Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

Last week we went to Holiday World. We try to go every year and each year it gets bigger and more crowded. This doesn't stop us, though!!!   Every other year we end up going on a weekend because Brad has to work.  This year was wide open and we went on a Tuesday.  We knew that it would be busy, and it certainly was, but it wasn't as bad as going on a Saturday.  The best part of Holiday World would be the prices and freebies.  I get a discount from my hospital that takes about $10 off per ticket.  I believe tickets are normally $49.99 for an all day pass.  Of course, there are discounts for children under a certain height and for seniors.  The freebies are what bring us back every year.  I'm a nurse and a Mom, so sunscreen is always packed.  I don't have to worry about packing it at this theme park, because they have huge gallon jugs of it at the free sunscreen stations around the park.  None of us got burnt the day we went, so it must not be too bad!  The best freebie, in my opinion, are the unlimited soft drinks.  All over the park are little buildings with fountain drink stations.  The kids LOVE it, and I can't even begin to think how much better hydrated we are during the day and how much money we save!  We get ice water and Gatorade most of the time and after a few waters we will get a pop.  I will also say that Holiday World is one of the cleanest and friendliest parks I have been to as well.  The food is nothing to brag about, but it is good.  They have a decent variety.  We got a large pizza for all four of us at the Wildebeestro in the water park portion.  The pizza was huge and I believe it cost around $25.  There are little stands all over the park where you can get Dippin' Dots, funnel cakes, and other sweet treats.

All strapped in with Dad getting ready to launch

Every year we go, we get a picture going down this famous ride!

     Selfie!

The day we went, the park opened up at 10am.  We parked and walked right to the ticket line.  I had the ticket barcodes on my phone so we skipped through the huge lines and got right in.  There is a huge Santa statue that is a must for pictures.  Have someone get your picture or just take a selfie like we did.
                                                     Here is our annual Santa picture!

                                                  
We waited until later to snatch our picture because we were on a fast track to the lockers.  I always bring towels in with us, cheap flip flops for the water park, dry clothes for after swimming, and Braden's Epi pen.  We bring a change of clothes, because we always do the rides where you will get wet before the water park and we wear our bathing suits under our clothes when we arrive.  It makes it a lot easier and it's much more comfortable once wet.  We headed straight to the water park because it's the best place for lockers.  The water park doesn't open until a little bit after the park opens.  We rented a large locker and paid $15.  We threw all of our crap in, including our phones and headed off for some rides.  The first rides we always do are the Frightful Falls log ride and the Raging Rapids.  We got wet, of course!  Those two are always fun and they are definitely my favorites.  After these two rides, we were ready for the water park and it had just opened.  The water park is always a blast.  We did the majority of the water coasters and family tubing rides.  We spent quite a bit of time on the lazy river and in the wave pool as well.  There are cabanas that families can rent, but I feel like we wouldn't utilize them.  We found some beach chairs and threw our towels down as kind of a home base.  This was unusual, because on the weekends, we have never been able to find any open chairs!!   After the water park closed, we got dry clothes on and hit up the main park again.  We did the Liberty Launch, a turkey blasting ride, and a few others.  On the weekends, they have fireworks and sometimes stay open later.

Overall, we love Holiday World.  The only problem is, it's too far from home!

XOXO...Becky