Last week we had a chance to finally visit Playland at the PNE for 2024, to check out the new ThunderVolt launch coaster. In this post, we’ll share photos, our review of the new attraction, and our overall impressions of Playland from our visit. We’ll also share tips, suggestions, and lessons learned, in case you are attempting to ride this coaster yourself. Spoiler alert: things didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped, so buckle up. This one gets a bit rough.
A bit of brief background – ThunderVolt was purchased by Playland from the since-closed Miragica theme park in Italy. The coaster was originally built by Intamin and used a hydraulic launch system also found on other Intamin coasters such as Xcellerator and Top Thrill Dragster. Upon relocation to Playland, the coaster received new Lightning Trains and a magnetic launch system from Zamperla. Yes, this is the same refurb that Top Thrill Dragster also received. But with this being a much smaller coaster model, it hasn’t had the same trouble that we’ve seen out in Ohio.
So with all of that, we were very excited to visit Playland this year. It has admittedly been a very long time since any of the RCA crew has visited the park, but a new coaster was just the excuse we needed. We don’t get a whole lotta new rides around this part of the country, so anytime something new comes along it’s cause for celebration. Not only that, but we’d get a chance to ride the hyped up new Lightning Trains from Zamperla! What’s there not to love?? As it turns out, quite a bit. But we were still blissfully naive at this point.
And so we planned our day. We bought tickets for a Thursday, due to the “Thursday Thrill Pass” discount where everyone gets in for the cheaper “Fun Pass” price, and headed north on I-5 towards the border. These would be the first in a string of critical mistakes we would make during our day. We underestimated Seattle traffic, which slowed us down considerably. Without going into all the boring details, we arrived at the park much later than we had wanted to. We normally advocate getting to parks as early as possible – at least 30 mins if not a full hour. And we failed miserably.
Instead we parked around 11:45 (the park opened at 11…oof), and made our way towards the massive crowd of guests that had also flocked to the gate that morning. The line to get into the park for those who had pre-purchased tickets wrapped all the way around the east side of the park, almost down the entire length. It took us a solid 30 minutes of waiting just to enter the park. Not a great way to start things out. Heck, our wait at the freaking border was faster than this! But it was our fault for showing up late, so we were willing to concede on this one.
After finally getting in, our priority was ThunderVolt, so we went straight back to get in line. The queue by this point not only filled every switchback, but also spilled out into the main walkway. And after waiting in line for about 10 minutes and only seeing the ride dispatch twice, we knew we were in for a slog. Park employees confirmed our fears: the wait would be at least 2 hours from this point.
We waited. And waited. And sweltered in the sun. Because half the queue isn’t covered. Waited some more. And watched the ride break down twice while we waited. And waited even more. Look, we get it. New rides can be buggy, and there’s a learning curve. But this thing had been open for over a month. The ride only seats 12 people. It should not take 5-10 minutes to cycle a train on a coaster this small and short. We remember the days when Silverwood opened Aftershock and we were extremely concerned about rider throughput. But they took guest satisfaction seriously, and had at least 4 people at the loading platform at all times, cranking people through as quickly as possible. For a ride we had expected to wait hours for, we never waited more than 30 mins.
Sadly, that was not the case at Playland with ThunderVolt. And there’s really no excuse for how poorly this was handled. We had expected to have to wait, sure. It’s the new ride, with only one short train, in a city with virtually no other theme parks. But over 2.5 hours later? We were more than done. It was a massive relief to sit down and give our legs a much needed break. Finally, it was time to ride.
ThunderVolt, as a ride experience, was a blast. The launch was fast, powerful, and impressive. The tunnel made it even more fun, and we’d love a chance to ride at night to really see the lighting effects in full force. There were several surprising airtime moments, and the coaster never felt like it was lacking in speed. The new Lightning Trains from Zamperla were fantastic – they feature only a single lap bar, and open air seating. All of this added up for a great experience, that was much better than we had expected. It doesn’t look like much of a coaster, but it certainly packed a punch.
All that said, it was over in a matter of 30 seconds, and was in no way worth 2.5 hours of waiting.
We then made our way over to the Wooden Coaster, where we had hoped for better operations and a shorter line due to it not being the “shiny new coaster”. Sadly, another hour and 45 minutes later, we sat down on what would be our second and final ride of the day. What really irked us here, was that a second train sat unused in the station the entire time. We understand why there aren’t two trains on ThunderVolt – it’s too short a ride to really see any improved throughput. But on the wooden coaster, it would have made a huge difference.
Setting that aside, the wooden coaster was running great. Plenty of airtime, and a surprisingly smooth and comfortable ride. We could tell that portions of the ride had recently been refurbished as well. It was very reminiscent of the Classic Coaster at the Washington State Fair. A great, classic, well-maintained, old-fashioned wooden coaster.
As for the rest of the park? Well, we would love to share more, but we never got to experience anything else. They cut off their queues early so as to ensure they can close the park right at 5pm sharp. So we were out of luck. They have a good collection of flat rides, a drop tower, two kiddie coasters, and a log flume. All of which looked like a lot of fun! But we’ll have to do those if we ever choose to return someday. Heavy emphasis on the word “if”.
Given our less-than-ideal experience, we do have a couple of recommendations if you choose to make your way to the park. First, as mentioned before – ARRIVE EARLY!! This simply cannot be understated. Playland is one of two very small theme parks serving the entire metropolitan area of Vancouver. It might not be much, but it’s all they have, and there is virtually no competition. So it draws crowds. Along those lines, if you’re coming from Seattle, don’t try and do it all in a single day. Traffic, combined with the border, are two wild cards that aren’t worth gambling on. Consider driving up the day before, and staying the night in Vancouver. That way you can be sure to be at the front of the pack when the park opens at 11am.
Second, if you can’t arrive early/on time, then don’t purchase your tickets ahead of time. Sure, you’ll save a few bucks, but then you get shoved into a 30+ minute queue with everyone else just to get inside the gates. Instead, buy your tickets at the ticket booth, and they’ll let you skip that line and walk right in. It would have been worth spending the extra money to save that time, had we known in advance.
Third, maybe don’t go on the discount Thursdays. Instead, opt for a slightly pricier Wednesday when others are less likely to visit. It’s even worth considering attending during the PNE fair. Granted, that option is much more expensive, but you’ll also have the choice to purchase their “rapid pass”, which would allow you to skip a few of the lines, including ThunderVolt. This pass is only available during the fair, and we’re told they are very limited in quantity so you’ll have to show up early to get one. We’ve heard reports from some that the time savings isn’t quite all it’s cracked up to be. But you’d at least potentially have a slightly shorter line than what we encountered.
Suffice to say, we have a hard time recommending Playland, even with the fancy new coaster that has those delicious new trains. We were so very excited to visit. We wanted to have a good time. We wanted so badly to come home singing the praises of Zamperla and bragging about how lucky we are in the PNW to get to experience our own “Mini Top Thrill 2” while the rest of the world waits around for Cedar Point to get their version open. We really did. But we simply cannot in good conscience recommend it. We drove 3 hours each way, across the Canada/US border, waited in lines for 5 hours, and rode two rides. So consider this our small gift to you all: we suffered through our day, so you can spare yourself the frustration. Don’t bother.
Have you been to Playland this year and ridden ThunderVolt? How was your experience compared to ours? For those of you who are Playland experts, are there any other recommendations we missed? 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.
