Patriot at Worlds of Fun has been in operation since 2006, designed and Manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard (B & M). When it debuted, this inverted steel roller coaster was the largest investment in the park’s history, costing 14 million. It features four inversions, a top speed of 60 mph, and a lift hill of 149 feet. The stats are impressive; this is a fast, intense roller coaster. However, this misses the mark on being the top-tier experience the park was aiming for.
Patriot at Worlds of Fun Experience
Patriot is located about halfway into the park in the Americana section, past Spinning Dragons and before SteelHawk. An extremely popular coaster that often gets a long line. The ride eats through many riders an hour, but you should still prepare for a decent wait. We recommend hitting this one up early before the park gets packed. Riders must be at least 54 inches to ride. Each of the seven rows of the train can sit four. You will be kept safe by an over-the-shoulder restraint with an attached belt. Once the ride attendant has checked all restraints, then get ready to take flight!
The train will dispatch straight into the 149-foot lift hill. Off the first drop is when Patriot will hit its top speed of 60 mph. This will flow into the loop and the rest of the track. Throughout is a graceful experience that is quite different than most B & M inverted Steel Roller Coasters. Much less intense than most and even lacks the classic B &M roar sound that is so iconic with this type of coaster. Once the trains are back into the station, the ride ops will give the all-clear. Then, you are good to remove your restraints and exit the ride safely.
Patriot at Worlds of Fun: The Positives
Patriot is hands down the most visually appealing ride at Worlds of Fun! The color scheme is perfect and blends well with the slick-looking trains. As iconic as Mamba is to the skyline, we think that when walking up to the park, it is going to be Patriot that gets the groups excited for the day. Each element shows off the ride to anyone outside and inside the park. A perfect example is how the airtime hill lies over the entrance sign. That is no accident!
Airtime on an inverted coaster feels unique. Patriot has a few elements like this that lift you out of your seat. Usually, these B & M inverts focus on the opposite type of force, which will push you down hard into the chair. It’s unexpected in all the right ways!
For better or worse, this is a very original coaster. It doesn’t sound or feel like what you will expect. Each inversion is a blast but doesn’t have that hard whip associated with this type of coaster. While we were slightly disappointed in Patriot, we still give high marks for swinging for the fences and not just copying and pasting what has been done before.
The Negatives
Above we talked about the better, but now, let’s talk about the worse. Each of the out-of-the-box decisions made with Patriot is a double-edged sword. We like the airtime focus, but this creates a much less intense experience. The perfect example is the coaster’s second inversion, the Zero-G roll. Usually, this is taken at high speed and will whip hard through the element. However, here it slows down enough that it instead gracefully glides through this inversion.
Patriot sits right at the park’s edge overlooking a field of undeveloped land. It just looks wrong to have a coaster overlooking an area of grass. The park should add some theming or just some trees to make it feel less awkward. But, on the other hand, they may have left it alone to expand that way. If that is the case, how about just a row of American flags blowing in the wind?
Final Verdict
Patriot at Worlds of Fun is a very mixed bag. We think what they were going for was later perfected with Banshee at Kings Island. This is our least favorite B & M invert, but we don’t want to give the impression that we don’t love this roller coaster. While it’s our least favorite for this type of coaster, it is still an excellent ride! There is no such thing as a bad B & M invert! They just went a different way with this one, and some of those decisions didn’t entirely work for us. Still, we think everyone will have a blast, from the knockout look to the graceful experience. Next to Prowler, this is our second favorite coaster here. Because of these reasons, Patriot at Worlds of Fun gets an eight out of ten.
Thanks for Reading!
If you found this review helpful or informative, would you please consider sharing this with your friends, family, and fellow roller coaster enthusiast? Also, if you have questions, thoughts, or memories about Patriot at Worlds of Fun, please add your voice in the comments below. You can visit the park’s website for more information https://www.worldsoffun.com/. Please follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/themeparkcoastercrazy/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Themeparkcoastercrazy.