New Coaster coming to WOF

[im2kull]

I dont know about you guys, but I honestly dont like inverted coasters.  Cool concept, but all you can see is the back of peoples seats in front of you.  There is absolutely no thrill factor because of that.  Traditional coasters are much more fun because of that reason.  That is unless you manage to get the front seat, then inverted coasters are awesome, but expect to wait 4 times as long to get a front seat, because everyone knows thats the only fun seat on the whole ride.

[KCN]

That is why I will never ride in any seat other than the front on an inverted.  But it's almost always well worth the extra wait.

[kcdcchef]

amen to that. all the crap cedar fair rips out ( zambezi, orient, cotton blossom, pandemonioum ) were all crap. i loved the zinger, rode it all through the 80's, but it was shot. and as far as everyone ripping that they dont do any good for the park, well, hunt midwest, according to their public financial records, and from  what i saw, was willing to operate worlds of fun at a loss. new company isnt. makes a difference you know.

[chrizow]

Pandemonium was awesome. 

[im2kull]

... as far as everyone ripping that they dont do any good for the park, well, hunt midwest, according to their public financial records, and from  what i saw, was willing to operate worlds of fun at a loss. new company isnt. makes a difference you know.

Im not sure I get what you mean.  Are you supporting or not supporting Cedar Fair?  And what about hunt midwest, they dont own the park?  What do you mean about the new company, it is still owned by Cedar Fair and has been since like 92'

[kcdcchef]

no, cedar fair took over somewhere in the late 90's. i was there from 88-94, and it was hunt midwest, so, from the perspective of a 7 year ex employee, i still think of it as the new company. however, my point of reference was, from someone who worked there ( year round ) for 7 years, i can tell you that hunt dumped a lot more than cedar fair did. but, hunt midwest did not use worlds of fun for straight profit either, cedar fair does. and i do not fault them for that. and for the record, i do support them, they run the park like anyone else who is a business person would. thats all. i get tired of hearing everyone moan about all the crowd pleasers they took out, because from someone who was there, for years, i can tell you those rides were obsolete, outdated, and maintenence nightmares. they were, during my time in the early 90's, having to have ALL parts for the zinger and the express, custom made, the companies no longer made them. do you know how expensive that is???!!! and pandemonium, did suck, sorry. it did.

[im2kull]

no, cedar fair took over somewhere in the late 90's. i was there from 88-94, and it was hunt midwest, so, from the perspective of a 7 year ex employee, i still think of it as the new company. however, my point of reference was, from someone who worked there ( year round ) for 7 years, i can tell you that hunt dumped a lot more than cedar fair did. but, hunt midwest did not use worlds of fun for straight profit either, cedar fair does. and i do not fault them for that. and for the record, i do support them, they run the park like anyone else who is a business person would. thats all. i get tired of hearing everyone moan about all the crowd pleasers they took out, because from someone who was there, for years, i can tell you those rides were obsolete, outdated, and maintenence nightmares. they were, during my time in the early 90's, having to have ALL parts for the zinger and the express, custom made, the companies no longer made them. do you know how expensive that is???!!! and pandemonium, did suck, sorry. it did.

Yeah I agree with you.  I didnt understand at first, but now i see what your saying.  I know, we need somebody like hunt to take back ownership so that the park will actually be looked at as a theme park, not a money maker.  I do indeed hate Cedar Fair though, who says they have to put in "Spinning Dragons" when they took out the orient, they could have put anything there.  Yes, rides do deteriorate and they eventually get replaced, but if CF was a decent company then they would show some love and give us some good rides back, not crappy standardized stuff.  WOF used to be known as a world class park, everywhere, but now nobody outside of KC recognizes it. 

[KCwriter]

As a former employee of Cedar Fair at Worlds of Fun (3 summers ago), I can testify that there is a sort of method to their apparent madness as far as WOF. 

It is not that they have some master plan to wreck the park.  The issue here is company resources.  Cedar Fair owns parks all over the country; its not as easy for the general public to pick them out, because they don't all have "Cedar" in the name.

As far as park improvements and redevelopment, Cedar Fair is first and foremost focused on its flagship park, Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.  This is its biggest moneymaker; people visit from all over the US and world.  They've made it a total vacation experience; high class lodges, the most rides and attractions of any of the Cedar Fair parks, etc.  As such, when allocate money for new rides and attractions, they devote the most to Cedar Point.  They want to keep it at the top, and while they do keep up their other parks, those parks come second. 

I've heard before that if we get a new ride at WOF, Cedar Point has already recieved that ride first.  We get a copy, perhaps with a different name.

The thing I always wondered about was that the WOF grounds are huge.  If you look at a map, they are only using between a forth and a third of their total property.  There is PLENTY of room to expand or to install new rides.  If the old ones could be properly maintained, they wouldn't have to tear them out and put in new ones.

BTW, if you go on-line to www.worldsoffun.org (I think thats the right address), it is the non-official WOF site.  It has all the historical info about the park, bios of each ride past and present, and loads of pictures accumulated since the late 1970's.  For those who remember the park when it was new, the pics will make you nostalgic.  For generations just experiencing the park now, you'll marvel at some of the stuff they used to have. 

Personally, I wish they still had the operating Gondala system.  It would make getting across the park a lot faster. 

[KCwriter]

Now that I've gone back and actually read the thread, I realize I included a lot of redundant info.  Sorry to rehash!

Anyway, the thing I don't see Cedar Fair maintaining about Worlds of Fun is the original theme.  It sounds like most of us know the reason it was called "Worlds of Fun" was it was themed around the old "Around the World in 80 Days" movie (not the new Jackie Chan thing).  There was a reason parts of the park are called Orient, Scandanavia, Americana, etc.  But with the removal of the 3 movie ships the park used to feature, the removal of things like the Oriental Gateway, and the naming scheme on new rides that doesn't always follow the themes (what does "Boomerang" have to do with Africa, and does "Ripcord" keep with the Orient section it's right next to?  Is Ripcord in Orient or Americana?); the whole "Around the World" theme has slowly been chipped away.

As much as we all loved the Orient, the last I heard was that it had to go.  It was a thrill, but I always left it trying to shake the pain out of my head from the bone-rattling ride.  My dad and I once rode it three times in a row right at the start of the day, and it is the only time in my memory that I have ralphed in a bush after an amusement park ride

They were talking about replacing Orient when I worked there three years ago.  The main issue was the track itself; it hadn't been guaged in a while, and it badly needed to be reguaged.  That is why the ride was so rough.  I believe they had reguaged it several times over the years, but it starts to get like taking your aging car back to Macco every couple years to get the same dents pulled out; it gets harder and harder to pound them out each time.

It definitely was one of the great Mix-Master roller coaster rides I've ever had.  This new "Patriot" looks and sounds good, though.  I'll have to make the trip out to WOF when they're done.  I haven't been back since I worked there; you kinda reach your limit when you're spending 8-10 hours a day there, 6 days a week.    

[kcdcchef]

hey i hear ya. when you are there like 70 hours a week all summer, it burns you out on the experience. to keep this park in the theme of jules verne's novel, they are failing. to undo all of 2 decades of hunt midwest throwing millions at probelems, is taking them a while. i see it happening, allbeit slowly. i dont think they ever intended spinning dragons to be a replacement for the express, just something to fill the hole for the time being, my understanding when they ripped it out was it would be 2 summers away for a replacement. give them time, NO company is going to throw away the millions hunt did. not even mr k if he was still around!!

[LenexatoKCMO]

Well here it is - completely official and a few additional details. 
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/12582273.htm

[KCN]

Here's the official webpage with really awesome video.  I highly suggest putting it in full screen.

http://www.worldsoffun.com/public/insid ... latest.cfm

OTAL INVESTMENT :: $14 million
TRACK LENGTH :: 3,081 feet
LIFT HEIGHT :: 149 feet
FIRST DROP :: 123 feet
SPEED :: Approximately 60 MPH
RIDE TIME :: 2 minutes 18 seconds
DESIGN MODEL :: Inverted
STRUCTURAL MATERIAL :: Steel



MANUFACTURER ::  Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) Monthey, Switzerland
COLORS :: Red, White & Blue / Stars & Stripes
LOCATION :: Americana
TRAINS :: 2 Trains - 28 Riders/Train
CAPACITY :: Approximately 1,160 Riders/Hour
HEIGHT REQUIREMENT :: 54" Minimum in Height

[kcdcchef]

on top of which they are already building it. there is a link to pictures on this site

worldsoffun.org

org, not com, it is the unofficial worlds of fun web page. they have a forum like we do, go to community, click on forum, and there is a section with pictures of the coaster construction ongoing. really cool .

[Highlander]

On behalf of my 12 year old son who longs to return to WOF at the earliest convenience.......    SWEET!

[GRID]

on top of which they are already building it. there is a link to pictures on this site

worldsoffun.org

org, not com, it is the unofficial worlds of fun web page. they have a forum like we do, go to community, click on forum, and there is a section with pictures of the coaster construction ongoing. really cool .

yea, they probably had a day yesterday like we did when the arena passed

About damn time, if they keep the coasters they have for a while, they might just have one of the better parks between the coasts again.  This will be a great ride.

[kcdcchef]

http://www.worldsoffun.org/photo_galler ... nstruction'

click and paste. that is the link to all the worlds of fun pictures, this is in progress. evidently, no rides will go away this year. just this added.

[GRID]

I highly suggest putting it in full screen.

OK, how do you get it to go full screen?

[MidWestSider]

OK, how do you get it to go full screen?

Full screen using windows media: Right Click the Video, mouse over "zoom" and select "Full screen"

[GRID]

^ That typically works, but for some reason I can't get it to for these.  Oh well.

Here is a better rendering:

[KCN]

That inversion on the far right looks great.  I recreated this coaster on rollercoaster tycoon and it was a hit .

GRID - wait 5 or 10 seconds into the video to select full screen, the option doesn't work immediately.