Opening Day Review April 3, 2004

In Our Eyes: Worlds of Fun Opening Day 2004 "So another season begins. Originally this editorial would have been quite different. On opening day April 3rd, I was not overly impressed with the park, but events that have since then transpired have in a few ways changed the way Iíve looked at things. To put it simply, a few peopleís attitudes about there jobs, can help one personís outlook greatly.

IApril 3rd began bright and sunny and warm for the season, I believe it was in the 60ís. We arrived at the park just after 10AM, and the first thing that surprised, or maybe I should say dismayed us, was the attendance. For those familiar with the park, C lot was only a quarter filled, it was the first indicator that attendance would be to be blatant, really bad that day. I canít remember near as far back as Jeff can, but I do remember a time when Saturdays at the park, the parking lots would be full, all the way back, C, D, E, F, G, H, I etc. especially on as nice a day as it was. What I believe would be an obvious reasoning for such low attendance was due to the fact that there was absolutely, (or very little) advertising. No bill boards, and one or two commercials, thatís it. In fact, at my regular place of employment (ah dear old AT&T), nobody even knew the park was open that weekend. How can Worlds of Fun expect to possibly raise attendance from the dismal 880,000 (last yearís attendance), with an opening day, or even opening weekends such as this? I donít mean to be negative, but this is terrible. Maybe if it was cold and raining I might understandÖ I stressed this before opening and I will stress it again. For a park to bring in guests it needs to advertise, even if the new ride isnít going to open on time. Silver Dollar City advertises its commercials every five minutes in Kansas City, and they are four hours away, AND havenít added a new major ride since 2001, with Wildfire. Six Flags, I wonít even go there. I know many, many people at work again who would much rather drive to Six Flags, a four hour drive, then go to Worlds of Fun. Why? Because of good marketing, they have thrown in a water park for free. I wonít go to deep into this, and Iím not expecting Oceans of Fun to be included free, but there are certain ways you can market a park that will attract people, besides laying it all on the major new ride.

IAnd we havenít even gone through the gate yet? So we walked through the gate, were welcomed by some lovely yodeling music, and the first thing I noticed was All Stars, just because I have a knack for noticing differences I guess. For those who donít know they revamped the exterior of All-Stars, which I think makes it look so much better, much more welcoming then it ever did before. Also besides changing the exterior they made a huge change to the interior. The appearance is relatively the same, but instead of being a sit-down restaurant, Worlds of Fun has changed All-Stars into a counter service restaurant. Iím not terribly upset about it; in fact it really doesnít bother me one way or the other. However, I did notice a larger group of diners then ever before, so it looks like the change certainly has helped Worlds of Fun, which is good. Other then All-Stars the entrance plaza was very much the same, they added a few planters, in the entrance area, and had planted some flowers, but thatís about it, very normal looking.

ISo moving along, obviously we would want to head to the Orient section so letís do that. As you cross the Orient/Scandi bridge, you might want to look down and notice some of the landscaping/rock work down on the stream that flows below, they did some work on the stream below and I think it looks much better. Of course I think it would look even better with a big steel coaster over itÖ But I digress, sorry. Jeff, on the other hand hates the rocks, he feels it looks like a storm drain on the highway, and thinks it looked better if it was damed with water in it. So you are free to form your own opinion.

ISo onto the Orient section, all I can say is completely different. Wow, so different. Obviously as most have heard they took out most of the sectionís black asphalt and replaced it with nice, white concrete. It makes the area look new, clean, well kept, and okay cedar point-like. But in this instance, thatís a good thing. The only thing I would recommend is that anyone who plans on spending any significant amount of time in this area, wear sun block, especially on your nose, just trust me on that (really, unless you want to appear like a raccoon the next day). The area is much brighter with not near as much shading as it previously had, which is primarily due to the fact that all the trees from the old Orient Express exit/entrance plus the mature pear trees were all removed. This next thought might surprise those who have read my reviews for awhile, Iím really not upset by this, in fact I can understand whatís going on. You level a hill, the trees must go, it happens. In fact, Iím rather impressed with the park on this issue. Why? Worlds of Fun has taken the time to replace many of the trees, not only the original four pear trees, but also many, many trees along the hill leading up to the old Orient Express station, as well as around Spinning Dragons. Yes, they are small sapling trees; yes the Orient area doesnít have the shade it had when the Orient Express was there. But, if you remember, or can bear with me a second here, when the park first opened, EVERY tree was a sapling. Just removing a tree and not replacing it is bad form, I agree. However, if you at least replace trees with a 1:1 ratio, then Iím happy. A park canít help it if they have to remove trees for a new attraction, but it takes time and effort to replace them, and Worlds of Fun has done that. Plus to add to my tree rant, Worlds of Fun did also see fit to keep two large mature trees in the area, one near Ragoon Refresher, and the other in front of Rickshaw Richards.

INow if that is not enough happy thoughts to make you think whatís wrong with me today, then I want to continue the jump and singing with the next piece of fresh air. Worlds of Fun removed, hopefully for good, that ugly pirate ship game that was located on the pond near the Bamboozler. Oh thank goodness, I HATED that thing, I mean I really couldnít stand it, and I never saw anybody play it anyway, so good riddance. What is in its place it looks will be the new Pagoda Soda. The first weekend (april 3rd and 4th) it was just a slab of concrete with the utilities roughed in. On the second weekend in was a rough styled building. I just only hope that they will keep the oriental style going with the architecture.

IStill in the Orient section, is Rickshaw Richards (the shop), and Iím willing to guess that nobody noticed the change to the front of the shop. Originally it had a fenced in patio area around it, with burlap flaps that were usually rolled up. It still has its wooden deck around it, but the fencing around it has been removed making it more open and I think more people will probably venture in to shop. Not a big move, but I wouldnít be surprised if it helped Rickshawís out a bit.

ISo Spinning Dragons, the only thing negative I have to say about the whole orient section. *sigh* what can I say? It wasnít open for opening weekend, it wasnít even open for the second weekend. I have been saving what I am going to say next for the past two weeks, this is the FIRST time in Worlds of Funís history that the new ride did not open on opening day. The Orient Express opened on April 4th, 1980, The Timberwolf opened on April 1st, 1989, and even after they had to remove the Extremeroller from the same area. Why, may I ask was it so hard to get a minor roller coaster open? Letís take a look at the facts. Orient Express was removed by November (as per contracted), building permits for Spinning Dragons were not even filled until Mid-January (as for why the permits were filled late nobody knows). So the park probably started construction in late January. The park is probably going to blame weather, but this is Kansas City folks, in January it usually snows, a lot. It happens, welcome to the Midwest. Iíve lived here for all my 26 years, and that seems to happen year in, year out. What Iím trying to say is this should not come as a surprise. Second, I know it rained the week before the park opened; it rained for five straight days. The reason I know this is because we were moving at the time. But I just canít understand whyÖ even for all the reasonsÖ why for the first time in 31 years the park wasnít able to open a new ride on time. Okay so we have moved past that, it happened. Letís look towards the future at it opening this Saturday.

IOne final thought before I move on, as I mentioned before, I think the Orient section looks great, but one comment I might have, and I canít take total credit for some ideas mentioned later either, and that is the Orient Express station. Yes, all we have left to remember the steel behemoth is its station and photo booth. The station is what Iím most concerned about. The station was itself probably one of the finest buildings in the park, itís detailing was amazing; with fine wood carvings all over the outside and inside, as well as the few Chinese paintings on the inside of the station. All I can ask of Worlds of Fun is that they find some way to reuse this building, or atleast salvage the paintings, and not to cut it up or plywood it over into a cheap haunted house, only to bulldoze it a few years later. The Orient Express had its problems, which was one of the reasons it was removed. However, there is absolutely nothing, to my knowledge, wrong with the station, and I believe full heartedly that it could be reused. I also believe it is unlike most other roller coaster stations out there. It is not just plywood and shingles and a coat of paint. It was the time and detail, the final centerpiece to an amazing attraction; it can almost stand alone as its own attraction. I beg Worlds of Fun to realize this before pronouncing its final sentence over this little piece of architecture.

ISo, moving on to Americana, two things, well actually three things you might notice right away. Number one is that the Americana fountain has been fixed and now actually works properly. No there is no ROI in a fountain, at least not directly, but as I have always said itís the small things that matter. So brownie points there. Second and less important, they changed the old sub shop into Crustanoís Artisan Sandwiches. Of course, Jeff and I tried them, and they were pretty good actually, too expensive, but still okay. Plus each sandwich has a worldly theme, they have a Sicilian sandwich, American roast beef sandwich, some kind of Greek sandwich and a few others. Which if you remember the park has a worldly theme, which makes the idea of a cross cultural sandwich shop kind of neat. Thatís a lot of talk about sandwichesÖ (Itís making me hungry) Anyway moving on, Third on my list is Beat Street. Right when we arrived at the park employees were just covering the Carnival of Carnivorous Clowns sign, as well as the entire beat street shopping strip, turned haunted house was all boarded up. Now this is not a big deal in my book, Iím just mentioning it because, well itís there.

IWhile were on the topic of Beat Street, I did want to point out one of the two glowing (literally) examples of working light bulbs in the park. Rockiní Reeler looks nice at night. Well let me restate that, it looks amazing, best looking Himilaya Iíve ever seen. The letters are red and white, the exterior lights work, the glowing opaque pedestals work, meaning that they glow a red or blue, and amazing enough the disco lights work again. The only one criticism I might have is that the back tunnel area of Rockiní Reeler is not supposed to be lighted, at least not with regular light bulbs, it is supposed to have dark lights, you know like your going through a dark tunnel? It kind of kills the whole atmosphere of the disco light. The few other rides that have lights that work mostly include the Flying Dutchman, which also has the honor or every single light bulb working (wow!), Octopus, Zulu and Bamboozler, all look nice, or at least okay. Timber Wolf under lit with the Orient Expressís floods also looks nice and apparent from the street as well. Everything else, well, umÖ stinks.

IEvery year, I rant about light bulbs, and were does it get me? Absolutely no where, but I have to keep trying. Atmosphere people, atmosphere. Detonator, started looking better last year, looks about the same, a step above dismal. If I might express an opinion here, either light the whole tower or donít light the thing at all. Timber Wolfís racing lights, you can only run them so fast before people will realize some are burnt out, Moulin Rouge sign, wonít go there. Mamba, donít you think itís a good idea to at least have HALF of the lights going up the lift hill working? I mean what would happen if you would have to do an emergency evacuation? Two hundred and five feet down, black metal stairs doesnít sound fun to me. Skyliner, it would look really nice, spectacular even if most of the lights worked! Thatís a good show for a basic ELI bridge! Of course the lights might look better if the light bulb changer would not spend ten minutes changing one light bulb, then go flirt with his co-workers for the next half an hour. To be honest, yes more lights work this year then a few years ago, it looks better, but there is still a lot of improvement that needs to happen.

IIn the interest of trying to be positive I wonít even mention Timber Wolf, this time. But for those who didnít know the park added a Timber Wolf photo. Itís a small building added to the exit of the ride. You actually would have to go down or up the exit to get to it.

II always like to put in a few positives while Iím at it, and one of those this year was that all the existing rides opened on time, every single one of them, including Scrambler and the Octopus. Now, not to rain on Worlds of Funís parade, but this wouldnít have been important, it would have been expected years ago. However, after the past several seasons, it heartening to see two seasons in a row were every ride is running, and not sitting in pieces like the Scrambler, Octopus and even the Zulu have been over the previous years. Itís a return to normalcy, and itís nice.

INow, I hate to get on another rant, but this one is needed, and it has to do with food prices. I almost had a heart attack after seeing the menus this year, literally. Do you realize the cost for a hamburger this year is $4.49? That is a .80 cent increase over last year. I could go to McDonalds and buy a value meal for less then that! Cough, Cough Cough. A small drink, is $2.49, Disney World is less then that! In fact, a large drink at Disney World is now less then a small drink at Worlds of Fun. If you add this up it would cost a visitor $9.27, over $10 with tax just to buy a hamburger, drink and fries. Food cannot cost this much. I know, or at least I believe I know why Worlds of Fun is doing this. Somewhere in their minds they believe that raising prices will make them more money. Yes, it makes sense, to a point. Thatís it, the point, there comes a threshold were you can only raise the price so much and then no one, or very few will buy. Worlds of Fun meet that threshold a long time ago. I believe, that if Worlds of Fun would lower the prices down to a point that was considered affordable (even $6 for the whole lot wouldnít be to bad), more people would buy, and the park would make more profits, because if more people buy at a lower price, then fewer people buy at a higher price, you make MORE money. And that is a good thing.

INow on a lighter note, Worlds of Fun has been emphasizing the theme much more this year. They gave Spinning Dragons an oriental name, and themed logo, they kept Pagoda Soda the same name, the added ìWantedî signs to Vittle Griddle, which by the way are pretty neat looking, and then they also finally renamed Pizza Patio to an European name, Bonici Brotherís Pizza. Speaking of Bonici Brotherís they did redecorate the old Pizza Patio, but one thing you have to look closely to notice is that they also painted a complete fresco onto the interior walls, near where you order. Itís pretty neat, and one thing I have to recognize, is that it took time and foresight. Itís a small thing, but I always like to say that it is the small things that make the difference.

IAlso as far as painting goes, and back tracking a little bit, Worlds of Fun finally repainted Blue Bronco, which really needed it, as well as the Flying Dutchman cars, which now almost looks brand new. I know I mentioned it once before but the Flying Dutchman (which also happens to be one of my favorite rides) looks very nice, except for a few dents in the wood trim you really couldnít tell the ride was 31 years old. The boats are all newly repainted, and donít have the black scuffs they usually have, as well as all the light bulbs on the ride work! Every single one, I rode it and I could not find one that was burnt out. Amazing. Thatís not sarcasm. Other then Bonici Brotherís and the Flying Dutchman nothing else has changed in the Europa section, so itís time to move on into Africa.

IAfrica is another area that hasnít changed a whole lot. Itís nice to still see Big Game Hunt still running, every year Iím really amazed that it is still there. On Mamba, they did replace a few pieces of track, the grey rail is apparent in one or two areas, most specifically at the bottom of the 1st drop. But the big, if only large improvement/change in the Africa section comes with another of my favorite rides Fury of the Nile. I have yet the ride it this year, but it looks like there have been a few improvements. Number one, the wave maker in lake one works again, finally turning the serene lake back into waves that it should be. Amazing, please standing ovation for Worlds of Fun. Other than that it is impossible to tell whether or not there have been any other improvements. Join me in a later issue of In Our Eyes as I am able to review the Fury of the Nile. Still on the subject of the Nile, Worlds of Fun did dye the water blue, which looks rather nice, plus it seems like they fixed several of the lights on the ride itself. By lights Iím referring to what appears to be a much brighter lake one area (at night of course) as well as the tunnel appears to have regained some of its previous colored light effects. Any improvement of course is warrant for celebration and Iím happy to see that Worlds of Fun has taken the time to maintain this great ride.

ILast but not least in our tour of the park is Scandinavia. While there really are not any major differences there are a few small oneís I would just like to cover quickly. Number one Copenhagen has been renamed yet again, this year itís called just Copenhagen Gifts, and has a new sign, which actually has a Nordic feel to it. Also the old Britannica building which has also been a Fool the Guesser in the past, has been converted into a drink stand (just a side note it appeared this was done last year but I never saw it open), and Worlds of Fun has appropriately named it Swedish Sipping Chalet, not a big thing by any means, but itís themed appropriately, big gold star for Worlds of Fun. Last but not least is the highly discussed Victrix Lake (I guess Sea Dragon Lake now). On opening day the lake was crystal clear, same thing last week, the basin had been scrubbed clean and it was immaculate. I think it was the cleanest Iíve ever seen it, literally. Now whether it will stay that way is another story, but it is very surprising and wellÖ nice to see something that again has no direct return on investment, taken care of so well. Well, thatís it, for opening day. Tune in soon for a review of Spinning Dragons opening, Snoopy Rocks! debut and the much heralded major expansion of Halloweekends all up and coming this year. Editorís Note: Stay tuned for an update on Spinning Dragons