What is Cedar Fair, and where does Worlds of Fun fit within its family of amusement parks?
Cedar Fair is a company that owns 11 amusement parks and 6 water parks across the United States. Worlds of Fun, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is one of those 11 parks — and notably one of the smallest in the portfolio.
The scale of Cedar Fair's portfolio matters as a benchmark: Cole Lindberg, the games department manager at Worlds of Fun, knows his counterparts at the other Cedar Fair parks personally. While some of those parks run employee competitions within their games departments, none take it as far as Worlds of Fun does. That distinction stands out precisely because Worlds of Fun is not one of the company's flagship properties — it's a smaller park punching above its weight in terms of departmental innovation.
This context surfaces in the This American Life episode "Amusement Park," where the team spent an entire hour inside Worlds of Fun to understand how the park operates from the inside. You can listen to the full episode on Listenly to hear Lindberg describe the culture he has built within one of Cedar Fair's lesser-known properties.
"This opportunity is probably only going to come along once in a lifetime."
— Cole Lindberg, Games Department Manager, Worlds of FunAbout Cole Lindberg
Cole Lindberg's relationship with Worlds of Fun began long before his career did: his family held season passes to the park, and he grew up scheduling vacations around amusement parks and chasing new roller coasters. He arrived for his first job interview at age 14 wearing a suit — sitting in what he described as "the inner sanctum" of the park's offices, equal parts thrilled and awestruck. That first summer job never ended. Eleven years later, Lindberg is a full-time, year-round employee who manages the park's entire games department: 32 games, a staff of over 100 young employees, and weeks that regularly run 60 to 70 hours during the summer season. The stakes of the role are real — he is responsible for financial targets, supply purchasing, and large-scale hiring. His commitment to the position was demonstrated most clearly when, during his senior year at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, he dropped out of school to accept the games manager role rather than risk losing it. His immediate supervisor Matt regards him as one of the strongest games managers across all 11 Cedar Fair parks, a recognition that carries particular weight given Worlds of Fun's status as one of the smaller properties in the company's portfolio.
See also
Cole introduced a fluorescent-colored lemur stuffed animal as a prize in the dart game, and the game doubled its business as a result. He also invented a game and applied creative design thinking to drive revenue across the department.
At Worlds of Fun, the guessing game costs $5 to play while the prizes cost less than $5, meaning the department makes a profit even if every single guess is wrong and every player walks away with a prize.
The Sweet 16 tournament pits all 32 games in the park against each other in pairs over a four-week competition to see which game makes the most money. Games advance through elimination rounds until a single winner is crowned.