Jun 27, 20215 min read

Worlds of Fun Trip Report

Today's park of the 2021 road trip is at Worlds of Fun. I when I arrived, I went over to the Village of Fun Campground to see if my cabin was ready and was informed that they did not do check-ins till 4, so i headed next door to the Wolds of Fun amusement park.

Here are some important details to consider about Worlds of Fun. Lamar Hunt, who owned the Kansas City Chiefs at the time, established the park in collaboration with his business partners Jack Steadman and Randall Duell, who was the theme park designer of Magic Mountain Amusement Park. The park opened on May 26th, 1973, with a loose theme inspired by Around the World in 80 Days. In addition, the park features a sizable waterpark named Worlds of Fun, accessible to visitors from within the park or through a separate entrance. Now, let's proceed to the trip report! This trip report will be seperated by themed area.

International Plaza

This area is the front gate area of Worlds of Fun. This is where you have the marquee sign for the park as well as guest services and some gardens. Bordering this area is there Eastern Asia section to the right of the plaza and Scandinavia to the left. We hit East Asia first.

East Asia

One of the main attractions in East Asia is the Spinning Dragons, a spinning coaster where riders face each other. The initial section of the ride features a wild mouse layout, followed by sweeping curves that pass through some loosely themed Eastern Asian landscaping. This ride is ideal for families with children who do not meet the 48-inch height requirement, as it has a 43-inch height restriction. Another favorite of mine is the Bamboozler, a flat ride where participants stand up and gravity pulls them towards the wall while it spins. There are a few shops and dining options with names inspired by Asia, but that's about it for this area. Now, let's move on to the next part of the park.

Americana/Wild West

This area holds the first bulk of the thrill rides. Patriot was the next rollercoaster.

Patriot is a steel inverted coaster that rises 149 feet and reaches a speed of 60mph through its 3081ft of twisted track. The ride also has 4 inversions. The ride overall is a weaker inverted coaster, but the color scheme of red white and blue is neat and the eagle sound effect at the top of the lift is a nice touch.

Timber Wolf was the next rollercoaster in this area and the track had recently been reprofiled with an over banked turn and alot of retracking to provide a smother ride. The ride has 4,260ft of track a 90ft drop and goes 53mph. The ride was pretty rough and not much airtime witht he exception of a little bit of floater on the new overbanked. The ride was not very re-ridable.

In this section of the park, there were three distinct flat rides. Detonator served as their drop tower, offering pleasant views of Kansas City, although the drop itself was not particularly noteworthy. Steel Hawk was closed due to wind; this swing ride lifts you high into the air and spins. Lastly, there is Cyclone Sam's. This indoor wipeout ride features a weather machine simulating a tornado in a chaotic manner. Many of the effects were not working, but the blacklight paintings inside the spinning dark ride were quite impressive. With that covered, let's proceed to the next area, Planet Snoopy.

Planet Snoopy

Due to not being in the intended age group for this area, I can't provide extensive details, but it appears to be a charming kids' section. It features a small rollercoaster called Cosmic Coaster, which is similar to the standard wacky worm roller coasters commonly found at local county fairs. Additionally, there are a few flat rides for kids to enjoy. Next, On to the next big area of the park, Africa.

Africa

It seemed a bit strange to try to fit all the different areas of Africa into one section of the park. Some parts even resembled the American section. The other main coasters were located here. The African theming, although limited, was decent for a smaller park.

Boomerang is your typical off the shelf Boomerang coaster you see at most of the other amusment parks, you go up a lift, you fall backwards once you reach the top, you go through a cobra roll inversion, then through a loop, then up another hill where you fall backwards and do the layout in reverse. This ride will cause head banging if you dont position your head right with the shoulder restraint, with that, this ride is garbage, onto the next ride, Prowler.

Currently, Prowler is clearly one of the park's top two attractions. This wooden roller coaster reaches a height of 102 feet and features 3,074 feet of wooden track, reaching a maximum speed of 51mph. Its layout, which closely follows the terrain, makes it challenging to photograph. For thrill-seekers seeking air time, this ride offers plenty of it. Next up is the park's final roller coaster, Mamba.

Mamba is a Hyper coaster at Worlds of Fun. With a 205-foot drop, the ride features out-and-back airtime hills spanning 5600 feet, reaching speeds of 75mph. Despite hearing that the airtime on this ride was lacking, I found it to be quite intense when I experienced it this year. The forces were particularly strong during the large helix midway through the layout, adding to the excitement of the ride. Overall, this is the top ride at the park.

Although I had planned to experience the Fury of the Nile raft ride, I decided against it to avoid getting too wet. Instead, I spent some time at the waterpark. Afterwards, I visited the final sections of the park, Scandinavia and Europa.

Scandinavia and Europa

The final section of the park to explore includes several shops, most of the flat rides, a theater, and the Viking Voyager log flume ride. Although the Viking Voyager is a pleasant ride, it would be even better if it had Viking-themed decorations to complement its name.

After reaching international plaza again, I left the park to head over to Village of fun to get my cabin. Overall, I really think Worlds of Fun is a charming park. I feel they need another smaller scale wooden coaster or even a couple more flat rides, but it was fun as the name implies. Also, I wish it leaned more into the theeming of the different areas.

On to the photos from the park. As always, Keep Coast'n'