Unserious Mamba

The Park:

Carowinds is "where the Carolinas come together," and sits right on the state line between North and South Carolina. It's a legacy Cedar Fair park, and first opened in 1973. This week, I had the chance to spend 3 days at the park and riding attractions that have been there since its open (Carolina Goldrusher) and its newer and most unique coaster: Copperhead Strike.

Despite the closure of Fury 325 and Vortex, Carowinds still had plenty of rides for us to visit. They also had a lot of options for food, plenty of clean restrooms, and good operations all around. The park I've been to before that I think it is most like it is King's Island, because they both have an extensive Camp Snoopy and large air conditioned dining hall for live entertainment. That dining hall? Honestly one of the best larts about the park. Harmony Hall has cozy lighting and is a relief for tired guests. My husband and I hung out there for a long while. They also have restrooms, claw machines, live shows starring Peanuts characters, a bar, and a food court! What more could you need in your downtime? Carowinds weakest element, however, is probably its theme. The park seems to have no distinct visual theme to make it unique from other legacy Cedar Fair parks, with the exception of a line paved in the cement to tell you where North and South Carolina meet. Is the theme Carolina? It doesn't feel like it. It would be nice to have more state pride on either side of the line, but as an outsider, I didn't see it at all. Snoopy has a stronger pressence to the park, and he's everywhere anyway.

Before we get to the rides, I just want to lightly touch on the merch available at Carowinds. Its... okay? It's not great. The shop by Thunder Striker has shirts, hats, and other odds and ends for Fury 325, Copperhead Strike, and Thunder Striker, but that is about it. There is also a LOT of Fury 325 merch, which is understandable, but when you see how many rides are at this park, you realize they are severely neglecting several good rides. There are no patches or enamel pins, with the exception of a set of dated 2024 pins for Coppperhead Stike at a tiny gift shop at the front gate. The best merch is the Peanuts merch, of which I bought a bag because I forgot mine at home, and my husband bought a snoopy shirt. We also bought a general Carowinds shirt with a skyline of the coasters because I was afraid of picking an AI design from a specific coaster, and a pretty cool Thunder Striker keychain, that was again hidden at the tiny gift shop at the front gate (notably far from the ride itself). Speaking of, lets get to our first ride...

THUNDER STRIKER

Formerly Intimidator, this hypercoaster is the second tallest coaster here, and was my favorite ride on the trip. It's smooth, and has many hills with fantastic airtime. It's quite a bit like Orion, travelling down and back and finally breaking on a downhill slope. The seats mirror those used on Diamondback at King's Island, another reason why I think this park feels so familiar. Operations on this ride was VERY well done, they had two cars running constantly, with very little downtime as the operators encouraged riders to move quickly in and out of the loading area. I think Thunder Striker's greatest weakness is perhaps that it has a very bad name. Who thought that renaming this ride to have strike in its name was a good idea when Copperhead Strike is also on the property? This is silly. This coaster deserves a better name.

AFTER BURN

I've ridden a lot of bad inverted coasters, but this is where I draw the line between what makes one good or bad. I have mixed feelings: on the one hand, After Burn is incredibly fast and has many fun turns and loops. The most showy element being when it takes you down through a tunnel. On the other hand, it can be a bit shaky, has just the right amount of intensity to give that tinglying sensation in your feet. The beginning is smoother than the end, and I definalitely wouldn't ride it twice in one day. But, it's not the worst offender among its class or even the other rides at Carowinds, and I think the speed and thrill of this attraction is enough for me to reccomend riding After Burn to everyone interested in extreme thrills.

COPPERHEAD STRIKE

This ride has a very unique layout, with its standout features being the 2 slow loops that wrap over other parts of the track. It's not a very fast coaster, but that's what makes it interesting. You crawl over the loops like the copperhead snake itself. It's very smooth too, definitely a must-ride for new park-goers. This was my second favorite ride, but I can see a lot of people liking it more than Thunder Striker-- I myself am just more partial to giant drops and hills with lots of airtime. Operations were nearly as good as Thunder Stiker, where again the operator would encourage guests to get in and out of their seats quickly to make way for the next group.

To all riders, I want to point out that this ride has a more complicated bag storage situation than others here. Copperhead Strike says you cannot have any loose articles past the beginning of the queue, and that all bags and such need to be stored in a locker or left with a non-rider. This is not accurate. Loose articles can be secured in zipper pockets or bags that are small enough to be attached to your person (fanny packs, hip pouches, etc.). Earlier I mentioned I purchased a snoopy bag at the gift shop. I think this bag is available at other Cedar Fair parks too and it was allowed to ride with me on Copperhead Strike, so here is a picture of it so you can have an idea of what kinds of bags are allowed:

BOO BLASTERS ON BOO HILL

It has come to my attention that unfortunately, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill at Kings Island was shut down for good last year. This breaks my heart, because I think dark rides like these are very important at theme parks to help guests get out of the sun or rain on a long day trekking around the park. I LOVE this ride. I love the game aspect and competing against my family to get the highest score, and I love zapping the cute silly ghosts. We need dark rides at all parks, because sometimes we need a break from the big guys, right?

WOODSTOCK EXPRESS

Genuinely a fun little wooden coaster, suitable for all ages, provided your legs are short enough. We rode as adults, sitting one person per row, but parents usually sit with their children beside them in the small seats. I belive it is shorter in length than its sister ride at Kings Island, but it is all the same fun.

THE FLYING COBRAS

I probably wouldn't have ridden this ride if not for my sister's reccomendation. Flying Cobras is a boomerang coaster-- it shoots through a short series of corkscrews and a vertical loop before dropping you right back through the same series backwards to the start. It's an interesting gimmick, but I've been burned before on a ride just like this at my home park, Worlds of Fun. Boomerang at Worlds of Fun is my least favorite ride there. It's shaky and can jostle your head uncomfortably against the overhead restraint, much like Carowind's Carolina Cyclone. Flying Cobras, however, has a different restraint system that makes a world of a difference. This newer restraint hugs your shoulders and lies more flat, meaning you don't have two stiff pads sandwiching your head and knocking it around. The thinner restraint cushion is held in place by wider positioned bars that your head cannot reach. Without having to worry about hitting my head, Flying Cobras is a great ride overrall.

HURLER

This classic wooden coaster is very fun! It's pretty short, we rode towards the front and my sister reccomends to not ride in the back as it is pretty rough back there. It has the same feel as other wooden rollercoasters its age: Timber Wolf, The Beast, Great American Scream Machine... but it doesn't really do anything amazing to make it stand out from them. It wouldn't be so bad to miss if you were strapped for time, but it is excedingly better than the remaining rides I have left to write about.

CAROLINA GOLDRUSHER

This ride is genuinely very exciting, and is original to the park, having opened in 1973. Its got some good force behind it, but it definitely isn't something I would ride regularly as an adult. The seats are extremely shallow, so much so I felt like I could slide forward off of it and get stuck on the floor-- a truly horrific picture that haunted me throughout this entire experience. Could that have happened? I don't know, but I'd rather let the kids have this one than find out the hard way.

ELECTRO SPIN

Not a coaster, but it was a flat ride I'd never had the chance to ride before, so I thought I'd give it a go too. I'll say from the start this ride is not for everyone. It's difficult to get into the seat for one, and for the other the seat will swing when you try to get in or out of it, and the rise of the seat meant to separate your legs will nail you in the crotch if you are not careful. The ride will also have you constantly leaning into the arm of whoever may be riding to your left or right, so if you can, I'd avoid riding next to someone at all. I'd hate to be elbowed by someone on this attraction. The swinging and spinning elements are fun and unpredictable, but maybe not worth it if the other downsides seem like too much.

ROCK N ROLLER

Another flat ride, this one I rode for nostalgia's sake. Worlds of Fun used to have a similar ride called the Rock N Reeler that also swung guests around in a circle. It was a little fun, but the Worlds of Fun version used to spin backwards as well, and this version did not. I wouldn't wait very long for this ride, and I may skip it altogether if pressed for time anyway.

CAROLINA CYCLONE

I'd heard the rumors about this one, and they were right. Carolina Cyclone is a disaster of a ride. It's incredibly rough and thrashes you around like a rag doll. This is exacerbated by its overhead restraint that your head will be knocking into constantly (unless you are aproximately 6' in height or taller). Part way through the ride the coaster flung me out of my seat and I realized I had enough leverage with my feet to force my head over those restraints to avoid being knocked around too much more, but the bracing did not prevent the overall jostling, and by the end I was just thankful to have survived. Why did I ride, knowing it would be just as bad as the similarly built Colossus at Thorpe Park? Experience. Just to let you know it was as awful as I thought it would be, and it was. I would reccomend your least favorite billionaire ride this attraction, and nobody else.

Final Thoughts:

NEMESIS SUBTERRA

TLDR in advance: Don't waste any time on this attraction. Nemesis Subterra is by far the worst attraction you could ride at Alton Towers. It's hard to describe what happens, but you basically go in a fake elevator, listen to overhead announcements and operators hurry you along through hallways in an urgent manner, get strapped into the world's smallest drop tower(?) that drops you one time and crushes your gut with its restrictive harness, and then they chase you out in a jiffy back to the baggage claim. The only positive is, rather uniquely, the storytelling and lore of Nemesis told throughout the attraction and queue. That's the only reason I'd ride it. I wouldn't wait any longer than 15 minutes for Nemesis: Subterra, and then never again.

GANGSTA GRANNY

A silly little slow-paced dark ride. I don't know anything about the author of the inspired area or his books, but the gags within the ride were funny and I could see this being fun for children. The queue line was very confusing... it would have been easier to follow if there were people ahead of us, but since there was no wait we had no idea where we were supposed to go, and had to ask a family behind us what we were supposed to do. The screens were very impressive for a dark ride, the colors were bright and the animation was very cute, if you care about that sort of thing.

OBLIVION

Oblivion was closed today, but I did have a chance to ride it last July. I will say that if you are a UK resident or have never been on a dive coaster, Oblivion is novel- it is the first coaster of it's kind. Unfortunately, there are much more interesting dive coasters back in the States for me to enjoy, the brand new one at Six Flags over Texas certainly comes to mind. As my husband would say: "It does what is says on the tin." It has a steep drop, and then imediately returns to the station. Paired with the fact that the ride queue suffers from being on a large hill (this will be a recurring theme across the park), Oblivion is hardly worth the effort, unless it were so empty that the operators would allow you to ride it twice in a row. I wouldn't wait any longer than 15 minutes for this experience, and I wouldn't even head to this area of the park if Smiler were closed.

HEX: Legend of the Towers

Hex is the iconic, signature Alton Towers feature; it simply could not exist anywhere else. Built into the historic 12th century castle, Hex will, as its name infers, tell you the legend of a hex associated with Alton Towers. Without giving too much away, the ride itself is a family friendly attraction with a rudimentary lap bar restraint and gentle swinging motions that simulates... something surprising and fun. It's not intense or wildly thrilling, but it is fascinating and iconic, and the lore surrounding the attraction is one of the best I've seen for a theme park attraction ever. It will certainly raise more questions about the park than it will answer, and I think that makes for a very well interesting experience. Hex: Legend of the Towers is a MUST RIDE experience. After the ride, or if you sneak in the exit, you can check out the ruins of the castle all around you. You may even get lucky and be able to go inside the old 19th century chapel, which was partially restored in the 1990s.

THE SMILER

I might get absolutely destroyed for this take, but Smiler was not nearly so cool as it was hyped up to be. It may be a matter of personal taste, but I don't like being knocked around too much, and Smiler definately can anticipate a headache. Make no mistake, 14 inversions IS impressive, as is how smooth it manages to remain while doing so. My head was jostled only slightly, but the worst part was how the overhead restraint crushed my thighs. (I think it's also worth mentioning that this park doesn't use seat belt restraints for any of their rides, eith the exception of the reduntant buckles on Rita and Nemesis Reborn, which I thought was interesting.) The Smiler isn't particularly fast, but the inversions are certainly fun. I would say I could ride it twice in a row despite the mild jostling, but we had a lot to do today. A very unique experience. After riding it once, I wouldn't do so again for a wait time exceeding 40 minutes.

TOXICATOR

My beloved Toxicator, they could never make me hate you, no matter how much my husband complains about not liking water rides. Riding this in March, the water was turned off, so if getting sprayed by water geysers aren't your cuppa tea, the colder months are the best time to ride this for you. Toxicator is my favorite non-coaster here. It's smooth and swings riders upside down and back and forth repeatedly, but it wasn't enough to be too much or make me sick. In the summer, expect to get a little wet, but not soaked. It's a wonderful diversion, but I wouldn't wait any longer than 20 minutes for it if you have any of the other rides below still to do.

GALACTICA

Until we rode Rita for the first time today, this was my husband's favorite. Galactica's niche is being the first flying coaster, and the only one in the United Kingdom. At 24 years old, it holds up magnificently, although I do wish they would repaint the track. Galactica is smooth, fast, and fun as hell. My favorite element with these coasters is where it turns the rider headfirst over onto your back (pictured above) -there's simply no other feeling like it. The downside to this and other flying coasters is the waiting to be loaded and unloaded while you are lying atop the restraints. It's not very comfortable, at the end especially as the blood is slowly moving to your head. I wouldn't want to get stuck on it for sure! As a unique experience, I'd easily wait an hour or two for this, but probably no longer than an hour if I've done it before. I would also note that this is another atttraction that has a very steep hill to climb for the main queue line, but this can be bypassed with a fastrack.

SPINBALL WIZZER

ALL HAIL SPINBALL WIZZER!

I might be exaggerating my love for this ride slightly, and some days I'd rank it below Galctica based on how long I'd wait for it, but today I'm feeling generous. Spinball Wizzer is a delightful spinning wild mouse coaster for riders of all ages. It's cute, quick, and has very fun hills and turns. I'd probably be annoyed if I had to wait over 30 minutes for it, mostly because the announcement could be annoying after hearing it on repeat for so long, and the queue is pretty lame. But hey, it's the best walk on / 15 minute attraction you could ask for to start or end your day!

NEMESIS REBORN

This is the superior Nemesis, and my favorite inverted coaster east of the Missippi. It's fast, furious, and soars through the air with fantastic loops and turns. I didn't get a chance to ride it before it's makeover for 2024, but the theme and decoration for this ride is top tier! I love Nemesis' massive and monstrous blinking eye, as well as her tendrils wrapping and infesting the entire area. This ride is a must do for thrill seekers, and is in tough competition for my number one ride here. The only downsides? The row indicators are way to subtle for the loading bay (pictured above). I had no where the attendent wanted me to go when she said row 7 because I couldn't find the numbers! 😅 Nemesis Reborn also has a steep main queue line, which again, can be bypassed with fastrack.

TH13TEEN

Th13teen has the most unique layout of all the coasters at Alton Towers, and its surprise elements made it a top contender for the best ride at Alton Towers. The ride is smooth, moderately fast, and enjoyable. The theme is also fantastic, especially if you have the chance to ride it after dark, which we had the pleasure of doing for the first time tonight. Alton Towers is rarely open after dark, so make sure the park is open late enough if you want this experience. I wouldn't want to spoil the details of this ride to new riders, so please just trust me that its a MUST RIDE.

RITA

I feel like you could combine Rita and Thorpe Park's Stealth to create one of the best launch coasters ever. Much like Stealth, the launch is exhilerating, but Rita twists and turns through the trees rather than catapulting you over a top hat. The launch and turns were very fun, but I think Rita's biggest weakness is its brevity and roughness toward the back of the train. Rita also recently benefitted from new restraints in most seats. (Unfortunately not at row 10 where we were seated the first time we rode it today. Those ones actually smelled pretty bad.) This is my husband's favorite ride, and I put it in 2nd after our 2nd ride in the dark, as I had a much smoother and comfortable experience closer to the front in row 6.

WICKERMAN

I don't think anybody is surprised that Wickerman is Alton Tower's best ride. A fan favorite for many, Wickerman is a classic woodie. It shares many similarities with more modern wooden roller coasters like Prowler at Worlds of Fun or Mystic Timbers at King's Island, but with a custom layout and iconic Wickerman head. Wickerman's speed is top notch, with fantastic turns and jostling elements. It's not too rough either, just enough to shake you up without being painful. We rode this coaster twice today, once in the day and once at night, and naturally, riding in the dark and even queueing in the dark was so much cooler. If you like spookier attractions, this one is for you!

FOOD AND OTHER AMENITIES

Alton Towers has a variety of places to eat, but I can only advise on the three restraunts we attended in our two visits. The most spacious of these is in the Mutiny Bay area: The Mutiny Bay Burger Kitchen. We ate lunch here last July. It's a safe but not too interesting selection of food. The biggest advantage of Mutiny Bay is there are a bunch of other little food stands you can order from too, so your options aren't limited. They have hot dogs, spuds, and donuts too! There's a bit of outdoor seating, but it can get pretty busy, especially with other families with strollers that wouldn't fit in smaller areas. The dining area also has adjacent bathrooms, which are very convenient, but also similarly busy. At the very least, they were clean when I visited them this evening on our way out of the park, although this may be in lart because we were leaving after close and they may have just recently been cleaned.

The second place we visited last July was Just Chicken. We ate there at the end of the day while we hoped and prayed Smiler would reopen after shutting down right in front of us. (It didn't.) Just Chicken is abkut as fine and mid as Oblivion beside it. It does what it says: Just Chicken. It's not i teresting chicken, just sandwiches, strips, and the saddest fries ever (especially if you didn't get to ride Smiler).

Finally, our favorite restraunt at the park so far is also the only proper sit down restraunt: The Oak in Chains, which is right by Hex. The quality of food here was much better! I had a mac and cheese burger and my husband had a chicken burger, both with fries and aoli. I really like the mac and cheese, the bacon was good, but the burger itself was nothing to write home about. Not bad, just felt like a school lunch burger, nothing artisan. My husband says his chicken was alright and he enjoyed the korean barbecue and halomi sauce. We were most impressed by the fries, seasoning, and aoli (a £2 upcharge). When we go back I'd visit it again, although I'd really like to try the rollercoaster restraunt by Galactica as well.

Alton Towers is also particularly unique for its sprawling nature, that of which is made more manageable by its Sky Riders, a system of gondolas that connect three areas of the park. On our visit in July, the ride was a huge benefit to us and gave us a nice reprieve from all of the walking and many hills we had to traverse. With fastrack passes these hills don't need to be navigsted as much as they are prominently featured in the main queue, but that won't apply for a majority of riders. The gondolas are a wonderful boon, as are the restrooms conveniently located under them in the Nemesis section of the park.

We utilized Alton's fastrack today, and it allowed us to ride everything we wanted on a particularly busy day. At £80 a person for a single pass at every attraction, it wasn't cheap, but we only had one day to make our trip work, and it was worth it for our situation. As mentioned before, the fastrack here also has the unique benefit of allowing you to avoid the more hilly queues at Galactica, Nemesis Reborn, and Oblivion.

I briefly touched on restrooms at Mutiny Bay, but I'd also like to mention that the other restrooms in the park also seem to be well looked after, but the most used one is definately the one imediately by the entrance, and if you are picky about restrooms, I'd say that would be the worst one. There are some more hidden bathrooms over between The Dark Forest and Hex I'd reccomend.

If you'd like to do some shopping for ride merch, I'd reccomend checking out the gift shops at the end of the rides, as they usually have more for that ride than they do at their cumulative gift shop at the front of the park. One thing I love about the Merlin parks is the amount of love they give to each and every ride there- they have merch for just about every ride. My favorite are the drink coasters that you can get for every roller coaster, haha. Additionally, I'm a huge fan of the £20ish resin models of certain rides. I purchased one for Wickerman, but they have fantastic ones for Nemesis Reborn, Smiler, and Rita as well.

CLOSING OVERVIEW

7. Boomerang (64) This ride is the definition of uncomfortable. The queue feels like it belongs in a county fair, and the ride of the coaster js extremely aggressive for very little payoff. This ride is usually a skip on a good day.

6. Timber Wolf (78, closed for 2025) While it does have the charm of being my first wooden roller coaster, Timber Wolf doesn't have anything to stand out from the pack. It is one of three wooden roller coasters at Worlds of Fun, giving it some stiff competition it just can't compete with.

5. Prowler (82) Perhaps the most exciting ride at the park is dampened by it's rough nature. This is an excellent wooden roller coaster, and perhaps its new track will yield a less painful ride overall, only time will tell. In the meantime, I have to give better props to the consistent smoothness of the top 4 coasters in the park.

4. Zambezi Zinger II (86) A smoother wooden coaster with fun dashes and turns, Zinger II has the most personality out of any ride in the park. Props to the team who invested in bringing back this legendary ride, it is well loved.

3. Spinning Dragons (89) If there wasn't a wait for this ride, I could ride it all day! I have yet to see the spins and drops of this particular crazy mouse-like coaster at any theme park elsewhere. Serious fun, if you can wait for it, that is.

2. Patriot (89) Usually my number one, but this year I will let Mamba take the crown for its cute new paint job. Patriot is smooth, fast, and makes you wish you could fly. It is the king of inverted roller coasters, and I will die on this lift hill.

Overview and Tips:

Compared to other theme parks across the United States, I have to admit this park does not have nearly enough interesting themes or unique rides to set it apart. The queue designs are standard for a Cedar Fair or Six Flags park, most of the rides have a larger, longer, or faster counterpart somewhere else, and the bathrooms and food situation is abysmal. That said, please don't count this park out, because while you may have seen something similar before, a few of the rides here are actually smoother and more enjoyable than their older siblings at other parks, and this park's wait times are usually way better. It is very easy to ride everything you want to at Worlds of Fun without an Express Lane, and I'm sure you will have a wonderful time keeping these things in mind. Another unsung perk of this park's design is it's layout. Worlds of Fun is simply a big circle bissected in part by it's Europa section. It is incredibly easy to navigate, and you can hit every major attraction by just going around that circle (as Europa consists of only small, flat rides). Prowler is the only ride that is a bit out of the way, as it branches off to a small dead end in Africa, but even still a big massive sign will show you the way, and it's fairly hard to get turned around when headed back to the main path.

Restrooms

Where should you go when you gotta go? While they may not be the nicest overall, Worlds of Fun has an abundance of restrooms! You will rarely ever wait to use the restroom here (unless you use the one before the entrance gate). There is at least one bathroom in each themed section of the park, and two of them are consistently cleaner than the others. You'll have the best bathroom experience in Scandanavia next to the Tivoli Music Hall (NOT the bathrooms next to Viking Voyager, those are often the most crowded), and in Egypt across the road from Sand Dune Diner. The bathrooms in Egypt I have also found to have the best air conditioning. The restrooms in Scandanavia are rarely used because they are right across the street from the more easily noticeable restrooms by Viking Voyager, and they are very slightly uphill. They're also pretty quiet because there isn't a ride or major attraction by it, and it is backed up to a wooded area. I would not recommend using the restrooms outside the entrance gate, or the ones tucked away by the Bommerang, as the first tends to be very busy and is also the smallest, and the second is cramped, dirty, and when I visited yesterday its floor was flooded and the paper towel dispensers were empty on opening weekend! The other restrooms are okay, but often busy.

Food

When it comes to dining options, you may want to save your appetite for an out of park experience. Any place outside the park is going to be cheaper and have high quality ingredients, and most of the food here is frozen commercial slop. The only place I would recommend getting food from is the Cinnabon in Americana, because it's hard to fuck up a franchise cinnamon roll. There is also a shake place next door that looks good too, but I haven't tried it yet. There are also a couple of slushie stands that could also be fine, but when your best food choices are cinnamon rolls, slushies, and shakes, you know things are quite a bit messed up. Kansas City is known for its barbecue, and I'd be embarrassing my hometown if I recommended to you the barbecue sauce at River City Grill. River City Grill is the worst theme park restraunt I've ever had. The mac and cheese sucks, the meat sucks, the prices are a crime. G'rilla Grill has had some decent sauce options in the past, but every place in the park has the same bland reheated chicken fingers and fries, and no amount of sauce will fix them. Don't eat here. Check out the nearby Texas Tom's or get real barbecue at Gates instead.

And now finally, the rides!

I don't blame you if you skipped all the above, you came here to ride good rides, and I'm gonna break them all down for you with the experience of a season passholder for over twenty years.

Spinning Dragons

With a height requirement of only 48", this is a great choice for your kids' (or scaredy cat friend) first rollercoaster. It's not too high, not too fast, but it has some very fun twists, turns, and of course, spin! The cart will spin more when it's a little off balance, so it may be a fun idea to try and arrange your party so that the car has more weight to one side. The ride is also very smooth, and the track is entirely visable to the riders so you can see exactly what you are getting into. Spinning Dragons' biggest downside, however, is it's operations and queue time. Like a mouse coaster, aach train hold only 4 passengers at a time in its single car, and there only as many as four cars running at a time. The operations time is also pretty long, and the long, single line queue can be quite deceptive. Even a short queue can feel like ages, nevermind one that backs up only halfway! Add in the fact that it is toward the front of the park in the East Asia section, ks very easy to find, and has a very accessible height requirement, and you can understand why it is in such high demand. For this reason, I often skip over it, but if this is your first time at Worlds of Fun, I'd say consider your time, plan your day, and enjoy the rest of your day knowing that is the longest you will ever have to wait for a ride at Worlds of Fun on any given day. I wouldn’t wait any longer than 30 minutes as a first time rider.

Prowler

(i forgot a picture i will get one soon)

I have many feelings about the Prowler. All in all, it is a fantastic ride. It's fast, it's turbulent, it's a ton of fun. It's also wooden, and by it's nature, a bit rough. I personally think it's the roughest of the three wooden coasters at Worlds of Fun, but others will argue the Timber Wolf is worse. For what it's worth, my time riding it yesterday in the third row seat was surprisingly more comfortable to what I'm used to. This could be in part because a portion of the ride's track was replaced by Titan Track this year. For this ride, I'd recommend sitting up close to the front, otherwise get ready for this wild animal to shake you down. Perhaps Prowler's biggest perk is its wait time. I have rarely seen much of a line develop beyond the loading platform for Prowler, more often than not you can pick your row immediately. This makes it even easier to wait for the front seat. I don’t know if it's the location of the ride or it's operational efficiency, but I'd rarely wait any longer than 5 minutes. If you're in line for the Prowler, you probably chose the worst day to come to the park. Prowler is perhaps most comprable to Mystic Timbers at Kings Island, in its seat style and in the layout and thrashes around. Prowler also runs through the woods, and what it does best is its small, bouncing runs that seem to mimic a wild cat's sprint. Both coasters are excellent but Mystic Timbers edges it out slightly in terms of speed, height, and length, as well as it being a newer ride with a surprise feature at the end. Prowler is particularly fun to ride at night in dark, and I have often taken a break from the Haunt attractions in October to ride it then. If you're a hardcore thrill seeker you should definitely try the last seat of the train, as the first drop will tear you over the edge with frightening force. Finally, if you are coming to the park on a particularly sunny day, I would strongly recommend wearing sunscreen or holding onto a hat or visor to wear after the ride, because the first half of the train does come to a stop in exposed sunlight and you may cook there for a minute as the second train takes up space in the loading area. When boarding you may also notice the seats and belt buckles can also get pretty warm in the sun, and that’s normal.

Zambezi Zinger II

Zinger II is starting it's 3rd year with a new feature, a massive tin enclosure that now covers its iconic spiral lift hill. It's rumored to have been added to help protect the track from rain and prevent ride closures, as those had plagued the ride in its first 2 seasons. I don’t hate the idea, and if it works it works, unfortunately riders now have to ride up that lift hill in a rackety tin chamber that echoes the mechanical lift. Its LOUD, with my husband's apple watch clocking the noise level at 104db as we ascended. Compare that level to the Mamba's similarly noisy lift hill, which only reaches 84db. I plugged my ears all the way up.

After the noisy lift, however, Zambezi Zinger is one of the best rides to experience at Worlds of Fun. It is easily the most comfortable of the three wooden roller coasters, due to its newness and it's steel-wooden hybrid construction. Please note, however, that it's construction as a woodie has very little else in common with more prominent and beloved hybrids like Steel Vengeance or Outlaw Run. This coasters layout and elements are very different, there are no upside down rolls either. Zinger's theme is easily the best in the park, posing as a safari tour company in the Serengeti. There are a few fake animals to look out for as well on your safari. I've spotted three, but I'll let you keep an eye out for them yourself. The gift shop has a lot of cute merch featuring the safari animals on Zinger t-shirts and plushies, too. The ride itself has a way of tossing you from side to side, and sends you down a small tunnel as well. Zinger II is named and modelled after the ride that was first constructed in 1973, the original all steel Zambezi Zinger. Being a relatively new ride with a new feature, I'd expect wait times to get pretty long at this attraction, but it's usually worth it. I wouldn’t wait longer than an hour for it as a first time rider.

Boomerang

I'm gonna be real honest here, I forgot to add this ride until I started looking at the pictures of it getting in the way of the Zambezi Zinger II. This is, by far, Worlds of Funs worst roller coaster. Getting on this ride, especially in conjunction with the Prowler, is consenting to a headache. The overhead restraints and stiff and will bounce your head around, and the force pressed against your body to make the loop and corkscrew elements going forward and back, is taxing on the body. I like rollercoasters with airtime, and this has none. Its gimmick is that it pulls you backwards and drops you forward through the aforementioned corkscrew before dragging you back up a parralell hill to then send you back the way you came. I believe Kings Island has a similar ride in Invertigo, but I chose not to ride it at the time because I wanted to focus on the more unique rides at that park at the time. Perhaps Invertigo's inverted style makes it more fun, but I can't say. I would ride Boomerang if the lines to everything else were too bad. Otherwise it's a pass for me, or just a reminder what I don't what a roller coaster to feel like.

Mamba

Lean, mean, and now in green! This year the park's tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster got a fresh coat of paint, and it looks wonderful! It's also worth mentioning that if you haven't ridden in a few years, the mid-course brake run has also been disabled, meaning the ride carries on with much more speed in its second half, which is very fun. The Mamba has long been the public's fan favorite, and is an iconic feature of the Kansas City skyline. It's hard to imagine Worlds of Fun without it. If you are visiting Worlds of Fun for the first time, this is THE must ride. Mamba is a classic hyper coaster, reaching 205ft. in the air. It is very similar to Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 in layout, profile, and seats, but with a few key differences. Firstly, the Mamba is considerably more comfortable and enjoyable that Magnum, as the older Magnum is fairly shaky. The Mamba also has a longer track and reaches up to 75mph. Mamba does not have a tunnel, nor does it have a pretzel curve, but it does have just as many hills and runs for a minute longer. Given its popularity, the line for Mamba can unexpectedly bloat, unfortunately.  I don't tend to wait for it if the line extends beyond the loading dock, but for a first ride I'd wait probably up to an hour. If you ever have the chance to visit both WOF and Cedar Point, I would highly recommend you ride the Mamba instead of Magnum and use the rest of your time saved by riding any other Cedar Point ride twice. Finally, I'd just like to take a moment to point out that the Mamba is featured in season 1, episode 4 of The Last of Us. That's pretty neat and my inner nerd starts kicking my feet everytime I remember that.

Patriot

The american scream and my personal favorite! Patriot is the best inverted rollercoaster in America, and if you give it a shit it's easy to see why. It's smooth, it's fast, and the twisting elements are the best in the business. You may have ridden an inverted coaster closer to home; Batman The Ride, The Banshee, Raptor, but none of these really come close to how fun Patriot really runs, and makes you feel as if you are really flying. It's both faster and taller than Raptor (Cedar Point), and much smoother too. Banshee at King's Island is a bit larger, newer, and faster than Patriot, but Patriot is far more comfortable, as Banshee's intensity is perhaps a bit excessive. I would say it's closest competitor is the floorless coaster Scream! at Six Flags Magic Mountain, or the more decorated Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park in the UK. This is Worlds of Fun's second must ride attraction. Patriot doesn't usually have too long of a line either, where some days Mamba can get backed up. That said, I probably wouldn't wait any longer than 45 minutes for it, as there are other coasters out there like it (but not better!).

Timber Wolf

I suppose it's time to address the wolf in the room. The Timber Wolf (1989) is Worlds of Fun's oldest roller coaster, but it has been unfortunately shut down for the 2025 season. Its future is up in the air at the moment, with a leading theory suggesting that it's maintenance is currently too high a cost to consider when Cedar Fair's recent merge with Six Flags leaves Worlds of Fun's overall future uncertain. Because I love this coaster so much, I do want to talk about it very briefly. To me, Timber Wolf is the classic wooden rollercoaster. It's fast, it's rough, and it's been a long time favorite among the locals as that one roller coaster that will fuck you up. Its seats are exactly like The Beast at Kings Island, although it is not nearly so long or adventerous.

Closing thoughts:

20 points for ride smoothness: 15 is expected roughness. Anything lower is usually wooden or unexpectedly intense.

15 points for seat comfort: are the seats roomy but also secure? are there accomodations for larger guests?

5 points for ride theme: is the ride well maintained? is the theme creative?

5 points for queue design: are there things to look at or do in line? does the queue snake back on itself endlessly?

10 points for if the ride lets you sit down. 0 if it's a standing attraction because I waited in line standing and I'm over that. This might seem like a silly nitpick, especially for a rollercoaster enthusiast, but I have never liked a rollercoaster with a standing seat. It's a terrible gimmick that only compromises the users comfort and complicates the loading and unloading of passengers.

45 points divided between whether or not the ride itself has unique elements (launch start, 90 degree drop, etc.) hang time, feels fast (not actual mph), drops, or turns. For this section, I basically pick the strongest elements of the ride and judge those.

Below is an example of the matrix:

As you can see, the values for different elements in blue are divided between 5 categories. Mamba and Prowler are not scored in the same categories because they each have different strengths. For Mamba, a perfect score in its four categories is 11, and Prowler's perfect score is 15. Those perfect scores will always add up to 45. Since Mamba's drop is thrilling but not the most outstanding drop, I've given it a 9/11. Prowler's drop is comparably thrilling, but is more valuable pointwise because there are less categories to critique it on. I choose the categories based on what the ride most excels at to give it the greatest potential, while also not critiquing it for something it was not designed. When I add dark rides to this matrix, for example, nearly all 45 points will be awarded to those rides' unique elements (decor, animatronics) or occasional drop (ie., Pirates of the Carribean or Fire in the Hole)

Unfortunately, a few popular rides were closed: Goliath was in the process of being repainted, and Superman Escape from Krypton was closed too. The Justice League: Battle for Metropolis dark ride was also closed, but I have ridden that ride at other parks before and you will find my review of that ride for that park when it comes out. We also did not ride Batman: The Ride because we only had so much time and it is pretty much the same ride at every Six Flags. I can't remember if it was open or not, but I wasn't particularly interested in riding The Ninja, so we didn't do that one either. I remember it being fun when I was younger, but I was also disappointed by a similar ride The Bat, at King's Island. Also please note that while I did take pictures at every attraction we rode, Tumblr limited me to 10 images per post, so I picked the 10 most important one for me. With that in mind, let's jump into Magic Mountain!!

The New Revolution / Classic Revolution

I'm still not sure what to call this thing, the signage was a bit confusing. Someone please help!!

This ride was amazing, especially given its age! (Built in 1976, my father joked things that old should be buried. He was born in 1973.) It is also the first steel rollercoaster to feature a vertical loop. (source) I was scared this would be a rough one, but I was wrong. I get more beat up on much more modern steel coasters! This ride is pretty slow, but in a good way. You get to see all the trees that have grown up around it. I've been on similar oldies, and none have been as enjoyable as this. It made for a great start to the day! Score: 83/100

The Viper

Built in 1990, this ride is older than myself, and according to my dad, runs just like how The Orient Express did at World's of Fun. They took that ride out the year before i was tall enough, so now having ridden this, I can say I much prefer the coaster that replaced it. Which is a sad thing to say, because I had always heartbroken that I didn't get to ride the Orient Express. Unfortunately, The Viper hurt. I knocked my head on it twice. It's faster than the revolution, but speed doesn't always matter. I'm sure some people really enjoy it, or maybe I'm getting to old for rough rides? I usually judge a ride based on if I would be comfortable riding it again in the same day, and this is certainly not one of those rides. Score: 70/100

West Coast Racers

Awesome launch coaster with a sneaky twist!You get to race against another coaster, and after the race, you end up arriving at the launch of the second coaster! Basically you get to ride it twice, on both the right and left track. It's smooth and while not very big, it is pretty fast and the turns are very satisfying! The theming was also pretty nice. Score: 89/100

Jet Stream

My dad was very excited to ride this one, lmao. It's a standard flume ride, but it's abit faster and more aggressive than most I have been on. We rode this in November and while and while I didn't hardly get splashed at all, I was wearing wide bottom cargo jeans and the bottom of said jeans ended up getting dipped in the water that was already in the boat. 💀 Other than it was very fun! I loved the drops and faster pace of this ride compared to say, The Viking Voyager at Worlds of Fun. Score: 71/100

Gold Rusher

This was a cute and fun kiddie coaster! The lap bar didn't restrain me much, and there was no seat belt so i felt myself sliding around a ton, but still very exciting! The turning descent at the end was the ride's best element, similar to Thunderation at Silver Dollar City. Score: 72/100

X2

If you aren't riding X2 like you're giving birth, are you really riding X2? I slammed my calves hard on the seat, but otherwise it was very trippy and fun; terrifying even. It's nothing like other wing coasters I've been on, but is perhaps most like THE JOKER at Six Flags Great Adventure in that it will make you fear for anything you may have foolishly decided to keep in your pocket. DON'T RIDE WITH PERSONAL BELONGINGS. You will lose them and your head too! /hj I don't usually include a ride's location into my rating of it, but my god the location of this rollercoaster is BAD. It's easy to get a view of it when you drive in, but my god it is infuriating to walk to. It is completely out of the way of everything and not anywhere near a restroom either (this will come up again later for another ride, too). Other than that, fantastic as hell! Score: 80/100

Full Throttle

A very fun launch-start coaster!! The ride operator was pretty funny. He said we'd be launching soon and then sent us off immediately. By the time we had got on I had completely forgotten that it has 3 launches, so the second two were a big surprise. The 2nd launch sends you back up the track you'd just come from, and then the 3rd launch kicks in immediately after, sending you over the hill you initially looped through. that loop btw? Sick as hell. It's also incredibly smooth. You need to put your hands up for that. At the end of the ride the operators always recommend you get on another ride, whatever they can think of on the spot. At Full Throttle the operator suggested Wonder Woman, which was closed at the time. 🤪 I will say it did have a technical issue that we had to wait through, a group got stuck on the other side of the first launch. Given that there didn't seem to be a huge delay or concern, I get the feeling that might happen pretty often. Please let me know if it does! Score: 84/100

The Riddler's Revenge

I have a question: who thought it would be a good idea to make customers wait for twenty minutes in line and then stand an additional 3 minutes and market it as a feature??? As far was standing rollercoasters go, it was fine. But personally, I hate standing rollercoasters so I'm gonna be pretty biased here. If you are the kind of person who is even a little bit picky about ride comfort you will hate this. It jostles your head. These rides always put so much pressure on my bikini line and feet. It's a bit like riding a very uncomfortable bicycle. If you don't mind the discomfort for the sake of the gimmick, it is fast and has some great turns and good speed. I won't be riding it again. Score: 54/100

Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage

This was my favorite ride of the day! We were very lucky we got on because it opened at about 4pm and the park closed at 6pm. We had spent the entire day checking ride times and closures, and too see that it had finally opened after showing no signs of life made my whole fucking day. 🌈 The turns were very satisfying! I got to ride in the front seat and it was amazing, although the people who let us sit in the front let us cut them because they wanted to sit in the back, so if I have another chance to ride, I will definitely give the back of the ride a go too! It was very smooth and the hang time was fantastic. I want to ride it again right now. Score: 96/100

Twisted Collosus

This was my dad's favorite ride of the day! It was very cool! I don’t remember this ride from the last time I was at the park, but apparently it was renovated in 2015 (after I would have visited initially) and they must have done a wonderful job. This ride, like Outlaw Run and Steel Vengeance, is a wood-steel hybrid coaster but unlike those two, has the layout and vibe of a much older wooden coaster like Blue Streak at Cedar Point. It has classic big hills and goes back and forth winding over itself and inverts for a modern twist. Like West Coast racers, this ride races itself! After your first circuit of the track, you are once again taken up the lift hill at the same time as a new cart that races alongside you. My favorite part was the inversion because it moved the racing cars to be running over top one another, to where you could look up/down at the opposing car's passengers.

and now it's time for the follow up that nobody asked for: Score: 90/100

THE BATHROOM RANT

(and Scream)

WHERE ARE THE BATHROOMS?

I couldn't see any bathrooms around here or Twisted Collosus. Thankfully I didn't have to wait in too long of a line for either, and I really didn't have to pee that bad, but knowing I had to walk all the way over to Goliath for the restroom was a bit frustrating. In fact, I only saw restrooms in three places. 1. across from Kathy's by Tatsu 2. Next to Goliath 3. Outside the front gate. This and the location of X2 were the most disappointing aspects of the park. There was also a serious lack of signage to point you to where you needed to go. Navigating this park was a challenge.

All that said, Scream was fun! Compared to the other rides I had been on today, it's not a stand out. It has a layout and ride feel similar to inverted coasters such as Patriot, Banshee, or Raptor, but the ride itself is not inverted. it was strange not having a floor beneath my seat, but still seeing the rail the coaster followed under my feet. Honestly it was a little unsettling, because I was afraid my feet could be clipped by the rail! Score: 88/100

Tatsu

I got a shirt of this ride when I visited as a kid, but I uh... cut the shirt up and ruined it trying to make a cooler sleeveless top. Sorry, Tatsu. I remember really liking this ride, but at the same time, not remembering it at all, so it was like riding it for the first time all over again. It. Was. Amazing!! Like flying. The on-your-back sweep was so cool! It's most similar to Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Great Adventure. We rode this coaster at night and it was very cool to see all the lights of the park shine around us as we twisted in the air. Score: 86/100

Closing Thoughts

Six Flags Magic Mountain was even more impressive than I remember it as a child. New rides like Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage and revamped Twisted Collosus stole both the show and my heart. Six Flags often gets a bad rep, but this is by far and away the best Six Flags park you will ever visit, provided you don't mind a LOT of walking. Some of the park's greatest issues come from it's own namesake: the mountain. The park is on a massive hill that will have you hiking up and down and all around to get to the different rides, specially for The Ninja, Superman: Escape from Krypton, and Tatsu. X2, while not even uphill, still manages to be a pain in the ass to get to with it's out of the way location. Another critique I need to touch on is the ride time postings. To make the most out of the time we had, my dad purchased a Flash Pass and we were always checking the wait times to see which attraction to get on next. This is normal now for the modern park-goer, but what isn't normal is having a completely broken ride time listing. As I said earlier in my review, Wonder Woman opened at 4pm, and we ran right over when it did to hop in line, but my phone told me the ride was closed all day. The ride times never updated. The reason we knew it was open was because it showed up on my dad's Flash Pass. We ran to get in line as everyone else did and had to wait around 30 minutes. By the time we were off, that wait time was about 45 minutes. If we didnhave the Flash Pass, we would have waited much longer or maybe not even have noticed it was open at all. Finally, this was a Six Flags theme park, and as the reputation would imply, the standards were about as low as expected. The bathrooms were few and far between, and they were not the cleanest either. We went to Disneyland a couple days after this trip and I was reminded how nice public restrooms could be when enough care goes into them. Six Flags also has criminally expensive food. It was more expensive that Disneyland's food, and served you run of-the-mill frozen burgers and chicken tenders. I had the chicken tenders at Kathy's, and if I remember correctly they were about $18.99 and $2.00 extra if you wanted the spicy BBQ sauce added to them. The portion size was standard (which is fine for my dad but too much for me), so there was no reason in my mind for the price to be set so high.

But the food is not why you go to Six Flags. You go to Six Flags: Magic Mountain to ride more rollercoasters in one day than you ever thought possible. You go to this park for extreme, unique, and thrilling attractions. And that's exactly what I got. Overall I was very pleased with my trip to Six Flags: Magic Mountain, and I look forward to the day I can return again again soon.