International Women’s Day

We are Holiday World and we love holidays. 

And International Women’s Day might just be my favorite one.

I love to take the day to think of the women who we think of traditionally: Frieda Kahlo, Susan B. Anthony, Katherine Johnson. 

But this year I’m especially grateful for Madam CJ Walker or Sarah Breedlove.

She’s famous as America’s first self-made female millionaire, for her hair care business founded in 1910. She was a tenacious entrepreneur and philanthropist. 

Because of her and women like her, I could picture myself eventually running Holiday World when I was young. Because of her, it’s not weird that my sister Lauren and I make big-picture decisions. Because of her, I’m respected for my thoughts and ideas.

I’m lucky. I was born into the coolest and most special industry ever. Three generations of this business have put men at the helm, but there were equally savvy women behind those men. We’ve finally hit a generation where women get to take the lead and my sister and I get to make decisions that matter. I don’t take that lightly. I’m grateful every day for my mom, my aunts, my grandmother, and my great-grandmothers who made sure we were here to celebrate 75 years. 

Want to know why I’m even luckier? I get to work alongside a team jam-packed with smart, strong, savvy women. And they come from past legions of the same. 

I’m honored and humbled by the legacy of empowered women who came before me and the ones I am lucky to work with today. Today I celebrate them. 

Happy International Women’s Day everybody!

 

 

75th Anniversary Themed Zoom Backgrounds

Our team recently shared our calendar for our 2021 Calendar and we are excited to be
celebrating 75 years of family fun all season long!

We’ve started talking about our history as America’s first theme park, sharing commemorative merchandise,  collecting your Holiday World memories and now we’re sharing fresh Zoom backgrounds!

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

Fun Fact: Frightful Falls opened in 1984, the same year Santa Claus Land became Holiday World.
You can find more dates and facts like this on our Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari timeline.

 
Do you remember this Santa Claus Land front gate?

We can’t wait for guests to see how the Raven Evermore Project has elevated the look and feel of our first wooden coaster! USA Today nominated Cheetah Chase as one of the “10Best” New Amusement Park Attractions in 2020!

Due to Opening Day being later in 2020 we had time to give our water tower a fresh coat of paint!

Click here for even more Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari ZOOM backgrounds.

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Podcast Season 2 Episode 5: The One with Five Feedbacks

As you may know, we are Holiday World and we love holidays!

In observance of Procrastination Week, we released Season 2 Episode 5 a few days late.
Join the #PodSquad for another round of feedback, holidays, and… the Lollipop Guild?
Matt E., Lauren C., and Leah K. were joined by Sabrina J. and Matt B. via Zoom phone call on January 29.

If you have a question or feedback to share you can email us at podcast@holidayworld.com, leave a voice mail [(812)-937-4401 Ext. 8081], or reach out on social media by using #HoWoPo
Here is our final feedback of 2020!

It was so great to see HWSSSuperfan’s smiling face AND he brought the HoWoPo treats! 

Thank you for listening bob05! It was really great to catch up with our performer family!

We can’t wait to see you @CardiacKempa!

The podsquad discusses in-depth, but comment below if you have strong feelings about Alex’s sweet treat ideas!

If you know, you know like AlexChubokas.
We love your Christmas setup bob05!

You’ll have to listen in to how Leah responded to this request:

All of these HoliWood Night shoutouts are a good opportunity to remind you that HoliWood Nights 2021 is  The Wizard of Ahhh…hs! is June 4 &5!

Check out HolidayWorld.com/Clubs for the details and to get your tickets!

We sincerely apologize, Lindsay T!!

Here are more links mentioned in this podcast:

2021 Season Passes are now on sale! Head to HolidayWorld.com/Passes for all the details.

Pick Your Date and save up to $30 off gate prices at HolidayWorld.com/Tickets

Looking for a flexible Summer job? We are hiring now at HolidayWorld.com/Jobs 

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Meet Matt B!

If you’ve visited our parks recently, there is a very good chance that you’ve seen Matt B. walking around the park to make sure everything is running smoothly. As Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Matt stays busy overseeing Attractions, Maintenance & Development, Food & Beverage, Retail, Games, Admissions, Auxiliary Revenue, Park Services, & Grounds Departments. Matt took some of that valuable time to let us ask him a few questions.

What do you do at Holiday World?

Matt BI’m responsible for all operating functions of the business like anything the Guest sees in Attractions, Maintenance, and any opportunity there is to spend money like Retail or Games.

What do you love most about your role?

Walking into the park and seeing our team members serve the guests. There’s a routine to my day, I start by driving around the park to make sure our key attractions open on time and I head to the front gate to observe as the Guests enter the park. I love being in the park because there is an energy you can feel. The energy carries through the entire day from the busyness at the front gate, seeing people in the wave pools, to the lunch rush where we need to feed thousands of people. There are lots of moving parts to get right and we try to make the first impression a good one.

Did you always want to work in the amusement/theme park industry?

I definitely did, since I was very young. The first park I visited was Michigan’s Adventure, one of my groomsmen’s family members started the park and operated it until they sold it to Cedar Point. I was probably 6 or 7 years old and I just remember thinking, “Wow, this is something else.” [When I got my first job at Cedar Point,] I was too young to work in rides as I wanted, but my cousin worked in merchandise, so that’s where I started and worked seasonally for 4 years. From there I interned in Marketing and when I graduated I took a full-time role in Games. When an opportunity became available in Kansas City at Worlds of Fun, my role shifted back to where I started in Merchandise, but as a Director.

What move/choice do you feel made the biggest impact on getting you to your current role?

Being willing to move parks. It was hard to leave Cedar Point when the general manager shared there was an opening at Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, MO), but being willing to move within the Cedar Fair organization gave me career experience at a new park. When I saw the Holiday World opportunity I was open to moving and trying new things.

 

What are you most looking forward to in our upcoming 75th Anniversary season?

The past year has been so hard for everyone, but there’s a lot of optimism and people are ready to have fun. We are approachable and a great value for families to come to enjoy themselves. I’m looking forward to seeing a steady return of Guests and I’m going to be standing at the front gate ready to greet them.

As an industry, we have experienced a major crisis. We have been through so much as a team and opening day is the start of a new era for Holiday World. We’ve stood the test of time through wars, natural disasters, recessions, and countless world events since 1946.  We’re resilient. Not many can say they’ve been around for three-quarters of a century. Opening day is going to be a special day, it’s going to be an inflection point, where we can start to put the struggles of 2020 behind us and look forward to the next 75 years.

Podcast Season 2 Episode 3: The One With America’s First Theme Park

We kick off Episode three of our second season with Lauren, Matt, and Leah reminiscing about Potato Patch.
Do you remember Potato Patch? 

 

Join the pod squad as we discuss everything from boysenberries to industry history. 

First things first, hands down, Lake Compounce was the very first American amusement park.
They opened exactly 100 years before we did. Happy 175th Anniversary, Lake Compounce!

We claim the title of First American Theme Park with Santa Claus Land opening in 1946.
Learn from the professionals the difference between theme and amusement parks. 

Please be sure to send us your feedback and questions 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.

Be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, YouTube, Facebook, etc. and tell all your friends. 

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Podcast Season 3 Episode 2: The One With the Small City

You are probably going to notice that Season 3 episode 3 has a different sound to it.
Since we have been limiting meetings in the park we recorded the podcast via ZOOM!

 

Our semi-regular pod squad was joined by Vanessa B. from Human Resources to discuss hiring season!
Vanessa is part of our HR dream team that manages on-boarding 2,000+ seasonal employees.

She walks us through our new online onboarding system, phone interviews, virtual school visits, and hiring events.

Applications for the 2021 Season are now available by clicking the photo below!

Our seasonal employees have access to flexible scheduling, transportation options, tuition discounts, employee parties, in-park discounts, and more perks that you can read about by clicking here.

You’re welcome to reach out to human resources with any questions you may have: hr@holidayworld.com or call 812-937-5252.

Please be sure to send us your feedback and questions 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.

Be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, YouTube, Facebook, etc. and tell all your friends. 

 

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

A Paint Job Most Fowl

We love a good pun here at Holiday World, and I could think of no better way to introduce the new paint on The Raven than with a little “fowl” humor. 

If you’re not familiar with our The Raven: Evermore project that involves around 25% of our track, I recommend you check out our announcement blog, and check out our latest Hard Hat Chronicles: 

 

Once upon a midnight dreary…

… we told you we still had one more surprise for you…

 

…and we’re finally ready to reveal it…

 

…After 25 years, our trains are getting a new paint job.

 

The Raven is getting wings. 

The handles are getting a fresh coat of paint. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the paint is looking as fowl as ever. 

 

Special thanks to our Paint Shop, who are almost done painting all the cars now…

…and for including the glitter in the black paint. We can’t stop RAVEN about it!

 

 

Special thanks also to our Senior Graphic Artist, Rick who’s been working here for more than 45 years, and hand-painted the blue lines on the wings. 

And of course, special thanks to our coaster crew who continue to work on the brand new track.

 

We hope you’re as excited as we are to see The Raven take flight once again in 2021–and ride The Raven Evermore! 


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Podcast Season 2 Episode 2: The One with Another Holiday-Feedback Combo

We jump right into the second episode of season three with feedback and holidays!
As a warning, this was the fifth of five episodes recorded that day so Josh, Leah, and
Sabrina was running on slap-happy fumes.

 

Since feedback is highly visual, we gathered the feedback we discussed in this episode:

The Pod Squad had a lot of questions for Hormel and their high-end bacon mask.

 

It was so great to have @HWSSSuperfan on-site to pick up his Thanksgiving to Go Meal!
He even dropped off snacks for our team because he is true to his Twitter handle!

We appreciate your dedication @1gretchen!

We are Holiday World and we don’t start Twitter battles, but our fans ensure we are well represented!

Although….we are very proud of this clap back.

It was so great to have Matt and Lauren with us for Episode 23!

We could totally get on board with using the term, Ravendary!

Do you think we got robbed in the Twitter poll below??
Tell us what you think on Twitter using the hashtag #HoWoPo ! 

You’ll have to listen to hear all about the holidays we discussed in our very first feedback episode of 2021!

Please be sure to send us your feedback and questions 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.

Be sure to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, YouTube, Facebook, etc. and tell all your friends. 

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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

Merch Mondays

Every department is getting really excited to celebrate our 75th, but our merchandise department is going especially over the top. They’ve bombarded us with photos and ideas, and the collection is really impressive this year. 

Our staff who have seen the commemorative memorabilia seem to have formed a consensus: it’s not a matter of whether we’re buying this stuff. It’s a matter of how much

If you listened to Season 2, Episode 26 of our Official Holiday World Podcast, you’ve already heard a preview of what’s to come. 

But you haven’t seen it yet. 

#MerchMondays

So, this Monday, we’re kicking off #MerchMondays. For any theme park merch geeks like me, these Mondays are for you. We’ll be sharing one item per week on Instagram only for the foreseeable future. Inserting shameless reminder to follow us on Instagram here. There’s a ton of merch on the way, plus we’ll give you extra time to plan for our Made To Thrill and NanoCoaster restocks on the HoliShop

As we release each item, we’ll tell you a little bit of the story behind the item, show a few photos from the development stages, and we’ll start sharing when you can find these items on the HoliShop as we get closer to the start of the season. 

Not a fan of the ‘gram?

Yes, I hate myself for calling it that too, but I also didn’t change it. We’ll update this page each week with some of the photos we shared, plus a little more of the story behind the product and its development. 

March 1 – Coasterdynamix Coaster Cutout

We’ll get these posted online as soon as they arrive! The Voyage is coming as well, but we have to make a few changes to that model before we share! 

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Holiday World (@holidayworld)

 

February 22 – 1,000 Piece Puzzle

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Holiday World (@holidayworld)

 

February 15 – Limited Edition Pin Set

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Holiday World (@holidayworld)

 

February 8 – Made To Thrill Preorder Only 75th T-Shirt

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Holiday World (@holidayworld)

 

February 1  – Made To Thrill Poster Restock

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Holiday World (@holidayworld)

 

January 25  – 75 Years Commemorative Snow globe 

More info: 

This artwork around the base was developed by our in-house artist, Rick Emmons, who has worked here 45 years (almost 46)! If you’re familiar with the murals in Santa’s Merry Marketplace (formerly Kringle’s Kafé), you know Rick’s work already. You’ll see this artwork in many different ways as we share more of our collection. 

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Holiday World (@holidayworld)

 

 

January 18 – Limited Edition Santa Claus Land Railroad Model 

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Holiday World (@holidayworld)

 

January 15

For now, here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming your way Monday:

All aboard! 


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