Splashin’ Safari is the attached water park at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. Affiliated
water parks typically aren’t as good as standalone water parks, but Splashin’ Safari is an exception.
This is an award-winning water park and many consider it to be among the best water parks
in the world. Myself included. In this video, I will review Splashin’ Safari
and explain why I think its worthy as its title as one of the best water parks.
Splashin’ Safari was added to Holiday World for the 1993 season. This water park started small,
but it now occupies roughly 1/3 of the park, covering 40 of the park’s 125 acres. Splashin’
Safari really gained notoriety in the 2000s after adding a series of ProSlide water slides,
a few of which were prototypes. The relationship has been mutually beneficial for both sides.
In 2002, the park added Zoombabwe, the world’s longest enclosed water slide.
This family raft slide stands 102 feet or 31 meters tall and covers 887 feet
or 270 meters in complete darkness. While the forces and elements of this slide don’t stand out,
the length provided a satisfying ride that lasted far longer than most water slides.
In 2003, the park added Zinga, one of the first ProSlide Tornados. And Zinga actually won the
Golden Ticket award for the best water slide in the year it debuted. ProSlide has built nearly
100 of these slides across the globe now, but when it debuted, Zinga was one of the prototypes. This
slide wowed the industry for its visually-stunning and colossal funnel. But it still packs a punch to
this day with its steep drop and disorienting undulations in the supersized funnel.
But the biggest splashes- both literally and figuratively- occurred with the trio of water
coasters. Splashin’ Safari unveiled Wildebeest in 2010 for $5.5 million. When it opened,
it was the world’s longest hydromagnetic water coaster with 8 uphill launches and 1710 feet or
520 meters of track. These uphill sections were powered by linear induction motors, or LIMs,
to quickly propel rafts uphill. This hydromagnetic water coaster is not
only notable for its length, but it also is among the best water slides in the world for delivering
airtime. Wildebeest has a seemingly endless series of drops and ascents, many of which deliver
airtime. This airtime is particularly freaky since you have absolutely no restraints. Most of the
airtime consists of quick pops, but the two shed drops deliver some odd sustained floater airtime
for a water slide. I have a separate review that goes into more detail, but Wildebeest
is worthy of its title of the world’s best water slide, even though there are a few I prefer.
One of which happens to be located next door in Mammoth.
Because of the success of Wildebeest, the park returned to ProSlide in 2012 for Mammoth. The
slide would cost $9 million, which would be Holiday World’s biggest investment to date.
The hydromagnetic water coaster would steal Wildebeest’s record
as the world’s longest water coaster with 1763 feet or 537 meters of track.
Whether or not this slide still retains this record is debated, as Toothless’ Trickling
Torpedo at the DreamWorks Water Park at the American Dream Mall is advertised as being longer,
but no stats are given for that slide. When Mammoth was announced in 2011,
I remember many enthusiasts criticizing the park’s decision at the time stating the ride
would be redundant with Wildebeest next door. But Mammoth silenced its critics once it opened.
It’s one of the best water slides in the world. Mammoth provides a radically different ride
experience. Unlike most water coasters that feature inline seating like Wildebeest,
Mammoth has circular rafts seating up to six riders. This has several advantages. For one,
the rafts can spin throughout the ride, which adds an all-new dimension to the experience.
Two, the airtime is crazy. While Wildebeest is the one that wins the award for the best
water slide in the Amusement Today poll, I personally prefer Mammoth by a slim margin.
I also have a separate review on this attraction if you want to hear more of my thoughts on it.
Then in 2020, the park added Cheetah Chase, a dual slide racing water coaster that would be
the world’s first launched water coaster. This one doesn’t have the airtime of the
prior two water coasters, but this slide would differentiate itself with the racing element and
superior sense of speed. Cheetah Chase has a few side-by-side sections and never really slows down.
And you get comically doused with water atop each hill. While I far prefer Wildebeest and Mammoth,
Cheetah Chase is a solid slide that I also have a separate review on.
The other nice thing with all three of these water coasters is that they have stations
similar to roller coasters. Rather than hiking up a 5-10 story slide tower, you board these
water slides at ground level and are carried up to the ride’s highest point. This not only
improves the overall guest satisfaction, but it also makes the attractions more accessible.
Beyond the headliners, you have a few other slides. You have the Jungle Racer mat racer slide,
which is a 5 story, 10 lane slide with a few humps on the way down. You have Bakuli, a massive bowl
slide. You have Watubee, a family raft slide that rides similarly to Zoombabwe except this one is
not enclosed. And then you have Otorongo, a tube slide tower on a hill with two twisting slides
and another with a sizable drop down the hill. And do you notice anything odd about Splashin’
Safari’s slide lineup? There are zero adult body slides. Every slide has a multi-person tube
or raft except Jungle Racer. And on that slide you ride right next to the other riders. I believe
Holiday World was quoted at one point that they want their attractions to be experienced together,
which is why there are no adult body slides. The only body slides you’ll find are for kids.
Beyond the slides, you have a few wave pools and a lazy river.
This is odd even for a small water park to have no body slides, let alone one that receives as
many accolades as Splashin’ Safari. While I do wish the park would add a body slide someday
to compliment the park’s offerings, I really can’t complain about their slide lineup. They
have three of my favorite slide type in the world in water coasters. Most parks are lucky to even
have one of these slide types. And the park covers all thrill levels with these slides.
Splashin’ Safari is a sizable water park, but it is entirely developed and boxed in by Legend,
Voyage, and the woods. The park did try expanding the water park in 2013 by building on the hillside
leading up to Thunderbird. This is where the Hyena Falls slide complex and Hyena Springs kid’s play
area were located. This also allowed the park to assimilate the former Pilgrim’s Plunge ride
into the water park. Pilgrim’s Plunge opened in 2009 and it was renamed Giraffica in 2013 when
it was transitioned from the Thanksgiving area to Splashin’ Safari. While the ride did seem
better suited for the water park because of its soaking splash, the ride was extremely unreliable
and removed after the 2013 season. This left Hyena Falls as a lame duck in its own area. The
ride’s distance from the rest of the water park caused it to be removed after the 2019 season.
It will be interesting what the park decides to do for future water park additions,
as their most recent one in Cheetah Chase was crammed above a pre-existing walkway.
In peak season, Splashin’ Safari typically opens an hour after the dry park
and it closes 1-2 hours early. And from my experience, Splashin’ Safari seems to be busier
than the amusement side for a majority of the day. The three water coasters in particular can have
hour long waits on busy days. For that reason, I strongly recommend riding these attractions
immediately after the water park opens to minimize your wait times. The park does close the queues
early for these attractions, so it’s risky trying to hit them towards the end of the day.
If you are alone or don’t mind splitting up your party, you can save a lot of time using the single
rider line on Wildebeest and Mammoth. I have never waited more than 5-10 minutes using this approach.
A note for single riders, on the other water slides that require a minimum of two riders,
Holiday World will do their best to pair you with another group
as long as you satisfy the weight limit. Like the dry side, the staff at Splashin’
Safari is incredible. They perfectly balance efficiency and friendliness,
which is why they’re so helpful when it comes to pairing up groups to meet weight limits.
The water park is just as clean as the dry side and the slides always seem to have fresh coats
of paint. While the water park doesn’t have any theming beyond rides being named after animals,
Splashin’ Safari does look quite nice. And it has a lot of kinetic energy between the
roller coasters that come whizzing by on the park’s boundaries and the slides themselves.
Last but not least, I want to talk about the dress at this park.
Because of the lack of body slides, this is one of the few water parks you can wear a shirt on
every attraction. I strongly recommend this for a few reasons. Not only does it protect
against the sun, but the water on Wildebeest and especially Mammoth is unbelievably frigid.
I also recommend goggles for the water coasters because they constantly spray mist in your eyes.
And because this is Holiday World, they also provide free sunscreen.
I typically spend a few hours at Splashin’ Safari each time I visit Holiday World. Unless
I’m there for Holiwood Nights, I always get to Splashin’ Safari at opening to beat the crowds.
The water coasters almost always have a longer line than the roller coasters on the dry side.
Earlier this year, I made a countdown for my favorite water parks and Splashin’ Safari
placed fourth. There are a few notable parks I haven’t visited in the US such as Schlitterbahn,
Water World, and Volcano Bay, but Splashin’ Safari stands out because of its great customer
service and trio of water coasters. Even as I visit more water parks, I expect Splashin’
Safari to still place quite highly since it’s the undisputed king of water coasters in my opinion.
So those are my thoughts on Splashin’ Safari, the attached water park at Holiday World.
Have you been here? What are your thoughts on
Splashin’ Safari- whether it be the park itself or any of the slides?
I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!