Sunday, June 9, 2024

Puking Thanksgiving Dinner://Holiday World 2024

                       Date:6/9/2024

Destination: Santa Claus, Indiana
Goal: Holiday World
Distance: 235  Miles
Means of Travel: Driving
Potential Credits: 1



On the first of August 2023, it was announced that a roller coaster like no other would shock the Midwest, blasting riders forwards and backward on an experience that guaranteed a rollback for any and all guests. That's right, a park beloved by enthusiasts with a must-do event every summer was building the most anticipated ride of 2024 as the world watched on the edge of their seats!


Image Description: A sign resembling a wooden cutting board shows a logo reading"Good Gravy! Family Coaster" with a gravy boat pouring the letters in the word Gravy. In the background, a white roller coaster train navigates a magenta-colored track into a large can of cranberry sauce.

Good Gravy! was announced in the shadow of Top Thrill 2 on the exact same day. A Vekoma Junior Boomerang, riders would zip forwards and backwards along a cranberry-colored track. And honestly, I was enjoying the Good Gravy content more than the Top Thrill 2 content that day for the meme value alone. The shitpost quality of this was hilarious to me from the second we first saw it. Good Gravy initially reminded me of the time I built a Scrambler in a farmhouse serving breakfast in RCT2 as a child, then of a BattleBot called Battle Royale With Cheese that was designed to look like a hamburger with a spinning bacon bar. It's a serious, high-dollar machine, themed completely as a funny joke.

My buddy Linda, who I've known for a few years now over text, and I had been wanting to try and hang out in person more. Meanwhile, she had a phobia of coasters caused by Vortex at Carowinds (can you even blame her?), so when I saw a funny new family coaster I asked if she wanted to pop along for the day. She ended up crashing at my place for the night after getting off from work (oddly enough, she works minutes from my apartment, made no sense for her to go out of the way) and we got a move on the next morning!

We woke up around 7 am and headed on the road, planning to make great time. I always tell people Holiday World is 4 hours away, but when I saw 3 hours and 38 minutes on the GPS, that put me on a mission to get us there ASAP. South of Dayton we got completely stopped by some stupid traffic jam (don't ask how we got out) and before we knew it, we were heading down the Will Koch Memorial Highway past Voyage, Thunderbird, and of course, Good Gravy!


Image Description: A pale blue building resembling a nautical boathouse has wooden coaster track coming out of it, a sign reading "The Voyage" is displayed prominently on the front and side. A train climbs the lift, while oncoming riders wait in line on a staircase.

Good morning, Holiday World! We made a bee line for Good Gravy, past my favorite ride in the park: Voyage! I was so excited to ride it after we got this credit in the bag!


Image Description: Jarrett, a man in his 30s with sandy hair, stands inside of a giant whisk, with one hand on one of the tines.

First and foremost: I'd have gone nuts over the Good Gravy area as a child. The theming is very Lilliputian, props are larger than they would be in real life so that riders feel smaller, kind of a Honey I Shrunk The Kids vibe. There's so much to play on and climb on! 



Image Description: Four rooms and home scenes can be seen in an indoor queue line. Top left, an ugly 1970s dining room with tacky pumpkin wallpaper. Top right, a kitchen furnished with vintage appliances. Bottom left, a bedroom with retro wallpaper resembling rainbows. Bottom right, a wall with ugly wallpaper holds several black and white photos of family members, with Grandma's being a screen.

Getting in line for Good Gravy, the first thing you notice is the smell...but in a good way. The queue line even smells like apple pie when you first walk in! 


Image Description: A panorama of a station decorated like an ugly wood-paneled garage. On the wall are several road signs, license plates, and the words "Gee Whillikers, that's some good gravy!"

The station for Good Gravy looks honestly like a cool retro garage (I was going to mail them some Ohio plates but forgot) but ugly and tacky in every way.


Image Description: A roller coaster train resembling a white gravy boat navigates a curve of maroon track. In the front car, two women appear excited.

This ride surprised me! I thought it looked like a cute addition with a crappy layout at first, but this actually has a bit more kick than I expected.


Image Description: On the left, a white gravy boat-themed Good Gravy train exits the station under a Good Gravy! logo. On the right, the same train climbs a near-vertical spike of cranberry-colored track.

Good Gravy starts with that flashback-inducing slow climb backward that anyone who's taken a beating on a bad full-sized boomerang knows all too well. But from there, instead of getting beaten to hell and back, you hang a surprisingly strong turn to the right, into a nice, smooth slalom through the can of cranberry sauce. The following hill dishes out some decent floater for a family coaster, there's another quick little curve, and then you're up a nearly vertical spike, which took me a little off guard. Rolling back the layout is a bit more exciting just not seeing what's coming, and you get a little bit of backwards butterflies over that hill. 

I thought from videos of this ride that it looked way too slow, and felt like it was more the real-life equivalent of an RCT2 micro coaster. But both of us had a fun time on it, it was friendly enough to be ridden by a coaster newbie, but enjoyable enough that a hardened enthusiast was smiling and putting his hands up. And who doesn't like gravy? It's impossible to hate this coaster!

Image Description: A roller coaster station themed as a rickety timber barn, with wooden rafters overhead. A blue and yellow coaster train sits on orange track with open restraints behind a set of station gates. A sign reads "#SafetyFirst, Empty pockets into basket, place the basket in the cabinet before riding," with pictures of keys, a smartphone, and a wallet.

I wanted to do Thunderbird next, seeing as Voyage had gone down, but someone puked in the station and it was going to take way too long to clean up for some reason. So we went to check out Voyage, no action there, and went up the hill to Halloween.


Image Description: A sign has two photos of barn owls amid timber rafters and reads "Rare Barn Owls Nesting in our Thunderbird Barn, Please excuse the mess but enjoy the opportunity to view them if you get the chance. Fewer than 50 barn owl nests are found annually in Indiana. The barn owl (Tyto Alba) is a state-endangered species. In 2017, only 43 barn owl nests were reported statewide. The decline is due to the loss of grassland habitat. Barn owls get their name because nests are often placed in barns."

This was cute, at least.

After this, we did Crow's Nest followed by Gobbler Getaway, where I won in a landslide.


Image Description: Me in the station for a wooden roller coaster, flashing a peace sign from behind the gates. A ride op holds up a clear for a red train with black raven wings painted on the side panels.

Raven was the next ride in the pecking order, to which Linda said nevermore because she didn't like the straight drop. And to my fortune...no line and one of the ride ops was an enthusiast that liked my Matugani shirt! So I got to marathon and snagged three back to back to back rides all in the coaster's best second to last row.


Image Description: A red train with black raven wings painted on the side goes down the drop of a wooden roller coaster, diving through trees to the forest floor.

I LOVE THIS COASTER!!! Voyage is obviously king of Santa Claus but I could never decide between Raven and Thunderbird for the number two/three spot in the lineup here. There's so much insane falling airtime for such a short coaster. I got some decent airtime on the lake dive (never gotten that before), and that raucous finale racing along the wooded forest floor is fantastic. Bigger is not always better, and this coaster has always sort of been proof of that for me.


Image Description: An inverting element of rusty orange track held up by brown supports carries a teal and yellow coaster train upside-down high into a cloudy sky. The trains feature seats suspended over either the left or right side of the cars on wings.

Next up (and now no longer covered in vomit) was Thunderbird, which Linda didn't want to ride because of the loops, so I waited in line and looked for the barn owls. I love this ride so much, and I was able to see results from my recent weight loss in the station, getting the fatty row buckle on my own. It's got bite to it, not in a "crush you with force" kind of way, but enough to make the flight-inspired layout feel edgy. And that barn is terrifying! I rode on both left and right.

Linda was actually really enjoying herself sitting back to watch it and not ride, which I thought was odd. But considering her family was apparently super into Monster Jam, it would make sense she enjoys watching powerful machinery.

We also rode Crow's Nest again.


Image Description: A Zierer Wave Swinger, which consists of a column holding a carousel-like canopy with swings suspended from it by chain. The structure is themed with a Halloween motif, featuring bats, scarecrows, skulls, and pumpkins.

Linda wanted to do Howl-O-Swings next while we waited for Voyage to reopen, and I'm a total sucker for a wave swinger, so we did that. Plus the theming on this one is cute so that's never a bad thing. I wish more parks would theme theirs like this one because there's a lot of fun opportunities for photogenic rides in it.


Image Description: A wooden roller coaster with a lift hill, turn high off the ground, and a curved drop. Pink, orange, and purple flags fly from the top of the hill. A purple train dives down the curved drop amid green trees.

I wanted to hit up Legend while we were there, and I was shocked Linda actually got on and rode with me. And while I actually gained a lot more respect for this coaster (seriously, it climbs my rankings more and more every time I ride it, that airtime up into the carousel with all those laterals is sick!)...she did not. She said she was done with coasters for the day so we were kind of in "do what else we want and leave" mode.


Image Description: An inclined length of maroon coaster track held up by orange supports raises a white gravy boat-themed train backwards amid the trees and countryside.

I wanted a few more shots of Good Gravy so we went and did that.

But one problem: what the hell is going on with Voyage?

We went down the hill, saw them send a train, that gave us hope. Linda wanted to ride the Scrambler, so we did that, and came back, only to get told by the ride op, "it looks bad. It's looking very bad." So as a consolation prize, we did Eagle's Flight instead and then headed out.


Image Description: A package reads "Good Gravy! 3 Piece Kitchen Set, Apron, Pot Holder, Oven Mitt. In the package are the three items printed with Holiday World logos, chicken egg timers, Koch-branded milk bottles, rolling pins, whisks, and boxes of stuffing.

Linda wanted to stop and souvenir shop on the way out, and I was one bad decision away from buying this for my dad as a Father's Day gift since he likes to cook so much.


Image Description: A wooden roller coaster with red trains takes a turn diving down to a lake in the forest.

You can't have a bad day at Holiday World. Sure, Voyage is amazing and beautiful and incredible and arguably the greatest wooden coaster in the world, but part of the magic with it is that it sits in this amazing park. The rural rolling location, the fun theme of holidays, knowing the place is in the hands of a family that cares so much about this park, a solid supporting lineup of fun flats/dark ride/water rides, and of course, coasters ranging from fun to downright incredible. Special thanks to Linda for tagging along and DJing and a big hand for stepping up to the plate and taking on your coaster fear! This was fun!



Image Description: Top Left, A khaki hat with a pink Good Gravy! logo sits on a break room table next to a TV dinner meatloaf and mashed potatoes covered in brown gravy. Top right, a Good Gravy! coffee cup sits in front of a coffee maker. Bottom, a shiny Good Gravy! magnet hangs from the side of a black toolbox, next to a Kings Island Guest Code of Conduct card.

"Gravy" at work is a euphamism for easy, boring work. So naturally, I had to purchase and bring in all the Good Gravy merch for a laugh.


Image Description: A blue wooden coaster train reading "The Voyage" on the front takes a turn, riders raise their arms.

...and the following day, Voyage reopened with the park like nothing had happened. I'm still salty about it and I will be returning to the park later this season to ride it. No photos of it running that day obviously, so enjoy this stunning shot from 2022.

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