The Summer of '72: Worlds of Fun goes Vertical.

 As I recalled to a recent poster a few weeks ago, I’ve been researching Worlds of Fun history now for more than 25 years, but I didn’t always have some obscure Worlds of Fun history fact coming out of my mouth at a second's notice. Back when I was a teenager, I spent many hours at the Missouri Valley Room at the Kansas City downtown library scrolling through old microfilm/fiche of Kansas City Star and Times articles on Worlds of Fun. One of the first articles I encountered was a tiny article titled “Worlds of Fun Park 20 Per Cent Complete” which was published July 28, 1972. I also recall tabulating at the time how old I would be when the park turned 50 years old. Oh, how old 45 felt to a 19-year-old.

The importance of the article and others around the same time can’t be emphasized enough when it comes to the history of the park. It was the summer of 1972 when the foundations of everything we now know as our park truly started rising from the ground up.  

Lamar Hunt signs a ceremonial contract with J.E. Dunn for the construction of Worlds of Fun. Also pictured are Jack Steadman (President of Worlds of Fun), Stan McIlvaine (General Manager), Bill Dunn Sr. and Lamar Hunt. (And this is why he was called "Big" Jack).

May 19, 1972: At Traders National Bank (Traders on Grand), the announcement was made that the general construction contract had been awarded to JE Dunn Construction company. Burns and McDonnell, a local engineering company, had already been working with Worlds of Fun and park designers Randall Duell & Associates of Los Angeles, Ca., since the park had been announced in 1971. According to William Dunn, at the time of the announcement, all construction work, including all sub-contracting, was to be completed by Kansas City area firms. Jack Steadman, Worlds of Fun President, supplied some fun statistics regarding the park:

• 2/12 acres of lakes to contain three ships

• Twenty-two box cars of lumber

• 2 1/2 acres of roofing material

• 3 miles of plumbing

• 35 miles of electrical wiring

• 30 million pounds of concrete

• 50 million pounds of crushed rock

• 58 million pounds of asphalt.

• 4,000 railroad ties

• 6,000 feet of track

The Ski Heis station under construction from the Kansas City Star July 16, 1972

And depot from the same article. 

According to a Kansas City Star article by Joe Roberts published May 19, five of the 61 structures that would form the park were already under construction including the Cotton Blossom foundation, Scandinavian Sky Ride station, Victrix, Train station, and the Americana Sky Ride loading station. Two days later, May 21, Roberts uniquely explained the quick vertical growth of the park. “Sixty different buildings and at least 20 special rides and recreational features designed to be concealed by the natural contours of the Clay County hills will start appearing like mushrooms after a spring rain,” Roberts said.

Victrix from around August 7, 1972 

He was right, yet some of them would be more complicated to get to rise from the ground than others. Case in point: Cotton Blossom and Victrix–two boats bought from the 1970 MGM Backlot Auction. By June 18, the 2.5-acre concrete “lake” for Cotton Blossom was complete with a base foundation and vertical construction of Cotton Blossom could commence. Jack Steadman specifically mentioned the struggles with Cotton Blossom in an article from The Kansas City Business Journal in 1983. At the time, Steadman stated it was Lamar Hunt who wanted Cotton Blossom when he saw it in May, 1970. “Hunt Saw the Cotton Blossom and something clicked,” he said. Contrarily, Steadman shared that he was skeptical about such a purchase as he doubted the ability to physically move such a large object halfway across the country (Oh to be a fly on the wall during THAT conversation!).

Cotton Blossom's grid-like foundation completed from around June 18, 1972. 

Cotton Blossom finally vertical in around October of 1972. 

Lamar Hunt would win the auction for Cotton Blossom with a bid of $15,000, beating six other bidders, including one who wanted to turn Cotton Blossom into a floating restaurant in Los Angeles. The plan was that Cotton Blossom would be methodically disassembled, with each piece labeled and noted on the blueprints. It was then moved from California to Kansas City via six boxcars and put into the caves for storage. It was almost exactly 50 years ago that JE Dunn must have realized the re-construction of Cotton Blossom wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. All those numbered pieces weren’t all numbered. Steadman’s concerns were realized, and there were some that thought that Cotton Blossom might not ever be re-assembled. Local retired shipbuilder Wyman Beardsley came to the rescue though and supervised a 35-man crew to re-construct both Cotton Blossom and its MGM neighbor Victrix. 

Henrietta's foundation with the Sky Hi station in the background. from around July/August 1972.

From around July/August time frame, the Depot track bed is visible center of the photo, with the Sky Hi station on it's left.  

Another aspect of Worlds of Fun was already there and would turn out to be just as integral a feature of Worlds of Fun: the trees. Jack Steadman himself stated that he wanted to build the most beautiful park in the world, and that included natural beauty. Randall Duell, designer of the park, was quoted in Midwest Architect's article “The Fun City Where No One Lives” describing how he originally envisioned the park. “We walked through there one morning, and we came onto the most beautiful circle of trees–the park kind of grew around them. It’s an absolutely beautiful site and we’ve worked hard to preserve it,” Duell said. Cotton Blossom wasn’t the only struggle the park had, and that included redesigning the train layout five different times so as not to lose any of the park’s mature trees. Jack Steadman even went on record stating, “I told the workmen if I saw anybody touch a tree I would personally strangle them” (A New Northland Attraction). I believe that the original tree grove mostly still exists if hampered not by the owners of the park but by Mother Nature herself. It’s still the center of the park to this day. 

From August 30, 1972, in it can be plainly seen the giant grove of trees at the center of the park. 

And a recent Google maps aerial of Worlds of Fun, in which can still be seen the same large central grove of trees. 

If anything is obvious about the details mentioned is that Jack and Lamar weren’t planning just for 1973 but for the long term. As we can see by the following two decades the park grew and doubled in the number of attractions, and acreage, including an additional park, too (Oceans of Fun in 1982). I will share one final quote from Jack Steadman which epitomizes this concept: “We will never stop building. We have almost 500 acres and every year we will build more and more rides, more and more family attractions, and will have a greater number of activities.” 

Yes, you did Jack, and we who grew up with it will never forget the park and the memories you gave us. 

Special Thanks to James Carter for Proofreading!

A New Northland Attraction, Jack Steadman: A Kid at Heart. (1973, May 30). Dispatch-Tribune, 2.

Big Showboat’s a Comin’ . (1972, June 18). Kansas City Star, 104.

Cotton Blossom docks at KC’s Worlds of Fun. (1972, June 18). Olathe News, 3.

Gosa, G. (1972, November 5). ‘Worlds of Fun’ Playland is Taking Shape Swiftly . Kansas City Star, 2B.

In the Fun City ... Where No One Lives. (1972). Midwest Architect, 1(4), 18–21.

Ramstack, T. (1983, June 1). Who is Jack Steadman? Kansas City Business Journal, 49–57.

Roberts, J. (1972, May 19). Fun Park Contract Signed. Kansas City Star, 42.

Roberts, J. (1972, May 21). Building Variety in Big Fun Center. Kansas City Star, 1G–2G.

.Worlds of Fun Park 20 Per Cent Complete. (1972, July 28). Kansas City Star, 7.

Oceans of Fun turns 40!

Worlds of Fun management, including Lamar Hunt, Jack Steadman and Lee Derrough in Hawaiian shirts at Oceans of Fun's grand opening. 

 With it being the 40th Anniversary of Oceans of Fun it seems almost obligatory to write an Oceans of Fun blog. Today, most guests just write Oceans of Fun off as a “typical water park” but I find that statement to neither be true today nor 40 years ago when Oceans of Fun opened. 40 years ago the idea of opening a water park in the midwest, an area with snow and ice in the winter seemed crazy, yet today it isn’t even just the only water park in the Kansas City area. I have also found Oceans to not be your typical water park today either. Most water parks whether added on to an amusement park or not, feel like gigantic concrete jungles, with little to no grass, little to no shade, and attractions seemingly piled on top of each other. Oceans of Fun due to its plan and also its maturity seems to never suffer from any of that, there is not only grass, but large mature trees, and some attractions can almost be described as a hike from each other. And I like it that way.

The Oceans of Fun Gate in 1987

Landscaping between Caribbean Cooler and Diamond Head. Photo from "At-the-Park" Magazine from 1993.

And it was intended to be that way too: in an article just before Oceans of Fun’s opening Tom Steadman, manager of Research and Development was quoted “ We have a beautiful setting with the trees and the terrain… this is very secluded and serene. We designed I that way intentionally” (Smith, 1982, p. C1)

Between the gate and Trader Nick's in 1999. 

If that seems familiar it should, as it “rhymes” right along with the story of Worlds of Fun itself. The idea of Worlds of Fun was conceived when Jack Steadman first visited Disneyland in 1957, whereas the idea of Oceans of Fun was born after a visit by Lee Derrough to Wet ’n Wild in Orlando 20 years later in 1977. 

Surf City Wave Pool under construction.

Surf City Wave Pool 1982.

On May 22, 1982, Oceans of Fun opened to Kansas Citians on a very chilly wet day. Enclosed in its gates were attractions many of us would be familiar with today. The highlight was and still is Surf City Wave Pool built by WaveTek. Surf City was one of only a dozen or so wave pools of its kind at the time, it  reached over two-thirds the size of a football field, contained over a million gallons of water, and originally reached a maximum depth of 9 feet (today it has been reduced to about 6 feet). One of my favorite memories of Surf City, besides all the candy merchants… was the music. You could always tell when the waves were going to start as the The Safaris  “Wipeout” would come over the loudspeakers just prior. According to a May 18th Kansas City Star article, the theme from Jaws was planned to come over the speakers when the waves ended. Everyone OUT OF THE WATER.

Castaway Cove under construction

Not far from Surf City Wave Pool is Oceans of Fun’s only remaining, mostly unmodified original attraction, Castaway Cove and Belly Up Bar. For guests 21 years and over, Castaway Cove offers even today a 2,500 square foot swimming pool, and probably the most popular attraction is its half in the water/half dry land “belly up” bar.  

Kayak's at Bucaneer's Bay in 1993. (From At-the-Park magazine)

Ski Show at Bucaneer's Bay in 1982. 

Everything else at Oceans of Fun has changed over the years and mostly in good ways. The original five-acre Buccaneer Bay was briefly home to a ski show and for many years kayaking and boating until it was closed off in 2019. A little known fact is that the water from Buccaneer Bay is connected to the Fury of the Nile and can be pumped in either direction. (In and out of Nile). This is why Nile water sometimes looks (and smells) like lake water. Buccaneer Bay’s original neighbor the 1.5 acres Neptune’s Lagoon has been long gone, replaced in 1992 by Coconut Cove. Neptune’s Lagoon offered a “natural” lake play area and was composed of a rock base covered by 12-18 inches of “tropical” sand, imported from the “exotic” Kaw River. It offered a maximum advertised depth of 5.5 feet. I remember Neptune’s Lagoon well and loved its sand bottom and sand beaches, and the play areas that were later added in 1983. I suppose I can appreciate it being replaced though as Neptune’s Lagoon was far from sanitary I am sure, and probably would appear gross to many modern water park goers today. 

Belly Hai/Knee Hai play area in 1982.

As far as areas specifically for kids Oceans of Fun had that too, before the expansion of Crocodile Isle (1991) and Captain Kidds (1995) a smaller kids area known as Belly Hai and Knee Hai came complete with mini slides, water cannons, and small wading pool.  

Diamond Head with it's original slide signs.  Photo from At-the-Park. 

And then there is Diamond Head. Diamond Head which is easy to forget was Oceans of Fun’s first and only slide complex when the park opened in 1982. Originally there were plans for more, but probably with a growing budget (the park was originally planned for $6 million, but the final cost was $7.25 million), the slides planned were pared down to the three 400-foot long slides on Diamond Head. And who can forget their names? Waikiki Wipeout, Honolulu Lulu, and Maui Wowee. Supposedly they were lined up from least thrilling to most, but I am not sure there is any credit to that story, that’s just what I was told as a kid.

The photo is taken from Typhoon which wasn't added until 1983, but is the only photo that I have showing Neptune's Lagoon. 

Same photo a closer look at Neptune's Lagoon. 

According to stories and reviews when the park first opened most guests weren’t impressed with Diamond Head, but looking back on my personal experience I thought they were some of the most thrilling slides in the park, I always felt like I was about to be flung out!

Oceans of Fun Gate in 1999.

Diamond Head slides again in 1999.  

Diamond Head’s slides were refinished back in 2008 but were finally removed following the 2019 season, having lasted nearly 40 years, and replaced by Riptide Racers in 2021.

In the beginning… 40 years ago that was Oceans of Fun.

The bright green astroturf used to cover the surfaces around attractions. This photo was taken in 1987 when Caribbean Cooler opened. 

 A multitude of attractions would be added over the years, today the park has grown from only three water slides to over a dozen from Typhoon to Predator’s Plunge to Aruba Tuba and then some. Neptune’s Lagoon is long gone, and Surf City Wave Pool has drastically changed over the years too. Oceans of Fun fills some of my earliest memories, I miss the bathing houses being named “Wahine” and “Kanaka” (woman and man in Hawaiian) I spied that on the Honolulu Airport bathrooms this last January and it took me back. I miss the aqua-colored plastic storage tubes, the green astroturf, and the tropical ambassador shirts, a lot has changed over the years. Still, at the heart of it, Oceans of Fun hasn’t changed all that much, it’s still just as beautiful a park today as it was all those years ago and it’s still just as popular. Here is to another decade of good times.  

Original Oceans of Fun Ambassador costume.

First of two Oceans of Fun Ambassador costume tops we have in our collection.

Smith, G.B. (1982). Any Park Expansion will keep regional customers in mind. Kansas City Times, C1.

Burnes, B. (1982). Fit to be tide: The surf’s up in Missouri! Kansas City Star,  B1

Rassenfoss. J. (1982). Surf’s up - but goosebumps are too. Kansas City Star, 23A

Hobart, K. (1982). A Change of place for landlubbers. Independence Examiner, p. 4

From Foam Mountains to Outer Space: Part IV

This is not Worlds of Fun, it's Cedar Point!  Gemini is in the background.

 Last episode we looked at Berenstain Bear Country, Cedar Fair’s first sojourn into kid’s areas at Worlds of Fun. Even in 1997, the writing was on the wall for the future, as Cedar Fair had purchased Knott’s Berry Farm and obtained rights to Knott’s Camp Snoopy along with the park in 1996. Snoopy is a far more recognized intellectual property than the Berenstain Bears and Cedar Fair wasted no time in installing Snoopy and Co. at its flagship park, Cedar Point. The first time I visited Cedar Point, in 1999, Camp Snoopy was the newest expansion and I was impressed with the quality. It seemed years away from Worlds of Fun which had only added Bear Country two years prior.

2001 Worlds of Fun Fun Guide.

The twist though is that Camp Snoopy would be introduced to Worlds of Fun, replacing Bear Country in 2001. It wouldn’t be the first time that Snoopy would come to Worlds of Fun. Back in 1978 Worlds of Fun’s costume designer Dawna Welborn created the very first in-park Snoopy costume, and Snoopy paired up with the then park mascots, Sam, Dan’l, and Grrrtrude for the year 1978.

Snoopy at Worlds of Fun in 1978, with Sam Panda, Gertrude Gorilla and Dan'l Coon. 

Snoopy in 2001

Opening Day 2001 was warm and humid for early April, but what I remember most was being pleasantly surprised with the quality of the new Camp Snoopy. Looking back I am surprised by my overall pleasant reaction. However, that could be that it also followed several plain ugly park additions over the two prior years. Boomerang, Coasters Drive-In, and Grand Prix Raceway were never the highlight of WoF expansion history. So though “only just” a kid’s area Camp Snoopy was created with care and gave the appearance that it wasn’t just a paint job, though in reality much of it was exactly that. 

Entrance to Camp Snoopy.

Campground Theater, previously Bear Country Museum.  

Entrance to Beagle Bay Outfitters.

While nearly every ride and attraction from Pandamonium/Bear Country would remain in the transition to Camp Snoopy, at the same time many of them would be drastically changed, cosmetically at least. At the Bear Country Museum the exterior received a paint job, and minor theming changes (the telescope was removed), the interior had all of its Bear Country exhibits removed, and most theming elements removed. After a paint job and some minor re-modeling, it became Beagle Bay Outfitters and Campground Theater. The Spooky Old Tree was re-painted, kites were added and it became the Kite Eating Tree. The Bear Country TreeHouse was completely demolished and a Camp Snoopy Bounce House was added in its place. Probably the most laughable re-name though goes to the ride that STILL hadn’t moved and was known at the time as Kiddy Hawk Airlines. According to the 2001 park map it was re-named back to Red Baron. According to the ride’s SIGN itself though… it appeared to have a more unique name. Red Bacon.

Does this ride EVER change?! Spoiler alert... it doesn't.  But it isn't known as Red Bacon anymore either.

Snoopy Bounce... let's all contemplate a moonwalk bounce house occupying the space of Barnstormer, Octopus and the Bear Family Treehouse.  Today's Woodstock Gliders is located in the same place. 

Camp Snoopy would introduce two new rides to the area, and expand the play area again by a total of one acre. New to Camp Snoopy would be the S&S Mini Drop Tower known then as Woodstock’s Airmail (today it is the Kite Eating Tree) and it would replace Either Oar a mini kid’s canoe ride that was introduced with Pandamonium. The second expansion was a Zamperla Junior Flying Carpet, known as Camp Bus, then and now. Both rides were a step up from the traditional kiddie rides allowing adults to ride with children.

Woodstock's Airmail produced by S&S of Utah.  Today it's the Kite Eating Tree.

Camp Bus, it's still pretty much the same. 

Probably the biggest change with Camp Snoopy though was the introduction of an entirely new aesthetic. Everything became forest green and redwood tree red. The old circular fountain would change forever and become instead a waterfall with Snoopy and Woodstock paddling away in a canoe. And then there were the character introductions. Of course Snoopy wasn’t really “new” but the whole Peanut’s Gang was, and even today they remain recognizable and well-loved.  

The new Camp Snoopy fountain. 

Spooky Old Tree became the Kite Eating Tree (still just a plastic slide) 

Affordable psychiatric advice....

Camp Snoopy would be with us for longer than Bear Country, 10 years, and in that time it would see a few expansions. In 2003, in its first major Halloweekends expansions, the park took the 1978 Lucky Lyndy’s Lunch Counter building and transformed it, its last time, into Magical House on Boo Hill, an adorable and ingenious take on a not-super-scary haunted house. In 2005, the park expanded further with the foam ball playhouse, Peanut’s Playhouse.

Peanut's Playhouse in the winter of 2010/2011 

Magical House on Boo Hill which was one of my favorite attractions.

In 2011 Camp Snoopy would be replaced and Snoopy would go to outer space. Snoopy himself would remain but unlike the last three renovations, almost nothing else would stay the same. But that’s for our last chapter…

Camp Snoopy at night.

Part III: Berenstain Bear Country: http://unwof.blogspot.com/2022/02/from-foam-mountains-to-outer-space-part.html

Part II: Pandamonium: http://unwof.blogspot.com/2021/12/from-foam-mountains-to-outer-space.html

Part I: Half Pint's Peak/Humpty's Haven: http://unwof.blogspot.com/2021/10/foam-mountains-to-outer-space-evolution.html

Opening Day Review: April 30th 2022

 After two decidedly abnormal opening days, we are finally back to opening in April, barely, but still April. Over nearly 25 years of Opening Day reviews I’ve written some real doozies, this thankfully isn’t going to be one of them.  

This is exactly what Mamba looks like at 1:30 AM in the morning.

And the next morning I had this nice view during my run through the Oceans of Fun parking lot. 

We planned to fly into Kansas City Thursday night/Friday Morning (landed at 12:30 AM), and stay at Worlds of Fun Village for three nights. Originally, I had booked a cottage, which was $85 for Thursday night and $110 for Friday and Saturday nights, but I switched to a cabin for Friday and Saturday and those ran about $130 a night. I booked the Village primarily because of the 5k I had signed up for at Worlds of Fun on Saturday morning, but overall it was incredibly convenient just for going to the park too. 

View from the porch of a cottage. 

We checked in at 1:30 AM on Friday, I had called before our stay to make sure a check-in at that time was an option, and they confirmed I would just need to call security when we arrived. (The phone number was posted on the main door). Turns out check-in was quick and painless, the security guards who checked us in were familiar with the process and super friendly!  

Cabin exterior with charcoal grill and picnic table. 

Living area with two futons

Bedroom with a double bed. 

As mentioned we switched from a cottage the first night to a cabin the last two nights, and there are a few differences between the two: cottages have a double bed and bunk beds in the bedroom, while cabins have just a double bed but two futons in the living room and a separate 2nd-floor loft area. Cottages do have the distinct advantage of being closer to Oceans of Fun’s gate, and the main building and pool area, while the cabins are further down by Mamba’s helix.

Running under Mamba on the 5k!

Saturday morning arrived sunny, and sleep-deprived after a night of severe weather, but for me, nothing beats the excitement of WOF opening day, it’s like my adult version of Christmas Morning. This was my 3rd time running a 5k through WOF, but I always find it super fun because you get to run the maintenance roads through a lot of areas of the park that are not usually accessible publicly. This included running UNDER Mamba! I highly recommend it to anyone who has any desire to run whatsoever.

Sunrise from Worlds of Fun Village on Opening Day!

Running by Timber Wolf!

From there we headed over to Waffle House for our traditional opening-day breakfast, and back to the cabin for a shower. After that, it was time for the Opening Day at Worlds of Fun! We were easily able to walk from our cabin to the Oceans of Fun gate, though you can easily drive there too.

Looking from Oceans of Fun gate towards Mamba, there is a train going up the lift hill!

Oceans of Fun gate was open, and I believe has to be open any time the Village is open (since walking to and from the park is a major perk). We arrived at the park gate around 10:45 and had no issues with admittance.

Mamba entrance after it had been open for about 20 mins. 

We decided first to head to Mamba, as it was right there by the Oceans of Fun entrance, and at this point, we had seen it cycle a few times. Before Opening Day I wasn’t 100% sure Mamba would even be operational, as it wasn’t operating during the employee preview the weekend prior and it had just received a brand new control system. Jeff said he had heard it test run on Friday and we had seen it test run a few times Saturday morning so I was hopeful, it is my favorite coaster in the park. We ended up waiting nearly an hour by the entrance chain (with only 2-3 people in front of us) and were on the first train out. It was VERY windy that morning, but when I heard the trims fire extremely lightly, I immediately knew things were different, and even with the wind I probably had more airtime on the run back than ever before.

Third train sitting partially disassembled in E Lot. Photo by Kim Slater. 

Mamba was only running one train, due to the new control system, a second train was sitting up in the transfers with the third train in parts over in E lot. Because of the one train operation, I was pretty sure that would be my only ride on Mamba that day. Or so I thought. 

In the service line for Coasters.

Onion rings and burgers are first.

A look at the menu. 

After Mamba, we checked out Coasters Diner, as we had heard there were changes there. Coasters has been a quick service indoor restaurant, now it's more cafeteria-style like Cotton Blossom BBQ. The new layout seems to work better, and the food looks (and I later confirmed TASTES) a lot better too! Hamburgers, Chicken Fingers, and Beyond Burgers are still on the menu but now Pot Roast, Macaroni and Cheese, and veggies join the line-up. The only criticism, and it’s rather minor, is I wish there was more indoor seating.

NIle was testing at this point and would open to guests soon afterwards.

The Worlds of Fun Railroad coaches sitting on Forum Road. 

A closer look, you can see the coaches  have wheels. 

The Nile was testing as we walked by and headed towards Europa via Africa, Nile would open up to guests not long afterward. ELI’s coaches were sitting out on Forum Road and the Worlds of Fun Railroad was the major non-operational attraction for opening day! However, there is a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. When Jeff visited the park about a month ago for an off-season tour the coaches were sitting on cinder blocks with no wheels. The park has replaced the trucks (wheel assemblies) for the coaches during the off-season. On Opening Day though the cinder blocks were gone and wheels were back in place so there is forward progress. 

The Forum/Heart of America sign is now gone...

This is what it looked like last year (2021)

A little bit of sad news also on Forum Road… the Forum sign is now removed. Many, including myself, connect that four-column sign and Forum concerts as synonymous, and we are sad to see it gone, but to be honest Forum, as we all knew it at least, has been gone for a while anyway. RIP Forum sign.  

Floral-less clock. WOF just teased that it now has it's design in for 2022. 

Arcade has now taken the place of the Dino Store. 

A look inside. 

Moving into Africa the floral clock was floral-less, but next door Africa received a new, small upgrade in the form of the park’s only arcade. WOF’s last arcade, Snoopy’s Arcade/New Funtier Arcade had last operated in 2018, so the park went four years without one. The new Arcade in Africa is small, has only two skeeball machines, and few other arcade games (including at least one I am pretty sure came from New Funtier Arcade). Still, it’s a nice change to have an arcade back in the park. I’ll review the arcade a little more in detail further along in this blog. 

Moving into Europa we are surprised by Falcon's Flight testing!

Taxi's

Flying Dutchman

And Moulin Rouge which has a new show starting June 10th!

We headed up to Europa, and the first thing we noticed was Falcon’s Flight was operational! It wasn’t open for guests yet but movement of any type on Falcon in the last few years is a major achievement! Le Taxi Tour was open but had a massively long line out of the queue house so we passed on that. Flying Dutchman was open (when is it not?) and of course, I rode it, the same old dependable ride. Autobahn was closed, it would remained closed the entire weekend.

Shot from the queue line, Falcon's Flight is loaded with guests!

Autobahn was closed all weekend.

We were about to head towards Timber Wolf when we noticed Falcon’s Flight was loaded with guests! I had never ridden a Condor let alone Falcon’s Flight so we all turned around and nearly ran back in line! When it has operated it's been sporadic, so we didn’t know how long it would last! We got a ride, and it was quite fun, kind of like a Scrambler in the air. Falcon would run the rest of the weekend without much problem. So a ride that was, not so long ago, referred to as the Worlds of Fun lawn ornament is now the Worlds of Fun’s opening day miracle!

American Spirits opened in the old Subway location

Interior shot of American Spirits

We next headed by Timber Wolf but its line was long, out to the straightaway so we passed by this time. We wanted to check out the Front Street area which has seen some updates to dining/drinking. The old Subway across from Front Street Emporium is now American Spirits Frozen Drinks which offers tropical-flavored frozen alcoholic beverages. Across from it in Front Street, the Front Street Tavern continues into its second season, and the old Caribou Coffee next door is empty and seems like it will be home to the Ice Cream shop but there is no sign as of Opening Weekend.

Looking down Front Street, the old Caribou Coffee has been completely removed.

ELI Shirt

Charley Hustle Shirts, be aware these run very small!

Front Street Emporium has a few new nice mentionable merchandise items, there is an adult-sized ELI shirt ($35), which is also covered with cows, horses, and pigs. Seems odd? Go take a look at the 1973 souvenir map. I am not sure if that nod is intentional or not, but it works and I am sticking with that explanation. There is also a small “Red Games Barn” kids shirt, (sorry no pictures), a nice selection of Charlie Hustle balloon shirts ($32), and a very nice slate grey embroidered jacket. ($96)

Cotton Blossom Stage.

Ripcord with Patriot behind it.

Similar view from 1999.

Between Front Street and Cotton Blossom BBQ is a new covered stage area which will most likely be for “The Uprights” dueling piano show that should be starting this summer. It’s nice and fits well into the area.

Looking from the Orient across the S/O Bridge.

Voyager was running.

We headed through the Orient towards Scandinavia, Bamboozler and Spinning Dragons were fully operational as was Panda Express. Moving onto Scandinavia/International Plaza, we were pleasantly surprised to see Voyager operational! It shouldn’t surprise me that it was operational but I was, it was great to see!  

Behind the construction wall the old Chickie & Petes is about 1/2 to 2/3 demolished.

But Norma's Funnel Cakes is still open.

A look at Voyager and the old Chickie & Petes from Voyager Exit. 

So about all that construction at International Plaza. Pizzo Pizza is completely gone, and about half to maybe two-thirds of the old Chickie and Pete’s (All-Stars/Smorbord) is gone, with what appears to be a large patio area being created next door. Both the building permits and Worlds of Fun’s 2022 map show Gateway Pizza going into this area but I am not sure if they are going to be adding to what is left of the original Chickie and Pete’s or just renovating it. We shall see. Today though there are construction walls around the entire structure, Norma’s Funnel Cakes, attached to the structure in question is still open though.

Tivoli Music Hall with Choir & Band Festival Banners.

Nordic Chaser was operational.

The old Victrix Lake, you can just make out the outline of Victrix.

There wasn’t much else that has changed in Scandinavia, Tivoli has banners celebrating the return of the Band and Choir Festival, which from the dates are only one weekend each? But I guess that sort of makes sense coming off COVID shutdowns. Sea Dragon’s lake was super clear so you could easily make out Victrix’s outline, and as mentioned all the other rides were operational so that’s great too!

Zulu was closed all weekend,

ELI's Tender 

ELI's Propane Tanks

Moving into Africa, Zulu was down all weekend, it’s all assembled so I am not sure what the delay with it is, but at least it’s in one piece. Looks like it’s not far from returning to operation. Prowler was operational and like Timber Wolf was running two trains. I had mentioned about a month ago that Prowler had nearly 1,000 feet of re-track work done, so it was on my list to ride! The line was fairly short, and it gave a great ride! I do have to wonder about the AMOUNT of track work done, it doesn’t appear that 1,000 feet of track (that would be nearly half the ride) was replaced, but there was some significant track work done. Prowler is running well and we are excited for the return of Prowler night rides and that super well strategically placed on-ride camera flash!

The old Zinger station, I don't recall those lights being on recently?

If you look carefully you can see another big CAT in the background.

Big Jack's was open.

Next to Prowler, just behind its small gift shop, you can make out some land clearing that goes under the train bridge and continues almost to Boomerang. I will be completely honest, we are not entirely sure what it’s for. Hopefully, we will find out sooner rather than later. 

Some WOF Landscaping.

Prowler shirt with the throwback Partridge Balloon Logo. (well the Cedar Fair one)

Boomerang was once again operating this season which means every single coaster was operating in the park on opening day, a good sign. We checked out Moroccan Merchant which has a nice selection of African-themed merchandise (safari animals both plush and toys), plus a nice selection of Africa-ride merchandise including Fury of the Nile, Prowler, Mamba and Zambezi Zinger. I like the new Prowler shirt, with the purple panthers, and the retro Partridge balloon logo on it. I did not check the price but I am fairly sure it's similar in price to the ELI shirt as they are produced by the same company.

Chicken Tenders at Coasters Diner.

Pot Roast.

Corn and Macaroni and Cheese. 

Right about this time Jeff left to go relax in the cabin, while I planned to stay around for enough time to at least get a ride on Timber Wolf and check out Planet Snoopy. I ended up hanging out with a friend of mine from college, and she was hungry so we decided to try out the new Coasters menu. Wow. I covered the actual physical changes earlier, but at this point, we tried the food, the Mac and cheese and Pot Roast. Two thumbs WAY up. If you are going to eat at the park, this is the place to try!

The old Orient Express Chicken Exit sign is still at Timber Wolf.

Detonator had it's topper refinished in the off season and it looks great!

Our next stop was to finally ride Timber Wolf, earlier the line was fairly long, at this point it was slightly outside the station so I figured to give it a try. I started up a conversation with a fellow “line waiter’ about the old E.X.T and classic WOF in general, that was lots of fun! Finally, about 45 minutes later we get to the station and of course, Timber Wolf went down right as we were the next train to load! But it was a short wait and overall it was a good ride, though somewhat slow probably due to the 20+ mile an hour winds. I am pretty sure part of the last segment of Timber Wolf was re-tracked last year but it appears the entire last segment from the flat 180 turn to the brake run has been completely re-tracked and doesn’t jackhammer you like crazy anymore. I’ll be looking forward to future rides as Wolf is one of my favorite coasters in the park.

Snoopy's Rocket Express

The oldest ride in Planet Snoopy, Red Baron.

Charlie Brown's Wind Up from the Pandamonium expansion.

So I headed up to Planet Snoopy, obviously not to ride anything but just to check it out for any changes. One of my favorite tidbits is that Red Baron is not only the 7th oldest ride in the park (it opened in 1974) but it’s been in its current location since 1978! There were no major changes to Planet Snoopy that I saw, but all the rides appeared to be running, and fully staffed which must have been a challenge for the park this season!  

First to play a game you either have to get a new card or add money to an existing game card.

Typical... Skeeball Machine rebooting...

Prize redemption machine, this worked ok. 

So at this point, I was planning on leaving but that didn’t quite happen… First I decided I should try out the new arcade, for research sake of course. First off, for those that grew up with the old-style arcades, gone are the tokens and tickets, everything is digital now. To play, you have to purchase a game card with a certain amount of credits included. I paid $10 for a rechargeable card, and I think I got about 6-7 skeeball games out of it, I didn’t count. Primarily because I kept crashing the skeeball card readers! Pretty sure that was user error, lol. 

Mamba from Nile's queue line.

Same view from opening day 1998!

Fury of the Nile was operational.

So it was getting around 6:30 PM or so, and I almost left at this point. It was chilly, but not quite as windy….which got me thinking about Mamba. I almost didn’t ride it. In fact, I went up the queue line, and back down and then I thought… what else do I have to do? So I went ahead and waited. The entire first switchback section was full, so I was expecting about an hour wait with one train operation and that’s almost exactly what I waited for. Was it worth it? 100% YES. OMG. The first half was good as usual, the second half, with the limited trims (some say no trims, but I think it’s hitting just a smidge), provided some serious, high-grade, floater airtime on the return run. If Mamba ran that well all the time, it would easily be a top ten steel coaster in my book. And no I don’t usually rank rides. I was so blown away that I found an hour on Sunday when I wasn’t planning on going to WOF at all, to go back out and ride Mamba two more times.

Inside Mamba station on the 2nd to last train!

Mamba's new drive box.

So at this point, it was closing, (8:02 because I checked). And it was time to leave. For some reason, Worlds of Fun is my happy place and I feel somewhat sad leaving it behind. Still, it was a great day.  

Mamba's Trim brakes as seen/heard from WOF Village on Saturday Night. 

Before I wrap this opening day review up one last commentary that I want to add. Walt Disney has the famous quote that you can build the greatest park in the world but without people to run it, you have nothing. Especially in the economy we are in where companies are begging for employees it was refreshing to have such a good experience with the park’s staff of ambassadors. Every ride that I rode, every restaurant we went to, and even the O dark thirty security guards at WOF Village, everyone was pleasant, friendly and helpful and some in my opinion went above and beyond. The Mamba crew seemed to be super enthusiastic, and made it felt like almost a coaster enthusiast event all the time. Up in Planet Snoopy the operators on Snoopy’s Rocket Express were adding personal sound effects when each car was “launched”. In the arcade a games ambassador came and helped, more than once when I had technical difficulties with the skeeball machine, without me having to ask. Was everything perfect and running like a well oiled machine? No, but it’s opening day, no one should expect that. Did the ambassadors help in creating a welcoming, fun atmosphere? Absolutely.  

I ran into the park around 6 pm Sunday...

To ride Mamba of course!  

I have written many opening day reviews. I used to count but I stopped somewhere around a dozen, there have been some decent ones, some bad ones, some REALLY bad ones, and a couple of good ones. 2022 fits neatly into the “good ones” column in my book, nearly all the rides were running, all the coasters were running, a ride that no one in a million years expected to be running, was running, and nearly all the foodservice and retail locations were open. The food was, surprisingly, really good, the ride experiences ranged from good to amazing, and even though the weather wasn’t perfect, as Monday’s weather can attest it definitely could have been worse. I am looking forward to the rest of Worlds of Fun’s 50th season and am hopefully for its 51st (50th anniversary) in 2023!

Me and Charlie Brown!

Back in 1999. 

Special Thanks to Megan Burnett for proofreading!