KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Saturday was opening day at Worlds of Fun.
This year, the park's not just celebrating a new season but a new ride and era after 50 years of screams, thrills and fun.
"You can scream and just have fun, and you don’t get in trouble for it," said Quill Bruning, a young park-goer.
Nostalgia and adrenaline drive visitors back time after time, like Angelical Alejo.
"It’s just the food and the rides and the people ... energetic people," she said.
Alejo and her friends travel two hours multiple times a summer to the amusement park.
With opening day landing on a holiday weekend full of excellent weather, attendees came from near and far to experience the thrills for themselves.
"We’re just visiting and going to see what this place is about," said Davida Beard, who came from St. Louis with her family.
In honor of the half-century milestone, Worlds of Fun is adding some "new" to enhance the park's existing magic.
"New theme-ing, new food, new entertainment," said Brian McGannon, World of Fun's director of communications. "We want to give a birthday present to Kansas City, that’s really what we want to do."
The "present" is in the form of spirals, dips and drops: the return of the Zambezi Zinger, a favorite to many riders who remember when the park first opened.
"The new one will have those iconic spiral lift-hill elements, it’ll have those low contoured turns," McGannon said. "It’ll feel like you’re flying through a forest."
There's no official date for the opening of the ride, but officials say it should be ready by late spring.
Nevertheless, riders can hardly wait for the return, McGannon sharing he receives emails every day asking when park-goers can begin riding.
"I think it’s gonna be a great addition to the park," said season-pass holder David Beard, father to Davida Beard. "I think it’s gonna bring out more people."
But even without the Zinger, opening day saw crowd lines wrapping around the park.
"We’re close to our pre-pandemic numbers," McGannon said. "The reason people come to the park is for the rollercoasters, the great rides. The reason they come back is because of that detail, that charm."
McGannon says they usually see around 4,000-5,000 people for opening day, but with the beautiful weather paired with Easter weekend, he expects the total to be closer to 8,000.
