Holiday World

Yesterday I took the youth group to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. For those of you who either like amusement parks or who organize trips for kids, I thought I would share my impressions of it.

They claim to be "#1 in Family Fun." I would say as far as being family-friendly and customer-friendly, they are a full head and shoulders above any other theme park I've ever been to. They are making a profit from this park, but I never felt like this place was greed-driven like Disney, Universal Studios, or Six Flags.

Here are some of the perks:

• Price - With a group rate, it was only $23.50 per person. Free parking, too. In fact, between admission, food, and renting a locker all day, I spent a total of less than $35. Pretty incredible!
  
• Food - Drinks are included! You look around for buildings labeled "Pepsi Oasis" (there is always one near by, wherever you are), then you go in, get a cup, and fill up on your choice of Pepsi products, tea, or orange Gatorade. When it was time to eat, the food was actually good, and very reasonable. For $6, I got a bacon cheeseburger, excellent fries, some extra cheese to dip my fries in, and a chocolate chip cookie. Drinks are always free. I couldn't have done better than that at most fast food places.
  
• Wooden Roller Coasters - The roller coasters they have are all legit. They really go fast, and the rides are pretty impressively long.
  
• Water Park - The water park is included in the price of admission. It isn't the double whammy like Universal Studios where you pay extra for the ride section. The water park rides were numerous, and all of them were really good. My favorite one was a bit like being flushed down a toilet. Two to Four of you get on an inflatable raft which goes through about 15 seconds of tunnel down into a funnel shaped spiraling bowl, and finally down and out the bottom of it. Next time I go, I will likely spend the majority of my time there in the water park. Did I mention that they provide free sunscreen? That was nice

As far as the things that were less desirable about it:

• If you don't like the jarring of wooden roller coasters, you won't find any smooth ones hear that take you upside down. There are only three roller coasters. They're good, but there are only three of them, and all are wooden. They have several other rides that are enjoyable, but if you're a big time coaster person and you don't like water parks, it will leave you wanting.
• It is in the middle of nowhere. I honestly don't think there is anything within 25 miles of this place. I don't know where you'd stay the night, because there is nothing around it. There aren't even any signs as you get close. You go over a hill out in the country, and suddenly there's a theme park in front of you.
  
• The music show was rather unimpressive. I prefer to see live musicians. There was singing and choreography--even a Christian music show--but no musical performers. As a musician, I was a little disappointed.
• I never could find a clock. When I had left my cellphone in the locker to do water rides, it was hard to know when I needed to go to the checkpoint.

Overall, the fun and the bang for your buck far outweighs the shortcomings. It is a great theme park, and I will definitely go back again. Any youth group looking to go to a theme park would make a good choice in trying Holiday World.