Tucked into the wooded Halloween section of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, The Raven has spent three decades punching well above its 80-foot stature, earning a reputation among coaster enthusiasts as one of the finest wooden roller coasters ever built.
Named for Edgar Allan Poe’s 1845 poem, The Raven opened on May 6, 1995 as Holiday World’s first major thrill coaster, designed by Larry Bill of Custom Coasters International. Below is everything worth knowing about the ride: its full stats, the story behind its design, the awards that built its reputation, its safety history, and how it stacks up against the park’s other legendary wood coasters.
Quick Answer
The Raven is a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, opened May 6, 1995. Designed by Larry Bill of Custom Coasters International, it stands 80 feet tall, drops 85 feet, hits 48 mph, and runs 2,800 feet of track in about 90 seconds. It won Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Award for Best Wooden Roller Coaster four years running (2000-2003) and was named an ACE Coaster Landmark in 2016.
Stats at a Glance
Park: Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Indiana. Designer: Larry Bill, Custom Coasters International. Opened: May 6, 1995. Height: 80 ft. Drops: 85 ft and 61 ft. Top speed: 48 mph. Length: 2,800 ft. Duration: about 1 minute 30 seconds. Inversions: 0. Minimum height to ride: 48 inches. Trains: two 24-passenger trains built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters.
The Ride Experience
The Raven begins with a chain lift to 80 feet before diving 85 feet into a high-speed run along the hillside. The layout doesn’t let up: a second, 61-foot drop follows almost immediately, and the train never stops stringing together airtime moments as it threads through the trees rather than over cleared land.
The signature moment is a low, banked turn that carries the train right over the surface of Lake Rudolph, followed by a 120-foot tunnel that swallows riders in near-total darkness before spitting them into the finale. At the base of the fifth hill, a double-banked S-curve — built specifically to dodge a stand of trees during construction — remains one of the most talked-about moments on any wood coaster, forceful enough that even veteran enthusiasts are caught off guard.
Because the entire course winds through the forest, the ride reads differently depending on where you sit and when you ride: front-seat riders get the clearest sightlines into the drops, back-seat riders get the sharpest airtime, and an after-dark ride hides enough of the layout that even repeat riders lose track of what’s coming next.
Design and History
Holiday World president Will Koch commissioned the ride from Custom Coasters International in the early 1990s, looking to give the park its first serious thrill coaster. Designer Larry Bill built a terrain layout that used the natural hillside rather than steel supports to generate speed and forces well beyond what the coaster’s modest 80-foot height would suggest.
The ride went unnamed until August 1994, when a trade magazine editor suggested “Raven” as a nod to Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem — first published in January 1845, almost exactly 150 years before the coaster opened to the public on May 6, 1995. Built for roughly $2 million, The Raven immediately established Holiday World as a destination for coaster enthusiasts rather than just a regional theme park.
The coaster originally ran with a single train and a single ride operator. In 2005, the park added a second train and a transfer track, upgrading to an automated control system that lifted hourly capacity from around 700 to 960 riders. The track itself is built from eight layers of Southern yellow pine topped with steel running rails, and during the 2020-2021 off-season the park re-tracked the lake-turn section and reworked other segments — nearly a quarter of the ride’s total track — as part of ongoing maintenance to keep the 30-year-old layout running smoothly.
Awards and Recognition
The Raven topped Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards for Best Wooden Roller Coaster four consecutive years, from 2000 through 2003 — a run that cemented its national reputation. American Coaster Enthusiasts later recognized that legacy by naming it an ACE Coaster Landmark in June 2016, an honor reserved for rides of enduring historical significance.
Even as newer, taller wood coasters have opened elsewhere, The Raven has continued to rank among the world’s top wooden coasters in annual enthusiast polls, a rare feat for a ride now three decades old.
Safety Record
The Raven has operated for three decades with an overall strong safety record, but it isn’t without a documented incident: in May 2003, a rider died after standing up during the ride and falling from the train. An investigation found the restraint systems were functioning properly and identified no mechanical fault with the coaster; a subsequent lawsuit was settled out of court in 2007. The incident led to renewed emphasis park-wide on restraint checks and rider instructions before dispatch, and no comparable incident has been reported on the ride since.
How The Raven Compares to Holiday World’s Other Wood Coasters
The Raven isn’t the tallest, fastest, or longest wood coaster at Holiday World — that title belongs to The Voyage, a much bigger ride that has ranked among the top wooden coasters in the world since its 2006 debut. The Legend, which opened in 2000, sits in between the two in size and intensity.
Holiday World itself recommends riders work up to The Voyage by starting with The Raven and moving on to The Legend, treating Raven as the entry point into the park’s wood coaster lineup. Despite being the smallest and oldest of the three, The Raven is frequently cited by enthusiasts as the most surprising ride in the park, delivering forces that feel disproportionate to its size thanks to its tight, tree-hugging layout.
Visitor Tips
Riders must be at least 48 inches tall. The Raven sits in the Halloween-themed section of the park, and lines tend to be shortest right at opening or in the last hour before close. Because the ride runs through dense woods rather than open land, it can also feel noticeably different — and more intense — after dark, when the tunnel and lake turn are harder to anticipate.
The Raven roller coaster FAQs
Where is The Raven roller coaster located?
The Raven is located at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, inside the park’s Halloween-themed section.
Who designed The Raven and when did it open?
The Raven was designed by Larry Bill of Custom Coasters International and opened to the public on May 6, 1995.
How tall do you have to be to ride The Raven?
Riders must be at least 48 inches tall to ride The Raven.
What awards has The Raven won?
The Raven won Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Award for Best Wooden Roller Coaster four consecutive years, from 2000 to 2003, and was named an ACE Coaster Landmark by American Coaster Enthusiasts in June 2016.
How fast and how tall is The Raven?
The Raven stands 80 feet tall, drops 85 feet on its first hill, and reaches a top speed of 48 mph across 2,800 feet of track.
Has there been an accident on The Raven?
Yes. In May 2003, a rider died after standing up during the ride. An investigation found the restraints and ride mechanics were functioning properly, and a related lawsuit was settled out of court in 2007.
How does The Raven compare to The Voyage and The Legend?
The Raven is Holiday World’s smallest and oldest of the park’s three wood coasters. The Legend, which opened in 2000, is bigger, and The Voyage, which opened in 2006, is the tallest, fastest, and longest of the three. Holiday World suggests riding them in that order — Raven, then Legend, then Voyage.
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