Can You Figure Out the New Attraction Coming to Holiday World Next Year Based on These Clues?

The masters of marketing at Holiday World have announced they'll be adding a new feature to the park for the 2020 season, but they're not saying specifically what it is. Instead they've been dropping clues in a few social media posts and videos. Let's put on our detective hats, grab a magnifying glass, and see if we can figure out what it is before the official announcement at Noon on August 6th.

The initial tease was made on social media when they posted this graphic:

I think there are a couple of possible clues here. First, let's look at the graphic itself. The words, "Hold Tight" tells me it's ride of some sort that packs a bit of speed, so it could be a new roller coaster. However, the claw marks tearing through the graphic and the word "cat" in the status update makes me think there's some sort of lion, tiger, jaguar, or cheetah tie-in to whatever this thing is. If that theory is true, then I lean more toward this being a new feature inside Splashin' Safari since those are all jungle cats and that would obviously play more into the theme of that park. Maybe it's a new water slide or a third water coaster?

The status encourages you to sign up for their e-newsletter to find out when the announcement is going to be made, which my co-worker, Liberty, from our sister-station, MY105.3, did. That newsletter contained this graphic:

There's the cat reference again. There's also the phrase, "it is going to be a blast!" which I think means whatever this thing is involves a really good chance you're going to get wet in some way, shape, or form. For now, I'm sticking with my theory that this will be in Splashin' Safari.

Now then, you could argue black cats are associated with Halloween so maybe the new attraction will be built in that section of the park since cats aren't normally associated with the other holidays represented, but let's keep digging. They released this graphic Wednesday evening:

The claw marks are there again, only this time the swipe (for lack of a better term) is slightly different, running downward from the upper left to lower right instead of upper right to lower left like the first one. I don't think this is a clue. I think it's something Holiday World threw in to make us think its a clue, but it's really a dead end. Nice try, but I'm not falling for it!

What I'm pretty sure IS a clue is the phrase "Mark Your Spot," but I can't figure out what it could be referencing. Hopefully, if the cat reference holds, they don't want visitors marking their territory. Nobody wants that. All joking aside, the only thing I can think is maybe there's an opportunity for people waiting in line for the ride (if that's what it is) to hose the people on the ride with water.

If you click on the link to the accompanying post on their website discussing the hints, there's a line that reads, "...we’ve been teasing. A lot. And I’m pretty confident NoBody has caught all of them." Notice the "N" and "B" in "nobody" are both capitalized. There's obviously something to that. NoBody. No Body? Could this thing give you a floating sensation like a zero gravity kind of thing? A comment from Kassie Richardson on this post suggests it could be one of those water slides where you cross your arms and feet, and drop almost straight down which makes sense and would also go along with my theory that this is a Splashin' Safari feature.

The most recent clue came in the form of the video below shared in Thursday's e-newsletter:

There are a couple of things worth noting here. For starters, Santa is talking and giving a gift to Safari Sam, the alligator (or crocodile) mascot for Splashin' Safari which I'm going to say confirms my initial thought that whatever this turns out to be will be in Splashin' Safari.

Next, after Sam opens the box to see that Santa gave him a several pair of socks, he purposely holds the first pair up toward the camera for a split second. I paused the video and scrubbed back and forth frame by frame (using the comma and period keys) to see if I could get a good look at them, and this is the best I could get around the 18 second mark:

Those look to me like either a cheetah, leopard, or jaguar. If that's the case, the "Mark Your Spot" phrase in the Facebook post above makes more sense seeing all three of those cats have spots, and would support a comment made by Tim Munsil in the "Hold on Tight" post, as well as comments made by Lydia Hoppenstedt and Mary Schepers-Bradley on that post.

Now that we've reviewed the evidence we have to date, I'm going with a cheetah-themed water coaster, like Tim and Mary suggest above. Maybe, just maybe, it will feature some sort of device that shoots you out of the gate like the Thunderbird which would definitely require holding on tight.

Whatever it's going to be, I have no doubt it will carry on the Holiday World tradition of becoming a must-ride ride every time you make a trip to the park. What do you think the new addition to Holiday World & Splashin' Safari will be? Cast your vote in the poll below.

[Source: Holiday World / Holiday World on Facebook / Holiday World on YouTube]