After teasing what it had in the works for a few weeks, Holiday World made it official and announced that Cannonball!, a water coaster from Mack Rides, will be debuting next season. The Indiana park says that the $22-million attraction, which will be the fastest and tallest ride of its kind in the country, will represent the largest investment in its 80-year history.
The new attraction will incorporate 8-passenger, single-car vehicles that will ascend a 90-foot chain lift hill, drop 75 feet, and hit a top speed of 45 mph. So what will make Cannonball! a “water coaster?” It will also feature a splashdown finale that will send a plume of water cascading skyward, surely drenching riders. With a comparatively short 1,700 feet of track, the whole shebang will probably clock in at about one minute of ride time.
In typical Holiday World fashion, Cannonball! will tell a compelling story that will lean heavily into silliness. (See the park’s 2024 entry, Good Gravy!, for evidence of its trademark humor.) It seems the town of Boulder Canyon will be holding its annual Fourth of July Cannonball contest at the community pool, and the rules now allow entrants to join together and jump into the water as a group. So, each car’s passengers will represent a group of contestants, and the vehicle will splash down into what appears will be a faithful facsimile of a pool, complete with diving boards, lane dividers, and deck lounge chairs. According to the park, riders are supposed to yell “Cannonball!” before they take the plunge.
Boulder Canyon was the fictional town in which Raging Rapids, a raft ride, plied churning waters until its retirement in 2023. Like Carowinds, which will be replacing its defunct raft ride with Rip Roarin’ Falls next year, Holiday World is sticking with a water ride to fill the void left by Raging Rapids. Speaking of the Fourth of July, Cannonball! will anchor the land named after the Independence Day celebration. Each ride vehicle will be outfitted with a unique design, such as the Stars and Stripes, watermelon, and a patriotic Popsicle, to pay homage to the holiday.
Cannonball! will be built by Mack Rides, which refers to its hybrid roller coaster/splashdown model as a “Water Coaster.” There are two other Mack Water Coasters in the U.S. from the manufacturer, Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld Orlando and Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld San Diego. (The German ride company also built the same-named Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld San Antonio, but that attraction is a Mack “SuperSplash.” It too is a water coaster, but its vehicles are much bigger and, as the model name implies, it is designed to deliver a huge finale splash like a shoot-the-chutes ride.) Unlike the SeaWorld rides, which include two lifts and deliver a splashdown drop in the middle of the ride, Cannonball! will include a single lift and save its more modest splashdown as the final element. Also, the SeaWorld attractions include dark ride scenes–Orlando’s Journey to Atlantis has more extensive indoor sequences–whereas the Holiday World ride will be set entirely outdoors.
There are other rides that are considered water coasters. Typically found in water parks, bathing suit-clad passengers load into rafts that are propelled uphill by jets of water or magnetic motors (a few even use a conveyor belt system) for a water coaster experience. Instead of being tethered to a track, the vehicles soar along a water-filled flume. Splashin’ Safari, the water park that is included with admission to Holiday World, features three of the industry’s best flume-like water coasters: Mammoth, Wildebeest, and Cheetah Chase. It could be argued that more traditional coasters with prominent water elements, such as Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland and Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, are water coasters of sorts.
Reaffirming Holiday World’s devotion to silly puns, passengers will pass two huge swan floaties on the pool deck after they plunge into the pool. One will be known as “Ron the Swan,” while the other will be named “Ron Swan’s Son.” If you don’t get the reference, you don’t know “Parks and Recreation.”
“One of our company values is, ‘We have fun,’” says Lauren Crosby, the park’s fourth-generation owner and director of entertainment and events. “We’re daring enough to be a little absurd with our ride concepts.”
Riders as short as 42 inches will be able to board Cannonball!, which will make it accessible to kids who want to try something a bit more daring than Good Gravy!, but don’t yet make the cut for coasters such as The Raven or The Voyage.
Are you as much of a fan of Holiday World’s infectious humor and sense of fun as I am? What’s your take on the park’s new ride?