Opening about a month behind schedule due to the Coronavirus, Holiday World opens today to the general public. The water park is set to open in July.
The park will open today with 50% capacity, and opened on Sunday for Season Passholders.
The park will sell date-specific tickets online and officials ask that all guests come with a ticket in hand to make sure they can enter.
“We want to make sure everyone who shows up gets to enter the park,” says Park President Matt Eckert. “While we know some complexities are going to be necessary, we want to try to keep this process as simple as possible. If you have a Season Pass or a ticket with the date on it, you’re all set to come to enjoy the parks. It’s that simple.”
Tickets that listeners win on WSLM Radio can be used as regular tickets to enter the park. (register to win online at wslmradio.com/contests or share to win on Facebook)
“Although the website says visitors should buy tickets online, I don’t want there to be any confusion on the tickets our listeners win on WSLM,” said station owner and general manager Rebecca White. “Holiday World is allowing capacity for people with WSLM tickets that are marked as general admission to be able to visit. They do not need to redeem anything online prior to attending the park.”
As part of the phased reopening plan, officials plan to open Holiday World first, then open Splashin’ Safari no later than July 4.
“It’s important that we open slowly and safely, so we want to make sure we have Holiday World operations finely tuned when we open Splashin’ Safari,” adds Eckert.
This summer, Guests will also be asked to use inLine Reservation System, Holiday World’s new virtual queuing system. To keep queue areas from getting overly crowded, Guests enter the queue from their smartphone, then return and wait just 5-15 minutes in a physical queue. Those who don’t have smartphones, or choose not to use their smartphones will be able to use a barcoded wristband.
The park will also be making other smaller changes to their operations including 90 Hand “Santatizer” Stations, increasing sanitation procedure frequency, and adding sanitation processes for high-touch point areas, including attractions.
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari have also added three operating days in August.
New for the 2020 season is Holiday World’s Worry-Free Weather Guarantee for inclement weather.
Guests who visit on a day where weather forces attractions to close will now be able to visit another day of their choosing by bringing their original ticket back to the park.
The Worry-Free Weather Guarantee is activated when the weather closes major attractions for a period of two cumulative hours on the day of a Guests’ visit.
“After an abnormally rainy June last year, we wanted to do more for our Guests who had picked stormy weather days through no fault of their own,” says park president Matt Eckert.
“We’ve worked a little magic on our end so all Guests get a fair shot at having a fantastic day here.” Here’s how it works: Guests will need to keep some form of their tickets from their visit–either the original ticket, a picture of the ticket, or a screenshot of their digital ticket–just in case the guarantee gets activated.
If Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari rides are down for a total of two or more hours, the guarantee is activated and the date will be posted on HolidayWorld.com/worryfree/ Guests will need to bring the photos or original tickets with them on whatever day they pick to return.
“We don’t get to pick rainy days, but neither do our Guests. Rain or shine, every day should be a worry-free day to visit Holiday World,” adds Eckert.
