Opening Day Review 2005

"by Jennifer Lovesee-Mast"

Welcome to the 7th annual Worlds of Fun opening day review, in every year that the park has opened I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly at the park, over the past few years the negatives have gotten less and the positives have gotten better. In 2005, while it's true that there is no major new ride, I will have to say it is the first season I will happily not have to spend as much time gripping about things that the park refuses to acknowledge. This is due to the fact that for 2005 the park has gratefully, continued the uphill improvements that started to show only a few seasons ago. So without further introduction, it’s time to head through the gates.

Several minor alterations at the park actually begin outside the park proper, as you walk into the park. For instance, those little red flags I saw a few weeks ago near the flag poles? Probably for the nice green evergreen bushes that have been added. As Jeff puts so eloquently walking into the park you are greeted by the smell of flowers, almost like Legoland. The rows of banners that line the walkway into the park have been replaced, and about half now have the Mamba logo emblazoned on them, the Ranger Station now has a brand new sign, after the removal of the dog kennel two years back. It also looks like it has been painted. All in all the entrance looks pretty much like it has in years past, except a little cleaner.

We actually arrived at the park about 11AM on Saturday morning, and thankfully for the park it was a beautiful day, I believe the temperature was around the upper 70’s, which is quite warm for April. unfortunately, probably due to lack of advertising, the park wasn’t to crowded, with the lots only reaching the midpoint of Lot D, and the rest of the park filled with Choir groups for the park’s annual Choir Festival. Honestly this is still pretty slow, but better then years past, at least they actually got to Lot D.

So we got our park map, which we really did like as it was much more detailed, and headed into the park. Much to our surprise annuals had already been planted in the Scandinavian section, and it’s the Scandinavian section that has received a lot of infrastructure maintenance during the off season so I will start there. The Scandinavian entrance shops, received a fresh new paint job, which looks great, and the lights have been completely fixed so that at night the whole entrance looks wonderful. Plus, Scandinavia was the lucky recipient of all new light fixtures which fills the entire section, which was a MUCH needed improvement. Just a word of advice, now that this section is properly lighted the park has no more need for the Halogen lights, which should be turned off. These where only put up for the wash down of the park and are not needed during regular operating hours.

Viking Voyager received a small amount of treatment as it appears the loading trough was repainted, and the splash down area near All Stars was cleaned up, as it is not near as much a mess as it has been the past. Basically no weeds, overgrown bushes or trees, and the area appears quite a bit better. The only point that we need to make is the gravel that was added between the station and the first turn on the ride. frankly Jennifer doesn't mind (now IM talking in 3rd person!), but Jeff thinks landscaping or even mulch would have looked a lot better.

On to a new topic, Norseman’s Niceties received a brand new hanging sign on the Tivoli side, which while knocked down on late Saturday evening (probably from teenagers), it looks a million times better. Only point we want to make here is that the sign would not have broke off if it had been properly chained down, the chains are still there in the bottom of the hanging box. All in all though with the replaced lights, the whole area is much brighter and much cleaner looking.

Also while we are on the topic of Scandinavia, the Festhaus is home to Joe Cool’s Backyard Bar-B-Q which we have finally found out more about. The Festhaus is the larger blue and white tent area that I believe holds about 1,000-2,000 people, in other words it’s big. Every Saturday and Sunday from 3 - 4:30PM guests can either purchase a meal ticket for $12.90 or purchase a meal and single day admission ticket for $28.95 (which must be purchased 48 hours in advance), and get unlimited food. It's basic, fried chicken, hot dogs, and potato salad, that type of thing, but it’s a pretty good deal if you think about other food establishment prices, and the food is unlimited. I also can’t get over the $28.95 price, that’s admission AND food. So if you plan 48 hours out, you can get into the park for $8 less the general admission and get a free lunch to boot. For those who would like to purchase tickets to the park through the Joe Cool's Backyard BBQ offer simply call 816-303- 5135 M-F 9AM-5PM.

So onwards we go and this time we go to the Orient. Not much has changed here, except Pagoda Soda now serves Nathan Hot Dogs, for $4.50 a pop, ok they are really good hot dogs, I mean REALLY good hot dogs, but that seems steep even for Worlds of Fun. Bamboozler still looks really good at night, amazing to think it’s a 28 year old ride, it’s as old as me... YIKES. It also seems by the map that Tibetan Treats is around for good, the kettle corn it offers is good and cheap $3 a bag isn’t too bad. Also we did get a ride in on Spinning Dragons, same as last year, but the park needs to work on capacity the lines was not to long but it was a long wait, again opening day, I’ll give the kids some slack.

Moving into Americana some good news is that unlike last year Worlds of Fun has removed the Freak Street sign and replaced it with the Beat Street sign, not a real big thing, but its better then the trash bag over the sign last year. Another point Jeff and I wanted to make is that the park did not necessarly have to REMOVE the Freak Street sign. They could have kept the sign and added a teaser line, something along the lines about what is to come starting September 24th.

Also the sunken fountain seems to have received a little treatment too as now 7 of it’s 8 lights work, reflecting multiple colors on the water, which seemed to have a little directional problem (*grin*), but it does look a ton better then it has since I can remember.

Also, marching with tradition more landscaping blocks have shown up! This time they have found themselves (I’m sure with the help of several landscapers) in Americana surrounding the grassy area between Front Street and the Air Brush Artists, that’s where the cow is for those who remember the cow. It’s now filled with red mulch, and bushes, and looks VERY nice. Also backtracking, Worlds of Fun also added some very nice landscaping bricks around the back and side of Festhaus, along with some nice conifer trees.

Okay so I’m sure many of you are waiting on pins and needles to hear about Timber Wolf, so here we go. It is better, Timber Wolf probably had more work done on it this off season then it has TOTAL since 1995. The bottom of the 1st drop and partially up the 2nd hill has been completely re-done, as well as some minor tracking in other parts of the ride. I mention the bottom of the 1st drop as it had a serious “pot hole” there, which er... hurt and now it doesn’t. Good work there. Not as much as we wished, but if its better then last year, then it’s still better. Still I will stress as has been stressed in the past Timber Wolf could be a top tier ride if it was COMPLETELY re- tracked, it HAS been a top tier ride, and I hope to see future improvements on it.

And right out front of Timber Wolf what do my eyes see? A Toyota Tundra parked right on the old supports for a previous car company sponsorship so it literally looks like its floating on water. There are three Toyota’s found parked through the park, all thanks to Toyota’s new sponsorship.

One of the new attractions for 2005 is the Peanut’s Playhouse. Most of you know that I am never thrilled when a new attraction is not open on opening day. I will play nice, as I wasn’t to put bluntly a happy camper in 2004. It does look to be very nicely done though. They have removed the gazebo, and about half of the circular courtyard, all the playground equipment has been removed as well, though it doesn’t appear that the Peanuts Playhouse will cover the whole playground area. When we where there, they had several steel pylons up, and that’s about all. Tune in later for more information.

Another attraction that was missing for opening day was the Worlds of Fun Railroad, though who can blame the park on this one, as ELI is quietly sitting being rehabbed in it’s rectangular round house, hopefully will see it out soon enough. The rest of the train remains sitting at the station, which brings me to my lights discussion once again. From what it seems, and what I’ve heard lights will become a bigger issue as the season goes on, but the lights on the train station, do look pretty dismal, along with the peeling paint. Yeah that’s nice. Hopefully the park has the train station on its list to fix this year.

Detonator is another ride whose lights haven’t changed much since last year, but its sounding like that might change for the better soon, which makes me very happy. When we where at the park they had set the lights in a blinking/chasing program which seemed to hide the fact that several light bulbs where burnt out. The major reason in bringing up Detonator

is what is directly to the left, and that is a new railing/fence that runs from the Detonator Queue-line to the Forum Fence. It took a day for us to figure out the reasoning, which probably has something to do with the fact that people used to run up and down the hill to get to the Scrambler. So good idea, and I’m sure the landscapers are happy about it too!

Last thing about Americana and that is one of my “favorite” topics... Forum Road. For those who have read my previous rants on it this will be no different. Closing Forum Road is not about looks, aesthetics, ride safety, or fun, in fact on that last part it’s the exact opposite. However, on the business and financial end it makes no sense whatsoever to keep it open.

Sometime in the past the gate was removed, which makes closing Forum Road more difficult. But if you think about it, Europa offers more rides, a shop, and two food outlets, including one that is quite good, that’s three ways for the park to make money, and Forum Road offers none. So wouldn’t it make more sense to route guests through a section where the park can make money, then it is to let them detour right past it all?

Good news about Europa is fairly plentiful. Bounce- A-Roo’s received a brand new sign, Moulin Rouge looks like it recieved a new covering, but my favorite change belongs to Bonici Brothers. Last year the park renovated the previous Pizza Patio into Bonici Brother’s offering better food options and a really cool painted fresco near where you order. The outside paint was in really bad condition. In 2005, Bonici Brother’s received a brand new exterior paint job and it looks very nice, with a new white, olive green and brick red paint job. Plus the park replaced the old wood fence at the rear of the restaurant, which honestly last year looked like it was about to fall down. We also have eaten there twice, once last year and once on Saturday and the food is very good, including Jeff’s favorite Meatball Sub.

While we are on the topic of Europa I wanted to make one note about Stax of Wax. As many of you know Stax of Wax debuted in 1985, making it 20 years old this year. This show is getting OLD, even to those who appreciate park live entertainment. In personal opinion I wouldn't mind if Stax of Wax and Stax of Trax vanished and never came back, making it one attraction that belongs on the history page at this point in time.

So now we move onto Africa. I have been chomping on the bit so to speak throughout this entire review to discuss Mamba. Last year I mentioned Mamba needed to let up on the brakes. I personally think I had nothing to do with it, but on Saturday afternoon and even more so on Saturday night, Mamba still had it’s mid-course brakes on, but it wasn’t so bad as in the past. Ther was actually airtime on the return run! Jeff wanted to ride Mamba more the once! Both major positive changes. As many of you know I was terrified of coasters until last year, so I have never rode Mamba completely brakeless, I don’t think I ever will. But, if a ride on Mamba every day was like it was on Saturday I would be one very happy guest, or let me put it another way... Mamba would be on my top ten steel roller coasters list.

Overshadowed by the ride on Mamba itself are the lights. Last year I also mentioned the lights going up the lift hill and that they should be fixed. Well in 2005 they weren’t just fixed they where replaced, and they all now work. It does look great.

Only one negative about Mamba, and that has to do with capacity. As I mentioned earlier as this is the beginning of the season I will give the park some slack on this issue. However, its plain common sense that if you have two trains ready to be run on Mamba, and the ride has a line, that you run BOTH trains and not just one.

While we are on the topic of lighting, the entire African section, specifically the older parts near Zulu are much brighter at night due to what seems like a large influx of overhead, atmospheric lighting. Yes, they are Halogen lights, much like the one’s we detest in Europa and Scandinavia, but Africa is a case in point where they are used well. The lights in Africa are put high up above in the poles scattered around the section so that you have to look high above your head to see the light source, and by the time the light filters down through the trees it offers a much brighter (hence safer) atmosphere, which is a vast improvement.

One part of Africa that has been overlooked for years is the Same Day Gateway, located right past the Monsoon. That area has received special attention this season as it will serve as the Ride & Slide entrance to Worlds of Fun, as well as the entrance to Worlds of Fun for those staying at Worlds of Fun Village. So far the park has added a new banner giving directions to the Ride & Slide booth as well as adding a sidewalk from the Oceans of Fun parking lot to the Same Day Gateway. As Worlds of Fun Village isn’t scheduled to open until May 27th, the park still has plenty of time.

Back to roller coasters once more, there was one small change to Boomerang, and it has to do with the train. As the nose of the train has always stuck out of the station it has faded over the past years giving Boomerang a very faded peach-nosed train. That changed this season, as I believe they must have painted the entire train, which is noticeable. The park might also want to think about re-painting the whole ride too.

Are you getting tired of reading about Africa? I have two more important points to make, and the first one is about my once favorite Worlds of Fun ride, Fury of the Nile. As many have commented already Fury of the Nile is a little better this year, when I rode it on Sunday they actually had the Wave Maker on, and I did get actually pretty wet, mostly from the now- existent waterfall at the end (it used to be three trickles). Plus I do enjoy how the water is dyed blue, it gives a much better appearance then the brown it has been in the past.

The only negative I have about the Nile and it is a large one is the Halogen Lights that are now sitting on the ground near Tower 2. These lights will be going up to lighten the area, and from what I have heard will be kept on during the normal ride operation. Not a bad idea to have so that employees can see the boats, not a good idea for guests trying to enjoy a great ride on the Nile. Is it possible to only have lights in the two lake areas? As in Lake 1 and Lake 2? Does the park have to light both rapids areas as well? Part of the excitement of the ride was roaring through the woods at night, now that whole excitement factor will be gone. You know the park could always just paint the numbers on the boats in white, or some other reflective color and then we wouldn’t have that problem.

If that’s as negative as I’m going to get this season isn’t off to a bad start if I say so myself, and my favorite little point is not what IS in Africa, but what is NOT in Africa, and that is the Hi-Stricker game. Of course I could be just jinxing myself, but in a perfect world this could possibly lead to the re- addition of the floral clock. So maybe I should start a Bring Back the Floral Clock movement, after all we aren’t expecting the park to add the landscaped date, that would be in all honesty way too much work, but bringing back a beautiful landscaped clock? I would be shocked beyond all belief... In a really good way. After all I hate having to tell kids what things where like when I was their age, I would much rather say this is what things where like.

Going back into Scandinavia, brings us almost to the end of this review, (notice how they get longer each year?) and I have one more important aspect to point out, and that’s Sunset Strips, the previously named Chicken Patio, previously named Nordic Nook. I didn’t get to try it yet, but the menu sounds pretty good, with chicken sandwiches, wraps and salads, but besides the point Sunset Strips/Nordic Nook also received a nice paint job too. Along with the brilliantly lighted Octopus the lower Scandinavian section looks pretty nice, along with the rest of the park.

One last point I would like to make. Over the past year I have read on numerous sites how people extolled how good Cedar Fair’s customer service is, and how clean its parks are. Until lately I always felt those titles belonged to Cedar Point, and maybe Dorney Park, never Worlds of Fun. That is until the past two years, and don’t get me wrong Worlds of Fun still is not Holiday World or Cedar Point. Until I see an employee washing gum of the concrete that is (I saw that at Cedar Point). However, compared to five years ago, the park is MUCH cleaner, and the employees are much more willing to help, either by wishing you a good day, by consoling an scared child on Timber Wolf, or just in their willingness to help other guests, that shows improvement, and over almost anything else that is the type of improvement I value the most. After all in most cases five years from know most guests will forget about the Orient Express, or the Octopus, or how good or bad the pizza was, but they will remember how an ambassador treated them, and I feel that that memories created lately will be more positive then it has been in the past.

So ends another opening day review, and I do have to say that I was greatly impressed, yes there where some negatives, such as ride capacity, lights etc, but I think and I believe that a lot of these issues, won’t be much of a issue come this October, at least I hope so, and I’m staking my optimism on it. I hope that Mamba will continue to run much as it did this last weekend, and I hope that employees will keep their optimism and positive attitude throughout the year. I also hope we can keep one good PR director for more then one year too, but that like everything else is completely out of my hands.