SANTA CLAUS, Ind — I still remember how, ascending to the top of a 154-foot drop on The Voyage wooden-roller coaster in the summer of 2009, how my ravenous eyes remained peeled to the Holiday World grounds. Not in terror, but rather to try to scope out where the unmistakable smell of a pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and other hallmarks of a Thanksgiving feast was coming from.
Anyone who has visited Holiday World in Santa Claus knows what I'm talking about - the Thanksgiving section has been long a source of thrills and sustenance in equal parts. The park's newest coaster is set to continue that tradition, as the theme park gave a first peek at life-sized gravy boat coasters coming next spring.
Seats for the upcoming, kid-friendly coaster Good Gravy! come designed as gravy ladles, complete with intricate designs and bits of gravy threatening to splosh out the sides.
Holiday World fans largely celebrated the creativity of the gravy boat seats on social media shortly after release.
The new $10 million rollercoaster is a family boomerang-style coaster, the first of its kind to open in North America.
Guests can expect to board a train shaped like a giant gravy boat, which will be pulled backwards uphill, before flying forwards into a giant cranberry jelly can. Riders will narrowly avoid giant kitchen utensils, like a 20-foot-tall whisk and an 18-foot-tall rolling pin along the way.
There's a 38-inch height requirement for the ride and it will hit a max speed of 37 miles per hour.
The Gravy boat coaster will open in May 2024 at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari.