Taking
You On A Ride Through The Past, Present And The Future...
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Taking
You On A Ride Through The Past, Present And The Future... |
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RISING TEMPERATURES MAY LIMIT SOME OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, BUT SUMMER VACATION CONTINUES AT OCEANS OF FUN KANSAS CITY, Mo. – While the heat wave continues to limit most outdoor activities, vacationers from across the Midwest are staying cool and getting the most out of their summer break at Oceans of Fun waterpark. Oceans of Fun guests are getting outdoors, beating the heat, and staying refreshed with a variety of water slides, activity pools, and refreshing snack options at the Park. Visitors of all ages are finding refuge from the heat in the 60-acres of waterslides, activity pools, and spray-grounds at Oceans of Fun. From the excitement of the Park’s 18 waterslides to the relaxing current of the Lazy River, family members find enjoyment at their own pace. Guests keep their internal thermostat cool with a variety of refreshing treats including Jolly Rancher frozen drinks, shaved ice, and Dippin’ Dots ice cream. Along with a variety of water rides, and air conditioned theaters & restaurants, Worlds of Fun amusement park next door is taking extra steps to keep their guests cool this week with misters throughout the park and in select queue lines, sprinklers along the midways, and free ice water at food locations. The Park’s discounted Ride & Slide ticket provides guests with access to both Parks on the same day and the confidence of all-day refreshment. As the sun sets and temperatures begin to drop, take advantage of the discounted Twilight ticket which is available after 4 p.m. daily at both Parks. Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun are owned and operated by Cedar Fair, L.P., a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FUN.” In addition to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun, Cedar Fair owns and operates 11 other amusement parks, four other water parks, one indoor water park resort, and two other properties under management contracts. |
Patriot A Special Review by Scott and Carol Holmes Dateline: Kansas City. Worlds of Fun introduced their new roller coaster to media and special guests on Thursday, April 5. What is it? Patriot; the tallest and longest full-circuit inverted roller in the Midwest. Located in the Americana section of the park, this red, white and blue attraction is the largest invest in the history of Worlds of Fun. |
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The Americana section of the park is located near the front gate and Patriot resides just west of the site of the gone-but-not-forgotten Orient Express. This is quite the upgrade over the old Arrow looper. Featuring four inversions and a top speed of a mile a minute, Patriot offers a multitude of thrills. Over 1,100 riders per hour who are taller than 54 inches can experience this thrilling ride. Our day started early, as we wanted to beat the famed Missouri heat. We arrived at the park, found a parking spot and headed for the front gate. After passing through media registration, we followed the trail of red, white and blue balloons to the Patriot station. A rustic-looking station sits at the top of the stairs above the Patriot sign. We snagged two quick front seat rides before the opening formalities. This is the most forceful B & M invert we have ridden to date. We scurried out of the station because everyone was gathering for the announcement. |
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We heard from Chris Ozimek, Nick Guevel and Phil Bender. While Snoopy took the stage, resplendent in his red and blue formal ensemble, he remained strangely quiet, probably due to not being allowed to ride. He did however, welcome TPA readers in his own special way. Consider yourselves hugged, with a sloppy dog kiss! One of the nice things about ceremony was the recognition of the maintenance team members by Phil Bender, Vice President and General Manager of Worlds of Fun. These are some of the park heroes, for they get to work before dawn's early light to do all the safety checks and preventative maintenance before we arrive as guests. We were able to spend some time with Jeff Murphy and Rick Hamilton, who were assigned to open the Patriot. They assembled trains when it arrived, and will be answering the call for maintenance on the coaster. They sang high praise for Bolliger & Mabillard equipment calling it "the Cadillac of coasters." They also said, "The diagnostics is state-of-the-art. It tells you exactly where the problem is and all you have to do is go fix it." |
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The normal routine will be a daily visual check of the welds, watch the coaster run a few times, and perform the weekly grease requirement. They said, "The most precise task is adjusting the brake, for it has only a one to two millimeter tolerance range for clearance." Patriot has no trim brakes and uses two sets of magnetic brakes before the final clamp brake. Patriot lasts nearly two and one-half minutes. Just when riders think they have time to breathe, they are upside down yet one more time. The train carries a great deal of speed into the brake run, which is why it pulls the riders forward, as it quickly glides to a stop. The powerful magnetic brakes are smooth, quiet and powerful; it feels like a giant invisible hand slowing the train. Walter Bolliger was at the media day, and he was kind enough to share some of his thoughts about the Patriot. "It was nice to design a coaster for a hillside. Most of our rides are designed for flat terrain, and this was a nice challenge. We used the changes in elevation to maximize the G-forces, which are normally higher on our inverted rides, although they do not exceed 4 Gs on Patriot. We wanted to build a roller coaster not just for teens, but one this fun for a wide variety of family members. And we would like for them all to be able to enjoy the ride." |
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The location of Patriot is right next to a medium Ferris wheel. This will allow parents to swap out the family members who cannot, or will not challenge the Patriot. Phil Bender stressed how more family friendly Worlds of Fun will be this year. He said, "The same year we are having our biggest expansion ever, we are lowering admission prices for our junior and senior admissions to $9.95. And everyone can enjoy cotton candy for just $.25 cents all year long! We are really proud of our new attraction and we want everyone to come out and ride it." So come on TPA readers! Come out, take a ride (before you pig out on cotton candy) and thank the maintenance people you meet. And tell everybody Scott and Carol sent you. Ride on! |
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