Worlds of Fun (WOF) Discussion Thread

[CoasterChaos]

Yeah it's too bad. Hopefully not very much more of this stuff will happen.

[tinaalsgirl]

I was pretty excited back in '14 when they brought back the train robbery, which I'd never experienced there at WOF.... Gotta say, though, I wasn't too impressed when compared to SDC's skit. Are they still doing it there at WOF? Do they still have those characters roaming the park in an old-fashioned car? They'd go by the airbrush stand every once in a while and they seemed to be having a lot of fun interacting with the kids. I was really happy to see some kind of roaming entertainers at the park. Hope they're still doing that.

[WOFanatic]

Good news and bad news.

 

Good news: Ed Alonzo will be returning to the park for Halloween Haunt.

 

Bad news: Steelhawk got stuck twice today.

[prozach626]

But even then, they should be getting better training for how to deal with park guests.

 

Yeah, but I don't know training that can fix bad attitudes and poor work ethic.

[Shavethewhales]

It seems like last year I heard a story on NPR about WOF's operations and it sounded like they really had their ducks in a row. Did they have a change-up in management this year?

 

Good to hear about Ed Alonzo, he had a fairly interesting show.

 

I'm probably going to be one of those GP people who stays away from SteelHawk now. That's the one ride type I'd absolutely hate to get stuck on.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

My experience so far has been that ride ops have been fantastic, but food service has not. I worked in food service for 7 years in high school and college, so I've seen it all, and WoF has the same problems that any fast food place has, with employees being distracted while I'm ordering, relying on muscle memory so that I get a burger made with all the normal toppings and not how I ordered it. That sort of thing.

 

In a job that repetitive, your brain just kind of shuts off. If you only serve four things, then you will only hear all day those four words spoken to you, so it's jarring when you hear different words. So it's not necessarily that they're dumb or lazy or not listening (though I worked with plenty of people for whom that was an apt description). The point is that even the good ones kind of get into a groove where their actions are all automatic. That's the nature of fast food service.

[michaellynn4]

But even then, they should be getting better training for how to deal with park guests.

 

Yeah, but I don't know training that can fix bad attitudes and poor work ethic.

 

Exactly. Only way to minimize that is more selective and effective hiring practices.

[MidwestThemeParks]

I'm probably going to be one of those GP people who stays away from SteelHawk now. That's the one ride type I'd absolutely hate to get stuck on.

 

I've ridden SteelHawk and Windseeker (Cedar Point) once apiece and I think it would be kind of a fun ride to get stuck on. Maybe not at the top of the ride, but if it was about half-way up on a day that's not windy, it would be kind of fun. Especially at CP with those amazing views.

[SFOG1991]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

[WOF_Fan]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

 

He has been at Worlds of Fun the past two years for Haunt. The last two years the show was similar.

[SFOG1991]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

 

He has been at Worlds of Fun the past two years for Haunt. The last two years the show was similar.

Honestly I would be fine with seeing the exact same show again. It has been a few years since I saw it.

[WOFanatic]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

If you can hold back a trip for HAUNT, always do it. Worlds of Fun has probably the second best event in the Cedar Fair chain and Ed only makes it better. And from what I've heard, the show is different from the Psycho Circus show.

[Jaykethekid]

My experience so far has been that ride ops have been fantastic, but food service has not. I worked in food service for 7 years in high school and college, so I've seen it all, and WoF has the same problems that any fast food place has, with employees being distracted while I'm ordering, relying on muscle memory so that I get a burger made with all the normal toppings and not how I ordered it. That sort of thing.

 

In a job that repetitive, your brain just kind of shuts off. If you only serve four things, then you will only hear all day those four words spoken to you, so it's jarring when you hear different words. So it's not necessarily that they're dumb or lazy or not listening (though I worked with plenty of people for whom that was an apt description). The point is that even the good ones kind of get into a groove where their actions are all automatic. That's the nature of fast food service.

The ride ops have been kinda slow this season, but they are all happy, energetic, and pretty funny which makes waiting longer due to the slow operations a little less painful. The best operations this season seems to be on mamba, especially with one of the ride's crew. They race each other to unlock and check the restraints, it's pretty funny.

[SFOG1991]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

If you can hold back a trip for HAUNT, always do it. Worlds of Fun has probably the second best event in the Cedar Fair chain and Ed only makes it better. And from what I've heard, the show is different from the Psycho Circus show.

Thanks! Great info.

 

Unfortunately I want to go the first weekend of August because Silver Dollar City is open until midnight that Saturday ...if only I could swing that trip twice! Decisions, decisions...

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

If you can hold back a trip for HAUNT, always do it. Worlds of Fun has probably the second best event in the Cedar Fair chain and Ed only makes it better. And from what I've heard, the show is different from the Psycho Circus show.

Thanks! Great info.

 

Unfortunately I want to go the first weekend of August because Silver Dollar City is open until midnight that Saturday ...if only I could swing that trip twice! Decisions, decisions...

Oh yeah, you want to go for SDC's Midnight Madness. Since all their coasters are out in the woods, night rides are amazing, and they're only available for two weeks in the summer, and on random warm days during Nov and Dec. Good choice, though I will second that WoF's Halloween stuff is pretty great.

[SFOG1991]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

If you can hold back a trip for HAUNT, always do it. Worlds of Fun has probably the second best event in the Cedar Fair chain and Ed only makes it better. And from what I've heard, the show is different from the Psycho Circus show.

Thanks! Great info.

 

Unfortunately I want to go the first weekend of August because Silver Dollar City is open until midnight that Saturday ...if only I could swing that trip twice! Decisions, decisions...

Oh yeah, you want to go for SDC's Midnight Madness. Since all their coasters are out in the woods, night rides are amazing, and they're only available for two weeks in the summer, and on random warm days during Nov and Dec. Good choice, though I will second that WoF's Halloween stuff is pretty great.

I love theme parks at night and coasters in the dark woods so that is a must do for me! I wish more parks stayed open later... It's sad to see parks close at 9 or 10pm just after all the nice lights come on and the air outside cools off. It's really a bummer and I wish all parks could be open until midnight every night honestly.

[WOFanatic]

Hearing that Ed will be at Worlds of Fun makes me want to push back my potential trip. I saw him at Kings Island and he was wonderful (he was also great during Britney Spears's Circus Tour back in 2009).

 

Does anyone know if he do the same show as he did back at KI or does he change it up?

If you can hold back a trip for HAUNT, always do it. Worlds of Fun has probably the second best event in the Cedar Fair chain and Ed only makes it better. And from what I've heard, the show is different from the Psycho Circus show.

Thanks! Great info.

 

Unfortunately I want to go the first weekend of August because Silver Dollar City is open until midnight that Saturday ...if only I could swing that trip twice! Decisions, decisions...

Oh yeah, you want to go for SDC's Midnight Madness. Since all their coasters are out in the woods, night rides are amazing, and they're only available for two weeks in the summer, and on random warm days during Nov and Dec. Good choice, though I will second that WoF's Halloween stuff is pretty great.

I love theme parks at night and coasters in the dark woods so that is a must do for me! I wish more parks stayed open later... It's sad to see parks close at 9 or 10pm just after all the nice lights come on and the air outside cools off. It's really a bummer and I wish all parks could be open until midnight every night honestly.

I'd go in September. Although night rides on Outlaw Run are great, haunted houses are better, if that's your thing. Kansas City also has 2 of the biggest and best haunted houses in the country, if that interests you.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I don't know. I've been to WoF's Haunt, and it's great, but Outlaw Run at night is ridiculous fun. I'm seriously looking forward to going myself the end of this month.

[FSUFanChris]

I'm old. I only know Ed Alonzo as Max.

[theminislimshady]

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I planned a worlds of fun trip. I plan on driving down there in the next few weeks with some friends. We will stay fron opening time to closing time. What day of the week can we expect to be the least busy? I was thinking of going on a Monday or Tuesday. Any advice would be appreciated! If it's worth noting, I live in Omaha so it's about a 3 hour drive.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I've never been to WoF on a Tuesday, but we have taken a 3 day weekend and gone on a Monday in the summer. On those days it's dead. Anyone who's there is at the waterpark, and most rides are very short waits or even walk ons. I have no idea if Tuesdays would be the same, but I would imagine they couldn't be worse.

[Kaden4552]

On Monday its dead I went last week and every ride was a walk on. Since your staying to closing it might pick up a little bit once OOF closes. But it should still not be that busy.

[Jaykethekid]

Most weekdays excluding fridays will mainly be exactly the same. If the weather is really nice, it could get a bit busier. IF you can stand heat, go on the hottest day of the week. If the temperature is above 100 degrees, you will pretty much have the park to yourself.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Today is the day. We have been watching our son grow ever closer to that most magical of childhood milestones, 4 feet tall. We measured him ourselves at home earlier in the week, and we realized the truth.

 

We had been planning a trip to Worlds of Fun this weekend, so this was perfect timing. Yesterday we focused on Oceans of Fun, and spent most of our time at the Coconut Cove pool. My youngest is now 42", so she tried out the Aruba Tuba double slide. She liked the slide itself, but not the splash down. She does like all the Paradise Falls slides, so we had a good time. A thunderstorm rolled through about 5:30, and we were tired from a long hot day, so we left.

 

Today was the day for Worlds of Fun. First order of business was the magical wristband. We went to Guest Services and were measured. The employee had to measure him twice to be sure, but there was no doubt about it. The +1 Bracelet of Greater Coaster Smiting was ours. Minimum level to equip: 48".

 

Dude. You are in for an awesome day.

 

We had arrived at opening, so we started with an old favourite, Spinning Dragons. If you're going to ride this one, you have to get it in early. Like previous visits, it spun profusely and produced laughter in large quantities. Unlike previous visits, it was not the only big coaster we can ride.

 

Next we went to Prowler and walked on to the front row. This would be the first of many walk ons today. Evan had ridden Screamin' Eagle, so Prowler isn't too much of a step up. It was awesome! It's hard to tell with a non-verbal kid, but Evan seems to like wooden coasters better than steel. I judge by facial expressions and the volume of noises he makes. Prowler produced very loud giggles and very big grins the whole time. I think it's a new favourite.

 

Skipping Boomerang, we went to Fury of the Nile. This ride spins more than most rapids rides I've been on, and I think that's most of its appeal to Evan. Plus, it was hot today, so even at 10:30, we were ready to cool off.

 

Next up was Mamba. This is twice as tall as any coaster Evan had ridden so far. It's visible all over the park, and he's been pointing at it for a while now, but it's a big step up for him. The first half he was just hanging on, but he liked the helix (I've noticed that helices are one of his favourite elements), and the bunny hops at the end are where the smile broke out. When we hit the brakes, he smiled and said "Whoa!" It was fun if a bit intense.

 

Timber Wolf was up next. It was hard to say whether he liked this or Prowler more. Timber Wolf's rough second half was better than the newly retracked section. Interesting, but not too surprising to me.

 

I don't do spinning rides, so we skipped Cyclone Sam's. My wife generally likes spinning rides, but she won't go on that one again.

 

That left Detonator as the last new ride. I'm not sure he liked it. He wasn't afraid of it, more bewildered by what had just happened.

 

We then made our way back around, reriding Mamba and Prowler and hitting up Monsoon, Scandi Scrambler, Viking Voyager, and Grand Carrousel to finish off the day.

What's behind Timberwall?

Genie lift THROUGH THE TREES!

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Timber Wolf was okay. Giant freakin' puddle is where it's at!

Boomerang doing its thing.

It's a trap!

This guy was chomping on an actual birds' nest. The youth of today have no respect for their elders.

I have a theory about the Mamenchisaurus.

All Mamenchisaurus are thin at one end...

...much, much thicker in the middle...

...and thin again at the far end.

But why you really come back here is for awesome views of Prowler like this one!

Oh yeah, and T. Rex. Because T. Rex is awesome.

And then on to new adventures.

Uh...fossil guys? You missed one.

Our first new conquest of the day!

[prozach626]

Nice TR. It was interesting to see a park's perspective more through a father's eyes.