• Voyage @ Holiday World | Coaster Reviews

  Written by The Coaster Critic 12 Comments
  Last Updated: August 5, 2006

  
  Voyage Lives Up to the Hype
  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 a wooden coaster, Voyage. Luckily, I wasn’t let down. It rained on and off all day at Holiday World which must have helped with the lines. At times, Voyage was nearly a walk-on!

  The Trip Out (Hills, Air, & Tunnels)
  My first ride was in the back seat of the 2nd car from the back. It’s fun watching the trees get smaller and smaller as you climb the long, slow lift hill. The first drop is good, though I couldn’t really tell it was that much steeper than most other woodies as advertised. There’s 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 yet another short tunnel. The trip out could have felt repetitive, but it’s not at all.

  The Twisted Turn Around
  Next, you enter the twisted section at the turn around point. It’s 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 other enthusiasts are worried about aging poorly. They are kind of rough right now, in the future they could be really jarring. After the exciting twister section, you dive back into a short tunnel and up into then back up to the surface where you hit the MCBR (mid-course brake run).

  An Adventurous Trip Back
  The train slows considerably at the MCBR and typically after brake runs most coasters can’t live up to the intensity of their first halves. After Voyage’s brake run things get really interesting. Immediately after the brakes, just as you let your guard down, you dive into INSANITY. The ‘triple down in the dark’ is awesome. The bottom literally drops out from under you in pitch black darkness. In my ride in the 2nd car from the back this section was the best. On other rides in different locations it wasn’t 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 world-record airtime total). There are also several swooping turns that give you a kind of sailing side to side motion, especially in the front. This section is less intense than the turnaround, but you still have tons of speed. You rise up over the lift and dive into a sho

  rt tunnel right next to the station. Most rides would be over by now, but not Voyage. You’ve still got another tunnel and a few more crazy turns.

  Voyage = Not for the Faint-Hearted
  This has been one of the toughest roller coasters for me to rate and place in my Top Ten. Mainly because of Voyage’s 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 couldn’t get out of. I rode it 3 times in an hour then two more before I left the park. I normally butcher rough woodies like Predator at Six Flags Darien Lake. You shouldn’t need football pads or body armor to ride coasters. On the other hand Voyage’s 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  #5 on my Top Ten. It’s barely edged out by the classic Beast at Kings Island. Final Rating – 10 (Superior)

  Check out this on-ride video of The Voyage at Holiday World. I find the music a little hard to stomach, but the video itself is excellent!:

  What’s Your Take?
  What do you think of Voyage? Do you have plans of visiting Holiday World? Leave a comment below.

  

  Related Posts:

  1. Voyage at Holiday World
  2. Holiday World’s New Project Could be a Roller Coaster
  3. Voyage’s Triple Down in the Dark

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12 Comments

1. #1 Anonymous says:
   July 4th, 2007 at 7:44 am

   Voyage is AWSOME

   Reply
2. #2 JuztCallMeKym says:
   June 25th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

   We (my boyfriend and daughters aged 9 and 10) rode this horrifying coaster last year, 2007, and that will be the very last coaster I will ever get on. I didn’t like them before that day but hate them now. Anyone that loves coasters will not be disappointed with the Voyage. Best Wishes!

   Reply
3. #3 Anonymous says:
   July 4th, 2008 at 9:46 am

   I live about 15 minutes away from holiday world and my friends and I go over about 3x a week during the summer,I can honestly say that I ride the voyage at least 3 times everytime I go. I looovvveeee it:]
   oh.
   and if you look down at your feet on the first hill.
   its amazing:]
   you feel like you’re doing a front flip.
   I seriously love this ride and I reccomend it to EVERYONE.

   Reply
4. #4 Anonymous says:
   July 9th, 2008 at 1:52 pm

   OH Yeah!! Thanks for the tip about the 2nd to last car! I’ll be sure to get that one when I ride it this Summer. Although I live only 45 miles away from Holiday World, I never got the guts to ride thier coasters. But I went to Kings Island in June, and I rode all 11 coasters (I can’t wait to find out what thier hyper ends up like next year!). My favorite was Son of Beast. So I can wait to see if Voyage is as good!

   Reply
5. #5 Anonymous says:
   November 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

   The 90 degrees looks awesome, but i love how Rob and Elissa just make a random appearance like its no big deal.

   Reply
6. #6 B. Lindsey says:
   June 20th, 2009 at 10:11 pm

   Oh my.
   Just got off The Voyage today. Let me just say, that
   I’m a coaster enthusiast. I’ve ridden The Beast at King’s Island, with little more than a head shake. (Impressive, but no biggie.) Um, I’ll never (EVER) ride The Voyage again. The whole time was spent with my head cradled on my 12 year old son’s neck, eyes clenched tightly, praying for my life. (No seriously, I really WAS.) Terrified doesn’t even begin to desribe it. (And I do NOT scare easily.)

   Scared the CRAP outta me……..

   !

   Reply
   • #7 Quil says:
     February 3rd, 2010 at 6:59 am

     same thing whith me on superman:ros for the 1st time, next time i rode it, it was my favorite coaster!

     Reply
7. #8 James says:
   July 31st, 2009 at 3:49 pm

   This review is SPOT ON! I’ve been to Cedar Point, Kings Island, numerous 6 flags, Florida theme parks, Vegas rides, etc… The Voyage was exactly as described. It’s like an “abusive relationship.”

   You love it, but it hurts you and you inexcusably go back for more.

   There is also nothing like the first ride when the section after the brakes scares the crap out of you. I did not ride this at night, but I heard most of the ride it pitch black at night. That would almost require a helmet.

   Reply
8. #9 Josh says:
   August 31st, 2009 at 8:37 pm

   Voyage is my new #1. I have never been so amazed by a a roller coaster. The airtime is insane, and turns are intense, and the speed is incredible! Yes, it’s a tad on the rough side, but I found it to be average roughness as far as wooden coasters go. I am also very tolerant of rough coasters, so that helps.

   I was soooooo conflicted after riding Voyage as to whether or not it beat out Millennium Force as my #1, but after a few rides on Voyage, I have decided it is solidly in my number one rank.

   Sorry, Millennium Force! I still love you!!!

   -Josh (track record: 97 coasters so far)

   Reply
9. #10 Austin says:
   November 11th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

   You know you’re going to have to revise this when the timberliner trains come!

   Reply
10. #11 Quil says:
    November 11th, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    I`ve never ridden the voyage, but the new trains will probly make the ride better, kind of ruin`s the look though. (yes, i am that person)

    Reply
11. #12 johnnyb says:
    December 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 am

    it’s like being shot out of the crooked barrel of a gun – THAT intense!!!! Scared the hell out of me and I would have re-rode if the line wasn’t 2.5 hours. Sure hope it ages well or people are going to get killed.

    Reply