Holiday World 2015: Could it be a B&M?

On second thought, I do not believe Holiday World will be giving Voyage an Iron Horse treatment.

Here's some recent news about what's going on at Holiday World (from Erik Johnson at Theme Park Review on June 17, 2014):

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1462202#p1462202

Some construction is going on near the water slides that are next door to the old Pilgram's Plunge location. We had a great day so far at the park, but Voyage has been closed most of the day.

 He also posted pics of the land clearing.

Koasterking48 posted a pic on Theme Park Review from June 19th, showing footers, looking to be for a steel coaster:

This photo was pulled from Facebook, but it's not mine and I unfortunately cannot give credit to it as I don't know who the original poster is (I found it on another coaster fan page and they obviously didn't state who took it either).

The construction appears to be to the right of Voyage behind Hyena Falls (in Splashin Safari). The footers here seem to indicate a B&M of some kind.

Now that brings up something interesting. Recently there have been four different track pieces at the B&M plant: yellow (for the Wanda park in China), orange (most likely for Gardaland's Dive Machine), white (another dive machine, probably for Efteling), and teal (unknown). I do not think teal will fit in this area of Holiday World very well, but the orange track could. While I heard the orange track is going to Gardaland, it could fit nicely here too.

But now, here's a little out-of-left-field speculation. I don't normally do this, but I've been hearing ideas spreading throughout Theme Park Review. Judging by the look of the footers and the direction, could we be seeing B&M's first launch coaster with a launch system made by themselves? While, Hulk is a B&M, but the launch system was designed by a different company. There has been a rumor for the past few years that B&M is finally ready to get into the launched coaster business:

(2/7/13) NewsParcs has posted a great interview they had with Walter Bolliger (of B&M coaster fame). They talk a bit about how B&M works as a company, their latest designs, and even mention that they are ready to do a launched coaster (LSM) as soon as a customer asks them to do one. In 2013 they will open two new Wing Coasters, Gatekeeper at Cedar Point and now we’ve got a name for the one in China’s Ocean Kingdom… “Flying over the Rainforest”. 

(7/11/12) I haven’t heard much about this in some time, but I did get an e-mail this afternoon reminding me that B&M are still working on new exciting coaster projects. With the full scale international launch of their Wing Coaster design now behind us, I was reminded that they are still hoping to evolve the Wing Coaster design into their very own version of a 4th Dimension coaster style attraction, with rotating seats. Don’t look for this to happen next year, and maybe not even the year after that… but from what I’m hearing, they are working on it.
    Of course, this leads me to wonder about the other new B&M concept that we have yet to see or hear anything about in some time… the launched coaster. I had heard on good authority that B&M was indeed ready to start building launched coaster layouts and had come up with their own new launch system they were comfortable with.  If I had to guess, I think we could see a launched B&M before we see the 4th Dimension. However, for either design, there has to be a buyer willing to take a risk and be the first to build one.

(9/28/11) Screamscape sources tell us that in the next season or two we can expect to see B&M premier an all new launched coaster ride system, as their next new coaster concept. Beyond this, I’m told that B&M would like to launch a 4D coaster concept, likely based on the new Wing Coaster technology, but this ride system is still several years away from becoming a reality. For now B&M have their hands full developing the new Wing Coaster system and getting their Launched coaster line off the ground.

So for 2015, could we finally be seeing this B&M Launch built? Since Holiday World had no experience with B&M, I'd guess that they will pick one of their existing designs first, like a Floorless or a Wing Coaster. But this ride is looking more and more like a launch coaster of some kind, and the footers do look like B&M (especially in this comparison by LogBur on ThemeParkReview):

"Confirmation is a bit strong but look at the footings in the center of this image.


And now look at Banshee's footings.


They look identical to my eyes. I'm waiting for someone more well-versed in manufacturer footings to clue us in as to whether other companies use the oval/almond shaped cutout or not."

They also just removed an attraction nearby, Giraffica, formerly Pilgrim's Plunge. Could that be a possible splash down zone?

What makes this more interesting is some of the clues lately. Here's a short summary from glouthan at Theme Park Review:

I was just thinking about something based on the recent clues (about a week ago - mentioning the storms. I was thinking they could be like Verbolten's event building - could be located on the pit). I was thinking that the clues could be hinting towards the layout of the coaster, each day being a hint of a certain element. Here is what I mean:
Day 1 "At last the day is here. After years of planning, we depart for the New World." Dispatch from station.
Day 4 "We are told to remain below" underground tunnel perhaps?
Day 5 "My worries drift away with the gentle rocking of the ship." Some pre-launch/lift turns?
Day 8 "The liar must clean what the swabber will not, the beakhead and chains." A reference to a chain lift?
Day 11"The children look to the skies and imagine what secrets exist within the massive clouds." High height, or nearing the top of the lift?
Day 15 "We count one hundred plus two passengers on board." Could this be the height?
Day 16 "And now we are one hundred and three" Drop length? 
Day 21 "The spray on deck feels colder now than at the start of our journey." Water effects? Maybe the old Pilgrim's area will be used?
Day 22"As the ship shifts unexpectedly, there are times we can no longer stay upright." Inversions, anyone?
Day 25"The skies are worrisome." Could this the coaster going into the pit? There could be a building like Verbolten, and 
worrisome skies are usually dark - a building could be dark on the inside.
Day 26 "We have survived our first storm at sea." Storm effects, turns, inversions that happen in the building?
Day 28 "The air on deck is fresh" Out of the "event" building?
Day 34 "The wind has taken on a deeper chill and stronger force." Launch to reach top speed?
Day 35 "The ocean waves rock our ship." Could this mean back and forth "twisties"? (Cheetah Hunt & Lightning Run are examples)
Day 36 "Another storm." Back into the "event" building?

Anyways, I might be overthinking, but this could be something.

If this is B&M's first launch, and it will be like this, man will I be interested! But alas, we'll have to wait and see. Good news is, we have 23 days left until July 24th when this thing will be announced.