The Voyage - An Experiment in Airtime and Endurance

by: David Drake

"It just does not let up or slow down", said one of the members from the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain. "It lives up to the hype and then some", a member of DAFE was overheard telling a friend on the phone. If I was just passing by, I would have no idea what they were talking about or doubt I would really care to know to be honest with you. But I just happened to be walking down the exit ramp from Holiday World's newest wooden coaster, The Voyage, on the first run during Media Day. I stop to watch the train dive into the tunnel by the station before continuing on out the exit.

As you might have guessed, I attended the Media Day at Holiday World for CoasterFantics for The Voyage and Gobbler Getaway. The Voyage was up and running but the Gobbler Getaway was still not ready. The park, however, was nice enough to let us gander at it ... but the real reason I was here was to see if The Voyage lived up to all the hype that had been built around it. A lot of people were even saying that it would be the best woodie ever built before one piece of framing was even in place. I can be honest with you folks ... they might be right.

Since Gobbler Getaway needed another week to get ready than planned, we were allowed to walk through the ride to get an idea of just what the ride would be and look like. I think it will be one of the best Sally Dark Rides to date after my walk through it. During your ride, you are helping catch the turkeys that have escaped. You do this by using the Turkey Caller in your vehicle. And don't worry if you have never used a Turkey Caller since Granny will instruct you on the proper technique while waiting in the queue-line. I am sure when Gobbler Getaway opens, the 13th of May last I heard, it will be something that the entire family can enjoy.

Now on to the main course ... The Voyage!

Let me take you on a ride. Pick your seat, any seat will work since each seat gives you a different ride. I prefer near the back myself since it gives you the full effect of being out of control. So have a seat next to me and enjoy the ride. No need for me to ride along when you can enjoy the thrill of an insane airtime machine. Better hurry since they are checking belts and making sure your lap bar is snug. There you go. Are you ready?

The train leaves the station and heads for the lift. Now, the chain engages the train and we start our Voyage up 173 feet. You can look over to your right and see the Gobbler Getaway and the soon to be open Plymouth Rock Cafe that the construction crews are finishing up. Glance over to your left at Splashin' Safari as we climb higher and you will notice the newest addition to the area for 2006, Bahari River. You begin to notice that the space from where the train is and the top is lift is getting smaller and smaller. Then you reach the lift hill flags and you know you are just seconds away from going over.

The PTC trains disappear and you feel the back reach the apex of the lift. The back has now cleared the lift and we plunge down the 66 degree drop at speeds approaching 67 mph. Before you know it, we have reached the bottom of the 154 feet drop and begin the ascent on the second hill at a blazing speed. As the train rockets over the second hill, this is where the first noticeable airtime is. There is nothing like experiencing the feeling that you are floating, but then comes the plunge down the 107 foot second drop. You are wondering if the speed will ever bleed off as we hit the bottom and continue the pace up the third hill with some airtime on it to just add to the delight.

As you peer over the third drop of 100 feet, you notice that the first of eight tunnels is waiting to swallow you up. The pace of the train has not slowed down much as the train enters the tunnel. The train shoots up the fourth hill into a split second of daylight before the train is hurled down into the second tunnel. There is not even enough time to catch your breath as the train assaults the fifth hill and catch some more wonderful airtime before heading into the third tunnel. As the train exits the tunnel, you see the turnaround that hugs the ground.

The train transverses the opening moments of the low to the ground turnaround and you notice that you are now mere feet from the ground as you pick up more speed. The train is now barreling towards the ninety-degree banked turn and seems to dip before entering the turn. You pull your hands in because you think they might hit the rails. You breathe a bit but notice that the second ninety-degree turn is waiting on you. It almost seems as if it is waiting to turn you over as you enter it, but you escape it and head towards the exit of the turnaround. Up ahead is a moment as of airtime as you enter another tunnel and up into the safety brakes.

You are once again catching your breath as you pass right through the mid-course brakes. As the train drops, you are once again going through yet another tunnel. You are thinking not another drop into another one, but this one is much different than the others. This tunnel has the triple down in it and the train starts to pick up speed as you hit each part of the triple down along with increasing airtime each step. As the train hits the bottom of the tunnel, daylight is seen approaching faster with each passing second until the train bursts out into one of those famous airtime hills that this ride is filled with and it is now what I call off to the races.

The train begins to pick up speed at a fast clip as if it was blasted out of a cannon. You experience speed and airtime during the next few segments of track. The train veers to the the left and back to the right. It dips down by the structure and takes a turn through the structure to emerge on the other side and before you know it, you are preparing to head back through the structure again. You enter under the structure and the train hits the third ninety-degree turn and propels back through the structure once again. You are almost breathless and notice the train is still picking up speed as the ride has entered into sheer insanity mode.

You dip down as the train goes through some banking that points it back into the structure, but this time you are hurled over the bottom of the lift. The train banks to the right and you head into the tunnel next to the station. You have enough time to notice the people standing in the queue-line waiting to ride. They even wave at you with a smile, and you say to yourself that I bet they will be screaming at the top of their lungs as they pass this point. As you finish that thought, the train shoots out of the tunnel veering towards the right and back to the left in a downward motion into the last and final tunnel.

As the train exits the tunnel, you noticed the people watching the train from the new area. The train rolls upward and to the right into the brake run and has finally slowed for you to collect your thoughts. The train leaves the brake run and your are held to wait for the train ahead to clear the station. You say to yourself what a ride as the you enter the station and prepare to walk down the exit ramp.

Hope you enjoyed your ride, maybe you are up for another one. If you are than take a trip to Holiday World and enjoy The Voyage along with the other two world class wooden coasters that they have.

-- David Drake has been a member of CoasterFanatics.Com since 2000 and is an experienced traveler when it comes to roller coasters. He ride count is in excess of 320 coasters and he knows from experience what makes a world-class thrill machine. For more of David Drake's reviews, check out the CoasterFanatics Features Page.

TRACK LENGTH: 6,442 feet (1.2 miles), third longest wooden coaster in the world.
RIDE HEIGHT: The maximum height difference on The Voyage is 173 feet.
DROPS/ANGLES: The most dramatic drops on The Voyage measure 154 feet (66-degree angle of descent, the steepest drop on a U.S. wooden coaster), 107 feet (51-degree angle), and 100 feet (50.5-degree angle). The lift hill measures 163 feet.
EXTREME AIR-TIME: The Voyage provides the most air-time of any wooden coaster: 24.2 seconds (anything less than +.25 vertical G's, average front/middle/back seats).
EXTREME BANKING: The Voyage includes three 90-degree banked turns.
SPEED: The Voyage's maximum speed is 67.4 mph. Average speed is 41.9 mph.
RIDE TIME: 2 minutes, 45 seconds (station to station).
RIDE SIMULATION: www.holidayworld.com/voyage_video.html
TUNNELS: A record five underground tunnels, including eight "underground moments" and a "triple down" feature in one of the return-run tunnels.
TRAINS: Three 28-passenger PTC trains (seven cars per train, four riders per car).
LUMBER: Southern Yellow Pine; estimated board feet: 320,000.
STEEL: 750 tons, estimated.
CAPACITY/HEIGHT LIMIT: 1,200 Guests per hour. Riders must be at least 48 inches tall.
INVESTMENT: $6.5 million, the largest ride project in Holiday World's 60-year history.
RIDE DESIGNER: The Gravity Group, Cincinnati, Ohio.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.