World’s tallest water ride open for thrill seekers at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari

by Scott Carmichael on

Several days ago I wrote about Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, in Santa Claus, Indiana. At the time of writing, I knew they had some cool rides, but it wasn’t until I took a closer look at their site that I noticed they just opened the highest water ride in the world – The Pilgrims Plunge.

You really need to see the video to get an idea just how insane this thing is – 10 passengers at a time will drop 135 feet down a water slide, at over 50 mph.

After the jump, a second video showing the ride. Holiday World is now home to two record holding attractions – the park is also where you’ll find the top “air time” wooden coaster in the world.

Budget summer vacation from Chicago – road trip to Santa Claus, Indiana

by Scott Carmichael on

Chicago is in the unfortunate position of being surrounded by a whole lot of nothing. It doesn’t matter which direction you are heading, you’ll need to drive several hours till you finally reach something that isn’t in the Chicagoland metro area, or anything remotely fun (Sorry Milwaukee, but I don’t consider you to be that cool a destination, unless it is during Summerfest).

If you are looking for a fun weekend away (way, way away) from it all, but still within driving range, head down south to Santa Claus Indiana. This quaint little village is home to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari.
Holiday World is where you’ll find 4 roller coasters, including the #1 rated wooden coaster in the world, but you’ll also find loads of family friendly rides, plus some just for toddlers.

In addition to the rides, Holiday World also offers one of the largest water parks in the Midwest with 16 different rides and attractions.

Admission to Holiday World is $40 for adults and $30 for guests under 54 inches. The admission price includes free soft drinks all day long.

When you are in Santa Claus, the most appropriate place to stay is of course at Santa’s Lodge.

This Christmas themed hotel is decorated for the Holiday season year-round. Rooms start at just $79.95 a night.

The hotel offers several indoor and outdoor pools, 2 restaurants and a mini-golf course.

Planning this trip wouldn’t be fun if you didn’t take advantage of some of the great other attractions on the way to Santa Claus. Your halfway point is Indianapolis, home to the largest children’s museum in the world.

Admission to the museum is $14.50 for adults and $9.50 for kids. Be sure to leave enough time in your schedule to see this place, as your kids will need several hours to visit all the exhibits.

With a little bit of luck, younger kids will be so tired from their visit, that they’ll sleep for the rest of your drive.

If you don’t have any kids (or you left them back home), then you can schedule your halfway stop at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in (where else) Speedway, IN. Just be sure to stay far, far away from this area on race days. The Speedway is home to a museum and “behind the scenes tour”, but only on select dates, so be sure to check their schedule.

Finally, adults will be happy to know that the last part of the drive to Santa Claus passes through Louisville, home to the recently renovated Louisville Slugger museum. For $10 ($5 for kids), you get to see where this world famous baseball bat it made, plus you’ll be able to visit their factory outlet for some discounted Slugger gear.

Baseball not your thing? The Louisville Museum Row has 8 other attractions all within walking distance.

It would be considered a crime to drive to Louisville without stopping for some authentic Kentucky barbecue! A lineup of some of the best meat in the city can be found here.

So, there you have it – an affordable roadtrip from Chicago to Santa Claus, with 2 awesome stops on the way. Total distance from Chicago to Santa Claus is 360 miles.

Be sure to check out more budget summer vacations here!

Santa’s journey in real time

by Brenda Yun on

Since 1955 NORAD, the U.S.-Canadian organization responsible for aerospace and maritime defense of the U.S. and Canada, has been tracking Santa’s journey from his home on the North Pole around the world. It’s no joke. You can actually follow Santa and his nine reindeer in real time, beginning at 6 a.m. EST! For the first time in fifty years, though, NORAD has teamed up with Google (namely, the GoogleEarth program) to provide families with exclusive access to Santa’s whereabouts on this special day.

According to NORAD’s Santa Tracking site, Mr. Claus is detected by a combination of radar, satellite, Santa cameras, and fighter jets. Rudolph’s extra special infrared nose is particularly helpful as a sensor for the satellites, while the Santa cams actually capture real footage of Santa and his reindeer on their sometimes treacherous journey around the globe. The F-15 and F-16 jets provide necessary protection should Santa get in trouble in international airspace.
There are plenty of fun games and activities to play online on the Kids’ Countdown page. To track Santa’s skyfleet around the world in 3-D, you’ll need to download a special version of GoogleEarth here. Catch some exclusive video footage of Santa’s journey here. The video page is only available on Christmas Eve!

Christmas presents and parties banned in Croatia

by Jamie Rhein on

Okay, here’s the truth. Not ALL Christmas gifts are banned in Croatia. Probably, you could throw a party in the privacy of your home, but the work holiday parties in both the public and private sectors, have been crossed off the holiday to-do list.

Even the holiday parties without gift-giving are off the list. There will be no Ho! Ho! Hos! this season says Prime Minister Ivo Sanader–at least, not at work. There won’t be frolic for New Year’s either, for that matter.

The economy is keeping Santa and Father Time from showing up. Just like in other parts of the world, Croatia’s financial health is on that downward slide into Scroogeville. The prime minister said that it’s time for the country to get serious. Getting serious means no parties. Cutting out parties is just one step to balancing 2009’s budget.

This article I came across about Christmas in Croatia gave me the notion that Christmas is quite the big deal in this country. I imagine that this ban on celebrating must feel like a real bummer. The BBC article about the ban points to tourists as hope for a brighter tomorrow. If tourists keep coming to Croatia in high numbers, the economy might rally. Perhaps the department of tourism can do a “Bring back Christmas; Come to Croatia” campaign to attract visitors. The word “tourists” could be written in the blank in the above photo by woodsy. Currently, the fear is tourists will stop coming.

I’m not so sure about heading there for the holidays, myself. Particularly if one is looking for good cheer.

If there isn’t money for parties, what about holiday lights? Perhaps folks in Croatia are like folks in Whoville and will manage to have holiday fun even with the Grinch-like economy lurking in their midst.

Czech Christmas, Part I: Santa, go home!

by Iva Skoch on

Since I am spending the holidays with my family in the Czech Republic this year, I will give you a little insight into what Czech Christmas is like.

One of the first things you will notice when talking to the locals is that people are angry at Santa Claus. You might ask “How can you not like Santa?”

Well, Santa personalizes just another expansive monster who invaded the Czech lands in the past few centuries. Traditionally, Jezisek (Baby Jesus) brought Christmas presents to Czech children. After the fall of Communism in 1989, Santa was one of the first signs that capitalism is just around the corner. He started appearing in window shops, competing for children’s attention. As a results of this, many Czech kids now get presents from both Jezisek and Santa Claus. Ain’t capitalism grand?

Of course, parents complain that the Santa propaganda just makes children more materialistic. “Why can’t we just have Jezisek? Santa go home!”

Frankly, I always found this sort of spirituality hypocritical. Czech Republic is one of the most atheistic countries in the world. Yet, somehow, Czechs are hung up on Baby Jesus bringing their children’s presents. The Czech Republic is actually the perfect place for Santa Claus. We even have a president named Vaclav Klaus. That is him in the picture, implying “shop, shop, shop!”

Also see Czech Christmas Part II and Czech Christmas Part III.

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