Once More to Lake Rudolph://My Last Holiday World Splash Summer 2026

                        Date:6/21/2026

Destination: Santa Claus, Indiana

Goal: Holiday World

Distance: 234 Miles

Means of Travel: Flying, Train, Tour Bus

Potential Credits: 40

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden roller coaster with blue trains reading "THE VOYAGE" in gold letters navigates a turn and hop over the lift hill.

Seasons change, holidays come and go, and one celebration fades into the next. Such is life! Hot summer days of pool parties, barbecues, and fireworks slow to cool, smoky fall nights. Families gather 'round the turkey for celebrations of gratitude, only to a month later gather 'round a tree for a celebration of giving, and the calendar rolls and rolls and rolls. And as I've grown up in Ohio, and become a traveling roller coaster enthusiast here at my four home parks and beyond, that rolling calendar now demands me elsewhere. And as I plan to pack my life up and relocate, unfortunately I cannot take my four wonderful home parks with me. Today, I went to Holiday World for the last time as someone living within day trip distance.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A Christmas village with a fountain of red, green, and gold Christmas ornaments.

Hello, Holiday World! While I always hated that Christmas didn't have a dedicated, nice Christmas-themed attraction for all ages, I love entering the park to the soundtracks of Bing Crosby and other holiday crooners.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden construction fence is painted with red, white, and blue flip flops in a curving path.

The Cannonball construction wall is wrapped in a white tarp, so no peeking through the slats, but they at least made it look nice. I love the red, white, and blue flip flops!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden fence shows a band listing with band names referencing rocks and barbecue fare.

You know Holiday World is kicking up something special when they're publicly posting brain rot like this for our entertainment.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden fence holds a flyer with QR codes for the Town of Boulder Canyon website, torn into faux pull tabs.

This was the website for the Town of Boulder Canyon, which we know know is cooking up a Mack water coaster themed as a Cannonball competition.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A dusty hillside construction site shows a cement basin and footings on cleared ground.

While this was before Cannonball was announced, you could see footings and a sort of cement basin taking shape.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue train navigates an upward turn of wooden coaster track.

We rocked up to the park around 1, and Drew wanted to go straight for Voyage, so that's what we did. After not being able to ride this at all during my last time at the park in 24, I was itching to laugh and scream on the Pilgrim's Pride! 

Saw a life ring in line??? No photos but it was there. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Down a wooden dive of coaster track curves a blue train reading "THE VOYAGE; HOLIDAY WORLD" on the front panel of its lead car.

"THIS IS NOT THE VOYAGE I REMEMBER!!!" Drew screamed as he hung on for dear life. While it's not been my number one for eleven years, it's a timeless ride that'll always be among the very best wooden coasters ever built. Yes, it beat the crap out of me, but it was more due to sheer length on wooden coaster track than the ride being excessively rough. Airtime's great, aggression's great, it mixes up elements so well, this is the world class terrain wooden coaster that Beast wishes it was!

Fair warning: It rides about as it usually does, but there's a bit of a crunch coming out of the triple down.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A construction site with a cement trough and small, round footers sits hillside as viewed from Voyage's station.

From the brake run, you could see work done on Cannonball. That isn't where I took this photo, but that's the best place to see it. Since this visit, I am aware that it's been painted swimming pool blue. Maybe the paint won't peel off into the algae and peroxide this time!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A set shows a Thanksgiving hearth and living room with a creepy old lady animatronic wielding a sort of wooden gun and stroking a cat.

We then went from Holiday World's best ride to one of their goofiest: Gobbler Getaway! Featuring scary murder granny! Drew the Dark Souls gamer cooked me like that CEO's wife in Thanksgiving the horror flick, but the absurdity of this ride will never not be funny to me.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A donut sprinkled life ring attached to a fence.

These life rings were hidden all over the park, which I now think was a tease for which boats were on Cannonball. Donut, red and white, 'Murica colors etc.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A roller coaster with orange track has blue and yellow winged cars go through an Immelmann, with a swinging tower ride in the foreground.

We headed up the hill next for Thunderbird, which was amazing as always. 2015 was kind of B&M's last year as a top tier manufacturer, and while I've enjoyed later projects of theirs like Orion and Yukon Striker, Thunderbird and Fury are among the best in their portfolio. And to have crafted such a well-performing, beautiful machine in such a nice location is a feat that deserves to be celebrated.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange and brown steel coaster swoops through the trees, with an electric blue and yellow winged train.

Over ten years old and it's day and night smoother than brand new Rapterra.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A barn-themed coaster queue has a covered wagon, loaded with an inflatable life ring.

Spotted another hidden life ring in the queue!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wall of license plates from various states has one license plate reading "4TH OF JULY; FLIPFLOP; 07" in blue with a little red flip flop insignia.

We went to ride Good Gravy next, where Drew broke the ride. After he got off, and tossed his gravy in the trash like a good sport, the ride went down behind us. And it wasn't a minor thing, like, there was a sign out front for the rest of the day. But amid the license plates that decorate the station, this was also displayed, clearly a tease for Cannonball.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A large dining room is decorated with autumn wreaths and red buntings hung from the ceiling.

With weather on the way, we grabbed food at Plymouth Rock. I always loved the vibe here and how it feels like one of those big dining halls you find in the Midwest. I feel there should be a church banquet here with an old conservative grandma who makes amazing potato salad.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tray holds a plate of stuffing, mac and cheese, cornbread, and chicken and dumplings, next to a dish of fried apples.

Had a bit of an issue billing my food, but got it sorted out. This chicken and dumplings was great, bonus points for the inclusion of apples and stuffing, and what's summertime without a little mac and cheese?

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A large steel truss lift hill with wooden track rises into the sky, with a train halfway up.

After the incoming storm came and went, I hit Voyage. And with no line, I hit it again. No line, I rode it a third time and that was enough. What I could do 20 times when I was a dumb college kid I could only do three, my magic row was open a fourth time and I didn't bother taking it. Play Fleetwood Mac, I'm getting old.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A rubber duck dressed like a scarecrow sits in front of a Halloween-themed chairswing.

Aaaand it was also Duck Days! They played all kinds of songs about ducks, including the duck asking for grapes at the lemonade stand, and the park was all decked out with more inflatable ducks in seasonally-appropriate costumes. It was so cute!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden roller coaster enters a schoolhouse-themed station, with a sign reading "The Legend" against a logo of the Headless Horseman.

This hunk of junk was next, which was incredibly painful and beat me beyond reasonable wooden coaster roughness. Last time I remember The Legend being tolerable, good airtime in the hops up and down in that helix, but this was just inexcusable! Please RMC it, I know this is kind of one of those coasters where it's sacrilege to suggest it, but this is awful. The last beating I ever took on Legend will be a legend for the ages!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A rack of boxes read "Good Gravy!" And shows a cranberry-colored roller coaster with gravy boat trains.

We went shopping next, where notably they had Good Gravy Nanocoasters on clearance! Insane a possession as this would be, I have too many of them, so I passed.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett and Drew make a cringe muscle pose with a man in a patriotic eagle suit.

Me ageing and getting older means I need more cringe Patriotic nonsense with no self awareness to put on my social media. Like and share or you're a Commie!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden coaster dives and turns off a grassy bank against the surface of a wooded lake.

My last ride at Holiday World living in the area was a park icon: The Raven. This small, punchy coaster is so scrappy, with some great dips of airtime in the back and a wonderful little dive along Lake Rudolph. And to our surprise, much of the ride's forest run in the second half had been nicely retracked, making the roughest part of the ride one of the smoothest.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden coaster has a bird-themed sign reading "RAVEN" and some flags as a red train heads down the drop.

We rode it twice. The first and last coaster you see at Holiday World, the first one I ever rode here if I remember right, and the last one I will probably ride for a long time. Such a good, underrated ride that gets slept on!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue Voyage train dives down a drop between Thunderbird's supports in the woods.

I've been coming to Holiday World about every other year since 2014, and honestly, it's one of my better home parks. Not an all day thing at all, but when you have a 4 hour drive round trip, it's nice to be able to just get there and chill before heading back. I've seen them build an incredible above and beyond coaster for them in Thunderbird, and I've also seen them build "Jarrett plays around in RCT2 at 9 years old" in Good Gravy. And it's been wonderful to have around, I'm going to miss it. Thank you, Holiday World, for being my home park.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A plastic bag holds an apron, oven mitt, and potholder decorated with Holiday World logos, Good Gravy logos, and kitchen tools.

But hey, I got this stupid nonsense for Keely and I's future home, so it'll always be a part of our little newlywed pad!

Iron Curtain 2026 Region Trip://Leg 4~Cologne is the (Glitter) Bomb!

                       Date:4/25/2026-5/6/2026

Destination: Poland, Germany

Goal: Energylandia, Phantasialand, Europa Park, Poland Culture, Germany Culture

Distance: 4700 Miles

Means of Travel: Flying, Train, Tour Bus

Potential Credits: 40

Day 4

Not a lot of photos of this morning, because we had important fish to fry! Drew and I were off to KRK to catch our flight from Poland to our next country: Deutschland! 

When I told Drew we had a layover in Germany per the Poland plan, he suggested maybe padding the Germany leg a bit more, and the next thing we knew, it was half the trip! We were off to finish the trip in a different half of Central Europe, with a very different history from Poland's.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A sunset photo of an iron arching bridge crossing the Rhine River towards a tall cathedral with two spires and a barge crossing underneath.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A hand holds a small chocolate in a yellow wrapper reading "100; 1926|2026," with Lufthansa's crane logo.

I could type paragraphs and paragraphs about what happened the morning we left our AirBNB for the airport and the subsequent crazy flight, but I'll just TL;DR it so we can get to the chaos in Germany faster:

• Poland dresses their TSA in scary army green uniforms.
• After checking in yesterday, I saw we had our seats moved due to an airplane swap.
• Drew's boarding pass was on my phone. I stepped through the gate after scanning mine, then handed it back to him to scan. When it set off an alarm, I casually apologized and some guy that looked like Volodymyr Zelensky screamed at me to hand it to him.
• Both of us had our bags searched by KRK security.
• KRK is a crowded mess with no seating.
• When I scan my boarding pass, "SEATING EMERGENCY" pops up. We had been moved into an exit row, and because of my Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard, I'm not allowed to fly there. I know this, I don't book exit rows for that reason, but we were moved into one because of the tail swap. So Lufthansa had to scramble to seat us, putting us both riding bitch one in front of the other.
• I made Drew sit in front of me, considering his epic vomit upon our descent into Poland.

Despite the delay in takeoff due to the plane taking too damn long to board, we didn't land terribly late.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A glass bottle of Paulaner Munchener beer sits on an airplane traytable.

Honestly, you can't really put a global-scaled airline under a microscope until you've flown internationally with them, so this flight was honestly pretty textbook. My big memory with Lufthansa, of all things, was being served Paualner Muchener in a glass bottle, something that would be a huge no-no back in the States post-9/11. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A hand holds a large pretzel dotted with sesame seeds against a train platform.

Our Germany leg was to be based out of Panem's Europe's very own District 6 Frankfurt am Main. A travel hub for both air and rail travel that I heard was littered with drugs and poverty, but we wouldn't be there long and it was just stopover stuff. We managed to catch our tight train connection, even with enough time to grab a pretzel at the Frankfurt am Main Flughafen Bahnhof, or airport train station.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A riverside landscape with a small village against the Rhine, vineyards and a castle in the hills above.

Our destination today was Köln, or Cologne, aboard the infamous Deutsch Bahn German train system. And we honestly had a great time! Didn't make great time, but had a great time. While it started off typical Frankfurt dystopian, the ride here is beautiful, hugging the Rhine and showing off all of Germany's little Rhine valley villages and castles.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A screenshot shows ICE 1228 interrupted by track repairs, intervention by authorities, and disposal of unexploded ordinance.

However, we got Deutsch Bahn'd when our ETA was delayed a for a very explosive reason! I saw this in the app, asked a buddy, turns out that old WWII bombs sometimes get dug up around here in construction. The delay caused by the need to detonate this bomb set us back about an hour, putting us in Köln at about 5 pm Germany time. I'll count that as a W, the line was supposed to continue on to Amsterdam, but was canceled at this stop.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A train traytable holds a container of fries, bratwurst, and curry sauce with a beer and wooden silverware. Out the window, the train crosses a river next to a pretty German village.

Ah, I was on a train in Germany, so I cracked open my laptop, wrote, and enjoyed myself a currywurst and a beer!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A platform shows many trains coming and going under an ornate, girdered roof.

Hello, Köln! I loved this station, it was like something from a dystopian steampunk novel. Okay, a lot of Germany looks dystopian, despite being a good, progressive nation with high standards of living. I love me some industrial grit, what can I say?

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A massive Gothic cathedral with twin spires and ornate stonework facade.

Outside the train station, a screaming unhoused man attracted the attention of police, who were there to moderate a peaceful Free Palestine protest. But this commotion was effortlessly dwarfed by the main destination of the day: the enormous Cologne Cathedral.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An ornate iron door under an arch, flanked by statues.

No bags inside the cathedral, so Drew and I kind of tag teamed it. One played bag lady, one went inside to feel the wrath of god. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A dimly lit church sanctuary with tall, pointed windows.

This place is massive! Definitely the biggest cathedral I've been in, a bit more humble in the decor thank St. Mary's, but Kolner Dom's beauty isn't in colors and paint. This place is just huge, impressive architecture, where the Gothic style can really do its thing and stretch those pointed windows tall.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tall, pointed stained glass window bathes the inside of a massive Gothic sanctuary.

Not gonna lie, it looks absolutely angelic. Even as an atheist, stepping inside this building definitely qualifies as a spiritual experience.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An array of golden, glowing tealight candles in a church under a colorful stained glass window.

Lit a candle for those who can't be here to welcome me home anymore. My father, grandpa, and a slew of little paws who'd rush to the door to see me.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A small altar on the wall features a Madonna and some flowers.

Mass was actually going on right now, so tourists were kind of limited to a little bullpen thing at the back of the cathedral, but having the music and incense going as I took photos only made my time here that much more special.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Atop an altar sits a golden reliquary shaped like three stacked caskets with pointed lids.

While we couldn't get close with Mass going on, one interesting thing housed in this church is a very important Catholic relic: the Magi. The three wise men who visited the baby Christ bearing gifts are allegedly entombed in these three gold coffins. Is it actually them in the reliquary? Who knows. But apparently it has been opened and does contain human bones and scraps that were once robes.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A vertical photo of Kolner Dom's cross-shaped ceiling.

Cathedrals are designed to have the aerial profile of a Christian crucifix.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tall stained glass window full of tiny little pictograms.

The most impressive thing about this place, which is almost a design flaw, is the sheer level of detail that went into everything despite its Biblical proportions. As massive as it is, the art goes down to the smallest, minuscule details. God knows how much time it would even take to see and understand every symbol, every icon, every art piece that makes up this incredible location.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: The exterior of the cathedral, with pointed spires and tall windows.

"Not AI slop but looks like AI slop" is an aesthetic we do not talk about enough.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across a bridge, one can see the iron arching trusses and the twin spires of Kolner Dom against the sunset reflected in the Rhine.

 

From here, we elected to just walk across the bridge, as our hotel was across the Rhine.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A rail of rusty, colorful locks stands in the foreground against a teal bridge at sunset.

Those "love locks" that are mostly associated with Paris and cause serious structural problems for bridges not designed to hold the weight of that much extra metal were a practice in Koln as well. The famous Rhine River bridge was full of them, with street vendors even selling overpriced Master locks for couples to lock to its rails!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett shoots his camera across the Rhine into the sun, with a view of a double arching steel bridge and a cathedral with two spires.

Obligatory dramatic "camera shot into the sunset" photo.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An elevator door on a landing between two sets of stairs in the middle of a stairwell.

We got to the hotel, where a pissed off German lady in a flashy crop top coldly let us in and checked us into the room, and I took a shower. The elevator for our luggage was nice, until we saw that this was the dumbest attempt at accessibility and the elevator dumps you literally between two flights of stairs on the landing.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett and Drew clink small glasses of beer at a bar.

After we got back downstairs, the woman who checked us in saw us to the bar, got us set up, and apologized for being so crabby earlier. She gestured behind us the rowdiest, most elderly birthday party I'd ever seen, sitting around a high top like the Golden Girls. "They let off a glitter bomb in here earlier and I had to clean it up, they thought it was so funny," she grumbled.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A carousel of small drinking glasses behind a bar are filled with frothy beer, with a bottle of Coke next to it.

"I will keep the drinks coming, when you are done, set your coaster atop your glass," we were instructed. The beers weren't huge, but she was filling them repeatedly with one of those little Oktoberfest carousels you see. The best part was a single Coke in the circle of cups, not sure if it was for the designated driver, the 13 year-old in their group, or if that was the same person.

As we waited on our Schnitzel, one of the women grabbed a microphone and started singing something in German with an ABBA vibe for our "entertainment." By now, the rounds of beers were going to our heads, and this was funny to not only us, but to the bartender! She even told me to can it with my commentary because she was laughing too hard to work!

"Your dinner includes a shot. Do you want me to be nice or do you want me to be mean?" she asked us. I said to be mean, and mean she was! Not sure what was in this shot, but I felt it the next morning!

UP NEXT: The first of two LEGENDARY German parks is on the itinerary as we take on a place that is as beautiful as it is hard to navigate: Phantasialand! A familiar face joins us for a romp around, up, down, inside, outside, over and down this compact and beautifully themed park! A bittersweet moment at F.L.Y. with my licensed pilot late father, the Chiapas line in scorching German heat, and a new #1 for one of us three awaits! Plus, the whole "never stop for the night" trope rears its ugly head as we pick the biggest dump in Europe to crash on our way to the Rhine Valley!