WOF 42nd Season Opening Day Review

Welcome to the Worlds of Fun 42^nd Season opening day review!  If I was going to summarize the experience in one word, it would be disappointing; I was expecting a better experience.  Honestly, the disappointments weren’t due to the normal opening day glitches, because its opening day, everything that can go wrong will go wrong, we expect that.  Workers will be slow, computers will … well do what computers love to do, which is not work they way they should.  That’s where this story starts.  We arrived at the park around 1:30 pm, as we had run the Rock the Parkway half marathon that morning… We decided to park at the Worlds of Fun parking lot for opening day to have a “normal guest” experience.  (last year we started parking at Oceans).  First thing? Pass didn’t work for parking.  Neither of our passes did, and we have platinum passes, which covers parking.  At the time we didn’t realize this was such a wide spread issue… we were told we had to pay parking.  LUCKILY I had $15 in cash on me.  We were then told we had to take our receipt and get reimbursement at guest relations in the park.  Luckily we were able to hit guest relations when it had a relatively short line.  However, we were also told we had to do it THAT DAY, otherwise, we were out of luck.  Sorry, you paid for that season pass which covers parking (and was over $100 per person), sorry you took time on a weekday to process the pass so you wouldn’t have to worry about this anyway, oh and by the way we are going to make you stand in line at guest relations, in what could have been a VERY long line, to get a refund for something we shouldn’t have charged you for in the first place.

So… my issue? Not the systems going down, no.  My problem was the way it was handed.  Worlds of Fun these are your season pass holders, loyal visitors, sometimes for many many years.  You KNOW we have a pass, your employees can see it.  Is it going to really hurt the park to just eat that $15?   Are you really even eating the $15? Not really.  The park just alienated a bunch of people by being unprepared. 

Here comes a Hunt Midwest story.  NO I am not one of those people that think Hunt did everything right and Cedar Fair does everything wrong, but this is one of those cases.  Many years ago, same thing happened.  Hunt had just put in a new computer system, which summarily CRASHED on opening day.  Instead of being able to scan the passes as guests entered the park (this was for park admission not for parking), it wouldn’t read anyone’s pass.  You know what the park did?  They let everyone in anyway.  They didn’t make people pay for admission and get a refund later.  No, they remembered that customer service is just as important as the immortal dollar.  They let people in, people remembered this, and it probably helped the park in the long run.

 Flowers at the entrance plaza

So, with that being said. The park WAS very busy for an opening day, I would have to say probably as busy as I have seen it on an opening day, that’s good.  The new asphalt heading into the park helped with a better first appearance to the park, that’s also good.

 Baltic Bazaar with a new roof, paint and lights.

Plaza Gifts with newly painted/renovated towers

As we moved into Scandinavia the first thing we noticed was that many of the buildings have received some cosmetic work. It appears Baltic Bazaar has received not only a new roof, new lights and a little bit of a new paint job, but also  FINALLY, two years later mind you… the towers on Plaza Gifts have not only been painted they have been repaired! Yeah no Green towers!  The overall building infrastructure in the park is starting to see some significant improvements, and it is definitely noticeable.  That will be an up hill battle for sure, but it's good to see.

Viking Voyager...

 Worlds of Fun TV in the Voyager Queue line, in this case showing current weather.

So we all come for the rides, and we know from previous editorials that this was an area we should see some improvement in, so did we?  Well first experiences coming in… Voyager was down.  Not exactly good timing as the park had planned a free Viking hat giveaway for the first 500 riders.  You know from that that the Voyager down time was NOT a planned occurrence, or even an expected one.  We found out later that Voyager’s downtime issue occurred quite literally minutes before it was due to open, and from what we also heard efforts were occurring to get the ride open before the end of the day.  While it’s easy to attack the park about ride downtime, and it is sometimes warranted, in the case of Voyager I think it was simply a case of extreme bad luck.  After all the 2013/2014 off-season saw more improvement work on Voyager then it has most likely ever seen.

The other two “major” rides we experienced downtime on first hand included the nearby Octopus, and to no one’s surprise… but still incredibly disappointing, ThunderHawk.  But again, its opening day, and you know whatever can go wrong will go wrong.  So on the brighter side of things, lets talk about capacity.

If we can remember last year opening day, ONE TRAIN on pretty much every coaster.  That is a big issue for us, because like a lot of things it shows not only poor planning, but a lack of even caring about the overall guest experience.   This year, totally different, with the exception of Patriot every coaster (well except Boomerang which can’t help it) was running two trains.  Patriot’s lack of a second train was due to technical issues with the second train, so it couldn’t even help it, really.  This shows definite improvement, I can’t even remember the last time Timber Wolf had two trains on opening day.  Where they stacking trains?  Probably, but seriously GIVE THEM A BREAK.  Its opening day!  They are going to be slow.  Still, with that being said two trains on all coasters for a busy opening day should be EXPECTED. 

 

So before I get to far off track let me finish with Scandinavia. One aspect of Worlds of Fun that has always been a favorite of mine (and others) is the theme.  It’s been an aspect that I haven’t really been talking about a lot lately, but that doesn’t mean I haven't been thinking about it.  For the past few years, the themed music in the park has been on again off again.  Meaning some parts of the park have themed music, Africa, Western Americana and the Orient come to mind, Europa… does sort of.  Scandinavia not so much, somehow having rides called Viking Voyager, and Sea Dragon don’t exactly jive with popular radio music… Sure "Roll out the Barrel" and "In Muchen steht ein Hofbrauhaus" are not the picks of 15 year old teenagers… but here is the thing, its part of Worlds of Fun history and culture.  Plus, I haven’t seen any Virginia 15 year old's talking about how great singing mushrooms or floral clocks are… yet they are important enough to Kings Dominion culture to be replaced them there… Or California 15 year old's talking about how great a boysenberry bush farm looks like at Knott’s… but something that costs the park next to nothing at Worlds of Fun… is brushed off because it wouldn’t appeal to 15 year old's… Explain that logic to me?  Please?  Or could it simply be that no one cares?  

 Phileas Fogg traveling "the world"

Last point about Scandinavia, and it’s a point, which actually really covers the entire “world”. Three years ago, in 2012 a new attraction so to speak debuted with no PR, no press release, and no mention on a park map or show schedule, nothing.  But has quickly become one of my favorite attractions at the park, and it’s a person, and sometimes two.  That’s Phileas Fogg, and his sometimes co-pilot Nellie Bly.  For those that don’t know Worlds of Fun is based (loosely) on Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” of which the main character is Phileas Fogg.  About fifteen years after the book was written, in 1888, a non-fiction American journalist, Nellie Bly tried to recreate the fictional Fogg’s journey around the world.  Today the duo that plays these fictional/non-fictional characters roam the park providing photo ops, good park information and entertainment through their crazy antics.  It is no secret that these two absolutely love the park and it shines above a sometimes gloomy day otherwise.  With their return, Phileas had petitioned to be recognized as an official Worlds of Fun attraction on worldsoffun.org, and though not existing on a map, or other official publication, I agree.  

 A picture is worth a thousand words?  When was the last time any of us saw this door open?  Makes the store more light.

Now with that being said, there have been some complaints about the new Worlds of Fun TV playing popular music.  This personally I have zero problem with, in fact I like the idea of Worlds of Fun TV.  After all it’s actually bringing back something that Hunt Midwest tried (and was ahead of their time), back in the 90’s.  It provides entertainment and information about the park to those waiting in line, and it appears very tastefully done.  Again issues there whatsoever and I personally really like the idea. WOF TV is available in the Voyager, Prowler, and Taxi’s queue lines from what we were able to see.

 Moulin Rouge and its new sign.

 

Taxi's and if you look close you can see the screen for WOF TV.

Moving through the park to Europa we come to another point of contention, the Moulin Rouge.  As promised it has a new sign and is in the process of receiving a full refurb of its exterior.  It appears that the sign just made it up just prior to park opening and personally, I really like it.  Yes it looks nothing at all like the sign it replaced, but it does look like the original on the real Moulin Rouge in France.

The rest of the exterior is still very rough, but in the next few weeks it should look very nice, too bad there is  no windmill… *smile*  Again love the infrastructure work on many of the buildings at Worlds of Fun.

In other news related to the Moulin Rouge, there is no show there until May 17^th.  This really bothers me. Honestly the changes with live entertainment at the park REALLY bother me.  First the shuttering of Tivoli after 39 years of continuous shows two years ago.  We were told then that that decision was made so they could spend money elsewhere.  Now, in 2014 another cut in live entertainment, over a full month of park operations without any live entertainment in Moulin Rouge?  That means there are ZERO indoor shows during a time of year when the weather can be iffy.  If this is a one-time occurrence because of the work on the Moulin Rouge I can accept that, but that’s what we thought with Tivoli too.  So you will forgive me if I sincerely doubt that.  Live Entertainment is not really my thing at WOF, but for many it is, and I am starting to see a seriously negative trend occurring here.  This bothers me, and it should bother everybody.

Bonici Bros. no more, now Paisano's Pizza.

In other Europa news, Bonici Bros has been replaced by a new pizza place, Paisano’s.  It was also open along with every other restaurant in the park, except Chicken Patio, on opening day.  This is another positive improvement, as in the past there were more restaurant locations closed then have been open.  This seems to line up with the increased train capacity on the coasters as improvements towards again what should be expected for providing an improved visitor experience.

 Vittle Griddle with its new exterior.

 Americana Fountain

So moving onto Americana.  More infrastructure improvements are visible throughout this section too, most noticeably Vittle Griddle, which received an entire exterior rehab and looks great.  The sunken fountain seems to have received some work over the off-season too and looks better then it has for awhile.

Timber Wolf as I previously mentioned was running two trains, and did experience a somewhat short outage, it was back up and test running by the time we left.  I heard it was running better this year, though after running 13.1 miles this morning my stomach wasn’t up for that experience this afternoon.  Moving on to ThunderHawk. Though to most fans it comes as no surprise, to us it does… ThunderHawk was not operating.  Unsure as to why but ThunderHawk doesn’t seem to like to operate on opening day?  Hopefully it will open up soon.  You know this ThunderHawk thing… it’s so sad its kind of funny actually.

Dirt now covers the recognizable keel of the Henrietta, surrounding it is a smaller man-made creek bed area.

 Steel Hawk

New curbs or probably seating areas? for the new Steel Hawk plaza area.

Of course Steel Hawk is not open yet either, I thought this was communicated by the park well, though KCTV5 seemed to not do a good job on their end… We did walk around the public areas surrounding the Steel Hawk site, to get a few photos.  You can see where they are filling in the old Henrietta pond, and creating a smaller creek-like area.  There will be a Coke station where the old Henrietta building was (purchase station for Go-Karts).  It appears that electrical work is being finished up on Steel Hawk.

 

 New seating, tables and patio area at Panda Express.

 Refurbed Bamboozler Station

Moving on into the Orient section, as mentioned in a prior off-season review Bamboozler station received some significant rehab work as well as Panda Express.  Panda Express (remember when it was Rangoon Refresher?).  Panda Express now has a whole new patio, retaining wall and expanded seating area, which it most definitely needed.  Since it was such a cold winter many of the pear trees in the Orient were still in full white bloom, giving a very elegant “oriental” feeling to the entire area, Though I have to say I still miss the Cherry Blossom trees which used to be there too.

So ends another opening day review.  Overall, it could have been better, and like I said I was disappointed… though there are definite improvements over previous years in overall ride capacity and park operations.  I am still concerned as tl the overall direction both of live entertainment as well as customer service.  We have a whole new season ahead of us and it should be an interesting one!  See you at the park.

25 Years of Running Wild with Timber Wolf

April 1, 2014: Twenty five years ago today, a Worlds of Fun landmark opened for the first time to the public, Timber Wolf.  Today, the name Timber Wolf and the ride experience itself inspire a multitude of different emotions and opinions.  There are those who complain about how rough the ride is, who scream “give me a Tylenol!” or “never again!” after stepping off a ride There are even those that feel that the only good thing to do to Timber Wolf would be to tear the thing down; turn it into a nice scrap heap. 

However, this writer, and many others who feel very differently about Timber Wolf.  Timber Wolf is more than the sum of its parts or its numbers but lets stop and look at those for a minute. Today Timber Wolf is twenty-five years old, a first for ANY Worlds of Fun coaster past or present. Today it becomes Worlds of Fun’s longest operating coaster, a feat that could not be achieved by either of the other two of the Hunt Midwest Triplets (Zinger, Express, Wolf).  When it opened it also wasn’t the park’s fastest or tallest coaster either, at 100 feet tall, with a maximum speed of 53 MPH.  Orient Express, built roughly 10 years earlier was 117 feet tall with a maximum speed of 50-65 MPH (depending on the source).  It was however, the park's longest coaster to date at 4,230 feet long.

Timber Wolf was different though, unlike Orient Express and Zambezi Zinger it was made of wood.  Unlike almost every park I can think of, Worlds of Fun operated for an unimaginably long time without a wooden coaster in its line up. (17 years).  In 1989, there were only 88 wooden coasters operating in the country.  Today that number has almost doubled, and for good reason.  For those who remember about a decade ago in the era of CCI (Custom Coasters Intl.) and GCI (Great Coasters Intl), you needed more than one hand to count the number of wooden coasters being built in one season.  In comparison, In 1989 there were only two wooden coasters that premiered, Timber Wolf and Hercules, at Dorney Park in Allentown PA., and both were the creation of Dinn and Summers.

Dinn and Summers, who were they?   In a nut shell, Curtis Summers was an engineer and did the design work and Charles (Charlie) Dinn was responsible for the construction, as a whole they built many world class coasters.  Their story together begins at Kings Island, near Cincinnati Ohio, where both were directly involved in the building of what is still considered by many one of the greatest wooden coasters ever built, The Beast.  As a partnership Curtis D Summers and Charles Dinn built several of the great coasters of the late 80's and early 90's,  Timber Wolf in 1989, and the popular Georgia Cyclone and world famous Texas Giant the following year in 1990. 

Timber Wolf Promotional Video featuring a real timber wolf, also notice how quickly the coaster moves through the course!

Unfortunately, with all their success the Summers and Dinn legacy has not be remembered entirely fondly by coaster enthusiasts in general.  And that's putting it nicely.   In a not so flattering ode to Dinn, the “side to side shuffle” found on many of his coasters has been nick named the “Dinn Shuffle”.    It’s also a sad truth that Timber Wolf’s brother in 1989, Hercules, also designed and built by Summers/Dinn (and was located at Dorney Park in Allentown PA) was not only torn down due to its rough ride (2003), but given the unkind moniker of “Jerkules” in its last few years.

General Manager John Hudacek at Timber Wolf opening in 1989

When Timber Wolf opened in 1989 it made an impact on almost everyone immediately, especially those of us who have been Worlds of Fun fans for years.  I distinctly remember the media blitz surrounding Timber Wolf, its commercials with a real timber wolf running through the snowy woods, the red glowing eyes, and that lonely wolf howl are permanently implanted in my brain.  It was probably with that one commercial that I started taking a more sincere interest in what was happening at 4545 Worlds of Fun Avenue.  Of course as some know, I would not ride a roller coaster until almost two decades later.  So instead of my own lack of first hand experience I will hand that job off to a friend of mine, Randal Strong-Wallace…

I first saw Timber Wolf on the day that they test ran the train for the first time.  I had come up for the weekend to Kansas City and stopped by the park to check out the coaster.

It went around the track the first time only loaded with sand bags and my jaw dropped at how fast it was for a first run.  I could hardly believe what my eyes had just witnessed.  On the second run as the train entered the 180 degree point at the cross over of the upward helix, we all gasped as we saw what appeared to be the track being chewed to bits!  We then realized it was a sand bag that had ripped open!  

I soon enough got my first ride on the first night of the ACE Spring Conference.  It was late in the evening around 9:30 p.m. and the que line was full, but the line moved and it took us only about 25 minutes to get to the boarding platform.  To this day, no other roller coaster has blown me away after riding it for the first time like the Timber Wolf did.  I was riding with my best friend who had never ridden on a wooden coaster before.  She had however rode the  EXT (sit down version), Orient Express and the Zambezi Zinger multiple times with me like a pro.

On that first ride, we came off the lift hill and flew around the pre-drop turn, then plunging down that first drop at breakneck speed.  The ride hadn't been tamed yet with the first drop trim brake.  We were out of our seats the entire way down the drop.  And it never let up, it was so, so fast, and only slightly slowed down at the top of the helix.  Every hill was filled with ejector or floater (but mostly ejector) air time and the forces on the last 3 turns had lot's of lateral G's due to the tracks minimal banking.

My poor friend spent the entire ride wedged between the seat and the lap bar and to this day I have never heard a more terrified high pitched scream.

It was my instant favorite roller coaster, upsetting the Orient Express, which I didn't ever think could happen.  I still ride it almost every time I go to the park, and still enjoy it, but it doesn't even compare to the original way it rode.  For those who didn't get to ride Timber Wolf when it was newer, imagine riding the Prowler today, how crazy it is.  Then go ride the Timber Wolf.  Prowler is the superior ride today obviously.  Well friends, imagine how Prowler is today, and then imagine it crazier and longer, that is the way Timber Wolf was when it was young, Prowler couldn’t even hope to keep up.  That’s what it was like.

Some of us forget… MANY of us (including myself) have never even experienced Timber Wolf quite that way.  A few remember and try to keep their voices heard. Timber Wolf was and I firmly believe still IS a great, world-class coaster.  Of course the words of two, allegedly Worlds of Fun fanatics isn’t going to stir anyone’s concrete beliefs.  So let me let the rest of the world speak about Timber Wolf. 

Bill Gaspard wrote for the Kansas City Star in 1989 shortly before the ride would first open to the public… “The ride is a touch schizoid...  The first half of Timber Wolf has been built in the spirit of Harry Traver, a legendary designer who constructed coasters in their most fearsome form – a wide mix of startling hills, steep fan turns and unexpected spiral dips”

Not long after Timber Wolf opened, people were coming from all over the country to ride this colossal terror. Fans called from as far away as London and Europe, to make sure the ride would be open when they flew 12+ hours just to ride it.  

The "monument" at Parvin Road and Worlds of Fun Avenue stood for several years.

As if that wasn’t enough, the great tour de force for Timber Wolf was not just one person’s seal of approval, but hundreds. For in 1989 and 1990 Timber Wolf was ranked #2 coaster in the world by readers of “Insider Track” (a fan magazine at the time). Not to be outdone in 1991, Timber Wolf launched up one very important step to become the #1 coaster in the world.  Not #1 WOODEN coaster, but #1 coaster PERIOD.  Designer Curtis Summers, Mark Wyatt (editor of Inside Track), and Mayor Emmanuel Cleaver were on hand to unveil the “monument” that stood on Parvin Road and Worlds of Fun Avenue for several years. By the way, if you are interested the #2 coaster that year was Magnum XL-200, followed by Texas Giant, and The Beast. Not exactly bottom of the rung coasters by any stretch of the word. 

So the big question is how did we get from THERE to HERE?  You have to wonder how the idea of someone yelling “tear it down!” back in 1991 would have been viewed… probably like they were completely out of their mind.  Yet it’s the SAME coaster!  So Why? 

Well as Paul Harvey would say… now its time for the REST of the story (for you younger people Google it).   In the summer of 1994 Timber Wolf was temporarily closed due to some minor wear and tear to the track, John Hudacek, General Manager of Worlds of Fun at the time was quoted saying “There was more uplift and side to side motion to a couple of areas”.  This probably figured in heavily to the decision to re-track and partially re-profile the entire ride during the 1994-1995 off season. In 1995, Timber Wolf ran like it never had run before, smooth as silk, faster then a bullet, and incredibly insane. 

Then the rest of 1995 happened.  In June the park was sold to Cedar Fair, in July the girl got thrown from the ride, and not long after trim brakes got thrown onto the first drop.  It slowed the ride down.  As many riders from that time period can attest it did slow the ride down, but not to a point that it was unenjoyable it was still the best experience on Timber Wolf other then the first few months of 1995, when Timber Wolf flew like it never had before.

Then the worst thing that can happen to a wooden coaster happened, and that was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  Sure, Maintenance walked the track every day for safety, sure anything that was considered unsafe was punctually replaced and repaired. Maintenance of a wooden coaster though is not only about safety, its also about maintaining the enjoyable ride experience. The concept of maintaining an enjoyable ride, along with seemingly Timber Wolf itself, seemed to have been forgotten about for many years. Nothing happened, and for this reason, Timber Wolf languished. 

But my goal in this is not to dwell on the problems with Timber Wolf, though they are many, its to reflect and celebrate a truly great coaster.  Timber Wolf IS a truly great coaster.  I am hoping with what I have written more will come to appreciate Timber Wolf not for what she is today, but for what she has been, and what she could be again.  A World Class coaster.

  Happy Birthday Timber Wolf from your fans, and here to twenty five more!

 

1989 Timber Wolf Commercial : http://youtu.be/MP68T-4cRJ0?t=1s

WOF Off Season Tour 03/28/2014

With about two weeks to go before park opening day (April 12th), more updates at the park are approaching completed status, and there is a LOT of action going on in the park.  We were able to visit the park on Friday Afternoon with Rachael Murie and Wayne Meadows.  Later that evening we were joined by about a dozen ACE members for a behind the scenes look at Steelhawk.

First, as some have read my prior Wayne Meadows interview story a few updates. While many updates are happening this year, not everything that we had talked about in August will be happening this season.  For example the train unfortunately will not receive its (much needed) coat of paint and rehab.  Also the Voyager rehab which while there is some work occurring on the ride this off season, and probably more then the ride has seen in MANY years, its entire rehab will be spread over a few years.  With that being said many things are happening, so lets take a look.

So here we are at the entrance to the park... though we had been told originally that the plans to re-cover some of the midway had been scrapped due to the new Steel hawk (and costs associated with it), it appears, thankfully, that some of the entrance way has been re-covered with new asphalt.  There has been some confusion online since in the past, with every new season the park has re-sealed the existing asphalt, this is not the resealing, this is actually new asphalt.   It extends from the security Post 8 (approximately) to the Ranger station/Season Pass processing on the opposite side.

So inside the park we start with Scandinavia.  As some know a recent rant of ours has been the towers on the old Scandi Skees/Plaza gifts that were the only part of the building NOT repainted with its refurb a few years back, due to lights on the towers.  While we do not have a photo (thanks Jeff), the lights have been removed, and the towers are to be repainted.  From what Wayne told us, the lights will not be added back but there are plans to uplight the towers.  We will see.

 The old Copenhagen Nogginvear (if anyone remembers that), or more recently Just for Girls store has officially be retired as a store and is now storage.

 What's old is new again?  Some of us may remember Worlds of Fun TV, when the park installed tv's into several of the major ride queue lines, and played video loops to entertain those in line.  I barely remember it, and I'm 36... so yes its been awhile.  Cedar Fair is introducing (or in WOF's case re-introducing) in-queue tv programming. 

Don't scroll by this photo thinking nothing to see... As Wayne mentioned in his interview the goal with Voyager is to start from bottom (supports) up.  Many of these supports have been covered by a foot or two of mud for who knows how many years.  You can see the orange on the supports where the mud was sitting for years.  The point of what is going on here is to add retaining walls so that the supports can be properly inspected. 

 Prepping for trough painting, I wish I could make this scratch and sniff, you could smell the paint.

 Originally home to Beetle Bumps (kiddie ride relocated to Planet Snoopy), and for the last few years, Tibetan Treats.  This small kiosk will become a Coke Freestyle station.  For the few not familiar with this concept, guests can basically create their own soda from 100 different flavor options.   Also as an FYI, the kettle corn will not be returning to the park. 

 The Bamboozler station is receiving some work too.  Last year the paint on this station looked rather pathetic, it was peeling, rotting, basically not good.  The trim on this station has been renovated and you can see that work is continuing along the column bases which still have unpainted wood.

 Panda Express eating area is also receiving new concrete and new tables. 

 And here is Steelhawk up close and personal.  Though the work on Steelhawk has progressed surprisingly quickly (and MUCH faster then in previous years), it still has several weeks worth of work left, both for electrical, LED lighting and testing.  Basically this ride will not open to the public until it is well broken in, and 100% safe.  The park official line on opening day for Steelhawk is "late spring".  So please don't expect it to be open on April 12th.

 A closer view of the ride carriage and seats. 

 Here is the offending ladder.   This is the reason Worlds of Fun has Steelhawk and not Knott's Berry Farm.  This ladder is certifiable safe in 49 states, and dozens of other countries (including Canada).  California was the sole exception, they wanted an outside rung and also cage surrounding the ladder.  If you look at the photo below and see the same ladder in the photo (to the left of the opening), and then see the ride carriage, there is no way a ladder cage would have fit.  The entire ride would have had to have been redesigned.  Wayne and by default Cedar Fair's commitment to safety is 100%, they would not open a ride to the public that they would not put their family on in good conscious, and would not open a ride that could not safely be maintained.

 Wayne Meadows himself answering questions about Steelhawk for ACE members.

This photo rates rather high on the cringe worthy scale for Worlds of Fun fans... The pond around the "Henrietta" (the keel) is being filled in.  It will no longer have a lagoon, which while looking incredibly dismal these last few years, still its a sad reminder that the last remnant of Henrietta will disappear from the park...  From what I have heard there may be some sort of water feature/creek build in below the bridges.

 Another look at the Henrietta pond.

On a more positive note, Vittle Griddle looks nice with its new wood and paint job.

Last thing, as many know another of my more recent pet peeves, irritations has been Autobahn and its quite frankly, dismal status operating with only 6-7 cars.  We have been advised by Wayne that parts have been purchased from Majestic (bumper car manufacturer) to retrofit and get up to 17 total cars operating on the Autobahn cars.  I'm not sure if I should when or if this happens, I will be incredibly thrilled.  Well... atleast happy about Der Fender Bender... ahhh Autobahn.

Also to answer the question about the roof lines in Africa (galvanized steel on Congo Clearing/Gorilla Grill), they are to be painted, a green color.  Right now they have not be painted yet, the park is waiting for better weather.

So that's about it.  I really do like the improvements we are seeing in the park.  Do I wish more was happening this year? Of course.  However, the park as a whole is admitting to many problems that they are starting to correct, and they are starting to fix them.  This is a VAST improvement over the past.  I am still optimistic about the future, and it will most definitely be an interesting ride.

More photos from the March 28, 2014 visit to the park can be found on Facebook!

Park Off-Season Photo Update 02/28/2014

So Jeff and I headed out to Worlds of Fun this last Friday, February 28th for a look at the park during the off-season.  Special thanks to Rachael Murie and Wayne Meadows for escorting and visiting with us yesterday!

First, though there is a LOT of work going on in the park this off season, it is not as much as we originally would have thought.  When the discussion with Wayne Meadows occured the annoucement of Steel Hawk had yet to be made, due to costs associated with installing the new ride, many of the original park enhancements have been delayed (not cancelled!) until either later this season or for 2015.  Yes, Steel Hawk isn't a new ride, but from discussions many of the ride components have been completely replaced or updated, plus its site and foundation is QUITE extensive as we will soon see.  Still lots of things going on in the park, including Steel Hawk so we will take a look quickly at them.

An update on the photo blog from November, the expansion of Baltic Bazaar/Scandi Shops is being finished, from what it looks like these expansions will be mostly storage space, but still something desperatly needed.  ALSO, though there is no photo here the lights from Plaza Gifts (old Scandi Skees) have been removed from the towers, whether this means the lights are gone, or that they are being removed to repaint the towers (which are still the original green color) is yet to be seen.  I hope they will finally be repainting the towers and replacing the lights!  We shall see.

Here is Viking Voyager, which is getting some work this off season, not as much as originally thought, but about 100% more then its seen in years.  (which is next to none).  As one who worked on Voyager for 2 seasons I can speak from absolute experience that ambassadors will be thrilled that the evacuation walkways are BEING REPLACED BY GALVANIZED STEEL ONES! For those that have never worked Voyager, the originals were wood, which if they weren't painted (which usually they weren't) they would get slimy and VERY slick.  Some of us almost fell on our you know where MANY times because of this. So thrilled to see that.  Also you can see here the lift rollers are being replaced.  There is also some footer work going on too below the ride, but that doesn't photograph well.

 A closer look at new walkways.

So now we have Steel Hawk.  As some will notice the original "Henrietta Building" (originally the photo booth for park entrance/exit, in later years the Grand Prix ticket booth) has been torn down.  The keel is still there though and from what I have heard should be getting repainted.  You can see the first piece of the Steel Hawk tower in place with the 2nd piece to the side.  This is its final paint job.  Very Cedar Fairish.

Though we have no close up photos of the Steel Hawk foundation as of yet, its definitely impressive in stats.  The concrete structure to support this 301 foot tower, is over 7 feet deep and features 1 foot wide steel rebar.  The base of the structure weighs 30 tons (ELI is 25 tons to compare).  It was for this reason that the crane to lift it in place was not at its full height for the first piece placement.  Now if you drive by the park you will see the crane dwarfing the rest of the park towering over 320 feet in the air.

 Close up look at the base of Steel Hawk.

 And the 2nd piece of the tower close up.  We are being told that next week, weather permitting, the park is hoping to have two pieces of tower up a day.

 Vittle Griddle is getting a LOT of exterior work this year, it appears that almost its entire exterior is being entirely replaced.  Nice to see that it is being rebuilt correctly themed, and appearing identical to its original themed structure.

 Americana Station train bridge, (europa is to the right, Blue Bronco to the left).  It looks VERY nice in person and is a definite improvement over its weathered original.

 Moulin Rouge exterior is also getting extensive work, with all of its wood work trim being sanded down or replaced (in most cases it appears replaced), the roof line has had all of its paint removed, to be repainted as well.  It should look much nicer this season. 

 Ok yes this is Congo Clearing/Gorilla Grill... and Big Game Hunt and the Zulu Bathroom have also received the same roof treatment.  That is a steel corrugated roof.  Am I thrilled about it? No, not really.  I would have much preferred a replacement roof exactly like the original wood.  Obviously, so would have others at the park too.  This was actually a discussion we had with Wayne back in August, and we knew about the roof issue back then, but I think when I heard about steel roof in Africa, I decided to ignore it, and not think about it.

Wayne stated he had looked into replacing the roofs of these three structures in the same manner they were designed and originally built, but found the cost to be prohibitively expensive.  So the options were no roof at all, (which considering the state the original 40 year old roofs were in probably would have happened), or this.  So, though I may not like it thematically and asthetically I can... understand the decision.  After all if I was in the same situation I would have probably had to have to make the same decision.

So here is Sea Dragon, the reason the photo is here is what is NOT in the photo.  Yep, Trees.  In this case I heartedly agree with the decision to remove the trees lining the Viking Voyager Pond, having had to clean those Voyager pump screens of leaves in the fall MANY MANY times.  There are still some trees left though so it will not be completely barren.

Out in parking lot E, we have the motor for Steel Hawk, this will sit at the top of the ride, and will be part of the mechanism that actually spins the cars below.

Pully Wheels (Sheaves) for actually raising and lowering the cars on Steel Hawk.  These will be completely replaced by the time they are put in the park.

Up by the adminstraction building are the actual cars for Steel Hawk.

One last comment... and update to the park that may not be OHHH! AHHH!! WOW! to some but to us symbolizes and very 180 direction change in thought.  (or demonstrates some thought period).  For those that have parked in C lot at the park .. you may remember that there were cinder block/parking lot wheel stops that lined C lot, in fact they were the only thing (supposedly) keeping cars from exiting from C lot to the exit lane.  In many cases cars just ran over them, and they were shoved here and there looking terrible.  Well good news, the wheel stops (what was left of them) have been REPLACED by a more permanent curb.  Will this stop cars from driving over said curb? Probably not, but it looks much NICER and was always a huge complaint from Jeff. 

So this is the end for now, for those that just so happen to be driving by the park over the next few weeks (yes we all know die hard fans love to find reasons to be around Worlds of Fun Avenue...) you should be able to see Steel Hawk rising in thr air very soon, Snowmagedon not withstanding.  We will be back atleast one more time before the beginning of the season to bring you updates to the park so keep watching!

Worlds of Fun Off Season Photos 11/15/2013

Two blogs in one month? With three weeks until my dreaded nursing school senior finals I thought I would take a minute and bring you all excitement from our favorite place.   Of course photos weren't the only reason we headed out to Worlds of Fun last Friday. Our secret mission was to obtain one of these beauties (which I am sure our neighbors have other names for... *cough*)

Proud owners of a giant 7 foot kangaroo...

While out there we also got some photos of what's going on at Worlds of Fun this time of year.  So moving towards the gate, the Patriot trains are resuming their normal operating procedures for off season.

Here is a look at the Scandinavian shops (Baltic Bazaar) looks like its getting an expansion.

There are just a few "things" missing from this photo.  All those ambassadors that cleaned Voyagers pump screens over the years know this was LONG overdue.

 

Octopus is getting its cars removed as we were there for off season maintenance.

Panda Express (old Rangoon Refresher) is receiving a much needed new roof.  To bad I couldn't make this photo scratch and sniff, these are cedar shingles.

And another look at Voyager were it appears work is beginning on its original concrete supports.

Special thanks to Worlds of Fun PR manager Rachael Murie and head of Maintenance Wayne Meadows for the tour, and "new" addition to our collection!

It’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow…

*Author's note: Since this is fairly long I have divided it into three sections to make it slightly easier to read: "Wayne's Background", "Immediate Future Changes" and "The Long Term Future"*
 
I might just have dated myself there, but I figured no tribute would be better for our interviewee this go around then a quote from supposedly Walt Disney’s favorite attraction (Carousel of Progress).  Plus it seems to fit.

As many know Worlds of Fun’s head of maintenance, Larry Hurst retired about a year and a half ago, to the dismay of Worlds of Fun fans everywhere…  A year ago almost to this date his replacement arrived.  Wayne Meadows.  To many of us he was an enigma.  True, we had heard he was from Disney (never a bad thing), but we all had to wonder would it be the same old, same old at Worlds of Fun or would we finally witness a little bit of the shakeup we had hoped for when Matt Ouimet was first announced as CEO of Cedar Fair.

Wayne’s Background:

So our first question, who is Wayne Meadows, and what does he bring with him in terms of experience?  It turns out quite a bit.  Not only did he come from Disney, he had 30 years to be ingrained in the Disney way.  He started at Walt Disney World in 1971, not in his dream job as Monorail Driver, but instead washing cars.  In 1972, he transferred to maintenance, and like anyone with a drive to learn, read just about every maintenance manual he could get his hands on, and as Wayne himself states, he would go out and take a look at the ride or attraction and think “Oh Yeah, that’s how it goes”.  It was a very hands-on learning experience. From one learning experience to another, he went head first into developing WDW’s first ride preventative Maintenance (PM) program.  As if that didn’t keep him busy enough, at the same time he was completing his degree at the University of Central Florida and graduated with a degree in Engineering Technology.

Just getting his feet wet, he would go on to be involved in the design and construction of EPCOT, working on the project from conceptual design to opening. Six months after opening he was offered the option to be sent to Tokyo Disney to set up the maintenance program there, and while doing so developed a well-earned respect for the Japanese work ethic.  In 1984, he went back to Florida.  A few years later Wayne was offered the opportunity to be a world traveler once more, this time to set up the maintenance program at Disneyland Paris (known as EuroDisney at the time).  If Tokyo was fascinating, Paris seems to have been exhausting as Wayne talked about traveling to Paris every two weeks for about a year.  At EuroDisney he was in charge of setting up the 200,000 square foot maintenance shop, (that’s about the size of a Super Walmart) “Fully staffed, fully equipped, machine shop, metal shop, paint, fiberglass, wood all the way down the line” complete with 687 maintenance personnel.  In 1989, he moved with his family to Paris and was there from ground breaking to park opening.  In 1992, he moved back to Orlando once more, and moved into general management, and more importantly became directly involved with the resorts trouble spots, and began working on turning those around.  (sound familiar?) In 2001, WDW began to look to reduce staff, and offered to quite a few of its managers, including Wayne Meadows, severance packages.  Thinking this would be a great time to start up his own business; Wayne took the buyout option and started his own consulting business entitled “Facilities Management”

In 2007 at IAAPA he was approached to work on Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi (capital of the UAB, located on the Persian Gulf) were he again worked up the maintenance for all the various operational groups (food, merchandise, operations, entertainment etc.), he got the park to opening in October 2010 and discussed the difficulties of working in a desert environment of 125 degree heat and 70% humidity, with that being said many rides here at Worlds of Fun would just not make it over there with the environmental extremes (Mamba comes to mind)

Wayne made it back to the US in 2011, for the birth of his first grandchild and in the summer of 2012 received a call from Ann Todoroff at Worlds of Fun. The rest as they say is history.

Immediate Future Changes:

So one may ask, what was the first item of business?  After getting Halloween haunt cleaned up and out of the way, the first order of business was to ask what the trouble spots were.  Of course Timber Wolf was the first item on the list, which was already slated to receive its new control system, but then came ThunderHawk.  It’s amazing how little one really understands without being involved in the inner workings and seeing the whole picture.  ThunderHawk’s problem as Wayne stated was that it kept blowing fuses, and like so many things in the park the fix up to this point was to replace the fuse, aka patch it up and let it go until the next fuse went.  We all remember this from a guest’s perspective, as ThunderHawk was up and down repeatedly from almost its opening day.  This wasn’t going to work under Wayne’s management though, it was time to find out the real, underlying issue and get it fixed, once and for all.  Wayne states, that while working at Disney the goal was 99.8% operational readiness. Obviously, as Wayne stated Worlds of Fun is currently nowhere near that, but as he stated its achievable, and that is one of his goals. Today, it appears the REAL issue with ThunderHawk has (finally) been resolved, and we are hoping for fewer “this ride is currently closed” signs in that region of Americana.

Another goal and quite frankly as Wayne states the most important goal is safety, “our #1 priority is safety always will be we will never compromise” He talks about how he talked with the guys (in maintenance) and made what seems a very obvious and simple comment to them.  He stated that if you would not let your own family on a ride, why would any else’s family be any different?

Of course people come for the rides, so let’s talk about the rides.  Our first point of discussion was Viking Voyager.  As some now know it is the target of a lot of work for this coming off-season.  The first decision when the topic of Voyager came up is cringe worthy for a lot of fans, and that was “does it stay or does it go?”  Wayne went to Frank (Wilburn) on the topic and it was decided that Voyager was an iconic ride, an original ride and that it needed to stay.  So they started at the bottom and worked up, starting with the footers, checking for structurally integrity, for problems and condition and what needed work.  It was decided at the time that the trough needs work, as does the water storage pond as the control system (which hasn’t changed since 1973).  Seems like a lot of problems?  Not to worry about this 40 year old classic, though old, and having a few bumps and bruises its overall safety was never in question.  If it was, Voyager would not have been operating.

Of course what is a ride without its operators?  As many who have worked at the park in the previous years can attest, until recently there has been a lack of communication between maintenance and park operations (to put it nicely). It was Wayne’s plan to change that.  It would no longer be “no that’s a maintenance problem” or “no that’s an operations problem”, there are different responsibilities true, but Wayne talks about the importance and need to work together.  Things have already started to change in that manner.  Case in point Cosmic Coaster (aka Wacky Worm) which has required manual launch from its beginning in 1993.  What this means is that the ride operator literally has to push the train out of the station.  Over the years this has created a lot of problems with rider operators backs, ankles, etc. leading to workman’s comp issues.  For 2013, twenty years after its debut, Wacky Worm/Cosmic Coaster will have a kick motor.  And hopefully a lot fewer sprained ankles and sore backs.

Wayne visited the operations kick off this year before the start of the season by letting everyone know that THEY were maintenance eyes and ears, the first responders so to speak.  Instead of the nuisance that ride operators were seen as in the past, operations became an important tool in keeping the rides operating safely and the rider’s safe. Now if paint is flecking, or if there is a squeal, or a bad wheel, or some other unknown, unusual occurrence, rider operators are no longer afraid of calling maintenance to report it as they might have been in the past. As Wayne states he would rather get five calls that end up being nothing, then let one real major issue overlooked.  Wayne brings up the accident at Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain to bring the point home; it was in this case that a rider lost their life due to simple maintenance negligence. 

So how about another original ride to the park, ELI? or more commonly known as the Worlds of Fun Railroad.  ELI operates by 100% steam power and must be certified as a high-pressure vessel.  Though a bit of a handful for both its engineers and maintenance, Wayne talks about its importance to the park as he states “probably 95-99% of guests see that (ELI) it’s a show piece and it needs to be treated as such, and it’s in rough shape”. There is a trend of wear and tear with ELI’s boiler, which should receive some work over wintertime, along with ELI’s paint, which at the time of interview was out for pricing. 

Same thing with Autobahn, even Wayne admits “it’s embarrassing”, he brings up that they have gotten in touch with Majestic Manufacturing (the company that manufactured autobahn’s cars), and have been quoted $4500 per car, and there are plans to build up the Autobahn fleet for 2014 and beyond.  However Wayne did respond to the question regarding returning Autobahn to its full-sized floor, stating that currently there are no plans to return the floor to its original configuration.

Ride vehicles as a whole are sometimes difficult to replace Wayne goes on to talk about.  Case in point the old Arrow cars on Le Taxi Tour (Arrow Development/Dynamics), which as some know went out of business several years ago.  Due to this situation the park is now dealing with a whole other issue, that of obsolescence.  There is no way to get parts from the original manufacturer, so the plan for now is to scrap the parts from the existing cars.

Another fixture of Europa since we are talking about that section of the park is the Moulin Rouge that has been sign-less for quite some time… So replace or enhance the old sign?   Wayne states:

“Replace, much enhanced replace, the old sign, kind of created a hornet’s nest there, it was about ready to fall in, it was so rotted, I was concerned if it would even make it through the season without falling through the canopy.  I know the temporary little sign, that’s not what we were expecting, but what Debbie Strong has been working with Missouri Neon are some jam up, redo of the front entrance of the façade basically.  So, we are working through the costs situations now, and what you will see is a much improved marquee coming up.”

So nice new sign, for Moulin Rouge in the future… and possibly more.  Not just another Worlds of Fun patch job.

The Long Term Future?

So what are the future plans for the overall park? In Wayne’s words they are “to bring up all the structures and buildings to the standards we think it should be”, Wayne states though this isn’t the old Cedar Fair anymore.  He goes on to say “we have found that what works in Sandusky, may not work in Kansas City, or Richmond or Toronto or wherever”.  It’s a new Cedar Fair, he talks about Matt Ouimet (Cedar Fair CEO) coming from Disney and his new expectations for the company and its parks.  This includes moving beyond simply investing in new rides, but also investing in the entire park experience, such as overall park infrastructure.

Case in point the pavement.  As Wayne so enthusiastically stated “you don’t need a technical degree to see the pavement looks like crap” When he came at the end of the season last year he noticed how worn out it was, and then when the sealant is laid down this spring he stated that it brings it up to a much more “less despicable” appearance.  But the “less despicable” appearance doesn’t last long with daily wash downs and foot traffic.  Wayne specifically comments about how he noticed that the sealant in places (not the asphalt just the sealant!) was up to ¼” thick! That’s from the sealant being applied, year, after year after year.  He states that replacing the asphalt is part of the park’s 5-7 year integrated services plan.  

We began seeing this process just a bit last off season when Pizza Pier/Gyro’s was completely gutted and replaced.  Maintenance with Wayne at the lead is going through every structure with a fine-toothed comb… Asking questions, When was the roof replaced last?  How’s the flooring, the electrical, structural? What needs to be replaced? Then the job is to prioritize and replace what can be replaced during the off season.  Wayne quotes an old FRAM Oil Filters Slogan, “you can pay me now or you can pay me later”, and that if you pay me now you won’t have to pay me as much later… Take care of things and actually REALLY take care of things, and you won’t have to be replacing things as much.  The goal as Wayne put’s it is continuous improvement, including making the park look better, this includes landscaping….

Wayne had noticed the forgotten liberty bell shell of a topiary left abandoned near the greenhouses, and figured that’s something easy to get back in the park and replace.  So those of us that remember the Liberty Bell from Bicentennial Square may be seeing it again sometime soon.  Thanks to Wayne and a lot of help from landscaping.

Landscaping, pavement, signage… many seem insignificant reading it here, but as Wayne states so eloquently its all about the details “it’s the details that will make you or kill you, its frustrating for me that we can’t do more quicker, I want stuff to happen and I want it now.”

Which brings us to our last major point…Bicentennial Square.  What’s in its history?  No one really plays midway games anymore, atleast not like they used to thanks to all those hand held smart phones and angry birds… So either rehab the buildings or convert the area to another use.  Even Wayne talks about the area being a massively underutilized area.  So what is its future? Wayne has some ideas for the area, and they are quite a departure from prior Cedar Fair thinking.  He leaves us all with a parting though… Look around at all the other theme parks in the world, really there are some elements here that we are really missing if you think about it…” 

I do have to say after not so silently grumbling about Worlds of Fun calling itself an “amusement park” over the last few years, it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone on the inside so to speak refer to Worlds of Fun properly as a “theme park”.  Wayne goes on to further expand on the differences between the “old” and “new” Cedar Fair, about how it’s not just important to add the next great big thrill ride and slap a snake on the front and call it theming (referring to Mamba) but that’s its also about the big picture the whole story…

“you walk into any of the Disney parks, and stories being told, you walk down main street, and it’s turn of the century type and everything is seeing that, and then you go into tomorrowland,  frontierland, whatever, everything has a theme and a story behind it as well.  Something I think over the years here was lost and I guess and I remember early on, a lot of the live entertainment, like the robbery of the train, that sort of thing.  That’s what helps make an entire park, different lines of rides, atmosphere, food, whatever you want to say, there are certain things we can tweak to improve as well, without just throwing in a thrill ride.  To me you are missing part of the market there”

So is this the new vision of Cedar Fair? One that instead of catering exclusively to the thrill rider, now focuses once again on every guest young, old and everything in-between that crosses through the gates?  Will we see future rides added that everyone can enjoy together?  Also, will we see an increased interest in the intangibles, theming, landscaping, atmosphere? Only the future will tell us.

One thing is for certain, the desire is there to make the park better and provide an overall improved experience for guests.  One key point that indicates this is his obvious frustration, frustration in the way things are, frustration in wishing change could be faster, frustration in even the small details.  However, in this case frustration is a good thing, it means that things will be changing. As Wayne states “when I don’t care is when I will quit” and I don’t foresee that being hopefully for a long while.