bdarks

Man I forgot all about this park. Only visited once, but it was a pretty cool experience, although it didn't start out that way. When I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Riley, KS in the mid 90s, a few buddies and myself decided to drive to KC and hit Worlds of Fun one Saturday on pretty much a spur of the moment deal. We make the two hour drive only to find as we approached the park on 435 a huge banner on display welcoming visitors to McDonnell Douglas Family Day. Much to our dismay, it also pointed out that the park was closed to the general public as a result. My buddies prepared to accept defeat and begin the return trip back to Ft. Riley, but I had an idea. Being a military air traffic controller, I had my FAA card on me and I figured with that and a little creative banter I might just be able to bluff our way in. We parked, I went up to the customer service building and innocently stated that as an FAA consultant, I was invited but did not receive any tickets and assumed they were to be picked up at the park. The attendant asked for ID, I turned over my driver's license and FAA card, and after conferring with what I assume was a supervisor, 3 tickets were printed and we were on our way inside. Not only did we not have to pay entry, but there were no crowds to speak of at all. On the Timberwolf we ran right up to the train, and upon reentry to the station, the attendant would ask if we wanted to go again. After three such rotations, my body couldn't hack it anymore and I had to get off. A catered lunch was also provided in the pavilion area, again at no cost. The only negative aspect of the whole shebang was getting stuck on one the rides with a couple of arrogant and smart mouthed kids whose daddies were high level McDonnell Douglas executives and wanted everyone to know it. But hey, all in all, a helluva day!