Silverwood Press Kit Season

Transcription

1 Silverwood Press Kit 2013 Season

2 Silverwood will be celebrating its 26 th Season this summer and we want to invite you to share the excitement with us and our guests. Built nearly single-handedly by a local inventor and entrepreneur, located in a spectacular corner of the world, Silverwood certainly has some interesting stories to tell. The park began as a unique showcase for vintage trains, planes and cars. From there, Silverwood evolved into an exciting family destination with some of the newest thrill rides in the West. Today, Silverwood is the largest theme park in the Northwest as well as home to Boulder Beach Water Park. Always expanding, there is always something new at the park. Silverwood is a family-run business, which makes it unique in the world of corporate amusement parks. Owner and founder Gary Norton is very much a part of day-to-day operations, and is available for interviews. Please note that professional images of Silverwood are available at no charge to accompany your story, if needed. Please call if you would like to receive additional photos, or if you would like us to images to you. You are always welcome at Silverwood. If you d like, I d be happy to set up a personal tour of the park. Thanks again, and enjoy the Silverwood story, Nancy DiGiammarco Director of Marketing, Sales & Public Relations Phone: (208) , ext. 104 Cell: (208) Fax: (208) [email protected]

3 Silverwood - A one-of-a-kind Theme Park Back in 1987, when the Henley Aerodrome & Museum of Transportation was still under construction, Gary Norton wondered whether anyone would actually pay to visit his creation, located in a remote area of North Idaho. If nobody shows, he said, then I m just going to have a nice little park to play in with my friends. 26 years later, people have either shown up in droves, or Norton has around 9 million friends the number of people who ve passed through the gates of his theme park, wisely renamed Silverwood before it opened in That statistic might be remarkable, but the story of how it happened is even more so. How did a small showcase to vintage planes, trains and automobiles become a regional tourist destination featuring wood roller coasters and a full water park? Why do well over half-million people every year journey well off the interstate to a still somewhat remote location in North Idaho? And how are they convinced to do so? The story is as unique as the park itself. Silverwood at-a-glance: The wildest destination in North Idaho is Silverwood Theme Park and Boulder Beach Water Park, which makes up the largest theme park in the entire Northwest. And, with over 216 acres of fun and more than 65 rides, slides, shows, and attractions including two world-renowned wooden roller coasters, the mammoth Aftershock steel coaster that will turn your world upside down and a 21-acre water park with rivers, wave pools and high speed slides fit for the entire family there s more than one way for Mother Nature to hear you scream. Surrounded by outdoor adventure, Silverwood is a theme park inside a natural theme park. Natural rivers, mountains and forests offer some of Idaho s best water skiing and fishing, golfing, hiking, mountain biking you name it. Take your family somewhere a little more wild. Dominating the skies at Silverwood is Aftershock the 191 foot tall steel roller coaster traveling forward and backwards through a cobra loop at speeds up to 65 mph. Other rides include Tremors, a 65-mph wooden coaster that plummets underground four times and drops 103 feet, the 55-mph Timber Terror wooden coaster, the Corkscrew coaster, the 140-foot tall Panic Plunge drop tower, Thunder Canyon whitewater ride, a 1915 steam-powered train and Garfield Summer Camp, a miniature mining town for kids. Silverwood also features dozens of traditional amusement rides. Shows include a magic show, a bird show, a train ride where bungling bandits attempt to rob Silverwood guests and appearances by Garfield and Odie. Boulder Beach Water Park includes our biggest water slide yet, Avalanche Mountain! Walk up a mountain trail, climb aboard a raft with up to six of your family or friends, and splash your way down into a 20-foot diameter MEGA-tube before landing in a below-ground canyon! You can enjoy two gigantic wave pools and can ride the wild surf or lie on the beach and watch all the action. You can splash your way to the gigantic 4-slide Rumble Falls tube slides. The Polliwog Park and Toddler Springs Kiddies areas offer little ones plenty of slides, pools and splash areas as well as beach lounging for the parents. Bigger kids and grown-ups will love floating down Elkhorn Creek. It s a one fifth-mile-long loop featuring lazy turns, lounging pool and waterfalls. Velocity Peak is a high-speed body slide complex that features 3 slides including a 62-foot vertical drop and speeds up to 50 mph.

4 New for 2013 Silverwood will be adding two new attractions. The first is not for the faint-at-heart. This yet-to-be-named monster thrill ride will dominate the skies standing at 102 feet tall spinning 360 degrees in two different directions and producing 3 Gs. The second will be a family-fun ride that holds up to 20 riders whether adult or child. Both rides will be outstanding additions to Silverwood s collection of rides and slides assuring something for all ages. Where is Silverwood? Silverwood Theme Park is located just 15 minutes north of Coeur d Alene on Highway 95 in scenic North Idaho. The nearest urban center is Spokane, WA, which is 30 minutes west of Coeur d Alene on Interstate 90. Spokane s International Airport serves most major airlines. Missoula, Montana is 180 miles to the east, and Seattle, Washington is 330 miles to the west. The Canadian border is 90 miles to the north. Dates & Other Details: For the 2013 season, Silverwood is open weekends only May 4 through May 19. The park is open daily from May 25 through September 2. Weekend-only operation resumes from Sept. 7 through Sept. 29. Boulder Beach Water Park is open June 1 through September 2. And, making a return again this year Silverwood transforms into Scarywood October 4 through November 2. Group discounts are available. Facts & Figures Silverwood opened in 1988, the dream of inventor and entrepreneur Gary Norton. Tremors is one of Silverwood s premier wooden roller coaster, and has been consistently ranked as one of the top ten wood coasters in the country by coaster enthusiasts. The coaster features a 103-foot drop, before plunging through four underground tunnels, travels 60 mph on a 3,000-foot-long track and took 8 months to build, using 330,000 board feet of timber and 70,000 bolts. The Corkscrew, which was moved here from Knott s Berry Farm, was the first roller coaster in America to take riders upside down and just celebrated its 35 th Anniversary. Silverwood s steam train, Old #7, was built in 1915 for the Eureka and Palisades Railroad in Nevada and was eventually purchase by Silverwood owner Gary Norton at an auction were he outbid Disney to bring the train to North Idaho. Boulder Beach Water Park opened in 2003 making Silverwood a Two Parks for One Price attraction Panic Plunge opened in a 104 tall drop tower that plummets you at almost 50 mph Boulder Beach doubled its size in 2007 adding a second wave pool, family raft ride and toddler wadding area. Aftershock steel roller coaster is added in Acquired from Six Flags Great America, this 191-foot tall giant boasts a 177-foot drop at 65 mph into 3 inversions. Once forwards and then backwards! During the summer, Silverwood hires an additional 1,100 employees. Silverwood attracts over 650,000 visitors each year. Guests can not only experience scream-inducing thrill rides but world-class entertainment including Nick Norton s Magic Show. Silverwood is home to many beautiful gardens and fountains. In October of 2009 Silverwood transformed for the first time into Scarywood, a haunted attraction unlike anything else in the Northwest. Silverwood continues to terrify its guests with the Zombiewood Express, the Terror Canyon Trail, Blood Bayou an indoor

5 haunted attraction, 3Demntia and many of Silverwood s signature rides. Timber Terror also runs backwards! Other Silverwood Stories of Interest: Visitors from the Skies The only amusement park in the nation built around an airfield, Silverwood has been home to some very unique airplanes. The park s Lindy s Restaurant pays tribute to aviation hero Charles Lindbergh. (The airstrip is now private and access is by invitation only) The Little Engine That Could Silverwood s steam train is pulled by Old Number Seven, built in 1915 for the Eureka and Palisades Railroad in Nevada. Silverwood had to bid against Disneyland to get the engine. The train ride, which winds through the park around more than three miles of narrow-gauge track, includes surprise appearances by bandits and train robbers. Passion for the Past, Dreams for the Future Founder Gary Norton, an inventor and antique car buff, founded the multi-million dollar park in 1988 with money he made in the computer business. Built on his passion, Silverwood was a wild dream that became a reality. Who Says Science Is Boring? How much more do you weigh at the bottom of a roller coaster than at the top? You can find out during Physics and Science Days. In May, science students and teachers from four states and Canada converge at Silverwood to measure, create, discover and learn. They participate in science competitions and experience thrilling rides. Where Summer Comes To Play Silverwood is set in northern Idaho, distinguished by lake and mountain views, high quality of life, four-season recreation and diverse travel options. Nearby, the town of Sandpoint is an artist s and outdoor athlete s community at the edge of Lake Pend Oreille, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country. Coeur d Alene is a charming resort town at the head of Lake Coeur d Alene, with thriving night life, shopping, main street attractions and waterfront activities. Men of Steel Dozens of ride mechanics converge on Silverwood Theme Park as early as 3am every morning scouring every inch of every coaster track and every ride in the park. Guest safety is number 1, and you get some pretty great sunrises from the top of the coasters says Denny Higdon, Director of Maintenance at Silverwood. A Good Neighbor Every year Silverwood donates thousands of tickets, gathers food for local food banks, holds a special day the Night of Stars for the mentally and physically disabled, makes available a reading program that encourages over one million hours of reading by Northwest children over the past several years and schedules a day for single moms and their children in an effort to be a good neighbor here in the Northwest. Combats to Car Shows During the summer months Silverwood is home to many different events drawing guests from all over the Northwest and even the country. From Fire Fighter Combat Challenges to the Coaster Classic Car Show there is a little something for everyone at the park.