Worlds of Fun.Org

First Look at WOF 2012

2011-12-05T19:49:00.006-06:00

As promised I wanted to move from 2011 to 2012 and take a first look at what is in store for next spring. At ACE Coaster Christmas we invited parks from the region to present for the upcoming season. Since the ACE Heart of America Region spans Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas we had a great turn out, and included presenters from Worlds of Fun, Six Flags St. Louis, Schlitterbahn Vacation Village and Silver Dollar City (of course).

Now since this IS a Worlds of Fun blog, I wanted to start with Worlds of Fun. But as I am the writer of said blog, and what I says goes (right out the window), I will also discuss the other parks too.

So Worlds of Fun. Now we all knew going into this that this will not be a year of big rides. However, for me sometimes that's not a bad thing. We saw how this year the gate area was transformed with the addition of the Grand Carousel and Festhaus II. Concrete, wood, and non-moving attractions may not look exciting on a press release, but certainly make a big statement to guests in the park. Like I mentioned in my previous blog, rides bring guests in one time, atmosphere brings them back.

First here's Brandon

Next Here is THE slide.

So what's on the slide...

1. Caribou Coffee, which appears it is replacing Plaza Gifts. To be honest I wouldn't be at all surprised if Baltic Bazaar was completely demo'd and a new structure re-built. While it would be mildly depressing to loss the structure, as long as the new structure is somewhat themed, I'm okay with this. From my experience many years ago working merchandising in the area, back in the 90's the structure was in bad shape. I can't imagine the situation has improved.

Here is some info on Caribou Coffee: http://www.cariboucoffee.com

2. It also looks like another dining option will be located near Caribou Coffee. Though Brandon could not share any more specific details except that it involves barbeque and a local bbq chain...

3. As far as Scandinavian merchandise, the old Scandi Skees will be pr-emptied by merchandise and become a retail store instead of an arcade. Probably a good idea as the few times I have stuck my head inside there were less then half a dozen guests inside. It seems a good size for a retail store, much more so then Plaza Gifts, and seeing how Retail has handled the renovation of various other stores throughout the park I think the outlook looks positive.

4. Haunt Expansion. You would have to be living under a rock these last five to six years not to realize just how big Halloween Haunt has become. So it comes as no surprise that Worlds of Fun is making plans to expand Halloween Haunt. Brandon stated that the plans are for another permanent structure (like Dollhouse and Slaughterhouse). No specific ideas on location per say, but the story line should revolve around high school zombies. Night of the Living Dead... lives again.

5. Wacky Worm incorporation into Planet Snoopy. Well it looks like the rumors about the worm moving up the hill were right. Woodstock's Express (Too Too Train) is history, with Wacky Worm taking its place. No official word on if it will receive a new name, but it does sound like it will receive some much deserved love.

6. ADA, many updates to the park in regards to the American Disability Act. Making restrooms, queue lines, etc more accessible. To silence the few rumors out there about Viking Voyager receiving the axe, Viking Voyager looks like it will be with us for many more years. A very good thing, as those Arrow Flumes are a vanishing breed all by themselves.

7. Fast Lane, the Front of the Line Pass that the park tried out during Halloween Haunt this year will be expanded to the regular season. Brandon mentioned that 10 rides, spanning thrill rides to family rides will receive the Front of the Line pass.

8. Live Entertainment. Probably one of the more exciting developments. Over the past few years we have seen tentative steps for the park to bring back a few of its old stand-by's, concerts, festivals and now possibly the train robbery. Yes, the old Train Robbery may be returning after an almost 20 year hiatus. The park will also be developing various additional midway entertainment, jugglers, street performers, etc.

9. Infrastructure. While Brandon did mention that most of the infrastructure improvements would focus on Oceans of Fun, he did also mention that all newly renovated areas will feature the same paving stones used in Planet Snoopy.

Moving on beyond Worlds of Fun, we return to our first presenter and host, Silver Dollar City. General Manager of Silver Dollar City Brad Thomas spoke of the 2012 season and its upcoming festivals. I have to apologize as I did not keep detailed notes as far as the details. I do remember the Blue Grass and BBQ festival sounded fun, and tasty. :)

Of course the big news was his teaser at the end. He mentioned that if we should come back for Coaster Christmas next year... that there would be some exciting news to talk about. Hmmmm..... sounds very interesting. Coaster Christmas next year (unless things change) is tentatively scheduled for Saturday December 1. Mark your calendars.

Next up was Chris Ozimek from Schlitterbahn Kansas City, KS. He spoke about several new attractions that will be opening for Spring 2012. I have to say though I may not like the totally dark waterslide (yes I will admit I am afraid of the dark), the 3,000 foot rapids ride sounds like a great time. For a look at the entire line up of new attractions for Schlitterbahn Kansas City, KS for 2012 check out their website: http://schlitterbahn.com/subdomains/kc/new/

One important aspect of Schlitterbahn parks that Chris mentioned but bears repeating for those that havent experienced it, is the Schlitterbahn concept of transportainment. Where instead of having to get out of the water and moving by foot to the next aqua attraction, at Schlitterbahn guests can float to and from all of the various attractions. We have talked about it for three years, it looks like for 2012 the concept will become a reality.

Our last presenter was Mike Neace from Six Flags St. Louis. Mike was able to discuss the new attraction to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor next year, the Bonzai Pipeline.

You can read a little bit more about it here: http://www.sixflags.com/stLouis/rides/bonzaipipeline.aspx

I would recommend watching the video, it looks completely insane. I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.... Reminds me a bit of the first generation drop towers.

Overall it was a good time, and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves that attended. I look forward to seeing everyone next year for the 9th Annual ACE Coaster Christmas!

End of Season Review 2011

2011-11-30T21:47:00.020-06:00

You know I had meant to write up an end of the season review, right after the park closed... Then life intervened as it often does. I debated quite a bit over the last 2-3 weeks about whether to write this blog, but finally decided to do so, after talking with a friend about it.

This blog will be a little bit different then previous blogs, it will be a little bit personal, which is quite unusual for me. First a little respective. WOF.org has been online since November 1997, when I originally started the website as a free TRIPOD personal site, mostly as just a repository from some of the old WOF stuff I had discovered over the previous few years. But, to tell my story and make my point I have to go farther back then that. See in 1995 I had one of my first chances to get to know my father. Amazingly, though I had not grown up with him as most have, we had quite a bit in common. This included an interest in Worlds of Fun. My father had first worked at the park in 1973, on the Cotton Blossom, as a cook for the Paddlewheel Cafe. He had many great stories to tell, including my favorite being his joke about the "60 Somewhat new and Slightly exciting things to do" (the original tag line for WOF was "60 Brand New and Exciting Things to do").

More importantly to you my dear reader was on a Friday in 1995, he took me to the 4th floor of the Downtown Kansas City Library, known even today as the Missouri Valley Room. It is an amazing treasure trove for anything related to KC history. It was there, on that day that I first saw my VERY FIRST 1973 souvenir map. I was so excited, as there were the attractions that I rode as a child that were already removed by 1995. I made a black and white photo copy of that map, and it hung on my bedroom door for years. I was hooked. Worlds of Fun had turned from an interest, into a complete obsession. I have my dad to thank for that. That and much more.

Sadly, at the age of only 54 my father passed from this life two weeks ago.

I am not writing this blog to dwell on that sobering fact. At first, when reviewing old photos, and thinking about moments in the past, I had almost decided NOT to write an end of season review. After all rotting wood, chipping paint etc is not all that important when taken in the grand scheme of things.

Then I remembered one of my last conversations about WOF with my dad. About the carousel. About how he questioned how a American carousel fit into the theme of Scandinavia, and I remembered how he always used to poke fun at me with the Scandinavian yoddeling music... And I knew I had to write that end of season review.

All year I have been trying to find an argument for just WHY the themed music was important. Nothing I could come up seemed to really hit to nail on the head as to why it was so important to so many of us. When I seriously started thinking about this blog the very first thing I did was go to YouTube (don't we all love YouTube?) and found this...

For those unitiated, this was one of those pieces of music played in Scandinavia for years. Yes, it is a German Beer Drinking Song. I almost cried the moment I heard it. I had flashes of watching the boats drop down into the final flume on Voyager, of the silver maple trees at the front of the park turning yellow in the fall. I realized it doesn't just matter if the music fits the theme, but more importantly the memories it creates. I listen to the music and I remember intangible aspects and moments in time. It's like when I was kid I loved driving through NKC and smelling the bread baking at the Tasty Bread Factory. You could always smell it and I loved driving by for that reason. Those smells, just like the music at Worlds of Fun created wonderful vivid memories. Same thing with the Zinger and Express, it wasn't just the steel, or the concrete, but the memories those rides created.

Now no one can ask the park to bring those rides back. However, I don't think it is to out of line to ask to bring the music back. Please don't let the music, and the memories the music created... die.

So I ask the park one more time... Memories are too important to replace with the hot pop hit of the moment. Let those millions of people that have streamed through the gate have this one memory and keep it alive. Please don't let YouTube be the only way to remember our childhood memories.

And that's all I have to say about that.

As I mentioned that was a much more emotional argument then I usually make. There is a reason for that. The music, the crazy, zany, some may say weird themed music can evoke an emotional response, because of the memories it created. While its true guests will visit the park occasionally for the fact that it has great rides, but they will be return, loyal visitors to revisit their memories. If the park continues to remove the atmosphere, and hence the memories, they WILL lose loyal visitors. I guarantee it. Yes, over music.

There were many times this season I didn't want to stay at the park because it didn't feel this same this year, simply because of the music. For the first time it didn't feel like Worlds of Fun. If I feel that way, others will too I promise. I can also promise no one will come say... lets go to Worlds of Fun because they heard the goo goo dolls over the PA system. It IS just that simple.

So here again is my compromise. Bring back the themed music to the midways, but play popular music in the queue lines. After all queue lines are B.O.R.I.N.G. and could be tolerated better with popular music. After all Cedar Point put D.J's in their queue lines to entertain would-be-riders and many of those riders remember it to this day as an enjoyable experience. And isn't that the WHOLE point?

There were other things this season though that definitely had a more positive spin. Others have mentioned it (on Facebook) but I think kudos should be given to landscaping. Now if I had wrote this at the beginning of the season I would have had to disagree, landscaping started off looking rather dismal. However, thanks to a boost in staff it quickly recovered and the park ended up looking pretty nice this season.

Lovely Cacti Garden... with Lantana in the foreground.

I just had to include this it was so pretty... (Yes this was shot at WOF)

A potted flowering plant in Africa. I have no idea what type of plant this is, but the flowers are quite pretty.

I have to say my favorite part this year (as Jeff can attest to) was the American Cactus garden. The cactus garden was a staple at the park for years, and made its reappearance just last year. I was rather surprised that the cacti survived so well despite I am sure just a few rambunctious children.

A pine near Cyclone Sam's, succumbing to disease... sad.

Of course there were a few loses in the landscaping department this year too, namely many of the parks pines. As those more heavily involved in the landscaping field can probably attest to, the last few years have seen the spread of a deadly pine disease, that is virtually unstoppable and kills pines in a matter of weeks...

Many new trees recently planted near the new Festaus.

As kuddos to the park though there were just as many trees PLANTED this year. Plus, from what I have heard many of the dead pines will be replaced by other much more resistant species, which is good to hear. Just say no to the concrete jungle!

Of course themed music and landscaping are important to a park experience. One only has to look as far as your typical Six Flags park to realize that... However, one has to be honest and realize that most people come to the park for RIDES. Unfortunately, in the rides department the park did not fair favorably. There were some bright spots and I will get to those. First let me start out though, this will not be a tirade about Planet Snoopy rides opening late. While we all like to see attractions opening on time, weather is not always within a parks control.

Thunderhawk... about how it looked for most of the season.

However, certain other aspects ARE within the parks control. Thunderhawk for instance? Ouch... It didn't open for the season until FIVE months after the park had opened. Yes Huss Rides (Thunderhawk's manufacturer) is in Germany, however lets not forget the memo that the park was closed for six months. That means Thunderhawk went almost a full year without operating.

Another sore spot that the average guest many not always realize directly, but they will realize with the time in line.. is capacity. Prowler and Timberwolf didn't get their second train in operation until the almost two months after the park opened. For me atleast, that seems inexcusable. ESPECIALLY when your new attractions aren't open either.

So looking at this from your average guests point a view... They have to wait in line double the time they normally would (a 5 minute line becomes 15-20 minutes, or a 15-20 minute line becomes 30-45 minutes), PLUS over half of the family/children's area is still under construction, over a month into park operating season.

And no I'm not even done. There is one ride that I have failed to mention this year, or even the past several years. I should have. But I HOPED the park would remedy the issue, plus in the grand scheme of things its not a top billed ride. Autobahn. Or more appropriatly Der Fender Bender. (Yes and I am one of those people that still call it Forum Road). In this situation a picture is worth a thousand words....

Der Fender Bender in its early years (late 70's)

Same ride, but different name, now the Autobahn circa 2011

I am sorry... there is no way to sugar coat this. YUCK. Here are the options that I can see... Fix it, or Replace it. Sometime soon. Seriously you operate with only 7 cars? 7?!?! The park operates with 7 because the ride will not operate with fewer then that, and that is the reason it runs with 7 because it can.

The problem is there is way WAY to much patch fixing. Fix it enough that it will work (somewhat), or fix it to the minimum that it can operate, and leave it be. Until it breaks again. Autobahn falls in this category, so does Le Taxi Tour, (8 Cars are you serious?), and even Fury of the Nile. I refuse to ride Nile anymore, its not even a shadow of the ride it was in 1984. I primarily believe because of "easy" fixes. Yes the ride is safe, yes the ride operates, but is it fun? Or have the cheap fixes, just enough to keep the ride running safely, also had a negative impact on the overall ride experience? In other words has the ride ceased being fun? If you have to even think about that question then there is something seriously wrong.

Yes, that was painful. But you know it really needed to be said. For those that don't think it should be said, I welcome you to step into the park as a guest, and experience some of the rides and experiences I just mentioned, and not get frustrated.

Planet Snoopy... The old thought process with parks was to paint with garish colors so that guests would notice the new paint... (atleast that was the thought at Cedar Point in the 30's and 40's) well it worked.... and I actually really like the bright colors.

With that being said there were some very good experiences with rides this season too. Truthfully. Planet Snoopy for instance, not only did it double the number of Planet Snoopy rides, allowing children and parents to ride together, but it's also really nice looking! I can't even begin to tell you the times we headed to Planet Snoopy to find that's where the crowds were! Plus, it looked so fresh and clean, sparklingly so. I have admitted this once, but Planet Snoopy is easily one of the best looking children's areas in the entire almost 40 years of Worlds of Fun's existence.

The other big addition was the Illions Carousel. Now I understand no one in this area seems to get as excited about this as I do, but most will agree that it made the entrance plaza look about a million times better. For those that know me I might ask that you take a seat before I make my next comment. Cedar Fair did an exceptional job, exceptional. There was not a single corner cut with this project, and there were several ways they could have done so... They didn't have to completely restore the carousel, they didn't have to use REAL gold in the horses manes and tails, and most importantly they REALLY didn't have to restore the band organ. Most people may not realize this, but Worlds of Fun now has the only working band organ of the entire Cedar Fair chain, and folks it doesn't take both hands to count the operating band organs in parks across the country. They are rare, amazing creations that simply can't be reproduced by all but the most amazing sound systems in the world.

My drool moment is officially over. But seriously it is something that should be appreciated. Last comment and I will move on... but wouldn't that band organ music sound SO much better with Scandinavian music in the background as opposed to modern... errr... music playing instead? Yes I won't give up.

Of course the end of the season wrapped up with Halloween Haunt, the park's premier event for the season. There is no way of getting around the fact that Halloween Haunt is one of the park's best ideas in the last decade. It certainly brings folks in that's for sure, and that is a GREAT thing. I love seeing the crowds, and yes, even parking in the grass. What can I say I am weird. However I have to wonder why the park isn't exploiting the rest of the season? April thru September? I really think that festivals (and concerts) during the summer could turn out crowds just as big as October. After all they did it in the past, and its been proven that there are just as many people today that will come to the park.

There's not much to say about the Haunts that hasn't already been said. They were all quite good, but definitely there was a degree of improvement from the beginning of Halloween Haunt to the end on Oct 30th. One aspect I want to comment on is the Front of the Line Passes (FOL). Honestly I was skeptical about this idea. I have seen how well (or not so well I should say) they have worked at Cedar Point and Six Flags in the past. Not too well. However, I will be honest from what I saw there were no mass protests about FOL passes from stand-by guests (those without FOL passes). Overall it seemed those that used the passes were satisfied, the price wasn't obnoxious and I am sure it made the park money.

Some who read my comments may think that I am positively against the park making money. That all I want is the park to spend itself into a hole fixing everything, and forget about real life, and the fact that the park is a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reason I make the comments I do is that I want the park to prosper, not just this year, but next year, ten years from now... on and on. I want the park to bring in record profits, because it lets them invest in the park for the future. So when I see them making changes like Front of the Line passes, I don't express concern because the park is making money off of it (which is great), but because I see a concern that guests might be turned off by the idea. So far that is not the case, which is great.

However, it is one thing I think should be handled with caution. Think about a point a made earlier about reduced capacity on Prowler with only one train for the first two months. Guests are frustrated with a long wait now, how will they feel about an instituted Front of the Line program? If capacity issues are dealt with at the same time that Front of Line is instituted, I don't for see a huge problem. Otherwise, it could be. Just a word of caution FOL looks like a cash cow, it probably is, but long term quality guest experience should NEVER, EVER be traded for a quick dollar now.

So now it is the off season. Its getting cold, but next year it looks like we should see some great infrastructure improvements. My next blog post will look at that in more detail, and hopefully over the next few months we will have some photos to share with you. Until then, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and merry christmas!

Screams of the Past

2011-10-17T20:00:00.001-05:00

I apologize to everybody for not getting these photos up earlier but I have FINALLY starting getting over a miserable cold... that might explain why I don't recall much from last Sunday either... Combination Dayquil and Afrin I think :)

Anyway, so on with the blog. As many of you know a friend of mine Randal Strong-Wallace, built some pretty cool models and pretty realistic models of the coasters of Worlds of Fun from 1980. That is all the coasters that are now permanently removed from Worlds of Fun. (May they rest in pieces).

Last Sunday, the models opened at Union Station as part of a permanant exhibit, entitled "Screams of the Past". They were joined by a few of our own coaster artifacts and displays. Overall I was pretty impressed with the exhibit and am thrilled to see any exhibit that celebrates the park's past. I think sometimes its easy to forget this, but there are so many rides at so many parks that have just been all but completely forgotten... a true travesty if there was one. Its these types of exhibits, as well as this website, and more in the future hopefully that will keep these great rides, and more important, the memories they created, alive.

I really recommend anyone in the area to try to check out the exhibit. Right now it will definitely be onsite for the next year, possibly longer. The exhibit is FREE, and does NOT require admission to Science City. Though it will only be manned and operating during regular Science City Operating Hours. It is located near the entrance to Science City.

Here are a few photos from the opening of the exhibit.

Randal is to the right, and the guy in the suit, is Matt Christopher Asst Director of Science City. . Behind Randal you can see the Orient Express "dragon logo" projected as a go behind on the wall. Pretty cool if you ask me.

The Zinger, still without a working lift, but that should be coming soon.

The Orient Express, to the right you can also see a few of our "pieces" of Orient Express on display. As far as we are aware the track rail is one of only two pieces left of genuine Orient Express track rail.

Our little showcase, I was given this area by Randall to set up a mini-exhibit of my own. I though for awhile on what the focus should be. In the end I was inspired by the Walt Disney quote "You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality" and created a display as tribute to the Worlds of Fun Ambassadors.

Halloween Haunt Fourth Weekend Review

2011-10-11T21:13:00.007-05:00

Who knows what possessed us to go out on a busy Saturday... but we did. I think I wanted to see crowds at the park, while not having to work with them... Its a nice warm and fuzzy feeling, crowds at Worlds of Fun. So we arrived about 5PM, and found that we had to park our nice new car in the grass....

Of course we would have normally parked in K lot, but K lot is currently occupied by new Fords.

It was definitely pretty busy for sure. So we had to figure out what our plans were. In the end we decided to ride the train and then head back for Overlords Awakening..

The Overlord climbs in the sky....

Calling out the beasts of the darkness...

Not exactly the first person you would want to meet in a dark alley...

Next we headed to see Meat Cleaver High at the Moulin Rouge. I enjoyed this show as always...

You gotta love this guy! I believe he also did the Vincent Price "Thriller" monologue, he did an amazing job.

The gratuitous "She Blinded Me With Science" scene.

A new addition this year to Meat Cleaver High is this "Toxic" scene. Yes it really was THIS DARK. I really enjoyed all the lighting effects used though.

No halloween show is complete without "Devil in the Blue Dress"...

More photos of Meat Cleaver High can be found on Facebook

This Friday we are planning on getting some good photos of Midget Wrestling. We tried on Saturday but it was SRO for the first time I have ever seen at Country Junction!

Halloween Haunt Third Weekend Review

2011-10-01T21:08:00.008-05:00

Halloween Haunt kicked off once again just two weeks ago, for its full time, Friday/Saturday schedule. Jeff and I took some time to visit these last 2 weeks, and finally last Friday night we were able to complete a full circuit of all the different attractions. Its a nice opportunity as we don't have to worry about working those incredibly busy Saturday nights... Instead I get to sit at home, in a warm, non-moving, non-screaming environment and write this little blog.

Our first evening, 1 week ago we got there right in time for The Overlords Awakening. It wasn't to busy so we were able to grab a pretty good view. Sorry no photos. I have a new point and shoot Sony camera, and "thought" I had video recorded it. Obviously not... learning curve I guess.

Personally I have always been pretty impressed with this mini-show. Atleast within the constraints of the show. Obviously we would all love a larger location for monsters/guests to gather, however within the space available it works pretty well. I do think the tape line/painted line to control crowds is a good idea too.

I had read the new Overlord was experiencing a learning curve, but I didn't notice much issue, and thought the actor did quite well.

Only complaint, is an ongoing one. Originally, prior to the parade idea, makeup was done at each haunt location. Asylum monsters had their makeup done at Coco Palms Pavilion, etc etc. The End product, aka the makeup was MUCH MUCH better. Now it seems half-hearted. Most may not notice, but having been a screamster under the old way and new way, I can definitely attest that the old way was better. Why can't the park keep the one makeup trailer, and also use the old Creature Crypt, aka basement of All Stars? It would work wouldn't it? After all they could simply come up the stairs for the Overlords awakening? Do half in the current spot and half in the Creature Crypt. Just a thought.

After Overlord's Awakening, began the brief, but unique Monster Parade.

Before starting out your journey into the various mazes, guests can purchase a "Fright Lane" front of the line pass. Probably worth it for a busy Saturday... not so much for the Fridays... as of yet. This is just one of the locations to purchase a Fright Lane pass. Located in front of the Grand Carrousel.

So on with the reviews... In no particular order.

Lore of the Vampire
Overall I was fairly impressed with the step up in theming/character interaction over previous years. I actually had a few good startles, however for me watching the guests around me ended up providing the most entertainment. The Graveyard, appeared to receive the most treatment. It finally seems to work as a graveyard instead of being simply an outside walkway/mishmash between one segment of Lore to another. I was really impressed with the combination acting, such as the monster that appeared to be climbing out of the ground, zombie-style, and the scaring. Many monsters appeared to be using the well placed hiding spots, and numerous distractions to their overwhelming advantage.

Love the characters here. (Even though my photography stinks). The actors REALLY get their teeth sunk into their parts...

Definitely worth the wait for me. I still don't care for the "Club Blood" in the basement. I understand the concept.. but it doesn't seem even slightly scary/morbid etc, more odd and out of place. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion but dancing poles and jello shots (or whatever it is) just doesn't jive with a medieval vampire theme... AT ALL.

Overall Grade... 6/10

Carnevil
I have never seen this attraction with a line, so it was a quick walk in/walk out attraction. Unlike the past though, I didn't feel like the 5-10 minutes I felt walking around inside a complete waste of time. The monsters here really seemed to be in on the action, as opposed to standing around that we have seen in years past. I saw several great startles. I saw several great opportunities being utilized. The deranged rabbit was staked out in such a way that you couldn't tell if it was another stuffed prize or not.

This kangaroo looks familiar....

Carnevil seems to also be the dumping ground for past attractions. The Bounce-A-Roo's have reappeared as well as the old cars and motorcycles from Micro Moto Bahn. Atleast this means I am not ending up with a giant fiberglass Kangaroo for my backyard...

This one looks familiar too...

Overall on Carnevil, if it doesn't have a line, or much of one definitely worth the time.

Overall Grade... 6/10

Oh Great Demoted One.... One of the street characters. This was originally the character that lead the monster parade before the introduction of the overlord.

Outlaw's Revenge
I spent some time staking out this attraction, for me the best part of Outlaws is people watching. Personally, I REALLY REALLY REALLLLYYYY dislike the fact that the old paddy wagon was moved to London Terror. It was such a great place for the cowboys to hide.

Soapbox alert!
Why is it that with every new haunt, all the outside decorations are borrowed and never returned? For example the dog house, and fencing at Asylum, or Chicken coops, and barnyard area from Bloodshed? Now the paddywagon from Outlaws....

Off my soapbox

Maybe I'm just hard on them, (Jeff seems to think so), but I saw a LOT of standing around. It seems like in the past the issues with Outlaws was lack of cowboys. Now it seems like there are just enough, but only a few were really getting into the fun of it. Now it is a physically demanding job, I get that. But please, try to scare me. Thanks

One last comment, I do really like the props that the sliders are using. For example the metal trash can lids. Makes a great grating noise, and I really see an opening for more metal props... putty knives, etc.

A "saloon girl" hanging out... Nice costume... but where is the make-up? Is there any there at all?

Overall Grade... 4/10

London Terror
New for this year is London Terror, replacing Dominion of Doom on the Heart of America Blvd/Forum Rd. The entrance has been moved FROM the Mamba side, TO the Americana side. The entrance is near Detonator.

London Terror was basically what I expected it to be. A tribute to London at the dawn of the industrial revolution, complete with various shady characters, jack the ripper, werewolves etc. I missed the whole steampunk theme, if it was there it just wasn't really obvious. Overall though I really enjoyed the theming, with cramped alleyways, fog, snow (thankfully fake for the time being...). Even the 2nd half, which was composed of mainly old Dominion of Doom tombstones worked better. With the monoliths compacted, and arranged haphazardly, it created a environment more conducive to scaring. What I didn't see was a lot of was actual scaring. It looks like London Terror has fallen prey to the WOF Halloween Haunt tradition where new attractions feature more acting then scaring. Seriously walking around right in front of me, speaking to me in a lovely British accent is somewhat cool, but not in the least bit scary. And that's what everyone is there for. There is a lot of London here, but not a whole lot of Terror.

Overall Grade... 5/10

Bloodshed
Both Bloodshed and Dollhouse have always seemed to struggle since the years that they opened. Thankfully Bloodshed has always improved before the end of the season. It seems like the monsters (like London Terror) focus more on acting then they do scaring. With that being said there were one or two good startles. The monster manning the "monster pig", seemed to really know how to work it well. I was surprised and startled a bit as I wasn't expecting it... atleast not where it was at. I think the cramming it into a narrow walkway/corner, works better, as you have to swerve out of the pigs way! I also noticed a significant decrease in fog, yes even fog INSIDE of houses really adds a lot to the thrill. See my Asylum review.

I have always thought Bloodshed has had a great story line, but has always struggled with the actual portrayal, and development of said storyline. Hopefully, like past years it will pick up in quality of startles/scaring before the end of the season.

Overall Grade... 5/10

Asylum Island
There is no other way to say this... Asylum kicked all the other houses BUTTS. Seriously. If you are considering with house to wait in line for... pick this one. It did start out a bit slow I have to say, but it really picked up especially at the Green Mile (hallway with various entrances and exits for monsters). I seriously didn't even know I had hit the Green Mile until I was halfway through it, it was fogged up so much. And boy where the monsters using it to their benefit. Once we got to The Yard, I just wanted to get out of the place, in a good way! Of course after exiting we stood around and watched. After all the best part of any of these attractions for us, is watching others expressions. There were a lot of scared guests running out of the house that night! Great job.

We also noticed the well designed queue line, and prepped 1, 2, and 3 hour wait signs. It seems like the park is prepping for crowds a good sign to see.

Overall Grade... 8/10

A few of the 1hr, 2hr and 3hr (YIKES!) waiting signs. Not being used this friday night though... thank goodness.

Master McCarthy's Dollhouse
You know what I really miss about this attraction? The first time we ever experienced it it had "It's a Small World" playing as part of its sound track. To this day I stand behind my comment that that was one of the scariest things I have ever heard. I never thought I would say this but bring the Small World back! :)

With that being said, Dollhouse has always had some glaring weaknesses. Number #1 for me, dolls are just not the scary. Weird? Yes. Creepy? Definitely YES! Scary...errr not really. I'm not really sure what can be done about that fact. I did miss the character Master McCarthy as well. Maybe he just wasn't there that night. For those trying out Halloween Haunt McCarthy's is a good starter attraction, as its design is similar to the other haunts, but lacks that truly terrifying element, or should I say ABILITY to be truly terrifying.

Overall Grade... 3/10

Cornstalkers
I was rather surprised that Cornstalkers was such a disappointment. It really has so much potential to be truly terrifying. Last year I had some pretty good trips through this attraction. Not so much this time. I am wondering if that was due to our visit being on a Friday night. Unfortunately Friday lacks pure numbers when it comes to monsters and talent. I was especially surprised with the several corn/grass covered characters simply hanging around, or walking up and down the corn mazes... It seems to lose the point of being able to blend in when you are doing just the opposite. Blend in and hide is the point, and it seems lost of some of the monsters here.

Not to beat a dead horse but it depresses me so much that Cornstalkers has so much POTENTIAL. Seriously walking through a dark, twisting cornfield, confined by browned branches, the breeze ruffling the dried stalks...you expect a deranged man to come running out with a chain saw. Maybe that's what was missing?

Nice bunny...

I really did like the queue line character, is it still Pig Man? He had a pet rabbit while there... the pet rabbit wasn't exactly quite tame.

Overall, I would still recommend people visit Cornstalkers. I have seen several good reviews this year, so I am simply assuming we hit it at a bad time.

Overall Grade... 5/10

Jennifer's Worlds of Fun Critique Rest Stop... We noticed that a few of the queue rails (okay ALL of them) have been removed from the Nile Queue line. Whats' going on here?

Fright Zone
Seriously with the short period of time we spent in the fright zone I was impressed by the qualify of some of the characters. One character stood out specifically, I really loved the character on the roller blade (ONE roller blade... I never could skate in both of them!) very sneaky, and after all that's what we all want in this type of attraction. Saw lots of great startles, lots of characters taking advantage of the fog banks... Sorry for such a short review.

Overall Grade...6/10

The Passing of A Legend

2011-09-27T19:55:00.006-05:00

Ron Toomer
1930-2011

Tonight, just a few minutes after arriving back from a trip from Branson... I heard the sad news of the passing of a legend. Ron Toomer.

Some of you reading this may not know who Ron Toomer was. There is the unfortunate fact that many coasters are know by their names, occasionally their manufacturers, and rarely their designers. Only are the greatest designers remembered. Ron Toomer was one of those.

Ron Toomer was designer at Arrow Dynamics from the 60's until his retirement in 2000. During that time he quite literally designed the modern steel roller coaster. Starting with Six Flags over Texas Runaway Mine Train, to the birth of the modern hyper coaster Magnum XL 200. Of course his primary contribution to Worlds of Fun's history itself was his design of the famed Orient Express.

In the days before computers, when coasters where designed by pencil and paper instead, Ron Toomer looked no further then a wire coat hanger as his means for designing the steel monsters of the 1980's and 90's. One has to remember that before Orient Express there were really only 2 ways to go upside down on a coaster. The Loop and the Corkscrew. With Orient Express, Ron Toomer introduced the first inversion to the modern patheon of inversions, on Orient Express it was known as the Kamikaze Kurve, today it is known as the Boomerang element. This tight, twisted pretzel roll inversion shocked riders from its inception, all the way to its final end in 2003. Orient Express, and its designer Ron Toomer lead the way into the modern world of coasters with inversions and twists with the names of zero-g rolls, cobra rolls, immelmanns, and batwings.

The Boomerang (Kamikaze Kurve) on Orient Express

Coasters with the names of Shockwave, Great American Scream Machine, Big Bad Wolf, and the still operating Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain are all a testament to Ron Toomer's genius.

Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point. A similar appearance to Mamba is not inconsequential.

Ron Toomer's legacy at Worlds of Fun wouldn't begin and end with Orient Express either. In 1989, one his biggest contributions to the roller coaster world opened. Magnum XL-200. At a towering 200 feet tall it became the worlds first hypercoaster. Nine years later, Mamba, a coaster derived from the roots of Magnum began towering over Kansas City's own Worlds of Fun. Mamba, may have not been designed by Ron Toomer, however the technology found in Mamba, could not have been achieved had not 10 years earlier, a man had not came up with the idea of a coaster that towered to the sky. That man was Ron Toomer, and though he may have passed from this world, his visions have not. One more good reason to go out and ride a coaster this weekend.

A NEW Northland Attraction!

2011-09-18T17:58:00.009-05:00

Yes I know folks it has been a little bit longer then I expected for an update. However, truth be told it took me a LONG LONG time to scan everything you will be seeing over the next few months. A friend of ours, Bill Valiant was able to borrow a whole box of goodies from Hunt Midwest storage. I cant begin to tell you which felt better, seeing tons of old WoF stuff I have never seen before, or hearing that Hunt didn't throw anything away... (THANK GOODNESS!)

I'll get back to you on that.

I just shared with you the first page of my favorite "find". If you scroll down you will find the rest of the 7 pages of a promotional newspaper insert that ran I believe in the Clay County Dispatch Tribute only a few days after Worlds of Fun had its 1973 Grand Opening.

A lot of it is self congratulatory, advertisements from various vendors involved with park construction. Personally though, I think the ads are part of the interest.

However, if you take the time to read the articles, which I highly recommend by the way, there are a lot of good historical tidbits to be found and discovered. You can read each page by right clicking on it, and opening each image in a separate window or tab.

Page two, If you are going to read any of this, don't miss the Jack Steadman story... it explains quite a bit... Including why the park rides had such err.. "unusual" names. Word to the wise, don't schedule "riding naming" meetings and beer drinking parties at the same time. That is unless you want to end up with rides named Schussboomer and Finnish Fling.

Ah look the park is supposed to be INTERNATIONALLY themed... I would have never realized that.... (sorry I couldn't help it)

Interesting article on the old Fins and Flippers Show...

Honestly, I never knew that there was a bus that was specifically for Worlds of Fun. Pretty neat idea. This page also has a great story on the Worlds of Fun Railroad, most of it is directly lifted from the Press Releases, but still some great stories in there, especially about how ELI got its name. It gives a much better explanation then I have been ever able to give...

If you don't know much at Cotton Blossom or Victrix... read about it here.

Best part of this? Viking Voyager with dragon head boats! Yes there is also a story there about the park shows at the time too.

And finally a word from our sponsors...

Hope you guys loved this as much as I did!

Blast from the Past WOF Exhibit 2011

2011-08-16T19:40:00.007-05:00

Wow... look at all the dust and cob webs... Oh well let me haul out my handy windex and paper towel and we shall be good as new and ready to go for some NEW and EXCITING blog posts...

yeahhhhh... I can just hear the excitement.

You know I really don't like photos of myself... however I have to take the opportunity to show the cool sign Brandon (FINALLY!) made for us. And think... it only took 3 years!

Randal Scott and his Project 31 also co-partnered with me for this year's exhibit. For those who haven't yet seen his coaster models, I believe they should be at Union Station on permanent exhibit starting in October. Definitely check out his website http://www.modelcoasters.com/project31.htm

The headliner for the show was the display of part of the EXT (stand up) car.

Another new addition this year was the display of our 1980-1981 off season aerial photo. It had sat curled up in a tube for years, and we were happy to finally get it scanned, printed, and mounted for view!

For those that have seen previous incarnations of the exhibit this should look pretty familiar. This year I was able to organize some of the brochures, newspaper clippings, etc, and put them better on display. So you can see a copy of the 1973 brochure on display in front. To the far right is the Zinger structural support.

After being asked about various non-coasters over the years I decided to create displays for the various themed worlds, and picked the two with the largest collection of unique non-coaster rides... Scandinavia first. There is also a Schussboomer wheel on exhibit in front.

And Americana. On Saturday morning we received two new donations from a park employee. Seen here to the right is a cleat from the Cotton Blossom (tie off). May it rest in peace.

Orient Express corner, and there are lots of things to look at here. Starting from the corner, far left, is an Orient Express break shoe. Directly above that is a foam logo from the park's 10th anniversary, and 1977 souvenir map. To the right you can see an Orient Express chain link, coaster rail, road wheel, and anti-rollback trough. The small can in the center? An Orient Express Survival Kit. From the label it appears it was given out as part of the Media Kit for Orient Express.

So what's inside? Well we don't really know as it was never opened. Ahhh mint condition!

Special Thanks to Bill Valliant, for providing the Orient Express Survival Kit, 10th Anniversary Logo, and more from the Hunt Midwest Archive. Thank goodness they didn't end in a landfill!

Rounding out with modern history. Moving from left to right. The large wooden stack, is an example of a wooden coaster track bed section (in this case actually from the Raven), 1989 souvenir map, and binder including Timberwolf construction photos.

Remember earlier when I said we received TWO donations? Well take a look at #2! Poor guy who donated this item received a loud, ear splitting girly scream from me on first glance. I wasn't the only one who never thought they would see one of these dragon heads ever again. For those that don't know, the Viking Voyager boats used to all sport red dragon heads, of which this is one of the few surviving examples.

Of course we were only half of the exhibit, the other half was filled with Project 31, or the Worlds of Fun coasters of 1980. Can you name all of them? Well here is the most grand, the Orient Express. Not to be confused with the Mamba. Which some still needed reminding... has no loops. Of course I guess you could say the two are related, in a second cousin, married to your sister in law, kind of way.

Here is a great YouTube video of the Express model running.

Brandon gifted both us some rather unique parting gifts... My favorite was some mini-caterpillar earth mover machines. We will let you use your imagination of what these scaled down machines are preparing to do...

So I will once again leave you, but hopefully this time not for as long. I have a box sitting on my loveseat, that is being scanned right now, and its full of fun (OLD) Worlds of Fun stuff, that I will happily share with you as soon as I am done, which shouldn't take too long....

Grand Re-Opening Weekend!

2011-06-01T19:54:00.013-05:00

It's been awhile, time consumed by finals (EKK!), and a trip to Disney World and Star Wars Weekends (yeah!), but back to Worlds of Fun we must always go. So with three weeks off Jeff and I headed back to Worlds of Fun for the Grand Opening of Planet Snoopy and the Grand Carousel. Since we had a wedding to attend later that day we only spent about two hours at the park, so the report will be slightly brief. But hey.

After a great breakfast provided by the park, and with everyone lined up for the quick parade to Planet Snoopy... I had to check out the carousel. It was officially drool worthy. A couple of quick comments. For its grand re-opening, the carousel didn't sport its band organ. I did however check on the progress of said band organ. From what Brandon tells me it is being restored by an older gentlemen, that seems to take longer and longer each time the park checks on the band organs status... Sounds about right. :)

Check out more photos on Facebook!

The first new Planet Snoopy attraction to open was these tini-tea cups. Woodstock's Whirlybirds.

A new ride for this weekend, that miraculously was finished in time! Peanuts 500. Peanuts 500 is actually a smaller, but from a rider's experience, remarkably similar version of the old early 20th century W.B. Mangel's Whip. Which looks like this...

Just goes to show that no good ride every really dies.

Last new thing in Planet Snoopy is the nice little snack stand. Which has no. name.

In other news... landscaping is seeing some changes through the park. Not all necessarily bad. I know that landscaping is seriously hurting for staffing so I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. Even though there are some areas that seriously need some love (and de-weeding) In this photo though it looks like new palms were added... What I didn't even notice at first though is that there used to be trees there. Of course, I am never a fan of tree removal, but I guess sometimes its not always THAT bad. It does open up the area, and after all the addition of trees through the park seems to exceeding the removal...

Another recent "addition" is this signing proclaiming the Americana food court. Nice addition.

Other things at the park unfortunately weren't so nice. Not trying to kick a dead horse but I was SHOCKED when I saw/read about five rides being down on Saturday morning, Thunderhawk, Skyliner, Zulu, Timberwolf and Monsoon. A lot has been said about this, and man I don't mean to be debbie downer... but seriously?

Another thing is that music thing. I STILL have a hard time not grimacing when I hear the pop music in Scandinavia. To top that off its BAD pop music, like bad remakes of 1980's music, that should have STAYED in the 80's. Some of it having somewhat questionable lyrics. And we are still thinking that this music is somehow BETTER then what the park had before?

One thing is certain, Worlds of Fun never ceases to amaze in how well they can do in certain aspects of the park, and so ... not so well in other areas. Hopefully with new project construction winding down, the park can begin to concentrate on the rest of the park.

Oh... and BTW SOMEONE STOP THE RAIN.

It's ALIVE!!

2011-05-16T19:51:00.004-05:00

Yes, folks the carousel operated with all horses, on its own power for the first time since 2007. However, before everyone rushes out to the park for a ride... HOLD YOUR HORSES. It will be awhile still before this carousel is ready to take its first batch of riders. It still needs a band organ and electrical controls, queue rails and more.

To be honest I am not sure who that was really directed to myself... or everyone else.

The journey isn't over quite yet, but its been an amazing journey and I thought with the carousel now in full regalia it would be nice to maybe take a look back at where this carousel has been. Its been an amazing transition.

Here is a photo of the same carousel at Geauga Lake...

Same carousel today at Worlds of Fun... (not the same horse though). I haven't even seen this carousel in person and I can already say its one of the most magnificent carousels I have seen. Certainly in the best shape. Jeff (who always gets to do everything before me) says its even more amazing in person.

Before... at the Carousel Works factory.

After... (same horse this time)

Before...

After... Everyone say OOOHHHHH... Everyone say AHHHHHHH. PRETTY. Parents remember to clean your kids hands off before boarding. Kids spit your gum out BEFORE getting on board. (not like that's going to happen but I can try)

Before... the horses arrive at the Carousel Works Factory.

After... the same horse again.

The Band organ cover, again at the Carousel Works factory...

After... Amazing transformation. Just Amazing. Congratulations Carousel Works and Cedar Fair.

More Photos can be found on Facebook.

Putting it All Together...

2011-05-15T20:24:00.006-05:00

So a few days ago we looked at the Grand Carrousel's initial assembly, and only a few days later work has progressed quickly. Saturday we saw the platform fully assembled and the addition of the two chariots. Today, Sunday even though the park wasn't open to the public we were invited by Brandon to take photos of the the appearance of what makes a carousel a carousel... the jumping horses.

Today we took a look at the 4th row of horses addition to the platform. With most classic carousels the 4th row features the smallest, and least ornate horses. However, even though the 1st and 2nd rows are home to larger and more ornate horses, each animal is just as valuable... these just happen to be more pint sized.

A few weeks ago I was asked why the platform was situated on a flat span of concrete. There are some carousels (mostly brass ring carousels) that actually have basements, and the jumping poles actually go through the floor. With most carousels though the brass pole slides up and down a steel pole. Its simple in its function, but its set up requires a great deal of care as we will soon see.

This is a bit of confusing photo, but basically whats happening here is that the carousel works employee with the screw driver is actually attaching the foot holds to the black inner pole (which the brass pole will cover).

Here is a better view, you can see the black steel footholds.

The brass covering is inserted over the black inner pole.

The same horse being hung. Each horse hangs from the cranking rod itself, which of course is what causes the horse to "jump". If you look up in the photo to the actually (cranking) rod, you will see another worker attaching the horse and bushing to the rod.

A little bit closer look up above.

An overall view. In this photo the horse is attached to the cranking rod above, and is being lined up to attach to the platform floor.

Attaching the horse to the platform floor. This process isn't as simple as it appears though as we will soon see.

Here is what I meant above. The pole has to be long enough so that the horse doesn't hit the floor, but so that it isn't so high above that a rider can't get aboard.

Another step in the process is measuring the inner pole, so that the brass pole can be cut to match.

Attaching the painted pony.

Outside of the horses themselves these painted wooden boxes are being assembled and attached to cover wooden braces.

More photos can be found on Facebook!

It's HERE!

2011-05-11T22:01:00.000-05:00

I have to say... May 9th was one of the most exciting days for me, even though I never stepped within 15 miles of Worlds of Fun, I knew the carousel horses were arriving that day, and it made me happy. Well today was even better. Ok, no I didn't get to go out and see, but I sent Jeff instead to get some photos of the new (old?) carousel arriving and starting assembly at W.O.F.

You know though that makes me think... what will become of the old 1979 Bradley and Kaye in Europa? What I mean is will we call it the OLD carousel or the NEW carousel?

Anyway.

Before we get on to pictures I wanted to share a few things that are not apparent in the photos. And... I have some good news and not so good news. First the good news. Two pieces of it actually. First, the band organ as I have mentioned in previous blogs has been restored and is at this point in time enroute to Worlds of Fun. Second, for those familiar with this carousel at Geauga Lake, it will no longer boast seat belts.

Bad news... Well there had to be a reason for Cedar Fair to remove the seat belts after all. Come to think of it this is probably the FIRST time I have ever heard of Cedar Fair REMOVING a seat belt. For those familiar with this carousel, you know that it was not only quicker then usual but also had an unusual tilt. It added to the thrill. Yes, in many cases carousels can be thrilling. Really.

There is no way to make this any easier so I will just come out and say it... they are slowing it down, and removing the "tilting" aspect of the horses.

*DUCKS WAITS FOR FLYING ROTTEN TOMATOES FROM GEAUGA LAKE FANS*

So let's look at some photos why don't we.

Approaching the new carrousel (carrousel is the european spelling of carousel). I am unsure if this is the same sign as from geauga lake. It would make sense as both signs say "1918", I guess just another one of those things to throw in the pot of controversy.
(Some say 1918 and some say 1926)

See the Original Sign from Geauga Lake

Another look towards the interior. Here we can also see one of those Greek columns that we saw about a week and a half a go on the ground waiting for assembly.

With basic structural assembly almost complete, the decorative mirrors and aspects surrounding the center pole.

A close up view of the retouched M.C Illions trademark.

A similar view when this carousel was at Geauga Lake...

Another close up of decorative detail.

So what is this you might ask? In actuality I had no idea myself until I asked Jeff (who was there), its actually the platform!

The same platform when it arrived at Worlds of Fun..

A look up at the center pole.

The center pole as it was when it arrived at Worlds of Fun...

So where are the horses? They are taking a break in the new Festhaus next door.

So are the chariots, here is one covered by a moving blanket.

Here is the same chariot cover at the Carousel Works Factory

And some detail of the chariot cover.

Find more photos and Discuss at Facebook!

Before I finish up I thought I would leave you the reader with a few links from previous blogs I have written on this very same carousel:

04/19/2011 Around and Around we Go

11/14/2010 A late Breaking Development

11/08/2010 A Grand Addition

The Third Weekend Report 05/01/2011

2011-05-02T22:11:00.010-05:00

After a week off, Jeff and I headed back out to Worlds of Fun to check out some of the updates from two weeks ago. There were some good things... and some things that still haven't changed... We all love photos though, so lets take a look. Sunday was a rather chilly day as compared to Saturday, so the park was pretty dead, and while it threatened rain all day, not a single drop fell while we were there.

Whats new in this photo? Well obviously the new festhaus, but also a new fence. Oooohhh bright and shiny! :) (sorry I couldn't help it). Of course this had to change as now the area behind the fence is actually IN the park.

Here is what I was talking about in the opening day review, what a much better view.

A close up, at the carousel pavilion, one part of the "new" ride has shown up. The wooden foundation of the carousel has arrived... and it looks like all 85 years old.

Some support covers for the carousel pavilion. But you know I was thinking... Greek columns on an America carousel, in the Scandinavia section of the park... No wonder the park is so confused about the theme.

The new festhaus... I like how the trim matches Tivoli West.

Close up view... Nice.

I know all the WOF geeks out there will want to see this, atleast I did. We all know the view will be great from the new festaus but here is another ... slightly depressing view.

Okay Brandon I included a picture of your new sign... yes its nice.

Moving over to Planet Snoopy here is a look at the structure for the Rocket Express ride. I will have to say I was surprised at the size. It looks like it might have an elevator since the steps are probably not ADA compliant.

How cute is this! A mini-transfer track!

Looking backwards at the new Snoopy Plaza area.

The track for the new 4X4 ride is taking shape as the electric rail is down...

Lucy's Tugboat aka, Rockin Tug. Lots of fun. Yes, I tried it out. The first ride I have ridden up in this area since the late 80's...

Brandon got his sign, and Matt gets his little shop. Very nice, and I not only like the theme but the affordable merchandise. Obviously others in the park feel the same way. :)

Moving Along... the Forum... or Heart of America Theater, minus stage. It took a minute for me to get used to this view...

So what else is going on at the park... Good... the park is prepared for Snoopy's Hot Summer lights testing out the lights on many weekday nights. So it should look good when the lights come on in June. Good... Timberwolf now has two trains... Bad... Prowler is still running one train. I am actually surprised (NOT in a good way) by this, as really three weeks into the season there is really no excuse.

Good... the park has begun its annual asphalt sealing, so about half of the park walkways appear presentable... On the flip side, atleast to me Planet Snoopy looks really good compared to the REST of the park.

Good... new landscaping is appearing around the park, it sounds like the park got a great deal not only on trees but on planters, I will try to update sometime soon with photos. Also good... we spotted rose bushes planted along the fence-line by the admin building. A location that if I am not mistaken has not had any kind of growth (except for the bad kind), for the last several years. Bad... and oh boy its bad. Where are the flowers at Front Street? It looks hideous! AGH! Also I know landscaping is short staffed, but can we please try to pull some weeds around the Prowler and Patriot areas? It looks really overgrown.

Last Thing, this music thing is really starting to bother me. Modern music in Scandinavia especially. It doesn't have to be the annoying yodelling music (yes some of it was rather annoying I will admit it), but it just feels... weird, you know hearing pop music playing in Scandinavia. What really surprises me is that half of the park (Possibly more) still has themed music... Its like they get it half right. If this bothers you too make sure you let the park know!

I refuse to give up on this. :)

Last thing... and its good news. Brandon has already mentioned this, but the horses will begin arriving on Monday May 9th... I am so excited I can barely stand the wait!

Opening Day Review 2011

2011-04-20T15:30:00.006-05:00

In the last 15 years I have written now 10 opening day reviews, and just once I would love to write a review proclaiming the beginning of a perfect season. Unfortunately this one isn’t going to be it. With that being said, it wasn’t the worst that I’ve seen, far from it. We also, along with most other park fans had the unique position of knowing almost exactly what we were getting into so to speak.

So lets take a look at the park, all the good, bad and ugly parts of it. Jeff and I ended up hitting the park about Noon, it had warmed up for the previous nights near freezing temps and promised a nice, slightly cool day. C lot was pretty much full and they were already parking D lot so it looked to be a pretty busy opening day, compared to previous years. Our first experiences with the park that day probably go down as some of the best, and that has to do with two of the parks most recent “additions”. I say that loosely as neither has opened, but already have made positive impacts to the park.

You know you never realize truthfully how big an impact an attraction makes until its gone. Several removals have made decidedly negative impacts. I would have to say though that the removal of the blue and white tent previously known as Festhaus I, has had a decidedly good impact. I never realized how tacky it was until it was gone. With the new carousel pavilion, and Festhaus II still under construction, guests approaching the park can now actually see into the park, and not see an awful circus tent. Really, Jeff said it best when he mentioned that the back gate, now feels more like a real main gate. Much more welcoming. Plus the lack of overgrown bushes, trees and fields of weeds on the walk in, replaced with a nice wooden structure (Festhaus II), new trees, rose bushes and new shrubs, is also a decidedly better view. They always say first impressions are the most important... well if that's the case then WOF has increased its perception by a factor of 10.

Not the greatest shot, but it gives readers the general idea...

In comparison...

Carousel pavilion looking from the Scandi/Orient Bridge.

The new carousel pavilion also looks to be taken nice shape, its unlike an addition 10 years previously, does not appear thrown together, cheap, or thoughtless. Exactly the opposite. Its a steel structure, with a copper roof, and beautifully wood trimmed ceiling. Though it won’t greet guests as they enter the park proper, it will still offer a magnificent first impression as it will be easily viewable from the walkway into the park.

Yes the carousel is delayed. Unlike Planet Snoopy (which we will get to soon) this doesn’t terribly bother me. Let me share something with you my readers. Carousel Works, the company doing the restoration for the Grand Carousel, has been restoring the horses since last April, 2010. Not exactly what you would consider poor planning on the part of Cedar Fair or Worlds of Fun. Truthfully the new carousel will be a true work of art, and its not something that really should be rushed if you catch my drift. I have no doubt, whatsoever that it will be worth the wait. I have also received permission from Brandon at the park to release a few photos of the horses under restoration. You can see these HERE. Last but not least, of the fabulous news is to do with the band organ. It has been unknown up to now what the fate of the band organ was to be. Now we know that it is in the process of also being completely restored. Carousel fans should be elated, and I know I am, it was the best news I received all day.

The band organ as it appeared when it arrived at Worlds of Fun back in the Fall. It is currently not at the park right now being restored.

A little more information I was able to find... as a few know and many don't, band organs are EXCEEDINGLY rare. Especially one's that still operate. The few that can fix them and/or maintain them are a dying breed. the 1926 Illion's band organ from what I am aware of is a Stinson Band Organ, (visit their official site HERE). There is one basic premise to how band organs work, this is especially important to consider when realizing how amazing these machines are. They DO NOT work on electricity. Instead compressed air is the only "power" these machines use to provide amazing music.

So after admiring from afar we entered the park, and encountered the first major snafu of the day. Gate central didn’t like our season passes, and appeared to not like a LOT of season passes. Not a major thing, not really terribly unusual, but still rather funny considering the gate central system was the new, updated, and “better” ticket processing system added only two short years ago. On our 2nd visit on Sunday, it appears the issue has been resolved, as neither of us had issues with our season passes.

I am sure a lot of you who have read my trip reports previously have mouths gaping open. I don’t usually use fabulous and Worlds of Fun in the same sentence. So my next few comments should ring with a degree of familiarity. What is the deal with the music? First thing I noticed when I entered the park was not so much the lack of it, but the incongruity of it. Some areas had the normal themed music (western Americana, Orient and Europa), some decidedly DIDN’T (Americana). Now I know and understand the argument for playing modern music, instead of say John Phillip Sousa in Americana. Teens like it better. Here is my argument. 1)It makes the park sound like a Six Flags park. 2)The guests that LIKE the pop, modern music are teenagers, most of which will not make the decision on whether to return to the park on what type of music is playing (and are more likely to consider the 45 minute line for Timber Wolf), and those that DO visit the park very often, are usually loyal park patrons, who DO CARE what music is playing. (for those still reading yes I am speaking about more then Jeff and myself) 3)Something about walking from the Goo Goo dolls, to “Back in the Saddle Again” within 2 seconds, doesn’t exactly speak continuity. So what is a good compromise? Whats wrong with playing appropriately themed music on the midways and maybe popular music in the queue lines?

Ok Ok I will stop kicking that dead horse.

Thunderhawk...

So moving on. After quickly transversing the Orient section where we noticed the only change was a new Zoltar game, we entered Americana. Timber Wolf was running only one train... something that does bother me, but I have come to accept as a common occurrence on opening day. It appeared to be running slightly better then last year thanks to the continuing work on its track structure. Thank you Worlds of Fun. Thunderhawk, as no surprise was down, and wasn’t even fully assembled, again no surprise. Thank you Huss rides. We checked out the new merchandise kiosk by Cyclone Sam’s, and actually almost completely missed it. It was themed so well, it really almost blends right into Cyclone Sam’s “barn”. Looks good, and I like the small, but reasonable selection of leather wrist bands and key chains, are personalizable. I also liked that it was affordable too, $8.95.

Say good-bye to that old stage and rusty tressle, they are already gone. A new stage will be built in its place.

So Planet Snoopy. My first impression was “wow that is so bright!”. Especially after the muted tones of Camp Snoopy. The bright yellows, and reds really stand out, and after the shocking first glance, I really kind of like the new colors. Jeff mind you is still mourning the lose of a “woodsy” themed area. :) What I REALLY like though is the attention to detail. Like the carousel pavilion of Festhaus II this is NOT being cheaply done. The whole area is covered (or will be covered) with paving stones, instead of just simply concrete. The pavers are even being laid correctly, to last, with concrete UNDER them. Almost everything is either replaced, or brand new. It’s nice to see every once in awhile an area that is entirely brand new and shiny. New lights, new pathways, new rides, old rides have all been refurbished. Oh and that shop that used to scream BEAR COUNTRY, has been completely refurbished, and now boasts an incred-o-dome yellow exterior. It really reminds me more of the Snoopy comics and movies then the old Camp Snoopy did.

It might be just me, but I am so happy that this building received some significant refurbishment. It always screamed "Bearenstein Bear Country" to me. I think the new updates are adorable.

Leaving Planet Snoopy, the entrance and exit signs are slightly different... nice touch.

Work was even being accomplished on opening day, Astronaut Snoopy showed up about half way through the day.

More work was progressing on the Flying Ace Balloon Race.

That’s the good news. Unfortunately the bad news shined above everything else, and that is that Planet Snoopy it is not even HALF done. For opening day, the Red Baron (Snoopy vs. the Red Baron now), Wacky Worm, Pony Promenade, Woodstock’s Express, and Scrambler were the only rides open. No new rides opened on opening day. Are people upset? yes, does it bother me? yes. Along with the carousel, this means that not one single new attraction was open on opening day. Worlds of Fun could have helped themselves in this department with better planning and more control over the entire issue. However for those willing to grill WOF over the coals... don’t. The park was open and honest with the future guests about what would be open and what wouldn’t be. They advertised that fact in almost every way possible. Also like it or not other factors were at work, mainly snow and bad weather. You CANT be constructing new rides when there is over a foot of snow on the ground. It is what it is.

I also wanted to comment on the new Family Center. Seriously I never thought Launchpad gifts would make such a successful transition, but it did. I would have never recognized it from the inside for what it once was. Besides offering a respite for parents and small children, it also offers an auxiliary Guests Relations desk. the desk found directly inside the doors, offers all the same abilities as the main guest relations at the gate, without all the walking. Both Jeff and I REALLY like this addition.

The new Family Care center, previously known as Launchpad Gifts. You can also see the completed paving stones laid around the new entrance.

Inside the Family Care center is the kid's play area, there are also separate rooms for nursing, a small kitchenette, diaper changing station, bathrooms, and Axillary Guest Relations.

With those positives, I am going to turn and discuss some of the not so pleasant experiences on Saturday. Europa. Poor Europa. I really have to feel bad for this section of the park, it seems like every time I mention something bad, things only get worse. Somebody please give this section of the park some serious love. Really. First of course is Bounce a Roo’s, a ride official gone for the 2011 season, but still partially there. It looks so lonely. Second Bonici Brothers. I remember a few years ago when the name changed, they gave it a min-face lift. Obviously it didn’t help that much, as today we realized that half of the patio covering area was torn down. You don’t really notice it either (that’s NOT a positive)... I wonder what the issue was? If it was beyond repair, why wouldn’t you simply rebuild it? It wasn’t as if it was a complicated structure.

Poor Bounce-A-Roo's

On that same tangent, maybe it was the fact that for once in six years we didn’t have to run off and get to work on the train, patriot, whatever but I noticed several structures that were in noticeable need to repair. For example posts in the depot are literally rotting away at the base, train on the Le Carrousel structure is falling off, noticeably. These are relatively minor, and unlike Bonici Brothers are simple fixes.

Nice benches, not in the right place though...

Last, oh gosh. Moulin Rouge theater patio, is now home (hopefully TEMPORARILY) to two displaced Camp Snoopy benches, canopies and all. It just screams Tacky. I completely understand the desire to re-use, they are in decent shape (could use a coat of paint), and I wouldn't want to throw them out either. How about this? Give them a coat of paint and move them to Mamba plaza. Provides seating with some much needed shade. Move the benches already at Mamba plaza to Moulin Rouge plaza. Benches get re-used in a thematically, and honestly, simply a much more aesthetically pleasing way. Also, can we please remove the halloween haunt green light gels from the lamps? It isn’t October anymore.

An asymmetrical Bonici Bros' Notice the left side doesn't match the right as it used to.

Here is a little bit of a better look...

The Le Carousel Structure needs some TLC.

So is there ANYTHING good going on in Europa? Yes, one thing. Deja Vu, received a little bit of an internal update. Nothing major, but still always nice to see atleast some attention being paid to poor, forgotten Europa.

So onto Africa. Boomerang was down all day. Things could have been worse, after all of all of WOF’s coasters, Boomerang is certainly NOT the most popular. If one coaster was GOING to be down, then Boomerang was probably the best option. Sometimes there are just things that are out of the park’s control. However, remembering quite clearly SEVERAL opening days where more rides were down then were up, I am certainly not going to rack the park over the coals.

So we talked about the previously mentioned one train on Timber Wolf. Yes it stinks, but in comparison to Prowler running 1 train... wow. Its your premier roller coaster, one of the most popular coasters, and you only have 1 train? To make it worse the train wasn’t even put together. I heard something about a train refurb... what about the five months the park was closed? Other things I give the benefit of the doubt, this is just plain poor planning.

One last thing, and its another one of my favorite subjects... landscaping. Some both good and not so good things. First, I have noticed a lot more BUSHES in the park, in places that used to be home to annuals. 1)if you are going to have bushes please pull the weeds around them, *cough* Prowler *cough* 2)we all know replacing annuals with bushes is taking the cheap and easy route... On the flip side, I did notice a LOT of work on trimming, in a good way. Trimming back shrubs, old trees, etc. It makes the park look not so … disorganized? I also noticed a few new landscaping brick replacements. Here is an amazing thought... it used to be those landscape brick replacements were the HIGHLIGHT of opening day. Now its just barely a mention. Last thing, and this is one point that is not directed at the park or its employees but at GUESTS. Yes you folks reading this pay attention. If you want the park to respect you as a visitor, then also respect the park, don’t let your kids walk through the flower beds, or even worse, PULL the newly planted annuals out of the beds and throw them on the ground. We saw this in EVERY SINGLE flower bed, on OPENING DAY! Seriously were has consideration gone? The park can’t say it, but I can. End rant, I now will vacate my soap box.

So overall... not one of the best opening days ever. Still, certainly not the worst either. There have been seasons were it seemed like half the park was nonoperational, or seemed like they had closed the park in October, and re-opened in April with little to no changes. So there have definitely been improvements over the years. I will have to make one comment, atleast to me it seemed much busier then opening days in the past. That might have had an impact on the overall operational capacity of the park. From first appearances though if the park can quickly get everything it order, it should be a good season. As always hoping for the best.

Around and Around we Go....

2011-04-19T08:18:00.017-05:00

I had written an opening day review that I had planned to have online by last night... but unfortunately life had other ideas. I figured though that it would do us all some good to look at something definitively positive. It will take my mind of things... and it will make us all feel better.

*addition: it has been brought to my attention that my comments above might be construed that my opening day review was too negative to post. That is not the case, the reason I am wanting to write something positive is due to negative events in my personal life, and have nothing to do with the park. I should have the opening day review up between wednesday night and friday night. Stay tuned*

For the last 8 months or so I have watching online the tedious, but amazingly beautiful restoration of the 1926 Illions Carousel, a carousel that will call Worlds of Fun in a matter of weeks. The restoration is being performed by Carousel Works in Mansfield, OH, and then have been working on the restoration since April 2010. Trust me there have been some photos that I have been dying to post online to show everyone. Everyone may not get into this carousel thing as much as I do but once you see the photos I think you will agree that this carousel might be the best thing to come to Worlds of Fun in a LONG time.

Thanks to Brandon I now have the ok to post a few restoration photos online. So lets take a look shall we.

First a little background though, 85 years ago, Marcus Illions set out to create a new Supreme model carousel for the Phildelphia Sesquicentennial. M.C. Illions had separated from another famous Coney Island carousel manufacturer (Charles Looff), several years before simply because he did not like the mass produced direction the carousel world was going. He preferred instead the artistry of the hand shaped carousel horse. Because of this, even though the country today has only two true M.C. Illions carousels in working order (ours being one of the two) he is still considered one of the top two finest carousel carvers ever. His animals in many ways almost seem to come to life, and appear to almost be ready to burst off the ride and go running off.

In true Coney Island style his horses are quite a bit more flamboyant then carousels of the Philadelphia style, of which there are dozens of examples across the country (including the nearest at Six Flags St. Louis). They traditionally sport gold foiled manes and tails, jewels, and bright colors. As you will see many of these traditional Illions characteristics have been lovingly restored. So I have been putting you off for to long lets take a look.

Here is how the horses appeared in April 2010 when the arrived from Geauga Lake.

And some more horses....

Restoration begins with paint removal...

Detail work and repair of some minor wood damage

This guy is getting some serious work done...

A few horses in the raw... amazing to remember that this is 85 year old solid wood. Good craftsmanship really holds up.

One of the chariot covers also with paint stripped.

After paint stripping and repair, the horses go in for a coat of primer paint.

Another horse getting his first coat.

All done.. we will see this horse again.

The first color being applied... We will see this horse again too.

Silver foil being applied to the decoration.

Getting closer....

All done... pretty doesn't seem to quite cut it...

A close up view of that silver foil after applied...

The brown (chestnut?) horse all decked out and waiting. This was the same horse we saw above with color just starting to be applied.

I like this photo as it gives the full effect of one row of horses as they will appear on the carousel itself.

It's not just the horses getting some love its also the trim, and there is a lot of that too.

This will be the cover for the band organ, we will see it in all its glory in just a second.. These small wood pieces are each single wooden rose blooms.

A close up....

The whole band organ cover, ready for paint. Yes folks this is JUST the band organ cover.

Paint being applied, this must be a tedious job with all those little roses.

We saw one of the chariot covers above removed of paint, its only appropriate to see it in its full regalia.

I had to include this one, its my favorite so far. If it wasn't for the gold mane, I would be almost thinking this horse is about to go run out of the photo...

One last look, amazing to think that this is simply hand carved wood.

For more photos and to discuss visit us on Facebook!

March 23, 2011 Off Season Park Tour

2011-03-24T07:27:00.010-05:00

Yesterday, Wednesday we had the chance to go out to the park and shoot some photos of the construction, and happenings at WOF-land. Originally the plan was the go out Tuesday, but weather reports LOOKED so bad.... then what happens? Its beautiful and Wednesday is cloudy and blustery... oh well. So definite progress is being made on the three additions for 2011. Lets get on with the photos.

The new Festaus, what we are looking at is directly down the hill from the walkway into the park. This used to be the Orient Express picnic area, and funny enough it is going back to its original designation. Already it looks about a million times better then it did. If we remember this area used to be filled with weedy trees, bushes and gravel.

A look down the side, this is one pretty amazing retaining wall!

They raised the roof on Wednesday so here we have the structure for the new carousel barn. Those are metal structure poles, not wood, which is good from a maintenance perspective.

Moving on the Planet Snoopy, there is a quite a bit of work going on there! Each existing ride is not only be refurbished (as we have seen on the Hot Air Blog), but each existing ride pad is being replaced as well with new concrete structures. Here we see the Red Baron.

In fact almost the entire section is receiving new concrete, here we are looking up the hill towards Scrambler. To the right is the original Camp Snoopy fountain, which will be retained, minus canoe.

The original Bear Country structure is finally getting some significant exterior remodeling to make it look less "bear country-like"

The new pad for the new Snoopy Bounce structure (same place as before). Unlike the previous incarnation the new Snoopy Bounce will have a walk-around path for parents to watch their kids.

Looking south towards Mamba and Peanuts Playhouse. The structure in the center used to be where Sally's Dance Studio was (I believe the structure itself might be the same), this will be the new station for the 4X4's/Peanuts Road Rally.

The opposite side of the midway, for those that remember this used to be where Woodstock's Airmail was. This will be the new station for Snoopy's Rocket Express. Behind the Rocket Express supports you can see the area that will be home to the Samba Tower/Flying Ace Balloon Race. Also to give an idea of scale of the Samba Tower (which is 40 feet tall), if you go back to the previous photo, the Samba Tower will be approximately 10 feet taller.

Located directly to the left of the Peanuts Playhouse are the finished concrete supports for the Rockin' Tug/Lucy's Tugboat

Look the falling apart fence is being replaced!

The inner guts of Charlie Brown's Windup, with a new concrete pad. Directly behind it will be Sally's Swing Set/Happy Swing

Just outside of Planet Snoopy is the old Blue Bronco/Battle Creek BBQ is receiving some love, right now in the way of new windows...

Some more of Snoopy's Rocket Express.... It does sort of look like roller coaster track just a bit... but supposedly the ride only runs 4MPH or so.

The balloons have arrived! Under all that shrink wrap are a few of the balloon cars for the Samba Tower/Balloon Race.

More photos of the Carousel barn construction

More photos of Planet Snoopy construction

Check back soon for Part II of the March 23 , 2011 Off Season Park Tour

A tour of the Worlds of Fun Greenhouses

It's A FINE Shrubbery.... A tour of the WOF Greenhouses

2011-03-23T22:29:00.008-05:00

Welcome back... to Part II of the March 23, 2011 Off Season Tour. For some this part is going to seem dreadfully boring, almost like "Living with the Land" at the EPCOT pavilion at Disney World. Some think its the most boring ride ever conceived... Some like Jeff and I ... love it. Some have absolutely NO IDEA what I am talking about. :)

If you do then you know whats coming up. If you don't .... well if you ever get down to WDW in Florida, then you will have a taste of what the ride is like. Worlds of Fun since day one, has had a large selection of plants, many tropicals, many annuals, many everything else in between. Of course we know over the preceding years that landscaping at Worlds of Fun just isn't what it used to be. HOWEVER, that being said its still pretty nice I think. Really you have to appreciate a group of people that can grow Elephant Plants and Sago Palms as big as we will see here in just a minute. Seriously.

With that being said for years I have wanted to voyage into the WOF greenhouses. After all we all walk by them on the walkway to the gate from the back lots. They are right there on your right. As a plant lover I have always wondered exactly what it looks like in the winter with all the plants all cooped up. Well folks for those still interested we are going to show you.

Of course I can't really "show" you the 80ish degrees, with 100% humidity, rain forest feeling, but just imagine a day in June, and you will get the idea.

First lets start with some annuals. Lots and LOTS and LOTS of annuals. I believe these are pansy's. Here is a link for what they look like with color. Worlds of Fun still starts all of their annuals from seed. From what I have been told, today that process is exceptionally rare, and is in many ways a lost art.

The pansy's have some unidentifiable friends here on the other side of the greenhouse.

Moving on, we have more future flowers being started. In this case some Cannas. Here is a photo of what they will look like when full grown. Worlds of Fun used to use more of these but they have recently been replacing them with bushes...

Ever wondered what happened to all those potted palms, and hibiscus? If you look to the far left you can see the annuals we just looked at. If you look to the far right you can see some of the park's hanging baskets.

Here is a closer look at some of those hanging baskets. This is just SOME of them.

A "few" topiary pots, and if you look to the right you can see a MASSIVE Elephant Foot plant. There are actually two of them side by side. These are usually in the African section. I personally have never seen one anywhere outside WOF as big as these, and supposedly neither has any of the other WOF landscapers. This is what they USUALLY look like. Behind the elephant plants are two Tequila plants. These are usually in Americana near (appropriately enough) the Blue Bronco. Yes folks Tequila plants are really used to make Tequila alcohol.

Some more tropicals. In this photo we have a few palms at front, several banana trees behind them, and to the far left the park's collection of rubber tree plants. I am still trying to figure out WHY I can't grow them that big at home.

Welcome to Cacti-land. Last year the park did a nice cactus garden over by the Icee Stand/Custer's Last Stand. Some cactus here you probably won't ever see in the park though. Especially the tall one's, supposedly they are worth quite a bit, and we all know how long they would last... Not ... Very.... Long.

I have no idea what this plant is specifically. If anyone knows let me know. Its pretty cool though.

P is for Pandamonium

2011-03-06T18:16:00.018-06:00

About two months ago we went back to 1978, to look at the first expansion into the world that today, 2011 we now call Planet Snoopy. Then it was known as Aerodrome. 9 years later, in 1987 it would make its second transition from the flight oriented, Aerodrome, to kid friendly Pandamonium!

Pandamonium opened the same year Worlds of Fun celebrated its 15th Anniversary.

It wasn't to be Worlds of Fun's most costly addition, it wouldn't even cost even half of what Planet Snoopy today is costing the park. Only $1.5 million in 1987 dollars, that's roughly $3 million in today's dollars. It would add four new rides, Too Too Train (still there as Woodstock's Express), Turn Tyke (still there), Swing-A-Ling (still there as Charlie Brown's Wind-up) and Either Oar (removed in 2001 for the addition of Camp Snoopy).

Either Oar, a staple at Pandamonium and then Bear Country. It was removed when Camp Snoopy was added in 2001. As an added addition, this ride was an absolute pain in the posterior to work in the hot summer months as those stupid plastic boats leaked!

Ah Kiddieopolis. It didn't last very long as you might be able to figure. But it was great fun while it lasted. My favorite part? The giant plastic balls you had to "try" to walk across. Emphasis on the TRY.

Pandamonium shoudn't be confused as the parks first kids area, that tribute goes to Humpty's Haven in Scandinavia. In fact at the time, not every kids ride was migrated immediately to Pandamonium, but most did. Notably Viking Veel (Head over Wheels) and Tot's Yachts made the move over. However, Micro Moto Bahn, one of the two rides removed permanently at the end of the 2010 season, stayed in Scandinavia until 1997!

Micro Moto Bahn in Scandinavia. In 1997, it was moved to Kiddy Kingdom & Bearenstain Bear Country were it became Road Rally. It was removed at the end of the 2010 season.

Though I have been fascinated for quite a long time (over 15 years now) with all of Worlds of Fun's history, Pandamonium and the years that surrounded its addition are the most special and memorable for me personally. I was there the year Pandamonium opened as a 10 year old. And just like today I awaited the newest Worlds of Fun commercials of the year. When Pandamonium was announced I went about, in my 10 year old way, trying to recreated PJ Panda's costume... it didn't work out so well. But it proves even then, 10 years old I was already hooked.

So what was Pandamonium like all those years ago? Really what was the PARK like all those years ago? Girls of those days came in dressed in the 1980's style sundress, thirsty kids down'd one of the park's many Soda Sippers, usually themed after one of the park's mascots (though the juice itself really didn't taste that great we all wanted the bottle!), and at the end of the day, most of us all left with one of those famous tissue paper flowers.

No this isn't me, but its about as close as it will ever get. Curly hair, barrettes, sundress, paper flower and all. :)

Rainbow Brite stared in her own show at the Panda Pavilion, newly renamed but basically the same structure as the Flying Circus theater. Rainbow Brite was the BIG thing back then, but how dorky and 80's she is, looking back now!

I had a sudden realization after posting this blog that a lot of people have NO idea who Rainbow Brite is. Yep, mid-80's saturday morning cartoon star.

Just the following year in 1988, the Rainbow Pavilion, became the Cabbage Patch Playhouse, and for the next four years after that, the Pavilion was home to a meet and greet show with PJ Panda, and the other Worlds of Fun mascots (Sam Panda, Daniel Coon, etc). Think like Campground Karaoke at Camp Snoopy.

Sam, PJ, Daniel and an unusually short Gertrude get down with the kiddies at Panda Pavilion

PJ Panda was the new mascot for Pandamonium. A pint sized version of the older Sam Panda. From newspaper articles of the time, PJ panda was pint-sized to be less scary for the younger visitors to the park.

Unlike Planet Snoopy today where quite literally the entire section is being bulldozed and rebuilt from the bottom up. Pandamonium basically built on the Aerodrome's existing structures, and bumped the section out a bit land-wise to fit in the six new arrivals. (two existing rides and four new rides).

Yes, Pandamonium boundary's extended all the way down to near the Forum... This is where Detonator is now. Back in 1987 it was home to one of Pandamonium's relocated rides the Viking Veel/Head over Wheel.

As previously mentioned the Flying Circus Theater became the Panda Pavilion. Lucky Lindy's Lunch Counter became Kid's Stuff. Its iconic airfield tower? Re-themed to include brightly colored alphabet letters.

Amazingly as a friend of mine pointed out the nearby airfield themed bathroom stayed looking exactly the same, just as it does today even. So that 35 years later, one last vestige of the Aerodrome still remains.

The irresistibly cute Cockpit Coolers? Became Soda Sipper... serving what else? Soda sippers! Man I wish I had a photo of one of those. Talk about child-centered advertising at their best. If I remember right they were still around until the mid-90's?

One of the quintessential over-sized crayon decorations. In the background is Soda Sipper. Previously known as Cockpit Coolers.

Three existing major attractions would also stay, and two would become classics in their own ways. Tailspinner stayed on to be called Octopus once again. It sported several different color scheme's over the years... from the tried and true Worlds of Fun colors (pink, purple, lime green, etc), to its famous... or should I say infamous tomato plant color scheme.

The Octopus or Tailspinner, featuring its "iconic" red and black "tomato plant" color scheme.

Red Baron, the kiddie airplane ride located, it seems eternally, at the entrance to every new area variation, was given its second new name, PandAm Airlines. For those born in later years, the name gives credit to the popular airline at the time PanAm Airlines. Incred-O-Dome also stayed on, and would last until 1997. Incred-O-Dome lived out its useful lifespan, and had gone from state of the art, to a relic of the past when it was removed. We all have wonderful memories of it though!

PJ Panda, and you can even see the Panda Pavilion and Screamroller in the background!

Pandamonium would be with us for years to come, it had a cute and simple theme that wasn't directed at any specific commercial character (nothing against Snoopy), building blocks, giant crayons and bright colors, including the brightly painted light poles were characteristic of Pandamonium!

Unfortunately, its minimal infrastructure additions really hurt the area. In fact it seems the idea of a fresh coat of paint, instead of a whole overall overhaul seemed to trickle from Pandamonium down into the rest of the park, to cause the major demolitions that we would see about a decade later. In fact, I think its almost safe to say that this one small area in the park, throughout its various changes is almost a direct reflection of the future of the park at that time.

The REAL reason this blog update was delayed... The 1987 map. One "interesting" point is the almost overkill advertising of ride sponsorships. Maybe its just me but Mazda Orient Express? That just strikes me as odd. If you look at Pandamonium you will also notice that it appears the designers of the 1996 souvenir map probably took a page from the 1987 map. Pandamonium NEVER looked as interesting in real life as it did on the map.

One thing is true though in1997 Pandamonium's long run came to an end. Prompted by the purchase and change of ownership of the park to the Cedar Fair chain, the by that time dated Pandamonium would make way for the short lived Bearenstain Bear Country.

We will hopefully get a chance to look at it and Camp Snoopy one last time soon!

Check out more photos and discuss at WorldsofFun.org's Facebook site!

February 7th, 2011 Off Season Tour

2011-02-07T22:23:00.015-06:00

For years I always waited in anticipation for the beginning of season pass processing... why? It was one of the few times to catch a glimpse of the park battened up for the winter, to find out what it really looked like when very few were around. Well for the past few years we have had to opportunity to visit for an official tour of the park during the cold off season, and boy did this visit classify as a COLD one! Of course I didn't actually get the chance to venture out in the cold (might have been a good thing), Jeff did though. Special thanks to Brandon Stanley for escorting us through the snow as you will soon see.

It has seemed in the past that standard operating procedure has been to park cars and trains near the park entrance. So the first stop is this...

Mamba cars travelling in errr... fashion. Black plastic and electrical tape! Whoever said there was 101 uses for electrical tape was right! Make that 102 uses.

A Patriot train just hanging around.

Patriot au naturel. (without its nifty wheel covers)

So explain why Boomerang's train gets some nice plastic weather coverings, but Patriot doesn't?

Look folks its more SNOW! Now the interesting thing here you can only see if you look closely. This used to be picnic grounds and it will be again. You can see the trees piled in the middle of the photo that show that underneath all that white stuff the ground has been cleared.

Looking the other way, you can also see the cleared area where Festaus once stood, and the carousel will call home in just a few months.

We interrupt this inside the park trip report with a voyage to the parking lots! Now my guess is that this is recent activity as the wood is not buried under 12 inches of snow. It is our opinion that this is the carousel platform support structure. The platform floor is AWOL in this photo.

And now for something completely different! Yes I know its still a lot of snow, but that's the point. There is nothing in the photo left from Camp Snoopy except for the Playhouse. To the right would have been Woodstock's Airmail and the Kite Eating Tree.

Following Brandon's great blog post a few weeks ago, (this is of course assuming nothing has changed, which we know NEVER happens at Worlds of Fun *grin* )From Peanuts Playhouse running clockwise will be the Peanuts 500, (whip ride), the Flying ACE Balloon Ride (Samba Tower), and Snoopy's Rocket Express (aerial tram ride).

Here is where Sally's Dance Studio once stood. Peanut's Road Rally will go here. Up the hill, where the yellow schoolhouse is (detonator is directly to the left), is where Snoopy Bounce used to be. Whirlybird Teacups will be in this general area.

Changing tracks once more we take a look at what used to be Launchpad, and in 2011 will be the new WOF Family Care Center.

Taking a look inside, the building is getting several drastic changes on the interior as you can see. A major doorway is being enclosed. To provide a sense of direction, if you could see out, you would be looking directly at the Detonator launchpad.

Another look at the interior, it really shows the extent of the work going on inside. The pile of dirt is from the installation of new plumbing.

Another look, this time we are looking at the "front" door leading out to the main Americana section of the park. You can see how the entire interior is being divided up into smaller more private rooms which I am sure will be very much appreciated by parents with very small children.

Yes folks it REALLY is winter. No people, lots of snow, and ... Deer, lots of deer.

Wait a minute the deer are around during the normal operating season too....

Over in the Oceans of Fun parking lot, as we have previously seen Lucy's Tugboat (Rockin' Tug) has appeared.

A look at the track and tug car.

A little bit different view to finish us off.

A is for Aerodrome

2011-01-10T16:23:00.016-06:00

A few weeks ago a long time friend of mine facebook'd me about the Aerodrome, and its evolution to Planet Snoopy... It got me thinking about how fascinating the five different variations on the 3 acres located in the southwest corner of Worlds of Fun have been and how many might be wondering, just slightly, what had once been.

So over the past week I have been digging around and scanning a few photos and graphics from the original 1978 Aerodrome, and figured I might share just a little bit of history with you.

The Aerodrome opened at Worlds of Fun for the 1978 season, as a 3 acre addition to the park. It was the park's first attempt at a "6th world" and unlike the variations that would follow, The Aerodrome was set up to appeal to all ages, from thrill seekers to small children.

After studying various park history's for the last decade one aspect of park history that intrigues me is the "why". Why did the park build a section entirely themed to flying? My personal opinion...one only has to look as far as Knott's Berry Farm (KBF). In 1975, KBF built Corkscrew, then in 1976, Worlds of Fun added Screamroller, the 5th version of the same Corkscrew roller coaster. In 1976, KBF added the Roaring 20's Airfield... themed to... flight. with a 100 foot skyjump. In 1978 Worlds of Fun adds the Aerodrome... Hmmm... Coincidental? I don't think so.

The Barnstormer! Also in the photo is Cockpit Coolers in the foreground, Lucky Lindy's in the background left, and Flying Circus is in the background right.

Aerodrome would set itself apart though, with a one of a kind (at the time) Bradley and Kaye creation known as The Barnstormer. The Barnstormer, I have found is a highly remembered ride, that surprised me, especially when you consider it only operated 6 seasons! Riders would board one of the 12 bi-planes, be lifted up in the air, circle a central hub, and then dive, up to 60 feet down!

Lamar Hunt said it best "The Barnstormer is one of the most innovative rides to be designed in recent years"

The give you an idea of the entire park layout. Here is the Sky Hi (another one of my favorites), The barn seen here is the red/white games barn currently. We are looking at it as if we were standing near the Icee stand today, looking south. The Barnstormer can be seen in the background.

Barnstormer was removed after the 1983 season, it and the winds 100 feet up never came to terms with each other. Octopus, one the most moved rides in the park (four moves total it is another blog post in and of itself), moved to its place and became known as the Tailspinner.

Other features of the Aerodrome would live on in other lifetimes throughout the next 30 years. Lucky Lindy's Lunch, a restaurant featuring a tall airfield tower, and themed menu items including the Solo Burger with Lindburgh cheese. Lucky Lindy's would live on into Pandemonium where it would be known as Kid's Stuff, in the 1990's its tower was removed and Lucky Lindy's would become the park's Ambassador break area (AmBam). It is now the Magical House on Boo Hill. Minus tall airtower.

Located at the entrance to the Aerodrome was The Great Waldo Crankshaft's Prop Shop, a gift boutique. In 1987 with the debut of Pandamonium Great Waldo would become PJ Panda Clubhouse, and then in 1996 The Launchpad Giftshop. In 2011 it will live on as its newest incarnation as the Family/Baby center.

Probably one of my favorite attractions was one that I only remember from its Pandamonium incarnation, Cockpit Coolers. A tiny snack stand located opposite the Red Baron. Cockpit Coolers served drinks and small snacks and was in the same league as the other WoF Tiny/Hexagon snack stands, Pagoda Soda, Lamar's Libations, Wet Your Whistle, and The Icicle (I miss that!) in Scandinavia. It was shaped like a small airfield tower, and overflowed with the cuteness factor. You can see Cockpit Coolers in the photo below of the Red Baron.

If you click on the photo for a larger version you will see a photo of the Wing Ding. In the background is Great Waldo's Crankshaft (Launchpad)

Other rides called Aerodrome home besides Barnstormer and later the Tailspinner (Octopus), these include the Wing Ding, and the Red Baron. Wing Ding was an incredibly rare Eyerly Fly-O-Plane, it was also the shortest lived Worlds of Fun attraction operating only 2 years at the park from 1978-1979. It was replaced in 1981 by the beloved Incred-O-Dome, a yellow dome, featuring the state of the art Cinema 180 screen. Many of us from the 80's remember camping out on the carpeted floor watching movies of coasters, planes, and more pass in front of eyes. And who could forget the smell... :) It was the precedessor of the IMAX, and was amazing at the time. In 1997 Incred-O-Dome was removed and Scrambler was added in its place.

An artist conception of the Incred-O-Dome. Why oh why I didn't take pictures of it before they tore it down???

Looks pretty much the same, except the background has changed considerably. If you click on the photo to zoom you can see cockpit coolers on the far left center.

The Red Baron was the last ride found in the Aerodrome, it also has the unique distinction of being located in the SAME location with the SAME name (part of the time) since 1978. The Red Baron today, was the Red Baron then. Or for those of us in the know... The Red Bacon.

The Flying Circus Theater and Delores Hadley's Marionette Show

The last major attraction in the Aerodrome had probably the most unique fate, in that it does and doesn't still exist, in addition to having probably over a half a dozen different names in its lifetime. Originally know as the Flying Circus Theater, it was host to Delores Hadley's Marionettes in the daytime (another WOF attraction that quite literally needs its own flow chart to follow its movement) and an more adult nightclub at night.... Hey I was only 6 at the time I don't remember that!

Over the years Flying Circus was known under a variety of different names, Shirt Tales Hollow, Cabbage Patch Playhouse, Panda Pavilion... In 1997 when Bearenstain Bear Country came to town, Flying Circus had a serious rehab, to a point it was virtually unrecognizable from its original structure. From my understanding the primary theater structure remained, so that the structure that was once home to puppets is now known as Campground Theater.

Aerodrome slowely faded out thru the early 80's until the 3 acres was given a re-birth in 1987 as Pandamonium! Tune in soon as I continue our look at this ever evolving patch of earth.

Makes you wonder what crystal ball the advertisement designers where looking into... I also always wondered if they actually sold Zingers in the park (think Zambezi Zinger), looks like they did. Pretty neat stuff. (advertisement from the 1978 version of Fun Times)

A late breaking development...

2010-11-14T19:44:00.004-06:00

Some that have been involved with Worlds of Fun and parks for awhile may remember our attempt at a website called ThemeParksOnline.com. Don't worry this post has pretty much nothing to do with that website (may it rest in peace). However our plan for ThemeParksOnline.com was to create a worldsoffun.org for every park in the county. Ambitious... Yes. Completely impossible, Yes. Did we get thousands and thousands of photos from parks across the country. Yes.

That last part is the important part. We quite literally have a huge closet full of nothing but photo binders of parks across the country. Including Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, otherwise known as the park previously known as Six Flags Ohio, previously known as....

wait for it.

Geauga Lake

Yes, we have discovered hidden in a forest of amusement park photos, photos of the Geauga Lake carousel!

Wait a minute I don't hear the excitement?

I guess I shouldn't post the photos of the Geauga Lake carousel, the very carousel that is coming to Worlds of Fun, a carousel that until now has had no photos available anywhere on the internet. Yeah I looked.

Sigh.

Well I guess I will just post them anyway. So here we go.

That sign looks REALLY familiar... This photo is worth a click, the horse that's visible dead center is a gorgeous horse.

A few more horses. If you look closely (you will probably need to click on it) you can see the four seperate rows of horses. Also if you look at the floor of the carousel (those floors look familiar too...) you can see where the jumping poles enter the floor. I have it from a good source that not only is the 1926 Illions fast, in such a way as we are talking lateral g-force fast, but the horses also lean, intentionally. Now seeing the floor I can understand why. Looks like fun!

Such a beautiful sight.

A GRAND Addition

2010-11-08T22:24:00.010-06:00

This is not a photo of the Worlds of Fun's "newest" attraction but it was carved by the same artist, M.C. Illions and gives readers an idea of the quality involved.

Back in 1972, when Worlds of Fun was originally designed, a large, elaborate carousel was one of the many focal points in the design of the park to be cut from the original plan. In 1977, the park added a Bradley and Kaye carousel to the Europa section of the park, and entitled it Le Carousel. While one of the better recreations in plexi-glass of the golden age of carousel art, it is still a recreation.

It would take the park 39 seasons before it would receive what is considered by many the crowning glory of any amusement park or theme park worth the name. A classic carousel.

Most classic carousels that one sees at amusement parks where originally manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Company, which manufactured over 100 hand carved carousels during the span of thirty years, Six Flags St. Louis is home to PTC #35.

Worlds of Fun's newest arrival won't be a PTC though.

Back in the hey day of carousel manufacturing, which spanned roughly from the turn of the century to about the early 1930's, there where three major types of carousel manufacturers. The Philadelphia style (PTC is the most widely known but there are others), Country Fair style (our Lawrence, KS hometown C.W. Parker was known for this style), and finally the Coney Island style. Philadelphia and Coney Island are relatively similar, both reaching for life-like realism, with Coney Island style being, no surprise, the more flamboyant of the two.

For more information on the Coney Island Style: http://www.nca-usa.org/Carvers_Builders.html

A Stinson band organ. Its unknown at this time whether it is operational or not. These unique music machines where the predecessor of every music device that followed it, the juke box, the boom box and even the ipod. Amazingly they weren't powered by electricity but instead by compressed air. They played by use of music rolls (think like a player piano) which orchestrated the dozens of different musical instruments (pipes) found within.

Charles Looff and Charles Carmel are two carvers and carousel manufacturer's that one often hears associated with the Coney Island style. M.C. Illions is the third. Very little is often heard of M.C. Illions since he produced very few carousels by himself (though he worked for many years with Charles Looff), but what he lacked for in numbers he more then made up for in quality. Illions came to the United States as a Russian emmigrant, a cabinet maker by trade (like so many carousel carvers) he was hired under Charles Looff, and went off later to form his own company. His reasoning for separation from Looff were quite simple, he appreciated the creativity and craftsmanship involved in the creation of each animal, and saw the future for carousel art headed down a mass produced road he did not want to follow.

Many familiar with Illions are also familiar with the fact that he raised and owned several real horses, allowing him a close familiarity with his subjects that few other carousel artists enjoyed. That experience, and Illions own talent made him into what is considered one of the top tier American carousel carvers. In fact it is due credit to Illions and his skill that even though fewer then a dozen of his carousels still exist, one, the 1927 supreme is one of the most duplicated carousels in existence. One of such copies is located at Gilroy Garden's in California.

It is probably due to the fact that Illions would not sacrifice quality that he produced as few carousels as he did. One of which a 1926 Supreme, has partially already made it to Worlds of Fun.

The center hub!

The Sweeps of the carousel, these support the upper half of the carousel and the cranking rods (or jumping mechanism). On the ends you can see the gears that connect to the rounding board.

The Ring gear, in two pieces. This is the center gear for the ride, that the sweeps and cranking rods all connect to.

Here is a great picture showing how everything comes together...

Though at this time we have no photos available of the horses from the 1926 Illions headed to Worlds of Fun here are some great photos from a similar Carousel in New York also carved by M.C. Illions. http://nca-usa.org/psp/WestHempstead/

The platform in sections, taken from E Lot.

Though the year can't be confirmed (the plaque states 1918 the National Carousel Associateion states 1926) it can be confirmed that this ornate carousel was one of a handful of supreme carousels created by the Illions shop. the term Supreme refers to the fact that it was the largest model that the Illions shop produced, boasting over 64 jumping horses, and 90 foot diameter base, making it one of the largest carousels operating in the United States.

The carousel's specific history starts in 1926 when it was originally produced for Philadelphia's celebration of the US Sesquicentennial, it then went on to spend the next 12 years in Birmingham, AL and found itself a permanent home at Geauga Lake park in Aurora, IL where it operated from 1937 until the park closed in 2007.

The Geauga Lake sign, which from what I have heard will be re-used.

Geauga Lake's story is one that is also over a century long, but one's who's story, atleast as a classic amusement park, has come to a sad ending. But Geauga Lake's story has not ended entirely. Many of its rides, even its classic Giant Dipper (which has of recent been saved), have found new homes. Geauga Lake's crown jewel though, its carousel was the final piece of the puzzle, its one that we know now for sure will live on, completely restored at a new home, waiting for new families to enjoy for hopefully another century to come.

New for 2011...

2010-11-08T20:36:00.005-06:00

New for 2011! a gravel lot! Yes after your small tykes spend hours at the new Planet Snoopy they can stop by this amazing gravel lot for additional hours of fun!

Ok ok seriously. Worlds of Fun has one or two more tricks up their sleeve to spring on us enthusiasts for the 2011 season. But before we get to that, let's take a look at what's left. This was once the home of the blue and white tent once known as Festhaus, also previously this same spot was home to the Schussboomer roller coaster. With the complete demolition of the site, including the aged blue and white trellis entrance, it also marks the end to the final piece of Schussboomer (that blue and white trellis was the old queue line).

Courtesy of Jeff, are two panarama's of the old Festhaus Area. Be sure to click on the photos for a larger, full size version!

Here is another look at the site looking towards the Scandinavia shops.

What is it? Well its part of the REAL new attraction for 2011 (in addition to Planet Snoopy).

An alternate Worlds of Fun Halloween....

2010-10-31T20:54:00.010-05:00

As the Worlds of Fun season winds down, I have to say its been a fun and busy ride these last 6 weeks! I have to apologize as well for not getting a blog update in awhile as I have been focusing on my Anatomy class that I have been taking, it along with WOF and my regular job has been eating up all of my time until late!

For Halloween Jeff and I have been decorating our own house for the last many years. Now you may be wondering what this has to do with Worlds of Fun.

Quite a bit. We use WOF as our primary theme, as you will soon see.

Here we are at what we have named "East 3rd Terror St" (actually E 3rd Terr in real life) that we have turned into a mini-WOF graveyard, full of tomb stones to several of the park's previous defunct attractions.

A side view, you can see our scarecrow also from this direction.

Here is our new addition for 2010 the pumpkin tree. I carved 3 of the 5 foam pumpkins and Jeff wired them to glow red or blue thanks to electric led lights.

Here is a close up on the 2 I am most happy with, the Orient Express and EXT pumpkins. These are #5 and #6 in my series of WOF pumpkin carvings. These are the first done in foam pumpkins though. (both are carved, not painted and lit with either blue or red lights)

The Prowler carving from 2 years ago. I will most likely try to re-create this in foam to make it more permanent.

Stay tuned for an end of season review!

Worlds of Fun History Exhibit Take II

2010-08-11T10:14:00.004-05:00

Some may remember that last June, Jeff and I put on a small Worlds of Fun history exhibit at the All Stars Grill. As it was only open Wednesday and Thursday for a few hours most didn't get a chance to see it.

For those that didn't you now have a second chance. This Saturday, August 14th we are making a second go at the exhibit. For those that enjoy park history this is something you don't want to miss. It will again be hosted in the side room at All Stars Grill (in Scandinavia), and will be open to the public from 11AM - 7PM. Park admission is required for admission to the park, but there is no cost to view the exhibit.

For those that would like to see photos from last June check out the blog entry:

http://unwof.blogspot.com/2009/09/worlds-of-fun-history-exhibit.html

Almost every item in the exhibit is privately owned by Jeff and myself, with one or two items being on loan from the park staff. We will have several one of a kind items on display including track from the Orient Express, the original Anton Schwartkopf blueprints from the Zambezi Zinger, several other ride parts, and a park EXT ambassador costume, as well as much more.

We will also be displaying several park souvenir maps, brochures, and other paper publications from park history.

Be sure to check it out, we hope to see you there!

New for 2011!

2010-08-08T22:04:00.004-05:00

I want to apologize to all reading this for not getting this up on the blog until wednesday morning. I had the intention of getting the photos and info online Sunday afternoon, but on Sunday our HSI modem decided to pick the not-so-greatest time to decide that it no longer wanted to work after five years. Thanks everyone for your patience! And now onto our regularly scheduled programming.

Snoopy of course received for his birthday this delicious bone (cake)

On Sunday, in the midst of a steaming 100 degree day Worlds of Fun celebrated Snoopy's 60th birthday. For anyone counting that's 362 years old in dog years.

No birthday party is complete without balloons!

As part of the celebration Snoopy finally opened his gift that had been standing around and taunting us for the last few months.

It came as no suprise to many that for Snoopy's birthday both he and all of us received a brand new, shiny $5 million addition called Planet Snoopy. Though no specific details were announced, and we haven't as of yet been given a final list of new attractions, the park did give us some idea as of what to expect for next season.

Brandon making a quick speech leading up to the arrival of the famous beagle.

Inside the box is the Snoopy that will stand in the new Planet Snoopy.

Camp Snoopy will be receiving six new children's/family attractions. Many of the new rides should offer experiences similar to the Camp Bus and Woodstock's airmail in that parents and children should be able to ride them together. Though it appears that the fun little Rockin' Tug attraction is among the list, there are many rides that are still yet to be officially confirmed. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Personally though the addition of Planet Snoopy has been announced for several other Cedar Fair parks across the chain its great to see the park investing in family attractions. Even though both of us really enjoy Camp Snoopy and will be sorry to see the rustic theme leave, the addition of several new rides catering to the shorter set is certainly welcome.

Brandon holding the New for 2011 Planet Snoopy concept art

Here's a better look (click to see a larger version)

Tivoli Music Hall: Then and Now

2010-07-25T22:06:00.010-05:00

Though never a big shows person myself it has come to my attention that I have never done a blog post on ANY of the shows! Of course that could be attested to the fact that the first show I ever saw at the park wasn't until 1994, which was the Marionette Show that I caught on a day off after working at the park. So, I apologize to all of those park show lovers out there.

Where do I start? In the last 14-15 years that I have been digging through park history I have honestly, in most cases neglected the shows. However, its hard to miss the fact that over the past 38 years the park has been home to hundreds of different live entertainment shows. Delores Hadley Marionette's, Fins and Flippers, yes even Shirt Tales have all played at the park through the years. However, from my limited knowledge Tivoli Playhouse/Music Hall seems to have always been the primary focus.

Tivoli is currently home to the 2010 "Don't Stop Believin'" named after the famous Journey rock ballad of the same name. As the name might imply this years show certainly is a departure from previous Tivoli musical revues, as it focuses on the bands of the 1980's, including Journey, Queen, Kiss and Bon Jovi to name a few. It's definitly one of the better shows to play at the Tivoli in previous years, and I recommend those that have a free 30 minutes at the park to check it out. It runs until August 15, and always important.... Tivoli is Air Conditioned!

While the "Don't Stop Believin'" starts a bit slow it picks up as it heads into its second set, dedicated to Queen.

Some more Queen.

A tribute to the hairbands rounds everything out...

One more.

Check out all 25 or so other shots of the current Tivoli Music Hall performance on Facebook.

Of course before "Don't Stop Believin'" The Tivoli has been home to dozens of other shows, with names such as Pizzazz, Sparkle and Shine, but also the memorable Haunted Theater and the two appropriately named anniversary shows Tivoli 10 and Tivoli 20.

Now here is where I have to apologize. I have over a dozen old Tivoli photos, but excepting for a few I have no idea which shows they are from. If I know the show, or can make a somewhat interesting guess I will certainly do so. However, if you were there and can name the show let me know!

As I always appreciated the multiple choice quizzes more then the fill in the blank I thought I might also include a timeline of Tivoli shows. Please keep in my I in no way endorse the 100% accuracy of the below attested list. end disclosure. Special thanks to Dave McCall, who is MUCH more involved in live entertainment then I am for helping fill in several of the blanks.

1973 – 20th Century Sing
1974 – Be Young Again
1975 - Friends
1976 – Worlds of Follies
1977 - Come On and Sing
1978 - Razzle Dazzle
1979 – Gotta Dance
1980 - Pizzazz!
1981 – Sparkle
1982 – Tivoli 10
1983 – Let Yourself Go/Starbeam Music Machine
1984 – Break Away/Starbeam Music Machine
1985 – Haunted Theater
1986 – Haunted Theater
1987 – Breakin’ Out
1988 – Shine
1989 – Too Hot
1990 – Too Hot
1991 – Too Hot
1992 – Tivoli 20
1993 – All Aboard for Broadway
1994 - 1997 – Country Style
1998, 1999, 2000– Singin’ Swingin’ and Rockin’ the House
2001, 2002, 2003 – Rockin’ the House
2004, 2005 – Snoopy Rocks
2006 – Livin’ in America
2007 – Dance to the Music
2008 - 35 Years of Dancin' to the Music
2009 – Let the Good Times Roll

Tivoli 10 played in 1982 for the park's 10th Anniversary.

Breakin' Out from the 1987 season.

This photo was labeled from 1979 which would date this as from Gotta Dance.

Thanks to David McCall, this is from Tivoli 20, from 1992.

A few years earlier, 1989, Too Hot.

From 1987, Breakin' Out.

Also from the 80's 1988, Shine.

Thanks and hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer. For those fascinated with park history make sure you stop by and visit our Worlds of Fun History Exhibit during Coaster Mayhem, Saturday August 14th!

Jennifer

What was once lost is now found!

2010-06-15T22:49:00.003-05:00

I questioned whether to make a blog post out of this, but it is such a great story. Jeff, my husband and occasional co-wof junkie collected about five of the old souvenir photo books from the 1970's and 1980's when he was a kid. Of course when I discovered theses little beauties I wanted to borrow them... Well I borrowed them and they remained "borrowed" for many years, and we finally came to the realization that they weren't really borrowed anymore they were plan and simple, lost. After years of occasional searching, we finally gave up and considered them lost to time. It was a very sad moment for a WOF history fan.

(Brandon don't worry I don't think I can lose a large business size box of photos)

Well after cleaning up our basement a few weeks ago.... I discovered a lost treasure. The souvenir books! I was very excited, not to mention greatly relieved that they didn't fall prey to my intrinsic ability to lose things forever. :)

What do you think I did once I found them? I started scanning them of course!

No I didn't scan them all at one time, for one reason I just don't have that much free time! However I did scan completely the one I consider one of the most unique, the 1973 version. I now have it published online for your viewing pleasure here: http://www.worldsoffun.org/history/1973sb.html

Also if you should have even more free time, (can I borrow some?) be sure to check out the publications page if you haven't already. Over the past 13 years (yikes!!) I have scanned several of the old park maps, brochures, and the 1978 version of the photo book, you can find that nifty page right here: http://www.worldsoffun.org/history/publications.asp

What? You have to go to another page to view pretty photos? No I would never do that to you all. So to wet your appetite here is one of my favorite pages for the previously mentioned 1973 souvenir map. If you want more, well just click on that little link above. Be sure to click on each page for a larger version!

Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights!

2010-06-05T00:01:00.005-05:00

Tonight, we had the chance to visit the park and be one of the first to experience Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights, the new attraction at Worlds of Fun for 2010. As today approached I was surprised at how many wrote off the new attraction, as "just lights" (exact quote from a guest), From my personal experience as well as seeing the numerous expressions of guests faces I am guessing that many opinions were changed for the better, and as will become obvious with the photos in the next few sentences, Worlds of Fun's new attraction is more then "just lights". It really is an overall sensory experience.

From the time of the announcement both Jeff and I thought the coming attraction would benefit the park as a whole. It not only catered to families, but we also felt it would have a very significant positive impact on the atmosphere at the park as a whole. Overall, I would have to say that both of us really enjoyed the new attraction, and I would recommend everyone who will be visiting the park this summer make sure to make time in your visit to experience these beautiful lights.

Before we get started with the pictures, a few stats might be fun to play around with. The Hot Summer Lights attraction combines over 2 Million LED lights into an enjoyable interactive experience. The lights are choreographed with lighthearted music, and even provide multiple opportunities for guest interaction. In Europa there are several "push me" buttons, that allow guests of all ages to light up the trees with leaves, butterflies and my personal favorite... lady bugs :)

In Africa light bugs dance along the pavement as glow creatures (a worm, light bug and fish) roam through the crowds and provide great photo opportunities. Actually taken as a whole even though Hot Summer Lights is themed to the Peanuts characters it also conveys an almost Alice in Wonderland atmosphere. This is definitly not an attraction you want to miss, especially since there is no long line to wait in!

So on with the show...

In this case a photo doesn't really do justice. At the entrance to Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights, in the old Grand Prix Raceway area sits Lucy, with a picnic basket over all large checkboard lighted area. Also out of the picture are two large interactive "venus flytrap" plant creatures.

The children especially seem enamored with the lights, and also one of the attractions roaming characters. In this photo not only is the peanuts character, Lucy but also one of the lighted characters which could best be described as a flower princess. All the little girls seemed to love her!

Moving through Europa. though the lights in the photo appear static they do fade in and out with the music playing in the background.

The baseball themed section of Hot Summer Lights. You can see the woodstocks in the background playing catch, but instead of a real ball, its a lighted archway that moves to mimic a baseball.

One of my favorite parts, is the Europa hill, that has its trees cascaded not only in blue lights but also twinkling strobe lights.

Overall best part of the attraction, the Congo Clearing/Africa bridge. You can also see the glow worm here.

The fireflies dance on the wall of the Moroccan Merchant. Its a nice effect that really can only be appreciated fully in person though.

The Under the Sea section of Hot Summer Lights features real bubbles produced by bubble machines, a glow fish and an interactive oyster that pops open every once in awhile to reveal Woodstock guarding the oyster's pearl inside.

Check out more photos of Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights and discuss on Facebook

Oceans of Fun Opening Day Camp Out!

2010-05-21T23:23:00.007-05:00

Okay I must admit, we didn't camp out. I know, I know... Look at it this way though atleast I am bringing photos! Yes, Jeff and I ventured out to Oceans of Fun (and WOF a bit too), tonight 05/21/2010 to shot some photos of the sequel to the amazing First Annual WOF Opening Campout.

We arrived about 7PM and stayed off and on until about 9PM, when we left they had about 50 campers, hopefully more by the time 11PM rolled around!

Check in at Oceans of Fun maingate started at 7PM. 93.3 was there providing live music, free xbox gaming, and door prizes.

A few tents are set up now, and they seem to have a good view of Mamba!

Night is setting up as more campers show up for registration and enter the 93.3 drawing!

The all important drawing for door prizes. 93.3 and the park gave away free movie passes, t-shirts and drink bottles.

Discuss and check out more information Worlds of Fun on Facebook

Hot Summer Lights and more Park Updates from 05/16/2010

2010-05-18T20:28:00.006-05:00

Okay, so its not as soon as I would like... However later is better then never right?

Jeff and I had the chance to visit Worlds of Fun as guests this past weekend and take some photos of some changes at the park. There have been several updates, especially when it comes to the new Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights attraction. The new attraction "opens" on June 4th, and it looks to be shaping up nicely!

For those that aren't familiar, Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights will be a lighted, interactive pathway following from Africa, through Europa featuring over 2 Million lights. This will be a not-to-miss attraction this year. Trust me. In comparison, Silver Dollar City covers their ENTIRE park with 4 Million lights, and at Worlds of Fun they are packing all those lights into a much smaller area. It should be spectacular.

We started our trek in Africa, by Big Game Hunt/The Shooting Gallery, so lets start there with photos.

It's Big Game Hunt... Shooting Gallery... whatever. Originally Worlds of Fun was going to go the Cedar Point route with inflatable Peanuts Characters. I am happy they went with much more permanent, and professional looking structures. Here we have Linus on top of the previously mentioned Big Game Hunt, but look at all the lights also strung across the roof lines! Many roofs in Africa have the same treatment.

From Brandon, it looks like the park is going with an under water theme in this section. The lights are all blue, and there are several seaweed lights that will be scattered around the area too.

Moving along is the African bridge. This is just the start of blue light archways, there will be several others joining these two further along down the bridge.

Across the bridge we voyage from under the sea, to camp fire nights. So we have Sally making smores. YUMMY.

What is it? More important where is it, and why is this plaster wall so important? Look closely. Those are glow in the dark fireflies painted on the walls of Moroccan Merchant. You can barely tell they are there. It is a very thoughtful, and delightful idea.

The Casbah games in the African section. I love the lights, it should look beautiful once it's all lit up.

Some interactivity in Europa. These quasi-E-STOP buttons are stationed throughout Europa, and should add a level of guest interactivity to the area. I suspect Europa will be a happening place for the first time in... thirty years? (Last new attraction was in 1978)

And now for something completely different. Autobahn has experienced a color change, and it now has a new paint job on its entrance.

More work on Autobahn has been done then meets the eye. No, this is not a comment about the roof (though I have heard it no longer leaks), but look closer.... That's a strobe/colored dance light, actually one of several scattered across the roof line. Autobahn will take its own part in Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights and become also much more interactive. It should be a good time at the old DFB.

No its not a shot out of a food magazine. This lovely food porn shot, is actually... from Worlds of Fun! Let's all be honest. Worlds of Fun has never really been known for its culinary masterpieces. These little tasty beauties raise my opinion of WOF cuisine by one, very important notch. Only $3 a piece at Cinnabon.

2010 Opening Day Review

2010-04-19T22:29:00.007-05:00

For many years I would write an opening day review at the beginning of the season. The last one I wrote was in 2006, corresponding to when I started to work at Worlds of Fun again. This year, I finally decided to take a crack at it again. Previously, I had reviewed seasons 99-06, and many of the opening day reviews were very critical. That is one thing that I am happy to say has drastically changed. Not to say that there are no critical points in this review. However the improvement over say 1999 and 2000 seasons is as different as black and white.

This will also mark the beginning (hopefully) on our park updates which we hope to post every one to two weeks. So stay tuned if you can’t head to the park, then hopefully we can bring the park to you!

Jeff and I hit the park in two waves. Due to multiple circumstances we didn’t arrive at the park until Saturday about Noon, and then spent several hours at the park on Sunday too. Not counting the hours of course we drove the train.

Worlds of Fun over the years has run some great promotions, and it seem this season is full of them. Of course it started off with overnight camp out, 500 people attended, when the park expected only a small fraction of that amount. I didn't attend, though now looking back I wish I had. Not much of a camper you see. :)

I have to give the park PR credit, it was a GREAT idea, and I will most definitely be attending next year! For those that have missed it the park is also running a great anyone for the kids price on Sundays until June 4th. I believe you have to pick the coupon up at any metro Subway, but its more then a 50% discount off regular price, $19.95 per person.

For 2010 the season didn’t start with any major new rides, or attractions, just several new updates. Now as much as many of us would like to drive a bob cat into the “main” (back) gate, it’s still there. However, the park for the first time in several years has made some small investments into the gate. Of course they added this nice fountain…

Plus a new sign is waiting in the wings, in an undisclosed location (otherwise known as the paint shop). We caught a glimpse of it on the way out Saturday night, and its looks nice. It incorporates the new font (not the old Partridge font) and also incorporates a globe, snoopy and a hot air balloon. We will provide photos once it makes its appearance. Much better then the old sign, which is rather falling apart.

I have to say in many ways I am what Jeff has called a purist. I really don’t like things changing. Especially when it comes to the theme. I like the themed world flags, the themed music, the themed restaurant names…. I guess two out of three isn’t bad. In fact, it’s pretty darn good! Last year, after Celebrate America, the park kept up the American flags, and Americana music, throughout the entire park. I may be the only one that feels this way but I was thrilled that the park brought those small, yet integral parts of the theming back.

So moving into the park proper. The park itself was quite busy for an opening day. In fact I would have to say it is the busiest opening day I have seen since 1999. Scandinavia itself didn’t see any major changes, except the return of some Roll out the Barrel, and Swiss Miss Yodeling Lass (Yes I am sad). Voyager itself got its queue-line wood work sanded down and repainted, though you really can’t tell. Which is good.

Moving on to the Orient section. The themed fish feeder looks like its down for rehab. The fish themselves though are already out and about, and are quite large. So I wonder, did the park a) buy some rather large koi fish right before the beginning of the season, b)Did the koi survive the OFF SEASON? C) did the koi fish enjoy a warm off season in the duck pond? Does anyone really trust that games guy to feed the fish?

You can see the difference between the old wood (the roof support post) and the new wood detail.

So, Bamboozer station. I can’t believe no one has commented on this, or simply no one has noticed. For me the Bamboozler station is one of the coolest looking stations in the park. So it’s always nice when its gets its detailed woodwork taken care of, instead of letting it fall apart. I had Jeff photo take a photo of one section of the station that shows the old and the new. You can definitely tell the difference.

Americana has had some of the most work done though, so let’s move their next. Of course there are the restaurants that received new roofs (Pizza Pier/Gyro Express), which looks nice, but Front Street is the star of this show. Who ever thought that some wood and paint would make such a big difference?

Interior of the Emporium. Notice the counter is no longer a square island. It looks so much better!

Peppermint Patty's. Interesting history factoid, this shop used to be called Sharon's Yum Yum Shop. Its sign is hanging in the Ambassador Ambam (break room).

Peppermint Patty’s, and the Front Street Emporium also received some TLC on their interiors too. Peppermint Patty’s has a beautiful new counter and brought back some of the fine candies. The Emporium received a new floor, and a new positioning of the counter. No the counter itself is not new, but it looks much better, and from what I have heard functions much better as well!

Most would also not notice the work outside of Front Street, on the Front Street (sunken) fountain. During the off season the fountain inner workings had been removed. As pessimists both Jeff and I had though that possibly the sunken fountain was being gutted for the new "main" entrance fountain. Nope, it was removed to be repaired and painted. It looks nice.

Onto Timberwolf. I was excited to ride it again after riding it during the off season. I unfortunately didn’t get to ride it on Saturday. Due to the surprisingly large turn out, and the fact that Timberwolf only running one train, the line was quite long. After riding it on Sunday though I do have to agree with my previously mentioned commentary. It is an improved ride. Its been a little bit better after every off season for the last three years. Besides the ultimate desire of seeing the thing completely re-tracked, this is the next best thing. At least it’s getting some love.

ELI also received some surprising love, it had its brass shinned up, which hasn’t happened a whole lot in the past. It looked good.

So moving on to Europa, Autobahn. Autobahn is still Autobahn, which makes me happy all by itself. (Or in Jeff's alternate universe its still DFB, Der Fender Bender) It received some unusual work over the off season, specifically several new walls where put up. The first set of walls on the left hand side is a good addition in our opinion. It hides the unsightly view of car innards spread out all over the place. The right side walls though were built for storage. The garage door is not the most beautiful thing in the world. But hey it is still Autobahn! (Can you tell I am happy about that). Also the floor itself appears actually larger then it had been in previous years. I do hope it still receives a new roof over the next few months though.

A few of the concrete blocks installed throughout Europa.

Europa has also seen quite a bit of work preparing for the 2010 main new attraction. Snoopy’s Hot Summer Lights. Overall seeing the work progress and hearing some of the plans I think it should be a great new attraction, especially for families. On that topic concrete squares have appeared sporadically through the Europa section. We have heard that these will be used for various scenes spread through the lighted attraction. Sounds cool and I am excited for June.

On Sunday we got the chance to catch the new Moulin Rouge show, British Invasion. Jeff and I have conflicting opinions about the show. I really liked it. Yes, it was different, but that was a huge breath of fresh air after the same old, same old, year after year after year. Like previous shows there were a few highly talented singers, and like I mentioned it just felt fresh and the singers seemed to be having a good time, which makes all the difference.

Exhibit #1, King Tuts, with some new signage, but still King Tuts.

Exhibit #2, Congo Clearing, makes way for Junkyard Burgers?

I won't say anything, I won't say anything...

Moving onto Africa, we checked out a few of the shops and restaurants. First I think that Moroccan Merchant is one of the overlooked nice shops in the park. It really is themed and laid out VERY well. But there is no one ever there! Onto to the restaurants and here I will compare two, King Tuts Hot Dogs, and Junkyard Burgers (Congo Clearing). King Tuts still keeps its themed sign, yet also had a tasteful hot dog sign below it. Congo Clearing on the other hand, is completely re-named, and the name just doesn’t strike me as tasty. Junkyard? Plus the sign… goodness the sign. Maybe if I don’t think about it the sign will simply disappear? Form your own opinion.

On the complete flip side again we have the park making an effort at keeping the theme, with the somewhat garish African themed masks on the Congo bridge. (Garish and African do have a tendency to go together so that’s not necessarily a negative). Yes, they were added LAST year, but I didn’t get to talk about them last year.

Of course last there is always Prowler. Prowler is great as usual, spectacular is actually more accurate. Looking back many of us remember how the 21^st century started in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Not exactly the most memorable. Certainly disappointing. In the span of ten years what had started out as quite painfully one of the worst times in park history, has been turned on its head to finish out the decade with a very positive outlook. Overall, I see the park headed in the right direction. There is a pent up demand and while I hate to jinx anyone or anything I have a feeling this will be a good season.

Pre-Opening Tour 04/12/2010

2010-04-12T21:05:00.009-05:00

With less the five days to go before opening Jeff and I ventured out to the park accompanied by Brandon to get some photos of a few of the park updates. It looked quite a bit different then a similar trip two months ago!

Front Street with its new paint job! We have seen this before, but this is its more finished stage.

And the Candy shop.

It's only Bamboozler right? Sometimes its what you DON'T notice that's the most important. During the off season we have both watched as what is one of the last original ride stations left received a mini-face lift. Much of its distinctive red, gold and black trim has been replaced.

The new fountain in the city of fountains located at the entrance to the park. Looks spiffy. :)

If you haven't read up on my previous post, Timber Wolf has also received some TLC this off season again. In this episode Timber Wolf received new lamination for its first turn (following the first drop), and the entrance to the 360 helix. It definitely helps the ride.

Extreme close up on Timber Wolf!

So its Krazy Kars the kiddie bumper cars ride. Looks like a nice improvement over the last few years. It also has a new panel, with built in timer! Okay you have to have worked the ride to understand how important it is to actually have a built in timer.

The Autobahn. They washed Autobahn in hot water several years ago, which caused it to shrink. Now that shrinking has been made permanent. If the park was going to shrink the size at least they made it look better though.

See no more looking at the guts and inards of broken Autobahn cars. Much nicer.

This is the other side of Autobahn. It's now a storage closet.

Moving along now, workers preparing for Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights.

Another close up on a tree. Also see the trees in the background already wrapped in blue lights.

Where are we? Looking up at the lights attached to the bottom of the train trestle.

The Pre, Pre-opening Update

2010-04-11T10:12:00.006-05:00

We will be visiting the park this coming Monday for photos right before the park opens, but hey I couldn’t wait. I love talking about the park too much, and if that makes me a geek, so be it.

Saturday was dry run day, and while I was trained on driving the train .... (watch out it’s a women driver!)

The most important aspect to you readers is the fact that we both rode Prowler and Timber Wolf. On Prowler we rode in the front, there was one other person with us on the train, and it was running fast! Like the winter had never happened, and Prowler went from October to today with no off season. I say this as usually coasters are slower at the start of the season for the fact that they haven’t run for months. It should be a good season for Prowler.

Timber Wolf also has received some work, and hopefully on Monday I can update with some photos. The main body of work included the re-track of the first turn, following the main drop and the entrance into the 360 helix. For those that do not like Timber Wolf it will probably not make much of a difference. For those that DO like Timber Wolf, it makes a pretty substantial difference. Mainly, no shuffle, bang, shuffle, bang after the first drop! I really like the fact that despite everything the park is still putting money back into the Wolf.

Last, after much consideration I have decided to probably not camp out at the park. Especially since it would just be me, myself and I. (Significant other has elected to not pitch a tent) For anyone else who is interested we are planning a pre-opening breakfast at Waffle House. For anyone interested check out the event on Facebook

The Great Steel Monster

2010-04-02T22:29:00.010-05:00

Today is April 4th, an important date for many Worlds of Fun and roller coaster fans, it was the date, 30 years ago that one of of Worlds of Fun's greatest coasters, if not its greatest was launched on the world. Orient Express.

Ten years ago I was left with the same blank screen to fill with words about this great ride and the memories it brings to mind. That was it's 20th anniversary, when it's trademark lifthill sound could still be heard around the park. Today its been seven years since the Express was brought down.

Instead of dwelling on the end though, lets dwell on the beginning. It could be said that Orient Express not only followed a great lineage of coasters, but also started a new lineage. Built by Arrow Dynamics of Mountain View, CA, the company that pioneered the tubular steel coaster with the Matterhorn at Disneyland, had built pretty small up until 1978. That's when another coaster, the Loch Ness Monster debuted at Busch Gardens Old Country (Williamsburg, Europe, whatever). Called Nessie for short, Loch Ness was the companies truly first great monster coaster. It was the first coaster (of only three total) to have interlocking loops, and with the similiarities of the two rides, and their parks, no story on Orient Express can be written without mentioning Loch Ness.

Loch Ness under construction at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. Notice the similar, yet different interlocking loops. Orient Express structure would be slightly different featuring the "latice" structure on the top loop, but the more modern "post" structure on the bottom loop.

Probably sometime around the construction of Loch Ness, Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman started examining possibilities for what would become the Orient Express. For years they rode coasters, compared notes, and planned. The plan for the Express was to re-invest the profits from the parks' proceeding years, and with the 1979 season attracting more then any proceeding season (1.3 Million), the money was there to build the biggest, baddest, scream machine in the world.

Early concept art for Orient Express. Notice the art work here is done by the same artist who designed the 1973 souvenir map.

Construction begins, Orient Express track is stacked neatly in the background awaiting construction.

The lift hill under construction. You can also see the turn into the second loop in the background.

Construction is nearly done, see the Havens Steel crane. This same photo (cropped) was used for the Haven Steel ad in the 1980 Great Times magazine.

Interesting enough, the park management team's primary concern wasn't beating records, but building the best around. A ride with no slow spots, a ride that provided thrills by the second. And that's exaclty what they got.

Up until that time coasters were pretty much small, especially compared on today's scale of things. Zambezi Zinger and Screamroller (later Extremeroller) were the two biggest rides in town. The speedy Zinger boasted a speed of 42 MPH, Orient Express was 65 MPH. Screamroller provided a quick 60 second joy ride, Orient Express thrashed riders through almost three times that length of time.

With such a big new ride, Hunt Midwest also made the decision to increase admission, up to a $10.50, with season passes running $34.95 (I would love to get ahold of those prices today!) Riders would run towards Express after paying their admission and for good reason, busy Saturdays would almost always top 20,000 people! The Express crews were usually up to the task though, and Orient Express ran capacities that can only today be touched by Mamba. (Express all time capacity high was 21,000 in ONE HOUR!) It like Mamba had the capacity to run three trains with 28 people per train. It unlike Mamba, did not have the brakes to HOLD all the trains. Mamba has the ability to hold a train in the station and two outside. Orient Express could only hold one in the station, and only ONE outside! With the impossibility of stacking two trains loading was quick. It also lead to some unique stories, ending many times with trains literally having to be pushed out of the station!

Two trains on the course equals three trains total!

Once out of the station, the train and its riders would enter the darkened 100 foot tunnel, a forbidding start to a ride themed after a murder mystery tale. The train would start its journey up the 260 foot long, 217 foot tall lift hill. Guests on the walkways below could look up and hear the monstrous beast. Even to this day I can still hear the warm clink clink clink of the Orient Express lift hill in the back of my mind as I enter the park. Once up top riders would plunge into the first of four gut-wrenching, stomach in the mouth drops, 115 feet down at a 55 degree angle. Then it would be through the two eighty foot tall interlocking loops.

the infamous Kamikaze Kurve.

. The ride wouldn't stop there. Orient Express's greatest legacy was what came next, the Kamikaze Kurve, or Boomerang element as it came to be known, a half corkscrew, half loop concoction. Before Express, coasters had two upside down modes, corkscrews and loops. the KKK (nickname given by Paul Hohl and its an appropriate acroynmn, KamiKaze Kurve) threw not only the riders but the designers for a loop. This unique, state of the art design also became Orient Express's downfall.

Orient Express was a hit out of the gates. It all by itself propelled Worlds of Fun to the top of the heap, with the 1980 season culminating in the 2nd highest crowd recorded at the park as of 1980, 24,206. In the years that followed even higher capacities of over 25,000 on ONE DAY!. Over the years Arrow Dynamics went forward and built on what they had done with Express. The multi-looper "triplets" where the end product of "bigger and better" with 7-8 inversions each (Viper at Magic Mountain, Shockwave at Six Flags Great America and Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Great Adventure). Even with such tough competition, Express held its own, after all it was never designed to be the biggest, but it was designed to be the best, and it was.

Over the years, Hunt Midwest continued to pour Express's returns back into the park, Oceans of Fun debuted in 1982, Fury of the Nile in 1984. By the end of the 1984 season the park had hit its high point, with 1,385,500 guets visiting the park that year.

In 1989, a new animal came to town, Timber Wolf. Orient Express wasn't completley dismissed though as it was celebrating its own birthday of 10 seasons! Like Mamba, many years later, the party came complete with cake, festivities, and even a lovely 80's style balloon cake!

Jan Kiser, ACE president at Orient Express 10th anniversary!

Birthday cake!

More birthday fun, and look it's an Orient costumed ambassador!

Orient Express was still the king of the hill in 1989 however its end came not from Timber Wolf but from a coaster three years later. In 1992 the coaster that would spell the slow end of the great Express opened, its name was Batman at Six Flags Great America. Built by new comers to the coaster design field, Bolliger & Mabillard their designs would revolutionize the world.

Many even today can remember having a love/hate relationship with Express. For all of its great assets, Orient Express also had a turbulent dark side, its rough ride. The modern steel coaster in 1980 was in its infancy, and there was quite a learning curve. Orient Express trains were built with a solid axle. If the track changed direction, the train, with its solid axle, would not so smootly transition into the new direction. It caused headaches, odd head and neck alignments, and was quite truthfully a pain in the neck! Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) revolutionized the coaster world, there was no longer a solid axle, but a reticulated axle, that could move, and twist smootly with the track. It was actually quite simple, B&M's were smooth, Express was not.

The offending steel axle

Just for the sheer coolness factor the wheel axle.

Not only were B&M's more enjoyable, with less to worry about in terms of comfort, coasters could produce faster speeds and contort more wildly in height and inversions. The writing was on the wall for Express.

For all its troubles though Orient Express had its supporters. It WAS a classic, and it was built to stand the test of time with quite simply a great design for any time. It was that design that was the final nail in the coffin. The stress applied to the track through two decades of two to three multi-ton trains running everyday, day after day eventually caused the steel track to fracture in its most vulnerable area. Right after the train exited the Kamikaze Kurve, on a June night in 1999 the unthinkable happened.

Orient Express derailed. I remember quite vividly hearing the news. There was a sinking feeling, especially considering what state the park was in at the time. We all knew the end had come, but no one mentioned it. The Orient Express was like a friend, or family member and like that personal relationship we denied the end was near. We hoped that somehow Express would come back and things would be good again.

That never happened, as Express limped through three more seasons. It would never be the same again. When the end happened it happened suddenly, with no announcement. Simply just one day there was a post that a piece of track was missing from the break run. Sure enough Express had met its match and would come tumbling down.

Our first sign that the end had finally come.

As a child of the 80's I remember vividly the commercials, and though I only went to the park three times during the decade (don't act so shocked!) I remember so vividly seeing the Express as I came to the park for the first time in 1983 as a child. It scared and awed me all at one time. So the day that I sat in our car, sitting on 43rd street, the weather seemed to match my mood, foggy, cold and miserable. Nothing can etch the memory of watching the approach to the second loop come crashing to the ground. I will never forget it.

No explanation needed.

However like a movie I recently watched I don't want to remember Express like that, and neither does my husband or any of our friends. I want to remember Express the way it was. The great steel terror of Worlds of Fun will always continue to exist as it exists for those that remember it.

Strange But True

2010-03-19T22:55:00.011-05:00

There is a saying that truth is sometimes stranger then fiction. That's true also with the history of Worlds of Fun. From the very beginning there have been urban legends, some true some not. So which are true? Was Detonator originally designed with more then two towers? Was the park sued over the name Orient Express? Was the park originally considered for hosting a Worlds Fair? Well there is no time like the present to discover the answers to these questions and more...

Four decades ago, when the park had first opened the world was quite a different place, in more ways then one. Mini skirts, plaid pants, and yes, jumping donkeys... (mules)

Is this really happening? And is this really at Worlds of Fun? Yes and yes. In 1975, Worlds of Fun guests delighted in watching "The Diving Mules". Mules would trot 48 feet up a narrow ramp, and dive head first, 30 feet down, into six feet of water. Strange.... yes. Would this happen today? Not a chance.

You have to wonder what people were thinking, this couldn't possibly be entertainment! Then we have to remember that crowds gathered for another exhibition, in this case TWICE in park history. Last year, 2009, Nik Wallenda crossed a tight rope strung between Detonator and a crane. What most don't know is that twenty two years earlier, Arthur Duchek (otherwise known as King Arthur The Lion), accomplished the same feat. In this case he crossed the Sky Hi/Ski Heis cable on Memorial Day weekend 1977. By the way, he did this dressed in a Lion costume, in 25 MPH winds, with no safety net. Yikes! For those that don't believe me though..

Not exactly fitting into the STRANGE category, but definitely boasting a strange name, Worlds of Fun over the years, hosted several balloon races at its designated, Phileas Fogg Memorial Balloon field. (named after the main character in Around the World in 80 Days). The first annual Balloon Race was in 1973, and several other balloon flights occurred over the following years. I figured I would share a few photos from the 1970's...

and the 1980's

To make a quick 180 to the semi-serious realm.... in the same year, 1977 Worlds of Fun was considered for another honor. For over a century World Fair's were the way for the countries around the world to not only demonstrate upcoming products, but also promote their own country through usually a large and ornate pavilion.

The last major Worlds Fair was hosted in New Orleans, LA in 1984. However, before the concept was pretty much completely scrapped, Kansas City was also considered for the honor of hosting this prestigious event. Jack Steadman (president of Worlds of Fun, and chairman on the Worlds Fair Task Force), suggested Worlds of Fun as a possible site. Several other sites were under consideration as well, including Kemper Arena, the Kansas City Riverfront area, and the Kansas City Municipal Airport (Wheeler Airport).

Think about that for a second... there was certainly enough spare land, and one doesn't have to think to long to realize the impact that the event would have had on Kansas City and possibly Worlds of Fun as a whole.

Maybe that's why this little beauty was built in 1980?

Orient Express... the great steel terror (which will be singled out for its own blog entry in a few weeks stay tuned), made its way into strange but true history book as well. Not for what you might think either.

Some may be aware of another Orient Express? This one, atleast in the 90's, was operated by a French company The Societe Nationale De Chemins De Fer Francais that ran the Orient Express train from Paris to Istanbul. In 1991-1992 they contended that the Orient Express (roller coaster) name created an "erroneous impression on the consuming public" (KC Star Jan 19, 1992). Though I am not aware how anyone could confuse an European/Asia train, with a roller coaster in Kansas City... The objection was dismissed soon after, and Orient Express, stayed the Orient Express.

So last, lets see, Detonator how many towers does it have? Two. The big question though is how many towers was it DESIGNED with? Actually you may be suprised, for the answer is not one, not two, not four, but... THREE. This last-minute design change never changed in that years' map as immortalized in the infamous 1996 map shown here.

For those that think three towers on Detonator is interesting, I thought I would throw another quirky map "mistake" out for you. This one occurred the VERY next year! 1997, the park's 25th anniversary saw several changes, but one that some of us remember was the "renaming" or "addition" (depending on how you look at it), of a specific wooden coaster. Forget about Timber Wolf, nope Timber Wolf no more. In 1997 we had THUNDER WOLF!

So here's to the future, looking forward to more, strange, odd, weird, and out of this world to add to this continuously changing story.

With a Wolf Howl...

2010-03-10T18:57:00.014-06:00

I was sitting around thinking... what would be a good follow up after Prowler? Well what about its anti-thesis, the OTHER wooden coaster at the park, Timber Wolf? Its amazing how quickly it's been pushed out of the lime light.

Several coasters at the park have interesting stories, however I think Timber Wolf has one of the best. First though, I think we need to go back in time just to imagine how BIG Timber Wolf was at its time.

The year is 1989. NINE years have gone by since the park has added any new coaster. The last coaster was Orient Express (that's like going from Mamba to Prowler without anything in between). To really take us back one only has to look at the prizes for the winner of the "Name the Coaster" contest, Four round-trip tickets anywhere Brantiff flies (anyone remember the blow dryer add on at KCI?) and a 32-volume set of encyclopedias from Encyclopedia Brittanica, yeah encyclopedias anyone remember those?

Quite frankly back in the "olden days" of 1989 (laughter I hear laughter) there was NO internet, no google, no ebay, if you wanted to do research you went to the library, and used an encyclopedia. Home computers existed, but only 15% of the US population had one in their home. Forget about Gigabyte hard drives, CD Roms or Adobe Photoshop, no way jose. Monitors, mouses and HARD DRIVES were all "extras". It was quite a different world, and really highlights how much has changed in the world in the last 20 years.

So let's go back to coasters, Timber Wolf as I mentioned is known for many things, especially its advertising campaign. When I was a kid I would look forward to the new Worlds of Fun commercial every spring highlighting the park's newest attraction. Timber Wolf's amazing commercial still sticks in my mind.

Timber Wolf won several awards for marketing and advertising, and i'ts easy to see why!

Another important aspect of Timber Wolf's advertising was what everyone remembers about Timber Wolf. The wolf is unique in park history for being the old ride who's name was chosen as part of a "name the coaster" advertising campaign. Fans of all ages could register their favorite potential coaster name through the JcPenney Optical Department, registrations would need to be in by December 9, 1988. Back during the summer Brandon Stanley at the park allowed us to borrow the LONG list of potential names for Timber Wolf.

While the final six finalists including Timber Wolf, (actually Timberwolf in the list), Mad Dog, High Anxiety, Rattler (appropriate?), The Maniac, and IT. There were several quite off the wall names including The Chicken Flyer, Cruisin' for a Bruisin' The Big Mean Thrashing Machine, Around the World in 80 Screams, American Lightening Bug, Rollersaurus, Johnny Apple Speed, Hurls O Fun, Old Time Hair Raisin Hoopen Roller, Green Gobs of Green Gorilla Grunt, EXT Offspring, and my favorite... One Heck of a Toothpick.

There were also some colossal surprises, remembering these print offs are from 1988 (on the green and white stripped printer paper no less) some other options including The Boomerang, Big Bad John, Banshee, The Phoenix, Shivering Timbers, and some of my favorites Millennium Force, Phantom's Revenge, Apollo's Chariot, The Legend, Maverick and this one ALMOST got it, Magnum Force. Why is this so surprising? These are names of REAL coasters that opened after Timber Wolf. I think the park is missing out on a serious money maker. Lease The List out to parks looking at building new coasters. It has some great ideas!

While the advertising was running heavy, so was the construction of Timber Wolf. Timber Wolf was the 6th coaster built by Curtis Summers and Charlie Dinn and it was five years in the planning, with the original idea of a wooden coaster coming to a front in 1985. For five years the Hunt Midwest staff rode over fifty different coasters, picking and choosing the best parts of many to incorporate into Timber Wolf. Construction was visible already by November 1988, and by the time it was all done Timber Wolf featured 4,230 feet of track, 680,000 board feet of lumber, 15 tons of nails and 80,000 bolts. Here's a few looks at the Wolf under construction.

First some concept art. Amazing how big the lift hill looks for only being 100 feet tall.

The beginning of vertical construction. To the left is the bottom of the first drop.

The lift hill takes shape. Notice the lack of structure on the main lift? Wooden structure had to be added a few years after the fact.

Looks like Santa showed up to help with construction too!

Timber Wolf, as far as I am aware, is the earliest opening coaster in park history, having an official opening day for April 1, 1989. However, the "unofficial" opening was the day before and from my limited knowledge was part of a radio promotion. (Someone please correct me if I a wrong!)

Lets take a trip back then to March 31, 1989.

I REALLY like this photo. Not only can you FEEL the excitement, (it reminds me in some ways of May 1, 2009)

As familiar as it seems there are so many things in this photo that are different from the way they are now too. First off we have three of the themed characters, Sam Panda, Daniel Coon and PJ Panda leading the procession. Up front is also a park ambassador. Now this is somewhat personal, but I love the fact that he is wearing the same uniform that I wore when I first worked at the park a few years later. Red shirt, blue shorts (or pants) and red handkerchief around the throat.

Behind is the crowd headed for a ride on the Timber Wolf, and behind that is the Scandinavian section, complete with Gypsy wagon :) If you look in the VERY back you can even see Tot's Yachts (Boat Tank then) in the very very background. Fjord Fjarlene wasn't there then, it was the River City Rampage in Americana.

You have to wonder what prompted the General Manager at the time, John Hudacek to wear a sky blue suit. John Hudacek was the last GM of the Hunt Midwest run, he was replaced by Daniel Keller in 1995.

There's Jack Steadman, helping cut the ribbon of his newest baby.

The VERY same year Timber Wolf went on to further Worlds of Fun history, it was rated #2 in the world! Timber Wolf would rank #2 in 1990 too. At the time the park considered that they had reached the pinnacle, especially with another Curtis Summers/Dinn opening the next year (1991), Mean Streak. Timber Wolf would exceed everyone's expectations and hit this landmark...

#1 in the world!!!! I personally loved this sign, it stood at the corner of Worlds of Fun Ave and Parvin Rd for many years.

So GM John Hudacek goes from a blue leisure suit to wolf ears? Seriously if you see a pair of these babies on Ebay snatch them up. Also, has anyone noticed a trend in GM's with mustaches and Worlds of Fun coasters?

I have no idea who these people are (probably ACER's) I am including it as it shows the original restraints. A single lap bar, a single seat belt. Quite different then what we have today.

Look ma! No trim brakes!

I figured I would end with another commercial break. This one from 1990! I think there are a few people around here that may have been in this commercial. If you were let me know!

March comes in like a Lamb and goes out like a ... Prowler?

2010-03-05T20:09:00.010-06:00

There is an old saying you can never wait to long for a good thing. Plus what better time to look at photos of a coaster when we are edging closer and closer to the day when we can ride said coaster once again. 42 Days, but who's counting?

Its safe to say that the 2009 season, if not the entire first decade of the new Millennium could be highlighted by Prowler's introduction. It was the first coaster in a LONG time to break the top ten list of coasters in the world. Cedar Fair has always played it safe with their coaster design firms, only companies that have a proven track record. B&M and GCI (Intamin of course could be questioned!) have sprung up across the country. So it was heartening when for once, in a long time, Worlds of Fun wouldn't just end up with ANOTHER of the same type of ride that was already everywhere else it seemed.

Prowler was unique, in the way that the park's greats had been in their own time. When Prowler was announced I believed that once people got past comparing it to Timber Wolf, that Prowler would instead become a steller hit, and it was, and I am beyond thrilled.

So even though its March, I figured we could atleast invite everyone on a virtual Prowler ride, and I am looking forward to when April comes and March goes out... like a Prowler.

Here comes the first drop!

Man thats some great airtime right there! 42 days, only 42 days....

A great shot from the turn around.

Anyone care to write a caption for this photo?

My take, boy the drop looks so much larger using telescopic vision!

I want to be that kid! Looks like he is having just the right amount of fun.

Who says the third car doesn't rock obviously never talked to this lady.

This photo was brought to you by NIKE and the group for those who still believe there is no such thing as an age requirement for coaster riding.

Okay here is another try without Prowler interferring in the photo. Plus, I happen to agree with this guy, its a great ride!

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And Now for Something Completely Different

2010-02-27T22:48:00.006-06:00

Artistic rendering showing the Cotton Blossom.

Its been a while since we took a step back to look at park history, and there is no time like the present to look back at the past! For the last several months Jeff and I have been borrowing the park's photo archieves. Hopefully over the next several months I will be able to share most of those photos with you, and as there are hundreds it should be a good time!

When the park opened one of its major anchors was its three major ships (I made a pun!), the Henrietta at the park entrance, the Victrix schooner and of course the Cotton Blossom. I decided that we should start with the grand lady of all three, the Cotton Blossom. Bought by Hunt Midwest during the famous MGM studio auction for only $18,000. Cotton Blossom of course most famous for its roll in the 1951 "Show Boat", but also stared in Rain Tree Country, and was used also by the Warner Bros. Studio and many commerials (including one selling beer).

Is this the Cotton Blossom being left for neglect? Well yes, but not when or where you think. This is our oldest photo showing the Cotton Blossom in its original California home awaiting its new owner.

Once Hunt Midwest had purchased Cotton Blossom came the daunting task of disassembling the boat, moving, storing, and then reassembling a 134 foot long, 34 foot wide movie model. Cotton Blossom was shipped cross country using 6 rail cars, and then stored in Hunt's under ground caves for 2 1/2 years before the park began the attempt to re-assemble on July 5, 1972.

Overlooking what will someday be the Americana and Orient sections of the park. The Cotton Blossom is rising in the direct center. You can also see the hillside to the left that will someday be home to the Patriot roller coaster.

Here's more of a close up. You can see the recognizable paddle wheel at the stern.

JE Dunn who was responsible for construction on the entire park also assisted with re-construction of the Cotton Blossom. However the park also brought in specialized help include Glenn Robinson and his crew from California. Glenn originally was in charge of special effects at MGM studios when the Cotton Blossom was originally built.

Vertical construction is progressing with the first and second floors finished.

A little further along now.

Another problem arrised with re-construction when it was discovered the supposably individually numbered parts were not ALL individually numbered, causing for atleast a brief time the concern that re-construction of the Cotton Blossom might not even be possible at all. It was at this point the park brought in a local retired ship builder, Wyman Beardsley to assist with finishing the construction project. Finally after 10 months of construction and most likely stress and frustration the dream became a reality. Cotton Blossom, though not a truly moving craft lead the park through its formative years as one of its main attractions. It was sadly destroyed after the 2005 season.

A craftsman finishes up one of the many intricate wooden detail pieces.

Cotton Blossom in all her glory on Opening Day, May 26, 1973

Worlds of Fun Off Season Photo Tour

2010-02-22T20:54:00.008-06:00

Our goal is to get out the park a few times this off season, to see whats happening. So following Snow Storm #538 of the season Jeff headed out today for some photos. Both Jeff and Brandon succeeded in not only getting a few photos... but also partially freezing to death. :)

So without further ado..

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First we have Zulu, carless, left suspended in the air. It looks a little surreal.

Next we move over to The Cat, which is in hibernation as you can see under a blanket of snow.

Anyone ready for a ride? Some assembly required.

The transfer panel, covered with YET more white stuff.

Mamba trying out its White Period.

Can a snake shiver? Brr the look of that just feels cold!

Up close and personal with the transfer track. What no trains? I wanted to go for a ride!

Not responsible for lost or stolen articles right? hmmmm....

Dutchman vs. Autobahn. Who knew Autobahn had so many uses?

A close up on the Dutchman cars

Front Mall is getting some new floors.

Tivoli Theater is getting some work both inside...

and Outside

For more

Where Am I?

2010-02-21T17:03:00.003-06:00

For the last 48 hours I have been scanning, scanning, scanning... for the next probably year of blog updates. It should be good, and I am pretty excited. While I have been working I stumbled along a photo that took me probably 24 hours, and about three different attempts to finally identify. Instead of just throwing the photo out there, and saying well here is "blank", I thought it would be much more fun to play a little "what am I". I am sorry to say I have nothing to give the 9th caller with the right answer.

So here we are... one hint, pay attention to what is in the background.

If you think you know... leave a comment below.

Jennifer

Club Blood

2010-02-14T22:15:00.014-06:00

Schedule? What Schedule? Exactly.

So to hold everyone over once more for the next 60 days we thought we might keep everyone entertained by some photos of a vampire lair, shot in the middle of the day. On closing day for last season, Jeff got a chance to voyage in to the Lore of the Vampire's new lounge in the Orient Expr... oops Club Blood, found amazingly, in an abandoned Subway Station. Even more amazing, this subway station seems to bear an amazingly resemblance to a roller coaster tunnel.

Okay, okay all sarcasm aside. Truly, we were pretty impressed with the theming in this re-vamped area of Lore of the Vampire (no pun intented).

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So here's a look inside, in the daylight.

Starting the drop into the tunnel, looks like a normal New York City subway station to me!

At the bottom of the steps we begin our walk through the underworld...

I really like the sign on the wall to the right, UBB, United Blood Bank of Kansas City. Nice. Does it seem to be similar to another bank in Kansas City?

I am a fan of the details, so I love this sign too.

Sometimes Graffitti can be cool all by itself. Some talented work here.

Uh oh, we have reached the entrance to Club Blood. Should I be worried?

Not terribly scary, but I like the detail of the archway.

Who knew that a Vampire Nightclub would have an actual bar? I never realized it, but I guess you could really buy drinks here. What's on the menu? Type A, AB and O. Ohhhhhh.

The err... Lounge area. While we went through Vampire characters were doing a little pole dancing. I still don't know how I feel about that...

A reverse look

Not really sure whats supposed to be going on here. It looks like a barber's chair, and that doesn't sound fun when dealing with vampires.

Here is another look, maybe looks like some kind of blood donation room? Yikes I hope the donors are paid well.

Panoramic Photos

2010-02-14T19:41:00.008-06:00

Wow an update! I would never leave everyone hanging on forever with nothing to show for it. It's been a fun off season, lots of snow. :) So to keep you all warm I figured I would post a few photos from the end of last season. Remember... temperatures in the 60's? Sunny, no snow... Yes folks we will see that once again. Here is living proof.

To start us off I wanted to post a few of Jeff's panorama photos. The photos themselves were taken on the last day of the season last year, and then stitched together to form a long 180 degree panoramic look. Be sure to click on each photo for the full size version!

First, here is The Orient section.

This is my favorite, it shows the Americana section and entrance into the Orient. I love it for its fall colors.

Last, the Scandinavia section. As a stitched together photo it doesn't entirely show the curve that the group of shops actually have, but still an interesting photo.

Hope you enjoyed! See you all in 61 days! As always I am always open to ideas you would like to see here or on the website. Please feel free to leave comments.

Jennifer

Worlds of Fun Scavenger Hunt

2009-09-24T22:05:00.010-05:00

For all those that consider themselves Worlds of Fun experts... I give you the 2009 ACE Coaster Con Worlds of Fun Scavenger Hunt! Every photo below was taken at the park (this June 2009) and is in visible sight in a non-restricted area. They range from easy, to down right impossible (there are two that no one figured out!) I will post the answers in one week.

You will have to click on the images below to see them full size.

Page 1: Download for printing as a PDF http://www.worldsoffun.org/huntpage1.pdf

Page 2: Download for printing as a PDF http://www.worldsoffun.org/huntpage2.pdf

Worlds of Fun History Exhibit

2009-09-22T17:40:00.008-05:00

Wow, its been forever since I have posted a blog entry! I promise I will be better next time. It took quite a while to prepare for Coaster Con and I think I am just now recovering from it. I needed a vacation from my "vacation". It was lots of fun, probably even better then I thought it was going to even be (despite the 100 degree temps!) I have been wanting for sometime to review in this blog two major parts of the Worlds of Fun portion of Con that I personally was involved with. One, will be the Worlds of Fun history museum and the second will be the Worlds of Fun scavenger hunt.

First though I will start with the Worlds of Fun History museum, gallery, whatever we called it. I knew about three or four years ago when we first started planning for coaster con that I wanted to do some kind of WOF history gallery, it was a dream of mine. Truthfully my ultimate goal was not realized, I had wanted to pull out the cars from the EXT stand-up. With time running out, my sanity running out, and Jeff's rebelling against my ever growing agenda, Well truthfully it would have taken an act of god for those miserable, heavy cars to be moved anywhere.

Overall though we were able to include a lot of memorabilia, parts, maps and items that most visitors had never seen, or hadn't seen for many years previous. It was a great success, but before I continue with the photos I need to thank those that took time from their work schedule, school schedule and fun schedule and helped Jeff and I set up the entire exhibit.

I especially want to thank Bill and Anita Valliant, Rayne and Mike Etherton, Todd Swetnam and John Allen, all ACE Members who spent several hours dealing with gigantic pieces of scrap steel, digital movie files that wouldn't play, easel kits that didn't come with all pieces included, and 100 degree temperatures, sprinkled lightly with heavy thunderstorms. Without your help none of what comes next come have been accomplished.

I also want to thank Brandon Stanley of Worlds of Fun for helping finding a place in the park for such exhibit, and providing quite possibly the largest collection of park historical photos in existence.

Now I am going to really start sounding like the Academy Awards, but I also want to thank a few park staff members for their help and/or loan of specific items. I want to thank Matt Steere of park merchandising, Sal Tarentino of Park Operations and Phil Plack for their assistance as well.

For those that missed it our little "exhibit" was hosted during ACE Coaster Con XXXII on Wednesday and Thursday, June 23rd and June 24th. at the All Stars Grill, it was open for all park guests.

So on with the photos!

I wanted to start things off for the exhibit with a time line of park history. I lifted this directly from Epcot's 25th Anniversary exhibit timeline. However, it did turn our very nice, and exceeded even my expectations.

Behind this photo you will see our video screen that we projected old video from the park including rare footage of the EXT as a stand up and the Timber Wolf promo video. It also included various footage of the Zambezi Zinger and Orient Express.

Here is a little bit of an alternate view.

When we showed up early Wednesday afternoon for set up I had previously made some plans for set up, but not knowing (or more or less not realizing) the implications of the projector and its path, I had to come up with a new layout. Moving twenty or so tables wasn't in my plan either. Again thanks to all my volunteers! I ended up with a u-shape layout following park history. Here is at the beginning, From left to right, A Fairyland map, my postcard collection (in the binder), Schussboomer wheel (with fact card behind it), 1973 souvenir map, and Zinger footer. Click on the photo for a larger version.

This is the rarest item in the exhibit, the Zinger frontal profile (or blueprint). It was hard to photograph as the window shade had to be drawn for details to be viewable to guests, but caused so much glare that well you can see what I mean. The original blueprint was not originally laminated. I had it laminated when I was in college to protect the paper which was starting to fall apart at that time.

The Cotton Blossom Collection. My goal with this exhibit was to showcase the major attractions at the park that are no longer there.

Moving along is the "1976" portion of the exhibit, first though from left to right is my "KC Star" binder, for the last 12-13 years I have been collecting newspaper articles on Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun from 1971 to today. Above that is the 1976 map, the EXT uniform, Screamroller/EXT foot pedal (for unlocking shoulder harnesses). I have no idea how Jeff got that one!

Next to that is the data card (with photos) and a construction photo laying on the table. I love that you can see the bottom of the drop from Voyager in this photo!

Same thing as above, different view.

Lots of stuff to see! Moving from left to right, 1977 map, binder of brochures through the years, then we move on to the ode to Orient Express :) The large photo is one of the few items that was on loan from Sal Tarentino of the Operations Dept. If you blow up this photo (by clicking on it) you will notice just how rare this photo is as it shows the Express with the earlier Silver stripe, the BETTER color from Jeff's point of view. I still don't get it (gold, silver, does it really matter?)

Next to that is about a two foot length of Express track, this was one of the side rails, and we are betting that it is from the helix as the track tie (on the very far end of the track piece) is a newer addition. You can still see on the right side of the track the black stripe caused from the wheels rubbing the paint off the track. Directly to the right is a piece of chain link, from the chain lift, and properly enough next to the chain link is a piece of the anti-rollback trough.

Let me explain what a anti-rollback trough is for those that are not familiar. When most coaster trains make their journey up the lift hill they are pulled up by a large steel chain (hence the chain link). In case the chain should break, there is a safety back-up to keep the train from rolling back down the lift. Each train has a "tooth" on the bottom of the train itself, (in the case of Express it had two) that click clack's up the hill, as it engages with the anti-rollback trough right below it. Should the train stop the "tooth" or chain dog engages with the trough, stopped it exactly where it is.

Boring? Most people already know that, but hey maybe, just maybe there was someone who didn't so I had to explain. That's just me! Moving on. We have several Express photos behind the steel pieces. Just behind that are a few late additions to the collection, a few recent park case maps that Jeff and I won in an auction held earlier the day previous.

Turning the "U" we move into the 90's, we have a 1989 souvenir map (remember that "wardrobe malfunction" with the easel?). Just beyond that is a large stack of wood, it actually is from the Ravine at Holiday World. I used it here as an example of wood coaster track construction, which I explain in the sign sitting on top of the wood stack. Again to read click on the photo for a larger version.

Finally we have the latest Worlds of Fun history, Mamba. Here with our Mamba construction photo binders (both of them are construction photos of Mamba) and a Mamba nut. Also you can see a few more of those previously mentioned case maps.

So that's it. Obviously quite a bit has changed since Mamba, and while technically speaking Patriot's addition is "history" as is Prowler, the Halloween Haunt, etc. I was limited by time. What you see was put together from a mish mash in about a two to three week period. I hope everyone enjoyed the presentation who visited during Coaster Con. For those that didn't have that option I hope you have enjoyed the photos.

I will be updating soon with the scavenger hunt, look for it soon!

See you all in the park.

Yumma Yucca Mesa No More

2009-05-12T08:35:00.004-05:00

A few days ago we broke the sad news that Yumma Yucca Mesa, the old Wild West town located near Prowler was completely demolished by the park. While it is true that one of the buildings had practically self-demolished thanks to a bad wind storm the previous season, the rest of the buildings were still standing and we believe could have been restored. As Worlds of Fun is now open weekdays, Jeff had a chance to head out to Yumma Yucca Mesa on Monday to take some photos of the deserted area. For those that would like to read more about Yumma Yucca Mesa I have also wrote a tribute to it here: http://www.worldsoffun.org/community/edit.asp?ID=23

Here is the new look going into the train turn around, directly to the right would have been the water tower, and in the center are some patches of dirt where buildings once stood.

Here are the supports from the water tower.

And for a blast from the past, the water tower that once stood in the locations we just saw above. This was an actual water tower used to fill the train with water during stops in the turn around.

We all remember this view, the one building that was blown over late in the 2008 season.

Here is the spot cleared of the remains of the building. Amazingly when we took a look at the building when we were out there earlier this year shooting Prowler construction photos it was much more structurally sound then we originally assumed. It could not be pushed over by just simple human force, though Brandon tried! :)

A look at the once more structurally sound buildings.

And another look. The graveyard was added a few years back during Halloween Haunt/Halloweekends.

Here is the area now, completely devoid of any buildings.

Here is a look at where the "train platform" was located. This was seen on the way into the train turn around.

If you look closely you can still see the one remaining building from Yumma Yucca Mesa. Its the dug out and is built into the side of the hill.

No this is not a photo of Yumma Yucca Mesa, its from Bone town at Cedar Point. I am showing a few photos from Cedar Point as it makes two points. Number one, if these type of scenes arn't important when there are coasters to look at why would Cedar Point, the park with the MOST coasters in the country still keep their old west town up to date, maintained, and more important standing? Number two, its all in the simple things, I don't think any park should lose sight of that.

Here is a look at a few skeletons from the set up at Cedar Point, it doesn't cost much to do this, and it gives riders something to look at!