COTTON BLOSSOM

(1973 - 1995)

Some people might ask why I would include a great big boat on this website. Well, for some people the Cotton Blossom is what they remember most about World's of Fun and now, thanks to the RipCord it is gone. In its earlier days, the Cotton Blossom was much more than an eye sore, It was home to the Paddle Wheel Cafe (3rd deck), a nine-shop boutique (1st deck) and a Dixieland show on the bow of the Cotton Blossom. Though the Cotton Blossom had been in previous movies and commercials the interior of the boat had never been finished and these had to be built by Worlds Of Fun.

The Cotton Blossom on Opening Day in 1973!

The Cotton Blossom was originally built in 1950, it cost $375,000 to build. Following the filming of "Showboat", the Cotton Blossom was used in several other movies and commercials including "Raintree Country". It was constructed originally on a dry bottom of a 3,000 foot tank and was powered by two diesel engines. When Worlds Of Fun bought the Cotton Blossom in 1971 they cofronted the problem of moving the Cotton Blossom (it was 172' long). It was solved by disasembling the Cotton Blossom piece by piece and then numbering and recording each piece on the original blue prints. It was then shipped to Kansas City by way of railroad and was stored underground in Kansas City for almost a year. Reconstruction began in July, 1972 and was ready to be the site of the grand opening of Worlds Of Fun May 26, 1973.

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