{Originally written 2018}
So, you’ve found yourself wanting to plan a spring break vacation, but you can’t pay for another Disneyland trip plus airfare to Anaheim. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, why not visit the largest theme park in the region? Silverwood Theme Park’s website speaks for itself—check out the attractions, great admission prices, and FAQ. Their job is to convince you that the park is worth visiting. My job is to tell you what I wish I had known ahead of time! I’m a detail-gal, so if there is info you didn’t find on another blog, hopefully, this will answer some of those specific questions.
We planned a four-day trip. One day to drive there, two days to enjoy the park, and one day to drive home. We spent our nights at a hotel in Post Falls, but for the rugged, budget-seeking folks—you can’t get much cheaper than a $30-a-night campsite right next door to the park!
What to Wear
Assuming you’re planning to spend some time at Boulder Beach (because it’s awesome and why wouldn’t you?), the best option to minimize time spent changing would be to simply wear your swimsuit under your clothing. If it’s comfortable, wear it all day! We brought a change of clothes, and I even brought a change of shoes, but this cut into our ride time. Keep in mind that it is a family park, and the park actually has official rules that state that modest swimsuits are required. This is in your best interest if you’re planning to go down one of the Velocity Peak slides and you don’t want to have an unfortunate accident related to a bikini. I wore a secure tankini and skirt and was good to go! As for clothing, I would recommend a light-weight tank top and linen or athletic shorts (not jeans!) that dry quickly and allow you to be cool during hot weather. I also brought a long-sleeved shirt for the evening. We wore our silicone Qualo rings instead of our wedding bands, just in case of damage/loss.
Chacos were the ideal shoe choice of the day, as my plantar fasciitis makes it hard to go barefoot (though the water slides require you to remove your shoes). Plus there are a few rides in the park that get you wet (Thunder Canyon, Bumper Boats, and Log Flume). I happened to be wearing tennis shoes during each of these, after changing out of the swim/Chaco attire. Trust me, walking around in squishy Nikes might sound like just a comfy waterbed for your feet, but it’s very unpleasant.
Let’s talk hair. If you have a pixie cut or crew cut, easy. If you’re a gal or guy with long hair, I’d strongly recommend braids for the water park. Here’s why: my hair gets very tangly when wet. But if it’s braided, then it becomes much easier to work with after it dries. The first day I went with a bun and regretted it. The second day I rocked braids until we were done with the water park. Then I unbraided it and enjoyed brief waves as the heat of the day dried it, and threw it up into a more comfy bun. (I’m an INFJ. I care about these things.)
I also always apply Young Living’s Thieves essential oil whenever I know I’m going to be in a place with lots of strangers and lots of germs! As a person with a compromised immune system, I have to be proactive.
What to Bring
Sunscreen is a MUST! We applied twice a day and didn’t get burnt. Although, it was pretty smokey during our visit, so that may have contributed to our layers of protection.
Towels (though they are available for rent at Boulder Beach for $3).
Goggles. I found myself unable to see during Riptide Racer and Velocity Peak, as water is spraying into your face. Goggles would’ve also been useful at the wave pool—which really made it feel like we were in the ocean!
An Empty Water Bottle is also a must! The park does not allow you to bring in filled water bottles, so we bought cheap bottles at Walgreens, chugged them during the 30-minute car ride, and brought them empty into the park. They were much lighter than our Hydroflasks—and since we carried them around, this was a good choice!
Sunglasses
Chapstick
Contact Lens Refreshing Drops (if you wear contacts)
Your ID, if you want to purchase a Margarita, Piña Colada, Jamaica Me Crazy, or Boulder Blast at the Cabana Cooler or any of the schnazzy cocktails at Lindy’s (they even have a drink named after one of the roller coasters!).
Cash (if you want to play arcade or carnival games). They do have ATMs there, but they charge a whopping $3 withdrawal fee. Kind of lame if you only plan on spending $2 on a game!
Ibuprofen — I started day one with a bit of a headache, and unfortunately, it was exacerbated by Tremors, Timber Terror, Aftershock, and the Magic Show’s lights and noise. But fortunately, in a literal answer to prayer, my old youth pastor showed up with some Advil! They also sell this in the little hut-entrance to Boulder Beach.
Dramamine, if you get motion sickness. They also sell this in the General Store on Main Street.
Hand Sanitizer
Snacks. If you have allergies or just want to save money on food in the park, they do allow you to bring in “small personal snacks.” We brought some Kind bars, Luna bars, Whenever bars, craisins, and an apple.
Cell Phones. These will be handy for taking photos and occupying yourself in long lines. I got totally addicted to the free Stranger Things game during our trip and finally beat it a week later. This has been great for my marriage. Now I understand why my husband gets so into his games. (Click these links to download Stranger Things via the App Store or Google Play.)
A Drawstring Bag to carry around the necessities (a few snacks and everything but towels and changes of clothes).
A Large Bag or Backpack to hold your extra stuff, changes of clothes, shoes, towels, snacks, etc. You may end up putting this in a locker. More info on the locker situation below…
You can also rent a stroller ($13), a wheelchair ($10), or an electric wheelchair ($35) at the information center next to the Victorian Coffee House on Main Street.
Getting There
We got tricked on day one into going to the employee/vendor entrance! Don’t follow directions from Siri or Google Maps. Follow the brown road signs. If you’re traveling northeast on 95, when you first see the Aftershock on the left of the highway, you’d think that you should turn left, toward the roller coasters. Instead, follow the handy signs the direct you to turn right, toward the parking lot.
Parking costs $5 per day. If you’re concerned about finding your car at the end of the day, you can take a photo of the nearest light post.
We also found out that they let you in about an hour early, so we arrived around 10:15am, went through security, had our tickets scanned, browsed a bit in the Silverwood Coffee Roasting & Trading Co. (check out their wall of huckleberry products! I always feel like I have to eat as many huckleberry-flavored things as I can while I’m in Idaho), toured the cute little Victorian Coffee House and deliberated about whether we should order coffee or not, admired the giant chess set, then got in line to wait for the park to open at 11am.
Schedule
After a couple days of winging it and ending up wet at the worst times of day, I wish someone had recommended a schedule for us! Here’s what I wish we had done:
1) Arrive early, get coffee, then get in line at Boulder Beach
You can get coffee and pastries at Silverwood Coffee Roasting & Trading Co. or the Victorian Coffee House before the park opens.
2) Get a Locker at Boulder Beach
This really is the only logical place to have a locker. Posted signs prohibit solely-swimsuit-attire beyond Boulder Beach, so it makes sense that you’d keep your street clothes in a locker inside Boulder Beach. If you have a drawstring bag or backpack, you can carry it around the rest of the park and store it in a pretty secure cubby at some attractions until the end of the ride—but this doesn’t work for the water attractions, as the place you end up is pretty far from the entrance point. These family-size lockers are a hefty $10 each. There are $5 lockers elsewhere in the park, but it felt like a waste to pay for two different lockers. Though Boulder Beach’s attractions and restaurants close at 7pm, two hours earlier than the rest of the park, it remains accessible after the park closes at 9pm so you can come to get your stuff before you leave. Main Street itself is open until 9:30pm. Another option, if you aren’t concerned about strangers looking through your personal things, is to just leave your bag of personal items in one of the grassy spaces in Boulder Beach. This saves $10 but doesn’t give the peace of mind I require. We saw quite a few bags lying in a cluster, so it seems that there are plenty of folks who don’t mind!
3) Fill up your empty water bottle, toss some snacks in the drawstring bag, and head to Country Carnival or Coaster Alley
Get some of the lower-intensity rides out of the way before it gets too hot. Maybe participate in some carnival games. We visited the Shooting Gallery, which was a pretty good experience for 18 shots for just $1. Plus it wasn’t rigged like we expected. We actually hit a few targets and saw some chickens dance and animatronic foxes react :) We also participated in a fishing game, which really didn’t require a lot of skill, but this was the only midway game that guaranteed a prize. Hubby won me a little pink “Starshine Octopus.” We saw a few people carrying around giant unicorns and basketballs they had won, so that gives me the idea that some of the games are actually possible to win!
4) Ride Log Flume, Bumper Boats, and Thunder Canyon in the HOT afternoon
We made the mistake of assuming strangers wouldn’t soak us. On each of these three attractions, bystanders can pay to send an extra burst—or steady stream—of water in your direction. And on each of these rides, strangers soaked us! On the bumper boats, we were in a group with about 10 junior-high-aged boys. Two of them cornered me and pushed me into the stream of some strangers who were dry up on land! This would’ve been much more enjoyable during the hotter time of the day, rather than in the evening!
5) Lunch / Snacktime
We ate an amazing lunch at Lindy’s, but my belly felt so full I didn’t want to go on any rides! I would save the full meals for the end of the day, and try to survive on snacks during the middle of the day. The ice cream cones and funnel cakes are big enough for two or three people to share.
One day I had a gluten-free burrito bowl at Kool Cactus, but it was overpriced and not that tasty. Hubby enjoyed Chuckwagon John’s all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet for only $13, but we were harassed by bees almost the whole time! (I did some research and found out some essential oils are an effective bee-repellent. On the second day, I applied peppermint and that seemed to help!) There are many snack options around the park, and for those with allergies, a list of allergens can be found by visiting each restaurant/food cart on the interactive map and clicking on “More.” We also particularly enjoyed the Candy Store on Main Street—try their huckleberry truffles!
6) Hit Boulder Beach while it’s hottest
Most of these rides get you soaking wet, so I’d save this for when it’s super hot! Plus we were extra tired after the sun and chlorine, so do this after you’ve had a chance to enjoy more of the park. There are rental tubes available for $7 for use at the Lazy River and Rumble Falls, but every ride provides their own tubes as well. We were easily able to find blue tubes in the Lazy River after walking one lap and seeing people vacate their tubes. The yellow tubes for Rumble Falls were pretty easy to grab, you just have to get in the line for tube pickup. Rumble Falls was a fun tube ride down a water slide, but surprisingly capsized us at the end! Velocity Peak was a little uncomfortable, as you race down an intense slide on your back (another good reason for a tankini). I didn’t much enjoy the closed-tube slides/rides, as I couldn’t see and prepare myself for the water spraying into my face. If you’re claustrophobic like me, don’t go on the slides that are enclosed.
7) Return to Country Carnival/Coaster Alley as the day cools off
8) Eat dinner and catch a show right afterward
Lindy’s is amazing. I ordered the Margherita Chicken and a Huckleberry Lemonade and they were wonderful! I would highly recommend eating there toward the end of the day.
Afterward, to let your food settle, catch a magic show (3pm, 5pm, & 7pm on certain days of the week) or ride the train (they leave every hour on the hour). (For these two shows, there are even interpreters available for park guests who are deaf.) Unfortunately, we missed the High Moon Saloon show (we didn’t realize it was an actual show), so I can’t speak to that. However, the train stunt show is cute and a nice way to relax during a busy day. They take you on a tour of the park, then stage a train robbery, and anyone who goes along with their sketch and gives money to the “bandits” will learn at the end that they have donated to a charity supported by Silverwood.
The magic show was amazing! It takes place on a stage in Caselli’s Pizzeria. It was quite loud and bright, but very professional and kid-friendly. We saw Isaiah Daniels in Phantasm, who had a quirky and authentic stage presence. We enjoyed it so much we went back the second day to see Nick Norton, but about 10 minutes in we realized it was probably the same show, as he was performing the same illusions we had seen the day prior (to the same awesome music). Nick had a more charismatic, confident personality and performed with his wife as his assistant. Either way, this show is worth it! You do have to show up early, as it gets pretty crowded. There is floor seating (who knows how early people show up to get those stellar seats) and bleacher seating—we got there 30 minutes early and got good seats in the bleachers (though the lack of back support can be inconvenient if you already have chronic back pain). One option is to get pizza for dinner about an hour before the show starts—and then you’ll have great seating for the show following! (Unfortunately for me they didn’t have gluten-free pizzas.)
9) Enjoy carnival rides during the last couple of hours
There is a different kind of “county fair” vibe in the evening, with all the flashing lights and approaching dusk. It’s fun to enjoy these rides at this time before you head out.
We really enjoyed our two-day trip to Silverwood. Next time, we’ll be employing some of the things we learned, documented in this post. If you have any questions about things I didn’t address or info not found on their website, please feel free to comment!
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