Podcast: Season 3, Episode 14: The One With 75 Years of Vision

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How does a small, Christmas-themed park in
Santa Claus, Indiana become a viral sensation?

We’re diving deep into the vision of the first three generations of the Koch Family and how they shaped Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari into what we are today.

We kick off discussing a post that went viral!
Shoutout again to Natalie, the post is currently sitting at 73,000 shares and 18,000 comments!
Are you a trip planner or wing it?

Make plans to be in the park on our birthday, August 3, we’ll be celebrating all day long!
Leah drops hints during the podcast about what we have up our sleeve.

What do you think was Holiday World’s biggest move toward getting us where we are today?
Share in the comments!

We hope you enjoy the podcast and love it when you share your memories with us on social media!
Be sure to tag Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube posts.

We LOVE to hear back from our podcast listeners, you can submit questions and feedback in the following ways:
Email us: podcast@holidayworld.com
Leave a voicemail: Phone (812)-937-4401 Ext. 8081
Reach out on social media: @holidayworld using #HoWoPo

Subscribe to the HoWoPo from any of these Links:

Is it national irony day yet?

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National Water Coaster Day

Warning: This blog post contains some inside jokes from The Official Holiday World Podcast. I’ll do my best to explain, but I make no promises. 

Hi, I’m Director of Communications and Fourth-Generation Owner Leah Koch. I have previously taken strong stances on silly or made-up holidays, and I still stand by that. There are too many overly-specific days dedicated to cats and dogs. 

And I’m here to confess that I created a holiday.National Water Coaster Day

Actually technically I’ve done it twice before today. When “Make up Your Own Holiday Day” came up early in the podcast, I declared that my made-up holiday would be “National Remove a Holiday Day.” The year after, I declared it would be “National Consolidate Holidays Day.” 

But today isn’t “Make up Your Own Holiday Day” and I declared a silly holiday: National Water Coaster Day. 

Here’s the backstory: 

Right after we announced Cheetah Chase, and that adding the new attraction would make us the Water Coaster Capital of the World, I started trying to think of something fun we could do to celebrate that. 

When the idea of creating a holiday for water coasters hit me, I was filled with immediate joy and dread. I went to tell our creative team about the idea… praying they would tell me it wasn’t worth our time, or that it was just flat-out bad. 

Instead, they LOVED it. 

So it was determined that the first-ever National Water Coaster Day would be sometime in 2020. And those plans quickly changed last year, so I gleefully declared National Water Coaster Day wouldn’t happen last year.

But it came back up this spring. And I ran out of reasons not to declare it. And Wildebeest was going to hit 1,000,000 cycles. 

Look. Nobody dislikes me for creating this holiday more than I.

Today, we celebrated Wildebeest’s millionth boat, and I was there to announce National Water Coaster Day. 

And it was a little bit fun.

We took photos with the family on the millionth boat, gave them small signs to remember the day, and gave them Quick Access Passes to skip the line at more water coasters throughout the day. And it just so happened to be Carter’s birthday–which made it even more special. I had a GREAT TIME making a big event out of something small.

Maybe I’ll keep my mouth shut next year on “Make up Your Own Holiday Day.” 

In the meantime, Happy National Water Coaster Day!

Podcast Season 3, Episode 13: The One with the Historical Feedback

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Squad reassembled for Season 3, Episode 13!

Leah, Lauren, Nell, Matt and Sabrina talk about the early years of Santa Claus Land, feedback, and holidays!

 

Ever wonder how Santa Claus Land morphed from a retirement project to the park we love today?
For example, did you know the park went up for sale once? 

We hope you enjoy the podcast and love it when you share your memories with us on social media!
Be sure to tag Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube posts.

Here is some of our recent feedback that came up on this episode.
You’ll have to listen to the podcast to fully appreciate them!

We LOVE to hear back from our podcast listeners, you can submit questions and feedback in the following ways:
Email us: podcast@holidayworld.com
Leave a voicemail: Phone (812)-937-4401 Ext. 8081
Reach out on social media: @holidayworld using #HoWoPo

Subscribe to the HoWoPo from any of these Links:

Santa Claus Land Sunday – 1946 Newspaper Articles

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Happy Fourth of July! In addition to celebrating our nation’s independence today, we’re kicking off Santa Claus Land Sundays. From now until our 75th Birthday on August 3, we’ll do our best to share another piece of Santa Claus Land history.

This week, we’re starting off with an early report of America’s First Theme Park from just two months after it opened.

04 Oct 1946, Fri The Times-Mail (Bedford, Indiana) Newspapers.com

It makes me smile to think of how expectations for theme parks and amusement parks have changed through the years. According to the article, Santa Claus Land consisted of a “Toy and gift shop and soda fountain,” along with a miniature train. The Mother Goose Land Trail and children’s park didn’t open until about a month after the park opened. The Santa Claus Land Railroad (also known as the “Mother Goose Land Train” or the “Freedom Train” was not quite ready for Guests yet but was in the works.  

In this article from the Indianapolis news from Christmas Day in 1946, the project was to be completed within the year. 

Toy Town growing full articleToy Town growing full article 25 Dec 1946, Wed The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana) Newspapers.com 

If you look closely, the caption says that part of the picture on the right was completed–that building became what is now Santa’s Merry Marketplace and Kringle’s Banquet Hall, where group events are held. 

Today, we have the best-ranked trio of wooden coasters in the world. The Voyage is ranked #2 in the world. Thunderbird is America’s First Launched Wing Coaster. Splashin’ Safari is the Water Coaster Capital of the World with Wildebeest – the #1 water park ride in the world for more than a decade, Mammoth – which holds the Guinness World Record for longest water coaster, and Cheetah Chase – The World’s First Launched Water Coaster. 

But it warms my heart to think that while our town has grown, and the name of the park has changed, and 75 years of progress have made the park bigger and more important than ever, I like to think of what’s the same. The Koch family is still here, operating the park a little more behind-the-scenes than previous generations, but we’re still pouring our hearts and passion into this place. 

Santa is still here–he may be virtual this season, but he’s still here.

And the magic is still here. From the wonder of the small town that believed in Christmas 75 years ago to today. The magic may be bigger, and different, but it’s here. 

And that’s a reason to celebrate. 

_________

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Podcast: Season 3, Episode 12: The One With Tips for a Better Visit

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The PodSquad reassembled for Season 3, Episode 12!

It’s a tough task during daily operations, but Leah, Lauren, Nell, and Sabrina were back
in the studio to dish out their favorite tips and tricks to get the most out of your day!
But first, they turn on Momma Lauren with rapid-fire questions about the newest show at Muziki Bay and more!

 

This episode is perfect timing for many guests who will be making their first visit of the 2021 Season in July!
You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear all of our tips, but we did want to share the links we discuss here:
Digital Photo Pass
Cabana and Cheetah Chase Loungers
Special events coming soon!

Planning out your day is a breeze with our “Today at a Glance” tool on our website.
Click the day you intend to come to the park on our calendar to see “Today at a Glance.”
From there you’ll be able to see daily deals, show schedules,  menus and so much more!

It looks like this:

We hope you enjoy the podcast and love it when you share your memories with us on social media!
Be sure to tag Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube posts.

We LOVE to hear back from our podcast listeners, you can submit questions and feedback in the following ways:
Email us: podcast@holidayworld.com
Leave a voicemail: Phone (812)-937-4401 Ext. 8081
Reach out on social media: @holidayworld using #HoWoPo

Subscribe to the HoWoPo from any of these Links:

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Sign up here and you can choose whether to receive the emails weekly or the same day the blog posts are published