Worlds of Fun.Org: Hiding in Plain Sight

Henrietta in 1973 (from the 1974 Photobook).

About a week ago I posted a photo of Henrietta in the snow back when the park was still under construction in early 1973. That photo started a discussion on what happened to Henrietta, and started the wheels turning for a blog specifically about her. As most know Worlds of Fun was home to three full-size ships when it first opened in 1973, Cotton Blossom from MGM’s 1951 “Show Boat”, Victrix from MGM’s 1953 “All the Brothers were Valiant” and last but not least, Henrietta. Unlike the other two, Henrietta was not an actual model purchased from MGM, it was, however, based on the actual Henrietta from the 1956 version of “Around the World in 80 Days”. In fact, it's easy to tell when one watches’ the scenes from the movie that the ship at Worlds of Fun was only very loosely based on the actual ship from the movie itself, with only a few identifying elements being copied such as the side paddlewheel and smokestack, along with, of course, the name.

Screenshot from "Around the World in 80 Days"

When the park opened in 1973, until the Americana main gate closed for good at the end of the 1998 season, millions of guests would start and end their day at Worlds of Fun by crossing the gangplank of Henrietta. It, along with the entire Americana gate complex was almost an afterthought to the guests running for the Zinger, or Screamroller or Orient Express which were, rightfully, the stars of the show. Very few thought to take pictures of Henrietta or the Main Gate, that was until we all realized it was going away for good, and like so many things in life one ever knows what one is losing until it's gone forever. With the removal of the gate in 1998 and the addition of the pay extra Grand Prix Raceway Go Karts, Henrietta was the last of the ships to go, following Victrix’s removal in 1993 and Cotton Blossom in 1995. Or was it?

Construction of Henrietta, you can see the concrete keel in the approximate center of the photo.

Henrietta as she appeared in the late 80's/early 90's, photo by Jeff Merritt.

Henrietta, because it was only half wood, and the rest concrete wasn’t so easy to get rid of, and when the park opened back up in 1999 it was obvious that the park decided not to simply remove the ship and bulldoze over the site as if it had never existed in the first place, but simply only removed anything that looked like a ship choosing to leave the basic structure intact. The pointed bow deck, the stern (rear) nameplate, the rigging, the sidewheeler, and the smokestack were all gone. Yet the old counter and covered awning remained. Instead of being used as Guests Relations, or Par-A-Scope photo, it became the ticket booth for the Grand Prix Raceway. I remember visiting the interior when I worked at the park in 2008 and was sent from Patriot to Grand Prix, seeing the old miniature wooden boxes and pegs on the wall that still existed from when it was used for souvenir photos, reminding me of the once grand past of what had become simply an ordinary wooden box.

Henrietta in 1998, the last season before it was "removed"

Starting with the 1999 season the Scandinavian gate went from being a back gate to the ONLY gate. Due to its design, it lacked any "opening act" show factor that both the old Americana Gate, and new Scandinavia gate today evoke. This created a new trend for Worlds of Fun fans, who started taking their guests to Americana and passing over the still existing entrance/exit bridges to “properly” enter the park. I remember quite vividly showing a visiting friend from Florida the outline of where the sidewheel paddlewheel once was, which was still visible at the time (it is no longer so).

Henrietta during the 1999 Season, you can easily see the ship's concrete bow, the white structure above is also re-used from the Henrietta.

Even now when I pass by what I refer to as "what is left of Henrietta" (for lack of better description) I can't help but remember my personal memories associated with her and there are several. Crossing it every week to enter the park as a guest after I got off work there in 1994, while I waited for my mom to pick me up. In 1998, I met Jeff, who would later become my husband for the very first time in front of the Henrietta. My dad would even come out a few times and on one occasion would point out that when he worked at the park in 1973 (on Cotton Blossom’s Paddlewheel Cafe), he remembered that guests would not exit over Henrietta like they would for years afterward, but instead down walkways that were off to the side. The walkways themselves are of course long gone, but the light pole, poised at an angle next to Grandma’s Funnel Cakes, still stands as a reminder of how even only one year into park operation, Worlds of Fun was in a constant state of change.

The original "box" structure has been demolished in this photo from early 2014, with Steelhawk under construction in the background.

2014 saw the addition of Steelhawk, to replace the Grand Prix Raceway. Though its movement from Knott's Berry Farm generated some questions, its addition to Worlds of Fun was almost flawless, especially popular since it replaced the decidedly unpopular Grand Prix Raceway. The addition of Steelhawk also saw further changes to the remnants of Henrietta. The original box-like structure was bulldozed and replaced by a Coca-Cola Freestyle structure. The metal guard rails that were added with Grand Prix were, thankfully, removed and left the two bridges in their semi-original style, with the dock-style pylons still intact. The park attempted to cover the old concrete boat keel with soil and stone, and added a rather adorable themed creek bed. But even well-intentioned though it was, Henrietta’s keel seems almost relentless in its ability to still be visible even today.

An attempt to cover up the boat-shaped keel.

As we have seen, Worlds of Fun for twenty years did almost everything in their power to make Henrietta vanish. A proposition that was probably more successful than not simply because most park visitors on their walk to Steelhawk will never realize they are crossing the bow of a ship, or the old park gate. It's ironic then, that after twenty years of seemingly wishing to forget, the park is now not only recognizing that Henrietta did exist but creating a restaurant in tribute to it and the two other large landmarks that used to call the park home, Cotton Blossom and Victrix. Boathouse Grill will open with the 2019 season near the original locations of the Cotton Blossom and Henrietta, a fantastic tribute to not only the ships themselves but the memories they helped create.

Henrietta served as the host for the 1974 Grand Opening Ceremonies. You can see one of the original bridges in the foreground, which still exists and looks pretty much about the same to this day.