It's not (just) the weather. Even as Wild Waves fires up its roller coasters, there's a thrill-sized hole in the Pacific Northwest.

This is a cool little article about why the Pacific Northwest of the US has limited amusement parks and how it’s not just because of the weather.

  • stooth64@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    I want to visit the PNW someday and go to Silverwood to finally ride a giant inverted boomerang. The national parks in Washington will keep me busy out there too.

    • Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I finally made it to SFNE last year but it was unfortunately too late to ride theirs.

      • stooth64@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I still gotta get out there at some point too. Too many coasters everywhere 😅

        Aftershock is especially interesting to me because it’s the one that was relocated from my home park, Six Flags Great America. I was never tall enough to ride it while it operated there (or maybe it was plagued with maintenance problems by the time I was).

        • Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          I honestly considered a career change to be a long haul truck driver just so I could end up in places closer to roller coasters that I want to ride 😉

  • randomtask@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    51·
    1 year ago

    It really just seems to be demographics, doesn’t it? Fewer families with young children, and a culture that emphasizes authenticity over cultivated themed experiences.

    • Bob K Mertz@lemm.eeOPMEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      It’s funny how enthusiast groups always say poor PNW but fail to realize how culture is sometimes different. That’s not to say there aren’t a lot of people there that would love a big park with a dozen coasters but it’s all relative.

      One of the biggest problems the area faces is an in-between park probably couldn’t survive. They either need to be small to function or they need to be a massive destination park to draw people in. Just take KD for example… The park has it’s locals but it also sits on I-95 which can bring people from distances because they have something worth traveling for – and you unfortunately can’t build a KD sized park, let alone a Disney or Universal overnight.

  • Sea_pop@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    I hate it. I live in Seattle and I have to fly across the country to ride any notable coasters.