We arrived at the park at 9:00 and by 9:30 we were let in. Since the park didn't open until 10:00, most sections had a rope going across the enterances, however, there were some rides in the 4th of July section open so we chose to ride those first. The first ride we rode was the Liberty Launch. This is your standard double shot drop tower so not much to say. Fun as usual and only a 1 cycle wait!
Next we went on Thunder Bumpers. This was the bumper boats attraction and we had a lot of fun. Since i was with my family, all 5 of us had a lot of anger based bumping going on!
At this point we lined up for the chain drop into the brand new Thanksgiving section.
First ride, of course, was the Voyage. And after a 10 minute wait, we finally were able to get our first coaster ride of the day in. Just like what i've been told, this ride definitely blew me away! I really enjoyed the first hill, especially since we were in back row! The airtime was incredible, the track was pretty smooth, and the tunnels were cold which was a nice relief from the heat. Another cool thing about this ride is that while your in line, there is a view of one of the underground tunnels and you get to see the train fly right past you which really amped me up for the ride. The only thing i didn't like was that the ride was almost too intense! It was the first time i'd ever left a ride with a soar back, but that could just be me.
From here we rode crossed the path and rode the Gobbler Getaway twice. Both times were with a 5 minute wait and i rode in the front row the first time and in the back row the second time. This ride is one of those interactive game rides where you get to shoot the targets with the laser gun and it keeps score along the way for you. I did pretty bad the first time, but i got the hang of it and did a little better the second time. Then after that, I ran over to the Voyage for a second ride. This time we waited 40 minutes, but it was front row ride which was a million times better than the back so it was well worth it.
At this point it was really starting to get hot, so we went up to the enterance to eat lunch at Kringle's Kafe in the Christmas area. Shortly after that, it was time for some more coasters so we headed over to the Halloween section. We first noticed that the Legend had not yet opened for the day, so we headed over to the Raven. It was a 3 train wait for back row. I thought this ride was sort of short, but chalk full of airtime and it was smoother than the Voyage. Overall i was very impressed, or at least until the point where the ride broke down on us. This resulted in a 10 minute wait in the brake run at the end of the ride under the burning hot sun. However, me and my brother met two nice ACErs and we talked to them and the time went by sort of quickly.
When we got off the ride, my dad pointed out that the Legend was now open so we went to ride that. This ride had a 10 minute wait for just any old row in the middle of the train. I was actually really disappointed with this coaster. I had heard such good things and after riding the Voyage and the Raven, this ride just didn't seem so good. There was way too many righthand turns and it got to the point where the roughness and non-banked turns got too rough for me. One good thing about this coaster though was the surroundings. Just like the other two, this ride had great tunnels and plenty of excellent headchoppers with the waterslides at Splashin Safari.
By now, the heat was becoming unbareable so we decide to spend the rest of the afternoon at the waterpark. We got chairs next to Bahari and got in line for Zinga. Zinga was a 45 minute wait, but since i had yet to ride Tornado and this slide is the same type of ride, we decided it was worth the wait and surprisingly, we weren't disappointed. It was a lot of fun and i can't wait to go back to Great America and ride Tornado now!
The next slide we hit was Zoombabwe. This was their very large and enclosed family waterslide. After a 40 minute wait for that, we finally were able to ride this slide, however, unlike Zinga, this one was a disappointment. The inside of the slide was like a sauna to the point where it was actually a relief to leave the slide into the outside air. Never the less, it was very long and a neat slide on probably any other day.
The only other slide i went on was the middle tube slide on the Otorango slide complex, which was a blast and only a 4 person wait so that was cool. Most of the time, however, was spent in Bahari, which is their excelent new wavepool, and Jungle Jets which was an interactive water play area. The water park was actually very nice, crowded, but very nice! The water was very warm, but not much you can do about that. The warm water was actually our reason for hitting Jungle Jets so much, because that was the only section of the waterpark with cold water. We ended up staying here until 5:00, however, as we left, we still hadn't had enough water yet.
Next on our ride agenda was Frightful Falls which is the parks log rides. Not much to say, it was your typical small park log ride and although we didn't get too wet, it was only a five minute wait and it was a pleasant sail.
From here we went on the other water ride, Raging Rapids. This was smaller than ours, but we still managed to get really wet and both times we rode it, it only had a five minute wait.
Then we went to dinner at the same resteraunt and went our seperate ways. My family wanted to see some shows and relax, while i wanted some rerides, so i left and went towards the Voyage for two more rides, both in second row. Both times i met two nice people that rode with me. One was a man from St. Louis who had only been on one coaster before so he was stunned afterwards and the other was a dad who was finally able to break from his wife and kid to ride the ride. He enjoyed it as well and i bought myself a souvineer T-Shirt while i was there.
Next i headed over to the other two coasters, only to find the Legend running one train with a long wait and the Raven to be broken down again, so i went over and rode Paul Revere's Midnight Ride. This was the park's octopus ride and i enjoyed it a lot. It had a two cycle wait. Then i headed back to the other coasters to get my two final rides of the day. I chose the Raven for both of these and i rode in second row both times. The first ride was at dusk and the second ride was at night where it was pitch black out the entire time. I think i officially like this ride more than the other two and I have officially made Raven my fourth favorite wooden coaster ever. On this one, i rode with a kid from Kentucky whose mom couldn't ride with him. It was his first roller coaster so that was cool and he wanted to ride with me for the second ride as well. Gotta love future coaster lovers!
Overall, my day was very successful! I got on everything i wanted to ride, including the waterslides at Splashin Safari. According to the Evansville News, temperatures at Holiday World reached 112 degrees!!! So the free unlimited drinks was a huge plus. I just really couldn't be happier, even the people there were really friendly. They all asked where your from and made conversation, the kids were polite and not bratty, the ride ops were efficient, just a very pleasant day! I can't wait to return very soon. The only downside to the park was the uphill walking which was a workout after a while and the fact that Raven and Legend couldn't stay open the entire day, but that could have been heat related so i'll go easy on them.
Hope you enjoyed!
