Worlds of Fun provides variety of entertainment for visitors

I am not a theme park kind of guy. It’s not that I don’t think they’re fun places. Of course, they are. But, I will admit I have a deep-seeded fear of rollercoasters. I have since I had a bad experience as a kid.

But, Lisa enjoys them once in a while. We had an opportunity to visit Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. I’m not one to pass up an opportunity to visit KC, so we invited another couple along, and off we went.

Lisa and the other couple – Nicole and Pete – had fun riding the roller coasters, etc. Nicole authors the blog “Mom Saves Money” at www.momsavesmoney.net.

They hit several of Worlds of Fun’s thrill rides – the Mamba, Timber Wolf, Boomerang, Detonator and Zulu. They had fun on each ride.

I joined them on the “challenging” Fury of the Nile river raft ride. The ride takes about a five-minute trip down a waterway, with some dips and turns. Riders can get splashed on during the trip. Nicole suffered the most on our raft. I actually have enjoyed that ride since my daughters were kids.

While the trio waited in line for their rides, I checked out what Worlds of Fun had for a guy like me. I enjoy checking out photo opportunities, which were many. I loved shooting the classic car in front of the drive-in restaurant near the Mamba ride. I actually ran into a co-worker and her family there. Her husband and daughter were heading for the Mamba, too. We visited for a short time and I moved on for more photo opportunities.

The park was decorated for the fall season, as well as the Halloween haunts later that night. Worlds of Fun offers a few haunted scenes and some ghostly mazes after dark. For more on that experience, please see our story – http://thewalkingtourists.com/halloween-haunt-scares-good-time-kcs-worlds-fun/.

I checked out some of the Haunted Halloween sets during the day in what was deemed the “No scare” zone for kids. The props were pretty cool.

Since some of the ride attractions were located near Planet Snoopy, I wanted to see what rides they offered. They had a neat Sopwith Camel plane ride for kids. That was interesting. The young kids on the ride seemed to enjoy themselves.

Nicole joked at one time that the roller coaster ride for kids at Planet Snoopy may have been OK for me. Sadly, she was probably right. More my speed. LOL.

I didn’t realize the park had a petting zoo until it was closed. Baby goats always make for good photographs.

Back to the rides. The “three amigos” had lots of fun.

They started on the Zulu, which they thought would be the safest to ride first. Well…turns out the seats didn’t have seat belts and the ride went around pretty quick. I think Lisa and Nicole thought they might fall out, but it was fine.

The Mamba was THE ride of the day. The roller coaster covers 5,600 feet of track space at a speed of 75 mph. Wow! The ride lasts three minutes, but they said it felt much longer.

The Detonator is a tower ride. Two cars seat 12 passengers each. They ride two towers several hundred feet above the ground. Riders are shot skyward and then dropped quickly. The ride raises and drops riders a couple of times each. The detonator can reach up to 4.5 Gs of force during the ride. Nicole and Lisa thought this was their favorite ride.

The Timber Wolf proved more of a challenge to them. The ride covers more than 4,200 feet of track at a speed of 45 mph on a wooden structure. The turns were a little harder than the more modern rides, such as the Mamba, Lisa said. The 25-year-old ride lasts a little more than two minutes.

The Boomerang was the final ride of the night for the gang. I had a front row seat to watch this ride. Riders are pulled to a vertical start from almost 12 stories. Then, the cars are released. They ride a corkscrew track. At the end of this track, the cars are pulled straight up again to about 12 stories high and then released to ride the corkscrew tracks again – only backwards. This one freaked out Lisa a bit since she couldn’t see where they were going. Plus, it was dark.

The trio enjoyed the rides. We all enjoyed the day at the park. Worlds of Fun is closed for the season, but it will open for its 2015 season in early spring. So, the wait isn’t too long. I think I could be persuaded for are turn trip next season. Everyone enjoyed themselves, and that’s all that matters.

For more information on Worlds of Fun or to find out about 2015 rates, please visit www.worldsoffun.com.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Worlds of Fun for the complimentary tickets for our visit. However, all opinions and views are ours.