Silverwood Gets Ready To Rumble New Wooden Roller Coaster Key Part Of Regional Marketing Campaign
Entering its ninth season, Silverwood Theme Park appears to be peaking.
In a literal sense, the park has added its tallest attraction: the 90-foot-tall Grizzly roller coaster. Figuratively, new management has propelled season pass and group sales farther than in any other year.
The Grizzly wooden coaster has elevated Silverwood from a local draw to a truly regional tourism destination, said Dan Aylward, president and general manager.
“It’s really a whole new ballgame with this,” he said. “We’re in a different league as an attraction.”
Season pass sales at the park are already double what they were last year. Group sales, traditionally a part of the business that has sagged, have nearly quadrupled from last season, Aylward said.
New sales staff, some retuning of food menus and simpler pricing for group meetings helped increase sales, he said.
Aylward arrived early last year to reenergize the park, along with marketing director David Palmer.
Gary Norton, who made millions in the computer business and who now restores vintage airplanes, owns the park and brought in the two veterans to boost the park’s appeal.
With a full year to plan and develop, Aylward has engineered an aggressive marketing campaign that appears to have paid early dividends.
A devotee of the roller-coaster experience, Aylward can’t wait to ride the Grizzly. The last of the track was laid Friday. Sandbag tests - simulating human weights on the coaster cars - should start May 11, which is the first weekend the park opens this year.
A sweepstakes at regional Burger King restaurants will pick the first 17 riders for the coaster, set to rumble officially on June 1.
“You get a lot better feel in the ride with a wooden coaster,” Aylward said, comparing it to the more-common steel-tubed variety. Silverwood has a steel coaster, the Corkscrew, which absorbs more of the vibrations during the ride, he said.
Ice shows at Silverwood, begun last year, will again feature Olympic-level skaters performing to the background music of a Wurlitzer organ.
Other additions to the park include family-style rides featuring balloons and elephants, as well as a new canoe ride for younger visitors.
The opening date is the park’s earliest yet, as Silverwood tries to eke more income from a generally short season of good weather.
Theme parks must continually update their lineup of rides to continue attracting visitors, though Silverwood won’t likely be adding rides the size of the Grizzly each year.
Some local hoteliers said more families are starting to make reservations specifically so they can attend Silverwood. Bob Templin of Templin’s Resort said that he’s seen an increase in his resort’s visitors who come to see the amusement park.
Many Silverwood visitors use the adjacent 126-space RV park when they visit.
Aylward hopes to target more ads for Seattle and Portland markets, using the Grizzly as a selling point, since there are but a handful of wooden coasters in the region.
Silverwood remains one of the region’s largest seasonal employers. About 425 workers from around the Inland Northwest work there during the season.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic with map: Silverwood Theme Park
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