In what should come as no surprise to anyone, Silverwood Theme Park has officially announced that they will not open on May 2nd, 2020, as originally planned. In conjunction with this, changes and extensions have been announced in relation to 2020 tickets and season passes. In this post, we’ll share the details of this announcement, and some commentary.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 3 months, you’re well aware of the coronavirus pandemic that has completely rattled all of society in just about every way imaginable. We won’t re-hash any of that here – there are plenty of other sources you can go to for more information there. Suffice it to say, the current situation is completely unprecedented, and it’s anyone’s guess as to exactly how this will all end up playing out.
In the world of theme parks, this has been a particularly tough pill to swallow. We of course saw the ripple effect start overseas with Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland in January. From there it spread to other Asian parks, including Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan in February. For a short couple of weeks, it seemed like the US might be spared from this fate, but that didn’t last long. When Disneyland and Disney World announced they would temporarily close in mid-March, it was like a hard punch to the gut. We’re both annual passholders at the Disneyland Resort, and had several upcoming visits planned. So these closures hit home pretty hard.
With the happiest place on earth down for the count, the rest of the stateside parks and chains started to fall like dominoes from there: Cedar Fair, Universal, Sea World, Legoland, and virtually every other major regional theme park. So it was no surprise to see Silverwood also officially announce that they will not be opening their gates as scheduled this year. No doubt this is absolutely the right decision to make, even if it is disappointing. Here’s the official announcement from their website:
“Due to heightened awareness regarding health and travel, we want to assure our guests that safety will continue to be our top priority. All of us at Silverwood will continue to do everything in our power to keep our guests, cast, and crew safe. We are closely monitoring the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and following guidelines from public health officials and government agencies to create and promote a safe environment for everyone who attends the park this summer.
Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Silverwood will be delaying our park opening this year. As we receive more information in the upcoming weeks, we expect to announce a new Opening date. Thank you for your patience and support during this time.
To those who have already bought or are planning on buying 2020 tickets and passes, we want you to have confidence in your purchase.
Season Passes – We want to thank all of our season pass holders for their loyalty and support during this time. In response to the uncertainty of this virus, if you don’t use your pass by September 27th, 2020, it will automatically roll over to the 2021 season. However, if you are able to use your pass this summer, we are going to extend to you a special discounted rate when you renew to a 2021 pass. If you have been putting off purchasing your season pass, now is the time to do so because, as long as you purchase your pass before the start of the 2020 season, you will be included in this special renewal option for the 2021 season. (Season passes are not valid for Scarywood)
Tickets – If you have purchased tickets for the 2020 season, and aren’t able to use them this season, we will automatically roll the expiration date to September 26th, 2021.
As a bonus, if you don’t use your pre-purchased 1-day or 2-day tickets during the 2020 season, we will automatically add an extra day to those tickets in 2021. Essentially, 1-day tickets will become 2-day tickets, and 2-day tickets will be valid for three days! If you have pre-purchased 3-day tickets for the 2020 season, and aren’t able to use them this year, we will turn your tickets into a 2021 season pass! It’s not too late to take advantage of this deal and invest in future fun. For a limited time, you can purchase these 1-Day ($45) or 2-Day ($77) Rollover Tickets on our website. Tickets must be purchased before park opening to qualify as Rollover Tickets. Any tickets purchased after the park opens will have an expiration date of September 27th, 2020.”
So there you have it. Now for some thoughts.
Of particular note here is that Silverwood is following Disney’s lead and not committing to any new dates or even a general time frame. This is probably for the best, as it’s truly anyone’s guess as to how long this pandemic lasts, and how well it’s able to be controlled. The situation seems to change daily, so any timeline set now could become obsolete very quickly. A month ago, we would have never even fathomed the situation we’re all facing today; who knows how things will look next month or even next week for that matter.
We personally have no clue when the park will re-open for the year either, but we can take some cues from what other parks have and are doing: Disney is not accepting any reservations prior to June 1st; Cedar Fair parks are all closed through at least mid-May, Universal parks are closed through at least end of May, and so forth. If we had to wager a wild guess, we’d say June 1st would probably be the best case scenario for now…with emphasis on ‘best case’. Even that feels overly optimistic. If you have plans to visit Silverwood any time before July, keep those plans flexible, and be prepared to have to make adjustments.
A bit of a silver lining here is that Silverwood doesn’t operate at peak capacity during the month of May anyways: it’s weekends only, with no Boulder Beach. So at least the park doesn’t take as big of a hit in the immediate future as, say, there would be in July or August. If they’re able to open for summer, then hopefully that minimizes the impact long-term. The other side of the coin there, of course, is the mood of the general public: will they be anxious to get out and head to a theme park, or will they shy away out of the fear of being around large crowds? Only time will tell.
In terms of other good news, the offers that the park is extending to its passholders and those who buy pre-purchased tickets are fantastic. If you were thinking of getting a season pass, now’s the time to do it. That way, you can qualify for the special 2021 discount (whatever that ends up being). And even if you don’t end up going to the park this year at all, you’ll have it valid for all of 2021.
As for tickets, the same holds true there. Depending on how obsessive of a planner you are, you could save yourself good money. For instance, if you’re a “once a year” type visitor who goes for 2 days each summer, here’s one option to consider: buy one two-day ticket, and another single-day ticket now before the park opens. Use your two-day ticket this year when the parks are open, and save your single-day ticket. Let it roll over into 2021 as a two-day ticket, and you’ve effectively got 4 days for the price of 3. If you can’t make it out there this year, you’ll get 5 days next year. And what if (heaven forbid!!) the parks don’t open at all this year? In that scenario, it’s likely that more adjustments could come anyways. So we’d recommend taking advantage of these deals if you can; it’s more likely than not to pay off in your favor.
No doubt there are many other questions on everyone’s minds, including ours. What operational changes will the parks make when they do re-open? Will the new nighttime drone show “Light up the Night” still launch this year? What about Scarywood – will we be able to cram into mazes and haunts by then without fear of spreading the virus? All of this is TBD in our minds, so we won’t speculate yet. About the only thing we can say with certainty is that things will look different when the gates do eventually open…it’s just a matter of by what degree.
As for us personally? All this extra time in quarantine has given us the chance to work on things we’ve been putting off for far too long. For one, we’re behind on a ton of photos and articles that we’ve been meaning to post. And, we’re working on some exciting updates to the site that we hope you’ll enjoy. Stay tuned!
What do you think of the current situation? How will it affect your trip plans this summer? What are you doing to pass the time while in quarantine? Let us know in the comments below!
The official Silverwood Theme Park website can be found at: www.silverwoodthemepark.com. All business-related questions should be directed to this site.
