Trip Report: HoliWood Knights (who say WHEEEEEEE!!!!!)

Trip Report: Holiwood Knights (who say WHEEEEE!)

August 28-30, 2020
Santa Claus, IN

*The Quest To Holiday World*

I heard the unmistakable sound of the merry Knights in our Castle making their way to Coasterville, and shortly before noon on Thursday we loaded up our wagons to the point the horses started complaining and we quested to Holiday World. We had a little trouble fording the river even with the benefit of a bridge that was not guarded by a Black Knight. We celebrated our nn-victory over the non-black Knight with a luncheon feast at Frisch’s.

This was my first visit to a Frisch's since the COVID restrictions have kicked in. Frisch's has moved away from a full table service model to a qucik serve model where you order at the counter where you used to cash out, seat yourself, put a number on your table then a server brings everything to you. What's worse is the salad bar and after confirming with my server, the breakfast bars have been discontinued until further notice.

I still managed to have breakfast with special Fiona pancakes and sausage (the special is a purple whipped cream, purple sprinkles and a berry sauce) along with some coffee.

After our feast, we had some not so nostalgic memories of a Ponderosa we had visited on an earlier quest. Next thing we knew, we were making excellent time, and crossed into Indiana. We were greeted by one of those overhead message signs. It was displaying some health tips to fight COVID, flashing stuff like "WEAR A MASK" , "WASH YOUR HANDS",.after it said "AVOID LARGE GATHERINGS" we added "LIKE THE ONE WE ARE GOING TO!". After that it was just a short stop to rest our horses and follow that signs directions to wash our hands, and we continued our gallop off to Santa Claus, Indiana.

We arrived at Lake Rudolph just before the 3pm check in time, so waited a short time in line for a very efficient and quick check in procedure, they gave us 1 key for 6 Knights to share, 3 parking passes for our 3 Horses, and Map of the Kingdom. and a goodie bag. Unfortunately the goodie bag merely contained face masks and hand sanitizer. Curious gifts for visiting knights.

We made our way through the kingdom to find the cottage the land Lord (of the kingdom) had assigned to us. We just barely got time to walk into the cottage and take a tour when the monsoon started. Like we're leaving our trunks and provisions on the horses until this clears up.

Let's have a look around, its a long thin cottage, I believe in the vernacular it might be called a mobile home or trailer home. We walked in the front door set into one of the short ends of the cottage. The sloped ceiling was nice as it overlooked a rustic themed living room complete with fireplace, TV, DVD player (We will have to Tim the Enchanter about this modern magic stuff) , sofa, coffee table,, a "bar": setup with 4 stools and a side table. Continuing back the hall, the hall was lined with a galley kitchen on one side, but fully equipped with fridge, ice maker, dishwasher, garbage disposer, oven, microwave and toaster. Along with dishes and utensils. On the other side of the hall was a compact but serviceable bathroom, and a steep set of stairs to the hay loft. (As in a Hit The Hay Loft) in this case. In back of that was a bedroom with its own TV. Climbing the stairs to the hay loft, there was a second bedroom on top of the first one, and over tje bathroom and kitchen was the loft with 4 matressess on the floor, one of which was on a base. The front of the loft had wooden bars to prevent Mr. Hyde from having a Nasty Fall.

The living room also had a door out to a large deck that went along one whole side of the cottage and turned the corner and wrapped around the front. Most of it was even covered and was furnished with a picnic table, gas grill, and other chairs. The deck roof was lined with Christmas lights, and just beyond the deck was a fire pit. In front of the cottage in the front yard was a park charcoal grill.

At this point a group of us decided wince it was only 3:30 and we didn't really need to be at the park till 5 or 6, we'd go for a swim. So we rode down to Blitzen Bay for a "swim in the cove" It was a nice large pool, and offered a depth of 6'. I learned my swim skills are very rusty, and we mainly just hung out.

WE stayed there about an hour and then headed back to the cottage. We picked out beds, or I think the master planner put the two worst snorers (Hey, I take first place there) into the bedrooms to isolate us, and the loft was apparently the non-snoring section. I wonder how that worked out) .

Point is even though there were 6 of us from 4 different households we were able to, for the most part keep fairly socially distanced. We heard bad things about the line to get into the park, so we figured we would mitigate the "Don't arrive all at once" problem by waiting till 5:30 when the park opened at 5:00. This plan seemed to work well, we got into the Raven lot, scored a very close parking space, breezed through the new security checkpoint, and then we hit the queue to register. They had a socially distanced queue maze set up in front of the ticket booths, it had switchbacks, but the lanes of the switchbacks were kept apart. It was 3 passes of the ticketing plaza, to walk around the ticket booths, 1 more pass of the ticketing plaza. Here a grouper held you back until 1 of the 2 check in windows were open. Here it took me just a few minutes to hand in my printed ticket, display a membership card (or two to try to get extra credit), and get my FUNvelope with the usual goodies: tickets, wristband, lanyard and schedule) The only really neat keepsake is the lanyard, they were nicely done this year.

Here is where the tradiitonal run back to our horse to put all the stuff not needed for tonight into the saddle bag. I waited for the group, I waited some more, ah the line moved, now its Dave's turn, I waited another eternity. He comes back to wear I was applying my event wristband. Dave goes to pass out wristbands to his Knights, and they shorted them one set. Another eternity then the run back to the horse to drop stuff off, then finally back to the park. We were able to take the bypass this time, to the second greeter who showed us to an admission lane. Scanned our tickets and into the park.

Despite the schedule saying the Friday snack ended at 5, they were still serving at nearly 6:15-6:30, we went into the new for last year Merry Marketplace for deserts (like Killer Rabbit cupcakes, Sword in the Lake (a plastic sword in blue jello, SHRUBBERY (a salad), Spam-A-Lot, cranberry sauce and more) They call this a light snack.

After our snack, Dave went to join the others in the water park per their prior arrangement, and I went to Voyage. AT Voyage the queue was socially distanced, and for the first time well over a decade, the lower level of the queue house (affectionately known as "Steerage") was in use but most of it was shut off. At Holiday World masks are optional (what a nice break), and only have to be worn indoors, at Pepsi Oasis, the front gate, and other places the park designated. The park has designated coaster stations as being mask zone, and since Voyages lower level queue is indoors, it is also a mask zone.

The seat assignment fairy sent me to row 8 (instead of the riding every other row policy, they seat a party, leave a row, seat a party, leave a row) this led to some groups getting together, getting up to the grouper and saying they had a group of 24. The first ride I still caught the tail end of the rain, and I though the ride was great, but not quite as top notch insane as the downpour ride I had in row 13 in 2009.

The ride ended, I ran back around , to wait for another half hour so or, the line is getting longer. Row 3 this time and I just noticed the big line they have added. For COVID they don’t want you up near the track, so they don't fill the station until the prior train has filled, then they want you to wait as far away from the queue gate as possible. Then they don't open the gates until the unload is clear. I also like the little baskets they give you to put your stuff, that they then put in a closet while you ride.

After that, I decided it was time to eat, and noticing Gobbler Getaway ERT had ended, I took what ended up being a Zen ride on the Turkey Whirl. I hear my Turkey went and complained to Guest Relations that I made it sick.

After that I took a long Zen walk to the picnic grove, where I was surprised at the line. I don't ever remember a line for pizza before, you just walked up, grabbed a slice or two, and moved on. Oh, COVID. everything is served to you. I got some pineapple, two slices of pizza (pepperoni and sausage), two fudge samples and a Christmas cookie. I also found the rest of our Knights, so I ate at the not so round table.

After eating, we discovered we had different agendas. I started with a ride on Hallowsings, and was pleasantly surprised by how good the ride was. But, nothing was able to prepare me for what was to come next, a ride on Legend. My first Legend ride was a walk on, and I rode in row 10. Other than the mistake of sitting on the right, and being doubled over the seat divider the second half of the ride, it was an excellent ride. Maybe the best that ride has run in a long time. I ran around for another ride and was dismayed to find the line backup to the top of the stairs, on the midway side. Here I got row 11, getting better still.
Half an hour left in ERT, only one place to be Raven. I entered the Raven queue at 9:27, and was awarded with a ride in row 10, Raven mayh be running “a bit rough” but she still has it where it counts. I sprang out of my seat at 9:44, wen running through the park like a madman, to duck into the Raven gate just as they were preparing to close them. I hear my other good Knight in our group got caught on the wrong side of the gate. So right at 10:00 I was boarding a Raven train in row 10, again, got another good ride, again. Exited and send word by way of Swallow to my other Knights, to learn that they were gathered around a scene that tells the tale of a historical event that happened one December night many many years ago.
We remembered we have one bathroom for 6 Knights, and decided to take advantage of the restroom building at the park exit. We returned to our cottage, and unwound with cards, drinks, and merriment. Also internet, because you know, it’s a thing now.
Sometime during the evening’s festivities, somebody mentioned doing the Darth Vader voice, and of course masks are on everybody’s minds these days. SO I snuck off to my room to grab a certain prop mask. A prop if you were doing a war picture anyway. Ok, for those that don’t follow me on Facebook, I posted a doctored photo of me wearing a gas mask on Banshee while making fun of the parks masks rules. I had tucked said gas mask in my bag hoping for the right chance to bust it out for a laugh. I’m not quite sure if it was laughter of curiosity or “What kind of nut job are we sharing a cabin with” reaction. But it did get a reaction, it was just hard to tell through the less than clean eye pieces. Of course with the Darth Vader voice remark just a few moments earlier, I was really exaggerating the effort I was putting into breathing in it, so I could make the suitable heavy breathing noises. I put more effort into the joke that I still don’t know quite how it fell.
Some more amusement, and soon it was off to sleep, hey, I’m working the early shift tomorrow!!!

Day 2
Saturday Aug 30
“Coasting For Kids”

We set aside the Monty Python theme for a bit, for something very important. Give Kids The World Village. If you have never heard of GKTW it is a special resort operated by an organization similar to Make a Wish, and similar. They host families for a week, during which time they get to spend time at the resort with camp like activities, where they celebrate all the major holidays in a week, special rides built to accommodate wheelchairs, day trips to the major Orlando theme parks, and much more, all for FREE, the resort operates entirely on donations, and Coasting For Kids is the vehicle by which the coaster enthusiast community helps to raise the money.
So April Hawkins and I arrived at the park at 8:30 AM – parked almost in row 1, breezed through security, breezed through check in, and received even shirts, a rubber armband like the Livestrong ones of years ago. Were told to please wear our shirts, and were then sent to enter the park. They had the whole queue maze to get into the park still setup from last night, and we were asked to walk through all of it even though were the only ones in line at the time. We got scanned in and were also give our inline wristbands for later in the day. We met at the Applause fountain for a very brief awards ceremony, and group photos. We were then escorted to the Voyage for another group photo, and then we learned Thanksgiving was ours to enjoy until 10:00. I wasted no time in racking up 6 Voyage rides before the park even opened. I didn’t care which seats I got, mostly up front in 3 and 4 it seemed.
Once they turned on InLine – which is the parks version of Q-Bot or LoQ, I first made a reservation for Gobbler Getaway and had a good scoring ride on it. It’s a great dark ride with traditional style cars and crash doors and scenes with a lot of moving stunts and a cohesive storyline. It’s Fall, all the turkeys have escaped, you spend the whole ride hunting them with your turkey caller, and in the end it’s Thaksigiving dinner and the farmer just couldn’t do it, and serves his family dinner, “Happy Pizza Day!” in the final scenes the room is full of dancing turkeys laughing at you, I’m sure. The observant will notice that Grandma in the preshow is wearing her mask, as she is inside.
Also new on Gobbler Getaway, they have added ride photos, and the park has a Digital Photo Pass system, just like those big corporate parks. So I acquired my 4th wristband of the day. I thenk grabbed a couple free drinks, and booked a ride on Thunderbird. InLine told me 8 minutes. I got to the ride, and had time to take care of needs, grab another drink, and get in line. Where I proceesed to wait 15 more minutes before being shown to Row 2 on the Left Wing. Thunderbird has the social distance markings, and assigns seats down on the ground level, then sends you upstairs to the station just before your ride. It seems inefficient, but its COVID. At least they are filling all of the seats. With the help of a friendly operator I was able to fit on the ride, and enjoyed a fast smooth ride twisitng and turning over the same woods as Voyage. The only bummer here was learning the on ride photo system on this ride is broken.
I grab another drink, make my way past a closed Crow’s Nest (tower swing ride), but do get a ride on Mayflower (swinging ship), they were only filling 4 rows, spaced out, one social group per row, II got an end row and was much surprised at how good this little ride is.
Lines are already starting to get long, but I decided to try to ride some flat rides. The Rapids Ride, Zero Gravity, and Bumper cars are all closed. I did take a ride on Firecracker, a Calypso that came from LeSourdsville Lake (Americana) – and even though it is running much better than it ever did at Americana, I also waited half an hour for it, which is way longer than I have ever waited for that ride. Part of the issue being is they were only loading half the cars.
After that I decided to do lunch, with a burrito bowl from the Alamo (which is now a Chipotle knock off) and a Dole Whip. I made a reservation for Frightful Falls, and met up with Dave Althoff at Hallowswings, where unlike Calypso they put a stranger in the swing right next to me. I mean they have every other row (the single swings) closed off.

After Halloswings I learned it had taken 2 hours for Dave to get my text from early in the morning asking where to meet up, and another 45 minutes for him to get in the front gate. While waiting for or respective ride times, we took a ride on Scarecrow Scrambler, I took my ride on the log flume, where for once InLine worked as it is supposed to, I scanned into the ride, and walked right up to a waiting log. Been there, done that, got the on ride photo (and very slight water).
We walked around some more, he had a Dole Whip, and he went for his Raven ride and I went for the Voyage Tour.
Back to Holiwood Knights mode!
Instead of one big tour, they split us into 6 or 7 small groups, each starting 15 minutes apart. Masks must be worn. It was the usual tour up the Snowy White Hill alongside Voyage up to the double tunnel where you could walk over Voyage and then down into the Thunderbird finale and brake run area. Along the way all kinds of photos, videos and drooling were happening, questions were being asked. They didn’t seem to be rushing people through they were just naturally spacing out the group.

After that, well, you know all coaster events include food, food, and more food. We headed to closed off section of Splashin’ safari for a unique yet hearty and satisfying dish. Take a paper boat, line the bottom with tater tots, top that with pulled pork, top that with nacho cheese, top that with cole slaw, then a full array of taco bar toppings and salsas. A snack fit for a King. Due to the high temps they were also passing out large bottles of water. Greatly appreciated as I was just about fried. The snack took just long enough for my Voyage appointment, and of course I could tack another half hour onto the two I had already waited virtually. I had another Voyage ride, and by now Voyage had lots of Mtn Dew and Coffee. This time I was also able to get the Voyage on ride photo. While waiting for Voyage I booked a ride on Gobbler Getaway. The line was back to the door, but I didn’t mind waiting in A/C one bit. I left Gobbler and thought its about time for Dave’s Voyage reservation, or so, and I look up and he is at the top of the stairs, as he would be as the ride had broken down for a bit. I met him at the ride exit, got his ride photo for him, and we got drinks, and then headed to find something to do. We wound up on the Eagle Flight, and I thought I had a great flight, and it felt right, but no satisfying snaps. We tried to get a Firecracker but by then the rides had closed for the night. I should also note that on rides with switchback lines they never have two lanes open adjacent to each other, and if they do, they have a wooden wall up separating them. In other areas they patches of midway marked as DON’T STAND HERE zones if next to a ride waiting area.
Picnic grove time for the grand buffet. The park characters dressed up for the movie, guests dressed up for the movie and banging coconut shells, the feast of chicken, pulled pork, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and all the sides and fixings. Sure it might have taken about an hour to get through the buffet. And I learned I lost the flag HoliAuction once again. But I did get a mini Book of the Event.
After dinner, we plopped ourselves in front of Firecracker to snag a ride on the Calypso first before heading to ERT. We started with the coasters up top with a ride on both Legend and Raven, both in the back seat. Both excellent. Down to Voyage, and I think we got 2 rides in before 10. Both in row 10, Voyage may be a bit rough, but in row 10 at night, man it delivers the goods! Top Flight night ride right there. We took a quick rest stop and got drinks. Seeing as I was about 10:15 we decided to head back to Legend/Raven.

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# WE’RE SORRY, THIS TRIP REPORT IS #
# EXPERIECNING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES #
# THE TROUBLE IS NOT IN YOUR SET #

From here you just see glimpsed of a snowy picture with scenes like marshmallows being roasted over a campfire, waffles and eggs being fixed and eaten, moving out of our cabin, and the ride back to Coasterville.

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