Gobbler Getaway at Holiday World has been in operation since 2006. This and The Voyage were added for the new Thanksgiving expansion that year. Designed and manufactured by Sally Corporation. You are enlisted to help out the town of Autumn Falls in rounding up their turkeys for their Thanksgiving celebration. We feel very confident that this is the only dark ride ever themed to Thanksgiving Turkeys.
Gobbler Getaway Rider Experience
Riders enter what looks like a huge Barn and walk through a very well-themed queue line. The Ride Vehicles can accommodate four at a time. Two seats in front and two in back. Once the ride begins you need to line up your “Turkey Caller” and shoot the blue lights on every turkey to score points. Whoever gets the most points by the end of the ride is the winner.
Gobbler Getaway: The Good
Having a dark ride themed to Thanksgiving gives this ride so much Charm. From Granny who talks to you in the queue line, till you find out what is going to be for Thanksgiving dinner this year, it is all just so well done. You would have to be trying hard to not smile on Gobbler Getaway!
One of the biggest issues with shooting dark rides is that the shooting doesn’t work well. However, that isn’t the case with Gobbler Getaway. We are happy to report when riding we have never had issues. The Game is very fair and if you aren’t racking up points it is probably your fault.
It is indoors and well airconditioned. Also, it is a very long ride! We love dark rides at theme parks because they are always fun no matter the weather conditions outside. Your group will always be able to go round up the turkeys and do it in comfort.
The Bad
We have two issues with Gobbler Getaway. First is the size of the cars. Because restricting to only four riders at a time means a lot of groups will be splitting up. In addition, it also means that on busy days the line will move slower.
The second is the cutouts used for the ride. All the Turkeys and other props that you will be targeting are two-dimensional. Though this isn’t a ride killer by any means. You will have fun regardless of not having 3D props and animatronics during the ride. It does however give the impression of being made on the cheap.
Final Verdict
Gobbler Getaway is a great addition to Holiday World. We think that a dark ride is an essential part of theme park magic. Holiday World theming this to Turkeys gives this a charming and fun atmosphere. We only wish the cars were bigger and that there were some 3dimensional props. But that doesn’t stop this ride from being a fantastic and fun ride! Because of these reasons, Gobbler Getaway gets a nine out of ten.
Thanks for Reading!
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