Day 15: Holiday World / Beech Bend
Day 15: Holiday World / Beech Bend
Credits
Report Compilation: Chris Hull, David Elvey, Phil Coates and Susan Ellis.
Chris Hull
Following yesterday's visit would prove to be a hard act to follow. However a police escort and the local Sheriff enabled us to walk to the park! A walk through the back part of the park to see different views of The Raven and The Legend. First runs on Voyage showed that last night's problem had returned. However the staff allowed us all to have a ride with the extra lifthill stop along the way. Voyage remained down for the next couple of hours. Walking around Voyage showed the work that had gone into building this coaster - something not fully appreciated when on-board and flying through the woodland! On return a quick chance to do Getaway Gobbler and then to be waved at frantically by Malcolm Marr in the front seat of Voyage. A real chance to be a test dummy on three consective rides. Pat's son Will and another park director were also on-board. Many thanks to Paula for allowing us to ride at that time. On exiting the park I bumped into Pat Koch again - such a lovely lady and many many thanks to her, her family and her staff for providing us with a great couple of days.
David Elvy
AFTER LAST NIGHTS ERS ON VOYAGE BEING CANCELLED, THE PARK ALLOWED US TO BE TEST DUMMIES ON
THE RIDE THIS MORNING - BEFORE IT OPENED TO THE PUBLIC. SO, I MANAgED 2 RIDES ON it,
AND IT IS THE BEST WOODEN COASTER I've EVER ridden. AN AMAZINg RIDE. EVERYONE GOT ON IT AT LEAST ONCE
TODAY - BUT THE RIDE STILL DID NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. WE TOOK A BEHIND THE SCENES TOUR OF THE VOYAGE - WHICH GAVE US SOME GOOD PHOTOS. A WHILE LATER, WE HAPPENED TO BE IN THE VOYAGE AREA - AND WE HEARD JUSTIN SHOUTING "COME ONTO THE STATION, WE NEED A FULL TRAIN", SO WE RAN UP AND JUMPED ON TO BE TEST DUMMIES ONCE AGAIN. WHAT FOLLOWED WAS 3 CONSECUTIVE RIDES ON THE VOYAGE - AWESOME. A GOOD HALF DAY - AND WE ARE NOW EN-ROUTE TO KENTUCKY. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL AT THE PARK - AND THANKS FOR ALLOWING US TO BE TEST DUMMIES - IF ANY OTHER PARKS WANT TO DO THE SAME - THEN LET ME KNOW.
Martin Simms
Today had to be one of the best days yet, started on the ride of Voyage which got stuck at the top of the lift hill again and even manganed to get on another train making three total stops at the top of the hill great fun.
Tim Herre
What can you do in a morning after you were blown away by the best roller coaster ride of your entire life STOP Right, continue riding STOP Then you should do an amazing photo tour STOP Which we did STOP Then you should be in the right place to form as test dummy STOP Which we did STOP The Voyage is the best roller coaster out there STOP I'm not sure if one could a better one STOP Thanks Holiday World for the best ride I've ever had STOP
Mark Riley and Jenny Lamb
An early morning walk took us deep within the Raven and Legend structure as we headed to Voyage. Unfortunately after a couple of rides, Voyage was forced to remain closed to the public. No matter, as we were able to walk back to photograph the twisted trackage of the coaster. I'm just so pleased to have been able to experience such a ride - and such a perfect family park. I can't wait to return.
andycoasterboy
After loading the luggage on the buses and the police escort - just to cross the road! we headed out around the back of Raven, Legend coming to The Voyage for an early morning ride which unfortunately ended up with a go each as the chain motor decided to go weird. But after the amazing time yesterday and the walk-back it didn't really matter. Holiday World will always be a place I would come back to. A huge thanks to Paula, Pat and everyone at the park for a memorable time. We also drunk the hotel bar dry :)
Steve Fagin
Well, I managed one ride on Voyage this morning, not knowing that Justin was going to second-guess the problem with the chain-lift. Getting from hotel to park was thanks to the local constabulary, with Santa Claus' Chief of Police very kindly escorting the group en masse across a couple of country lanes. Hope to get back one day soon.
Lars Sorensen
The voyage broke down, so I only had 1 go on it, but luckily I rode it 9 times yesteday so I had no problems with it at all, those things happens. But the park was lucky that Justin knew how to fix the problem, Justin you win the intelligent prize today!
Bart Van Goethem
Great gesture of the park to give us a behind the scenes tour of their three woodies. Luckily we got another chance to ride their number one woodie.
Malcolm Marr
In South Bend, Indiana it is illegal to teach a monkey to smoke (you would think this law would be more widespread). In Santa Claus, Indiana however you are allowed to have three smokin' wooden coasters, as Holiday World now have. I managed to get nightime rides on all of them following the lift problems with Voyage (nice view from the top by the way). I was also fortunate this morning to be chosen as the front row test dummy when the fix to the lift hill was being tested. It's perhaps coincidental that a place where Christmas is celebrated every day now has a coaster where all your Christmases have come at once. The Voyage is definitely a Balder-Beater and is now the #1 on most peoples' lists, especially after the ride in the dark. I've tried really hard to find a fault with it and the best I can come up with is that it wasn't built in the UK. Well done Holiday World!
Martin Valt
The bar has been raised. This is the ride against which all wood coasters will now be judged. Voyage changes everything. PS Thanks to Kat for sharing her bath with me.
Jeppe Nygaard
Holiday World is very hard to describe with any words especially concerning riding The Voyage. From the second I hit the brake run at the end of the ride, I knew for certain that this was the best wooden coaster I had ever ridden. Sorry, Balder; you are now number 2. I am very impressed with the park's maintenance of its 3 wooden coasters; other parks could learn a lot from HOliday World. Raven is 11 years old and runs incredibly well for a coaster with that speed and g-force. It is the best older woodie on the trip so far. The water park was very good as well. Pat and the rest of the staff gave us such hospitality, and I appreciate their enthusiasm for running a park so well. The walk-back for The Voyage was very impressive and gave me a good idea of what a tremendously huge project the builiding of this coaster had been. The triple-down in the tunnel and the 90 degree were really good elements, and the one ride I had on our night time ERS on The Voyage was the single best wooden coaster ride I have had in my life.
Yvonne Janike
I love Holiday World and greatly appreciate all the Koch family and Paula Werne and the staff do to make the park so perfect. I also more than appreciate their vision to build the perfect roller coaster which they have with The Voyage. It is amazing from start to finish.
Michael Badelt
Had a really excellent time at Holiday World. Great wooden coasters, a superb water park, interesting theming ideas for their different areas in the park and of course the lovely people running the park. I felt really at home here. About the Voyage, there really is not much to say for me than just: Wow!!!!!!!!! However, my other favorite ride at the park was not a coaster but Gobbler Getaway. You just have to ride it over and over again. I finally even crushed Malcolm's Highscore until.... yeah, until he got stuck on the ride and got a score of over 8000, the b*****d ;-)
Chris Hull
A late afternoon visit to Beech Bend - Kentucky Rumbler has proven to be a very worthwhile investment for this park. A great coaster - smooth and fast and one that is able to stand its ground when compared to its bigger brothers. A coaster that could easily fit into any park around. Nice BBQ dinner too.
Mark Riley and Jenny Lamb
So what could possibly follow the wonders of Voyage? Easy - Kentucky Rumbler! A smaller ride in stature maybe, but Rumbler really shows how to put the fun into a medium sized woodie. Why aren't there as many of these coasters out there as there are Boomerang's and SLC's? Thanks Beach Bend - you have a stunning ride.
andycoasterboy
I really hope Kentucky Rumbler pulls in the huge crowds this fun-sized woodie and park deserve. Congrats to Beech Bend and the Jones family. The usual parks in the UK need to take a trip here and see for themselves how fun these GCI woodies are.
Jeff Holmes
After visiting Holiday World we drove South towards Kentucky to visit Beech Bend. This was an average amusement park but with a great woodie Kentucky Rumbler. Apparently this has the record of having the most crossovers and it certainly seems so. Well done Beech Bend for having the guts to create such a good coaster.
Viper
In the petting zoo - "I thought it was a goat."
Martin Valt
A truly excellent wood coaster in the most unexpected of locations. I really hope this foresight and investment pays dividends for this park.
Jeppe Nygaard
Kentucky Rumbler - what a brilliant, perfect wooden coaster. I really loved it, and the night time ERS on it was really stunning. I appreciate the boldness of the park to make this kind of large investment, and I hope the attendance for the park will rise so high that the coaster will pay for itself shortly. Beech Bend has a great coaster for its money. The hospitality and food were really good, and Charlotte gave us a kind welcome.
Yvonne Janik
I loved the night time ERS on Kentucky Rumbler. I have been looking forward to riding this coaster ever since I first heard it would be built. It met my expectations, and I could ride Rumbler over and over (and I did). What fun! Charlotte was gracious and fun, and I appreciate all the effort she made to make sure our trip to her park was perfect.
Steve Fagin
I have to admit that I didn't really feel up for Beech Bend upon leaving the air-conditioned coach for the dry, baking Kentucky heat. That feeling wore off very quickly with a test circuit of the Rumbler and a spin on the Gravitron. I liked the park: small, friendly, and as somebody at Holiday World told me, it had a little of the carnival to it. The Dodgems were fast, a little violent and therefore good fun. The park had an unusual salad spinner called Scat2 which appealed to me. And the Rumbler itself was a great woodie. I'm not comparing it with Voyage. It was just a medium-sized, beautifully designed, entirely smooth, rather graceful track layout which could be ridden comfortably with arms up. Defining moment: Friendly and cheerful ride-ops. Worst moment: realising that maximising the ERS required a 500m-dash or a 4 minute walk.
Bart Van Goethem
Everbody come to Beech Bend and ride the Kentucky Rumbler!! They have such a great compact coaster. GCI you did such a great job. Thumbs up!! Thanks Beech Bend that you treated us so well!!
Michael Badelt
Kentucky Rumbler: Pack it, I'll take it. What a wonderful coaster. How they managed to squeeze so much track into such a compact space is just amazing. A real fun coaster that puts a 360 degree smile on your face every time you ride it. And I had quite a few rides today. Just works every time for me.
Malcolm Marr
"If you build it, they will come" is a phrase commonly associated with that popular American sport, Rounders, but it is also apt with what the owners of Beech Bend have done. In gambling everything they have on the success of their new ride Kentucky Rumbler they deserve to come up trumps as the coaster is great in offering a perfect riding experience regardless of where you sit on the train. The rest of the park has a visting fair vibe to it with Scat 2 being the most intense ride on the trip so far. Oh, and in Kentucky it's illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your pocket.
Tim Herre
Every park in the world should have a Kentucky Rumbler STOP Great medium sized woodie STOP Absolutely insane pacing and incredible ride experience STOP And all that in the space of not much more than three Wild Mouse coasters STOP I do mean it STOP Every park should start to think about a coaster like this STOP It packs so many big thrills in such a small footprint STOP And it doesn't let up STOP I think I have fallen in love with this great coaster STOP Tripsdrill, please, come to Kentucky and check out this ride that would perctly fit in your portfolio STOP I won't stop bugging you until you buy one STOP I do mean it STOP Have I mentioned how great this coaster is? STOP Well, I may sound like a broken record but this coaster is so wonderful, that has to be mentioned STOP Let's get ready to rumble STOP
Darren and Mary
An unusual start to the day was us all being escorted across two roads and the traffic being stopped by the Chief of Police, with the county Sheriff also in attendence - thanks Yvonne for organising this
Even Stangebye
Have to mention the excellent one hour ERS on the Kentucky Rumbler in the dark! What a great coaster!!! Every park should have a Kentucky Rumbler!!!
Nina Kleppe
Tonight we had an exellent ERS on The Kentucky Rumbler. Another very good woodie. So cool riding it in the dark.
