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| Pilgrim’s Plunge. Courtesy Holiday World |
by Joe Kleiman, IPM Online News Editor
Savio, Italy and Santa Claus, Indiana, USA — Divertical, a watercoaster modification of Holiday World’s Pilgrim’s Plunge, opened June 16 at Mirablilandia in Savio, Italy. Both attractions are built around Intamin’s Hyper Splash design, a dual elevator lift on a single vertical tower, which places riders into position for their descent from a height of 131 feet for Pilgrim’s Plunge and 197 for Divertical. From the tower, boats drop at a 45 degree angle. While the ride ends on Pilgrim’s Plunge with a splashdown after a 50 mph descent, Divertical’s riders return to the air at 62 mph for a coaster trip leading to a second splashtown, as illustrated in the following photo and video by Robb Alvey, taken during a June 2012 Theme Park Review trip to Mirabilandia, and reprinted here with permission. Divertical was built at a cost of $26 million by the park’s owner, Parques Reunidos.
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| Divertical. Courtesy Robb Alvey, Theme Park Review |
Meanwhile, a Summer drought has caused Holiday World to make changes to their regular operating schedule. In addition to cancelling Fourth of July fireworks, the park decided to comply with level 1 water restrictions by voluntarily closing Pilgram’s Plunge on July 1. Water was rerouted to the adjoining Splashin’ Safari waterpark, included with admission, where the park’s newest attraction, the ProSlide designed Mammoth hydromagnetic watercoaster, has been entertaining guests since May. After the five day shutdown, the $4.3 million Pilgrim’s Plunge reopened to the public on July 6.
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| Pilgrim’s Plunge. Courtesy Holiday World |