Welcome to our Opening Day review, for nearly 25 years I have been writing reviews of opening days, I’ve never seen a smooth sailing one (I keep hoping). Our Opening Day typically starts with breakfast at Waffle House with just Jeff and me, but in a blast from the past, I coordinated an Opening Day breakfast at Denny’s on Front Street. I had called on Thursday letting them know to expect 15-20 people. Obviously, that message never made it to the people working there as they seemed surprised to see so many of us. We ended up having to rearrange tables for ourselves, but otherwise, I think it went over somewhat well. Kind of like opening day itself.
 |
| International Plaza now features these new banners |
Around 10 AM we headed for the park, and the toll plaza opened not long afterward. As it was a bit chilly for us Floridians we didn’t end up walking to the gate until around 10:30 which is about when they started letting guests into the International Plaza/Scandinavia area.
 |
Plaza Gifts features copper topped towers and a cream colored over coloration. Much better than the old orange.
|
 |
| The tech booth for International Plaza stage has been updated with trim and shutters. |
Once the rest of the park opened we noted like many others all the rides were not in operation. The only ride I noticed that was running was the Grand Carrousel. Still, as the first hour wore on, many rides did come online including in Scandinavia (which is where we were at), Scrambler, Sea Dragon, and Nordic Chaser. Voyager ended up opening late Sunday afternoon. I was not surprised by the lack of operational rides at opening, as it was opening day, kids are in new jobs, and rides haven’t run for five months. Kind of like the line from Jurassic Park, at least the dinosaurs didn’t eat the guests. Still, I think Worlds of Fun could have prepared guests a bit better as far as expectations, and I think the concern over getting a full value out of a full-priced ticket is valid. So here is my thought. In the past Worlds of Fun has advertised the first few weeks of the season as a “sneak peek” inferring that not everything will be up and running like it would be later on in the season. Worlds of Fun would also during the “sneak peek” weekend discount the tickets (which they also did for this opening day), but I believe it conveyed a better message to its guests. Hey, we won’t be entirely ready. Just a thought.
A few hours after the park opening most rides were operational, and by the end of the weekend 34 total rides operated, at least at some point, with a total of seven not operating at all (See the list at the end). That number includes five coasters, six if you count Cosmic Coaster. At one point in the not-so-distant past that was more coasters than the park even had, in total. Honestly, was I disappointed that Mamba and the train weren’t running? You bet those are my two favorite rides, and I traveled from Florida! Still, I realize that some things are in the park’s control and many things just aren’t and there is a whole lot of season left to go for me to ride both. I also have to add that it is major credit to the park that even after we left, at 5 pm on Sunday, they still continued, on Easter Sunday, to try to get rides open. Viking Voyager, one of the park's original six rides opened up last Sunday afternoon to guests.
Ok now that we have addressed that elephant in the room onto a look at the entire park. And once we move beyond what rides were operational and what wasn’t, the entire park looks FABULOUS. I don’t think there was a building, section, or piece of land that hasn’t been touched. Amazing job!
 |
| Norma's Funnel Cakes and Gateway Pizza (using the original entrance of Smor Bord/Inn of Four Winds/All Stars) |
 |
| Nice little thematic touch. |
 |
| E.X.T. Pizza! |
 |
| Patio area overlooking Voyager. |
Gateway Pizza and Norma’s Funnel cakes had not opened at 10:30 in the morning, but we checked them out later. I do miss an air-conditioned indoor restaurant at the gate and I know I am not alone. I get the arguments about cost, it was an old building, etc. Still, I think it was a mistake to just create outdoor seating. That being said, the patio that is there does look very nice. On the flip side, I checked out the menu and I loved the historical touch of “EXT Pizza”. Poor ambassador, they got a short history lesson, lol.
 |
| 50th Anniversary sweatshirt, I saw a lot of people wearing this on Opening Day! |
 |
| 50th Anniversary t-shirts, the 50th is glittery. I believe it's $24.99. |
 |
| Dan'l Coon, Sam Panda, Grrrtrude Gorilla and P.J. Panda shirt. $19.99 |
Plaza Gifts was open at 10:30, and we checked out some of the new merchandise. I was overall thrilled with the 50th merchandise (my bank account wasn’t), I do wish the park would go back to using the Partridge Font, but I guess we can’t have everything. If you haven’t seen the new Sam Panda, Grrrtrude Gorilla, Dan’l Coon, and PJ Panda shirt though, that's awesome and it’s only $19.99!
 |
| Scandi Candy with lots of painting details added. |
 |
| Norwegian Rosemaling on Scandi Candy. It was open Sunday. |
Then there is the theming, and there is a lot of it. Every building has been touched, painted, and thematically detailed. Scandinavian floral designs have been added in several locations, and I googled the term, it is known as Norwegian Rosemaling. Viking shields have been added to Voyager’s queue line, and Voyager has an impressive new sign. In addition to the paint, there is the music. Now the themed music returned a few years ago but it was fairly low-key. This year… it is right there in your face, There is no way this is NOT a theme park. I love it. LOVE IT.
 |
| Voyager with it's new sign. |
 |
| Swedish Sipping Chalet was open! |
Moving onto Africa, which is probably our biggest area of improvement. The first change is one that was drastically needed, and well appreciated. The park has replaced much of the old, crumbling asphalt with new asphalt. In places that were originally concrete, such as the Africa bridge, the old asphalt sealing has been removed so that for the first time in many years the concrete is visible. Much of the asphalt replacement is in Africa, including in front of the old Big Game Hunt/Zulu, but also the large stretch between Casbah Games and the Nile has been replaced. It looks amazing. No more crumbling asphalt!
 |
| Big Game Hunt, re-named Serengeti Station will now be a theater. |
 |
| Interior of the theater. |
 |
| Looking towards the Africa bridge with its white concrete visible for the first time in many years. |
Big Game Hunt, which was removed as an attraction in 2017 has been remodeled into a theater.. As far as rides Zulu began operation soon after park opening as did Prowler, but Prowler was only running one train making for a very long wait. G'rilla Grill (the old Congo Clearing) has received several updates as well. The serving line has been changed to more cafeteria style (like Cotton Blossom BBQ and old Coasters), with soda fountains and cash register at the end. We tried it out and loved the new setup. We also tried out the new crispy chicken sandwich with Zinger sauce (LOVE!), and the food was quite good. I think overall the functional changes will be helpful as I expect this restaurant to receive far more foot traffic this season due to the opening of Zinger.
 |
G'rilla Grill (Congo Clearing), with its new rehab.
|
 |
| The serving line here is more cafeteria-style now. |
 |
| Crispy Chicken Sandwich. |
Speaking of which…there were construction walls up around the old Zinger queue house, it appears to be being remodeled. The base lift hill structure is complete as is probably 90% of the ride at this point. The only sections that are not completed, structure-wise are the first drop and the bents (supports) for the first drop. For the rest of the ride, the base structure is present, while still missing portions of the track bed, cat walk, and motors for the lift itself. I have not heard any specific estimate from the park but I am guessing it will be finished sometime around early May.
 |
| Looking at the Zinger lift hill from across from Zulu. |
 |
| The original Zinger from the same vantage point. |
 |
| And the first drop from Boomerang's exit. |
 |
| Similar vantage of the original Zinger. |
There are several good locations to get a great view of Zinger, most of them coincide with view locations for the old Zinger. Across from Zulu, the lift through the trees is incredibly reminiscent of the original. Also, the Fury of the Nile queue line is a great place to view construction too, even though it was not open on Opening Day.
 |
| The old Dino Store is now Zinger's exit shop, Safari Trading Company. |
 |
| Lot's of themed detail in this shop. |
 |
| Lots of quality merchandise. |
 |
| One of the old shields from Big Game Hunt. |
The old Dino Store/Arcade has been transformed into a gift shop/exit shop for Zinger and opened around 1:30 in the afternoon. If one could be awed by a gift shop, I was. Many of the old African face masks and shields that were scattered through Africa have found their way into the gift shop along with a variety of other theming, antique suitcases, and the like. The merchandise is varied and high quality, with several embroidered options. Overall it's an exceptionally well-designed shop.
 |
| You can see Boomerang's new station cover and the blue train in this photo. |
 |
| Boomerang with Zinger in the background. |
Boomerang did open on Opening Day but was up and down somewhat sporadically over the weekend. I still remember April 8th, 2000, 23 years ago when it opened. Besides the garish orange color of the track, the first thing I noticed was the horrible, pink, and lime green carnival covering for the station. IT IS GONE. The covering is now plain canvas. The train itself, once pink, is now a deep blue color. Both are fairly minor changes but seem to have been well-appreciated by long-time fans including this one.
 |
| Nile train Trestle with lots of detail! |
 |
| Nile/Mamba bathroom. |
The Nile was down all weekend, and I didn’t see any movement whatsoever around the loading/unloading area which was disappointing. The walkway towards Oceans was cut off so that I couldn’t even tell if the ride had water in it. Probably my biggest disappointment of Opening Day was the lack of Mamba. Mamba has always been the dependable coaster, but from what I’ve heard it is waiting for a part, hopefully, it will open soon.
 |
| Coasters no more! It's now Sand Dune Diner. |
 |
| Inside looks much the same. |
Thematically speaking Africa has been updated much like Scandinavia. We saw the newly painted Nile train trestle at the end of last season, and it looks terrific. It has further been updated with paintings of the eye of Horus, and Bastet the Egyptian cat deity. The covered trellis area by Moroccan Merchant now is home to a collection of African vessels, which really is a small detail but I love it anyway. The biggest change in Africa through… cue the angels singing… Coasters is no longer known as Coasters, it is now the Sand Dune Diner. The new Sand Dune Diner has had its exterior modified to remove the 1950s American styling and has been painted tan. Rick Rau Worlds of Fun WAS exactly themed, and still is.
 |
| Forum Road/Heart of America Blvd is closed off. |
A major detail right next to Sand Dune Diner which has created a lot of discussions online is the Forum Road/Heart of America Blvd closing. That is the walkway that existed between Americana and Africa from around 1999 until just last season. For not just years, but decades, we have been ardently opposed to Forum Road remaining open. From a historical perspective, the park was designed to be a circle, through which guests passed through Europa, not bypassed it. For years I would watch as guests would try to figure out how to get to Le TaxiTour from Forum Road. Because of this, Europa traffic has increased. The other half is that from a park’s operation perspective, there is no place for guests to spend money on Forum Road. Parks make most of their profit on per-cap spending, not ticket costs. As a guest, if we want more improvements, we should want more per cap spending, and directing guests through Europa, the way the park was designed, is a solution. I don’t know if they listened to us (doubtful) but for whatever reason I am glad that Forum Road is closed. If you disagree that’s fine. This world is large enough for multiple different opinions.
 |
| New handrails leading up to Europa. |
 |
| Moulin Rouge's new paint job. |
 |
| Cobblestone Plaza in Europa with a new fountain and new stonework. |
 |
| Taxi's with its new paint job. |
So to Europa it is! The park has added a handrail to the Europa/Africa hill probably due to the closing of Forum Road. Europa itself has received similar updates to the rest of the park. Moulin Rouge has been painted, as has most other structures throughout Europa. Le TaxiTour was the only ride in operation in Europa, and I was shocked that Flying Dutchman wasn’t! Taxi’s along with its half of Europa has received not only MORE new asphalt, but a large section in front of Taxi’s has received themed “cobblestone” concrete, and a nice new fountain. I have to wonder if it's the same fountain from the old Scandinavian gate, and if it is that’s ok, it's the Worlds of Fun way (reuse, recycle and rename). Taxi’s queue house has been updated, it is no longer red, white, and blue like the French flag, but is instead tan and turquoise with a copper-colored tower. It was quite a surprise for me, but I think I like it!
 |
| Flying Dutchman was surprisingly not operational. |
 |
| Awaiting a new sign. |
 |
| The restaurant has entirely been removed from the map but it's still standing, and has been repainted. |
The Dutchman, as I mentioned, was not in operation but its boats looked freshly painted, and were missing the “Worlds of Fun” from their bows. The old concrete has also been uncovered here, and I am sure the ambassador operating this ride will be thankful. The Coca-Cola station in Europa has received a new thematic sign with German phrases. The Autobahn nearby, also a surprise, was not in operation, though the cars were all present. I wonder if it was a staffing issue. It appears that the roof of Autobahn has also been replaced, another MUCH needed update. The Autobahn, like the rest of the park, has received a new paint job, and I like the color choices far better than the two previous incarnations. The park has also added a garage motif to the end.
 |
| Coca Cola Stand in Europa with new German signage. |
 |
| Autobahn, you can see the roof looks far less yellow, which makes me think it was replaced. |
 |
| Autobahn's new paint job. |
Across from Autobahn is one of the park’s five defunct rides, Falcon’s Flight, still standing but for how long no one knows. It’s always sad to lose a ride, but even more so when it's a fun, yet rare ride like in the case of Falcon’s Flight. The ride’s sign has been removed from the midway entrance, but there were no other changes we could note.
 |
| Falcon's Flight is still standing. |
 |
| Signage is gone though. |
 |
| Small inset poles that are scattered around the park. |
Before we move on to Americana one last detail. Jeff noticed these small inset poles in the ground scattered through the park. We aren’t sure what the plan is, but based on their location we think they may be signs for each themed area or sub-area. Hopefully, we will have a better idea of what the plan is for them in the coming weeks.
 |
| Clearance signs on the train trestles. |
Moving into Americana, a couple of things to note. Each train trestle now has a themed clearance indicator which is probably most useful for tugs and vehicles which drive around the park during off hours.
 |
| Depot has also been painted. |
 |
| Rocking Chairs have been added out front. |
 |
| The departure/arrival board is still there as is the ELI Emeritus plaque. |
Speaking of the train, ELI was not present for opening weekend, as with Zinger under construction (both under and over the train track), it is not possible to safely operate the train. Hopefully, it will be back soon. Depot itself, like so much of the park, has changed colors from its prior dusty red color to a light turquoise color. It sounds weird but does look nice. I checked to make sure that both the ELI Emeritus plaque and Arrival/Departure board were still intact and they were from what I could tell.
 |
| Blue Bronco isn't blue anymore! |
 |
| Gold Rush Pizza (Vittle Griddle) has a new paint job. |
 |
| Cyclone Sadie's Antique parlor and surrounding structures have been re-painted and themed. |
Another small but very useful update to the park this year has been seating. We found four very sturdy rocking chairs that have been added in front of Depot, and also in front of Vittle Griddle. In addition, several (probably about a dozen?) new benches have been added around the Americana section as well.
 |
| One of many new benches. |
 |
| Country Junction Theater. |
 |
| Detonator's new sign. |
Regarding rides in Americana, Detonator was operational on Opening Day (as we didn’t make it to Americana until later in the day I am not sure of the time), along with Cyclone Sam’s, Mustang Runner, and Timber Wolf. As mentioned prior ELI and the Worlds of Fun railroad were down. Timber Wolf didn't open in the afternoon, but like Prowler was operating only one train which made for an extremely long line, about 2 hours on Saturday and about 30 mins on Sunday. Timber Wolf has had some serious updates over the off-season too and honestly, we were pleasantly surprised to find it in operation during Opening Weekend. First, its two trains were sent out to their original manufacturer Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC), and have been refurbished to literally almost new trains. The new trains instead of being painted the classic Timber Wolf red are now painted orange. Like many of the color changes through the park it was a bit jarring, but I might like it, I have to give it some more time. Also on Timber Wolf the entire first drop has been re-tracked and makes for a much more enjoyable, smoother ride. Just as a reminder, that is usually one of the biggest park updates we see annually, this year it’s just one in a big gigantic crowd of new things.
 |
| Timber Wolf's newly refurbished orange trains. |
 |
| The queue line from Sunday. |
 |
| The entire first drop has been retracked. |
Like the rest of the park, the updates in Americana, thematically, are numerous. Detonator has a new western-style sign, The Red Sky Hi Barn has been repainted, it's not quite the same red, it's slightly more muted. The park has added barrels all over the place, and a covered wagon in front of the old Sky Hi barn too. At Country Junction Theater, there is new signage and newly repainted cabooses. The sign for Cyclone Sadies has been removed and the map now calls it a mercantile instead of an antique photo parlor, so I am not sure if it's changed purposes or just names.
 |
| Close up on the old Sky Hi barn, with covered wagon and barrels out front. |
 |
| Cyclone Sadies without its sign. |
Game Street USA has a new more muted color scheme, and I like it better than the bright yellow, blue, and green colors that it was before. Again, similar to its original brown color. A big change also in games is that once again, the old New Funtier Arcade (just listed as Americana Arcade) has returned. Last year, a new arcade opened up in Africa in the old Dino Store, and was kicked out for the new Zinger store, so they moved it back to Americana. A great choice in my book. Let's bring the old New Funtier hanging sign back too!
 |
| New/Old Americana arcade. |
 |
| Front Street's exterior has been majorly rehabbed. |
Down the hill is Front Street, the original main entrance plaza of the park. The last time Front Street received any major rehab was in 1995, until this year. This year Front Street’s exterior was greatly modified and updated. New brick trim has been added, a covered entrance to the Emporium has been added, as well as a new, functional bell tower that tolls on the hour. It’s a pretty impressive update.
 |
| Skyliner was closed but I noted this new sign. (Maybe it was there last year?) |
Across from Front Street, is Steelhawk, which was not surprisingly, non-operational. Next door was Patriot, which operates like a Swiss watch because it is also Swiss, and as such is seemingly always operational. Patriot was also the only coaster in the park operating two trains! Skyliner, the Ferris Wheel next door was also non-operational.
 |
| Cotton Blossom BBQ. |
Regarding food service locations we found Cotton Blossom BBQ open, but Gold Rush Pizza (Vittle Griddle) was closed, it appears it is receiving the same updates as G'rilla Grill (Congo Clearing). All of the Front Street shops were open, including the new Shake shop from last year, Emporium, and Cinnabon.
 |
| The three removed children's rides have been replaced by shaded sitting areas. |
 |
| One of many rides operating in Planet Snoopy. (Kite Eating Tree) |
Before we move onto our last area, Orient, we are going to backtrack a bit to Planet Snoopy as there have been several changes to that area as well. Overall, the general appearance of Planet Snoopy hasn’t changed, but three rides have been removed. Linus’ Beetle Bugs (Beetle Bumps), Peanut’s Yacht Club (Tot’s Yachts), and Turn Tyke have, as previously reported, been removed. Unlike the larger rider removals, all three children’s rides are gone, replaced by a large umbrella for each ride pad, and park benches. I hate to be one to gloss over the removal of any ride, especially ones that are over 40 years old, but I actually kind of like a shaded sitting area in Planet Snoopy. Ugh does that make me a horrible person? Truth be told, Planet Snoopy does still retain 17 total child-oriented rides, making it still one of the largest kids' areas in any Cedar Fair park. As far as classic rides, the three oldest kiddie rides left are Red Baron (added in 1974), Swing a Ling (Charlie Brown’s Wind Up), from 1987, and Cosmic Coaster (Wacky Worm) from 1993. As far as operational rides, Planet Snoopy carries the weight when it comes to total rides in operation. On Saturday, every ride was in operation except for Woodstock Gliders, which was in operation by Sunday. That means of the 34 rides that were in operation in the entire park, over half of them were kiddie rides. There were eight rides not in operation at any time during opening weekend.
Operation:
Grand Carrousel, Fjord Fjarlane, Sea Dragon, Nordic Chaser, Scrambler, Viking Voyager, Prowler, Zulu, Boomerang, Le Taxitour, Detonator, Mustang Runner, Cyclone Sam’s, Timber Wolf, Patriot, Bamboozler, Spinning Dragons, all of Planet Snoopy (17)
Not in Operation:
Mamba, Fury of the Nile, Flying Dutchman, Autobahn, Steelhawk, Skyliner, Worlds of Fun Railroad.
From Americana, we head to our final section, Orient, or as it has been renamed, East Asia. Is using the term “Orient” offensive? Anyway, I guess it could have been worse. Whatever we are going to call the area, the theme is a variety of Asian cultures. The Chinese lanterns have been replaced over the old pond area and the new ones look fabulous, especially with the blooming Bradford pears in the background. An interesting tidbit is that the Orient was the only section of the park that had all of its rides in operation the entire weekend (Bamboozler and Spinning Dragons). Besides the lanterns, there is not much else to report. The Orient was massively refurbished with Spinning Dragons and is still newish in appearance, and doesn’t require a lot of updates.
And now, the other elephant in the room - the incident on the night of Opening Day. First, let’s drop what he said/she said/Tik Tok says and deal with the facts, what do we know, factually? Some large groups of kids were seen congregating around the park. From reliable news sources a fight broke out, and they were quickly escorted out of the park by Kansas City police and park security. After being given facts from sources I trust, there is absolutely zero evidence of a stabbing; regardless of what is posted on various social media groups. If such an event had happened, that kind of news would be plastered all over local news stations, but nothing has made it to any reliable media sources. Because it never happened. Rule of thumb, never believe everything you read online. Especially Tik Tok. Since I originally wrote this up the park has officially instituted a chaperone policy for those under 16 years of age after 4pm. We commend the park for taking this step to help control crowds.
So that’s it, and what an Opening Day it was! Every year for the last six or seven years, we have flown from Florida to Kansas City for Worlds of Fun Opening Day. It is probably the highlight of my year. Seriously. Even with all the bumps. Looking back, some might ask if we regret the effort and investment for such a trip. And the simple answer is, no. We had a great time, and I look forward to many more visits over the 2023 season! Long Live Zambezi Zinger, and we will see you at the park!
*In the paragraph about the re-theming of Coasters I mentioned Rick Rau. Rick was Marketing Director of Worlds of Fun through the transition from Hunt Midwest to Cedar Fair. In an interview from 1999 when we mentioned that Worlds of Fun was being de-themed and specifically brought up Coasters, his response was that "Worlds of Fun was never exactly themed". We disagreed. This quote along with ours about Coasters was published in the KC Star Magazine in 1999.
Special thanks to Keith Langabee for Proofreading!
