Around The World In One and a Half Days - Part 2

This is the second part of my look at Worlds of Fun, stemming from my first ever visit to the park. If you missed the first part, it might make more sense to start here!

Heading down the Nile

One ride that I left out of the Africa section last time is the Fury of the Nile, the park's river rapids ride.  Those kids in the photo are a bit mad if you ask me, it was really cold that day!  Ahh, youth.  Anyway, the ride has some neat theming that helps set it apart from other rapids rides, including a nice tunnel section.

In the first part we looked at Scandinavia and Africa, which means we have several additional continents to cover today.  Next up is Americana, by far the largest section of the park and home to many thrilling rides and attractions.

Ready to strike!

If you enter Americana from the Africa section it won't take long to encounter the coaster that surrounds the length of one side of the park, Mamba.  With Dorney Park as my homebase I was curious to check out Mamba, since the coasters have obvious similarities and opened only one year apart.

Where's Thunderhawk? Wait a minute...

Even the entrance plaza set up is similar at Mamba when thinking of Steel Force, set up on a hill above the entrance below.  The queues are different, but the stations are generally the same only Mamba has some nice skylights. 

As for the ride, well I won't pick favorites but the experience was pretty much as I expected, and that's not at all in a bad way!

Oh you stinky gray clouds... go away!

Mamba is able to take advantage of the landscape of the park, including a longer second drop.  The helix portion is also unique, and I remember back when it opened there was much discussion of the head-choppers that take place, and I was pleased to see that they were just as described.  Makes you want to duck!

Another reason I hold back some judgement is that it was quite cold and very windy when I was there and Mamba was moving slow, really significantly slower than I've ever seen it run in videos, etc.  Something to look forward to on a future trip, I guess.

Everyone's favorite beagle.

Like so many of the Cedar Fair parks in the past few years, World of Fun also received a large expansion that turned their Camp Snoopy into Planet Snoopy.  The brightly colored area sits at the top of the park, up on a hill, tucked against Mamba and a couple other attractions.  That's one thing I didn't quite understand about Worlds of Fun before visiting, there really is more of an elevation change at the park than I ever expected.

Plenty of rides for kids in Planet Snoopy!

But back to the beagle.  Planet Snoopy is filled with tons of rides that families with smaller kids can ride together.  They really have a huge line-up of rides that are offered, a mix of older ones from the Camp days, and plenty of newer ones as well from when the makeover took place.  Like the other similar renovations throughout the chain you can still see some parts of the old, like the waterfall above, mixed in with the new.

Quick diversion to Europa.

Let's take a quick detour to Europa, which is a fairly small part of the park all things considered.  This part feels much older than some of Americana, and connects it to Africa right in the center of the property.  Above gives you a general view of the section, filled with some of the park's classic attractions, including Le Taxitour, a gas powered car ride, and the Autobahn, bumper cars.

Europa's Flying Dutchman

Europa is also home to the Moulin Rouge Theatre where I rested up for a bit and caught a performance of "Party Rockin' 40 Years".  The theatre is pretty tiny, but in my opinion that is what makes the experience so great.  No vast open space filled with seats here, you're right in front of the performers - plus the snack bar is a perfect touch.

Blasting up!

Okay, now that we quick hopped over to Europa there's plenty more Americana for us to explore.  Right up the hill near Planet Snoopy is one of the first rides that Cedar Fair added to the park when they purchased it, Detonator.  The pair of S&S Space Shots pack quite a punch, as some of the earlier models are known for.  Since the ride is located at a higher elevation in the park they can be seen from most sections, and also offer some stunning views when you're briefly at the top.

Ooo, what's this?

I had heard of Cyclone Sam's, and indoor flat ride with some minor theming, in the past and was curious to check it out.  Sadly as that sign out front of it proclaimed it was not meant to be, and did not open while at the park.  Still, the outside of the building is pretty neat to check out, cow included.  Oh and an interesting thing to note, three rides were down all day when I visited so the park's go-karts were free to make up for it - I've never seen a park go to the effort like that!

Ignore the former kiddie area and look at the coaster!

Another staple attraction of the park, and quite a big ride when added in 1989 is Timber Wolf.  The wooden coaster was designed by Curtis Summers and built by Dinn Corporation.  The same duo behind some other big wooden rides like Dorney Park's Hercules and Mean Streak at Cedar Point.

Heading down the first drop.

Well, what can I say.  Timber Wolf rode much like the other Summers/Dinn rides that I've been on.  Much like the weather affected Mamba, Timber Wolf was also having a bit of a hard time with the temperatures that day, adding in the wind made it even worse.

I think of Candy Stripers when I see this ride.

I hate to keep comparing attractions at Worlds of Fun to my homepark, but there are also a great many similarities between Talon at Dorney Park and the Patriot.  Patriot has a wonderfully patriotic paint scheme, decked out in red, white, and blue.  It's a fantastically photogenic ride as well, its location (again perched on the side of a gradual hill) greatly helps that.

You can travel under several parts of the ride for shots like this.

The layouts of the two rides are close, really close if you think about it.  By no means a clone, however.  Patriot starts off with a curving drop off the lift and into a vertical loop, followed by a heartline roll and immelmann.  Actually, I won't transcribe the rest of the elements as they're really the exact same as Talon.  But that's a great thing if you ask me, and Patriot, much like Talon, heads through those elements at a good clip and keeps the fun factor up throughout the ride.

Pretty, but cold, at night!

It is interesting to see the design changes between Steel Force and Mamba, and Talon and Patriot.  In both cases it seems like the designers were able to 'push it' just a bit more with the second ride.  You know, make Mamba's helix more intense, angle Patriot's helix more dramatically, etc.  I promise, that's the end of me comparing rides.

Really pretty shot of the park's rides.

After you head out of Americana you're almost done with the circle of the park, but there's one small section left to visit, and that's the Orient.  Almost just a blip on the park map, the Orient actually only has two rides and a couple food establishments.  The larger of the two rides, seen above, is Spinning Dragons.  The ride is a clone of the Fairly Odd Coaster at Nickelodeon Universe, and honestly it's really just a lot of fun.  The individual cars spin like mad throughout the course, especially if the weight distribution is off. 

Through the coaster shot!

The other ride in the Orient is the Bamboozler, which spins riders around and holds them in place with all that force.  You can see it rising behind one of the Orient's snack stands in the photo above.  The theming in the section is really nice, and while it is quite landlocked I'd love to see the park be able to add something additional to the area, so long as they keep up the level of detail!

And that wraps up our trip around the world in one and a half days.  If you ever have the chance to stop by the park I'd suggest doing so, I trust after all this writing most readers could find at least a few reasons to want to stop by. 

Around The World in One and a Half Days - Part 1

Welcome to Worlds of Fun!

Earlier this Spring when I was able to visit Silver Dollar City for the first time I also checked out another park on the same trip, that being Worlds of Fun.  That's why the title of this article is what it is - Worlds of Fun was originally themed off of Jules Verne's Around The World In Eighty Days when it first opened in 1973.  That opening year also means the park is celebrating its 40th anniversary - and many congratulations to the park for that achievement!

Just inside the entrance gates.

But back to the title of this piece.  Due to flight times and a hotel nearby, I was actually able to check out the park for a day and a half.  That allowed me to become a little more familiar with the property, which was perfect because ever since Cedar Fair purchased the park in 1995 I've wanted to visit.  Well really I would like to visit every park on the globe, but becoming a part of the Cedar Fair family moved it up the list, you could say.

One of the original sections of the park.

World of Fun is celebrating its 40th by combining the theme park and water park into one admission ticket, and greatly expanding their slide offerings.  Being that I visited well before the water area, Oceans of Fun, opened for the year I didn't quite get to check out that expansion.

The theme park is broken up into themed sections, each representing a different part of the world in a generalized sense.  Think more on the continent level than on the country level.  When you enter the park you find yourself in Scandinavia, and the size of the trees and well grown in look of the park shows that it dates back to the park's opening.

Beautiful, and greets you after you enter.

Cedar Fair enjoys placing carousels at or near the entrances to their parks, and Worlds of Fun received that distinction in 2011 with the addition of the Grand Carrousel just below the front gates.  The ride was saved after Geauga Lake closed in 2007, kept in storage and fully refurbished before being installed at Worlds of Fun.

The ride dates back to 1926 when it was originally built by M.C. Illions of Coney Island, NY.  There are very few Illions rides left in the world today, so Worlds of Fun is rightfully proud to have the ride as part of its offerings.

Spinning and twirling thrills.

Scandinavia contains a great selection of flat rides once you start to explore.  Many of the attractions are from the park's early years, meaning there are some great rides that have since vanished from other parks.  Many of the rides have appropriate names for the section, such as the Fjord Fjarlane (top of the photo above) and the Finnish Fling (bottom of the photo above.)  Perhaps the Octopus is a little less themed, but maybe there are a lot of Octopuses in Scandinavia - I'll let you Google that one if you wish.

Look - blue sky!  Pretty, right?

What I really enjoyed about the Scandinavia area is the grown-in feeling I described earlier, and the peacefulness of parts of it.  Above is the Sea Dragon and a part of the Viking Voyager with a large pond in front of each.  You can see how large and mature the trees are at the park, which makes for great shade on hot Summer days.  It happened to be windy and cold when I was there, however!

Boating through the woods and past a waterfall.

The Viking Voyager, the park's classic log flume, winds among the trees throughout the section, even bordering on one of the adjacent lands.  If the weather had been a bit nicer I would have given this one a spin, but the thought of wet clothes and a day of plane rides made me think again.  The Voyager darts back among undeveloped land in the middle of the park giving riders a journey though the woods.  The final drop isn't too large, but considering the ride opened with the park in 1973 that isn't too surprising.

Boomerang.  Gnaremoob.

After passing through Scandinavia, clockwise that is, you'll enter Africa.  You can tell because the music in the park's themed areas match their setting, a totally refreshing thing if you ask me.  Located at what seems like the lowest elevation of the park, Africa's buildings are themed appropriately and not far into the section you encounter the Boomerang roller coaster.

First forwards, then backwards.  Don't get sick!

You've all been on one of these before, right?  This one was added to the park back in 2000, five years after Cedar Fair took over.  The ride features six inversions, three forwards and three backwards, and was just repainted this year so it looks totally shiny and new.  You can probably tell from the above photo, though!  

There be dinos in those woods!

In addition to the massive water park expansion, the 2013 season also is debuting Dinosaurs Alive!  If you're familiar with other Cedar Fair parks then you know the drill on this one - there's many animated dinosaurs located along a wooded path, available to guests for a small extra charge.  The display is located in Africa at Worlds of Fun and uses a nicely wooded area for the path, but the entrance (above) is in the heart of the land.

Wave hi to the guests in Dinosaurs Alive!

Here's a shot of just one small section of the meandering path.  Even though the park wasn't too crowded during my daytime visit there were still plenty of families going through the area.  Dinosaurs have always been a hit with kids, though, and these displays have proven popular at other properties in the chain.

The addition also comes with the redevelopment of one of Africa's retail locations into the Dinostore where you can buy everything and anything related to dinosaurs.  Hide your wallet!  Just kidding.

I want to ride!

When you really look at it the Africa section is generally sparse on rides, but it is home to one attraction that more than makes up for that.  That's Prowler, and above you can see some of its large entrance plaza and queue with the ride's lift hill behind it.

Prowler is a Great Coasters International wooden ride that was built in 2009.  The ride's design was a bit of a departure for the designers, as their typical twister layout was pushed aside for a long, curving out and back style experience.

Down the first drop you guys go!

And what an experience it is!  I really enjoyed this ride, I have no problem singing its praises to anyone and everyone.  Prowler is fast and disorienting and I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing it for the first time in the dark.  That without a doubt sealed the deal for me - even though it was cold - probably 55 degrees at most - the ride was tearing through those woods in total darkness and I rather enjoyed every minute of it.

Oh, and thanks to lucky timing on the train for the photo above!  The lightning and sky behind the ride are terrible, but I wanted to feature it anyway.

Roaring over those hills on the way back is good times.

Turns out I liked the ride just as much in the daytime, when you could actually see what was going on.  The ride is fast and the constant directional changes combined with moments of airtime were right up my alley.  The park was running only one train, I assume due to early season operations and lack of crowds, and only that held me from getting even more rides on Prowler.

We've still got three more continents to go, but that will have to wait until part two.  Check back for that next week!

Having a Great Past at Silver Dollar City - Part 2

Last time, in the first part of this look at a recent visit to Silver Dollar City, we saw some of the many attractions and other offerings the park has waiting for guests.  If you missed that section, here is a direct link.  Now let's get going, there is still a ton of the park to experience!

I'm ready to volunteer!

The original roller coaster at Silver Dollar City is one that is actually a mix of dark ride and coaster in one.  Known as Fire In The Hole, the ride was built in-house in 1972 by park staff, and features a three story ride path that includes several drops.  Fire In The Hole has a colorful story line that involves a steadily burning town and its residents.

The facade of Fire In The Hole

From the outside of the ride guests can't quite make out what will take place, but any repeat visitor to the park seems to grow to love the silly antics that take place inside. This includes scenes depicting the town in flames, some water filled caverns, a very close encounter with a train and a large drop finale complete with splashdown.  The unique ride is just quirky enough to have acquired a large fan base, and now that I've ridden it I can understand why!

The 'main event' if you will.

This year the park is all about Outlaws, and their capture of course because the "Good Guys Always Win" at Silver Dollar City!  The name of the game is Outlaw Run, and if you missed it you can see Scott and Carol's story on the brand new coaster at this link.

The ride has taken up home just beyond Wilson's Farm and has a wonderfully themed entrance plaza complete with fully realized Western buildings and even an authentic stage coach.

Up the quick lift hill.

Outlaw Run is a wild ride that conceptually involves a trip on a stage coach themed train, and travels out into the beautiful woods that surround the property.  The shot above shows the train just after it leaves the station, starting out its climb up the 107 foot tall lift hill.  It's a quick trip up to the top, and you have just enough time to take in the amazing view from the top before the train turns and plunges down 162 feet at 81 degrees.  From there the ride is a bit of a blur, not only because it is so fast but also because the elements come at riders in rapid succession.

Silver Dollar City builds pretty coaster stations!

As Scott and Carol mentioned in their story, when we hit the brakes my take on what had just happened was humorous yet true.  The ride experience can seem a bit 'insane' at first, because of the amount of speed, intense direction changes, unique elements, and three inversions to boot!  The park and Rocky Mountain Construction have created something quite special with the ride - I can honestly say I've never been on anything like it before.

One can only imagine the other designs that could come from this new track technology, endless I'm sure, but I will be eager to see how this style of ride could be incorporated at other parks.

Splash!  Is anything here not pretty?

Moving back to a much more relaxed, traditional thrill is the park's log flume, named the American Plunge.  Slow moving logs travel down the river and through some extended dark caverns.  After popping out briefly they renter only to exit on the lift hill to the final drop.  You can get a good idea of how that looks from this photo, and be sure to only ride if you are willing to get quite a blast of water!  This isn't one of those flumes that just gives a light mist!

Tucker out those kids!

We've certainly looked at some thrilling attractions that Silver Dollar City offers, but there is plenty for families with little ones at the park.  Above is Half Dollar Holler, an elaborate play area for kids filled with climbs and paths as part of Treetop Trail.  There's also a couple more traditional kiddie rides such as Hugo and Mary's Carousel - everyone needs a photo of their children on a Carousel!

Huge play area for the kids.

On the other side of the property is really enormous area known as Geyser Gulch, which is considered by the park as the "world's largest treehouse."  The multi-story play structure relies heavily on water for fun - the story goes that a massive geyser blasted all the structures of the town Geyser Gulch into the trees, and now there is a massive, connected series of treehouses for kids to explore.

There's blasters located along the side of the structure, where you can aim and blast at targets on the structures located in the middle of Lake Silver.  Once enough pressure has built up the geyser will launch - just make sure you're not standing too close!

That is an instrument or a large sting ray.  I think.

Shows.  They're a really big deal in the Branson area, though I doubt I need to explain that to anyone.  The same can be found inside the park, especially during the Festivals that Silver Dollar City holds.  Our visit was during World Fest, which has several new shows this year from around the world.  A quick look at the roster includes live entertainers from places like Switzerland, Ecuador, Ireland, Austria, Russia, Argentina, and even New Zealand.

Guests line up very early for performances and many groups plan their days around the entertainment schedule.  With so much to see, those who love shows and rides really need more than one day at the park!

A raft heading through the river course.

While I didn't take a spin on it I really liked the look of another of the park's somewhat recent additions, Tom & Huck's RiverBlast!  Squeezed tightly in the Riverfront section of Silver Dollar City, the ride features slow moving rafts that come equipped with water blasters for the riders.  RiverBlast opened in 2010 and was a part of the park's 50th anniversary celebration.

Those kiddies are trying to spray non-riders!

As the rafts slowly move around the course there's tons of theming that contain targets for them to aim at.  That also includes human targets, as there are plenty of places where riders can spray at those on the pathways around the attraction - but guests not on the ride can fire back!  These 'splash battle' style rides seem to be popular at the parks they've shown up at - and when RiverBlast opened it was billed as the largest in America.

This mine is flooded!  See!

Silver Dollar City has another quirky ride, this time a shooting target dark ride named The Flooded Mine.  What was once a thriving mining operation now has a problem with an endless rush of water that has flooded the caverns.  Guests sit on boats as they travel through various scenes, and are equipped with their own gun as they pass targets.  Like with other similar rides, the guns keep track of your score as you go - something that's pretty simple unless you're me, apparently, since I read my score upside down the whole time, much to the amusement of Scott and Carol!

Train time! A perfect break.

The park's train ride, formally named the Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train, is a great way to relax for 20 or so minutes during your day at the park.  The ride takes the cars through the park and then out into the surrounding woods, including a trip through a dark cave.  You can get some of the best views of Outlaw Run from the ride as well, it passes right in front of the crazy first overbank element!  Make sure to have your camera ready.

That "whaaa" face is perfect for the character!

There's more to the train than just a pretty view of the park and the landscape, though.  At one point a couple of over-the-top train robbers make an attempt at robbing the passengers, but fear not - they're a bit too slow to pull it off.  The comedic performance garners plenty of laughs from the train passengers, especially smaller kids who aren't quite sure what to make of the duo.

An Arrow mine train! Woohoo!

There's still one more large coaster at the park that we haven't yet checked out, and that's Thunderation.  The ride is an Arrow mine train, and it is no secret that I love riding these types of rides.  Thunderation was one of the last ones that Arrow created, so the engineering and design standards are well above those found on similar mine trains built in the '60s or '70s that are known for their crazy transitions and seemingly constant lift hills.

Directly out of the station.

Thunderation takes full advantage of the hilly topography of Silver Dollar City - the lift hill is actually near the end of the ride so things start off quickly right away.  The trains leave the station and after a small drop meander across the hillside briefly before entering an enormous multi-level helix that tightens as it progresses downward.  That ends with a sudden tunnel, which is followed by a significantly large swooping drop even further down the side of the hill.

Zooming through the forest on Thunderation.

After a climb back up the train starts up the really, really big lift hill which gets them back up to a height above the level of the station.  If you really look at the trains on the lift hill while waiting in line it's amazing to see how much elevation change takes place and how much lift is needed to correct that.  After the lift there is one more big (big for a mine train, anyway) drop and a quick turn in to the brakes.

I had high hopes for this ride and I must admit that even outside of my affinity for Arrow mine trains Thunderation is great!

Welcome to the Grand Exposition!

As rides became more popular as an offering at Silver Dollar City there was one thing missing: flat rides.  The park has several larger dark rides, water rides, and coasters, but unlike many parks you do not pass lots of flat rides as you walk around.  That was more than fixed with the addition of a whole new area, named the Grad Exposition, which is a two acre land that contains a total of ten rides.  The expansion added and additional 5,000 rides per hour to the park's capacity, something that I'm sure eased operations around the entire property when it debuted in 2006.

All smiles on the Mighty Galleon.

The area is themed after the many expositions that took place that showed off the latest technological marvels of the late 19th century.  I noted that this section of the park was very level, and how that struck me as odd - until Carol informed me it used to be a parking lot!  Makes sense now!  The mix of the rides that are in the area cater to all visitors.  There's bigger thrills like the Magnificent Wave Carousel, Mighty Galleon, and Racing Regatta - but also ones for kids like the Ladybugs and a kiddie coaster, too.

Spinning, spinning - a bit too much for me.

Above is the Electro Spin, another one of the more thrilling rides that the Grand Exposition offers.  The land also has shops and food, and the theming is top notch in helping make it feel like it could have come out of the late 1800s when everyone had an idea or two for a crazy ride they wanted to build.  There's plenty of areas for parents and non-riders to wait, something that fits the needs of guests at a park as diverse as Silver Dollar City.  They keep in mind that not everyone wants to spin around until they want to lose their lunch!

One of many scenes like this around the property.

There you have it - my take on a park that I've wanted to visit for years now.  I'm so happy I got to check it out, and while my day was more than full I think there's still plenty I missed out on.  That means another visit sometime down the road!  Special thanks to the park for helping us see and do all we could, and thanks as well to Scott and Carol for showing me around.  If you have the chance to add Silver Dollar City to an upcoming trip, by all means I would recommend doing so!