Worlds of Fun's First Annual Winterfest #WOFWinterfest

I am so excited about this post that I don't know where to start. I guess I should start with gratitude. Thank you to Worlds of Fun for four tickets to see what Winterfest was all about, and for the goodies that came along with it. Thank you to Kansas City Parent for being the most amazing magazine to work with and for hooking me up with Worlds of Fun on this post. Thank you to readers of this blog, who come here to check out what Kansas City has to offer! Buckle up for this one!

*Quick shout-out to my parents for taking me to WOF for my first time as a wee tot back in the 1970s. I was under the weather that day so I didn't make it long, but as a teen I went OFTEN.

What a way to start December! On Friday night, December 1, my family and I (seven of us total) headed to Worlds of Fun to see what Winterfest was like. I had not been there since probably about 1996 with Aron for a work event. That was also his last time. Our four youngest kids (ages 14, 12, 10 and 8) had never been, and I wasn't sure when the right time was (answer: I wish we had been going for YEARS, and now we will be going a lot more, even considering season passes; I dub it "The Disneyland of Kansas City"). Our 16-year-old son Joel went about three times this past summer and LOVES it.

So I was surprised to hear it was going to be open in the WINTERTIME. Thankfully it was a mild evening. Even if it's cold, though, WOF has you covered with their refillable hot chocolate cups, places to warm up, hats for sale, warm funnel cakes and other goodies, and places to duck in for warm experiences (more on that later).

Heading inside. I'm a sucker for blue and white lights.

My family inside the entrance.

Oh my. It all started coming back to me when I used to go to WOF as a teen all the time. Anyone remember the teen dance club there called Exit 54? I have fond memories of it, and that's back when glo-sticks were new!!!

EVERYTHING had lights. It was a visual feast and I could not stop smiling. 

On the train, which was also decorated. Everything was so Christmasy and wintery. It was heaven.

The side of Eva's new glasses she just got that day.

The refillable hot chocolate mug. Super easy to find a vendor and a great deal. Good hot chocolate and a mug that wouldn't spill.

Again with the decorating. I felt like a kid again.

Waiting in line taking bad selfies.

Oh yeah, Le Taxi Tour was still there. I was excited to see the old classics of WOF and a lot of new stuff as well. This old mom was impressed.

Callie took pictures while I drove.

My 14-year-old driving the taxi.

I'm a sucker for a family photo.

Mrs. Claus! Starstruck! She was in the cookie decorating experience!

cookies

tons of sprinkle choices!

The kids had a blast with the cookie decorating!

I ducked out to get more visual stimulation and heard Elvis singing Blue Christmas with the blue tree lit up.

Callie won the best cookie award from our family!

the finished product

I didn't want to risk my camera flying out of my hand on a bump, so I took a pre-bumper car photo. Most of my kids had never been on bumper cars!

time for the carousel

It was almost closing time for the night, so we headed to the cake factory for a funnel cake ...

one.

two.

THREE! This is the specialty holiday funnel cake!

It went too fast! I want to go back!

YES! I really was there. Here I am! Time to leave with cookies, funnel cakes and a huge smile and some TIRED KIDS!

In case you couldn't tell from this post (my face hurts from smiling while writing it), we LOVED THIS and can't wait to go back. One of my favorite holiday songs is "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" but I never actually experienced what that felt like until I took my family to World of Fun Winterfest!

In October we experienced Disneyworld and Universal Studios for the first time and my kids were not impressed with the cost or lines. However, they FELL IN LOVE with Worlds of Fun, which is only about half an hour from our house. The cost of a season pass for one kid is the same as the cost for a one-day ticket to Disney or Universal. If you live in Kansas City, you must take advantage of WOF. I am ashamed to say I had forgotten how much I loved this place as a kid/teen.

Here's the deal: we did not do even HALF of what WOF had to offer. We didn't ride any wild rides (although a few of us love them; we wanted to stick together this time and check it out), and we didn't even get to Camp Snoopy. We didn't check out the ICE SKATING (yes, ice skating at WOF!). We barely caught some of the GORGEOUS live shows (with SNOW!), which 10-year-old Eva won't let me live down. We just walked around in awe and did the train, carousel, taxis, bumper cars (they did them THREE times). We still got the experience of a lifetime. Check out the map and what's open during Winterfest and what's extra special:

Have you been? Tell me about your experience in the comments and/or link me to your post! If you have not been, you have to go!

Almost a year later, my daughter Eva wrote a poem in our homeschool co-op Creative Writing class, taught by me:

A poem in our co-op Creative Writing class by my Eva:
Worlds of Fun
Winterfest
Fun Exciting
Walking Shivering Riding
Bumping on Bumper Cars