Worlds of Fun is a theme park located in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Operated by Enchanted Parks, the park features 43 attractions. EPR Properties, a real estate investment trust, owns the park.
Worlds of Fun was founded by American businessmen Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman under the ownership of Hunt's company, Mid-America Enterprises in 1973. Oceans of Fun is a water park that opened in 1982 and is next to the amusement park. Admission to Oceans of Fun is included with the price of admission to Worlds of Fun. Mid-America Enterprises sold both parks to Cedar Fair in 1995 for $40 million. Cedar Fair merged into a newly-formed company named Six Flags in 2024, which sold the park to EPR Properties in 2026.
History Texas and Arkansas native Lamar Hunt brought the Dallas Texans AFL team, which he owned, to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1963, renaming the franchise the Kansas City Chiefs. He founded an operating company in the region called Mid-America Enterprises, which focused on real estate, mining, and entertainment. Worlds of Fun was conceptualized and developed by Hunt, his business partner Jack Steadman, and theme park designer Randall Duell.
Construction began in November 1971 at the northern edge of SubTropolis, a vast subterranean industrial complex developed by Hunt within a limestone mine in the bluffs above the Missouri River in Clay County, Missouri. The project was completed over 17 months at an estimated cost of $20 million, and the park officially opened on May 26, 1973. At the time it opened, numerous projects across Kansas City were being built, including Kansas City International Airport, Kemper Arena (now called Hy-Vee Arena), and the Truman Sports Complex. The park was originally planned to complement a hotel and entertainment complex, but a lagging economy during the park's early years derailed the idea.
In 1974, the first addition to Worlds of Fun was the 4,000-seat Forum Amphitheater, which opened in the Europa section of the park. In 1976, a new section opened in honor of the United States Bicentennial – the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence–and was named Bicentennial Square. The new section included the debut of Screamroller from Arrow Dynamics, which was a replica of the first modern looping roller coaster, Corkscrew, that opened a year earlier at Knott's Berry Farm.
In 1982, Oceans of Fun opened next door as the largest water park in the world. In the same year, a sub-world named "River City" was opened in Americana, adjacent to the East Asia section (then referred to as the Orient section). Screamroller was transformed into Extremeroller the following year, which featured stand-up trains instead of the original sit-down models, making it the first looping, stand-up roller coaster in North America. Several years later, in 1989, Worlds of Fun ended the decade with the addition of Timber Wolf, a wooden roller coaster that initially ranked high in several national polls.
Cedar Fair LP purchased Worlds of Fun in 1995 for $40 million. The new owners invested $10 million with the addition of Mamba, a D.H. Morgan Manufacturing steel hypercoaster, to the park's attraction lineup in 1998.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the park operated under a limited schedule from 2020 to 2022. Worlds of Fun operated from June 22 to September 7 in 2020, while Oceans of Fun did not open that season. In 2021, the park opening was delayed until May 22, and until April 30 in 2022.
On July 1, 2024, a merger of equals between Cedar Fair and Six Flags was completed, creating Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. On March 5, 2026, Six Flags announced it would sell Worlds of Fun to EPR Properties. The sale completed on April 6, 2026, making Enchanted Parks its operator.
Other notable additions 2006: Patriot opens as the longest, tallest, and fastest full-circuit inverted roller coaster in the region. It was the park's largest capital investment on a single attraction at $14 million. 2008: For their 35th anniversary, Worlds of Fun added a festival called Oktoberfest. 2009: A new wooden coaster, Prowler, is added to the Africa section of the park. It receives the Golden Ticket Award for "Best New Ride of 2009" by Amusement Today magazine. 2010: Snoopy's Hot Summer Lights, a $1 million immersive light and sound experience, opens in the Europa and Africa sections of the park. Subway opens at Oceans of Fun. 2011: Planet Snoopy, an $8-million children's themed area, is added to Worlds of Fun, featuring over 20 rides and attractions. An Illions carousel called The Grand Carrousel was added to the Scandinavia section of the park. 2012: A premium line queue system called "Fast Lane" is introduced. 2013: Oceans of Fun receives full integration with Worlds of Fun, allowing visitors to access both parks with a single admission ticket. 2014: WindSeeker – a Mondial swing ride at Knott's Berry Farm – was renamed SteelHawk and relocated to Worlds of Fun for the 2014 season. 2016: Planet Snoopy receives upgrades, including five new rides added to the children's area, with the removal of two former attractions. 2017: Mustang Runner (HUSS Troika) and Falcon's Flight (HUSS Condor) are added to the Americana section of the park. A newly remodeled entrance is introduced, and Winterfest is introduced in November. 2018: Nordic Chaser (Mack SeaStorm) is added to the Scandinavia section of the park. Timber Wolf replaced their helix with a new seventy-degree banked turn. Great Coasters International constructed the new element. 2019: Worlds of Fun added a new flagship restaurant, Cotton Blossom BBQ. It is 9,000 square feet and seats more than 300 guests. 2020: Riptide Raceway, the world's longest mat racing slide, was to have opened to the public, but deferred to 2021 on grounds of COVID-19 pandemic. 2023: Zambezi Zinger, located in the African section of the park, is added as the world's first ground-up GCI Titan Track wooden coaster. It is named after a former coaster that once operated there. The coaster's opening coincided with the park's 50th anniversary.
2026 IATSE unionization On July 7, 2026, employees at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri voted 21–1 to unionize with International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 31, forming a bargaining unit of 37 workers across technical services, wardrobe, costumes, and creative services. The organizing campaign, which began in early 2025, faced obstacles including a dispute over the bargaining unit's composition, a change in park ownership, and the firing of a lead organizer the day before the vote, which was later addressed as an unfair labor practice.
Areas and attractions The park takes its theme from the Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Worlds of Fun is divided into eight major sections (Gateway Gardens, East Asia, Americana, Wild West, Europa, Africa, Scandinavia, and Planet Snoopy). Rides, attractions, shops, shows, and restaurants are named according to the area theme. In 1997, the Americana "main entrance" was closed for the creation of Grand Prix Raceway, so the "back gate" has been the "main gate" ever since.
The park is laid out in a Duell loop; guests first enter Gateway Gardens, previously known as International Plaza, and can travel clockwise to Scandinavia, Africa, Wild West, Americana, and East Asia. Europa transverses the circle between Africa and Wild West. Africa is divided into three sub-sections: Serengeti, Morocco, and Egypt. Past sub-sections have also included Bicentennial Square, River City, and Beat Street, which have all been absorbed back into Americana. The Wild West section was also previously part of Americana before being split into its own area.
Behind the Wild West section lies Planet Snoopy, the area of the park specifically for young children. Originally added in 1978 as an expansion of Americana, over the years the area has changed its identity several times. Initially, it was called "Aerodrome" (1978–86) and featured futuristic rides for adults. It was converted into a children's area called "Pandamonium!" in 1987, in reference to park mascots named Sam and P.J. Panda, and was re-themed to "Berenstain Bear Country" in 1997, "Camp Snoopy" in 2001, and finally "Planet Snoopy" in 2011.
Although there is no Australian/Oceanic section in the park, there is an Australian-themed Boomerang roller coaster in the Africa section.
Roller coasters
Ride namePictureYear openedManufacturerCurrent locationDescription Boomerang 2000VekomaAfricaIt opened in the vacancy left by the original Zambezi Zinger's departure in 1997 and used Zambezi's line queue. Since 2005, the line queue and signage has moved. Mamba 1998MorganAfricaThe tallest, fastest, and longest coaster in the park. It is classified as a hypercoaster, which is any coaster that exceeds 200 feet (61 m) in height or drop length. Patriot 2006Bolliger & MabillardAmericanaAn inverted roller coaster that features four inversions, a height of 149 feet (45 m), and a track length of 3,081 feet (939 m). At the time, it was the park's largest ever capital expenditure, and was the tallest and fastest ride of its type in the region. Prowler 2009Great Coasters InternationalAfricaA twister wooden coaster. Prowler was voted Best New Ride of 2009 - Amusement Park in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards. Spinning Dragons 2004GerstlauerEast AsiaA spinning roller coaster, it was the second ride of its kind in the world after Fairly Odd Coaster at Mall of America (which Cedar Fair still had partial ownership of at the time). The ride was built in the East Asia area of the park in 2004 following the retirement of the Orient Express. Timber Wolf 1989Dinn CorporationWild WestA classic twister wooden coaster. Timber Wolf was voted the world's top roller coaster in the 1991 Inside Track readers survey, and was rated the number one favorite wooden coaster in the 1992 NAPHA survey. Zambezi Zinger 2023Great Coasters International and Skyline AttractionsAfricaNamed after a former coaster that operated at Worlds of Fun under the same name, it was the first ground-up GCI Titan Track hybrid coaster.
Africa RideYear openedSub-sectionRide Manufacturer TypeHeight RequirementRatingRatings assigned per Worlds of Fun's own system, where "1" is the least intense and "5" is the most. See their for more specific details.Boomerang2000MoroccoVekomaBoomerang roller coasterOver 48"5Fury of the Nile1984EgyptIntaminRiver rafting rideOver 46"4Mamba1998EgyptMorganSteel hypercoasterOver 48"5Prowler2009SerengetiGreat Coasters InternationalWooden coasterOver 48"4Zambezi Zinger2023MoroccoGreat Coasters International (manufacturer) and Skyline Attractions (designer)Hybrid roller coasterOver 48"5Zulu1979SerengetiHUSSEnterpriseOver 54"4
Americana RideYear openedRide ManufacturerTypeHeight RequirementRatingPatriot2006Bolliger & MabillardInverted roller coasterOver 54"5RipCord+1996Sky Fun 1SkycoasterOver 42"5Skyliner1991Eli BridgeFerris wheelOver 48" or 36" with adult2 SteelHawk2014MondialWindseekerOver 52"4
Europa RideYear openedRide ManufacturerTypeHeight RequirementRatingAutobahn1973ReverchonBumper Cars rideOver 48"4Flying Dutchman1973IntaminFlying DutchmanOver 46" or with adult2Le Taxi Tour1973Arrow DynamicsTrack car rideOver 48" or with adult2
Gateway Gardens RideYear openedRide ManufacturerTypeHeight RequirementRatingThe Grand Carrousel20111926 M.C. IllionsCarouselOver 42" or with adult2
East Asia RideYear openedRide ManufacturerTypeHeight RequirementRatingBamboozler1977HrubetzRound UpOver 46"3Spinning Dragons2004GerstlauerSpinning roller coasterOver 48" or 42" with adult5
Planet Snoopy