News Project 2027: 4th of July Water Ride?
- Thread starter Tacky3663
- Start date
Looked at some dirt.
Talked to a front line employee who literally said that they haven't been told anything.
I don't know, the evidence seems pretty damning to me.
Stuff like this is not even worthy of acknowledgement or discussion. This person seems like a clown just saying random stuff to generate engagement. By sharing and talking about the posts you are just giving the desired attention and ensuring that they continue saying stupid shit.
Normally I'd be pretty quick to dunk on him as well, but I've heard things. I think confirmation is a pretty strong word to be throwing around right now but he is indeed grasping at something.
Basically Holiday World has a plan. Internally they want to become something a lot larger than they are right now, to which I say LOL good luck. Buying Santa's Cottages was an early facet of this ambition. But they like Vekoma. They really really like Vekoma. They were incredibly happy with Good Gravy and are actively talking about new ideas, a couple of which are good and others of which are uhhh... stupid. Definitely the same park who decided to buy a launched B&M for dry park attendance that could barely justify it and then isolate it from everything.
They're also not notoriously not airtight about their stuff among the staff, I first learned about Good Gravy way back in May 2023 from some enthusiast at Darien Lake who'd gotten chatty with a ride op. Meanwhile here at Canada's Wonderland by comparison, AlpenFury stayed under wraps for as long as it did because anybody who didn't need to know knew details and those who did had iron-clad NDA's in place right up to the announcement. Even when Kings Island was about to announce Snoopy in 2023, they managed to keep staff in the dark about a new coaster until 48 hours out and when people began whispering a supervisor tossed in word that it would be a Zamperla shuttle spinning coaster and threw everyone off the rails. I also know that way back in 2022 Worlds of Fun had an unnoticed website leak of Zambezi Zinger in July and had people scouring any social media and park-related group chats for the next 48 hours to identify potential leakers among the staff. Point is, Holiday World doesn't have this level of internal info control and NDA's, and staff have been known to spout accurate Dipping-Dots level info. Their way of dealing with it is stranger; a friend of mine and I were the ones who first shared the very public shipping documents about Good Gravy being a Vekoma Famerang a couple months ahead of time and the park allegedly responded by firing a bunch of people that they suspected of talking. I doubt that did anything to change anything really though.
Pretty much the most I could say with confidence is that it won't be a decade until the next coaster. Hell no.
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So what new (practical) ideas are the good ones?
To the right of the rapids, behind the picnic groves; that's all unused decent plot of land. A Big Bear Mountain type could be a good fit...?
Holiday World is a park that makes funny decisions. I'm going to use them as an example, a tale of two coaster projects.
A well thought out coaster project adheres to a majority of the following criteria;
- Serve the audience demographic of the park
- Be justified by and serve the attendance levels of the park
- Be well integrated within the park and not isolated elsewhere (less path area needed)
- Be within the park's affordability range and not take several years to pay off.
- The hardware is solid and proven.
- Ride system is as simple and uncomplicated as it needs to be.
- Manufacturer is able to communicate professionally and handle the project.
- The park's maintenance team and operating budget is able to adequately service and handle the attraction.
- A expansion of the park footprint and attractions portfolio should be justified by high attendance levels.
- Fill a gap in an attraction lineup that may already have a lot of the same and offer something different.
- The project was shaped to cater to the park's needs and not to copy what competitors are doing.
- Improve upon what it might replace.
- Doesn't fuck up the existing park.
So basically if anyone thinks they should build a Vekoma flyer or a ridiculous hyper coaster (or an RMC!), I strongly suggest they refer to the list. If Holiday World decides they should try to build a Vekoma flyer or a ridiculous hyper coaster (or an RMC!) right now (FYI it doesn't necessarily mean these are under consideration), then they should also refer to this list. Most parks tend to play it smart, I think Holiday World has learned the right lessons from Good Gravy but overconfidence is a killer.
This is all a long winded way of saying that if you apply these and abandon those logic, it's not hard to piece together good/practical ride ideas. More to gain than me telling you what I think the park is getting.
Funny though this is all stemming from a Dippin' Dots guy crying new coaster project. Anyone can dream I suppose, so is HW.
Broadly I completely agree with you @TPoseOnTantrum, but I will provide a tiny ounce of pushback. It's really not all THAT uncommon that non-corporate-owned parks like Holiday World behave in ways that look pretty irrational and out-of-line with the rest of the industry and, to be fair to those parks, there are a good number of examples of those crazy plays really paying off. I mean, to use Holiday World as an example, basically the park's entire history has been a series of insane-looking swings for the fences. I agree that Thunderbird doesn't seem to have paid off like some of the others have, but it's possible that, on average, the park is still far ahead of the curve vs where they'd be if they had followed a more traditional, more seemingly-reasonable path.
I'm certainly not saying that it's smart for Holiday World to be plotting some enormous, high-thrill coaster, but if they are, I can't say I'd be surprised and, frankly, I don't think it's wrong either—it would just be yet another radical move in a long history of radical moves made by a pretty staunchly unconventional park.
To give another example, look at Knoebels. It NEVER made ANY sense for them to attempt to resurrect a wooden bobsled coaster and, frankly, the entire project in hindsight today still looks absolutely insane and completely, honestly, stupid. That said, the park has a long, prosperous history of moves that look similarly insane and the park's history of success certainly suggests that, on net, they're doing something correct overall.
I totally understand where you're coming from broadly and I think I agree with you in most cases—but it does seem like there are situations where a strong enough vision, when applied over a long enough time, despite contradicting the standard "rules" of the industry, can return great results for at least some properties. Maybe, when surveyed broadly it fails more than it succeeds—maybe there are more Lost Islands than there are Knoebels—but as long as the Knoebels and Holiday Worlds of the world can make the insanity financially viable, I'm here for it.
I'm certainly not saying that it's smart for Holiday World to be plotting some enormous, high-thrill coaster, but if they are, I can't say I'd be surprised and, frankly, I don't think it's wrong either—it would just be yet another radical move in a long history of radical moves made by a pretty staunchly unconventional park.
To give another example, look at Knoebels. It NEVER made ANY sense for them to attempt to resurrect a wooden bobsled coaster and, frankly, the entire project in hindsight today still looks absolutely insane and completely, honestly, stupid. That said, the park has a long, prosperous history of moves that look similarly insane and the park's history of success certainly suggests that, on net, they're doing something correct overall.
I totally understand where you're coming from broadly and I think I agree with you in most cases—but it does seem like there are situations where a strong enough vision, when applied over a long enough time, despite contradicting the standard "rules" of the industry, can return great results for at least some properties. Maybe, when surveyed broadly it fails more than it succeeds—maybe there are more Lost Islands than there are Knoebels—but as long as the Knoebels and Holiday Worlds of the world can make the insanity financially viable, I'm here for it.
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To expand on @Zachary 's point, I would add that these types of parks need to be unconventional to a point as a draw. By resurrecting a dead coaster type, doing a one of a kind, doing a first in the US type coaster they have a pull to make people come that no other park comes. Lets just say it's the worlds first hyper flying coaster as well as the longest flying coaster - what would you do to go see it.
It's not like Santa Clause Indiana is near much. It's over an hour from Louisville, which isn't a big tourist city. It's also an hour from Evansville IN which isn't a huge tourism draw either. And unlike SDC and DW, there's not camping or tourism draw in the area that families have much else to do.
So independent out of the way parks really do need to be unconventional to survive and continually bring in more people.
It's not like Santa Clause Indiana is near much. It's over an hour from Louisville, which isn't a big tourist city. It's also an hour from Evansville IN which isn't a huge tourism draw either. And unlike SDC and DW, there's not camping or tourism draw in the area that families have much else to do.
So independent out of the way parks really do need to be unconventional to survive and continually bring in more people.
I mean. If this is like the Super Flume that Carowinds is getting. No argument there lol
I have seen a document that definitely seems to suggest this is a water ride with a splashdown of some sort. Don't want to tip my hand too much yet, but when I get something more substantial, I'll share.
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Partial Delivery of Amusement Ride on June 18, 2025. Do a google search for: site:importgenius.com "PARTIAL DELIVERY FOR AMUSEMENT RIDE"
All of the shipments with that description are for projects by Mack Rides.
All of the shipments with that description are for projects by Mack Rides.
Time to speculate, Mack offers a LOT of water rides, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably not a flume since they have frightful falls, one thing that would be really cool would be a rocking boat.
A Rocking Boat at Holiday World... god help us.
The one at Futuroscope looks like a fantastic attraction. It's also unfortunately suffering from prototype issues, mainly due to hardware cost overruns cutting into parts of that budget and problems running more than half of the cars at any given time.
We all know that Dollywood is getting that Rocking Boat next year, I presume those issues will get smoothed out.
The one at Futuroscope looks like a fantastic attraction. It's also unfortunately suffering from prototype issues, mainly due to hardware cost overruns cutting into parts of that budget and problems running more than half of the cars at any given time.
We all know that Dollywood is getting that Rocking Boat next year, I presume those issues will get smoothed out.
FYI I didn't mean that they were getting one, just that it would be a really weird scenario.
I am sure you have seen this before with the park lowering the height requirement of Thunderbird. They mentioned he rode the ride 2027 times, and the height requirement is now 48 inches. I checked the height requirement of Mack boat attraction at Mission Bermudes and it is 1.1 meters or about 43 inches. However, the Frightful Flumes to ride alone at Holiday World is 48 inches. There may be something to this or more than likely looking to far into this scenario. I will be excited to see what it will end up being either way! Thoughts?
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Hey guys, new to the forum here but not new to amusement parks. I've been curious about this new ride since the beginning of the year since im a season pass holder. Being a local I think I might have a slightly different perspective than some on here about how things might go for this ride and HW moving forward.
While myself and others on here would LOVE to see Holiday World do something spectacular and go all out on a mega or giga I dont think thats in the plans just yet. Family fun is what it's all about and the Koch's are very loyal to the locals and a great local family who loves the community. They're going to put something in there thats gonna do 2 things hopefully. Excite the locals and be cutting edge enough that it will extend their reach to people who might decide to visit KI or KK instead. I think the Rocking Boat from MACK is probably the winner here. It's going where a fan favorite water ride was located, and the park is very much water oriented. I mean it really is one of the best water parks in the world. So I think adding something like the rocking boat fits right into the theme and feel of the park. And it's located just across from one of the Splashin Safari entrances so it wouldn't be out of place for people to hop on over and do it while still in wet clothes.
I always see a bunch of hate on HW for their placement of Thunderbird or even the purchase of it. As a local I think it was much needed. Locals were getting tired of the only wooden coasters theme and it brought a bunch of excitement when it was built. And if you look at ariels of HW, it is located in what would be considered an "expansion area" of the land they own. Just remember, they have A LOT of land back there to expand on. Like the current park only uses about half of the land owned in that section. And they also own more land across the roads for parking expansion if needed. And they're most likely thinking in terms of 25-50 year expansion at this point, not 5 year. So Thunderbirds placement is logical in that sense. I think in 10 years there could be a lot of chatter about a world class coaster being put in. I would think the next 10 years will go something like this. 2027-Rocking Boat ride. 2028 or 2029- New water slide/coaster. HW does water rides right so look for it to be a world record design or something crazy. Then they'll sit for a few years like they have recently, fix what needs fixing, and possibly start an addition of a holiday themed area back behind/beside Thunderbird. St. Patty's land or something like that. Build some smaller supporting rides that families will love and support. And then a big announcement of something spectacular. A new giga, hyper, etc going up in the new themed area. All of a sudden Thunderbird is now in a great position and is a great supporting coaster for whatever goes up. And if you know HW's layout your path would take you straight by all the main ones. First the (possibly) Rocking boat, then Voyage, then Thunderbird and lastly the biggest coaster, whatever it may be.
This is just my $.02 from someone who is not nearly as knowledgable as a lot of people on here, but it's what I think is the most logical plan moving forward for holiday world. The Koch's are going to think about the locals and area first and foremost and are going to keep families wanting to renew those season passes while the new stuff will extend its range of families that are willing to drive to visit it. But whatever happens, you'll know how the park is doing based on free drink. They keep them then everything is good. There even a consideration of taking that away then we know its all downhill from there lol. Such an overlooked perk of this park and locals always mention it when talking to anyone about Holiday world. Love to hear some feedback on how I think it's going to play out though.
While myself and others on here would LOVE to see Holiday World do something spectacular and go all out on a mega or giga I dont think thats in the plans just yet. Family fun is what it's all about and the Koch's are very loyal to the locals and a great local family who loves the community. They're going to put something in there thats gonna do 2 things hopefully. Excite the locals and be cutting edge enough that it will extend their reach to people who might decide to visit KI or KK instead. I think the Rocking Boat from MACK is probably the winner here. It's going where a fan favorite water ride was located, and the park is very much water oriented. I mean it really is one of the best water parks in the world. So I think adding something like the rocking boat fits right into the theme and feel of the park. And it's located just across from one of the Splashin Safari entrances so it wouldn't be out of place for people to hop on over and do it while still in wet clothes.
I always see a bunch of hate on HW for their placement of Thunderbird or even the purchase of it. As a local I think it was much needed. Locals were getting tired of the only wooden coasters theme and it brought a bunch of excitement when it was built. And if you look at ariels of HW, it is located in what would be considered an "expansion area" of the land they own. Just remember, they have A LOT of land back there to expand on. Like the current park only uses about half of the land owned in that section. And they also own more land across the roads for parking expansion if needed. And they're most likely thinking in terms of 25-50 year expansion at this point, not 5 year. So Thunderbirds placement is logical in that sense. I think in 10 years there could be a lot of chatter about a world class coaster being put in. I would think the next 10 years will go something like this. 2027-Rocking Boat ride. 2028 or 2029- New water slide/coaster. HW does water rides right so look for it to be a world record design or something crazy. Then they'll sit for a few years like they have recently, fix what needs fixing, and possibly start an addition of a holiday themed area back behind/beside Thunderbird. St. Patty's land or something like that. Build some smaller supporting rides that families will love and support. And then a big announcement of something spectacular. A new giga, hyper, etc going up in the new themed area. All of a sudden Thunderbird is now in a great position and is a great supporting coaster for whatever goes up. And if you know HW's layout your path would take you straight by all the main ones. First the (possibly) Rocking boat, then Voyage, then Thunderbird and lastly the biggest coaster, whatever it may be.
This is just my $.02 from someone who is not nearly as knowledgable as a lot of people on here, but it's what I think is the most logical plan moving forward for holiday world. The Koch's are going to think about the locals and area first and foremost and are going to keep families wanting to renew those season passes while the new stuff will extend its range of families that are willing to drive to visit it. But whatever happens, you'll know how the park is doing based on free drink. They keep them then everything is good. There even a consideration of taking that away then we know its all downhill from there lol. Such an overlooked perk of this park and locals always mention it when talking to anyone about Holiday world. Love to hear some feedback on how I think it's going to play out though.