Roller Coaster Guide to Holiday World: Every Coaster Ranked

Holiday World's standout coaster is The Voyage, a 1.2-mile wooden coaster hitting 67.4 mph with 24.3 seconds of airtime and eight underground tunnels. Thunderbird launches from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds through a loop and barn fly-through. Both require 48 inches. Wooden classics The Raven and The Legend round out a lineup that rewards repeat visits, especially at night.

Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana keeps one of the best wooden coaster collections on the planet inside a park that still hands out free soft drinks and sunscreen. Four holidays, five coasters, three world-class water coasters next door, and a teaser sign already promising Cannonball for 2027. Here is every coaster ranked, with the seat and the hour that do each one justice.

1. The Voyage

• Ride experience: The main event of American wooden coasters. A 1.2-mile Thanksgiving epic that runs 67.4 mph through the woods with more than 24 seconds of airtime, three 90-degree banked turns, eight underground tunnel passes, and a triple-down that has rearranged more spines than any element in the Midwest. The second half does not let up; it accelerates. It is relentless in a way no steel coaster quite matches.
• Height requirement: 48 inches.
• Best seat: Back row for maximum violence, a middle row for your first lap while you learn its rhythm.
• Best time to ride: Twice. Early, when the line is short and the track is gentler, and again at dusk when the train is warm and flying. A warm evening Voyage ride is a life event.

2. Thunderbird

• Ride experience: The B&M launched wing coaster. Zero to 60 in about 3.5 seconds out of a themed launch tunnel, then an Immelmann, a loop, and a barn fly-through with your feet dangling off the wing. Smooth, loud, and gorgeous over the trees.
• Height requirement: 48 inches.
• Best seat: Front row, left wing. The near-miss elements are built for the wings.
• Best time to ride: Morning, before the family crowd works its way back to Thanksgiving.

3. The Raven

• Ride experience: The compact 1995 legend that once ruled every wooden coaster poll. A drop toward the lake, a swooping course through dense woods, and a fifth drop into the trees that still hits like a sucker punch. Short, dark, and perfectly paced.
• Height requirement: 48 inches.
• Best seat: Back seat, no debate. The fifth drop yanks it downhill.
• Best time to ride: As late in the evening as the schedule allows. Raven in fading light is the whole point of the ride.

4. The Legend

• Ride experience: The Sleepy Hollow woodie, re-profiled in 2016 into a lateral machine. Swooping drops, a double helix that shoves you sideways, tunnels, and that echoing wolf howl on the lift.
• Height requirement: 48 inches.
• Best seat: Back row for laterals that mean it.
• Best time to ride: Evening, warmed up, back to back with Raven since they share a corner of Halloween.

5. Good Gravy!

• Ride experience: The 2024 family boomerang, a Thanksgiving dinner table on rails. Forward and backward runs through gravy-boat theming, genuinely fun and not just for kids.
• Height requirement: 38 inches with an adult companion for the smallest riders.
• Best seat: Back row, which becomes the front on the backward run.
• Best time to ride: First hour or dinnertime. It is the newest family draw and peaks midday.

6. The Howler

• Ride experience: The kiddie credit in Halloween. One lap, one smile, done. Minimum height is companion-based for tiny riders; adults qualify only with a child or a complete lack of shame.

The asterisk credits

Splashin' Safari is included with admission, and Wildebeest, Mammoth, and Cheetah Chase are three of the best water coasters ever built. Mammoth is among the longest in the world. Count them or do not, but ride them.

First-timers guide order

1. The Raven, to learn what the fuss is about
2. The Legend
3. The Voyage, middle row
4. Thunderbird
5. Good Gravy! as a victory lap

Enthusiast order

1. The Voyage twice at opening before the line exists
2. Thunderbird
3. Raven and Legend loops through late morning
4. Water coasters during the midday heat
5. Voyage marathon from dinner until close, back row, until your body files a formal complaint

Then photograph the Cannonball 2027 teaser on the way out and start planning the return trip.

Related Guides

• Best Rides at Holiday World: Top Coasters Ranked by Wait Time
• Family Guide to Holiday World: Best Rides for Kids and Parents
• Optimal Route at Holiday World: A Data-Driven Touring Plan
• Holiday World Height Requirements: Every Ride Listed