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

2024 Opening Day Review: May 4, 2024

 Welcome to another Opening Day Review for Worlds of Fun’s 52nd season and its 51st year of operation!  Unlike most seasons, this year Worlds of Fun and/or Cedar Fair elected to open the park much later than it typically has, on May 4th. For all but three other seasons Worlds of Fun has had its opening day in April, (that would have been 1973, 2020 and 2021). We think Cedar Fair is trying to “chase the weather” since sometimes April weather can be downright cold, and usually the park is fairly dead-on opening day. This opening day was anything but that.  We arrived at the park right around 11:15-11:30 as we flew in that morning and landed at 10:30 AM. C lot was already about ¾ full, and the entire F lot was completely packed with school buses.  Right there we knew it would be busy. So why was it so busy? It’s quite simple.  Worlds of Fun has hosted Festival of Music (Band and Choir Festival) since 1974, with this season being its 50th anniversary. However, as Worlds of Fun has opened in April for all the years that the Festival of Music has been in existence, they could easily spread the groups over two months, with Choir being the first few weeks and Band being in May. With a shortened opening time period, Band and Choir were combined this year into what amounted to half the weekends, which also meant that Moulin Rouge would be used for the first time for Festival of Music, (in every other year it has been just Tivoli).

Walking in from H lot.

Park Entrance around 11:30 when we arrived.

We parked as usual in H lot and headed towards the gate and found massive groups of school kids at the security checkpoint. We were able to get through security in just a few minutes and easily got through the gate into the park. I was told later in the day the park had celebrated opening day with a ribbon cutting ceremony, which we missed (because we were still at KCI at the time).  But I loved hearing about that little detail and wished I could have been there for it. If anyone has any photos or video, please share thanks!

The first thing that I noticed was that they were using the International Plaza/Gateway Gardens stage for warm up for bands which made the entrance area congested but still easy to transpose. What really surprised me is that none of the flower beds in the entrance area had any flowers in them!  I noticed a lack of high level of landscaping throughout the park especially considering it was May. 

Voyager cycling boats at 11:35

What was a pleasant surprise was that every ride we noticed at the entrance was operating!  That’s been a big stumbling block for the park in the last twenty- five or so years I’ve been writing opening day reviews.  We already knew Spinning Dragons wouldn’t be operating as it's receiving a new control system, but everything else we saw, Bamboozler, Grand Carrousel, Fjord Fjarlane, Sea Dragon, Scrambler and Nordic Chaser were all operating with guests. At 11:30 when we entered, Voyager was cycling boats, but wasn’t yet open for guests. The park does list at the park entrance that Voyager and Nile don’t open until Noon and when we made our way around again around 1pm, it was fully operational.

Signage around the park directing guests to Moulin Rouge which was a new venue for Festival of Music this year. 

The old Timber Wolf entrance sign has been added to the history exhibit

Tivoli was open, as it was being used for Festival of Music, but the history exhibit is also open and available for guests too.  It has some nice out of the way seating which is probably a big reason we end up there a lot!  They also did a few updates for this season including the old Timber Wolf entrance sign, and Wacky Worm coaster head. 

Serengeti Station (Old Big Game Hunt) is now home to the Squawk Bird show!

Moving into Africa, Zulu and Prowler were also in operation. Serengeti Station, the old Big Game Hunt/Shooting Gallery turned theater was dark but will welcome Squawk! Bird Show starting next weekend!  Moulin Rouge’s show opens on May 25th, and the Great American Train Adventure, (Train Robbery show), starts June 15th. Except for the regular Peanut’s characters show in Planet Snoopy, (June 1st), that appears to be the extent of Live Entertainment this season. Along with the later opening, the lack of Live Entertainment offerings is very disappointing. I’m going to really miss Uprights and the Country show at Country Junction. Not to mention that I continue to hold onto a completely ridiculous and entirely unrealistic hope that someday we may see a Tivoli show again. Let’s be honest with each other, unrealistic hope is what keeps many of us Worlds of Fun fans going.

Zulu was operating

Back to Africa, Congo Clearing/Gorilla Grill was open and already had folks in line for food. As we hadn’t eaten much of anything that morning, we decided getting food was a priority, probably a good decision as lines would grow exponentially in a short span of time.

Zinger was cycling trains in this photo at 11:43

Before eating though we took note of Zambezi Zinger which was cycling trains, but was not yet open for guests. The time stamp on my photos says 11:43. While it's always preferable to get rides open at opening time, it had rained earlier and was still misting at this time. That was a good sign for Zinger running in more wet conditions over this season compared to last year. Zinger would open at some point over the next hour but would have operational issues throughout the day. It is still a prototype coaster so I expect some bumps and we were greatly impressed by the crew later in the day which I will discuss later.

Nile starting to fill with water, right after the pumps start at 11:49

Nile opening at 12:22

We decided on Coasters for lunch (Sand Dune Diner but I still call it Coasters… 25 years is hard to break!). Across from it the Nile had just started up, filling with water. Time stamp on my phone is 11:49. Based on another time stamp on my phone I have Nile opening at 12:22, so about 20 mins late, (keeping in mind it's advertised at the front of the park to open at Noon), so not bad for opening day. What was slightly disappointing was that Nile only had 8 boats operating on it though, which seems… crazy. Monsoon behind it was still standing and the walkway to Oceans was temporarily fenced off, so we couldn’t get any closer to it than from the Nile.

Sand Dune Diner food line

Milk shakes (not ours)

Like most food service locations at this point, Sand Dune Diner already had a line, but it was still within the restaurant building itself. We waited maybe five mins for food. It's still served cafeteria style, which I like, but was only serving hamburgers, fries, chicken fingers and onion rings. They also had a fruit medley and milk shakes available. Staffing like we noted throughout the park was more than adequate, and all four cash registers were open, so it was quick and painless to get food. We were lucky enough to get a booth inside the restaurant, which looks like it could use a little TLC but was otherwise clean and adequate. There was already an ambassador mopping the floor at around Noon. Even as we waited in line, the line behind us grew and probably within an hour food service locations throughout the park would nearly all have lines out the door. Every food outlet we noticed was open and serving but the removal of a few such as Panda Express and the Europa restaurant in recent years really hurt capacity.  Overall, the food quality was good, and while expensive, (around $35 for both of us), I found it reasonable in comparison to other park and sports venue food options. 

Mamba running later in the day, shot from Planet Snoopy

After eating we headed over to Mamba but found it down. When we had arrived, I had noted that it was running, and it seemingly went up and down a few times in the morning. Mamba turns 26 years old this season, making it the 3rd oldest coaster ever in park history!  While I wasn’t thrilled that Mamba was down, (I flew 1,000 miles just to ride it!), I was thrilled that it was not only running two trains, a major improvement over prior opening days, but also had its third train, fully assembled on the storage track. That’s the first time I’ve seen a third train sitting at Mamba in probably a decade or so! 

Taxis down at 12:28

So, around this time we figured we needed to head back to Tivoli for our group meet up. I wanted to walk around the rest of the park and since we had about 45 mins we headed towards Forum Road/Heart of America Blvd. We noted Taxis was down with what appeared to be a stalled car, (one of the old Arrows). We will go into more detail on Europa a little later. The Worlds of Fun Railroad, Detonator, Cyclone Sam’s, Mustang Runner and Timber Wolf were all running, and it appeared Timber Wolf had both trains on which was a good sign. 

Timber Wolf entrance

Front Street

New Woodstock and Snoopy bags

2024 dated merchandise

Woodstock and Snoopy mini backpacks. 

We stopped at Front Street and briefly checked out the Emporium. We missed some 1989 Timber Wolf merchandise but did find the 50th anniversary clearance corner, which was full of different 50th anniversary merchandise marked down approximately 50%. In addition, we also got our passholder discount on top of that. We didn’t buy a bunch of stuff, a hat and a glass, but we meant to come back. That wouldn’t happen, at least not this trip. I'm sure our wallet is thankful (LOL).  I noticed that there was a new, larger selection of Snoopy and Woodstock merchandise which was super adorable.  New merchandise included a Woodstock and Snoopy mini backpack, which was similar but slightly smaller than the normal Loungefly backpacks. I probably would have bought one had we made it back.

River City Grill aka Cotton Blossom BBQ

The trees around Front Street are really filling out. 

Across from Front Street, Steelhawk was down and would be one of three rides that would not operate at all during Opening Day. We next passed by the restaurant formerly known as Cotton Blossom BBQ, now known as River City Grill. I wasn’t a huge fan of the re-name, but it is what it is and it's still respectful to park history. That area was originally known as River City as part of the 1982 park expansion. Interesting factoid is that Fjord Fjarlane, today located in Scandinavia, opened as River City Rampage and was located where Cotton Blossom BBQ is now.  I do like that they retained the smokestack motif on the entrance sign and the restaurant is still full of Cotton Blossom photos.  Hopefully those stick around.  I’ve seen photos of the various food options, and they look fascinating. We will have to try those out next time. 

Steelhawk was down on opening day, but it's operating now (2nd weekend). The wooden bridge is original to the park as part of the original park entrance. 

New hanging lanterns in The Orient/East Asia

We quickly moved onto the Orient, which like Cotton Blossom BBQ, has received a new nomenclature as of last season, East Asia. That’s going to be a hard change to make, as I’ve been calling it the Orient since… well I’ve existed!  First thing I noticed was that the hanging lanterns around the area’s pond have been replaced, which is a nice attention to detail. 

Rickshaw Richards still has this food service set up from Grand Carnivale.

As most know, Panda Express has moved out and the building originally named Rangoon Refresher, currently sits empty. There is a sign out front that is advertising the new and upcoming dining option Dragon Delights featuring the world’s largest fortune cookie. It also uses PJ Panda Iconography, which I love and hope they continue with there. 

Originally opening with the park as Rangoon Refresher, this location was Panda Express from 2007 until last season. 

Spinning Dragons was our second ride not in operation at all, and that's because it is receiving an entirely new control system, (like Mamba did two years ago).  This will hopefully increase the ride's woefully low capacity. Across from Spinning Dragons is Bamboozler and for the first time in twenty years we have a direct view of Bamboozler, as the 3rd incarnation of Pagoda Soda has been demolished. The park has added a themed Asian-inspired screen, surrounded by original park fiberglass yellow benches. Please don’t get rid of those benches!  

Spinning Dragons is receiving a new control system.

With Pagoda Soda removed we have a clear view of Bamboozler for the first time in 20 years. The yellow benches are original to the park.

Bamboozler is one of the oldest rides in the park opening in 1977 as Singapore Sling. 

We headed across the S/O bridge, to Tivoli, where we arrived maybe a minute or two before 1.  We waited outside for a min and then headed inside the theater lobby since it was open.  I had advertised a group meetup, and posted that we were in the Tivoli lobby, but only saw one person, maybe because we were over by the Orient Express car which is rather in the back? A couple of park staff members showed up, so we ended up talking with them for a while, and around 1:30 headed back out to the park. A couple of points to make.  I first want to apologize for anyone I missed, that was obviously not my intention. Second, I saw a couple of people post online that saw us but said they felt bad about saying hi. Please stop by and say hi!  I promise you will never annoy me and won’t scare me off.  If anything, it will be the opposite as I have come to terms with my weird slightly neurodivergent self.

Swedish Sipping Chalet was one of the many places with long line. 

Congo Clearing/Gorilla Grill had an enormous line too. 

At this point we decided to head to Europa since we had entirely bypassed it earlier. I noticed a lot of the food places, ok ALL the food places lines had grown exponentially. On arriving in Europa all the rides were in operation, I wanted to ride Taxis, but it was posting a 45 min line, so I got vetoed by Jeff.  Moulin Rouge was open for Festival of Music, and the nearby Deja Vu shop was temporarily being used as rehearsal location. That’s all entirely new and was a bit odd. Taxis was running the new cars from Gould, and a few of the older Arrow cars, as mentioned previously.

Le Taxitour with its queue house full at 2:47 PM. The app was posting a 45 minute for this ride at this point.

A new Gould car and old Arrow car sit side by side.

 Dutchman was also running with an updated, more nautically themed queue line. Autobahn was running about 8 cars, it looked rather sad, and the cars were moving INCREDIBLY slow. I honestly think the Taxi cars were running faster!  Though Falcon’s Flight was removed from park operations last year, this year it was entirely removed with its pad being transformed into a biergarten area. Complete with picnic and umbrella tables, the nearby drink stand was serving beer on tap and bottled alcohol. We had been told previously that Falcon’s Flight control booth was going to be re-used and later in the day recognized it at Scrambler, as the Scrambler control panel is now enclosed inside of it. 

Flying Dutchman received a new sign last year, and a new queue line this year.

The old Falcon's Flight pad is now a Biergarten.

With the old queue line having picnic tables.

Beer on tap.

The originally was Lamar's Libations, but has been through a variety of changes over the years since Cedar Fair took over.

Autobahn.

At this point we decided to ride a ride and headed for the train. Like the rest of park operations, they are still getting things figured out and were a bit slow loading and getting moving. The train show starts June 15, so for right now it was just a ride, I noticed there was no spiel and I know it’s been kind of hit or miss in recent years on that. Still a very enjoyable ride and we love continuing to see Eli operate after having it gone for three seasons!

Depot, which received its new turquoise color last year.

Heading into Planet Snoopy.

Next, we headed up to Planet Snoopy to see what was going on there. One of the first things I noticed was the musical pad was missing.  I think it was covered up last year too, but this year it's been filled in with concrete. That was sad as I loved that thing, and it was the last remaining attraction from the Berenstain Bear Country expansion! All the other rides were in operation, except for Snoopy’s Rocket Express, including Woodstock Gliders, Cosmic Coaster and Red Baron. Red Baron turns 50 years old this season and is not only the park’s oldest kids ride but is the only attraction in that area that has not moved since 1978 when it was first relocated to Americana from Scandinavia as part of the new Aerodrome!  The world has changed around it, but it has changed very little.

Red Baron turns 50 years old this year, it was originally added to the Scandinavia section of the park in 1974 and moved to its present location 1978.

Cosmic Coaster, which opened in 1993 as Wacky Worm is the park's 2nd oldest coaster.

Scrambler re-using Falcon Flight's old control booth.

Over the next hour or so we moved around the park and ran into some friends in Scandinavia. I had really wanted to ride Mamba, but as of 5pm it was still listing a 2 hour wait. Jeff felt that was crazy, yet I felt wouldn’t really be that long and was willing to wait for.  I wanted to see if it was running as well as it had the last two seasons. After debating on it for 30 mins or so and repeatedly checking the wait I noticed it had dropped to an hour and decided to head over that way. I found Mamba fully operational with two trains, with one full switchback section full and a second about half full. I timed my wait, and it came out to about 45 mins from entering the line to boarding. I always ride in the 3rd row of the 1st car as I find it has the best airtime, and I was thrilled to find it running just as well as it has been. I love it and it's probably my favorite ride in the park, with its only competition being the train.

In line for Mamba. This was taken at 5:31 pm.

Looking up the lift hill on Mamba.

I took this right before I got the call from Jeff about Zinger.  Time stamp is 6:27 pm.

After I got off, Jeff called me telling me he was hanging out by Zinger’s exit, and that it appeared to be about to come back up from a shut down. So I picked up my walk and made it down to the entrance right when it reopened, it looked to be a very short wait. Of course, appearances can be deceiving. Right before we entered the station the ride went down. Again. 

We met some new friends waiting in the queue line!

When both Prowler and Zinger were designed and built the park was told they could not touch or cross this creek as it is home to atleast two protected species (a salamander and a bat)

New information plaque in the Zinger queue line. This is just above the footer posted below.

One of the old Zinger footers, this one was for the high speed turn. 

With it being around 7:30, I was doubtful the ride would be reopened but we waited around to see. The park had added a new plaque to the queue line right above an original Zinger footer in the creek (for the high-speed turn), which I checked out. Also a few members of one of the choirs were there and gave a quick little performance. Overall, it wasn’t time totally wasted. When the ride reopened right around 8pm, they told us everyone in line would get to ride. Being where we were we lined up in the station for the front row as there were enough people behind us for a nearly full train of riders. You can smell what happened next… Jeff’s lap bar wouldn’t lock, and I really didn’t want to ride without him so we both got off. They tried to move someone from the 8th row forward, but I didn’t really want to ride that far back. (As some may know at one time, I was afraid of all coasters, so much that I never rode the original Zinger at Worlds of Fun). So, we headed for the exit, it was an inconvenience, but it wasn’t a huge deal. Still, they told us to wait, and it looked like they were bringing in a group to ride on the last train, so we did.  Turns out there was no other group, and we rode in the last train, alone. If I had been that ride operator, I would have hated us and I felt bad. Still, it was a pretty cool experience, and almost a night ride. I also must give huge kudos to the crew and maintenance for getting Zinger running, and really trying to help us out in what could have been a difficult situation.  

This was about where the trains were getting stuck and causing ride shut downs.

Though I have to say the Zinger queue is home to one of my favorite locations to photograph Eli!

Almost there...

At this point it was after 8pm and the park was closed, so we headed towards the entrance, it was deserted.  So overall takeaway it was a good day. We got there near opening, I really only wanted to ride Mamba and the train, so Zinger was an extra bonus for us. I know many have complained about ride downtime. Whenever I read a complaint about ride downtime on opening day, I recall the Jurassic Park (the original) quote about Disneyland’s opening: “All major theme parks have delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956 nothing worked!’ Yeah, but John, if The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down the pirates don’t eat the tourists”.  In all seriousness, yes there was some downtime, Mamba went up and down at least three times, Zinger probably even more times, a few rides were a little late becoming operational (Zinger again). Still, having been to some disastrous opening days this one was successful in my book, with the only three non-operational rides all day being Steelhawk, Spinning Dragons and Snoopy’s Rocket Express. Sometimes rides go down, sometimes many times in a row, and that’s everywhere from Walt Disney World to Worlds of Fun. 

Coming back after a great ride!

Park is closed for the night..

Last commentary I want to make and that’s regarding staff. Walt Disney once said: “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality”. While there were some bumps in rides going up and down, I was impressed with both staffing and the staff themselves. Everyone was friendly, from trying to find something, anything, to wrap a glass goblet in Front Street, to the super friendly ambassador at Rickshaw Richards.  Then there is the crew at Zambezi Zinger, who were still incredibly friendly and polite even when we ended up causing them another train load of guests (I would have wanted to kill us at that point).  Overall, there wasn’t a bad one, or even mediocre one in the bunch and for me that is the highest compliment I can give. 

So, here’s looking to another season it’s shaping up to be a worlds of fun!

Special Thanks to Carl Johnson for proofreading this for me!