An Indiana Park Was Just Named Home to the World’s Best Water Park and Wooden Coaster
While Disney and Universal theme parks tend to win awards for being innovative, a smaller theme park recently proved that it can still be voted the best. Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, took home the 2026 Golden Ticket Awards for best water park and best wooden roller coaster.
This was the first time Splashin’ Safari won the water park category. It also became the first park in Golden Ticket history to have three rides finish first, second and third in the same category.
The winning rides were Mammoth, Wildebeest and Cheetah Chase. One of the park’s water coasters has now held the top spot for 16 straight years.
Splashin’ Safari has already closed for the season, so visitors will have to wait until 2027 to ride some of the winners.
Splashin’ Safari Had Never Won Before
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A panel of experienced voters who visit amusement parks worldwide chose this year’s Golden Ticket Award winners.
Splashin’ Safari finished ahead of Universal’s Volcano Bay in Orlando and Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas. The awards were presented in Austin, Texas, during the weekend of Sept. 12 and 13.
The water park covers nearly 40 acres of Holiday World’s 125-acre property. It has two wave pools, a lazy river, children’s areas, water slides and three water coasters.
Entrance to Splashin’ Safari is included with Holiday World admission, along with free parking, sunscreen and unlimited soft drinks.
Mammoth Beat the Park’s Other 2 Water Coasters
Mammoth held onto first place for the second year in a row. The six-person water coaster stretches one-third of a mile and has seven stories of elevation change.
Riders travel through five enclosed tunnels and are pushed up five hills along the way. Circular rafts also mean you may end up facing forward, backward, or sideways during the ride.
Wildebeest came in second after previously winning the category 14 times. Cheetah Chase finished third and has two side-by-side slides with a section where the rafts race directly against each other.
ProSlide built all three water coasters. Cheetah Chase is the newest of the group and opened in 2020 as the first launched water coaster.
The Voyage Returned to First Place After 15 Years
The Voyage won the wooden coaster category for the first time in 15 years. The award came during the ride’s 20th season at Holiday World.
The 1.2-mile coaster has 6,442 feet of track, five underground tunnels and a top speed of 67.4 mph. Riders experience a total of 24.3 seconds of airtime, which Holiday World says is a record for a wooden coaster.
The park has also put significant work into keeping the ride running. Over the past five years, the park has spent about $2.5 million replacing more than 3,000 feet of track.
Holiday World will begin its Happy Halloween Weekends on Sept. 19, but the water park will remain closed. Splashin’ Safari returns next year with Cannonball!, a new water coaster scheduled to open in May 2027.
