Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014: The Coasters of Holiday World

As I mentioned in my last post, I think that the roller coasters located in Holiday World are worth a whole separate post, and so here we go...

The Legend

Holiday World, in Santa Claus, Indiana, is home to three roller coasters, all well renowned, and all made of wood.  The first coaster we tried to hit was Raven, which sits right at the entrance of the park, in Halloween, but it was in service when we arrived so we opted for Legend nearby, another Halloween coaster inspired by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Legend is the park's second roller coaster, opening in 2000, five years after The Raven.  The line was long at this one, as Raven's closure might warrant, and we got a little taste of what was to come as the trains flew right past where the line was situated.  After about 45 minutes on line in the hot sun, we finally got to ride, and it was a big disappointment.  I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but many of these woodies today are a little too rough on my body, and this one was rough!  Rich and Eddie didn't like it either and needless to say this was our one and only ride.  

Take a ride here...it's not as rough and it's also pretty cool!

holidayworld

The Raven

Not soon after our disappointing ride on Legend, we were finally able to try out Raven, which had opened in the interim.  It must have just opened when we reached it, because there was no one on line.  This woodie met with mixed reviews from the three of us.  I didn't think it was nearly as rough as the first coaster, and I enjoyed it much more, too.  Eddie was non-committal about it and Rich was decidedly a no on this one, as well.

Check out the POV below and see what you think.  This one's got a first drop of 85 feet and speeds of up to 48 mph.  Not bad! I thought it was good enough to ride a second time, especially with no line, which we did!

The Voyage

Finally we come to Holiday World's showpiece coaster, and my personal favorite of their rides, The Voyage.  This one is the park's newest roller coaster, opening in 2006, and it is a doozie! Located in the Thanksgiving section of the park, the 163 foot lift hill is quite an imposing structure.  It almost looks like a hypercoaster, that's how tall it is.

The Voyage is themed after the Mayflower trip that the Pilgrims took across the pond, but I'm sure a trip on that boat was a lot tamer than this wild ride.  In just a few little words, I loved this one!!!  With a great first drop of 66 degrees from 154 feet, speeds of up to 68 mph, several tunnels and lots of twists, turns and airtime, this one definitely made Holiday World worth the trip and now stands as one of my favorite woodies ever!  Check it out...

So if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Santa Claus, Indiana, and you love amusement parks, definitely check out Holiday World, if not for The Voyage alone.  Stay tuned for more on our Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014 and in the meantime, check out a few more photos of Holiday World...