Thunderbird Watch: First Train Car Arrives

Well, it wasn't enough that the track was completed just about three weeks early but now the folks over at Holiday World have gotten another little Christmas present. This time, the first car of the trains for Thunderbird.

Delivered just a few days ago, they didn't waste any time getting it on the track either. At this point, it's looking like they're well ahead of schedule to get things going and that's never a bad thing to see!

Those who have ridden GateKeeper, X-Flight or Wild Eagle in the US, then you've likely encountered the trains before as they're pretty much uniform, outside of the paint jobs and a couple other artistic bits, across the board for B&M's wing coasters. If you haven't, well, it's an interesting thing to experience.

Anyway, there's a shot of the car being lifted into place from the Holiday World Facebook Page. If you're curious as to why theirs no track under it, that's because there are small wheels that help to support the train, much like B&M's trains on Griffon and Sheikra. Definitely a little weird to wrap your head around, but somehow they support the massive weight and pretty awesome to think how that can even happen.

Here's the video of them lifting it in place and you can see the wheel thing in it pretty clearly too, pretty cool stuff.

Post by Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.

Stay tuned for more info out of Holiday World and everywhere else that's building for 2015 right here or follow us on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and Facebook for all the latest!

Thunderbird Construction Continues at Holiday World

It's been a while since we've checked in with Holiday World and the progress of Thunderbird, the world's first launched wing coaster. Now, however, there's been a few new pictures released from the park and they're definitely well under way to get things opened on time for the 2015.

Thunderbird, unveiled earlier this year, is the park's first all steel coaster and features a unique launch system that's definitely going to be interesting to experience.

Anyway, before we get to the pictures, here's the latest Hard Hat Chronicles video from the folks at Holiday World.


And now...here's the pictures of construction so far from Holiday World's Facebook Page!

First Piece of Thunderbird Track in Place at Holiday World!

Well, that didn't take long as just last week the first sections of track for Holiday World's newest scream machine, Thunderbird, arrived. Today, the Holiblog posted up a few pictures showing the first piece of track going into place for their newest and first ever steel coaster.

Thunderbird is not only the park's first all steel coaster, but also the world's first ever launched wing coaster as well.

Have to say, the orange track is going to be incredible to see snaking through the woods, and night rides are going to be insane. Anyway, the first section of track to be installed, as pictured below, is for the station and as they say "only 76 more to go!"

Check out the Holiblog, Holiday World's official blog for more pictures here!

Stay tuned for more updates on the construction of Thunderbird and we can't wait to get a chance to take flight in April of 2015!

First Pieces of Thunderbird Track Arrive at Holiday World

The first pieces of track have arrived at Holiday World for their newest addition to the park, Thunderbird. Announced last Thursday night, their newest coaster is not only their first steel coaster in the park's history, but also the first launched wing coaster from B&M in the world. It will take riders through three inversions after shooting from 0-60 in just 3.5 seconds.

The new track segments that have made their way to Holiday World also solve another mystery, where some of the track spotted at the Clermont Steel Fabricator lot in Ohio is headed. Now just for the other colors...

Image from @HolidayWorld on Twitter

Either way, going to be fun to watch this one get built over the course of the next 8 months or so and can't wait to get a chance to ride the madness in the Spring of 2015! For more details about Thunderbird, check out our coverage of the announcement here.

New Details Emerge About Holiday World's 2015 Project

With the end of Holiday World's "66 Days at Sea" campaign, teasing their newest attraction, coming to an end, a little bit more info has come out regarding their 2015 project.

There's been a ton of speculation around this one over the past couple of months. Everything from a B&M Wing Coaster or Dive Machine to steel/wood hybrid coasters that contain loops, over banked turns and other elements not possible with just wood. It's really anyone's guess but with a $22million dollar price tag on the expansion, it could be just about anything.

However, with that number floating around out there, it's unlikely to be a wing coaster or giga coaster from B&M since they tend to run a wee bit north of that. It does, however, leave the door open for pretty much anything else from any manufacturer though. However, I'm doubtful on the steel/wood hybrid coaster idea here as well, even if something from Gravity Group or Rocky Mountain Coasters would be cool. Why? Simply because they already have one with Voyage and while it doesn't do any of the nifty tricks the newer ones do, it's something I don't see them revisiting with this new project. Additionally, neither would be very "family friendly" at all and cost way under the amount we've been given.

The only clues we have are the vague ones from the 66 Days campaign and possibly a recent blog post from Leah Koch, daughter of Holiday World's Founder, Will Koch. In it she reminisced about a ride that never came to be and her father saying that they'd never build a steel coaster due to it not being "family friendly". In the end though, she said that the new project would see her father's dream become reality but that he'd moved on from the technology in his first idea presented. So, take that however you want to as it could mean just about anything yet again.

Other clues from the past couple of months have included; ‘Upside Down’, ‘One.Big.Thing’, ‘When you find out, you’re gonna flip’, ’truly unique’ and ‘The first of its kind’. Certainly sounds like it's going to be something that's gonna upside down at least, so there is that.

Again, we only now know the price tag of $22million and that it's a "first of it's kind" ride. Holiday World will be making their official announcement on Thursday night, at least we're getting closer to an answer!

Follow us on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and Facebook for all the news as it happens from Santa Claus, Indiana this week!

Roadside America- Holiday World

Good Morning Folks!
I hope your enjoying my crazy tour off the beaten path, because I always find it fun to explore new places and parks. Outside of the giant parks we've all heard of because these things do exist!

Keeping on with our crazy tour, today's offering I'm told isn't considering an a giant. It's often forgotten and overlooked by folks outside of the "know" on theme parks and amusement parks. To say this shocked me is a bit of an understatement, so I simply had to bring it to light here.

Holiday World is located in Santa Clause, Indiana.
It's been in the same family for three generations, each one adding their own special mark to the park. It began life in 1946 as "Santa Clause Land" which had toy shops and displays, children's rides and naturally.. Santa! Over the years the Koch family expanded the park to include other favorite holidays like "July 4th" and "Halloween". The most recent addition happened in 2006 to add in "Thanksgiving" as it's own land! Please follow the link for more on the parks history, they have a far better story then I do!
Holiday World has won many coveted "Golden Ticket" awards as well as being rated "Americas Top Value Park" thanks to their family owned and operated practices.  Holiday World holds some of the highest standards in the Theme Park industry and it shows in their ratings!  I'm sure you've heard rumors of that theme park that offers completely FREE Soft Drinks? Yes, This is Holiday World! They also have Free Sunscreen, Free Wi-fi and most amazingly FREE PARKING!

So if your looking for someplace to go that's off the normal pathway, please consider Holiday World. You'll never be disappointed in your service or your trip!

Holiday World