As Worlds of Fun changes hands again, a former park manager wonders if Kansas City’s coaster staple will finally reinvest or stay in neutral

Cole Lindbergh still thinks about Worlds of Fun like a manager.

More than a decade after leaving the park, the former games supervisor—once featured on National Public Radio program This American Life’s “Amusement Park” episode, spotlighting Lindbergh’s outsized enthusiasm for theme parks—still tracks pricing, attendance and industry trends. So when ownership of Kansas City’s amusement park started shifting again, Lindbergh had thoughts.

“Maybe they will recognize that the park needs a major overhaul,” says Lindbergh, now a tech professional and 2024 U.S. Air Guitar Champion. “I would hope they reinvest and get back to the roots of, ‘This is the Kansas City local amusement park.’”

Lindbergh worked at Worlds of Fun from 2001 to 2013, rising from a teenage seasonal employee to manager under Cedar Fair, the company who owned the park at the time. He watched as the company grew by acquiring parks across the country, but rarely reinvested heavily in its Kansas City property, he says.

“The money that the park made went back to shareholders,” he says. “The park never really got to the point where they were going to make large investments.”

Now, another ownership change is putting that dynamic back in play.

Worlds of Fun is being acquired by Kansas City-based EPR Properties in a $342 million deal that includes six other parks. A Florida-based company, Enchanted Parks, will operate the properties. The transaction is expected to close by the end of June, shortly after the park opens for its 53rd season on April 25.

The sale also closes the door on a lingering question: whether Worlds of Fun might become a Six Flags park. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., which gained control after merging with Cedar Fair in 2023, is instead selling.

The park has changed hands only once before, from original developer Lamar Hunt’s Mid-America Enterprises to Cedar Fair in 1995.

Lindbergh doesn’t expect immediate changes this season but says the second year under new ownership could be more telling.

For now, EPR is signaling continuity. “The parks will continue their regular operating schedules, and all season passes sold will be recognized through the 2026 operating season,” the company said in a statement.

EPR owns more than 300 “experiential” or entertainment-focused properties nationwide, from movie theaters to Topgolf venues.

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