I wasn't sure I'd make it to Holiday World this year, even though they opened The Voyage. It seems like every weekend I've been doing something or going somewhere, and I just wouldn't have time.
But oddly enough, I started dating someone in the spring who had never been on a roller coaster, and now wants to ride as many as she can. Weird how that goes. And since Catherine lives in Columbus now, that takes off almost two hours of drive time. She really wanted to go, and I had a favor coming at the park.
So we packed up the dog and drove down Friday night to the Comfort Inn at I-64. I've stayed there before, and it's exceptionally clean and well run. This time was no different. We went to Santa's Lodge for dinner, and they had a buffet with chemical potatoes and cold chicken fingers. Should've probably just had Wendy's but now we know.
We headed out in the morning and arrived at the park around 9:30 a.m. under a slight drizzle.
First off, puppy prison, er, doggie daycare, is very nice and clean. It's $5 to put your pooch outside, $10 to put the dog inside. Cosmo is a Boston Terrier, and doesn't hold heat very well, so we put her inside. I think Cath was put at ease by just how nice everyone was, from guest services to the ticket takers.
When 10 rolled around, we made our way back toward 4th of July and down toward Thanksgiving to ride The Voyage. Kara and Matt were also there. When we arrived at the station, one or two trains had gone out (well, it was one train, but cycled a few times). I was surprised at how long it took for the train to come back. This is a very, very long ride. We took the front seats, the Michigan dorks took the back.
The Voyage does what few rides do well. It tosses you up, then changes direction. It does this a lot, and it's a pretty amazing feeling. It does this perfectly probably a dozen times. The first few hills are Timbers-esque, and then in the turn around it gets really crazy.
I remember thinking that it went pretty slow through the mid-course, but figured I'd revise that opinion later in the day when it was warmed up. Even with the relatively slow speed at the mid-course, it never lets go after that. The Gravity Group had a lot to work with on that long descent back to the station, and they did not disappoint in any way at all. I was blown away. More on the ride later.
We walked on to Gobbler Getaway for some dark ride fun. Grandma's poor cat in the queue looked like he had a raw spot from all of the rubbing. Poor thing. The queue is absolutely beautiful, and indeed the whole ride has far more style than you'd expect for a park this size. It's world-class, even, and an indicator that the "little" park in Santa Claus isn't really that little anymore.
We rode The Legend, which was uncharacteristically slow (an opinion tainted by the four straight night rides I had at last year's Fall Affair), but I figured it would get faster as well with a full train. We were in the front again.
After that lap, we hit the flume since it wasn't clear if we'd have jackets on later in the day. Good times. I hope they scrub out the tunnel, because it smells moldy. We took one more spin Legend, toward the back, and this was a faster ride with a full train.
On to The Raven, which Catherine really liked. I'm really amazed at how well this ride runs even today. It seems to be so well maintained that I suspect it rides a lot like it did when it was new. Again, another front seat ride.
Around the park again, we entered the kids area to ride The Howler. I explained to Catherine that this is what enthusiasts call credit whoring. But hey, the kids love it.
We went to visit the dog, and then had a little lunch at Kringle's. Pizza is so hard to screw up, yet most parks make really bad pizza. Holiday World's is, as I expected still top notch. I got some cold curly fries on first try, but they had no problem giving me fresh replacements. Cath's salad was huge. All in all, it's still unusual to pay $10 for two people. Well done.
By this time Voyage had been running a couple of hours, so we headed back down there to ride again, this time in the back seat. I wasn't prepared for the difference in the experience.
The back seat offers most of the same sensation, only amplified. A lot. As much as I enjoyed it, I have to admit that by the time we went through the tunnel in the station, I was about ready for it to be over. My back was not feeling particularly good about the intense physicality of the ride. I wouldn't call it rough exactly, but intense doesn't quite capture it either. We got off the ride kind of slowly, and began leisurely started walking toward where ever our feet were taking us. I loved the ride, but wow... that seemed like a bit much.
We would make another round and browse the gift shops, take another lap on The Raven (still impressive to Catherine), and killed some time during a shower playing Skee-Ball. All told I spent about ten bucks so I could win a Stewie Griffin and some other junk.
I've been bugging Cath all season to ride Power Tower at Cedar Point, but she wouldn't do it. I figured Liberty Launch would be a good starter S&S tower because it's so small. Wow, did she freak out. You know how there are girl screams that are, well, just girl screams, and actual terror screams? These were terror screams. She did not like that ride.
It was still early afternoon, but we managed to ride most of the major attractions, and we planned to drive back to Columbus. We couldn't leave without another lap on The Voyage, and wanted to compare the warmed-up front to our earlier rides. I was surprised to see a fairly long line down into the midway, and they were only running one train. I hate to criticize the park, because it's Holiday World, but I don't understand why they were only running one train. The wait was a half-hour, which doesn't seem like it respects the guests' time very much. Oh well, I put up with it (and the smelly guy in front of us).
This last lap, in the front, was the lap that cemented The Voyage my favorite wood coaster, and maybe favorite coaster period. It was absolutely amazing, start to finish. And what a big finish it makes. Where most coasters get dull toward the end, I would argue that the best part of The Voyage is actually the last third of it. It does everything coaster dorks like... speed, airtime, laterals, amazing visuals... it's the whole package. When we came flying into the brakes, I knew that this was the ride that sets the new standard. Saying that I was blown away doesn't even cover it. If I could have any ride as my own private coaster, this would be the one. It was absolutely amazing.
After our final lap, we picked up Cosmo and headed back to Columbus. We stopped in Cincy at a Macaroni Grille for dinner. The lighting on PKI's Eiffel Tower was stunning. Overall, a great trip. Can't wait to ride The Voyage again next year!