I’ve loved amusement parks pretty much my whole life. I was very cautious as a child, so I don’t remember riding roller coasters until young adulthood, and I think I’ve been making up for it ever since. When BlogHer and Cedar Fair offered me the opportunity to review Kansas City’s Worlds of Fun for free plus some money to spend in the park, I was all in. (And my family was pleased, as well.)
I grew up in Iowa, and thus I’ve been spending summer Saturdays at Kansas City’s Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun my whole life. I remember packing up the car and making the journey to Kansas City – the thrill of the roller coasters and the big hot air balloon with “Worlds of Fun” written on it coming into focus on the flat highway. Ah, bliss. “I wish I LIVED in Kansas City,” I would tell my parents. “I would go to Worlds of Fun EVERY WEEKEND.”
Ha!
Now I do live in Kansas City, and we go to Worlds of Fun two or three times each summer. Usually we do the twilight pass, which saves you $10-$15 and the heat of the day. If you’re local, you’re probably good with five hours of amusement park, especially if your kids are younger (mine is 8). Normal rates to get in top out at $45/person at the gate plus $12 parking.
So that’s the past, and now we go on to the present. This summer, the Arens family went to Worlds of Fun!
The little angel wore her special coordinated-sunglasses-and-earrings set.
Beloved made sure to insure important items against water rides.
Note: We got there at 10:45 on a Saturday morning. The gates opened at 10. Note: GO EARLY – there are fewer lines early in the park’s day. True, I went early in the season, but in my experience the park really starts to get busy right after lunch.
One of the things I like about Worlds of Fun are the roller coasters. It’s smaller than the Six Flags parks, but there are still nine aggressive thrill rides in Worlds of Fun and two in Oceans of Fun (read: roller coaster equivalent). This is a picture of my new favorite, the Prowler.
The Boomerang is interesting in that you do the whole coaster forwards and backwards.
The Boomerang has several upside-down turns, as well.
My second-favorite coaster is the Mamba. The first hill is the best.
Despite her love of every roller coaster her 52” self can get herself on, the little angel’s favorite ride is the one that was my favorite when I was a kid: Le Taxitour.
She likes it for the same reason I do – she gets to be the driver, for once.
After we rode the rides, we decided to try out the games, since part of my compensation was some money to spend in the park. In my experience, if you have a small child and you ask the game wranglers where your wee one might win something, they are generous with their information about “everyone wins” opportunities in the park.
Sorry, Worlds of Fun, but the plastic vuvuzela is perhaps the worst prize I have ever seen, on many levels.
We were not that thrilled with the inflatable bats, either. But we kept trying!
When we walked in, we saw some huge stuffed gorillas. The little angel was sure we would win one. The game: Rebound. You had to throw a whiffle ball at what looked like an artist’s easel with a stick balanced on the bottom tray and land the ball in a box at the base of the easel without knocking off the stick. Truly a bizarre game. The little angel tried. She missed the first two times.
And then …
She won. OMG.
The best thing about this gorilla, which we named “Tiny,” was the reaction from the other park goers as we carried her out of the park. One guy mentioned we might need a truck. One teen tried to give us $50 for Tiny. But the little angel won her all by herself, so alas, capitalism didn’t prevail.
There was a tense moment in the parking lot.
But we did, at last, get Tiny home. The little angel triumphantly showed her off to the entire neighborhood.
Just for yucks, Tiny wanted to sit in Vicki the Convertible.
At the end of our exciting Worlds of Fun adventure, the little angel tucked Tiny into bed.
Pros and Cons to Worlds of Fun
Pros:
- Lots of coasters
- Fast Lane available (though we didn’t use and didn’t really need, due to our timing)
- Availability of Subway if you don’t want to stuff yourself with theme park food
- Games your kid can actually win
- Planet Snoopy has a good selection of rides for the wee ones so everyone can have fun
- Ride conductors are comedians
- Rating system for rides makes it easy to determine if you want to go on them before you get in line
Cons:
- The fried food was a bit greasy for my taste (but hey, it’s fried theme park food)
- Not as many misters as there could be for a park in the hot, steamy Midwest
- Many of the lines aren’t shaded
- No hand sanitizers near rides or food (at least that I saw)
What’s your favorite amusement park memory? Ours is definitely the little angel winning Tiny (though I wish she were a little tinier).