November 1, 2000
Santa Claus, IN -- Holiday World & Splashin' Safari will provide its Guests with additional comfort and convenience in 2001, to the tune of $1.6 million in improvements.
"We have a number of projects planned that are a direct result of the hundreds of Comments Cards, letters and emails we receive each season," says Holiday World & Splashin' Safari president Will Koch. "For 2001, our investment is primarily in guest services. This past year, we added a new world-class roller coaster plus our free, unlimited soft drinks program-so for 2001 we want to be sure we're taking the best possible care of all the visitors we're attracting."
The list of improvements for 2001 includes:
- Expanded Admissions area, including new ticket booths, turnstiles, and restrooms
- New bumper cars at "Rough Riders," adding 50 percent more capacity
- Restrooms in Holidog's FunTown
- New queues for the Scarecrow Scrambler, Roundhouse, Virginia Reel, Paul Revere's Midnight Ride, and Banshee
- 200 trash cans and 200 ash urns (the park was voted the #1 Cleanest Park in 2000)
- New warehouse and print shop
- Additional pizza ovens at Jungle Jake's Pizza & Grille in Splashin' Safari
- Twelve new rental RVs at Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort
- New picnic pavilion at Good Old Days Picnic Grove
- Additional landscaping; and
- Extensive track work on The Raven roller coaster.
This winter Holiday World will start to replace sections of the wooden track on The Raven. The work to be completed before next season will not involve any reprofiling. Instead the park plans to only replace sections of track that have worn out since the coaster's debut in 1995.
Jeff Hammersly of Holiday World's maintenance staff will head up the work on The Raven. Hammersly joined Holiday World in May and previously worked for Custom Coasters International, the company who designed and built both The Raven and The Legend. Hammersly was involved with the construction of much of the track for The Legend.
"We're also adding Discovery Institute--a fun new show in the Holiday Theater," says Koch. "We'll have a couple of mad scientists performing all sorts of wild experiments for the audience. It'll be entertaining and educational at the same time."
Koch predicts in 2001 the attendance at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari will top 600,000 for the first time in the park's 56-year history. In the spring, the park will hire 1,000 seasonal employees to staff the theme park and water park.
Holiday World will open its 56th season on May 5, 2001. For more information, visit the parks' website at www.holidayworld.com.