Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Wild Waves and Enchanted Village 2004

Washington is a beautiful state. Too bad I've only ever seen it during the fall, winter, and spring--and, consequently, while this week's spotlight park was closed for the season. I'll get there someday. In the meantime, I'll just have to live vicariously through this brochure!

The cover of this 2004 brochure certainly presents one compelling reason for me to visit. Timberhawk: Ride of Prey has the distinction of being the first of only four wooden roller coasters designed by S&S Power. Advertised here as Washington state's biggest roller coaster, Timberhawk is also the only wooden roller coaster in the state that operates for a full season each year. (The state's other woodie, Coaster Thrill Ride, operates only during the Puyallup Fair in the fall and the smaller fair held in the spring.)

We're only two panels into the brochure, and already we've seen all three of Enchanted Village's major coasters. Pictured at right are the Klondike Gold Rusher and Wild Thing. Wild Thing originally ran at Rocky Point Park in Rhode Island, and if trivia is your thing, it may interest you to know that it was transported to Enchanted Village in 55 pieces aboard 46 trucks. (I take absolutely no credit for that bit of trivia. The park posted it on their Facebook page last week!)

Thus far, I've neglected to mention anything about Enchanted Village's "other half", Wild Waves. It's ironic, really, considering that this water park was a big enough deal to appear first in the park's former title. Several of Wild Waves' attractions are pictured here, including the massive Hook's Lagoon waterplay structure which also graced the cover. I don't know much about this park's history, but I get the impression that Wild Waves was the main draw before Enchanted Village began to ramp up its ride collection in the '90s and '00s.

As if being "so cool, so close and so affordable" wasn't enough, you could even save an additional $3 by carving up your 2004 brochure! (For the record, this is not a practice I condone.)

Wild Waves and Enchanted Village was approximately halfway through its tenure as a Six Flags property at the time this brochure was published. Now run by PARC Management, the "wet" and "dry" sides are collectively known as "Wild Waves Theme Park". Things have been relatively quiet on the Washington front in recent years, but I hope the future holds great things for this comparatively young property!