Worlds of Fun Trip Tips?

James- Even in my few days on the site, I have seen the numerous tips you have given. I am going to try and consolidate my few questions into this post, and after reading your thorough Worlds of Fun review, I almost have no questions left to ask. Thanks for the reviews.

Now a few questions for James and anyone else:

I am really looking forward to World's of Fun for my first ride on a hyper-coaster. Though I have ridden 42 coasters at 13 parks, I have never ridden a hyper. What specifically, about Mamba should I know? Which seat is the best to ride?
Based on prior knowledge for Sunday's, and the late summer, do you think the park will be crowded? Even if it is crowded, how long would you say it takes to hit the parks major rides (all 6 of the major coasters, including the Boomerang, as I have never ridden one)? Thanks

WoF hours = 10 - 7, so don't worry about a night ride on Prowler, anyway.

Weather = sunny & 90, however, check again before you head out just to make sure. You don't want your day ruined by thunder storms.

Tickets = unless they offer something better in the next 10 days, the best deal going is this Admission + Meal Package for $32.99. Eat breakfast on the road, have a snack (some kind of on-the-go meal replacement bar like a Kashi Go Lean bar), then get your late lunch/early dinner in the big blue tent at the front of the park from 3 - 4:30. The all-you-can eat offerings (brisket and hot dogs) are decent enough for amusement park fare. This offer must be purchased online. Also remember that you will have to pay $10 to park - a huge rip off if you ask me.

Mamba - really a great ride, and very similar to Steel Force at Dorney and Wild Thing at Valleyfair. The best ride is in the front, just because you get a great hanging view on the first drop and some good "push" action on all the bunny hops at the end. The back offers a decent thrill as you will fill pulled throughout the ride. And the middle offers the most consistent ride. If you can, ride it three times (front, back, middle) and let me know what you prefer. But definitely try to catch a ride in the very front if at all possible.

Travel - It is probably going to take you about 4 hours of driving to get to the park. I would leave St Louis at 5 AM and expect to be parked and at the front gate by no later than 9:45. There is a great place to park near the employee lot, however, I am not sure I can explain how to get there, and the crowds on a Sunday morning are generally so light it really won't matter where you park, so just get as close as you can in the main lot and you will be fine. Then walk to the front gate and wait for the park to open at 10 AM (no tram service here!). Note: season passholders get early entry 10 minutes prior to everyone else. I seldom see many passholders take advantage of this offer, so don't worry about it impacting your initial ride waits too much.

Touring Time - Your first pass through the park, hitting all six coasters, should not take more than 90 minutes if everything is operational. Beyond that, if the crowds stay light (as they usually do on Sundays), you should have no trouble accomplishing everything you want to accomplish by 3 PM in time for the All-You-Can-Eat BBQ. Honestly, I seldom spend more than four hours in the park, and even that is pushing it. Only the coasters, Detonator (space shot), and Fury of The Nile (white water rapids) rides ever get much of a line, so you should be fine on a Sunday tour.

Okay - that's the basic info, I will come back with a touring plan later, but right now I gotta hit the tread mill then get ready for work.

Normally I would not recommend touring in this fashion, but due to your strong interest in coasters, and your youthful energy, backtracking from time to time will not be an issue.

So presuming all rides are operational, and you arrive at park opening, here is the touring plan I suggest for your venture:

After you pass through the turnstiles, and dodge the folks trying to take your photo, note the blue and white tent on your right. If you purchased the Ticket+Meal option I discussed earlier, that tent is where you will go to get your food at around 3:00 PM. Anyway, head counter-clockwise up to the bridge and cross it, heading into the Orient section. Blitz past Spinning Dragons on your right and Bamboozler on your left. Spit on the Panda Express as you go by knowing the associates working inside are spitting on the Orange Chicken in a similar fashion. Once past Panda Express, you'll see Rip Cord, a much hated up-charge attraction. Please note that a ride like Xcalibur at SFSTL would be a perfect fit to replace the Rip Cord, something I hope happens soon. But I digress. Turn right and head toward Patriot. You are now in the Americana section.

Ride Patriot – front row. Much like Batman at SFSTL, the front row offers the best view without question. Make it your first ride of the day and you can visit the back row later for Patriot's best ride.

From Patriot head out and continue to walk counter-clockwise past the up-charge Grand Prix cars. Ugh! Just imagine how good a flying or dive coaster would look instead. *sigh*

Pass through the main courtyard area, beyond Cinnabon, past the empty shops and lousy midway games, and turn left when you get to Timber Wolf - you’ll ride it later. Right now, you have bigger fish to fry. You see that tall abomination in the distance? The twin Space Shot ride? It is named the Detonator and it blows (get it?). Once you have ridden the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, all other elevator rides pale to insignificance. Walk right past this time-sink and follow the path to Africa toward Mamba. You’ll know you are in Africa when you pass an Amphitheater, a basketball midway game, and Coaster’s Drive-In. Nice theming, Cedar Fair. You really go all out for your customers. Well, never mind that, Mamba is just ahead. Ride in the front row. Do it. Now!

You’ll head back to Mamba later for the other seats, but for now, leave the Mamba’s courtyard and head out, past the white water raft ride (Fury of the Nile) and turn right when you pass the restrooms. Follow this path down and around until you get to the Boomerang. Notice there is no line. Guess what, it will be like that all day. You know why? ‘Cause Vekoma Boomerangs suck. Bring back the Zambezi Zinger, you losers!

Moving on, turn left and pass through another series of lame carnival games. No one will be playing, and you shouldn’t either. Just lower your head and hurry past, pretending not to hear if someone calls out to you. Take your first right, then a left, then cross a bridge and head back towards Prowler. Much like Evel Kinevel at SFSTL, every seat on this GCI masterpiece is a good seat. Sit wherever you want. The back row is probably the most fun, but I have never had a bad ride on Prowler. It is the best ride in the park. Enjoy it several times, as it will be the highlight of your day.

When you are done with Prowler, it is time to explore the rest of the park. Please note, at this point, you have ridden the three best rides in the park. Everything else is average at best to lame at worst.

Anyway, just outside the entrance area to the Prowler is the Zulu, a Huss Enterprise attraction. It is a better version of the Highland Fling at SFSTL. Go a head and ride it now. The Zulu is one of the few flat rides I actually like.

After Zulu you are going to start back tracking and hitting some rides you missed in your haste to ride the good stuff first (smart move, by the way!). Head back to the Boomerang and ride it now. Back row is best. One other tip: close your eyes for the trip back through the loop and cobra roll. For some reason this technique almost makes the ride fun. If there is no line (hahahaha!) feel free to ride multiple times if once was not enough. When you decide to exit the ride, remark to one of the attendants that the Boomerang is “a good half-a-coaster.” Then smirk and walk off feeling really good about yourself. I always do.

Head back toward Mamba. Along the way you will pass the entrance to the Fury of the Nile. If you don’t mind getting wet, and if the ride is open (water rides do not open until 11:00 at WoF), then ride now. It will have its shortest line of the day at this time. Otherwise, catch it later on when you feel the urge. It is a decent enough raft ride, although the water is nasty and the rafts need paint and mildew remover.

From Fury your goal is to ride Mamba again. Before you reach the queue though, there is a path to the left that skirts the edges of Fury. This path leads to Oceans of Fun (separate admission), but it also leads to the Monsoon, a shoot-the-chutes ride just like Tidal Wave at SFSTL. You can ride it whenever you want because it is lame and no one cares about it at all.

Anyway, once you are back at Mamba ride it several times. Try to get a seat in the back car (back row is not necessary), and somewhere in the middle. Since you have already ridden it in front (if you follow this plan) you can evaluate which seat you like best.

Done with Mamba? Then take that long walk back to the Detonator. You can ride it if you want, but don’t wait more than one cycle. It is just not worth it for five seconds of fun.

From Detonator, keep moving clockwise up towards Camp Snoopy, a poor excuse for a kiddie section if ever there was one. Unless you are three or younger, no sense visiting, and even if you are three or younger, there are better places to play (just not at Worlds of Fun). To the right of Camp Snoopy is an attraction called Cyclone Sam’s. It is WoF’s only attempt at a themed attraction. Queue up, watch the lame intro movie (you won’t be able to hear the sound, but the story sucks anyway), then board this Wipeout-in-the-dark ride and have fun. Try to touch the ceiling on the upswings but don’t hurt yourself.

Continue past Cyclone Sam’s to Timber Wolf. This coaster is 20 years old, and it feels like it is twice that. Dilapidated, slow, painful, and not fun, that’s the Timber Wolf. Enjoy! Every seat offers a sucky, painful ride, so pick your poison wisely. I prefer the front, just for the view, but it is definitely not worth any sort of wait. Remember, when the ride attendant asks, “How was your ride?”, yell “Painful!” Then smirk as you walk off, acting like you just said something very important.

Just to the left of the Timber Wolf's exit is the Thunderhawk. It is a fairly intense flat ride, and another one of the few that I actually like. Enjoy!

Walk past the midway wasteland that is the upper corner of Americana. Again, lower your head and pretend as if you don’t hear the catcalls of those desperate teenagers trying to lure you into playing a stupid carnival game for a stupid stuffed animal prize. If you have any flatulence, release it now. It belongs in this midway cesspool with the rest of the crap. Run! Get away! And head straight back to the Patriot. Ride as many times as you want. If the front has a line, head to the back row, which provides the best ride, but the worst view.

From Patriot head out past Panda Express to the Bamboozler. It is a round up attraction that has been in place for at least 25 years - and it shows. Still, it is not a bad attraction if you don’t have to wait too long to ride it.

Continue in a clockwise fashion until you hit Spinning Dragons. This Gerstlauer spinning coaster is almost exactly like Tony Hawk at SFSTL. I like it, but I wouldn’t wait too long for a ride.

Continuing clockwise, you should end up back at the front of the park in Scandinavia near the blue & white Festhaus tent I mentioned earlier. If it is 3:00 PM, and you purchased the ticket+meal option, go ahead and eat your BBQ now. Feel free to stuff those chocolate chip cookies in your pockets for the ride home.

What do you want to do now? You can head back out in a clockwise fashion through Scandinavia and ride the Viking Voyager (lame flume ride), the Finnish Fling (lame barrel spinner where the floor drops out), and Sea Dragon (lame pendulum boat ride). You’ll then be in the general vicinity of Prowler (awesome) which you can ride again and again until you are ready to leave. Alternatively, you can head up to the center of the park to Europa, but there is really nothing in that section of the park of any value (cars-on-a-rail, a waveswinger, a merry-go-round, and bumper cars - all very lame). On the other hand, you can hit the water rides in Africa (Monsoon & Fury) if you have not already done so. Or you can leave, and get your homework done. Personally, I would ride Prowler a few times, then head out. However, the choice is yours.

One last point I want to make: WoF is not worth the effort of an 8-hour drive (up and back) and $80 (tickets, parking, and BBQ for you and a companion). It is probably a better option for you to go to Six Flags in your home town, or visit the Saint Louis Zoo (I love the St Louis Zoo). But, if you like to travel, and you think you’ll have enough fun to justify all that driving, then the touring plan I have provided should do ya just fine.

Let me know if I have missed anything, or if you have any other questions.

When you come to WoF, you are doing a lot of driving in a single day. However, you are doing it for a worthy cause, and Mamba is excellent, so don't worry, you'll have fun.

BTW, if you cut out all the commentary and failed attempts at humor in my touring plan, you are left with the following:

Patriot - front row
Mamba - front row
Prowler - multiple times
Boomerang - back row
Fury of the Nile - if you want to get wet
Monsoon - if you want to get wet
Mamba - multiple times
Detonator - if there is a short wait
Cyclone Sam's
Timber Wolf - ouch!
Thunderhawk
Patriot - back row
Bamboozler
Spinning Dragons
BBQ @ Festhaus
Viking Voyager - maybe
Finnish Fling - maybe
Sea Dragon - maybe
Prowler - until you are ready to head home
Leave.

Good luck - I look forward to your report.

However, with the shortened hours at both parks during your visit, I don't think you will have enough time to ride, change, slide, dry off, change, eat, and ride some more. If your only goal is to ride Mamba, Prowler, and Patriot, then yes, you can do both parks, if not, then I would save the money.

Schlitterbahn is close to where I live but they have just a small park of the park open right now so oceans of fun would be the better bet if you are wanting to go for the surf and turf ticket.

Have fun!!!

Besides, this summer has been awful for water parks - mid 70's in August? Give me a break.

Plan your Schlitterbahn visit for next year when they have completed more of the resort, and when you can spend more time in the area. And when it is warmer...

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Greater Kansas City has no vision.

It only took two months to get this part done (I swear, we were really busy with another project), so we should have the Six Flags St Louis stuff ready by...oh...Thanksgiving?

However, with all that crap you ate, it is a wonder you are still alive. At least you washed it all down with some cheap gas station booze. Nice! ;)

Have fun! Worlds of it. ;)

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