Any good parks in the Pacific Northwest?

[Solipsisto]

I grew up in Los Angeles and went on tons of coasters as a kid, but moved to rural Washington State a decade ago. Since then my only coaster rides have been every couple of years when I go back to LA to visit relatives.

 

Are any of the parks in the Northwest really worth the trip? I've been to Wild Waves/Enchanted Village near Seattle before they added Timberhawk and was pretty underwhelmed. (I'd probably been spoiled by season passes at Disneyland and frequent visits to Knott's and Magic Mountain.) Is Timberhawk worth a visit? Silverwood seems pretty good. Is it worth going to Idaho on a 3 day weekend as opposed to SoCal?

[XYZ]

I have some relatives in the Pacific Northwest and they don't go to amusement parks at all. I always wanted to bring them to a local park, but they aren't any good.

 

Though, for you, Wild Waves & Silverwood is the best bet. Neither parks will even come close to the SoCal amusement parks. I heard Timberhawk is a really rough S&S Woodie, though Silverwood does have some good woodies and Aftershock, a Vekoma GIB. It also has the Corkscrew there, which is from KBF, ther first modern-day coaster with an inversion.

 

Here is the park map from the Silverwood website.

 

 

Really, it depends how desperate you want to visit a theme park, though if you are going to Silverwood for 3 days, it really only takes 1 day to cover the whole park, spend the rest exploring nearby cities.

[dj snow]

Silverwood is a great park, and their waterpark features a swim-up bar in the lazy river. You can float along the river with your drink in hand, which is always a plus.

 

If you haven't yet, check out the Puyallup Fair during one of its runs, as it's basically a traditional park that operates for only a short while each year. The wooden coaster isn't bad, and it's historically significant.

 

And if you have a passport, I hear the wooden coaster at Playland in Vancouver, BC is one of the best in the world. I haven't had the pleasure, but since you're so close I'd say you should put that on your list!