The Raven is a wooden roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari's Halloween section in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. It began to be designed and built in 1994 by the now-defunct roller coaster manufacturer Custom Coasters International, with the help of designers Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill. The roller coaster opened on May 6, 1995. The Raven takes its name from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" and features sudden drops and turns which mimic the flight of a raven. From 2000 to 2003, The Raven was voted the world's "Best Wooden Roller Coaster" at the Golden Ticket Awards, which are presented annually by Amusement Today magazine. It was named an "ACE Roller Coaster Landmark" by American Coaster Enthusiasts on June 23, 2016. History Development Plans for a new wooden roller coaster were first conceived by park President Will Koch. Koch contacted Custom Coasters International and plans for the then-unnamed roller coaster began to form. The roller coaster remained unnamed until August 1994, when Koch invited magazine editor and fellow amusement park lover Tim O'Brien to tour the site of the future roller coaster. During that tour it was O'Brien who first suggested the name The Raven, deriving the idea from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". The name was soon made official and construction on The Raven began. On May 6, 1995, The Raven was opened to riders for the first time. The roller coaster debuted with a single 24-passenger train made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The ceremonial first train was dispatched with one empty seat, after Leah Koch, the daughter of park President Will Koch, opted not to ride. The seat was instead reserved for the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe, who had published his poem "The Raven" exactly 150 years earlier. Changes In 2005, The Raven received a second train, bringing the ride's total to two 24-passenger PTC trains. Although the ride had been able to effectively handle the crowds up to that point, adding the second train improved The Raven's capacity from 700 riders per hour to 960 riders per hour. In order to accommodate and store the second train when it was not being used, a transfer track was built along the straightaway prior to the lift hill. A transfer track allows a portion of the track to be moved and redirected to a storage bay. This allows an unused train to