Worlds of "Fun"?

[IBEW_Sparky]

After a number of years of not traveling due to many circumstances I decided to take a week off and do a midwest trip, starting at Worlds of Fun and ending at KI this upcoming weekend.  After some further thought I removed the center part of the trip and forewent my planned trip to Adventureland in Altoona, IA and decided to spend an extra day possibly at WoF.  So, I headed out Monday morning on my way to KC to visit a park I used to call my home park, and one I hadn't visited since 2011 (the year that not a single park in the chain got anything right for opening day) and hadn't ridden anything at since 2008.  I arrived around 4pm on Monday with intention of staying until what I thought was the parks 7pm close (found out this week is the first week of 8pm weeknight closes) and yes the unfortunate truth is..... much like SFOG and SFA.... those early close times are a needed thing.  My first impressions upon entering the park and with my first associate interaction while getting my FL+ wristband was "OK, maybe that was just an anomaly and others will be better" and unfortunately it was no anomaly. 

Before I get into the park, I am going to break down the major coasters and give everyone who has not gone an idea if they feel the experience of enduring the park is worth the credits.  I wont touch on Spinning Dragons as... even though Ive ridden it years ago and Loved it... it is not a ride that is easily ridden alone without creating unwanted situations in the station when being seated with others and as a result my days of riding those types of coasters are sadly over.  Moving onto Patriot, their B&M invert that opened for the 2006 season, its a good small to mid-sized ride with nice elements and it is infinitely re-ridable.  It was my first ride Monday when I arrived, and I remember thinking to myself after getting off "Wow, that was a lot more intense in the days before I rode Raptor and Banshee".  Going around the park counter-clockwise, the next coaster is Timber Wolf, a Dinn opened in 1989.  Let me say right now that even though this has received much work from GCI in the past few years... including completely removing the helix to install a single not quite 90 degree turnaround that the train meanders though painfully slowly... the fact that this turd needs RMCed isn't even up for debate.  On to Mamba, a Morgan hyper opened in 1998 and that I rode (terrified) on her opening year.  I still Love this coaster, maybe its partially sentimental as it was my first hyper, but it rides like a smooth Maggie and it DOES have the same 1-3 magic seat as I found out Tuesday,  The back half is once again great now that they have mustered the intelligence to turn the B brake off, with the same great air as Maggie without the destroyed thighs since the bunny hills are hills and not pyramids like Maggies.  Boomerang.... yeah it has one that I walked right by about a dozen times that sits right next to Zambezi Zinger and I kept walking every time I passed it.  I cant review Zinger because its not open, and as a result I will never be able to review it because I wont be back.  Last but DEFINITELY not least is Prowler, their GCI gem back in the woods of Africa that is the #1 coaster in the park.  This was the first time Id gotten the opportunity to ride, as I didnt ride it for the very brief time I was there in 2011, and I ended up riding it many times when I was there.  It could use a bit of re-tracking, but its really not bad and its still worth multiple rides like I did on both Monday and Tuesday.  For those who wish to take their chances on the park, 5-2 is THE seat on that coster!!  

And now..... the park.  Im not going to go too far as the facts are things aren't going to change until it gets bad enough for them to GL the park.  Growing up in Des Moines, IA and being a silly kid/teen who didn't appreciate coasters like Tornado and Outlaw, I considered WoF to be my home park and went there much more often than I did to Adventureland in Altoona.  What I can say now is that I wish Id gone there Monday and Tuesday, and spent my time at Adventureland instead.  Aside from the entire Zinger debacle which is whatever.... CF wants to blame supply chain issue yada yada but regardless the entire thing was handled like ish.... the general operations of the entire park were dismal, nearly as bad as CPs atrocious operations on Saturday May 19th this year.  Don't get me wrong, I understand training new ride ops, and I understand the fact that a good amount of the time it's the guests themselves that make dispatch times slow, but as slow as the park was both days I was there stacking of ANY kind is out of hand.  The entire vibe of the park is just "off", again I have to compare the feel and everything to that of 2004-6 era GL, and after the purchase of a vintage Orient Express t shirt became a big process it didnt need to become I had had enough, and what was supposed to be an O-C on Tuesday turned into an O-430 :-(.  I left feeling very disappointed and honestly sad, remembering what my "home park" used to be and what its become... some of which I understand is beyond the parks control as they cant control what the area the park is in has become... and while I am happy for them getting Zinger finally, I really do now understand why its been 14 years between Prowler and it.

 

Edited to add.... I am still making the best of my vacation and coming down to the area for a long weekend, and Im looking forward to some time back inside KI.  The next thing I am going to say needs to be taken in the right way.... in other words don't everyone be "fanboy"ing up when I say this because nothing is forever... as of this time, on this day, this season, KI is the best operated park Ive been to in the chain in years without a doubt so for now associates be proud and happy but DON'T rest on your laurels, keep it tight, right, and squared away.  

[SonofBaconator]

@IBEW_Sparky, I’ve never been to WoF and would definitely go if I was in the KC area…that being said it doesn’t seem like a “must visit” park. I appreciate their want to preserve their history and keep their steam engine going but from an amusement park standpoint it doesn’t seem to have the same affect as other parks in the Midwest. 
 

Then I see stuff like this be fans and it confuses me:

 

[IBEW_Sparky]

Yeah, whoever that individual is out of their mind, reading the title and seeing that pic proves that.  To say it like Buford T. Justice, "There ain't no way... NO WAY... that park is getting a giga in 2025".  I will go on record and say IF you happen to be traveling and its on your direct route, and you have FL to reduce the amount of time you are in the park, then by all means take your chances to ride Mamba, Prowler, and the new Zinger.  Do not stay in the area unless you wish to listen to high speed pursuits on I435 or want to pretend you decided to go to a car audio competition at 2am, stay up in the art district and have a good meal at Jack Stack Barbecue if you want a nice area.

  Eli is a really nice steam engine when its operating, I rode Monday before leaving and am thankful because all I got out of it on Tuesday was some great pics while it sat next to the midway, non-operational.  I will say Id Love to have Prowler's trains for MT, WOW are the seats nice and soft and well padded in them, it was like sitting in a Coupe DeVille!  I really wish I could have written an outrageously glowing review and hyped everyone up to go sometime because I used to absolutely LOVE the park and would talk it up to anyone who would listen, but its fallen so far since 2008 when I was last a regular visitor that I have to call it like it is and call them out on the metric ton of ridiculousness I endured while I was there.  I don't know what they pulled to persuade Corporate to install Zinger, but they had better find what they saw and get their arses back in gear or it will be the last installation to come.  Being brutally honest, Valleyfair deserved that new install more.