Mega Photo TR: Worlds of Fun & Oceans of Fun

[Emiroo]

Every year I have to spend two weeks in the Kansas City area on business. I usually have one free day during the trip and every year I take that day and visit World of Fun. This is my sixth visit and each time I love the park more and more. However because it is smack dab in middle America, it doesn’t get quite the coverage it deserves. This TR aims to fix that. So without further ado, I give you a complete walkthrough (If I missed anything, cut me some slack. This isn’t my home park.) of both Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun.

There's nothing quite like the feeling you get when you first see a park on the horizon. Gets me every time!

We've made it! Okay Cedar Fair, enough with the dinosaurs already! Are they really that popular?

First ride of the day: The Gouger! You'll be $15 lighter after riding.

First ones here! First ones here! Well not really, but we did good.

This path leads you to a new World of Fun. Please notice all the trees and greenery. This will be a theme.

Passengers if you look to your right, you'll see a few of the many treets in store for you soon. Get it? "Treets"! I kill me.

I see booths! We're getting close.

More dinosaurs? Really? I'm still choking on the one you crammed down my throat at the park entrance.

The main gates.

Current Prices. You now get both parks for one price. That's new as of last year.

They used to not let anyone past here until after opening, but not today. Let's go in!

Just in case you had any funny ideas, this blurry sign warns you about something or the other.

Here's the entry plaza. As Mel Brooks once said, "Everything's so greeeen!"

Handy park information board. You'll find these throughout the park.

Need Fast Lane? They've got it and it works at the waterpark too.

Waiting for the rope drop aka barrier removal.

See the enthused game workers headed to their posts. Wish I had been 10 seconds sooner - there was a group of about 20 of them that were in a herd.

Some performers came and entertained us with trivia questions while we waited for opening.

Here's the Grand Carousel

Nice detail work on the horses.

Grand Carousel facts.

Viking Voyager is the park's flume ride and is hard to get a shot of due to trees.

Here's a shot of Viking Voyager I managed from the train.

Halloweekend prep was beginning. I heard several GP talking about it being "gross".

Here's the Bamboozler. It spins around in case you were wondering.

Spinning Dragons right next to a Panda Express. I see what they did there...

Most of the track Layout

Here comes a car.

Here's another angle. They were still testing at this point so no riders yet.

Upskirt shot of Rip Cord, the park's Sky Flyer.

Here are two people getting ready to fly. The swing comes VERY close to the midway. It's cool.

This is new and the bomb! Did you know you can buy a Coke Freestyle machine for your home for less than $2K? They get you with the syrup refills though.

Here's the park's ferris wheel: Skyliner

A solid ride, but definitely shows it's age. Still gives great views!

My favorite ride in the park: Patriot. Isn't it mandatory everyone with a camera has to take this shot?

I think the person waiting in the test seat's party forgot about them.

I'm using a cell phone to take a picture of a sign warning me not to lose my phone on the ride. I love irony.

Pro Tip: Try to visit parks after local schools are back in session. Then you are greeted with stations like this.

Even if they weren't in session, Patriot is a people eater.

Going up...

Coming down and around.

Patriot has my favorite paint job of any coaster. That white racing strip is SO sexy! How come nobody else does that?

Patriot was my first B&M, my first inverted and my first coaster with inversions. It will always have a special place in my heart.

New for 2014 is Steel Hawk. It looks great and can obviously be seen from anywhere in the park.

It goes even higher than the many trees at the park.

I timed it and it only stays at the very top for 20 seconds. The whole ride cycle is about two and a half minutes though.

This yellow cage is what they use to rescue people if Steel Hawk gets stuck. It didn't see any action today though.

You can puff up your cheeks you can stick out your stomach but you're not going to fool the guesser! (It's a profit deal.)

A lovely setting for a theme park strip mall.

Here's a peek inside one of the stores.

Here's Timber Wolf. If you ride it defensively you might just dislike it. It you ride it any other way, Heaven help you.

This sign always makes me laugh.

This sign is new since last year. I wonder what's up.

Timber Wolf has a Chicken Exit. I love Chicken Exits. Though in this case, it should be called "Smart Person's Exit."

Okay, Let's get this over with.

Sure, they're smiling now...

Let the amateur spinal adjustments begin!

Hey tree, get out of my way! I'm trying to get a shot of the train.

As it often is, Thunder Hawk was down today. Even when it's running, they use a pretty tame cycle. 3-5 flips max and the fountains never work.

Cyclone Sam's CloudPoofer 2000. There's a Chance Wipeout in here. I almost barfed.

If you like spinning, this one also has some cool sound and lighting effects. Not to mention you ride mostly in complete darkness.

Detonator. A very nice S&S Double Shot Tower.

These people can't wait to get shot.

At one time this was the nation's tallest and only twin double shot. I'm not sure if it still has the record.

Here's the family care center for those who need to give their families special care...and air conditioning.

Worlds of Fun has an outstanding Planet Snoopy.

I just love forced perspective. Unfortunately, this Snoopy isn't as tall as Mamba.

Kiddie Credit

Red Baron

Just in case you forgot where you were.

More kiddie rides.

Kiddie rides for as far as the eye can see!

Snoopy Boutique is hands down the best shop in the park.

Here's a small peek inside and this only shows a fraction it. It also contains a children's theater where the characters put on a show.

Now what is wrong with this picture? Here's a hint: It rhymes with "shminosaur".

See you later Planet Snoopy!

Speaking of characters...

Right after I took this, Snoopy challenged me to a dance-off. I accepted and was destroyed. Snoopy does a flawless running man!

The cryptically named Scrambler

There's always lots of screaming from this one. I wonder why.

Fjord Fjarlane. No I don't know how to pronounce it correctly either. I believe this was founder Lamar Hunt's favorite ride.

I wish I was big.

Le Tour Taxi aka Antique Cars

Lots of cars. Lots of trees.

Coming around the bend.

Here's the long trek over towards Mamba. Let's look at the trees along the way. You can also see the entrance to the Outdoor Amphitheater on the right.

Everyone knows the Nile is the most furious of all rivers.

It was down for repairs here but was back up later. Good thing too because it was HOT outside.

There's more than one coaster in this picture.

Mamba! It's not just for dance floors anymore. If you are old school like me, you also remember the candy.

Mamba kept going down all day, so when it was open the station looked like this. I got the best ride I've ever had on it though, immediately after which it went down again.

Mamba preferred empty test trains today.

The first drop is great, but the double helix is the true star of the ride. Near impossible to get a good picture of though.

Mamba heads down the second hill.

Crossing the finish line.

Since it's included with admission now, let's cross over to Oceans of Fun. The crossover point is just past Mamba & Monsoon.

[Emiroo]

It's Monsoon season

I hope this camera is waterproof...

SKLOOSH!

Nice splash, but nowhere near as dramatic as Mile High Falls at SFKK.

Here's the path to the Ocean...I meant gift shop

Kiddie area

Great tipping bucket play land

Lazy river along with raft ride in this shot.

Nice family fun pool

These type of body slides are getting harder to find.

A wedgie in the making

Nice adults only pool with a swim up bar and basketball goals

They have a full court sand volleyball area too. Nice!

A mess of slides. Let's go check out the new hotness.

Verruckt!? Quit photo bombing my Worlds of Fun report. If I wanted to wait 3 hours for a 15 second ride, I would have stayed home in the bedroom.

Here's the new hotness!

Loved the color choices and it seemed to have good throughput.

The wave pool was packed as the temps were pushing 100 today.

Maybe they should have tested this slide a little more. Let's head back to the rides side of the park.

Pro Tip: Take the train ride. You can get some really good backstage shots, especially of Prowler.

More for you train lovers.

Worlds of Fun's train is named Eli and is in great shape.

What a beauty!

The cleverly named Boomerang

Everybody get 'cha roll on!

The color scheme of this thing (especially the train) is right out of the circus.

Here's a shot of the entrance to Dinosaurs Alive. That's all you get. I believe you already know my feelings on this attraction.

Old school shooting gallery!

Everything seemed to be working great. Classic effects!

Do the ride naming people at WoF have no creative limits? Here is a ride named Octopus. What ever could it be?

Oh. Yeah...

Wonder what happened here. *Splat!*

The Finnish Fling. A Chance Rotor. Despite its nice exterior, this thing is really showing it's age. Ride it while you still can.

Floor.

No floor.

Moulin Rouge was a nice air conditioning break...show...I mean show.

You'd think a ride called Autobahn would be racing cars...

But they are cars of the bumping persuasion.

Le Carousel...not to be confused with the Grand Carousel we saw earlier.

Here we have the Flying Dutchman

Saw lots of smiles on this one

What are the Krazy Cars you ask?

Junior bumper cars. And just like with the big ones, the kids still couldn't figure out that they had to turn the wheel to make the car go.

This is my favorite bench in the whole park. Why you ask?

Because it sits directly across from Zulu. Every visit I sit on this bench and watch about 5 Zulu cycles. My goal is to see someone throw up.

Unfortunately, there were no winners today. There was a woman I thought was going to come through for me, but she kept it together. That brings my record down to 3/6. That's not bad though!

What's that hiding in the bushes? It's a Prowler!

Prowler is a hard coaster to shoot because so much of it goes backstage. Again, take the train ride to see more of it. Or you could just ride it...

Here's the station. One train wait today.

Maybe it was the excessive heat, but it was running pretty rough today.

Another decent train shot blocked by trees.

This is one of those shots you can only get from the train ride? C'mon coaster train...

Here's another backstage shot of Prowler. What's going on? Where's the coaster train? I don't even hear it. Maybe it's down. Of course it came by just after we passed.

Sea Dragon is straight out of the carnival. But it has a lovely location.

Worlds of Fun had TVs in many of the queues this year. Most of what they showed was kind of lame, but they do help pass the time.

Did I mention it was hot today? My car confirmed things as I got in to leave.

Goodbye Worlds and Oceans of Fun. Thanks for the great day. I'll be back next year!

 

Worlds and Oceans of Fun reminds me quite a bit of my home park Holiday World. The natural setting is amazing and really sets this park apart. I see great improvements with each visit. This is the hidden gem of the Cedar Fair portfolio. They have a diverse collection of flat rides, a great waterpark, a spectacular kiddie area and a solid selection of coasters. That said, they are definitely due for a large new coaster to put them back in the spotlight. If you haven’t visited yet, do yourself a favor and make the trip. It’s worth it.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Emiroo

[RandallDuell]

This is great - admittedly I know just about nothing about this park, your pics-commentary-attention to detail are fantastic! Seems very clean, and has quite a few rides (big and small).

 

Thanks again for taking the time.

[KI Kidd]

Great report! I wish more parks had TRs like this one.

[OrlandoGuy]

Wow, thank you for these awesome photos! Youre right, Worlds of Fun doesnt get a lot of attention, yet Ive always been interested in learning more about it. Your post has really provided a lot of insight to a rather well-hidden and what looks to be beautiful park.

[Geauga Dog]

Nice report! I went to Worlds of Fun once back in 1989 as part of ACE's Spring Conference for Timber Wolf, which was new. I remember the park beingf illed with trees which I'm glad still seems to be the case today. I do want to return in the near future to not only snag new credits but take a spin on Geauga's old Carousel, which looks beautiful fully restored.

[rcjp]

Nice shots! I agree about Patriot's colours, they do look great.

[RideofSteel]

Awesome report! WoF looks like a really great park with a ton of both classic and modern attractions. The water park looks fantastic too.

[VF15]

Great trip report! Worlds of Fun looks like a park I'd enjoy very much. I'm not incredibly far away from KC, so I should get down there one of these days.

[Emiroo]

Thanks for the kind words guys. This was my first attempt to completely document a park. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I think I'll do the same for my home park (Holiday World) next season when Thunderbird opens.

[hey...hey]

NIce Chance Rotor spotting. They had one at Hersheypark awhile back. Loved it. My buddy would actually crawl around upside down, and then back straight again. I believe it was removed to make room for bathrooms or Skyrush, I forget.

 

BTW, nice trip report. Like to see all the ins and outs of a theme park.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

3 Comments

 

1. Fun TR

2. Prowler was my 200th Coaster (No idea why, It just was)

3. Flying Dutchman was the original owners favorite ride

[coasterbill]

Thanks for the great report. Despite the fact that it's a major corporate park you rarely hear much about this place.