Worlds of Fun Blog

Hmmmm.

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:28:00 EST

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Huh. Hmmmmmm! (higher pitched) Wha?? ahh...hmmmm...!?

Old Train Photos!

Sat, 03 May 2008 20:54:00 EST

Hello! You guys are really going to like this. Last entry we journeyed alongside our engineer buddy Raymond to learn how the train works, and we talked about how classic it was. Well, how about we round out our train topics with a look back at the train in its first years? Pause and let the magnitude of this first photo sink in. Here we are taking delivery of old Eli, then known as new Eli. You can see some workers and execs taking a look at their new locomotive. The smokestack is laying on the flat part of the trailer. Can you spot it? You can also tell that the propane and water car was just unloaded as well. Also, take note of the buildings freshly completed in the background. In the last entry we talked about the importance of maintaining the train and oiling is a big part of that. Take a look at this shot... We originally hired four retired engineers to operate the train. This gentleman is John Graves, one of the first four. The Cotton Blossom showboat is shown in the background. This same shot today would feature RipCord and Patriot in the background. We've come a long way! And now, Raymond shows us that same process today, with a nice old time effect.... Strikingly similar, is it not? Looks like we're loaded and ready. Anyone know where the rest of the park went? :)

Train Training

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:17:00 EST

Hello Hot Air readers! The Worlds of Fun Railroad is one of the park's oldest and largest attractions, opening with the park in 1973. The park has grown around the tracks, which measures just over a mile in length. As part of our look back through the park's 35 years I thought we might take an in depth look at this classic ride. Eli is a propane driven steam engine. Yep, you get the authentic steam train experience here at Worlds of Fun, and our engineers take great pride in their ride. They let me into their world for a day and I learned all about what makes the ride haul 400 guests per trip around the park. This is Raymond. He's been working at the park for 14 years. He is posing in front of his beautiful ride. Eli is 50 feet long, 13 feet high, and weighs over 25 tons. Yowzers. Raymond is about to oil the wheel arrangement. He does this every time the ride stops for water. Why does the ride stop for water? The water is heated by propane which boils and eventually allows you to cruise around the park via the wheels and drive system. So when you see the train drop off guests and take off from the station, it is going to fetch water at the wooden water tank behind Zulu. You might have thought that tank was for theming...nope, it is an essential part of the train operation! Also, there is another functioning water location out at the 'ghost town' that you visit on the ride. Here we have our mid-day water stop. Usually the train fills up at least twice a day, and then tops off before parking for the night. There are six white cylinders near the water tank that hold 120 gallons of propane each. Those are topped off each night prior to parking the ride. Once we've filled up we're ready to hit the track. This is the view as we get ready to cruise through the park. Two engineers ride per cycle, one 'drives' and one monitors air and water pressure. It is a great view, but it gets really warm, especially in the summer. Next time you are checking out Eli, look on the roof to spot two vents for the conductors. This is the main boiler inside the conductor booth. You can see the blue flames entering below, so naturally the engineers make smores. *that smores part might be fabricated. These gauges monitor three things: boiler pressure, air pressure for the brakes, and pressure in the cylinders. This is the co-pilot's view. The engineer uses the silver meter to monitor the water level in the boiler and adjusts the knobs accordingly. Here is the throttle. Vroooom!!! The day I drove I was the first person to ever make the train peel out. Just kidding. I didn't drive. The horsepower of our boiler is 22. Take that, Ferrari! Old Eli works pretty hard, believe it or not the terrain at Worlds of Fun is actually a fairly steep grade for a railroad, and Eli hauls around 76 tons in total. When Eli is ready to end the voyage there are two sets of pressurized brakes. The black handle is for the engine, the red handle is for the 37-foot-long coaches. There is a red canister that holds compressed air mounted on the side of Eli to give these brakes their power. This is the Johnson bar. It is kind of like a gear shift, with forward, reverse, and neutral. This is especially handy when Eli goes to his shed at night. He reverses out the next morning and travels a part of the course in reverse to hook back up with the coaches. Choo Choo! The rope on the right is for the whistle that you hear from anywhere in the park. It blows by pulling steam off the boiler. You might not realize this but each blow of the whistle signals something to the other conductor on the train. We use the same system that train operators in the 'real world' use. The rope on the left is for the bell. Two of the three domes on Eli serve a purpose, one is just for looks. This one holds sand. That's right, sand. You know that that is for? Train traction control, of course! When it is wet the train lays sand on its tracks to help get through the course. Bet you didn't know that! You can see the tube that the sand comes down right near the bottom of the wheel (parallel with the track) to prevent slipping. There you have it, an in depth look at one of the park's historic rides. Next time you're at the park be sure to give one of our hard working engineers a wave of thanks for taking such wonderful care of our old friend Eli!

Hut Hut

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:32:00 EST

Greetings! Remember a while back we were talking about this... Well, it has turned into this! That is right, on the heels of Three Point Challenge, we debut Quarterback Challenge. The goal of the game is to complete passes through these sure-handed wide receivers. The scoreboard will be functional and show off high scores throughout the day. Also, a sound system will be installed so you can do a little jig to "Everybody Dance Now" in the midway like you always see outside of Three Point. The receivers were hand painted here at the park. He's open!!! Another look at a streaking receiver down the line. Each target is worth one, two, or three points depending on their distance from you, fellow quarterback. A shot of the loot. Scoring prizes is as easy as scoring touchdowns! Yes, that is right, those are KU and MU footballs. Anyone want to guess which one is more popular? For the best of the spiral spinners, authentic NFL jerseys await. The game is $5 and ready for the next KC quarterback to give it a shot. Speaking of games, we added some new games to both of the arcades during the week, including the new Time Crisis and Deal or No Deal. I highly recommend Deal or No Deal, found at the Joe Cool Arcade, as there are tickets for the taking. You get to pick your case and everything, it is great fun! See you on the midways!

Opening Day

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:19:00 EST

AHHHH! We open in a day! Are you ready? No more blogs about the off-season. No more progress pics. No more food samples...it is time! Opening day. We've done it 35 times before, yet it still seems pretty special, doesn't it? It is hard to believe that the park is ready to open the gates for another season, it seems like we just finished ghouling our way through Halloween Haunt. Because this is our 35th Anniversary season, I wanted to let you know that blog entries throughout the season will focus on the park's history. I know there are a lot of people that have memories tied to the parks, and I'll do my best to take you back in time to show you some photos of our early days. I've got park construction, ride construction, former staffs, floral clocks!!!!!!!!, and so much more to show over the season. You'll love it. Oh, and don't forget construction photos of Mamba, we'll post plenty of those as that ride celebrates 10 years of thrills. So, as we RIDE ON into the 2008 season we'll also look back, and then we'll also be sure to look ahead like always. So, back, present, and future...covered. Somebody get me a Delorian and a Doc. The very first opening day, May 26, 1973, Lamar Hunt officially dedicated the park. Wow, we open a whole month and a half earlier in 2008! Worlds of Fun recreated this ceremony for the park's 20th Anniversary Celebration, May 23-25, 1992. There was cake also. 1974's grand opening brought out the ladies. Miss Missouri, Miss Kansas, and Miss Kansas City were in attendance and also had some striking hats. Jack Steadman is on the left, on the lower right is a Captain. Anyone know his last name? Captain B........2000 bonus points for anyone that figures it out. Astute observers will know that they are standing on what is now the Gran Prix Raceway building. Maybe all the onlookers were in line for the go carts! Zoom! Missouri and Kansas working together in perfect harmony. See, you guys can do it! Hooray! Launch the balloons! The wind looks to be blowing to the north which would put these balloons right in Patriot's path. You 70's rascals! So, there you go. A little trip to the past as we get ready for the season. Saturday, April 12, 2008. Will you be here when new photos are made? See you then, I can't wait!

Shooting Gallery Complete!

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:34:00 EST

Hello, Four days until the 2008 season at Worlds of Fun kicks off, are you ready? The park prep is coming along nicely and the midways are really starting to look great, complete with flower beds and new paint. We finished up work on the new shooting gallery, and I am impressed! The building received new lighting, a new sound system, new counters, new targets, and more! I don't want to give too many secrets away, but let's take a look at a few *shots*. The new rifles! Fun fact, these are actual rifles that are turned into props. Notice the new speaker below. The whole game features new sound effects, and really comes to life when you hit a target. Check out the new displays! You can see how many rounds you have, how many targets you've hit, your accuracy percentage, and your rank. Awesome! I am excited about this, challenge your friends to a duel! "What is all this yappin' about a duel?" As I mentioned in previous entries, a lot of the old targets were salvaged and given new life as working, classic targets. They mix in nicely with the brand new targets. Part new, part old targets in this beginner set of marks. This log is pretty close to the counters. This fire is not, it is located near the old man in the back. * Blog Reader Tip * The old skunk from Big Game Hunt returns and he has gained the ability to spray water. I'll leave it up to you to find the target! Thats it for today. We'll see you this weekend! Can you believe it?!

Hitting the Streets

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:24:00 EST

Greetings, A couple of weeks ago our favorite PEANUTS characters hit the town for the Snake Saturday parade in North Kansas City. It snowed and rained a bit in the morning, but by parade time it had cleared up enough for some street cruising fun! Here is a banner announcing our presence in the parade. Those characters are flirts! In this shot you can see the trio hamming it up with other participants. Charlie Brown anxiously awaits our turn in the spotlight... Such a cool character, until he has to kick a football. Off we go. Lucy took the yellow antique taxi. Charlie in the blue. Snoopy was provided a new convertible Mustang by our friends at Thoroughbred Ford. Group photo! Even though it was a bit cold it was a great day. Thanks to the Peanuts characters for letting me ride along!

New Coaster

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:11:00 EST

I'm excited to fill you in on a project we've been working on over the off-season. The secret to good PR on a project is to keep things under wraps. Well, I'm proud to say that nobody saw this coming.... A brand new coaster! Here is the lift. Majestic, no? Here is the coaster in the station(ary). The station(ary) is already complete. The height is really unprecedented for a park of our size. Inverted Coaster. This is the coaster with a different theme. I'll give you an aerial view of construction. The coaster is coming along quite nicely and will really fit this area of the park. Have a great April Fools Day!

Cinnabon University

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:58:00 EST

Hello! Blog Correspondent Robert, from our foods department, recently took a trip to Atlanta to attend Cinnabon U, where he learned how to make and bake our tasty new treats. To make our taste buds water, Bert grabbed his camera and reported back with these shots. Let's take a peak inside the Cinnabon kitchen, shall we? First up is a piping hot batch of Cinnabon Stix. We'll have these for sale as part of the lineup. MMMMM...Cinnabon in stick format. Carefully apply the icing. It is amazing that something so carefully applied will end with me swiping it up with my finger and throwing it towards my mouth! Here is a fresh batch of 'bons. They look quite delicious, don't you agree? The finished product. Looks drool-inducing, doesn't it? Want to know the best part? We'll box you up a bunch right here at the park for the drive home. That is right, we'll be selling Cinnapacks of tasty in packs of 4 or 6. I will purchase a box of six, that way I can eat two on the way home and tell my family they sell in packs of 4. We're also going to carry a lineup of drinks including Mochalatta Chill and Carmelata Chill. To do that, though, we'll need a location. Let's see how things are progressing at the Cinnabon site. Do you remember this? This was the old display case for delightful items such as homemade fudge and giant candy bars. Have no worries, these candies aren't leaving, they are just moving in next door. Oh, and yes, we do make the fudge here at the park. Yum! Here is the inside of Cinnabon thus far. The building has been painted, new flooring, lighting, ceiling panels, and more have been installed. Some baking equipment has been moved in as well. The exterior of the building is getting a makeover as well, and painters are working on the new digs. Signage will be applied soon! Cinnabon will begin serving delicious cinnamon rolls on opening day, April 12. In other news, anyone have any idea what is going on here? Details to come!

Testing...1..2..

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:04:00 EST

Hello on this beautiful day! We're under 20 days until opening! eek! Things are progressing nicely out in the park as shops, rides, and landscapes all come together in anticipation of April 12. I was out taking some photos of the preparation when a familiar roar came about. What is that you say? Patriot! That is right, our favorite inverted coaster was out for some pre-season accelerometer testing. Basically, we're testing the speed of the ride to make sure it runs the course smooth as silk after a winter's rest. Plus, we're also getting it warmed up and back in the groove. Up the lift we go. As you can see, we place some dummies in each seat to simulate passenger weight. I should have ridden, I would have fit right in! Good to see this again. Once the train turns towards the earth the roar begins. This is my favorite part of the ride, and also my favorite in photos. Zero-G goodness! The ride exits the roll. Can you see me? Here is the train pulling back into the station. These guys seemed to have enjoyed their ride. Soon you can be like these dummies! :) After five months of the coaster sitting, I can't wait for April 12! More park prep on the way!