Holiday World: Santa Claus, Indiana.

[Disneyliscious]

I think I have just found my "new" Disney and I wasn't even looking for it.

I've heard about Holiday World for years but never went to the website or anything. We were going to take a 2 day trip to Gatlinburg this summer but at the advice of my son, I started looking up Holiday World. Not only is it 1.5 hours closer (2.5 hr drive), its cheaper and looks more fun (theme park and a water park), and they have free drinks ALL day long, plus free parking, plus free sunscreen. I mean....I'm scratching my head here. Park tickets are roughly $40 per person per day.

They also offer Halloween and Christmas events, fireworks, etc. I realize its not on the scale as Disney but for the price difference I do believe our Disney trips will be cut WAY back (we only go every couple of years anyway).

While reading up on it, I discovered that they have campgrounds nearby (Lake Rudolph) which are quite similar to Ft. Wilderness. There are lots of recreational activities and they have golf cart rentals with golf cart parades (something we always wanted to do at Disney).

If you have been to Holiday World or the surrounding campgrounds, please tell me your experience. Is it a clean park? Any tips? Did you rent a cabana? I can't believe I never checked this place out. We could visit here for 3 or 4 days for what 1 day would cost 1 person at a Disney park!

 

[ICF]

Holiday world is awesome!! The coasters are fun, water park is great and you can't beat free parking and free drinks Not only that, their counter service meals are actually pretty good. It's a small park -- so you don't really need more than 1 day. If you are staying at Lake Rudolph you could probably do 2 if your family really enjoys water parks.

The park is very clean too, we've never rented a cabana so I can't help you there.

We live about 3 hours away and have never stayed at the campground. We usually either just drive home at the end of the day. A couple of times we have headed from their over to StLouis, so we left HW and drove about 2 hours into Illinois before going to St Louis the next morning.

 

[mrsabbott]

Holiday World is wonderful! I remember going as a kid when it was just "Santa Claus Land"!! It is very clean and they have free sunscreen and drinks all day!!

 

[BizmoFunyuns]

I live in Indiana and we go here every couple of years. Holiday World has some good coasters to go on. The water park Splashing Safari is also really fun. They have a couple water coasters. They both have plenty of rides for little kids too. Both parks are very clean. The rudolph campground next door is really convenient. We usually get one of the little cabins there. The downside is the limited options for food and other activities in town. You can get a pizza delivered to your campsite though, that's kind of fun.

 

[Alesia]

The park is incredibly clean. The food is decent enough and reasonably priced.

We've never rented a cabana - when we go to a water park, we go to ride the slides, not to sit around.

 

[dhardawa]

We live about an hour away and it's far from Disney. It's in the middle of nowhere, so there's not much else to do in the area.

The water park is great. It's big and they're constantly adding new rides. When I go, I go for the water park. The actual park part isn't that great. There are a few newer rollercoasters, but the vast majority of rides are very old and essentially carnival rides (think bumper cars, scrambler, little kiddie boats, etc).

It's worth a trip, but most definitely not a replacement for Disney World.

 

[kydisneyfans]

2 hours away here

LOVE Holiday World. But it's not Disney, not even close. I'll take it over KY Kingdom, Kings Island, or Six Flags anyday though.

The free parking is great, free sunscreen, free drinks. Food is affordable overall. Tickets are fairly priced. The park is super clean, folks were super friendly. We did the waterpark the first half of the day, then the "traditional" park the rest of the day.

There are several stage shows. They are not Lion King or Beauty and the Beast quality. They are hard working folks providing entertainment. It's a great way to relax and chill.

What we don't like-after spending all day in a theme park, driving 2+ hours home tired is rough. Lodging is sparse in the area. We're not campers. Hotels are few and far between, and what is there is mostly dirty and severely overpriced. There also isn't a ton of other things to do in the area.

 

[abcboys]

We are an hour away so I take the kids once every summer. Holiday world is awesome but can't really compare it to Disney. It's actually gotten so busy that I won't dare go in the middle of summer. I usually try to take the kids right before school starts back up when some neighboring schools have already started up. My middle son is going next week for his 8th grade class trip. We've never stayed at Lake Rudolph but my sister has several times. If you like to camp or have a camper Lincoln State Park is 5 minutes away and a little quieter. The water park at Holiday World is one of the best I've been to. Tons of water rides so much to do. The regular park has mostly wooden coasters which are too rough for me but my kids don't mind. The new steel coaster is awesome but it took my breath away, not sure I can do that again. lol. You can do holiday world is 1 or 2 days and there is not much else to do in the area. Park is clean, employees are friendly, and free drinks are nice. Food is also reasonably priced. Just be careful on crowds especially on weekends during the summer.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We're only 4 hours away & keep meaning to get over there. All of our friends who've been have had nothing but great things to say

 

[Disneyliscious]

This is all good to know. Seems everyone agrees its a clean park. We went to Kentucky Kingdom last year and I was just flabbergasted at how dirty the park was and weeds/brush growing in places it shouldn't be. The tables had food and ketchup smeared all over them, trash laying around. It was bad. We chose to go somewhere else for our summer road trip this year (Gatlinburg) but do believe I have changed my mind now. The reason I asked about a cabana is because we will have a 10 month old with us this year and its not wise to have a child in the heat/sun all day long like that. I wanted a place where we could get her some shade. With the campground so close though, and free shuttles to it, that doesn't appear to be a concern now.

The activities at the neighboring campground look really fun. We don't have an RV and don't like to "camp" (in tents) but they offer RV's already set up to rent or they have cabins.

And yeah, its def not Disney but I've done Disney (and will do it again, we're going in 2017) but I could totally see spending a few days here every year and going to Disney once every 5 or 6 years versus trying to do Disney every other year or so now. The price point just has me looking elsewhere and I'm amazed at what I'm finding.

 

[Narnia_girl]

We've been twice and really enjoy Holiday World. It's a great option in the Midwest and I'd rather go there than Six Flags. Once we stayed at the campground --they rent trailers so that was fun for the kids; the next time we stayed at a hotel in Tell City which is a bit of a drive--maybe half an hour?

 

[abcboys]

My kids and I always joke, it seems there are trash can every 20 feet at Holiday World and always employees sweeping and cleaning. Also know that parts of Holiday World can be hilly so be prepared for walking uphill some. If you are looking for a few other things to do in the area, there is a Christmas Store nearby that is nice and also a Santa Claus museum (it's small but it is interesting, with an old historical church nearby and also if you have kids they can write a letter to Santa) There is horseback riding called Santa's Stables (never tried it) Also across from Lincoln State Park is the Lincoln village that you walk to and it has pioneer people dressed up with old timey buildings and animals and stuff. Just a few things to occupy time if you decide to stay longer.

 

[got4boys]

Holiday World is great. My kids miss it and do request for us to go back.

The drinks are unlimited, but they are fountain drinks, and you can get water from there. Do watch out for the bees.

I remember so many bees around the trash cans.

 

[manning]

QUIET!! You want Disney get ideas

Free drinks
Free parking
Clean

This is a conspiracy I tell you...a conspiracy.

Come to think about it Disney won't get it

Want to know their secret? THEY ARE PRIVATELY OWNED!!

No shareholders to worry about.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

We went years ago and had fun. Did water park and regular park. Like others said clean! One thing I remember when we were there, it could have changed is you couldn't take purse or anything like that on certain rides. There were storage areas when you got on ride to use, like open cubbies. No issues with theft, not sure if still like this but a heads up.

It is fun... We live in Indiana too and keep meaning to go back!

Have fun

 

[jeaneg]

I am from Indiana but hadn't been to Holiday World until 2 years ago when I was back visiting family. As others have said, the water park is the highlight. My sister rented a cabana both times we went, and it was nice to have but not something I would have spent the money on with only older kids. It would be helpful with a baby.

I was pleasantly surprised by Holiday World, but definitely don't expect Disney quality.

 

[kymom99]

We went once. It's a nice park. Pretty compact considering everything that's there. Other posters are right, not much else to do in the area. We stayed at a hotel, comfort inn or something about 30 minutes away. There was a CVS and a subway. That's it. Seriously not even a walmart. We got in town and went to Lincoln State park. Rented a canoe and took a little walk. I think there is a historical cemetery, etc. A nice park. We went across to the other attraction. Forget what its called. We decided to skip it because it had a cost and we didn't have a lot of time left until it closed.
We went back to the room and I thought we would die from boredom. The next day we went to Holiday world and had a great time. Drove 3 hours home after spending the day there. That means we did everything we wanted to do in less than a day. I believe the cabins are pretty expensive, which is why we didn't stay there.

 

[DisneyBill]

Discount admission coupons are readily found at many retailers, restaurants, etc in the surrounding areas. Also, there is often discounted admission with a Pepsi can.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I feel compelled to dissent: if this is your main family trip this summer, I would definitely do Gatlinburg over Holiday World. Dollywood and Dixie Stampede are also very nice, the Island, Ripley's Aquarium PLUS the national parks and loads of outdoor activities. There is just so much more to do in Gatlinburg.

 

[findmewdw]

It's my family's summer tradition to visit Holiday World at least once. We've been going for 20 years. I am hesitant to say how wonderful it is because I hate for everyone to find out our secret. LOL! It resembles Disney as it is the cleanest park and always employs pleasant staff, and you can't beat free drinks and sunscreen. I have to say that while the wooden rollercoasters have always been fun, they do seem to bump and bang a bit much, and I had to call them quits last year. The rest of my family loves them. The water park is wonderful! It is my favorite. There is normally a new ride each year. I haven't checked the website out yet to see what is new for this year. My son will be going this week with his high school. We live about 60 miles from there.
The campground is nice, too. I have stayed there once with our church youth. I have not rented cabanas, i don't feel it is worth the cost for my family. We do rent a locker to store credit card and cash. Our routine is to get a couple of long lawn chairs at the start of our day; we have a certain spot we go to at the opening of the park. We leave our towels and back packs on the chair normally and use this as meeting place for family members. We normally go with other families when we visit. If someone in your family needs to be out of the sun, then a cabana could be quite useful, though.
They have second day tickets at a reduced price, if you are staying in the area. Also, if you have a group, you can call them and they give a reduced price. Check out the website for group sales. To avoid summer crowds, try to go during the week. Weekends can be very crowded. Again, I'm hesitant for others to find our hidden gym. We love Holiday World.