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Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari
Holiday World Logo.png
Slogan #1 for Family Fun!
Location Santa Claus, Indiana, United States
Coordinates 38°07′08″N 86°54′58″W / 38.119°N 86.916°W / 38.119; -86.916Coordinates: 38°07′08″N 86°54′58″W / 38.119°N 86.916°W / 38.119; -86.916
Owner Koch Development Corporation
Operated by Koch Development Corporation
General Manager Matthew Eckert
Opened August 3, 1946 (1946-08-03)
Previous names Santa Claus Land (1946-83)
Operating season April through October
Visitors per annum 1,100,000+
Area 125 acres (0.51 km2)
Rides
Total 51
Roller coasters 5
Water rides 2
Website Official website

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari (known as Santa Claus Land prior to 1984) is a combination theme park and water park located near Interstate 64 and U.S. 231 in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. The theme park is divided into four sections that celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July with rides, live entertainment, games, and attractions. Holiday World is known for its three wooden roller coasters: The Raven, The Legend, and The Voyage, as well as for Thunderbird, a B&M launched Wing Coaster and The Howler. The safari-themed water park includes the world's two longest water coasters: Wildebeest and Mammoth, numerous family raft rides and water slides, two wave pools, a lazy river, two family "tipping bucket" water-play attractions, plus dedicated children's slides and play areas.

Plans for what would become Santa Claus Land, and later Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, were first conceived as a retirement project by Louis J. Koch, a retired industrialist from Evansville, Indiana. In 1941, Koch visited the town of Santa Claus, Indiana. A family man and father of nine children, it bothered him that children traveled to the town only to be disappointed when they discovered Santa Claus was not there. In response, Koch developed the idea for a park where children could have fun and visit Santa year-round. Although initial construction plans were delayed by World War II, construction of Santa Claus Land eventually began on August 4, 1945. At this time, Indiana had only one Amusement Park which was Indiana Beach (at the time called Ideal Beach) that had opened in 1926, 20 years before Santa Claus Land opened.


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