Worlds of Fun (WOF) Discussion Thread

[robbalvey]

TV's Saved By the Bell Magician Headlines at Halloween Haunt

Kansas City, Mo.: Worlds of Fun is thrilled to debut a new show for the upcoming Halloween Haunt season, Ed Alonzo's Psycho Circus of Magic and Mayhem. The comedy and magic show will horrify and make audiences laugh with its staggering stunts and bizarre shock magic that is only offered at Worlds of Fun's Halloween Haunt

 

Alonzo is known for his role on the hit television sitcom Saved by the Bell (1989 to 1990) as Max, the proprietor/magician of the local restaurant hangout 'The Max.' Alonzo is currently on the CW's Masters of Illusion set to premier this fall. The self-proclaimed "Misfit of Magic" is a two-time recipient of the "Stage Magician of the Year" and "Comedy Magician of the Year" awards from the internationally recognized Academy of Magical Arts (AMA).

 

"The addition of Ed Alonzo's Psycho Circus will certainly epitomize Haunt. It's definitely different than any other show we've had during Halloween Haunt in the past. Ed's daytime Saturday and Sunday shows will be more geared towards a family audience and the Friday and Saturday night shows will enthrall as well as appall more mature audiences, " said Frank Wilburn, Vice President and General Manager.

 

In addition to Ed Alonzo's Psycho Circus, Worlds of Fun unveils a new Extreme Haunt, The Boneyard. The keepers of The Boneyard will haunt the underworlds of the park, while feeding on the marrow of the living.

 

During the day Worlds of Fun has dozens of scare-free activities including the addition of the Howl-O-Fest Petting Zoo; but as darkness falls, fear rises. Witness the Overlord as he calls his army of over 400 monsters in Hollywood-caliber make-up to transform Worlds of Fun into Halloween Haunt.

 

Wilburn adds, "Being labeled the 'Midwest's Largest Halloween Event' is a big deal to us and we pride ourselves on delivering that unique scare and unique experience to every single customer. For hundreds of miles, nowhere else can guests ride all the rides, witness 400 monsters lurking fog-filled midways and receive all the big-time scares we deliver at Halloween Haunt."

 

Worlds of Fun's Halloween Haunt runs weekends from September 13 through November 2, 2014.

[xXCcsc918Xx]

I wish WOF Gets an airtime machine in 2016/2017

[ProwlerPrey]

Interesting, I believe he was at Valleyfair this summer when I visited (didn't see the show though). I hope it goes well.

 

Also, I was looking through the WOF website and they're now offering a 3rd level of Fright Lane passes, the Fright Lane Max.

https://www.worldsoffun.com/halloween-haunt/experiences

[RCjunkie]

^ Yes, he was at Valleyfair this summer. The show he did at VF was worth seeing once and entertaining. Hopefully the same goes for his show at WOF.

[prozach626]

 

I feel like WoF kind of got the shaft with not going with B&M for Mamba and then getting one of the most, if not THE most, forceless Inverts. However, Prowler was a win and I'm sure the next addition will be a winner as well.

 

When MAMBA was built, 1998, B&M had yet to build a hyper/speed coaster. The first(s) in their portfolio (Ragin' Bull and Apollo's Chariot) were not constructed until the following season (1999) thus it makes no sense to expect Cedar Fair to use B&M for that project.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I should have checked my facts, but I assumed Mamba was a lot newer than it actually is. That being the case, it was a pretty solid addition for 98.

 

I still disagree when referring to Patriot, but that's all subjective.

[Geauga Dog]

Saw Ed Alonzo at Kings Island at last year's Haunt - excellent show. Some of the things he said during the show may not be suitable for smaller kids' ears but overall it was very entertaining.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

^Then again, Haunt is ALSO not recommended for smaller kids. He doesn't say anything that isn't suitable for the audience that should be there.

[Fingers]

I am curious if anyone tried the skeleton key last year. I am contemplating getting it this year, but would like to know what the bonus rooms entail and if it is worth it over just the regular fright lane. I don't need a detailed description of the bonus rooms, but would like an generic overview of the rooms. Thanks in advance for any help

[Rollercoaster Rider]

 

I feel like WoF kind of got the shaft with not going with B&M for Mamba and then getting one of the most, if not THE most, forceless Inverts. However, Prowler was a win and I'm sure the next addition will be a winner as well.

 

When MAMBA was built, 1998, B&M had yet to build a hyper/speed coaster. The first(s) in their portfolio (Ragin' Bull and Apollo's Chariot) were not constructed until the following season (1999) thus it makes no sense to expect Cedar Fair to use B&M for that project.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I should have checked my facts, but I assumed Mamba was a lot newer than it actually is. That being the case, it was a pretty solid addition for 98.

 

I still disagree when referring to Patriot, but that's all subjective.

 

 

Also DH Morgan and Cedar Fair probably had a 3-Ride Contract (Wild Thing, Steel Force, Mamba) and Mamba is the best IMO out of the 3. (Which isn't saying to much)

[jacksonmmartin]

I've always hoped that B&M would come in and build an Orient Express 2.0. Floorless trains and all. Maybe instead of that MCBR it could have a Cobra Roll? Orient Express's station is still there. I guess I am just dreaming.

[chadster]

Saw Ed Alonzo at Kings Island at last year's Haunt - excellent show. Some of the things he said during the show may not be suitable for smaller kids' ears but overall it was very entertaining.

 

The moose out front says that the evening shows are adult oriented. I saw him Saturday at WOF and thought he was funny as hell.

 

In other news....land clearing is underway....beside Thunderhawk behind the games buildings....I'll come out of semi-retirement and post a one-off PTR later.

[CaliforniaPinto]

The land clearing is for a permanent haunt that was to open this year but thanks to wonderful bureaucratic red tape got delayed until next season.

[rage88]

N/A

Edited May 12, 2015 by rage88

[Jaykethekid]

Pretty large considering haunt ha started.

[Whodey]

I will also be there on 9/26 but only want to ride coasters? I Know at KI there are hour long waits for all the coasters during the haunt. Is the same true at WOF? Will a Fast Pass be needed to get all coasters in a couple hours?

[Shavethewhales]

I'd also like to know what type of waits are we really talking about here. I ended up shifting my plans to be there this weekend also, but if lines for all the coasters are going to be over and hour long all night I might reconsider. I was hoping since it was still September things wouldn't be too crazy yet.

[CaliforniaPinto]

Lines up to until 4pm will be manageable. Once the Twilight admission time hits you will start to see crowds grow up until 7pm when the Haunts open. Then it will get ridiculous. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting the Fright Lane Pass if you want to do the Haunts. The lines will grow up to 2+hrs for the more popular ones (Asylum, London Terror, Cornstalkers, Zombie High). IMHO the $40 for the basic pass is worth it. I can fly through all of the extreme Haunts, see the magic show and be out of the park before 11pm. I personally feel my time is worth more than waiting in line and not getting to see it all, but everyone is on different budgets.

 

Have fun.

[Whodey]

What about coaster lines on Friday when the park open at 6 pm?

[CaliforniaPinto]

Kind of a hit and miss on Friday nights. The lines will never be to the levels that they would be on a Saturday.

The one thing that you will need to realize is that the amount of screamsters in the mazes and scare zones will be greatly reduced -- so you will not have the "full experience" like you would on a Saturday.

[Shavethewhales]

Had a great day at WOF yesterday. I've never really given this park enough credit, it really is well put together and has a great selection of rides and stuff to do. I got in a ton of rides on pretty much everything and went through several haunts even though it was a fairly busy day. Like CaliforniaPinto advised earlier, the crowds were pretty-light until about 4pm when the Haunt-focused crowd started to set in. After that there were some fairly large lines, but they fluctuate with time. Everyone wants to get their rides in from about 4pm till the start of Haunt, then the lines for the haunts go crazy but the lines for the rides start to go down. The lines for Haunt are pretty much insane for the first few hours, but by 11pm they really started to go down, and by midnight they were very manageable, though there were still some good crowds for them.

 

Anyway, as far as my reactions to the coasters go:

 

I found Mamba to be much better than I expected. I love a good out and back hyper coaster, and this one has a great setup of big drops, a nice helix with headchoppers, and awesome airtime filled bunnyhops. Only thing it's missing is a tunnel to make it perfect.

 

Boomerang was great. This was actually my first standard boomerang, and I wasn't expecting it to be much good based on the reports about them that I've been reading for the past decade. I don't know if this one is just particularly well maintained or what, but it was smooth and really enjoyable. You've got to hand it to the boomerang design, it really is was an ingenious innovation that packs the best parts of a looping coaster into a tiny area.

 

Patriot was good, but I wasn't exactly blown away by it. For some reason Patriot doesn't feel like a big coaster even though it's got a 123ft drop. It's a good quality ride for sure, but it seems like it doesn't really reach it's full potential or something.

 

Timber Wolf was just staggeringly horrible. It's would be hillarious watching the car in front of you bounce up and down and side to side and seeing everyone's heads wobble back and forth... if the same thing wasn't happening even more violently to your car! I'm surprised the train can make it back to the station with all the energy it looses bouncing around. I rode it in the front seat once and that was almost tolerable save for the jackhammering, but the farther back you go the worse it gets. I'm actually surprised this ride is still allowed to operate. Genuinely surprised. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

I rode Prowler a couple of times first thing when I got to the park, and then a couple of times around midnight. When I rode it during the day I thought it was just 'OK', I watched this thing be built five years ago and remembered all the rave reviews, so I was a little let down since it was rattling somewhat badly. However, when I went back to ride it at night, it was a whole different beast. It seems like it smooths out and gets faster over the course of the day somehow, and riding it in the dark is fantastic. It could use a little track work, but it's still got what it takes to be a fantastic wooden coaster.

 

Cyclone Sam's was awesome. I didn't even know what this ride was when I got in line, and I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely a must ride on every trip to WOF.

 

Also rode the train, enterprise, detonator and the spinning coaster and they were all pretty good.

 

This was my first time to experience a serious Halloween event at any park as well. I knew the parks always made a big deal about it, but I didn't know how much there was too it. I really liked the scare actors and spook zones all over the park. The Haunts were cool too, but the lines were just insane. Most of them were well over an hour, and the haunt passes really noticeably slow the lines down which makes everyone in the normal lines grouchy. I waited something like an hour and a half for Asylum, and while I wouldn't wait that long again for any haunt, it was a good one. I also did the slaughterhouse themed one and the london themed one. It was all pretty fun, but there's only so many times people can make sudden noises around you until you start to become immune. I did get one good scare in one of the haunts when someone came out of no where and got right in my face.

 

I definitely advise staying as long as possible. Like I said, I wouldn't want to wait an hour and half for a haunt again, nor do I want to pay another $55 to get a pass for something I've already paid for once, so I recommend just waiting the crowds out. Half the crowds leave by 11:30, so the haunts will only have waits of around half an hour or less (from what I could tell). Stick to the rides and the scare zones for the first couple of hours and then start with the less popular haunts first.

[Jaykethekid]

I went yesterday and noticed the same thing with mamba, it's never EVER been that crazy good. The mcbr has never been that light. When you get airtime off the brakes that means your in for one hellish ride. The amount of airtime on it really made up for being swarmed with wasps on the lift but seriously mamba blew me away yesterday, and I could see why it was number nine in the golden ticket awards when it opened. It was a bit rough, but didn't bother me.

Boomerang effin sucked.

Timberwolf was actually pretty fun, not as rough until we rode in the second row. Ouch but the air was fun.

Prowler disappointed me and I don't know why

Detonator seemed a lot weaker than normal

[Fingers]

Well here goes my first attempt at a trip report. I went to Worlds of Fun 9/27/14 and here are my quick thoughts on the day. The perfect weather and it being a haunt weekend caused it to be quite busy especially around 4 with almost all rides boasting a full queue. There were also a few hundred people from Altec at the park and they were all really nice except for the several that became extremely drunk by the end of the night. I will go through the rides in order that we did them and give a quick thought on each

 

Patriot- A solid ride, is about the best I can say for it. It's not very thrilling or intense but still a pretty fun ride. It was my first ride of the day and the only ride I had on it.

Detonator- This was my next ride of the day and it may be a short tower, but it is really fun due to the mass amounts of airtime you get.

Autobahn- We rode this ride simply because there was no line and is just a terrible bumper cars ride due to the fact you have to drive in a circle

Le TaxiTour- Stopped here for a nice relaxing ride and to get a good look at one of the mazes we will be doing later London Terror

Boomerang- We decided to stop here next due to there being no line and we knew this wouldn't happen again. It's a standard boomerang and like all others it is worth one ride per visit if there is a minimal line.

Mamba- This year the ride was much better. There was some airtime on the bunny hills, not a lot though. The little air made the ride much better than previous years. The ride did have a wasp problem on the lift hill just like Prowler and Timber Wolf. We rode this ride 3 times, twice later in the night when the queue was almost full and both of those waits were 20-30mins

Prowler- There was quite the line because they were only running one train. The ride itself was very good and the night rides were amazing with the darkness and fog. The on-ride photo makes the ride so much better at night as it blinds you for part of the ride. Sadly only got one day ride as there was only one train operation and breakdowns throughout the afternoon, but scored 3 night rides.

Steel Hawk- I am a huge fan of these rides as they offer great views, good way to cool down on hot days, and are all around very relaxing. Got a day and night ride, both were relaxing and offered nice views. The did suffer a breakdown in the afternoon which caused it be down for a few hours.

Timber Wolf- Very fun, but very rough. I rode it 3 times all in the front and one of those at night. The front seat is a must as it makes it ride-able and don't lean back on the back rest. Every time I rode this I couldn't stop laughing as I was having so much fun on the ride.

Worlds of Fun Railroad- Just an ordinary train ride nothing much to say about it. The employees were very nice and seemed to like their job so that made the experience pretty good.

Ed Alonzo's Psycho Circus (datytime show)- Very entertaining but was a little short for my taster 20-25mins. If you like magic shows then you will like this show.

 

Haunt- We got fright lane plus and it was worth it. The bonus rooms were ok, but the scaractors and the characters they portrayed were amazing. This report will be spoiler free on those rooms but will hint at what the rooms are, but if people want to know more details let me know. Most haunts were an 1hr-1.5hr waits but were basically a walk on with fright lane. They say overlords awakening is at 7:30 but things start happening at 7. Around 7 music starts playing and the scaractors start to come out move through the crowd of people watching the awakening. There are many good scares to be seen during this time and is one of the highlights of the event.

 

Chamber of Horrors- 2nd ones through the maze and we loved it. There were plenty of great scares and the theming was great. I liked how you went through 2 buildings and they each had a different feel to them.

 

Corn Stalkers- I still like the concept and execution of this maze. I like the narrow walk ways which provide some good scares, but it did feel like they were short on scaractors as you could see spots where they should be. The bonus room here was pretty funny, but very gross.

 

Asylum- Probably my favorite maze. It felt very long and provided good scares. The strobe light and fog maze at the end always gets me so confused as to where I am going. Bonus room was my favorite of all and it involved you becoming someones pet.

 

Bloodshed- Not scary, very short, but had one great spot where there is someone carrying a live snake. Bonus room is just based on being gross.

 

London terror- Not too scary but very good atmosphere and felt like it had a decent length. The bonus room was based on Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde it was funny but could be seen as very gross to some.

 

Zombie High- Felt short and there were no scares to be had. The rooms and makeup looked cool but that is about the only good things I can say about it. Zombies just don't make a scary maze and they just move slow and don't have any moments that make you jump and think what is going on.

 

Lore of the Vampire- Good length, but please get rid of this one. There is some cool props but nothing in there could be considered scary. The only thing that could even get a jump out of anyone would be the train horn, but that has the downfall of if you are in the wrong spot when that goes off you will be deaf for a few minutes. The bonus room here is very bleh and forgettable.

 

Scare Zones- Nothing good to say about any of them. Bone yard makes no sense to me, carnevil is out of the way and too open for a scare zone, and outlaw revenge is also in just too open of an area.

 

Overall I had a great experience and my only advice to anyone going is to get fright lane. Also sorry for this report for being so long. And here is a picture of the nice entrance theming

[Jaykethekid]

You must have just barely missed mamba running good. It was full ejector on the bunny hills. It was awesome. I like windseekers to, they are relaxing and the on'y part that makes a bit of thrill is the height. I like it

[Vonni]

After what most consider a very disappointing new addition for 2015 I can't help but wonder if it means we are getting something BIG for 2016?

[Sharman19]

After what most consider a very disappointing new addition for 2015 I can't help but wonder if it means we are getting something BIG for 2016?

Hopefully a B&M that the GP won't consider forceless.