Worlds of Fun is an entertainment complex with more than 235 acres located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is the largest amusement park and water park in the Midwest. Founded by American businessmen Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman, the park opened in 1973 under the ownership of Hunt's company, Mid-America Enterprises. 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. Both parks were sold to Cedar Fair in 1995 for $40 million.
History
Texas and Arkansas native Lamar Hunt brought the Dallas Texans NFL 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. Hunt worked with his business partner, Jack Steadman, to conceptualize and develop Worlds of Fun, which opened on May 26, 1973. It is located at the northern edge of a vast industrial complex in the bluffs above the Missouri River in Clay County, Missouri. 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. Mid-America Enterprises, seeking to capitalize on the citywide expansion movement, began construction on a new amusement park in 1964. 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 4000-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. Also in the same year, a sub-world called "River City" was opened in Americana bordering the East Asia section (at the time known 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.