- By Doug
I am a year late on posting this, but I need to get it done before Sheilah posts this year's Silverwood outing.
During the 2009 school year, Ben and Chris read enough to earn free tickets to Silverwood, a local theme park. On Friday, September 3, 2010, I took them to Silverwood to cash in their tickets. It was a perfect day to go because there was no school for our school district while most of the other schools in the area were in session. This meant that there was plenty of parking and almost nonexistent lines at most of the rides. The park was practically empty when compared to a normal day. An added bonus was that the weather was nice and warm.
In 2009, we went to Silverwood for their reading as well, but we mostly stayed in the children's area, and they either went on small rides while I watched or we went on some medium rides together.
However, in 2010, we played on the medium and the big boy toys, and it was a hoot. Before this trip, I have only been on one roller coaster in my life - if my memory is correct - and it was Space Mountain in Disneyland. I have had no desire to get on serious rides ever again after riding the Zipper in Edmonton Mall (Canada) on a band trip. I hated the feeling of having no control. I vividly remember in the middle of the ride, as I was being tossed around like a bag of potatoes, struggling to control my head and looking over and seeing dried vomit on the walls. During our 2009 Silverwood trip, I went on a ride with the boys that I would consider low key - it rotated slowly and took us up high, and it was not too bad until we got stuck at the top. I had no control of anything, and I did not like hanging up there. I was not scared, per se, but I was not comfortable. As I thought about it, I realized that these two experiences have tainted my view of rides, and it was not fair for the boys to be limited by me if they wanted to go on some more daring rides.
I say this because from the time we entered the park that morning last year, Chris kept saying he wanted to go on a roller coaster (he is always the more daring one). So I told them that if they want to go on a ride, I will go on it with them, but they are responsible for how I feel physically afterward. I also told them that we have to go on all the rides that make us sick before we get our ice cream. By the end of the day, it was no longer Chris urging us on to new rides, but me encouraging the boys while they were somewhat hesitant.
After getting our maps of the park at the entrance, we started with the bumper boats, which they had both wanted to try last year, but the line was much too long then. The line was so short this year that we only had to wait for one round. On this ride, each person gets their own "boat" shaped like a large inner tube with a raised seat in the middle. Each boat is propelled by a small motor toward the front that you control with two handles. Pressing a button with one hand throttles the motor, and pressing a button with your other hand shoots water some 15 - 20 feet in the direction you are steering. If you are going to shoot at someone, you have to drive toward them.
We began the ride with me talking smack to the boys about how I was going to drown them. I got drenched. One problem I had was my excessive weight compared to the boys. They weigh nothing, so their boats were able to skim over the top of the water with ease, while mine was practically taking on water and touching the bottom of the pool. I was a sitting Doug.
We next went on the log flume. You sit in a large, fake log that is floated down a narrow, swift river. After a short, darkened tunnel, you are put on a conveyor and carried some 30 - 40 feet in the air, similar to a roller coaster. Then you rocket down the other side, splash in a pool at the bottom, and continue back to the beginning of the ride. We did that ride last year, and we liked it just as much this year.
Next we tried the bumper cars. I did not talk smack, but I was convinced that I was going to annihilate them. I even had a fast car this time (again, inner-tube shaped), but I kept getting caught between someone else and the wall, so it was difficult to build up speed and ram anyone. It was still fun, however. The boys caught on quickly as to how to drive using the two different levers.
The next ride was the Corkscrew, a roller coaster. Chris kept saying that he wanted to try two different rides: the Corkscrew and the Panic Plunge. The Corkscrew begins by climbing up the normal roller coaster track, racing downward, whipping around a 180 degree corner, doing a double corkscrew (inverted and upside down), followed by another 180 degree turn, and then braking and pulling into the start position. It looked very unsettling. Ben was very hesitant, Chris was very excited, and I was not sure. As we were walking up, Chris Kelley (a young man in the ward, almost 19) came walking out with a friend. I asked him in passing how the ride was, and he said it is very mild. "Mild!?" I asked him. He said that after riding the other roller coasters, the Corkscrew is very mild. I can now say that he is very correct. It is almost relaxing. However, going into it the first time, I was sure he could not be right. Chris (my son) and I sat together, and Ben sat alone in the seat in front of us. Once we were belted and barred in, I told the boys we were stuck and could not go back. We were committed. And it was very fun. Chris loved it. I loved it. Ben kept his eyes closed. As we came around the final turn, Ben's head was rattling back and forth between the padded shoulder bars like a peanut in its shell. Later in the day, we came back to the Corkscrew, and Chris and I went on it as our last ride. Ben did not want to go on it again, so he sat on the side while we went. Oddly, the first time we went, the coaster was full of people. The second time, there were only 8 to 10 people on the entire ride. It was great having such short or nonexistent lines.
Our next ride was the Tilt-A-Whirl. It could probably hold 50 or 60 people, yet there were only 7 or 8 including the three of us. Basically, it is a large metallic hamster wheel laid on it side. You walk inside and stand by the wall, and then it starts rotating very quickly and you are pressed against the wall. That was all good and dandy until the entire thing tipped up at least 45 degrees if not more - I could be wrong on the angle, but is sure seemed steep. Each pass around, as we crossed the nadir of our orbit, I could feel my cheeks and neck skin pull back into my face and neck from right to left. It was very difficult to try and "raise" your head or arms away from the all. I was very glad that none of us got sick from that.
We next went on Thunder Canyon. It is a big circular raft with 8 seats around the edge that all face inward. There are four 2" holes in the bottom that allow water to spray upward when you hit the rapids, but they also allow the water to drain out so that the raft will not take on a full foot of water. Once you are released to the river, the raft is free to move on its own in the current, so it rotates and bobs along, soaking some of the passengers and leaving others dry. Last year I got wet, and we had a little water in the bottom of our raft. This year, I got drenched. We had at least 4 inches of water in the bottom of our raft by the end, and my pants were soaked. The rapids washed over and sprayed us thoroughly. It was a lot of fun. Notice in the series of pictures with Ben that his hand gets closer to the girl's hand as the ride progresses.
The next ride was "Tremors", a gnarly roller coaster that boasted 60 mph cars on a jittery track and warning signs that stated prior back and neck injuries would be resurrected. Two signs on either side of the entrance warned with words and pictures that if you are above a certain height or try to stand up, you will get your head cut off on this ride. It did not look like it went that fast from where we were in the line, but the boys were a bit skeptical. Here is where I began urging them on. I told them we were already at the park and by the line, so let's do it. They went with me to stand in line, and after a 20 minute wait, we were bolted in to our cars. And we were off.
GREAT STINKING SCOTT!
If I had not had the boys along and seen their reactions, I might have been crying myself. We were in the same seating arrangement as the Corkscrew - Chris by me and Ben in front of us. We left the loading bay and began the climb upward. After what seemed to be a full 60 seconds, Chris said with some concern in his voice, "Daddy, we're still going up!" "Yes, son, start praying." After we crested the hill, we aimed straight downward and tried to do a pile-drive into the ground. At the last moment, we jerked up and began a series of up and downs and sharp corners that were so rattly and shaky that I reached over to protect Chris from the inevitable crash. At least four different times, we would be screaming along trying to go three directions at once, and then we would plunge underground and pop back out like a gopher. That must be where you get your head cut off. As I said, 60 mph does not look fast from a distance, but when you are on the little toy cart that is insecurely attached to metal rails and cruising at that speed, it seems like it is a death train.
Whenever I managed to keep my head upright long enough to peek at Ben, I could see he was clutching the hand rails in front of him with both hands and all his strength. Chris' face was stuck in a rubbery mask of fright. These things made me chortle the entire ride. When we finally stopped, I was laughing so hard at them that I snorted in front of all the people waiting to get on the ride. I almost could not walk. As we walked down the sidewalk from the ride, Ben managed to utter, "I thought I was going to die." The exit from the ride takes you into a store where you can buy Tremors memorabilia, such as a picture of yourself on the ride. I had to buy the picture of Ben and Chris (see below), and you can see Ben's fierce concentration and Chris' concern for his life. We saw a few signs stating that "Clean boxers are sold inside".
Tremors - it looks so peaceful from a distance
After Tremors, Chris no longer wanted to go on the Panic Plunge, no matter how much I tried to persuade him. We ended the day by each taking a ride on one of the antique cars and then the aforementioned second Corkscrew ride. At one point, Chris mentioned that he had to use the restroom, so we stopped at one and let him go inside. After some time he came out, stood next to us, and looked up while leaning slightly forward to emphasize his words, "My underwear was SOAKED!"
We began wandering toward the food area around 3, and we bought three large ice cream cones. We ate them on the way to the car. Sadly, Chris' ice cream cone broke and spilled on the sidewalk. I salvaged what I could and put it in a napkin, and he ate most of it, but he was too full to finish it. I was gorged from mine as was Ben. I am glad that we only got a single scoop and not a larger one.
Overall, it was a great day.
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