Kings Dominion is an amusement park in Doswell, Virginia, United States, twenty miles (30 km) north of Richmond and 75 miles (120 km) south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the 280-acre (1.1 km2) park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and attractions including 13 roller coasters and a 20-acre (8.1 ha) water park. Its name is derived from the name of its sister park, Kings Island near Cincinnati, and the nickname for the Commonwealth of Virginia, "Old Dominion."
Alabama Adventure & Splash Adventure is a water park and amusement park in Bessemer, Alabama. It is owned by Koch Family Parks, which consists of members of the family who formerly had minority ownership in Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.
A pirate ship is a type of amusement ride based on pirate ships, consisting of an open, seated gondola which swings back and forth, subjecting the rider to various levels of angular momentum. A variant where the riders must pull on ropes to swing the ride is known as a swing boat.
Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, both of whom had worked for Giovanola.
Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, formerly named Santa Claus Land, is a theme park and water park located in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. The theme park opened in 1946 and features rides, live entertainment, and games that are divided into four sections that celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July.
Boomerang is a model of roller coaster manufactured and designed by Vekoma, a Dutch manufacturer. The roller coaster model name is from the hunting implement based on the traditions of the Indigenous Australians. As of January 2023, there are 55 Boomerangs operating around the world.
The Voyage is a wooden roller coaster located at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana. Designed and built by The Gravity Group with the help of designers Mike Graham, Korey Kiepert, Larry Bill, Chad Miller, and former park President Will Koch, the roller coaster is themed to the famous voyage of the Mayflower by Pilgrims to North America in 1620. It opened to the public on May 6, 2006. It is widely considered one of the best wooden roller coasters ever built, and was awarded by TIME Magazine as the Best Roller Coaster in the world in 2013.
T3 (stylized as T3; pronounced "T-three", "T-cubed", or "Terror to the third power") was an inverted roller coaster located at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky. The Suspended Looping Coaster model manufactured by Vekoma originally opened as T2 on April 8, 1995. Following the amusement park's closure in 2009 due to financial difficulties, the ride sat idle for several years. Under new park ownership, the roller coaster was refurbished and renamed T3, which reopened to the public as T3 on July 3, 2015. The ride closed permanently following the 2022 season.
The Raven is a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari's Halloween section in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It began to be designed and built in 1994 by the now-defunct roller coaster manufacturer Custom Coasters International, with the help of designers Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill. The roller coaster opened on May 6, 1995. The Raven takes its name from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" and features sudden drops and turns which mimic the flight of a raven. From 2000 to 2003, The Raven was voted the world's "Best Wooden Roller Coaster" at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by Amusement Today magazine. It was named an "ACE Roller Coaster Landmark" by American Coaster Enthusiasts on June 23, 2016.
The Legend is a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It was designed and built beginning in 1999 by the now defunct Custom Coasters International, with the help of designers Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill; it opened on May 6, 2000. The Legend is themed after Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and mimics the frightful ride Ichabod Crane took as he was chased through the woods by the Headless Horseman. The Legend has been consistently ranked among the world's top twenty-five wooden roller coasters at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by Amusement Today magazine.
The Howler is a family steel roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It was built in 1999 by Zamperla as part of a larger expansion project to build Holidog's FunTown; it opened on May 8, 1999. The Howler is themed after Holiday World's mascot, Holidog, and features a 12-passenger train with the front car resembling the dog's head and the back car resembling the dog's hind feet and tail.
ProSlide Technology, Inc. is a Canadian designer and manufacturer of water rides and water park resorts. They design and manufacture both traditional slides and innovative rides such as water coasters, funnel-shaped Tornado slides, and Bowl slides. ProSlide has received attention for being the first water slide manufacturer to build a water slide using linear induction motors and for designing the Mammoth watercoaster which was named the world's longest watercoaster by Guinness World Records in 2016. Since 1986, ProSlide has developed and designed water rides for water parks in over 40 countries around the world.
Amusement Today is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arlington, Texas, United States, was founded in January 1997 by Gary Slade, Virgil E. Moore III and Rick Tidrow. In 1997, Amusement Today won the Impact Award in the services category for "Best New Product" from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). A year later, in 1998, the magazine founded the Golden Ticket Awards, for which it has become best known for throughout the amusement park industry. On January 2, 2001, Slade bought out his two partners, giving him sole ownership of the paper. The paper has two full-time and two part-time staff members at its Arlington office, along with two full-time writers and several freelance writers in various parts of the world.
An animal theme park, also known as a zoological theme park, is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, mainly for entertainment, amusement, and commercial purposes. Many animal theme parks combine classic theme park elements, such as themed entertainment and amusement rides, with classic zoo elements such as live animals confined within enclosures for display. Many times, live animals are utilized and featured as part of amusement rides and attractions found at animal theme parks.
Wing Coaster is engineering firm Bolliger & Mabillard’s designation for its winged roller coaster designs. Winged roller coasters are a type of steel roller coaster where pairs of riders sit on either side of a roller coaster track in which nothing is above or below the riders. B&M began development on the first Wing Coaster between 2007 and 2008 leading to the opening of Raptor at Gardaland on 1 April 2011. There were eighteen B&M-designed Wing Coasters either under construction or operating worldwide as of 2024, with one more standing but not operating.
Mammoth is a water coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It was designed and built beginning in 2011 by ProSlide Technology; it opened on May 11, 2012. Mammoth is named after the mammoth, a now-extinct prehistoric mammal, keeping with the water park's safari theme. When it was completed in 2012, Mammoth became the world's longest water coaster at 1,763 feet (537 m) long. It claimed that title from Holiday World's first water coaster, Wildebeest, which is 1,710 feet (520 m) long.
Wildebeest is a water coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It was designed and built beginning in 2009 by ProSlide Technology; it opened on May 7, 2010. Wildebeest is named after the African mammal, keeping with the water park's safari theme. When it was completed in 2010, Wildebeest held the record for the world's longest water coaster at 1,710 feet (520 m) long. It held that record until May 11, 2012, when Mammoth, Holiday World's second water coaster, took over the title at 1,763 feet (537 m) long. In 2010, Wildebeest was voted the world's "Best New Waterpark Ride" at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by Amusement Today magazine. Wildebeest was also awarded the Golden Ticket Award for "Best Waterpark Ride" in 2010, 2011, and 2022.
Thunderbird is a steel roller coaster located in the Thanksgiving section of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari amusement park in Santa Claus, Indiana. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened to the public on April 25, 2015, as the eighth Wing Coaster in the world and the fourth in the United States. Thunderbird reaches a maximum speed of 60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.5 seconds and features a 125-foot-tall (38 m) vertical loop.
Taron is a multilaunch steel roller coaster manufactured by Intamin located at Phantasialand in Germany. It was the fastest multi-launched roller coaster in the world when it opened on 30 June 2016.
F.L.Y. is a flying launched roller coaster at Phantasialand in Brühl, Germany. The coaster is the sole attraction of the Rookburgh area, a highly themed immersive Steampunk city, which was soft opened in September 2020 following several years of development and construction. During the ride, passengers sit in a prone position - facing the ground - while traversing two launches and navigating a heavily themed environment.
