Help EB's son Mark become Holiday World's #1 Fan!

Holiday World is having a contest to find their #1 Fan.

A lot of people sent in videos to show why they were worthy, but only four finalists remain.  We just received word that EB's son Mark is one of the four finalists!

This is one of times for all of the listeners to unite behind one of our own!  Let's push Mark over the top by voting for him often!  If he wins, he'll receive four season passes to Holiday World.

Of course, this will translate into excellent content for Season Five of the show! (Which starts on October 7th by the way!)

VOTE HERE! Vote for "Mark, the Little Boy!"

poll by twiigs.com

EB Reviews (and rides) Holiday World's Wildebeest!

I was thrilled to see the invite to come to Holiday World's Media Day for Wildebeest show up in my InBox last week. So of course I didn't pass up on the chance to visit my new home park (for free, natch).

And despite my ultra-doubting and lack of enthusiasm for the Wildebeest, I was pleasantly surprised by my visit and my ride.

Talk about the opposite of anticipointment: I expected little but got one of the craziest, most unique water ride experiences I've ever had. Wildebeest gets the EB stamp of approval (thwomp!) Plus, I got the chance to talk about Wildebeest with not only the President of Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, but also the park's number on fan: Will Koch. And here it is:

EB: Where are we and what's happening today?

Will: We're standing on the loading platform for Wildebeest. Take the idea of a roller coaster, take it out of the dry park and put it into the water park. Instead of riding in a big train, you have a four-person inner-tube. And you literally start at ground level - there's no stairs to climb - you ride up a big inclined conveyor, and then you go up and down hills just like in a regular roller coaster. It uses LIM technology - Linear Induction Motors - to push you uphill. It's almost a magical feeling. You don't see what's pushing you! It's just a fun ride. It's going to be the most popular ride in Splashin' Safari this summer, I'm positive!

EB: Holiday World prides itself on being "Number One in Family Fun." You chose to spend $5.5 million dollars on this ride - a ride the whole family can enjoy - instead of a thrill ride that's essentially adults-only.

Will: Wildebeest is a family ride. We are commited. We are focused. Our whole reason for being here is to serve families better then other parks do. And by making the decision to spend $5.5 million on the Wildebeest I think we're reinforcing that commitment. We're all about families! And families are going to love this ride.

EB: Can you break down the stats for me?

Will: The Wildebeest is the world's longest water coaster - it's a third of a mile, 1,700 feet long. Elevation change from the station to the top of the lift is about sixty feet. It's a two-and-a-half minute long ride, which is a long time for a ride. And we'll be able to put over 700 riders per hour on this ride. So we're going to move the line pretty quickly.

EB: Compare Wildebeest to other water coasters out there - specifically the Master Blaster technology.

Will: The Wildebeest uses a LIM technology to push boats uphill. It's Linear Induction Motors, which is a series of magnets basically. It's an electric motor that's unwound and it pushes the boats uphill. The other water coasters out there either use the Master Blaster technology: using water to push boats uphill. And that's a technology that's been around for a while and it works very well. But we like the LIM technology better because it gives us a little bit more speed over the tops of the hills and you get that feeling of air-time that you wouldn't get on a Master Blaster style ride. And there's also conveyor-belt style water coasters. But again, the LIM technology is the third generatino technology and it's just the best there is out there for water coasters.

EB: Can you talk a bit about ride experience? Is the acceleration the same as on a Master Blaster water coaster?

Will: When you're riding the ride and you feel the LIM there is a very definite acceleration. And it's a smooth acceleration - you start out slow at the bottom of the hill and as you get up to the top you reach a peak speed and then coast over the top of the hill. But the great thing is you get that feeling of air time going over the top of the hill, which is just a whole lot of fun.

EB: Now, you're a fan of... well, rides.

Will: Yeah! [laughs] Yes I am!

EB: So tell me, how did you come to the conclusion to build this instead of another roller coaster? You know, you once told us that you would put more into the water park over the other park if you had to choose between the two. Are we going to keep seeing that? What about next year?

Will: Um, well. [laughs] How do I answer that? [laughs] It's really important to us to find a balance with adding new attractions to Spalshin' Safari and to Holiday World. One of the things we really struggle with is - one of the things we really respond to is capacity issues. So we look at our rides. We look at where the back-ups are. Where the waits are longest. And we typically try to fit our new attractions to serve the needs that we see are not being met as well as we otherwise might. So at Splashin' Safari what we've noticed over the years is that the lines for Zinga, for Bakuli and ZOOMbabwe - our three biggest water slides - are actually some of the longest lines in the entire park. So, one of the reasons for teh Wildebeest is to address that problem. To provide another ride that will provide that same high thrill, real high energy experience in the water park and to provide what it is that the customers are looking for. Now, at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, we're of course going to continue looking at developing both, but certainly Splashin' Safari's become a very important part of our mix. A lot of our customers come to us for Splashin' Safari, so Spashin' Safari is a big deal for us.



After the interview, I was able to give the Wildebeest a couple of test runs - and get some great on-ride video (with permission, of course). Make sure you check that out on our Facebook page and listen to this week's show for my full review!



Talk about this in the CoasterRadio.com Forums!

Holiday World Sets a Record in 2009!

It's very rare that I get excited about a water ride, but the new attraction Holiday World is building for 2009 makes me want to make a return trip to Santa Claus, Indiana.

The Pilgrims Plunge starts off as a classic shoot-the-chutes ride but then quickly leaps into the 21st century. Once you approach the main tower, an open-air elevator lifts you higher than any other water ride in the world! What follows is a 131 foot drop at a 45 degree angle.

You can see images and video over at Holiday World's Website.

Perhaps EB (who now lives in Indiana) can be one of the first to ride it!

Talk all about it in the CoasterRadio.com Forums!

EB's Holiday World Television Project

Hi guys, I'm back from Europe and ready to start posting regular material again.

To kick things off, here is the television segment that EB produced about The Voyage at Holiday World for Indiana television.

EB On The Job At Holiday World

As many of you know, our own EB packed up his family and moved to Indiana a few weeks ago.

Being the excellent TV Producer he is, he immediately found a job.  And where did his first assignment take him?

HOLIDAY WORLD!

Paula over at the HoliBlog posted about his day at the park.

From what I've heard, EB walked the track of The Voyage and even got to interview several of the staff members.

And EB reports that Paula remembered him from our 2006 Podcast at Holiday World!

EB always makes a good impression!

Talk about this in the CoasterRadio.com forums!

EB checks in from Indiana!

EB checking in on the blog!  The move was successful and we're all settling in here in Indiana.

So far, so good, and we really like it here.  Over the weekend we visited Brown County State Park, and more importantly, the Indianapolis Zoo.  

Why is the Zoo so special?  Because it has a roller coaster, of course!!

It's just a wee little kiddie coaster, but it still adds one to my coaster count, right?  And speaking of one coaster on your coaster count, young Mark rode, too - his very first coaster!

We just barely convinced the ride op that he was 38", so he got to ride Kombo, a kiddie coaster at the Indianapolis zoo!  It was awesome and he really loved it - I was so worried he'd be freaked out and scared, but he thought it was the best part of the zoo!  The op sent us around for three circuits, too - Mark yelled "Again Again" everytime we came around to the station. Yay!

Next up, the Howler at Holiday World!

Talk about it in the CoasterRadio.com Forums!

EB Is Moving On

A message from EB:

Ho, ho, ho! Like that guy we met at Holiday World, I'm moving to Indiana!

Indeed, it's true. I'm tired of the sprawling suburbs and I am packing up my wife and two boys for easy-going country living. The housing costs here in Northern Virginia are insane, so with this move we'll be trading in our little townhouse for a single family home and an acre of land. And my commute will go from 45 minutes in the nation's 2nd worst traffic to 10 minutes and a couple of stoplights.

And yes, we really will be near Holiday World. That will basically be my new home park, only about two hours away (much like good ol' King's Dominion is from where we live now). Can't wait to get down there and ride those woodies – I think we'll be making it a required destination for anyone who come out to visit (this not an open invite – I'm talking about people I actually know, not you).

But never fear, Collins still has plans to finish out the three promised shows, and I will be a part of them, either in person or otherwise (unless I'm actually navigating a uHaul through the Appalachian Mountains at the time). Otherwise? What does that mean? Yeah, I think we'll have to go the Skype route!! Ha! And even though it sounds like crap, you know your CoasterRadio crew will figure out a way of doing it better then anyone else!

Talk about this big news in the CoasterRadio.com forum.

CoasterRadio.com Rocks the HoliBlog!

One of the best places we ever visited during the reign of the CoasterRadio.com podcast was Holiday World and Splashin' Safari.

It was so great, it even brought a smile to EB's face.

Today, the relaunch of CoasterRadio.com got a nice mention in the HoliBlog with a link to our review of The Voyage.

There's only been one time that I've traveled over 300 miles to visit a theme park that didn't have the name DISNEY in it. That trip was to Santa Claus, Indiana to visit Holiday World.

It was totally worth it.