You may have read about our adventures this summer at Oceans of Fun—all about how KC Parent Magazine sent us there for the day and how super easy it is to manage three kids of three different heights at an amusement park. Ha! However, it was an awesome day and the kids had a ball. Well, KC Parent again has provided us with a fun day full of memories—this time to Worlds of Fun. Here’s how it went.
Only my boys were in tow for this adventure, as my 6-year-old daughter had a birthday party that was not to be missed. My sons are 8 and 4. The 8-year-old loves roller coasters. The 4-year-old loves roller coasters. But only the 8-year-old is tall enough for most of them. Now usually, my peace-making 6-year-old daughter offers to ride a “younger kid” ride to appease him (because she’s the kindest child ever) but alas, she was not with us and we were left to referee between the boys without her.
Since it’s Halloween season, the park was decked out for Haunt, a spooky fright-filled event that comes to life at night between now and Halloween. Check out the WOF website and read things like “Experience the Fright of Your Life” and “Fear is Waiting for You” and you will see that the rides are Halloween-themed, made to be terrifying for all brave enough to ride.
During the day, however, there’s still Halloween music playing (such as the the theme song from The Adams Family), fun decorations throughout the park, and opportunities for kids to collect candy. My kids were obviously delighted at this, as candy is their life source.
The first ride we hit was Spinning Dragons—a roller coaster type ride that we could all ride on as it’s height requirement is 43 inches. Only Mommy isn’t a huge “fan” of high speed stomach dropping out of your body rides. The kids had a good laugh watching the color drain out of my face as I rode Spinning Dragons (a 5 out of 5 on the thrill scale, so don’t tell me I’m not fun, kids!)
As much as they loved that ride (and they did), the hour-long line was enough for the 4-year-old, so we started walking around, looking for shorter ones. Next was Mustang Runner, which was far more manageable for Mommy’s tummy. The boys loved this one too and with a height requirement of 42 inches, they could ride together.
As it was our first time at WOF, we didn’t really have a plan, so we kept wandering through the park, taking in the sites. We ended up at Planet Snoopy, and I’ll tell you this: if you have a little one, just camp out here. It’s perfect. There were virtually no lines, all of the rides were family friendly (and most allowed my boys to go on by themselves). Planet Snoopy is its own little tucked away world, a bit separate from the rest of the park and the bigger kid rides.
It had been a long busy week and my 4-year-old was acting particularly “four”, so the 8-year-old stepped up. His heart must have grown three sizes that day, as he said, “Let’s just hang out in Planet Snoopy.” So we did. They went on Lucy’s Tugboat, Peanuts 500, Snoopy vs. Red Baron, and shot balls at each other in Peanuts Playhouse. We hit every ride. Every ride. Some were a little slow for my 8-year-old, but he enjoyed getting the “good big brother” award, so it was okay.
After chicken fingers and fries at Chickie’s and Pete’s, we were tired. Especially the little guy. Except as we wrapped up dinner, we heard some commotion outside and saw smoke coming into the restaurant. What was happening?!
A PARADE! As we departed the park, we watched swarms of older kids running in to see all sorts of zombies, Frankenstein monsters, witches, ghosts, and goblins marching down the street (or driving in hearses) in clouds of smoke. As we took our last few steps out of the park, the sun had started to set and the park was aglow with orange lights. My 4-year-old was asleep before we left the parking lot, so the nighttime festivities weren’t in the cards for us this year. But a few years down the line, we’ll be back for Haunt!
Thank you to Worlds of Fun and KC Parent for another memorable day with our kids!