordinaire for events like Thunderbird and Cheetah Chase.

Enjoy this throwback to 2014!

On the podcast, Chad discusses how we are able to convince him to do not one attraction unveilings, but two with such vigor when he had no clue what the ride was going to be.

Although he’s a super fan, we got to share about the time we were featured on the Colbert Report during the fabled “Blitzkrieg on Grinchitude”. Colbert hosted a Lincoln-versus-Santa showdown for the ages:

Will on The Colbert Report

 

As Leah feared, Chad stole the podcast for the next three whole episodes and none of us are mad about it. 

As always, we hope you enjoy listening along as much as we do the recording and production of the podcast.

Please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, YouTube, Facebook, etc. and tell all your friends. Please be sure to send us your feedback and questions with us by calling us at 812-937-4401 then dial 8081, or by emailing us at podcast@holidayworld.com, or by reaching out to us on social media using the hashtag #HOWOPO.

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Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari Zoom Backgrounds

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As we shared in our Message to our Guests on COVID-19, our small-but-mighty team is working hard remotely so that we’ll be ready to fire on all cylinders once we’re back. 

We’ve developed so many online activities for kids to enjoy at home with Holidog’s Digital FunTown.  We didn’t want to leave everyone else out, so we created Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari Zoom backgrounds!

Ashley, our Director of Marketing, tried it out first!

Just click on the image to see the full-sized version and download it for use!
If you’ve never changed your Zoom background here are some helpful links for adding them to your computer or iPhone. 

Regardless if you are using Zoom for work, school, or to stay connected with others we hope you enjoy these fun background images!

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Podcast: The One Where We Attempted to Crowdsource

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I just wanted to remind our podcast faithful that with the new format, the PodSquad gathers and records our episodes in advance. Since recording this episode, Leah has released a COVID-19 statement that includes updates on the events referenced in this episode. We hope you enjoy this episode, we look forward to seeing you in June!

Episode TEN is available now!

As the title of this podcast implies, we switched up our feedback episode with some crowdsourced content from our Season Passholder Group.


Everyone wanted to know more about the Platinum Passholder Preview Party, also known as Camp Holidog, before this podcast released our seasoned passholders jumped in to answer questions.

You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear all the details from Lauren, just keep in mind that details are still being reworked for 2020, but we will definitely have something special in store for our Platinum Passholders!

When it comes to feedback, our people on Twitter never disappoint.
Especially our good buddy Sabatka:

We don’t believe Kima got repainted, but possibly a really great powerwash.

We could see Matt B. masterminding Nic B. at CoasterOdyssey’s image above into a t-shirt concept!

Did you know we have a podcast email address where you can send your feedback and questions?

We got this email from Jeremie Kowalik:
Good afternoon,
My question is, have you guys ever thought about bringing back the walkback to the spaghetti bowl portion of Voyage? Maybe as an auctioned walkback tour? I didn’t start attending the even until after Thunderbird was built (which is when the walkback got trimmed a bit) but I’ve always been interested in going to the spaghetti bowl portion of Voyage on a talkback. 
Many thanks, can’t wait for May 29th!
 Jeremie Kowalik

Please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, YouTube, Facebook, etc. and tell all your friends. Please be sure to send us your feedback and questions with us by calling us at 812-937-4401 then dial 8081, or by emailing us at podcast@holidayworld.com, or by reaching out to us on social media using the hashtag #HOWOPO.

Would you like to receive HoliBlog notices – along with news releases and sweepstakes – by email? Sign up here and you can choose whether to receive the emails weekly or the same day the blog posts are published.

Sweepstakes: Homemade HoWo

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Family Taking Selfie with the Santa Statue

CLOSED: This sweepstakes has ended, winners will be announced Tuesday, April 21!

Theme park fans always know how to make the very best of any situation.

Across the country, people are using this time in history as an opportunity to make memories with their families by recreating theme parks at home! We want you to join in the fun! Show us your #HomemadeHoWo by recreating our attractions, shows, or sections of our park and you could win!

We’re going to pick our sweepstakes winners randomly, but you get five entries if you submit a video, and just one if you leave a comment on our blog. To help out all our creators, we’ll be awarding a Grand Prize of four Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari tickets for this season and four second-place winners will receive 2 tickets!

FIVE WINNERS AND 12 TICKETS ON THE LINE.

Post your #HomemadeHoWo on the social media platform of your choice and paste a link in the comments below to enter. Your video or photo must be published as public, not private, for us to see your submission.

Just because this is random doesn’t mean you won’t get recognized. We’ll pick some of our personal favorites to share on social media and we’ll create a compilation video of our favorites as well.

You can (safely… PLEASE) recreate one of our attractions in your home (did you see that Pirates of the Caribbean video?), draw a new attraction and explain it in a video, or even create your own Holiday World board game like this guy did. We just ask that it’s submitted in video format on a platform we use (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).

This Bloop Loop article had some great examples of how fans are recreating their parks across the country.

We can’t wait to see how you bring our family fun to life in your own living rooms!

Make sure you read all the details for full contest rules and conditions.

Before you enter our Giveaway, please read through these instructions and rules:

  • You must be at least 18 years old to enter. Also, you must not have won tickets from Holiday World in the past 12 months.
  • Employees of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari and Koch Development Corporation and the immediate family members of employees) are not eligible to enter.
  • By entering, you agree to be added to our e-newsletter list (you may unsubscribe at any time by following the directions in your email).
  • Use the widget, below, to enter daily. For this contest, we really want to see your videos, so you can receive five entries for posting a video and only one for commenting (don’t worry, we’ll have more sweepstakes where you can share to win as we get closer to opening).
  • All prizes are non-transferable and not for resale. Each winner is solely responsible for reporting and paying any and all applicable taxes related to the prize(s). Each sponsor will distribute respective prizes.
  • For the “post a comment on the blog” entry option, either post the shareable link for your video or tell us how you’re bringing Holiday World home right now. (Our comments are moderated, so as long as the content is HoliFriendly, it will appear soon.)

Ready to get started? Entries are now being accepted and will be open through Wednesday, April 15 at 4pm Central!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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What’s your merriest memory?

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Shows Will Koch on opening day of Splashin' Safari in 1993
Communications Team

We’re almost a full week into isolation here in Indiana. And as someone who’s never been too far from Holiday World for terribly long, I’m already starting to miss my office and daily walks around the park (see the picture of the Olympic speed walking team also known as the Communications Team to the right–left to right: Josh, Sabrina, and Myself).

But being cooped up has brought out more than just the wish for a sunny walk amongst coasters.

When you’re at the park every day, you can feel the history. My great-grandfather opened Santa Claus Land in 1946. This park has grown and changed through the years and you can see the changes my grandfather made. And the changes my father made. And the changes my siblings, my mom, and I have made. (See photo: My dad, Will Koch, at the Grand Opening of Splashin Safari back in 1993 )

Shows Will Koch on opening day of Splashin' Safari in 1993

You can feel the echoes of laughter from 74 years of people coming through the gates. And the presence of memories from tens of millions of visitors.

It’s something really special.

So to help, I’ve been browsing through some archival images and soaking up some of our history.

But Holiday World’s history isn’t just about the Koch family. It’s about everyone who’s ever visited and shared a happy memory.

In times like these, it’s great to feel the presence of the Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari community–we’ve had a ton of fun sharing ways to bring Holiday World home at Holidog’s Digital FunTown.

But we’re also looking toward our Opening Day, and ready to hear the real laughter and joy coming from the park once again.

Until then, I’m asking a favor of all of you. Please share your favorite stories and memories of Santa Claus Land and Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari. Comment below, and/or share your photos on social media using the hashtag #MerryMemories.

Because until the sun rises on Opening Day on those beautiful wooden coasters and wave pool beaches, we’ll be missing YOU.

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