Coaster #109- The Voyage
-------------------------
The Ride: So the line started outside in a small switback, after 5min we are inside the enormous blue station structure. We hang a right, and head down a flight of stairs. To our left you can see the MASSIVE amount of swithbacks ahead of us. So we head down the flight of stairs, make another right, then head into the start of the massive amount of switbacks and line ahead of us. A cool feature, which we come very close to, is the view of the Legends track in the 2nd to last tunnel, with only only a plexi-glass window stopping us from reaching out and grabbing the track. We make a right, and enter the massive amount of swithbacks. For those of you who dont know, a switback is part of the line that weaves back and forth in row. In this part of the Voyages queue, there is like 75-100 of them. After 25min of back and forth walking, we exit this room, and head up a flight of stairs. Notice how I said only 25min? The line moves FAST as the ride runs 3 trains and they are quite efficient. Anyway, we head up a flight of stairs, and enter the 2nd story of the 3 story station, We make a right, head down a small straightaway that goes through the structure of the station, head up and flight of stairs, and meet the boarding area to our left! This station is very large, and has nice theming with the Jaws-like fisherman theming. Because I was with mom who has bad back, we make a right and wait out the front row line. Within 10min we board the beautiful dark blue PTC trains. Pull down restraints, they are checked, and all clear!
We make a small jog to right and left, and enter HUGE lift hill. The lift hill is very fast, and offer sgreat views of the waterpark to the left, and the Indiana landscape to the right. After about 25 seconds of travelling upward, we meet the apex. We start to level out, level out some more, and then start to face downward. Steeper and steeper until we are barreling down the massive drop angled at 66 degrees! We level out, positive Gs pushing down on us, and head up the 1st camelback. This camelback is massive, and offers a surprisingly dosage of airtime in any row. Up and over, we head back down to the forest floors, but not for long! We head up another huge camelback, this time at the top we jog a bit to left, which offers some nice laterals. We get another nice amount of airtime, and head down the hill, this time into an underground tunnel. The tunnel is quite deep, and nice and cool which is refreshing on this hot and humid day. We quickly zip out of the tunnel, head up a small bunny hop which also turns to the right, and head back into another underground tunnel. This is the most underrated section of the ride, I really loved that element of tunnel-small bunny hop-tunnel. Out of the 2nd tunnel, we head up a larger bunny hop, but still dont lose amazing pace and speed. After another ass out of seat moment, we head into another underground tunnel, and head up a hill, with intene banking to left. Up and over like we didnt just go up a hill, we make a sharp right and head down, it levels out for a milli-second, and then we head right back down again, which is VERY surprising and offers fantastic airtime. We then make a sharp, highly banked left through a very nice, swooping and intense turn. While staying banked, we go through a small bunny hop which offers diagnol airtime. Hard to explain, I know, but you are on side the whole bunny hop, and thrown diagnally. We go through another small bunny hop, never losing this AMAZING pace (we are going about 50-60mph through these turnsand bunny hops). Next up is the back to back 90 degree turns, first one to left, 2nd to right. These are a novelty, but they work well on this ride as they blend right in to the other turns. After the 2nd turn, we hit a small descent, which is the best and more surpring airtime moment of the ride. Absolutely insane because you dont see it coming as there is no incline to it or anyt

I rode Voyage on Aug 3, and found it way too rough. I have ridden Beast, Son of Beast, Villain, Mean Streak, Blue Streak and many others, and this was the first ride that I wished would stop. The lift hill and the second hill were lots of fun - after that it was just tedious, bone-shaking. As someone said, there are personal preferences involved - but try this test..... While waiting in line at the station for Raven or Legend, count the number of smiling people when the trains comes back to the station. There will be many. Then do the same thing on Voyage. There will be few. By the way, on the same trip I rode Hades at Wisconsin Dells. Judging by its look, I suspected it might also be designed by The Gravity Group (it is). And although the ride was very similar, it was much smoother, and thus much more fun.

The ride is exhilarating from start to finish, except for the slow down right before the triple down tunnel. The airtime is mostly floater, which isnt as good to me as ejector, but theres gobs of it. Despite all the insane airtime hops and lateral throws this ride does it is relatively smooth in the front. Yes, there is some roughness in the other seats, but *not* in the front. The front seat of Voyage is smoother than anything on Legend or Raven. Son of Beast is in my home park. So, the slight bumps on some of the Voyages seats are really a joke compared to what you get on that notorious whiplash machine.
Update: I got one cycle in on Voyage yesterday. Wow, what a difference a year makes. The ride was total crap. I didnt get much airtime on the camelback. And the new trims totally slaughter a few airtime spots on the return run. Yes, there ARE trims on Voyage now. HW admits it. The ride was "tearing itself apart" and they had to intervene. Meh, it was pretty rough in spots as well. Let this be a lesson to you kiddies: always ride a great looking new woodie in the inaugural season. I doubt Voyage will EVER again perform at the level it performed at last year.
Im lowering this to a 9. Yes, I should base this on more than one cycle. But, the coaster kept breaking down yesterday. So HW didnt give me the chance to more properly evaluate the ride. Im forced to go off the one cycle that I did get. Ill give it another go around next season.

Another trip and another extremely hyped coaster. This time I traveled more than 700 miles for two parks, but mainly for one new beast of wooden coaster, Voyage. Luckily, I wasnt let down. It rained on and off all day which must have helped with the lines. At times Voyage was nearly a walk-on! My first ride was in the back seat of the 2nd car from the back. Its fun watching the trees get smaller and smaller as you climb the long, slow lift hill. The first drop is good, though I couldnt really tell it was much steeper than most other woodies as advertised. Theres some nice floater air on the next hill, a bit less on the next hill then you drop into the first of many tunnels. With temperatures in the upper 80s, the tunnels were noticably cooler in comparison to the sections on the surface and the longer tunnels were very dark. Another hill and another tunnel followed by a short hill and another short tunnel. The trip out could have been repetitive, but its not at all. Next you enter the twisted section at the turn around point. Its packed with highly banked turns, two at 90 degree banking and some sections that have small banked hills or bumps. This part of the ride is fun in the front and pretty darn rough in the back of the train. The 90 degree curves are great. You feel like your head might skim the wood and they definitely take riders by surprise. Some of those banked hills are what I believe others are worried about aging poorly. They are kind of rough right now in the back in the future they could be really jarring. Next you dive back into a short tunnel and up into the MCBR. Then you dive into INSANITY. The triple down in the dark is awesome. The bottom literally drops out from under you in pitch blackness. In my ride in the 2nd car from the back it was the best on other rides in different locations it wasnt half as cool. After that you make your way back to station with more short humps (that I guess are supposed to help add to that airtime total) and several turns that give you a kind of sailing side to side motion. This section is less intense that the turnaround but you still have tons of speed. You rise up over the lift and dive into a short tunnel next to the station. Most rides would be over by now, but not Voyage. Youve still got another tunnel and a few more crazy turns. This has been one of the toughest coasters for me to rate and place in my top ten. Mainly because of Voyages roughness and intensity. Normally something this agressive would never get a "perfect" rating from me. You get thrown and flung every which way on your "1.2 mile trip". Holding your hands up is a battle. Is it TOO rough? At times it felt like it, but then I got off briefly exhausted, but not physically beat up. Then I kept finding myself back on another train 10 minutes or so later. It was really weird, like an abusive relationship I couldnt get out of. I rode it 3 times in an hour then two more before I left the park. I normally butcher rough woodies (Predator @ SFDL, Cyclone @ SFNE). You shouldnt need football pads or body armor to ride coasters. But on the other hand Voyages re-rideability was amazing. The roughness must be just at my threshold or the mile long adventure is fun enough to balance out the intensity. Voyage is now my top rated woodie passing Boulder Dash. It recieves one of my few 10s on this site and lands at #5 on my Top Ten. Final Rating - 10.0 (Superior)

Wow best ride Ive been on SSOOOOOO much air! THe triple drop is my favorite part. Extremely smooth, fast, tall, and worth the wait. I loved it so much I rode it 11 times in one visit!

Its big. Its fast. Its intense. Its impressive to look at. Its long. Its all of these things. But one thing for me that it really wasnt... it wasnt that much fun. The combination of height and speed of this coaster make it a very brutal ride. If it were a bit shorter, this intensity might not be too bad... but with the long length of the layout, by the time the train was nearing the end, I was simply hoping that I could stand it. There is a point when wooden coasters can be too big and too fast and therefore too intense. I think The Voyage has passed this point. Im wondering how the years will treat this monstrosity? How much money will be needed in maintenance and track work to keep this from becoming unrideable? Personally, I believe that Holiday World might have done better with a smaller, less intense coaster. Sometiems Quantity (Height, speed, Length) does not always mean Quality. To me, The Voyage is a prime example of this.

Amazing. Just flat-out amazing. How this coaster maintains its speed until the brake run is beyond comprehension. It Does. Not. Stop!! I rode this one 3 times, first in the back, then front, then a few cars from the front. The ride in the back was probably the most intense, but the front was no slouch whatsoever. Going out, the ride hauls-ass over the three large hills leading to the twister section. This secion is fun...excellent air, but nothing new. The real meat of the ride starts afterward, as the twister section is totally nuts. Airtime, turns, pops, and the 90 degree turns are friggin sweet! There is one very strange turn that pops up and to the side that I think might not age very well. On the return run the ride loses zero speed. There is a double drop in the dark that, in the back, is sick!! All the way back to the twister finale you are being thrown around like a rag doll. This is wooden coaster heaven. The last twister section is just as ferocious as the rest of the ride...simply not letting up until the last inch of track before the brake run. Explosive, exhausting, amazing, and totally worth the hype. I do have one criticism, and that is when we rode in the 3rd car the ride was incredibly rough. I got off that run with a headache...it was NOT good. In the front and back, it was as smooth as can be expected, but in this car the ride was vibrating and shaking the whole way. I hope this is not how the entire ride ends up in the future.

Easily the best woodie Ive ever been on, taking the cake from my other favourites Shivering Timbers, Hades, Lightning Racer and Phoenix. Just non-stop action [well okay theres a mid-course which allows a breath to be had], air on every hill, crazy laterals [in one place, possibly too crazy], wicked tunnels. I will throw my hat in to those who feel that the 90 degree turns dont really do much. Theyre neat to go around, and holding your hands up sideways is a fun little add-on, but its not exactly a thrilling element and it brings no forces to the table. However, it doesnt take away from the ride at all. The airtime in the front is consistant floater air all the way through on every hill. I dont think I went up a hill without getting a little pop of air. There are no ejector seat moments, which tempts me to bring the rating down, but this thing just will NOT let up. Its BAM, BAM, BAM with the elements, its a hill BAM airtime BAM lateral turn BAM another turn BAM airtime hill BAM another turn WHOOPS UNDERGROUND NOW BAM AIR! I was left breathless on every single one of the nine trips I took on this thing, no matter where I was sitting. This thing was awesome, absolutely awesome, and made up for two let-downs in Raven [which was very good but not "the best woodie in the world" as some claim] and Legend [which I didnt really like at all].

Absolutely undescribable, but Ill try. The easiest way to decribe this ride is Ravens crazy, insane second half in three minute form. The out run features skyscraping hills designed for perfect airtime (floater in the front, ejector in the back). The turnaround was probably designed by God. The speed is rediculous, the alternating 90-degree banked turns are awesome, and the funky reversed-banked speed bump before the first ninety is spectacular. The ensuing tunneled triple-down is probably my favorite part of the ride. The first two drops are great but its the third one where the bottom just drops out, launching you into your lapbar. The return run comes lightning paced with great spots of ejector air. The intensity on display from the turnaround to the final break run borders on too much but ends up being just perfect. The night rides are unreal as well. The back seat night ride I received on Saturday during Holiwood Nights was the greatest individual coaster experience of my life. I highly recommend that anybody remotely interested in roller coasters at least give this ride a chance. I can gurantee you will at least be impressed. Voyage is Raven with much more length. Voyage is The Legend with much more intensity. Holiday World has officially taken the lead in the wooden coaster war and they will probably keep it for awhile. Anything more intense will just be too much.

The night time rides I got at Holiwood Nights are the best coaster rides I have ever had. However I will not rank this as my #1 coaster since those night rides during ERT are not something that can be experienced by anyone on a typical day.

The airtime is as good as advertised. I was trying to count the amount of time I was out of my seat and estimated 15 seconds before the turnaround so I stopped counting. The first two hills have plenty of air and the turnaround that is low to the ground with overbanked turns is awesome. There are plenty of shifts and changes in direction that will bounce you around.

The second half of the ride officially started for me with the brake run. You can feel the train slowing but the triple down slaloming into the tunnel brings the train right back up to speed and provides insane air in the back seat. (this is the only time there was huge air from the back that could not be completely felt in the front).

The ride stays relentless from that brake run until the end. It has everything one could want in a coaster. It can seem a little rough if you are marathon riding but it is not a painful rough. The coaster will wear you out though.

The station is beautifully themed. Although it was extremely humid at the park the main portion in the queue is under the station and well ventilated with fans that really cooled off the crowds.