Sink your Teeth into 20 Years of Lore of the Vampire!

Lore of the Vampire signage from 2024

 Last year we looked at the thirty-year history of Halloween-events at Worlds of Fun. I stated in that blog that 2004 was truly a turning point in the history of a long line of various named events and started the astronomical growth to the event we have today. This year, we celebrate that 2004 was now 20 years ago and figured it was time to pay homage to the four attractions that would light the fire of the Haunt we have today, an adult-oriented thrilling event. If you haven’t already I would take a look at the three-part blog I wrote last year to get an idea of how these attractions and 2004 fit into the overall history.

2004 Halloweekends Map

After an incredibly successful 2003 Halloweekends, with the introduction of Carnival of Carnivorous Clowns and Magical House on Boo Hill, 2004 would introduce FOUR new Haunted attractions and they would be a microcosm of Haunt over the next 20 years. These four new attractions included:

Jeff Mast as Pig Man in 2005. 

Camp Gonnagitcha Witchahatchet: Usually referred to as simply Camp Gonna Gitcha or Camp, Camp was an outdoor haunt located where Prowler’s queue line area is today. It, like Lore of the Vampire, replaced the footprint of a defunct attraction, in Camp’s case Python Plunge. Camp would be located in the same location until 2007. In 2008 it was moved up to the Fury of the Nile area and was replaced by Cornstalkers in 2010. The main character for Camp was “Pig Man”, a deranged half man half pig that carried a gigantic bloody hatchet. The attraction re-used some basic structures from Python Plunge, as well as old inner tubes and floats from Oceans of Fun. Like many early Haunts, the designers would use a lot of what was simply lying around. The green school bus around Haunt these days was originally obtained and used for Camp Gonna Gitcha as the “Camp Bus”.

Fright Zone: The park’s first fright zone, named aptly Fright Zone, was located just outside of Camp Gonna Gitcha. It would run from Big Jack’s to Zulu and across the bridge up to the Zambezi Zinger queue house. This same fright zone layout has stayed about the same even until today changing names and themes from Fright Zone to Boneyard in 2014, back to Fright Zone briefly in 2022. The Fright Zone initially functioned as a sort of pre-show to Camp Gonna Gitcha and the two separate haunts had a symbiotic relationship in the early years. I have lots of great memories of the early Fright Zone, including a screamster who loved to beat up the plastic trash can by Big Jack’s. I am sure he destroyed more than one but it worked and it worked well. Today’s cymbal monkeys that are part of the Overlord’s Awakening originated with Fright Zone. 

Haunted Homecoming Cast from 2004

Haunted Homecoming: Not the park’s first haunted stage show, but one of its most successful as it’s on its 18th season, not being performed in 2020 or 2021. One of the most fascinating details about this show is that not only is it a sequel to the park’s incredibly successful “Stax of Wax”  show (1985-2002), but it along with Zombie High House all share the same backstory which is that of a high school from the 1950’s known as Cleaver High (hence the show’s secondary name Meat Cleaver High), and using a beaver as its mascot. The show over the years has added new sets, replacing old ones,, though a few have survived from the original show including the “Little Shop of Horrors - Dentist” set, and “Monster Mash”. Probably my favorite was a set they did a few years ago based on the “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago. Fascinating enough for the 2024 season they mixed things up again and added a set that was a tribute to “Camp Gonna Gitcha”.

Lore of the Vampire in 2008

Lore of the Vampire entrance in 2024

Then there is Lore of the Vampire, sometimes referred to as the Vamp House or just Vampires. The longest-operated haunted house in the park, except 2020, in which there was no Haunt at all, has operated every season since it premiered in 2004. 

Banquet Hall in 2008

And in 2024

The 2004 press release described it as: “Visitors learn the Lore of the Vampire firsthand by exploring a catacomb of the undead. This new haunted walk-through experience takes guests through a morgue, a crematorium, a cemetery, a bride’s crypt, and dark tunnels all populated by gothic vampires.”

An interesting point to make with Vampires is that it often, unlike today, would operate in the daytime. It would open at 3 pm on Saturdays, and then operate all day Sunday too. Vamp would remain the oddball until 2009 when with the advent of the Overlord’s Awakening, Vampires would join in the parade.

Mark Costa becomes a Vampire

So what was it like to be an early Vampire? A friend of ours, Mark Costa was one of the earliest Vampires. He was one of the earliest “jumpers” who would jump out of the shadows as guests first entered the haunt.  He goes on to describe his experiences as a monster, or as they called them Screamsters:

“We would keep track of how many people got scared so badly that we knocked them down. Really it was a process. The make-up artists were clearly the stars of the show. They cleaned your face applied the make-up etc. They made the magic come to life!”  For those people that had fangs, we had our own individual fangs that were molded to our teeth. We had more or less free rein of where we could scare people as long as we stayed within a certain section of the house.”

Safety line, left over from Orient Express, identifying the track bed area.

Inside the tunnel you can still see concrete footers from Orient Express

No blog on Lore of the Vampire is complete without mentioning its location, and more importantly the history of its location. As many know Lore of the Vampire resides in the station of the 1980 Orient Express roller coaster which was removed after the 2003 season. Vampires moved in immediately afterward but there are still remnants of the original ride. When guests enter Lore of the Vampire they are entering through the original ride’s exit, and on exploring the upper level of the house guests cross over the open track bed at least twice.  The crossovers are carefully concealed but if you note an open bridge area, or the faded yellow painted safety lines on the ground, both indicate an open track bed area. Original “Asian-inspired” lanterns still adorn the house, and the coup de grace is the walk down into the tunnel. The tunnel was built for Orient Express and the coaster train would roll through the 100-foot dark tunnel before engaging on the lift hill. The echo of the lift hill out of the concrete tunnel is synonymous with the memory of the coaster even today. The truth is you can’t build such an awesome tunnel, and not use it even when the coaster is gone. The tunnel today is one of my favorite parts of Lore of the Vampire. Guests passing through the Lore of the Vampire/Orient Express tunnel should pay careful attention to note the enormous concrete footers with the track bolts still attached that litter the tunnel to this day. 

Club Blood from 2009. I never really got this, and honestly never liked it. 

In 2009, for its 6th season Lore of the Vampire’s tunnel led into something new and macabre, but that just didn’t work quite as well as the park hoped. Club Blood, introduced a “vampire” nightclub into the catacombs (basement) of Lore of the Vampire. It featured a bar and rather lurid gothic-style dancers. 2009 also saw another change to Lore of the Vampire. Before 2009 Lore would open at 3 p.m. on Saturdays, and open on Sundays at 11 a.m..

Starting in 2009 with the introduction of the Overlord’s Awakening, the Vampires joined the parade for the first time. For the first few years, they would ride on the back of motorcycles as part of the parade. It was an awesome detail, but was cut a few years later for not being “family-friendly”. This leads to an important point. As we now are looking at 20 years into Haunt, I have stated this before and I will say it again, the intangible “non-corporate” elements are what made the event as successful as it is. Cars and motorcycles in a parade might be a pain, but they MAKE the experience and without them… it’s kind of underwhelming. I feel with the park ditching this key element of the parade, really takes away a huge chunk of experience. 

New grand staircase added in 2022. Originally this was just an empty room with a jumper in the corner.

New theming in the basement added in 2022.

New, updated parlor for 2022. 

Club Blood would last officially until 2014, but would really pretty much never be staffed after 2010 or so. Lore of the Vampire would mature over the next few years, while the rest of the Haunt event changed around it, Camp Gonna Gitcha would be displaced by Prowler in 2008, before being permanently retired after the 2009 season.  Fright Zone would be replaced by Boneyard in 2014.  2020 will forever go down as one of the strangest seasons, thanks to Covid-19, the park would only operate from June until September, with Haunt being completely canceled. Haunt would return in 2021 as what many called  “Haunt-lite”, missing a couple of Haunts and “Haunted Homecoming” at Moulin Rouge. 2022 would finally see Haunt as we knew it, mostly, return. By 2022 it was time for Lore of the Vampire to be updated. According to Darren Keith of the Live Entertainment department: 

“We completed the refresh and current look of Lore of the Vampire in 2022. That includes the large staircase in the entry, new parlor, new panels on the walls in the knight’s hall, new trim and paint throughout, library turning prop, and new drop down animatronic at the exit door.”

Lore of the Vampire promo shot from 2004.

For the 2024 season, Lore of the Vampire returns. It remains one of my favorites (though Asylum Island will always and forever be the best). I will close this blog out with one final thought, Lore of the Vampire replaced another terrifying Worlds of Fun creation. One that could have been considered “long in the tooth” but also an indelible classic.It’s possible, this new generation of thrills can say the same. 

Fury of the Nile Turns 40! 1984-2024

promo poster from the 1984 season featuring Fury of the Nile

1984 Souvenir Map

 For those who have only visited Worlds of Fun in the last thirty years, Worlds of Fun in the 1980s may seem like a relatively foreign place. No Mamba, Patriot, or Detonator, and thrill rides proliferated with the names of Orient Express, Zambezi Zinger Omegatron, and Barnstormer (when it operated). One major thrill ride that debuted in the 1980s would be one that would be familiar to modern guests, if at least by name, and that’s the Fury of the Nile (Nile). The Nile would open to the public 40 years ago on May 25, 1984. I can’t remember the first year I rode it, I'm thinking 1987, but one thing I can recall quite vividly is loving it almost instantly. It was just a little bit thrilling, the dark tunnel was ominous, and at least one of the ride’s eight geysers was sure to get you if one of the gigantic waves didn’t. Several years later in 1994 when I worked at the park, I would head back into the park at least once a week and Fury of the Nile was nearly always on my short list of rides to experience. While everyone’s favorite was Zinger or Express, I loved Fury of the Nile and when I first met  Jeff he even gave me the moniker of “water princess' ' for my love of rapids rides everywhere. 

In the tunnel in 1986

Fury of Nile tunnel in 1999

A slightly different view than what we all normally see, also from 1986

Today, The Nile is simply not the same ride as it was back then, but unlike many of its other 1980s counterparts, Fury of the Nile continues to live on. Today, we take a look back at its very beginning, conception to construction, and then how we got from there to today. The whole idea of the rapids ride started in the 1970s when Six Flags Astroworld General Manager Bill Crandell came up with the idea after watching an artificial river created for the Kayak competition at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The prototype, manufactured by Intamin of Switzerland, and the first of several Thunder River attractions, would open in 1980. Covering 10 acres, and powered by two 350-HP pumps, Astroworld started a torrential tidal wave of rapid rides across the country. Six Flags itself would expand the concept to Six Flags Over Georgia in 1982 and Six Flags Mid America in 1983. Europe got into the mix in 1983 when Efteling opened Piraña, the first rapid ride with a turntable loading system. 

Looking down at the lift hill with the ride completely drained. 

Same lift hill area holding water, (most of the ride is drained)

Fury of the Nile was the first domestic rapids ride with a turntable loading system

In November 1983, Worlds of Fun announced the 10th version of the Intamin Rapids ride, Fury of the Nile, which would be the largest, and longest rapids ride built at its time, it would also be the first rapids ride in the United States to feature the turntable loading system. Powered by three 250-HP pumps, (but containing four) Nile was unique for many reasons. Unlike the prior rapids rides built, Nile could store all its one million gallons of water inside the ride itself, though it could also be pumped in and out of the nearby Buccaneer Bay at Oceans of Fun. This unique design element was created by the local Kansas City engineering firm Burns and McDonnell. Guests passing Fury of the Nile on their way between the two parks might notice the water levels being high in the lift hill section of the ride. It is this area that is over 20 feet deep and designed to hold all the ride’s water allowing the majority of the ride to be emptied and filled within minutes. 

The four 250-HP pumps 

One of the empty pump pits (the pumps above usually sit in these pits)

You can see the three operational pumps in this photo (there are four but only three are used at once)

The theme of the Nile is ancient Egypt, complete with hieroglyphs, colossal statues of the Pharoah,  and even the voice of “King Tut” in the tunnel during its earliest years. Why? Well besides the obvious fact that Nile is located in the African section of the park, the 1980s witnessed a huge revival of interest in ancient Egypt partially thanks to a tour of “Treasures of Tutankhamun” in the late 1970s, and reflected by various media of the time, think the Bangles “Walk Like an Egyptian” and Steve Martin’s “King Tut” on Saturday Night Live.  Fury of the Nile fits right into that timeline niche and proves that the love of all things ancient Egyptian has never really died.

Lake 2 with full theming in the 1980s

lift hill with Egyptian artwork in 1988.

Similar view in 1999.

The Nile would open to the public on May 25, 1984, complete with 8 geysers, multiple waterfalls, rapids, and 1,800 feet of churning, foaming water!  Like many attractions, Nile had its share of mishaps in its early years. In June of 1984, one of the ride’s 23 6-seat rafts would flip over, injuring two riders (a 9-year-old boy had a broken leg). The ride was slightly modified including the removal of waterfalls in the tunnel. Since that point, Nile has had fairly uneventful operations, with no other major accidents reported. This does not include ride shutdowns and unscheduled ride evacuations which happen on all rides from time to time.

You can see the boat positioned in the background (its the smaller conveyor belt)

walking the turntable 

Nile "sudded" in the 1980s

Nile cleaning in 1986

Over its next 40 years of operation, Nile would comprise more stories than anyone could share at one time. Ambassadors recall the many trough-cleaning parties (where the trough would be emptied and then scoured cleanish). There was also at least one known situation where ambassadors attempted to “sud” the Nile, in much the same way that Voyager had been for many years. This involved filling an empty trough with soap and then letting the pumped-in water create millions of soap suds. It was only marginally successful due to the vast amount of water incorporated into Nile vs. Viking Voyager. Then there were the day-to-day operations. Walking (running?) incalculable miles on a never-ending turntable in subterranean heat waves, made even worse in the 1984 inaugural season by safari-style helmets issued as part of the ambassador costume. Then there was/is the boat positioner which was supposed to align boats with the turntable but never actually worked (does it work now? I doubt it, but it never did anyway). 

During the 1980s Worlds of Fun ride operations also unofficially competed against each other in what was called  “Turnstile Wars” which pitted Nile against several other high capacity rides in the park (Zambezi Zinger, Viking Voyager, Orient Express and in one notable moment, the Worlds of Fun Railroad) to see who could reach the highest capacity in one hour. Nile’s highest recorded, actually achieved ride capacity for one hour at least up until 1985 was 1,777 in ONE hour! Just for those who haven’t done the math, that's all 23 boats, all filled with 6 guests each, running roughly a 4.5-minute ride cycle. Yes, those ambassadors were running around the turntable! But they got a great workout!

2000, with the red "bloody nile" water, that's me in the photo by the way

A skeleton, haunted boat in 1999

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Lake 2 with the blue water in 1998

For guests of Nile during its many years, Nile is full of memories of standing on the hot asphalt in line as it snaked down the colossal queue line, the infamous dyed blue water (or red, I’ll get to that), water pouring over the sides from torrential waves, unsuspecting geysers (that were on timers, the ambassadors couldn’t control them), and the waterfall at the end. In 1998, 14 years after Nile opened the park would “plus”  the ride during Boo!Blast (which later became known as Halloweekends) dying the water red, and theming one of the boats with skeletons. The ride was then “re-named” Fury of the Bloody Nile. It would remain that way every Halloween until at least 2003. 

Geyser in Lake 1

1st geyser from Lake 2, from 2003

2nd geyser from Lake 2, from 2003

The most recent photo I have of a geyser working in 2017

Over the last two decades of the ride, Nile has slowly been modified and “left to its own devices” allowing the ride that we all once knew and loved to fall from the premier level it once was at, to the literal mild river float trip that it is today. Of the eight total geysers I haven’t seen a single one operate in the last few years and for the last decade maybe one or two occasionally. The various “obstacles” on the base of the trough that create the waves have been modified, and increased, to a point that the waves that once would almost drown riders in the boats, now barely lap at the edge of the boat. Why? Probably mostly due to cost, but also probably due to apathy. Apathy as in that the era of “massive water ride expansion” ended in the 1990's. Rapids rides are no longer the hot ticket that they were once considered to be. To the point that many parks these days are REMOVING their rapid rides to add the newest, biggest coaster or some other major attraction. Carowinds removed their rapids ride in 2009 to make way for Copperhead Strike, and Hersheypark removed their rapids ride Canyon River Rapids for its water park in 2008. Rapids rides are large, expensive, and require a large staff to maintain and keep in operation. Worlds of Fun has always been blessed with land, there was no need to look at ride removals to make way for Mamba or Patriot of Prowler, and there is still a great deal left for expansion. That fact has saved Nile, the lack of industry enthusiasm for rapid rides has caused it to languish. Unlike general industry apathy, I  do not believe that amusement park fans' zeal for rapid rides like Nile has diminished, and many still line up for a good soaking, just look at Silver Dollar City (Mystic River Falls) and SeaWorld’s (Infinity Falls) newest updated rapids rides. I do not know what the future holds for Nile, I hope it involves an update, as I would love to welcome back the ride I truly once adored.

Rapids 2 from 1999

Rapids 2 from 2016