The Challenge Amusement Parks Face In The Pacific Northwest

DUE TO THE FREQUENT HELPFUL COMMENTS I’VE RECEIVED: I realize the “volume” of rain that the PNW gets isn’t as useful of a metric to compare between this region and Ohio. So I did a little digging. Turns out, on average, larger metro areas like Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR receive an average of 150-165 days of rain annually. Ohio gets around 135 days; according to usclimatedata.com -- I am still willing to stand by my point that rain alone is not as big of a determining factor for amusement parks succeeding in this area.
Let's face it, there aren't all that many amusement parks around here in the Pacific Northwest. Why is it this way? In this video, I aim to tackle that question, as well as discuss the story of Wild Waves and how it indicates the overall situation fairly well.
All of the footage here was captured with permission of each park's media departments.
Links:
Patreon: patreon.com/user?u=83984523
Instagram: @koastermania
Tiktok: @koastermania
Everything else: linktr.ee/koastermania?...
For inquiries you can reach us at: [e-mail]
If you would like to include any of our footage in your videos, feel free to at least ask, and also make sure to include our channel name visible on-screen while you are using our footage.
Any footage without other channel names or credit is my own captured footage.
Our Equipment:
-2x Sony A7RIV w/ Sony FE G 200-600mm, Sony FE G 24-105MM, Sony FE 28-70mm, Sony FE G 12-24mm, Sony FE GM 70-200mm
-DJI Osmo Pocket
-DJI Osmo Pocket 2
-DJI Osmo Pocket 3
-2x Iphone 13 Pro
-2x DJI Action 2
-DJI Air 3

[@KoasterMania]

I’ve been getting a lot of comments about the statistic I used for rainfall. Without tanking this video’s performance, I added something to the top of the description. Please see the newly amended description for some additional data for you!

[@WonkoTSane]

I also think that it has to do with the attitude toward the grey days. People in Seattle are conditioned to do indoor things during the winter. There is a reason that Seattle is one of the most educated and most well read cities in the world.

[@Tser]

I don't think rain is the whole story and agree with your other points. I totally think that the population numbers are probably one of the biggest factors, and that a lot of us get our entertainment other ways. A lot of the people that might otherwise be drawn to experience thrilling roller coasters might be into hang-gliding or rock climbing or skiing and snowboarding for example. When it's sunny or even just less than freezing rain, I am definitely outdoors hiking and camping and gardening. When it's hot in the summer, I go to the beach, which is so much cooler here than inland, to escape the heat. I go to amusement parks -- in other parts of the country -- in the winter, primarily! I think the comparisons used for weather still don't quite paint the whole picture. Weather Spark is a great resource for comparing the annual weather of cities and how they actually affect livability and comfort. Sandusky has a much more even fall of rain (not counting other kinds of precipitation) throughout the year (varying only from 1 inch avg total for February, to 3 inches avg total for June) but over fewer days (so a more quite rainy days but not a lot of drizzly days per month), while Seattle has a very dry summer with very wet winters (only .6' in July but 7.7' in November!). Sandusky, Ohio's rain peaks in the summer, while Seattle, Washington's is mostly in the winter. One metric that's very telling is the daily chance of precipitation (all kinds, not just rain). In Sandusky, the highest chance is 38% on a given day in June. On the other hand, in Seattle, there's a 58% chance it will rain on a given day in November. I grew up in the PNW, while my partner grew up in Pennsylvania and Ohio. So I grew up with our amusement parks, and he grew up with those. Now I've experienced the weather of that region quite a bit, visiting his family. I have fond memories of Oaks Park field trips with school! I haven't been in years, and visit amusement parks in other parts of the country far more often, and one reason is the weather. We travel to California in the winter and visit amusement parks there, for example. And when it does rain when we're in California in the winter, it's warm enough that it's often welcome, rather than dreaded! Dry off fast and never get chilled. (At least with our PNW adaptations.) But I'd never want to visit California amusement parks in the height of summer. Problem is, I don't want to do that in our summers, either, bleh. I can do without the 100+ degree days we have had the past few years. Weather definitely isn't the only factor, but I don't think it can be discounted as one of them. I don't think it's so much about the wear and tear, though, but about the comfort and people willing to visit an amusement park in the rain in winter. It's freaking cold in Ohio, but it's still easier to bundle up and stay comfortable in snow and cold than in cool but sopping wet winters, and I say this as someone who is a year-round outdoors kind of person. It's one thing for me to be out hiking, building up a sweat in pouring rain in November, and another to stand in lines at an amusement park only to sit on a roller coaster that is blasting wind through my now soaked clothes, for a few brief moments, then do it all again. haha. Of course this is different if someone is a ride fanatic, but I think for the average tourist it will play a large role. I have never visited Wild Waves, and with the current state of things, I probably won't, now. I am a thrill seeker with rides, but I prefer to visit very well-maintained parks, probably because my love of roller coasters led to the algorithms encouraging me to consume a lot of roller coaster fail videos and the maintenance neglect and cost cutting that always leads to them, ahhahaha.

[@WereScrib]

I think there is a rainfall 'issue' but its not what people think it is. It's that we generally have 'mild' rainfall, we don't have big rains. We just have lots and lots of generally 'meh' days (especially historical, pre global warming) with lots of steady, slow rainfall. A lot of the east coast gets serious rains, heavy rains, etc. I'm sure you as a local can name a dozen or more 'types' of rains. (Drizzles, spritzes, mistings, downpours, etc.) that just aren't really normal but are omnipresent in the PNW. This means we generally have less 'nice' days. We often have an awful lot of ''well I guess today's ok, but it's not really that nice." days. It doesn't have a lot to do with yearly average rainfall, it has to do with how that rainfall is distributed. We also have environmental conditions that really make maintenance a bitch. Chief among them are: Cedar trees. Our cedars absolutely coat the ground in acid. This acid is washed up by rain, and can spread through the earth. Things decay REALLY fast due to that acidic foam. It's bad enough that in some rural areas, in a drainage basin near cedars, you can have lime foams that will burn your hand if you go shove your hand in it. Similarly, just the amount of mold and mildew in the state. While Federal Way is, frankly a dryer part of WA, as someone in Kitsap I am extremely aware of how bad infrastructure can be effected here. I do agree that population is a major factor, like, if I was to mentally predict where I would assume an amusement park could pop up? Sequim. If it wasn't for the giga casino there and reasonable proximity to Fort Warden, I think we'd see one there. Unfortunately it has low population around it. But its close enough for an Olympic trip to a number of population centers. I also think it's partially cultural. The PNW is known pretty wide for our gigantic personal bubbles, our general dislike of getting close to people, and very often avoidance of crowds. We also have some absolutely extreme economic disparity and with little disposable income for most of our populace, they tend to be very picky and choosy about what to do for fun. More often then not, it seems to involve something that isn't an amusement park. I don't think I know many people who've been to Wild Waves outside of some school trip, once in their life. The people who go there seem to mostly be techbros and families who while important economically, are not that giant of a population.

[@yasup9442]

You also talked about eastern Washington being "full of sand dunes", but eastern Washington is mostly full of agricultural land and Shrub-stepppe. Where are you getting sand dunes from?

[@WereScrib]

@@yasup9442 Probably is confusing Eastern WA with the Oregon Dunes--but that's in the middle of temperate area. I dunno its pretty bizarro.

[@Rollermonkey1]

It's not about the inches of rain, though. It's the number of days WITH rain that's different.

[@seahawk9494]

This. The statistic you need to focus on would be the comparatively miniscule amount of "good weather" days the PNW has. We sport less than 3 months of what's considered "good weather" with temps over 70 and sunshine.

[@Golfnut_2099]

That was my comment. LOTS of days with some rain.

[@Noob_Crew_Sledders]

@@seahawk9494 exactly, you pretty much have June July and August to run with may & september being up in the air every year lol

[@jish55]

The thing is Orlando has more rain yearly than the pacific northwest. Add in hurricane season, and Orlando is actually a worse place for theme parks than Washington or Oregon. Hell, Eastern/Central Washington has far less rain due to being far enough inland, where that is more based on the snow factor.

[@Fallowsthorn]

That, and most of the big cities are on the rainy side of the mountains. The statistics take the average of what are, geographically, basically two separate states: the very populous, fairly mountainous, and very rainy half west of the Rockies, and the mostly dry, mostly flat, relatively less populated half to the east after the clouds dump all their water, which iirc is lots of farmland and ancient glacier rocks and horseback riding summer camps for preteens [citation needed]. If you combine them, of course it's going to look weird next to a state that's largely homogenous in climate.

[@tkashur]

I would be devastated if Silverwood sold. They are just super unique, and I don't see any company keeping the care this park has. Not to mention Scarywood would likely feel much different.

[@TheBlindAndTheBeautiful]

I can tell you from knowing the person who is directly responsible for managing all of the aspects of Scarywood if they sell he and his team leave. They would not stay with all the restrictions they'd be under from a much larger company

[@WereScrib]

Agreed, Silverwood and Enchanted Forest are both very unique and special places. I think Enchanted Forest may be the single most special park in the region, but Silverwood is absolutely wonderful.

[@dreamwarriordiary5339]

Silverwood is the premiere theme park of the PNW. Period.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It is, but it's also a rather long distance from the actual population centers of the PNW.

[@wopper87]

Yeah, I’m not driving 6+ hours to a park that has about 8 adult rides ( not including water park) just so they can charge me 74 bucks. And I really would not call it a premier park.

[@TheCriminalViolin]

Silverwood in the one in Idaho, right? If so, technically that's not the PNW, it's the Interior Northwest or, just the Northwest. It's also way out of the way. Most people here dislike going to or through Idaho as well for some reason, which also really hurts any real success in Idaho for tourist attractions. Personally I can't wait to visit and explore Idaho myself, however I'll be focused on the outdoors haha.

[@wopper87]

@@TheCriminalViolin it all depends on exposure of area. I have been apart of several businesses that carve the PNW region as WA,OR,CA,ID and have dealt with a few brokers that even through in NV. but yes if you want to talk geographic only its actually pacific ocean to rocky mountains Oregon to southern portion of British Columbia. Even that is debated on whether to include northern California. But in general for those of us that have been around a few (52 years for me) we do WA,OR,ID for PNW and WA,OR,CA for west coast and WA,OR, southwest Canada for Cascadia (since rockies are not apart of the Cascades they are left out. but for some reason we don't like California so they are left out also even though the cascades go down there)

[@celedhion]

It's a good theme park, but it's really not considerably better than Wild Waves and Enchanted Village. It's definitely not worth the drive if you're in western WA.

[@womanofgoldenwords3881]

As others have said- total number of inches rained is not the entire metric you need to use. It’s how many days did it rain, meaning how many days were great weather where people wanted to be outside….

[@miggitymikeb]

I thought the same thing but it looks like Columbus and Cleveland have almost just as many rainy days as Portland and Seattle.

[@KoasterMania]

I’ve been getting a lot of comments about this. Please see the newly amended description for some additional data for you!

[@AliceYobby]

@@miggitymikeban entire extra month of rain is pretty dramatic

[@TheGLORY13]

Pittsburgh has Kennywood (which granted isn't "massive") but they get nearly as many days of Rain. Summers are usually good, same here in Washington. I've been here 2 years and the biggest consistent weather I've experience is being smoked out by wild fires on the west coast.

[@alexwilliamsfilm]

I think you showed one of the reasons why we don’t have more amusement parks, it’s because western Washington has the Puyallup Fair, which you showed several times. It’s probably about the same price but the fair has the added bonuses of all the animals and amount of rides available. The fair also has concerts and more adult friendly things to do. You could do a whole video on the effect Fairs have on Amusement Parks. Great video!

[@glazdarklee1683]

I didn't see your comment when I made a similar one. Glad to see I am not the only one who thought about this!

[@wopper87]

That is very much true. We have fairs all up and down i5 in the summer. I live down by Clark count fair, rose festival and molalla rodeo to name a few.

[@muffinman3923]

Its open only 1 month a year or so though.

[@youcanonlypretend]

Exactly what I was thinking. Why the hell would I want to go to a theme park when I can go to a fair that doubles as a theme park?

[@wopper87]

⁠​​⁠when the fair is virtually the same size and half the price and 300+ miles closer you might want to. But the reality is when comparing silverwood or great wolf to the actual theme parks like Disney, universal or six flags for example you get more bang for your buck at those larger theme parks

[@Fayanora]

You shouldn't discount the climate entirely. We may not get much more rain volume than other places, but we do get longer rain duration. In Iowa, where I used to live, it rained very infrequently but when it did rain, there was a lot of rain. Contrast that to Oregon, where there's not very much rain when it rains, but it rains lazily for long periods of time.

[@aidancooper9498]

Yes! At the start he is talking about total rainfall, but around 6;25 he mentions that it rains "often." Another mistake is to think of how rainy it is by how many days in a year it rains--if it drizzles 0.01 inch in an hour at 3AM, that counts as a day that it rained. This can matter for certain applications I'm sure, but for most people that doesn't really matter. I think how little it truly rains here has been kept a bit of a secret to discourage people from moving here since the 80s.

[@KoasterMania]

I’ve been getting a lot of comments about this. Please see the newly amended description for some additional data for you!

[@myblujl7503]

I moved to Seattle from Orange County CA about 15 years ago. I was spoiled for choice in So-Cal! I think the big problem is not the rain fall, but the lack of good days. I call it "angry drizzle" and its just overcast, drizzle and gloomy 300 our of 365 days. Look at Idoho's Silverwood. MUCH less population, much worse winter weather, but 20x better than Wild Waves.

[@IamNiggler]

Yummy

[@Winterfur1]

Man, I am surprised someone knows about Silverwood 1:57 also shows Silverwood

[@Sethgolas]

Ok, but that's California. Orange county is very, very close to being a desert climate. The Midwest has a ton of amusement parks, and while the PNW has more rainy days overall, it gets far fewer rainy days during the peak season, AND the PNW never gets lighting or heavy rain, whereas in the midwest, they constantly have to shut down rides due to lighting. Orlando is significantly worse in both regards than the midwest, and it's the amusement park capitol of the US. The PNW probably has far better weather for amusement parks than much of the country.

[@Winterfur1]

@@Sethgolas I live in the desert at the Pacific Northwest desert the Columbia Basin

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

I visited, stayed in PNW-SEATAC for around 10+ days 2012. It was summer: June-July. The city, WA had 2, two days with any ☀️ . Dark clouds, sleet or rain ☔️ was constant. 1 day I recall- it was dark, cloudy from 600am PST to 600pm.

[@desiv1170]

"So, what is it specifically about this region that makes it so challenging for these amusement parks to succeed?" The weather...

[@TwilightLink77]

Well the only way to get an amusement park without any challenges in the Pacific Northwest is by putting in an indoor amusement park.

[@bumbo222]

They have a Great Wolf Lodge

[@TwilightLink77]

@@bumbo222 Yeah, but that’s a water park. I meant like the Warner Bros theme park in Abu Dhabi

[@jish55]

Not necessarily. As long as they have the majority of rides be indoors and enough ways to keep the rain from pouring onto guests, and it'll be easier to handle.

[@lopoa126]

@@bumbo222 famous for their bed bugs and their policies are terrible for the water park

[@---l---]

Lost Opportunity when the King Dome was demolished.

[@whosjwlz]

As a Spokanite and roller coaster enthusiast, I love this video! Its so exciting to see familiar sights around Washington and the PNW featured, and I really enjoyed hearing about this region from someone who actually lives in it. While Silverwood isn't as big as a park owned by a larger corporation, it has so much charm and beauty from being independently owned, I've always adored going to the park and spending the whole day on rides and in the water. I don't think they will ever sell, at least not for a very very long time, and I'm alright with that. The additions and expansions they do make every few years are more than enough to draw people in and keep the park thriving, and with the most recent addition of their water coaster I think Silverwood has the potential to draw in more people from outside of the PNW to travel and visit.

[@flickor1]

The city of Federal Way has a ton of restrictions on Wild Waves that has held it down for any growth and that is why Six Flags sold because it was limited and had no potential, those local laws have been changing very recently and good things could be coming

[@lopoa126]

Nobody going to outdoor amusement parks in the rain. You clearly aren't from the area.

[@pacorka9943]

I've lived in Federal Way my whole life. Not once have I wanted to go to Wild Waves. The rides are just so lackluster. I'd rather drive to Silverwood or somewhere in CA

[@mayowankenobi]

@@lopoa126I'm from the area and we always go on meh weather days. The waterpark needs warm weather, but the rides don't. I'd go more if there were better rides and a better overall price.

[@lilzael]

I live next to Wild Waves. This area has only a few weeks per year of weather that'd be considered ideal for Wild Waves. It's pretty active during the hottest summer days though.

[@Kaelynsmusicchannel]

yeah I live near it too and it would definitely be very successful if WA was a warm state cuz it is PACKED in the summer, also look at Great Wolf Lodge, I was there in "off-season" one time in like early March or maybe February and it was still packed, so more indoor water parks would do well.

[@thelittleghost3784]

I went to Wild Waves once about 10 years ago and it looked identical to what was shown in the video. There’s really nothing to do there, especially if you’re like me and terrified of big rides. Honestly I think the best amusement park experience you’re gonna get in Washington is probably the State Fair, which is amusing considering it only runs for a month. But it has so much more to do plus kids get free tickets from school, so I think most people get their amusement park fix from that instead

[@kazeryu17]

Sorry. I gotta call you out on your mentioning "the Virginias" lack of amusement parks. The area you zoomed in on has many amusement parks. Virginia alone, has two major parks, and alot of smaller parks that are not far behind oaks park. One of the parks in Virginia (Busch Gardens Williamsburg) is incredibly hilly, and they use the terrain to their advantage. Dollywood, which is also in the general area is also very hilly. Three of the big factors that hold the PNW down are the low population density, the expensiveness of the PNW, and California. Yes, Portland and Seattle are large metro areas, but aside from that, there isnt really much around. A large theme park needs more than just one or two metros to provide the numbers. Most parks in the eastern half of the US are within a days drive of 1/2-2/3 of the US population. Land in the PNW is very expensive, and large parks require alot of land. Its why many of the new parks being built are in places that have plentiful cheap land, and while many people dont want to live in these places, they dont mind traveling there. The biggest nail in the coffin is California. California theme parks get alot of loyalty from people in Oregon and Washington and people on the west coast are more willing to travel further to get what they want than people on the east coast. When you put those three factors together, the PNW doesn't look very profitable to shareholders in the theme park industry, and unfortunately, the industry is driven by profits.

[@HeatherLandon227]

Also smaller parks like Tweetsie RR etc.. and smaller attractions within the area even beyond Dollywood/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. There's ALOT to do in the Appalachians.

[@bluemanwelder]

Dollywood had massive attendance last year to the point it's starting to compete with Orlando. People are getting fed up with Disney.

[@MattMcIrvin]

Virginia is more like Ohio in that the scene there is dominated by two huge parks, if not as huge as Ohio's, and they pretty much drive competition out of existence. (They're not in the mountainous part of the state, though, which is what he's talking about.) And parts of Virginia are in the sphere of influence of big parks outside of Virginia. The existence and success of Dollywood is more to the point--clearly the terrain wasn't a fatal problem there.

[@ninjagirl226]

@@MattMcIrvinPersonally Virginia is a bad example. In my opinion there is so much in Virginia and a lot of it is protected land because of its historical significance or national beauty. To be honest King’s Dominion is in the best location you could want as it’s between two major cities. Busch Gardens is in a major tourist area with Williamsburg. The DC area technically has SFA too. These are the major population hubs in Virginia. Charlottesville, Winchester, and Roanoke aren’t large enough to support a major park. Colorado would be a better example as it has a few small regional parks but nothing that impressive. But they have the crazy weather that changes every 5 min and rough terrain. Seems a lot more comparable to the PNW.

[@swirvinbirds1971]

I think there is just so much to do outdoors in the summer that amusement parks are kinda low on the list of things to do.

[@thebluetarp]

What?? I did not know that Leavenworth got an Alpine coaster.

[@jjberg83]

Yup! But in true PNW style, you have to make reservations and it's super short and expensive.

[@ryanlemmers5300]

Oh bummer, I went when it first opened last year and it was empty

[@wesleymosier1786]

I did this last summer. Sure it was great trying it twice... but that was it. The waiting in line was longer than the ride. I probably wouldn't go on again the next time I'm in Leavenworth

[@ChristianBehnke]

We were there last weekend and I opted not to ride it based on length / cost alone.

[@coreyw5981]

Super small but definitely nice to finally jave something

[@ShadowVFX]

It's not just rainfall amount that factors into "climate". Look at the number of cloudy or overcast days in a place like Seattle versus anywhere in Ohio. And while the rain count might not be substantially different from ohio's, Washington gets most of its rain slowly over long periods of time that add up. While Ohio tends to get it more in storms that dump a lot in short bursts. The fact that it's so cold, wet and generally unpleasant outside in WA state for a good chunk of the year is most definitely a factor (IMO). I'm saying this as someone who has lived in Everett WA for the last 15 years.

[@KoasterMania]

I’ve been getting a lot of comments about this. Please see the newly amended description for some additional data for you!

[@monkeybabble]

As someone who lived most of my life 20 minutes from Kings Island and moved to the Kitsap Peninsula about five years ago, I can tell you the weather really wouldn't impact operations that much. Kings Island used to only run from late May to early September. Only recently did Kings Island start doing events such as Halloween Haunt and Winterfest. That said, I think the weather in parts of the PNW is better than in southern Ohio in terms of wanting to be outside. I just don't think the temperament out here is as conducive to amusement parks as it is in the Midwest. People will travel for hundreds of miles just to spend a day or two at Kings Island. I just don't know that the motivation for that kind of travel exists out here.

[@sundragon7703]

The completion for the recreational dollar in Puget Sound is fierce. Demographics left out of this segment are the electronic gaming culture, the cruise culture, casinos, and sports viewing culture (at least 9 men's and women's professional/semi-professional major/minor teams). For example, the cost to a family of four to a single Seattle Seahawks game from secondary market tickets can be hundreds to thousands of recreational dollars, esp factoring in food, merchandise, etc. In addition, that much continuous real estate that Wild Waves occupies is worth millions if not billions of USD (when redeveloped). Why invest in the assets of the park, when the land is worth more than the value of the rides?

[@sharonconrad3266]

I absolutely agree. My family calls the ski resorts in Washington as the "thrill parks" and we save for annual passes every year. My friends from Orlando visit every year- those friends would trade Disney for the Cascades in a heartbeat. There is just so much to do year round, I'd rather just drive over to Silverwood for a long weekend then develop a large amusement park.

[@MikeCTRVLR]

check out the history of playland. It was a major amusement park for its time in North Seattle. There was a lot of controversy about graft and bribes as well as unhappiness when the park was closed and redeveloped in about 1960. that left us with a Puyallup Fairgrounds and some kiddy rides at Woodland Park.

[@stuartblankenship5336]

If a new park was to be built, somewhere in the area of the Tri Cities would make the most sense. Easy drive from 3 of the 4 main population centers of the PNW.

[@greasher926]

And it’s reliably hot and sunny enough in the summer that a water ride would make sense there, land is also much cheaper there.

[@antonkryzsko]

Enchanted Village/ Wild Waves was much higher quality when I was a kid. I even worked there one summer. After it was purchased by Six Flags it started a downhill trend in quality. It doesn’t open as early in the year. It’s not open as late. The food quality is terrible. They don’t put on entertainment shows anymore, and it just has an overall kind of rundown feel to it. It does still get crowded on nice days likely because it’s the only option.

[@Kaelynsmusicchannel]

I got food poisoning there last year

[@DeiDraco007]

I'm a PNW local and it is so surprising and refreshing to hear someone talking about Wild Waves. I have thoosie friends who just don't know what it is because it's tiny and there's nothing else worth going to around here for how spendy it is to get here form the east coast, I suppose.

[@OreoTheWolf]

I just moved into the PNW 6 months ago. I live only a few minutes' drive from Wild Waves. I got myself and my partner season pass tickets because even if it's a smaller park, I've never lived close enough to a park to go hit up a coaster on the way home from work on a weekday. I'm hoping more companies see the value of amusement parks in the region. It's so scenic here, making tall rides to view it from seems like a no-brainer.

[@quilliecat]

pretty much same. im sad there aren't better parks around but silverwood is definitely worth the drive!!

[@cheef825]

to be honest many of us who grew up here just hit the trails on nice weekends instead of goin to an amusement park. even factoring in a discover pass heading out to salt creek or any of the mountains is usually cheaper too

[@OreoTheWolf]

@@cheef825 I love nature walks, but if you can find a trail that gives you negative G's, please let me know because that would be awesome

[@samgendler]

@@OreoTheWolf Mountain bike or eMTB - there is no region on earth with better mountain biking than the PNW

[@OreoTheWolf]

@@samgendler know what, fair! I haven't tried that yet.

[@gyllessmyth4759]

My first thought as well. Most cities with between 32" and 40" of rain per year probably see 50 to 60 days of heavy rain, largely confined to a few months of the year. It's a lot different when you have light rain on 80% or 90% of the days between October and June.

[@KoasterMania]

I’ve been getting a lot of comments about this. Please see the newly amended description for some additional data for you!

[@winterx2348]

One time my family went to silverwood and stayed at the campground. Within the hour we arrived, it started to rain. We watched half of the park panic and evacuate, meanwhile we were sitting there in our rainproof tents like "what's the big deal?" We are from western Washington, we expect it to rain pretty much every day. Everyone who stayed were also from Washington, and we all had a great time at Silverwood with the park so empty, regardless of the rain. We were going to the water park and were going to get wet, anyway, so we didn't care lol

[@samsinite100]

I mean, many Washantonians still have Silverwood that is pretty great and right across the border in ID, and doesn’t have a rain problem.

[@ambert.3792]

this is so wonderful! i grew up in FW and even had the son of one of those owners in my classes in elementary school--we got free passes! haha! on the way home from magic mountain last month, i even started to explain some of all this to my hubs. i loved going to enchanted village as a kid, and was happy to take my students a few summers. 👏🏾 great work! (edit for 2 spellings)

[@nunyabusiness2785]

45 degrees, drizzly, and sun down at 5 pm does not make for good theme park weather

[@Digidude0]

Yes in the winter time. When nobody is going to amusement parks anyways. During summer months, we push 80-90 degrees, sun down at 10pm and rain occasionally.

[@thesledgehammerblog]

The biggest problem with parks in the PNW is that land is just too expensive near any of the major cities, and even if land was available all the local governments are interested in putting on it is high density housing.

[@jeffreypierson2064]

Alternatively, change the word government for developers.

[@RydersRiverRed]

we really need something fully indoors lol

[@jish55]

Hell, not even fully indoors, just have the majority of rides be indoor rides with enough shops and things to cover our heads that make it far easier to handle rainy and snowy days.

[@swanmeet]

Great Wolf Lodge

[@DanyoProductions]

I used to work as a Ride Operator at Wild Waves in 2021 & have worked as a scare actor during the Fright Fest season every year since then. I will say, as a kid, I used to love coming to Wild Waves every summer, but after taking about a 5 year hiatus, my enjoyment for it faded far. It may or may not have to do with the fact that I've worked there for about 4 years now & counting, but it just doesn't feel special to visit anymore. Edit: The bad work conditions & poor management help with my distaste about the park now.

[@stephenriggs8177]

5:48 - Classic Coaster. That's within walking distance of our house, at the fairgrounds. Sadly, it only operates for about 6 weeks per year. The Wildcat coaster only operates in the fall (if and when The Fair has bothered to fix it).

[@BWintJack]

Interesting to hear you shout out the Leavenworth Adventure Park! Little bit about it for context: In the planning stages, there was a lot of opposition from locals. They thought it would look ugly on the hillside (and they still think it does now that it's built.) They also said they were worried about traffic on that end of town, but I think that concern was an excuse to oppose the construction more than anything. Now that it's built, it's extremely popular. In the summer, it's pretty much constantly sold out. If someone tries to build another one, they would face stiff opposition. However, if they succeed, it would likely be commercially successful.

[@mothra__13]

Does anyone else from Oregon remember Thrillville USA? It was a small park located literally right next to Enchanted Forest, near Salem. My dad's job used to have company picnics there every year. It's completely gone now, but apparently its "big" coaster (relatively speaking) got sold to an amusement park in Russia.

[@garrykanter5773]

The weather only matters during the open season, not during the winter. If there's going to be any rain, attendance suffers. Being on a coast means the concentric circle radius of customers includes a lot of ocean.

[@EricAbroad]

I used to go to Wild Waves EVERY summer! The wood coasters nestled inside of the forest area, the swimming splash areas, and I especially loved the carp fish you could feed for 25 cents for a handful of fish food. Great memories!

[@jfftck]

I agree that the biggest factor is how much outdoor activities that are available, many people in the PNW want to move instead of sitting on a roller coaster. Many people just want to visit the big amusement parks like Disney or Universal, they don’t talk about King Island or Cedar Point, so to them even those are unknowns. Another reason I can think of, many people are immigrants and they don’t know much about the US roller coasters, so now you have an even smaller population that would line up for the larger rides, as they will most likely want to start small.

[@vashleysue]

The number of endless summer days I spent at this park... it may be little, but it holds such a special place in the heart of locals. I remember when it still had all the storybook props. Good times.

[@starks1974]

I grew up near Ohio where you can visit Cedar Point, Kings Island & Kennywood within a days drive from many states. That’s not feasible here as the population density is isolated to two areas, Seattle and Portland, maybe BC residents, other than that it would not be an easy trip. However, if you were to build one, the best place would be in the Centralia area as it’s a great midway point between Seattle and Portland. And why In-N-Out Burger is opening a location there.

[@NerdFiction]

really nice style in this little doc. Excited for more.

[@aidancooper9498]

Most beautiful video featuring the PNW I've seen. It's almost sad it's in a video I have a passing interest in... I subscribed hoping to see more of your beautiful cinematography-the story is good enough to keep me, even though I'm not really a fan of a amusement parks (the voice and writing keep it all together well, too.) Hoping you feature the PNW again! P.S. I admire the courage to let some of those amazing shots blaze by in a second to keep my ADHD head engaged

[@classCexplosive]

Leavenworth has a big space problem. Meaning, it is running out of space. They will keep building luxury hotels, maybe another coaster, but there is already a major parking and traffic problem, and it's only going to get worse. I don't recommend visiting Leavenworth on weekends or holidays.

[@Wolfen5207]

I loved going to Enchanted Village as a kid, grew up in that time where Six Flags had ownership. There was only ever 1 ride that I didn't like, and you can see it several times through out the video, that being the coaster shown at 1:40. Those harsh turns caused so much whiplash, and the cars were very narrow with little to no padding. I remember smacking the side of my face on the side panel during one of the turns. Overall loved that park, lots of memories with my grandparents, but just that one ride.

[@trissy8820]

This reminds me just how much I lol it here in the PNW wouldn’t give up a single day of rain for anything

[@kaytewilliamson935]

woah! i’m from oregon, but i’ve been to wild waves (and oaks park). i was wondering if wild waves was still around haha. i loved that wooden coaster, i think i went on it like 3 times or more when i was there. that was 12 years ago. i wish we had more amusement parks around here because i really like riding coasters and oaks’ are not it.

[@tyheimerl2628]

I live in Seattle, really appreciate this video and the insight you brought attention to in regards to the region & our hobby (esp the precipitation stat). Its rough out here but thank goodness for Silverwood & cheap flights to California

[@a.z.p.]

Eastern WA down near the tri cities has room and population enough for some kind of park; college students from Spokane and WSU could do day trips, and tri cities is a big population. (Does get impossibly hot in the summer though!)

[@rancidmarshmallow4468]

The other recreational options definitely seem like the biggest factor. Obviously they're not quite the same, but why go to a park and ride a coaster when you could go skiing, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, etc etc. plus, those activities tend to have a more upscale, high brow appeal compared to parks for the many young professionals in the region.

[@ChrisJohnson-ng6zd]

i have been to Seattle many times .that is a large metro area that could support a major theme park

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

There's too many competing interests, the weather in the winter is terrible and the people moving into the region don't necessarily have cars.

[@greasher926]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade do people go on roller coasters in the winter in the Midwest? My understanding is that Amusement parks primarily operate from late spring to early fall in most northern climates?

[@jarrodjob]

Thanks for this. It’s my home park….coming from Cedar Point as a kid. Now I’m 10 mins from Wild Waves. Let’s ride!

[@rollacoaster421]

Well thought-out, edited, and narrated. Quality video. I'm in St. Louis, and believe me I'm not bragging about that. But, I have the priviledge of living within driving distance of 10 major amusement parks (5½ drive or less). Six Flags St. Louis, Six Flags Great America, Adventureland, Lost Island, Worlds of Fun, Silver Dollar City, Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Kings Island, and Indiana Beach. I'm strongly considering making my first trips to Silverwood and Lagoon this year. I've been curious for a long time as to why there are so few parks in the Pacific Northwest.

[@LaurieHartshorn]

Silverwood is amazing and they do well for themselves

[@mrknots]

As someone who lives in oregon, thank you for making this so much i always wondered!

[@SMPLIFE_LCB]

Great story !!! Appreciate your commentary !!! Well put together , can’t wait to show my kid as “wild waves” at his age of 5 is his favorite; although he’s tall enough to ride some big coasters at Silverwood this summer ; so IT BEGINS HAHAHHAH ….

[@KoasterMania]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@komikbookgeek]

So I'm natively from Ohio I my first job was at UDF and my second job was at King's Island when it was still Paramount to King's Island, worked there for a couple of years. You did see, even on days where we would have to shut the park down for at least a couple hours due to tornadoe watches (have all of the high rides shut down, but the ground ride still going), or due to general inclement weather, we saw pretty good attendance, not great, but good. The people who generally were there when it was just going to be a cloudy rainy day were the season ticket holders and the employees, because we knew we were going to have a slower day. And therefore, you'd be able to ride more rides. Just because it's a rainy day doesn't mean people won't show up and I'm in Spokane now and honestly I see more of an issue it being the really oppressive, hot days.The reason being is theme parks tend to be hotter specifically than you would be out in nature.There's a lot of concrete.There's a lot of surfaces reflecting that heat that's going to be more of an issue than it is the rain.

[@gryfinryder]

Woah.. that shot of the moulton falls bridge almost made me spit out my drink. I live about a mile upriver from it. I never see stuff from so close to my house. 👍🏼 as someone that grew up in Spokane and now live in the woods, outside Vancouver Washington, I enjoyed this video 😊

[@crazygamer-um1ey]

makes me very sad as a coaster thoosie who is born and raised in Seattle

[@bigsity2113_]

Building rides were not the problem…not sure how old you are but the issue is the park is not allowed to make tall coasters…this is why Timberhawk is so hidden like it is….it had to be scaled down. The only way you’ll see a change is if the park re-negotiates with the county in terms of what they’re able to build and how tall

[@MattisonB]

I worked there during the years it changed hands a bunch! Thanks for the vid!

[@AegisRick]

I knew that was mine the second I saw it. Right next to I-5 you can't miss it. When I was young I was dared to go off the I-5 Dive. It was definitely a crazy experience and the park was packed.

[@satilinethejay]

I only went to Wild Waves once as a kid, our friends dad had taken us with them cause they had gotten season passes. I really didn't do much there though since I was scared of heights and water (cause I couldn't swim). We did ride the tiny red coaster like 5 times in a row though since no one else was around. My sister also ended up working there during the end of high school/right out of high school, but she didn't like working there and wasn't there long.

[@sugarsodawithconfetti]

Oh man, i've grown up near vancouver all my life and haven't really traveled too far north or east, i didn't even know we HAD any other parks. I thought enchanted forest was it! I hope i get to go to the ones in this video someday :D

[@DDBurnett1]

The weather isn’t the problem everyone thinks it is. Most U.S. theme parks outside the sunbelt are only open from May to October, and the PNW has great weather during the summer.

[@ytzpilot]

Reality is the entire State is an amusement park

[@SerenityNow91]

Weather is the primary reason... the PNW may not have allot more rain than some other regions in terms of total inches. But it has exponentially more rainy days than most other regions. The difference is that the PNW gets light to medium rain spread out over most of the year. In contrast, other regions get heavier rain on far fewer days throughout the year. Leaving far more good days for theme park visits. Any amount of rain is enough to make a theme park a no-go for most people.

[@KoasterMania]

I’ve been getting a lot of comments about this. Please see the newly amended description for some additional data for you!

[@MrSRArter]

4:02 You also supposedly get most your rain during the winter when the parks are closed anyways. At least that's what the locals in Vancouver BC told me when I was up there last year.

[@Kehy_ThisNameWasAlreadyTaken]

Winter can last 6 months though, so it does shorten the season

[@parissinclair6513]

True, summers are absolutely beautiful over here.

[@RedPandaStan]

I don't think the problem is lack of people's wanting to go. Wild waves, and to a lesser extent, great wolf lodge both frequently fill up their parks, despite being two of the worst water/amusement parks in the country. The evergreen state fair, and to a lesser extent for my region the Puyallup fair, both get flocked with visitors every time they're on as well. So I don't buy that. We also see that in areas where weather is prohibitively tough, there are indoor amusement parks or much more frequently indoor water parks that fill up the slack, one need only look at the extensive series of indoor waterparks in germany to see this is the case. I think some proper investments into some actually exciting parks outside of seattle could succeed, and i really hope we get something better soon.

[@andersskog3073]

I grew up going to Wild Wives...it's wild seeing a video about it.

[@F82F8]

Couldn’t Seattle support an indoor amusement park like Nickelodeon Universe?

[@themeparksofamerica]

I actually think that's a great idea, because these kinds of indoor theme parks work well in these climates

[@spencerw2994]

@@themeparksofamericaTons of young kids/growing families in the area, even with the many recent tech layoffs. The few indoor playground areas I see are always PACKED. An indoor something would be huge. Yeah, you can camp and hike and climb and such - but you can’t always bring you 2yo, 5yo, and 10yo and have something enjoyable for each.

[@Kehy_ThisNameWasAlreadyTaken]

Another major issue to actually building rides might be seismic requirements. We do get a lot of earthquakes here, and whatever is built may be more expensive to meet those requirements

[@kazeryu17]

There are very few structures that can handle earthquakes as well as roller coasters. California and Japan are known for their earthquakes and both have many coasters.

[@rowdy35967]

In addition the number of rainy days that lots of others have mentioned, I have thoughts about Washington's rainfall. As a Washington resident, you should know the rain isn't evenly distributed. Sure, the state's average rainfall might be just over 30 in, but the major population centers are more like 40-45 in. My hometown has something like 85 in, though I would not expect an amusement park here anytime soon.

[@brycehuff]

No one wants to ride a roller coaster on a 45° and rainy day (overcast for 8 mo of the year).

[@katiewarren4866]

I live right down the road from this and I miss how it was when I was a child lol so many fond memories..now it’s been YEARS since I’ve been and I drive past it every day….

[@BaekhyunsWife]

I saw this video and I just knew that it would be featuring wild waves. I grew up going to it every summer since I live in the area and it has seriously gone downhill over the years…. Last time I went was for Fright Fest probably 2017? Not sure how it is in the summer, will have to check it out.

[@BikesandCoasters]

Great video! but I think you could have touched on more how wild waves doesn’t really need to expand. They are still making money, and some investment group from another part of the country doesn’t care how good it is, they just care about the money. If they really wanted to expand, they wouldn’t be taking out rides every year/leaving them sbno. Before the investment group took over the park had a much better atmosphere, most of the rides were open and on the weekends timberhawk would run 2-3 trains. Now the park feels like it’s trying to see how many rides they can take out before people stop coming.

[@edwardnowakowski5990]

It’s worth saying, a quick jaunt across the border to Vancouver lets you go to playland, or the PNE at playland in August, right between the lynden fair and Puyallup fair

[@wikyWargaming]

I grew up in Oregon. My plan for if I ever come into a ridiculous amount of money is to open the biggest park I can as close to Portland as possible. The chances of this happening are extremely low, but 🤷‍♀️🤞

[@wesleymosier1786]

For the longest time, there was supposed to be an amusement park in Ellensburg. They put a big announcement on the beginning of construction my senior year at Central (2014). Drove by last summer and its still an empty plot of land.

[@Era1113]

I remember going to Wild Waves as a kid and teen, but never knew it was owned by/branded Six Flags. I must have gone before and after. I don't remember liking the experience much, but it was the first place I had Dippin'Dots

[@dsfyp]

Oh man I don’t want Leavenworth to be a Branson Missouri 🫣 It’s quaint and affordable and doesn’t need to be commercialized. Also, I agree with others, the days of wet, gross weather is the problem, not the amount of total rainfall.

[@STAR-RADIANCE]

Yeah I feel you on that

[@stuartblankenship5336]

Leavenworth not commercialized? Its pure tourist trap anymore.

[@34pimpdog]

Leavenworth has been a tourist trap for about 10 years now

[@cadenseward2054]

I live about 2.5 hours from Silverwood and go every couple of years. It's always fun, but does get kind of samey. That said, I havent been on stunt pilot or explored the emerald forest section of boulder beach yet.

[@stuartblankenship5336]

New water coaster isn't set to open till June, Stunt Pilot is the most intense ride I have ridden not that I have many credits.

[@Guiltyconscience83]

My family used to own the Fun Forrest in the 70s and 80s the carnival that was underneath the space needle in downtown Seattle. Space needle debuted in in 1964 I think for the worlds fair and the amusement park was built not long after and it was prosperous for 3 decades. That being said, it was also 100 yards away from key arena where the sonics played for years and also hosted music and food festivals like bite of Seattle and bumpershoot and it being under the states most recognizable landmark def helped keep it going. Loved wild waves as a kid though.

[@Peajay007]

This is interesting. I worked in Seattle for 3 months. I did go to the amusement parks but being from Victoria (Australia) we live very much the same way. Seattle and Melbourne even look alike right down to markets in the middle of down town. I was more interested in hiking and swimming. Just like I would here in Australia. We don’t have many amusement parks here either other states do. But our landscape is very much the same. I went to wild waves a handful of times. It was fun. But I wanted to explore the San Juan islands. So I get it. It’s just doesn’t fit into our caffeine fuelled, hiking way of life

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

The best thing about Wild Waves is that it's cheap. I've been getting season passes the last couple years and you only have to go a couple times to make it worth it. IIRC by the 3rd trip you're already saving money.

[@Peajay007]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade that’s so good! We have a wildlife park called gumbuya world that’s attempting to be an amusement park. They have some very simple coasters and plan on adding more. I really want them to succeed. Wildlife and rides. It’s the perfect victorian lifestyle mix. They’ve started selling passes and my (grown) boys and I have talked about investing and see what happens. Oh they also have a water park so the aim it be a real all rounder

[@Peajay007]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade if you’re curious is called gumbuya park google it and take a look

[@Angel_principe_Art]

Okay I know I’m late to this video, but I’m a young architect major with a interest in theme parks FROM Oregon, my second goal in life is to build a theme park in Oregon as someone who understands what it is to be from here, and understands the way theme parks and rides are operated and designed My third goals are to ether somehow work for ether oaks park or enchanted forest and spruce them up with much needed updating Oaks park has a lot of dead space which makes it easy to move rides around as it’s all fences like traveling fairs when they could so easily make it so much easier to understand the way lines work Enchanted forest my beloved little theme park attraction, the main thing is to spruce up their bobsleds as the track could use some smoothing alongside the cars needing a refresh

[@ViolentShrike]

Heck yeah, this is in my hometown, I used to go here all the time. Had a season pass one summer it was and still is pretty dope. Favorite ride is pretty basic but it’s the ring of fire.

[@cathybannister6743]

In Idaho, established in 1988 in Athol, is Silverwood. It's less than a hour from Spokane, Washington

[@dg3619]

Hear me out Moses lake it’s only few hours from Seattle and there is a lot of land. It’s growing fast. It’s sunny all summer and it’s on I90.

[@robsimer9296]

Awesome community. We spent a weekend there last summer kayaking the lake and everybody we met were polite and helpful.

[@stuartblankenship5336]

Tri Cities would make more sense

[@MarkLLawrence]

They need to focus on more indoor/dark rides (Mario Kart AR goggle style, Ninjago hand action style, indoor coasters like Space Mountain, and Simulator rides like Star Tours) and other indoor/covered entertainment. All the bigger eateries in a park in that region should have enough indoor seating for rainy day attendance numbers. And finally, a lot of covered walkways would increase attendance on rainy days.

[@BellaDeininger]

I live in Portland and ever since i moved here I have missed big amusement parks. It was pretty easy to see tho why thats the case.

[@chrissears5482]

I used to go to Wild Waves every Summer when I was a kid in the mid to late 90s and I remember it always being PACKED with people when it was nice weather. It also seemed way cleaner and in better shape back then too... The last time I went was with my niece and nephew like 4 years ago and it was all run down and dirty and even on a hot day it wasn't really that packed at all.. I loved the place as a kid though

[@DARKmasterO1]

All we need is some major corporation to buy wild waves, remove the pond, add a new coaster, expand over i-5 (if you could legally do that) then it will be a destination park. 99% will not happen. At the same time, we do have the same square footage as Knotts and knotts is a destination park.

[@R2Bl3nd]

I live in the Pacific Northwest and it's kind of like Rollercoaster Tycoon. Guests don't want to get on rides when it's raining. It rains a lot here for a lot of the year. I don't know whose idea of fun that is.

[@1990sDialUpWeb]

I live in Seattle, we haven’t had rain since May and it’s nearly the end of July right now

[@Chanel31113]

You forgot Playland in Vancouver! BC is part of the PNW along with Oregon and Washington.

[@davidgrim5990]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about PNE Playland in Vancouver

[@plaonder]

One other thing is I think the culture around the PNW would rather spend time that they have with a nice day enjoying the nature over riding rollercoasters

[@Trygon]

Northwest Trek deserves some credit as an amusement park, too, albeit an extremely nonstandard one. I know that was always the field trip of choice when I was a kid.

[@Marylandbrony]

I think it is like ten of the top 20 largest metro areas. Even Houston, Miami, and Phoenix dont have one. I think that would make a good top ten list to explain the various reasons.

[@snelson5871]

Averages aside, the pnw has light rain, over a long period of time. However, in the midwest they get huge storms with a lot of rain, on a shorter period.

[@benkizer9509]

I think the combination of all the stuff to do in the Pacific Northwest outdoors, the "gray-drippy" weather from October-June and the expensive real estate is why there aren't more theme/amusement parks in this area. I live in Portland, and Oaks/Enchanted Forest are both charming in their own ways, but definitely not thrill seeking theme parks. Wild Waves I drive by all the time when I head up to Seattle and it looks very tempting form the I-5, but from everything I've heard, it's very disappointing. It seems to have good bones and potential, so maybe someday someone will own it who will put in the right investment into it and it will be like a decent park in the area. I think most people here, if they want to scratch the theme park itch, will make the trek to Silverwood, or they will catch one of the many cheap flights down to SoCal and hit one of the theme parks there.