Managing any city presents its own challenges, but Silverwood, the largest theme park in the Pacific Northwest, elevates this endeavor to new heights.
Spanning 413 acres and employing a seasonal workforce of over 1,200 employees, Silverwood, in a way, becomes its own small, Wild West-themed city each summer, welcoming as many as 11,000 guests on any given Saturday. The park boasts over 70 attractions, including Boulder Beach's recent award-winning, 925-foot-long water coaster, Eagle Hunt — the longest dueling water coaster in the United States.
But while conventional cities might aim to provide their services with as little thrill as possible, Silverwood's family-owned atmosphere thrives on it. The staff's attention to detail and customer experience easily sets it apart from other theme parks, let alone a typical roller coaster-less city.
On June 11, I spent the day at Silverwood meeting some of the folks who keep the park running and capturing the joy that their efforts bring to visitors.
One of the detail-oriented experiences that greets visitors the moment they walk into the park is also the very reason Silverwood — operating since June 1988 — became a theme park: the steam engine train. With the addition of stunts and pyrotechnics, the now iconic 30-minute train ride around the park has evolved into a full-fledged theater show with professional actors.
Using various online casting companies to recruit actors nationwide, Silverwood's marketing and entertainment staff review recorded auditions to help round out their cast each season.
Among this year's group is Abby Sexton, a 29-year-old actor originally from Missouri. Three weeks after auditioning virtually, Sexton found herself on her way from her recent home in Pennsylvania to Idaho just in time for the first round of rehearsals in early April.
She's no stranger to working at theme parks (Silverwood is her fifth), so a five-month gig at Silverwood sounded like a great experience, especially considering that the park pays for each actor's relocation, a portion of their lodging, onsite meals and an hourly wage. One of Sexton's castmates, Samantha Miley, a 23-year-old actor from the suburbs outside New York City, feels the same enthusiasm for theme park acting.
"Theme park work is definitely super fun, rewarding and artistically fulfilling," Miley says. "Theme park work and cruise contracts are actually very similar. I'm hoping to also have the opportunity to perform on a cruise ship, and working at a theme park such as Silverwood would be a great stepping stone in doing so."
While the work itself is quite fulfilling for the actors, I asked them if they've had any time off to explore the area.
SILVERWOOD THEME PARK
Open daily through Sept. 1 (times vary); weekends only Sept. 6-28
Single-day admission: $47-$74/person
(See website for price details, including for season passes, multiday admission, and discounts for admission after 4 pm.)
27843 US-95, Athol, Idaho
silverwoodthemepark.com, 208-683-3400
"With a rigorous schedule, it's hard to explore the Northwest as I wanted, such as areas like Seattle or Bozeman," Miley says. "Since we only have two days off a week, it's hard to plan trips like that, but I have been able to explore closer areas like Coeur d'Alene. I love going on walks by the water and checking out the shops."
"There's much to do! A few of us also took a three-day trip to Banff, which was a blast," Sexton adds. "I definitely plan on taking a few day trips to Spokane and hopefully out to Seattle."
It's not just the actors who are dedicated to their craft at Silverwood.
Pit cook supervisor Will Kadrmas arrives hours before the park opens every day to chop wood and get the fire pit ready for the day's meat selections.
Meanwhile, the maintenance technicians start their rounds at 4 am to make sure every ride runs smoothly. Tremors, the 26-year-old wooden coaster with four tunnels, recently had its track and all its cars completely redone. After the repairs were complete, it took 300 perfect test rides before Silverwood gave the green light for Tremors to reopen to the public. That attention to detail is truly impressive for any city. ♦
