Mammoth Monday at Holiday World

SANTA CLAUS, IN (WFIE) - The new Mammoth water coaster at Holiday World has been open for about a week now.

The ride has already garnered national attention and will even be featured on the Travel Channel this summer.

The 9 million dollar ride opened earlier this month and park officials say the ride can handle more than 1,000 riders per hour.

No one explains the mammoth better than Pat Koch herself.

"The new water coaster is the Mammoth and it is mammoth. It's so big," said Director of Values, Pat Koch.

Inspiration came from Splashin' Safari's other water coaster, the Wildebeest, which is quickly becoming known as the Mammoth's 'little brother' but Koch says they're very different.

"This one is the first one in the world. There's one being built in Dubai and they will learn from what we're doing. They've been here and looked at it, so we wanted to have another attraction like the Wildebeest. Even better so people would have two rides and the lines wouldn't be so long," said Koch.

Each time Holiday World adds a ride, new jobs are added.

"You have to have the maintenance people, the mechanical people, and you have to have the ride operators. Like this ride, it takes quite a few people to keep it operating and quite a bit of training also," said Koch.

General Manager Matt Eckert rode the Mammoth for the first time with 14 News.

What's surprising is how similar the Mammoth feels to an actual roller coaster. Eckert says that's because of the technology being used throughout the ride.

"They use what's called linear induction motors or lin motor and basically what that is, it's magnets on the bottom of the raft, so when they hit those hills the magnets pick up and they propel you up the hill just like you're going up a lift hill on a roller coaster," said Matt Eckert.

Holiday World plans to keep growing. You'll often hear the Koch family say they are wired for growth.

The park is open daily for the summer.

Gates open at 9. Splashin Safari opens at 10:30. Hours start to extend the further we get into summer, so be sure to check online for hours the specific day you plan to come.

You can watch the Travel Channel Holiday World specials coming up in July.

You can check the Holiday World schedule here.

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