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Hey TPR! As the season was winding down it was time to plan one last trip for the 2021 season. Initially the plan was to visit Kennywood, but then they decided to close Steel Curtain and half the park. Lagoon was the next choice, but flights were insane and the last of fast pass during Halloween events was a bit too risky. Then, we were reminded of SDC and Time Traveler with rave reviews coming in from Ride to Happiness! Our plan was: Fly into KC Friday, go to WOF for a first time visit during Haunt. Saturday drive to Branson for SDC at night. Sunday full day at SDC. Monday drive to KC and fly out. Oh boy some of Sean Whalen's sheep spotted in the wild! Arriving in KC, we got bbq right by the airport at Scott's Kitchen (https://www.scottskitchenandcatering.com/menus/) and the burnt ends were better than I could have ever imagined. Definitely go here if you want legit KC BBQ! The highway and roads in KC are a bit bizarre and so is the entrance to Worlds of Fun. The parking lot funnels you down into the woods to the new entrance. First impressions - this park is so pretty! Lots of Haunt decorations Let's go to the coasters! Slowly but surely checking off the B&M custom inverts. Patriot was one of four coasters I wanted to ride at WOF. I honestly haven't heard anything overly positive about Patriot, but I was pleasantly surprised! It's positioned on the side of a hill, it has some fun twisty bits and dips, and had a great flow to the layout! It's definitely not close to the top tier of inverts but it was a lot more fun than I anticipated. Already off to a good start for the evening! A nice sunset ride and by the time we were onto the next thing, it was dark. But you could still tell the park was very well taken care of. The park had a lot of fun Haunt food and drinks - and lots of local brewery tents! One of the many haunts, and just like any other park in October - it was busy. But not insane for a Friday. The park is really wooded outside of where Mamba sits. Timberwolf we get it you vape Really good looking sunset here in KC! Timberwolf wasn't bad, but we did wait for the front seat. It just didn't have much to offer and felt like a superior version of the Grizzly layout. Orion, is that you? That's as high as it goes lmao It's pitch black out here, it's time to see Jesus! Prowler starts with some wild laterals right out of the station. Come on Cedar Fair give this park some love!!! October 2021 - Prowler was funning fantastic. It's right up there with Mystic Timbers, Gold Striker, and Renegade for me! What an incredible night ride. While others wanted to get the little credits I decided to check out a nearby 'scare zone' that was obviously the dino alive path by boomerang. There was a TON of love given to this Pumpkin - blair witch themed walk through in the woods! This was way more than a scare zone. No one seemed to notice it since it was wedged between the boomerang and other haunts Then, things got really scary! This is what I get for skipping lame credits Thankfully it decided it was more scared of me and ran the other way. Skunks are fast! Damn! Sadly at this point in the night Mamba still hadn't moved and the ride op told us it would not be running at all, it was some sort of air brake issue. The crowds really poured in so our idea of a chill Friday night didn't really pan out so we voted to return in the morning in hopes that Mamba would be working. We found 54th Street Grill which had a ton of local KC beer on tap and a happy hour that went all night. We got a TON of food for cheap! Definitely a good spot to check out even if it's a bit basic: https://www.54thstreetgrill.com/kansas-city-mo-zone-rosa.html Seeing the park in the daylight was stunning! It felt like a Busch park! Please open please open please open please open please open please open please open At this point we were starting to creep in on our SDC night time. I wasn't sure if it was laziness or cold temps but the team didn't get Mamba open until about an hour after park opening. But it was well worth it! Mamba was really great! The layout is a smaller version of Steel Dragon 2000 and both front and back seat offered surprisingly good airtime. I think Mamba was the one where Morgan really got it right because their next coasters were - Steel Eeel, Steel Dragon 2000, and then Superman Ultimate Escape. Don't sleep on Mamba! Back over for more Prowler since we're here. Even early in the morning it was hauling, and we got a ton of rides in back to back! The flume looked like a lot of fun, would love to visit this park when CF invests in a new ride! Alright time, to get on the road to SDC! So final report: Patriot 1x Timberwolf 1x Mamba 2x Prowler 6x Worlds of Fun is an easy park to access flying into the KC airport. I'd love to visit again on the way to SDC and see more of the park in the daytime, it's really pretty. There's trees everywhere, a little Moroccan village, fun topiaries, and beautiful foliage everywhere. I know the park is getting some extra touches for their anniversary season so I can't wait to see how it looks!

It has not been running fine this season. It is mostly down and when it is open the lines are horrendous because they are only using one train. I was there yesterday and it was down right after it opened for the day, which was already short because the park didn't open until 2 pm. I was lucky to be walking by when it reopened at 4 pm and got in two rides. The first ride, we barely made it over the first hill, while the second time we shot over the first hill much faster. It seems to me the speed going over the first hill should be the same every time. I was asked at the parking booth if I had a reservation, but not at the gate.

DW is getting called out a lit right now by passholders for their seemingly “sudden” switch to making reservations required again. They really need to get their operations under control going into next “normal” year or they are going to further erode their “good guys” image. They seem like they have struggled this year to have a consistent operating message.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the first Axis coaster installed here. Especially since S&S said they've already sold one to a European park.

I cannot with this thread. I know it does suck that LR continues to be a problem for them but hopefully the steel re-tracking of the rest of the coaster will do the trick. IMO it's the best RMC creation by far (I'm only missing Hakugei and Wildfire) and I think it's pretty cynical to wish they'd just give up and rip it out. I'd literally rather have a LR that only operates 3 days out of the year in that spot than another soul-less B&M hyper I could fall asleep on. Luckily for the optimists, the park doesn't care what the cynics think and they continue to work on it. It may require some more iteration because that's just how the design process can be sometimes. Also somehow we've been lucky 7 out of 8 visits to the park since LR opened and been able to get pretty much as many rides as we've wanted. Last spring we were there for two days and got at least 30 rides on it. It was running great, didn't break down at all the two days we were there, and downtime according to Queue Times doesn't look to be *that* bad as some people make it out to be. I mean yeah, it sucks when you visit the park and it's down. i305 was down when we went to KD this year and that was a bummer. But I think it's really weird to be one of the people who are like "I'm not planning a visit until LR works all day, every day" because most of the time it does. Also, Dollywood is still awesome if LR is down. I've had better luck with LR's uptime than Millennium Force the past 5 years.

After using it, yes you are correct. I was wrong. Optimal strategy (for everyone else, not necessarily you since not everyone cares about Slinky in your group) at Hollywood Studios is to book Slinky at 7 (it will be gone by 7:01 on busy days), then book Falcon at 11 (assuming a 9am open) or sooner if you snagged an amazing time. The app will tell you when you can make another reservation if you go and try to do it and it won't allow it. Personally, our strategy was to not book Slinky and book Falcon at 7. I feel like I'm sucked into the hype of Slinky, but really, it's probably my 5th-or-so favorite ride in that park. Note: For resort guests who want Slinky, ideally you want two people up at 7am if you want Slinky... one to book slinky and one to book Rise. If one person is doing everything, they should grab Slinky first. There's not as much demand for Rise right at 7 because EVERYONE can book Slinky at 7 but only resort guests can book Rise. Then if you get there at resort guest early entry, also rope drop rise (or Slinky if you'd prefer for some reason).

246 foot hyper coaster incoming for the 23/24 season. Word is the model has inversions, too.

When I think of coasters that haul ass back into the station and definitely don't take 100 years to get there, I think of Tennessee Tornado. It seems like they struggle more and more every year with operating a theme park well, but you can say that for a lot of companies right now.

Some of those pics really hit me with the nostalgia from when I worked there as an airbrush artist in 2014. The skunk especially. Brings back memories of being warned by co-workers who'd worked there longer than me about coming across the skunks. I really do miss the park. Haven't gotten to visit since then. I haven't gotten to see the new entrance in person yet! They've done a lot of excellent work at prettifying the park over the last several years. Were they still using the score from Edward Scissorhands as part of the atmospheric music for Haunt? I haven't gotten to go during Haunt season since.... possibly close to 15 years? Can't remember, it's been that long. Loved reading your report! Looking forward to the SDC portion!

I always hope for any Broadway production to have a touring version, no matter what it is. I love Broadway musicals, but the only way I've gotten to enjoy any is when a movie was made of it (Phantom of the Opera; Sweeney Todd). The couple times I got to see a live production was when I had student discount tickets in college for the touring versions. Got to see Shrek and Beauty & the Beast. They were great! I wish more shows would tour.

^ Well, I am still hoping that some touring version of it comes to town. And that's true, they have re-opened on Broadway with a mash-up of the two separate plays, into one play.

"Anticipated opening summer of 2022" seems more accurate at this rate...

Well, I've only read it once, and that was when it was first released (2016), so I don't remember a whole lot. I just remember the feeling I had reading it, and that was... horror. It basically read like really bad fanfiction (like, seriously, the "bad guy" of the play feels ripped straight from TV Tropes and the main photo being used of the character makes them look like they're straight out of "My Immortal" [not the song]). It's pretty easy to find people's reviews of it online; fans who didn't like it are pretty vocal about it. I might read it again someday. Or maybe at least the revised version if they release that, 'cause apparently they're mushing together the two parts and making it just a single play?

I kind-of hope he does this. When he noted that if everyone who was so concerned with the future of this park, they should have bought it or even made an offer considering he was the only bidder he wasn't wrong. He's actually entirely right and if he puts it up for sale again and nobody bids again then it just makes all of this blowback seem even more ridiculous than it already did (if that's even possible).

Since I'll be in Jersey visiting family over Christmas I took a look at the park's website to maybe jump on a few coasters. I had to laugh when I saw Sandy's Blasting Bronco is currently listed a down for "annual maintenance" even though the ride hasn't been open a year.

World's First Wax Museum Coaster

Also... adding my 2 cents to the new coaster speculation: If you believe that Knott's is spending $20-30 million on a parking lot giga coaster, you haven't been paying attention to this park for the better part of a decade. The park has been putting nearly all its focus into the Seasons of Fun mentality of providing various seasonal activities & entertainment to drive repeat attendance. Literally as I'm typing right now, an ad popped up for Merry Farm that features the big tree plus a photo of the Saloon with Christmas lights on and snow. Not a single ride visible. The 100th Anniversary celebration that happened in 2021 was almost entirely entertainment driven, except for a family dark ride that leaned in to the park's history, nostalgia, and unique quirkiness. The coasters are still important, but they don't run the show anymore. Knott's stopped being part of the coaster wars quite a while ago. I think the park (correctly) realized that it's strength was not in trying to compete with Six Flags, but to offer something different. There are definitely some thrills to be had, but Knott's is about more than rides... there are experiences, shows, themed areas, history, and special food (which has exploded in the last couple years). This isn't the Dick Kinzel era anymore, and I would go so far as to say that Knott's *doesn't want* a massive hyper/giga. Hangtime is a fun addition to the park that gives thrill seekers something new, but it's also neatly placed into a footprint. Plus, they found a way to make it pull double duty with the light & music shows they program on it for Scary/Merry Farm.

I'm definitely not asking for a separate unload. The train just CRAWLS back into the station. At a pace that is just unacceptable, IMO. RMC could absolutely design a faster system. And it would probably improve speed of dispatch (whether running 1 or 2 trains) by a healthy bit. Just seems like it should be a priority of manufacturers and parks, as it is doesn't cost them anything in OPEX but improves the dispatches.

Our most recent video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVlGAtfViKc

In recent years there were rumors of a possible Taron-style Intamin coaster @Phantasialand (Blitz coaster) for Parque Warner, using the old simulator building and passing through various areas of the park. With the new shareholders of the Parques Reunidos group, this rumor gained more force, but it was still a rumor. In the last few months there has been a lot of news. On 10/18/21, the official document of the agenda of the City Council of San Martín de la Vega (town where the park is located) and in the matters of the call was found: "application for a license or urban authorization - major work license for the implementation of a roller coaster activity in Parque Warner " With this, the rumor becames "official". Rumors started about where the coaster could go: They started with marks on the ground. Trees have been cut down in Gotham Park (near La Venganza del Enigma drop tower) where the Halloween passage "La llorona" was located in recent years (film "The curse of La llorona"). The back of the simulator building has been demolished: Between La Venganza del Enigma drop tower and Scooby Doo dark ride, what look like supports for footers, ditches, and pipes have appeared. In this last weekend the old queues of La Venganza del Enigma, that were not used because they were for great attendance Old queues: The Batman logo has been removed from the simulator, topographic landmarks have appeared, and the rear of the simulator has been further demolished Comparison of the topographic landmarks of Parque Warner and those used in other constructions. There are already 4 in the park: entrance of the simulator building, next to the simulator queues, next to Scooy Doo and behind the scenes of the Batman stunt show. Supposedly it should using the simulator building, the rear and the Gotham Park part. All rumors. Photos of: LaMarDeParques forum

Yeah, this exactly... Hell, for one, I am excited to see some new talent behind what is RMC is doing if Schilke was driving most of the ride layouts. While I appreciate what he has done, I can't say I absolutely love Schilke's style with the repetitive barrel rollin', bucking-bull abrupt airtime, etc... So I look forward to some more dynamic, balanced rides coming out of RMC in the future.

Precisely this. The ONE ride I ever managed to get on it 2 years into it's existence I thought it was meh and to my surprise it rode horribly rough for a still new coaster and I thought how the park could have better benefited from a B&M Hyper in that spot with all the issues they have had. That was in 2018. Fast forward to 2021 and I still feel validated on my impressions. Naturally the ride closed for the day right after I got my first and only ride on it.

I completely agree. It's surprising that anyone would defend Lighting Rod, RMC, or even DW at this point over this issue. It has been so many years, and this ride has flopped through every single season. Tearing all or most of it out would actually be a good idea, despite it being a great ride when it is (rarely) open. It's just an operations and public relations nightmare to have a star attraction that can't be open consistently and frequently has major malfunctions. The comments DW has received from guests upset about LR being down over the years says enough. It's not just enthusiasts complaining, it's everyone. I do understand wanting to be positive and wishing the park and all involved the best, but after 5 years it's time to admit they don't know what they are doing and the ride will never work reliably as intended. Save as much of the structure as possible and bring in someone else to re-imagine this ride. In general, DW and HFEC should stop investing in inventive/prototype/first-of-their-kind rides and just build quality, reliable, high capacity rides. Bring in B&M to do all their coasters from now on.

This is major rather you'd like to consider a "family" coaster major or not. Hagrids is considered a family coaster, Everest is considered a family coaster. . . don't let the word "family" confuse you or diminish these attractions that still cost millions.

^And they lost me at Virtual Reality Snorkeling!