Worlds of Fun Halloweekends

10/29/05

This is my first crack at this. No, I didn't go around and take stupid pictures of trees or anything like that. Whose going to remember or care about a tree and some mulch?!? Now that I got that off my chest, here's the first ever Inside My Eyes, a look at the park from a normal person's perspective who knows many of the in's and out's of the park.

First things first...It has been over a year since I've been to the park as a guest, dating back to last Halloweekends. Saturday was crowded by WOF standards. And I am used to going to the park and riding rides as a walk-on. Shoot, I was in Florida and Texas this past year, and the rides had shorter lines than what I had to put up with at WOF. It's hard to wait in line for a ride when you know you really should not have to...

Decided to head over to the Orient section to begin with. Not much of a crowd early in the morning, but there was still a 25 minute wait for Spinning Dragons. Capacity was horrible, but I guess that's to be expected when you have a booster just standing there. And amazingly, no one got stung by the 20 or so bees flying around the trashcan right next to the panel on the outside of the station.

On to the next stop. Bamboozler. Learn how to park the ride!!! It's not that difficult. After the ride stopped, we had to spin around about an extra 5 minutes until it stopped ON IT'S OWN POWER! No wonder there was a line...

I've been hearing grumblings about the Reeler being removed, or displaced to another section of the park. I think it would be a big mistake to remove it completely, it's still a fun familty ride. Who doesn't enjoy sitting on the inside part of the seat and squishing the other rider? Move it and retheme it if you have to, and by all means, clean it! I know it's not the operators fault because it's not practical to clean the inside portion of the ride, but it was filthy.

While I was waiting in line for Reeler (not sure that has ever happened) I noticed a "snoop" by the Clowns. This is way before they opened at 3. I couldn't believe that someone who posts on these websites over and over again about "don't do this, don't do that," was in plain daylight trying to go IN BETWEEN Reeler and the Carnival of Carnivorous Clowns to get some picture of a ride being built. The nerve of some people...and you would think WOF would have more security in that area.

Now on to one of my favorite rides...Zulu. Horrible. It "broke" while we were in line the first time. Here's a tip. Don't unload the ride halfway, then go and talk with the panel operator for 3 minutes discussing something, and THEN go and close the entrance chain, and shout out something about it being closed, and making sure everyone left the line, only to leave the people on the ride!!!! There is no reason why the loader could not have unloaded everyone, and the panel operator to turn around to the line and tell everyone it was closed. No excuse...the latch and locks on that ride are all manual, so I dunno what was going on with that crew there. And when I went back to ride it, damn near felt like the car was going to fly off, it shook that much. There I also witnessed the only person I saw all day long with a "Patriot" shirt on, proudly supporting his brid of prey.

This is going to take forever at this rate, so here's a quick breakdown of some other rides:

-Timber Wolf was a fantastic ride in the very back and the middle. But they never came close to hitting Dispatch point, probably because you are supposed to have an unloader during two train operation, and EMT's shouldn't be loading the train. "sigh."
-Thunderhawk, WOFRR, Taxis, Dutchman, Mamba, and Viking Voyager all were enjoyable rides, and run efficiantly for the most part. Kudos to you guys.
-The Grand Prix crew seemed to be clueless. I don't know what they were doing, nor do I think they knew either (probably a supervisor problem), but no complaints about the attraction itself.
-I apologize to everyone at the Monsoon, Nile, Detonator complexes...you're lines were either too long, or you were experiencing some "operational downtime," or it was just too cold. Also didn't get a chance to ride a few other rides, but enough is enough.

Can't comment on the food, but getting a souviner Halloweekends bottle for the price of a small drink wasn't bad at all, and the cheap Orient Express merchandise was awesome. The park was clean, and all the employees seemed nice. While it's great that they are nice, it still doesn't mean they are doing a good job, but I guess you take what you can get, especially on the last weekend.

Finally, Halloweekends. I was not impressed with the theming. Now before you jump on me, hear me out. With the exception of 2001 for obvious reasons, I truly believe the theming for Halloweekends had improved greatly each year in the past 5 or 6. That's saying a lot for Worlds of Fun. But this year, the emphasis seemed to be too much on the Fright Zones. The theming was good, but not great. There definately was some regression from years past. Not nearly as many skeletons, pumpkins, and some of the other halloween decorations you normally see. Nothing new really...a lot of "been there done that." But thats OK, because the Halloween theming in general is just awesome and lends to a fun atmosphere, and it's just a great time to be at the park, especially when it's a halfway decent day weather-wise.

On to the Halloweekends specific attractions. I have never seen the Spooktacular magic show before, but I thought it was good for what it was. Also enjoyed Slash. Definately enjoyed the darker element to that show, and would not have expected that from WOF at all. I had done all the old haunts before, so we skipped them, and did Doom instead. Was not impressed, and perhaps I would have been more scared if one particular "screamster" was NOT wearing her makeup. ::shudder:: And was much as I wanted to see my idol at the Camp, it was not to be.

All in all, it was a fun day, and that's what matters. Being the end of the season, I can forgive some things, like all the burnt out lightbulbs on the Timber Wolf (ugh, thats almost as bad as commenting on trees and mulch like some people do, so I should really end this), but I "hope" WOF can get it's act together and not totally blow the next upcoming season. They need it bad, and while I question whether or not the park can be enjoyable, and still support more guests...we'll find out next year. On a side note, to all the members of the crews reading this, and I know they read the message boards, it's not too bad...you all can't be perfect, and considering the supervision you've recieved all year long, I'm surprised it wasn't worse...so forget about it, and go and enjoy the bonuses you earned for putting in all those slave-labor hours when they show up in a few weeks.