Worlds of Fun.Org: Mamba Poised to Strike: 20 Years Later, April 1998-2018

A few things, first this will not be the last Mamba Construction blog before we celebrate Mamba's 20th Birthday, there will be one more to cover Media Day for Mamba. Also, I have to admit I screwed up on Worlds of Fun History.. well for the last several months I have been talking and posting that Mamba's opening day was April 26th, it wasn't actually, it was April 18th. I checked about a week ago just to make absolutely sure I had the right date! I know exactly where I got the 26th, but that's beside the point. It was my mistake and I am owning up to it, it's certainly not my worst one, by like... a long shot.

(someone, somewhere is nodding their head in agreement to that last statement)

Last point, I am still scanning photos, I have reached somewhere near 400 or so, and I am still barely into the second binder of photos. Its a LOT of photos.

However, when thinking of what to talk about today, I thought about the photos from April, but what couldn't escape my mind is the photos I never shared, or haven't shared yet because we were too busy moving at the time, the ones from December and January and February. There were hundreds of photos that I will still scan and put online, but thought I would share at least my absolute favorite one today and tell you the story behind it.

It's the topping out of Mamba, from January 1998. What is even more fascinating is the story that goes along with it. If you look at the point of view it's not your ordinary ground shot... It was taken from a basket hanging off the construction crane. Jeff and two others, a Channel 5 cameraman and a construction guy. Imagine if you will... being in an open-air construction basket, hanging 200 some feet in the air, and when it moves... you swing behind the crane (think hot air balloon). Then there is the cameraman, with the big video camera, swinging the thing around him to get his shot. Add to that a huge dose of eery quietness, because there is literally JUST you and two other guys, some steel and the cold January air...

The safety guy was on the ground, which is exactly where I would have been too. Smart.

If you look closely in this photo you can see the steelworker positioning Mamba's crown in place, an awesome job, with an awesome view but you better have your head screwed on straight...

From January we are going to fast forward to exactly 20 years ago once more, to early April just weeks before Mamba's opening. In fact, as we will see on Mamba's Media Day, Mamba was quite literally an eleventh-hour miracle...

Working on the bunny hops... whadayamean there are no tunnels? All that work for nothing!

Just so awesome I had to share, love those head choppers.

Oops #2... For further explanation see Oops #1 on the previous post. Something about Morgan advertising a perfect fit EVERY time... Sorry, I love you Morgan but really it's just too good not to share.