Full Circle: Celebrating One Year of The Silverwood Show Podcast

We've officially hit one year of The Silverwood Show Podcast! To celebrate, we invited our very first guest ever - Assistant GM, Michael Thompson - back to join us for this milestone season finale. Just like in our debut episode, we're giving you our end of season wrap-up, reflecting on a year of thrills & memories, looking forward to what comes next and giving praise to those who made it unforgetable - our cast, crew and YOU, our Loyal Listeners.

PLUS, we call the last loyal listener on our sign up list with free tickets and a chance to win $75 in Silverwood Cash. YOU could be next. Sign up today and you could be kicking off season 2 with us!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Come chigned up fun, make come tied up fun s,
Come tied up Fun.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, Hey there, welcome to this week's episode, very special
episode of The silver Wood Show podcast because we're celebrating
not one, but two things this episode, maybe three things,
because we're celebrating that Michael's back with us.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Yeah, Michael tomb.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Since here our assistant GM and he was our very
first guest.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
On our very first episode of one year Ago cast.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
One year ago, you guys, has been a year a
year since we were set up in the conference round.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
I know things have changed.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I mean, and now here we are in our lovely
new studio, and I feel like we're a little more professional. Michael,
what do you come a long way?

Speaker 1 (00:51):
This is awesome? This is really cool.

Speaker 4 (00:52):
Congratulations you guys, we have come a long way.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (00:57):
I don't think we can be the judge of it
because in it every day that Michael, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, yeah, you've definitely seen a big No.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
This is awesome. It's really cool. It's awesome to see
the show growth the way it has. It's really cool.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, it really really has. So this episode, we're going
to not only celebrate a year of the podcast, but
we just wrapped up our.

Speaker 6 (01:14):
Seven day a week part of the season.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Correct, So we're heading into just weekends only for the
month of September, and then we're into Scary Woods. So
we're going to kind of do a season wrap up
with everybody you talk about for the prime season some
of the great stuff that happened over the summer. We'll
say that because I mean, summer might not technically be over,
but for all the kids that went back to school
this week, it's unofficially over. It is. It is definitely
feeling over today.

Speaker 5 (01:35):
Yes, drop my daughter off at school and she was
feeling it and I said, summer's over, and she's like.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
No, it's not.

Speaker 5 (01:41):
And we have until September twentieth or whatever it is
for summer. It was like, well, and officially it's ommer
because you're back to school, exactly, it goes back to normal.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
I will make note here that I was incredibly happy
this morning because I got to put jeans on.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
It's one hundred degrees today, why.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
I know, I know, but just denim. Let's just say
I got to put denim on. My ugly toes are
showing and my sandals podcast I'm not wearing. I'm not
wearing a polo. Let's say that no offense. Michael was
not a solo on but it felt nice not to
have to wash my clothes last night, make sure that
everything was Yeah. So so yeah, if you are watching

(02:21):
this on YouTube, don't mind the fact that i'm today.

Speaker 6 (02:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
So we're not exactly dressed to the nines, but we're celebrating.
So why don't we kick things off and start things
off with the park poles?

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Park poles?

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well, we're pols in because let's see, we've got Grandparents Weekend.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yeah right, Grandparents Weekend this weekend, which is.

Speaker 6 (02:43):
If you buy a ticket, grandma grandpa gets.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Some free job. So I know you read the promo.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
I read the promo and I answered a lot of
questions on social so for everybody, I had a lot
of people, I'm.

Speaker 6 (02:55):
A young grandparent. Are you gonna believe me?

Speaker 2 (02:57):
We're not going to ask you for ID and like
proof of grandparenting.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
I don't know how we would do that anyway.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
I don't either, So we'll trust you. Hey, if you're
a grandparent and your grandson or daughter buys a ticket,
or their parents or someone in the family, yes, exactly,
We're not particular. We're just saying, Grandma, grandpa, you get
in free this weekend, and.

Speaker 5 (03:18):
If you have a season pass that also allows grandma
or grandpa for free.

Speaker 6 (03:22):
That was another question I got this morning.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
So, so that's happening Saturday and Sunday this weekend, which
is what day, the sixth and seventy, sixth and seventh,
six and seventh. I don't even know what day of
the week it is anymore, So.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
It doesn't matter anymore.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
It doesn't matters things that matters exactly. And then we
go into community appreciation weekends for the rest of the season,
and portion those protein proteeds proceeds going to the food banks.

Speaker 6 (03:47):
So what are the prices on tickets for.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
That forty five dollars? I believe. Yeah, on Jordan at
the Gate forty three online.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
You read the promo.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
She also told me in my ear, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, that's another thing, Michael. We have producers.

Speaker 5 (04:06):
She tells me what I'm wrong, and I look really
smart because she's talking to television.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, sir, Jordan comes across. It's like super smart.

Speaker 5 (04:14):
Well, let's not say that it wasn't for lack of trying,
because we did try to get Sarah to hear everything
she was saying, but she couldn't focus on both.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
As soon as I hear voices, I'm like, she's stil what. Yeah,
and we've got Jay behind the screen over here as well,
so producer.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Work.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yeah, he is a big thing. Yeah, cameras hands up.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Remember we had our cell phones like set up on
coffee bugs when you were here.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, So I was like stone age.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
But you know, you guys, come along way.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
Come quick. The tech age has come quick.

Speaker 6 (04:47):
It really has.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
So.

Speaker 5 (04:48):
Anyway, Community Appreciation Week, which goes through September twenty eighth,
is the last day of and then we then ran
a scary one.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Very would which tickets are on sale now, so go
buy your tickets. They are reserved, so you have to
buy them on for your reserve day. And those are
going to sell out some of those days, those Saturdays, especially.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
And especially if you've if you purchase them at least
the day in advance, you will save eight dollars. So
do that. Might as well, buyer relely so you don't
risk selling out. We are open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
this year.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
And then what about season ticket holders?

Speaker 5 (05:19):
Isn't there opening weekend, So the third, fourth, fifth, they
get to save ten dollars. You can purchase those tickets
at the gate. That's the only tickets I really get
purchased at the gate. And last weekend is Heroes Weekend,
so all police, military, firefighters ems get in free that
last weekends November first and second.

Speaker 6 (05:37):
So many things pulsing in the park.

Speaker 5 (05:39):
Well that's because of the season, because we also have
a lot of parties going.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
I mean, I don't know, Michael, you want to touch
in on the parties that are happening.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
Yeah, So this upcoming Thursday, we've got our end of
season party for our cast members Survivor Wood, which is
super exciting if you've never.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Us three years for Survivor, this is the third.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
Year of Survivor would where we're doing all these cool
events that basically makes it feel like you're out at
Survivor but here at Silverwood themed kind of doing all
these cool prizes. Great end of the season where everyone
gets to kind of come together and just have an
awesome celebration for another amazing season, and then we get
to do some cool challenges at the end. We're gonna
we're gonna try to make some fire. See how that

(06:19):
goes better this year? Yeah, Yeah, give aways some really
cool prizes and just kind of reward our team for
just an amazing summer and all the hard work they
did and just kind of that school starting. But it's
like that one last thing before it really starts to
kind of feel like you're heading into the fall. And
then the following week we have our Leadership Banquet, which
is a really cool thing that we do here at
Silverwood where we have a weekly leadership series with our

(06:41):
leadership here at the park and get to talk to
directors and managers and even supervisors, our owner just kind
of over the course of the summer kind of learning
little you know, tricks of the trade, thoughts, ideas, you know,
how did you get there?

Speaker 1 (06:55):
Where are we trying to go? It's always a really
cool thing.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
To get to do every year, and then we get
to have another party to celebrate that and get to
do some cool games and that what's our theme again.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
Like murder mystery?

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Murder mystery. So I definitely didn't do it. I know
I did it.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Jordan did it?

Speaker 3 (07:12):
Maybe look at him. I don't. I don't know. I'm involved,
but I don't know if I did it.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Or not you did it, which just means say so.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
The last time I was at a murder mystery party,
I like, spent all this money on a cool costume,
ready to go five minutes, and I'm the one that died.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
So I became the moderator for the rest of the time,
which was not the funnest.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
So another reason he's the one that did it because
he's looking for redemption that he didn't need to do
it last, so you watch out for Jordan.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
Thing I know is that I was told that I'll
be giving us whatever I'm wearing. It's an all black,
so maybe to throw everyone off because I definitely didn't
do it.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
We'll see, but no, that's just a cool like.

Speaker 4 (07:52):
At the end, then our owner Gary is going to
be a part of the dinner and kind of do
a Q and A, which is like, it's always really
awesome to get to be a part of it, and
Heidi does a good job of interviewing him, grilling him,
and we get some really cool questions from our leadership team.
It's again just a nice like next week week and
a half of just kind of like not necessarily saying goodbye,
but just kind of you know, enjoying that summer, that
bond that we had, because it does it is a season.

(08:14):
It's a hundred day rush. It kind of feels like
and you know, not everyone, you know, people going back
to college and doing some other stuff and hopefully everyone
comes back, but it doesn't always work exactly one hundred percent.
So you're enjoying the team that you had, so it's
really special.

Speaker 5 (08:27):
It's more of a thank you, saying thank you for
everybody for all the hard work, because it is a
lot of work, I mean, and it's ruling, you know.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
I mean, it's not a long hours this summer, you know,
not long hours.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah, but everybody's goal is to make people have the
best day ever.

Speaker 6 (08:43):
And you become family over that time.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
And I know that producer Jay was taking some photos
of our entertainment team yesterday and there were some tears
being the last day, yeah, because it was their last day.
And they took some really cool photos over in the
Highmind saloon on the piano, and I guess things got
a little misty eyed over there because they do. You
really get to know these people like there they are family,
and then all of a sudden you're back to your

(09:07):
normal life, and it's kind of just ohh and we
need to celebrate something tomorrow too.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
What are we celebrating golfing?

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Over golf?

Speaker 2 (09:14):
We have I forgot about don't forget about golf.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
We what's your costume, Jordan?

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Because you coffeed us slash it's not true, because you're
such a cheater, such a cheater. So we have a
full time golf tournament that happens at the end of
the year.

Speaker 5 (09:28):
What she Amanda said, Amanda, she just told me. She
told you last year, Amanda. No, Amanda said that. Jay said,
I already know which I don't know. I don't know
what you guys justin up. You know, we tried to
figure it out. I think we're just it. It's a mystery. Yeah,
I think all four of us are doing something different.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah, great, apologize. It's like it's like the y m
c A. Guys, that's spoiler.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
So for those listening, basically we kind of do themes
and so each golf team gets to pick what their
theme is going to be.

Speaker 6 (10:05):
Dress up, have a whole lot of fun. We go out.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
We play somewhat serious golf. That's not serious. Some people are,
some people are pretty serious. Most of us. You're not.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
Are you looking at me?

Speaker 6 (10:17):
Jordan's a cheater.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
I don't know why she thinks that we were.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Scooby Doo last year and Jordan's shows up with his
team and they're Scooby Doo.

Speaker 6 (10:24):
And of course I forgot that.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
You're the only one that can have.

Speaker 6 (10:28):
Because you found it out.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
I did not. I totally promise I did not find out.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Needless to say, if I almost Yeah, if what I
am shows up twice, there's only one.

Speaker 5 (10:41):
Of me, there's zero chance, is you I will go
to Yeah, could have been a coincidence.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
If it happens again, then you.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Got to thank you, thank you. That's why we have
you here.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
He's got like a bug at his desk. He's listening
to everybody. So anyway, that's happening.

Speaker 5 (10:54):
Tomorrow, and yeah, we'll recap that next week the season
one for sure.

Speaker 6 (11:00):
Yeah, and we'll find out if Jordan or Michael was
the murder.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
All right, Time to move on to the mail train.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
Okay, fine, all right, So yeah, we have our loyal listeners.
That was another thing I kind of wanted to touch on.
With it being a year, we went from no listeners
to about twenty seven hundred loyal listeners who have signed up,
who listen to the show regularly, who ask us questions,

(11:26):
who have a chance to win some money every single
week and some tickets. And so we've got a few
more questions this week from our loyal listeners and our
normal listeners as well, who send us emails on podcast
at Silverwoodthemeperk dot com. So this one I did want
to touch on because we have this week's conductor blog
on the Silverwood Express blog is a story about her

(11:49):
son Maverick's first roller coaster ride.

Speaker 6 (11:52):
And it's a little you will love it.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
That's always our favorite.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, you need to read this one because your your
your heart strings are going to get tugged on. It
was so good. So to Sadie mcbourney and mom what's
next spokene she wrote that, so go check that out.
But Jeff Work wrote it and he said, when should
I start taking my children on roller coasters?

Speaker 6 (12:10):
I have two girls. My oldest is seven.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
She loves the carnival rides but hasn't been on a
roller coaster yet. She's been begging me to take her
to Silverwood. She saw an ad online and she's obsessed.
I would love to take her before the summer ends.
And my younger daughter is three, she's brave, quite fearless.
I just don't want to scare her and have her
lose that fearlessness. Is there too young to start writing
those smaller roller coasters, so Jordan take it away.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Michael will be able to chime in on this one too.

Speaker 5 (12:38):
My daughter's first big roller coaster was at four years old, okay,
and it was I don't want to say fours because
she wanted to go on it, but I definitely made
sure her first roller coaster was on Tremors, and we've
talked about that before because of the picture it does
have that forty two inch high requirement. But to lead
up to that, we had taken her on some some

(13:00):
rides would drops like log flum To, and then other
roller coasters would be like the Crazy Coaster is probably
the more intense coaster on that side. So there's there's
definitely things that you can do to lead up to
what would be the big coaster. But my recommendation is
definitely start them young. I like, started them young. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (13:18):
I have a three year old that is tall enough
to ride Timber and Tremors right now. But we decided
not to do that this summer, so he learned.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
He did. He did Tiny two the year before. He
loves that.

Speaker 4 (13:29):
He kind of graduated, like you said, to Crazy Coaster,
and then this year he did the log ride a
few times without being scared. So like next year, I
feel like age four. That's when I rode was when
I was four, that was timber Taar for me, so
kind of like you brought up, Like I originally thought, oh,
I'll take them on timber Tair, but getting that first
roller coaster with the photo, that's the way to go.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 5 (13:48):
And and Tremers has changed a little bit with the
upgrade this year and how it sits, And I think
I think it might sit tighter for those smaller kids too.

Speaker 4 (13:57):
Yeah, I would assume, so definite. They're straight in the
way the seat. Yeah, you feel more snug, is what
I would say.

Speaker 6 (14:02):
Yeah, it's definitely more snug.

Speaker 5 (14:03):
Yeah, man, it's definitely more intense than than Timbered Tear.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
But they don't know that.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
They don't know that, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 5 (14:10):
And my daughter, even at four, when she she rode
Tremors and Timbertare, she really liked Tremor's better.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
So was she spooked or did she like it?

Speaker 5 (14:18):
I think I mean that first drop was was a
doozy for her.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah, but after we got off, she wanted to do
it again.

Speaker 5 (14:24):
Now she's she's eight and when she turned seven last year,
she rode Panic Plunch for the first time.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
Spin Cycles her favorite ride. Right now, we do it
over and again.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
Just like me.

Speaker 6 (14:36):
Can I just say, can I just put a note?

Speaker 2 (14:38):
When I was a kid, my first I don't remember
what my first rollercoaster was, but I was here obviously
for my first rides.

Speaker 6 (14:45):
I had to do Stormtrooper, y'all.

Speaker 3 (14:47):
I don't know what that is.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Isn't it Stormtrooper?

Speaker 6 (14:49):
The one that we got rid of.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
Star Wars Star No Stormtrooper?

Speaker 2 (14:52):
What is it called?

Speaker 3 (14:54):
Pay Money? What is it? Skydivery?

Speaker 6 (14:57):
Skydiver?

Speaker 1 (14:59):
That was your man, that's a tough one.

Speaker 6 (15:01):
Terrifying.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah, that was your first ride.

Speaker 2 (15:03):
Terrifying.

Speaker 5 (15:03):
Yeah, the very first ride was skydivert Oh my god.

Speaker 6 (15:07):
I was a little girl.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah, girl getting squished. Yeah, Michael love that ride.

Speaker 7 (15:15):
It was.

Speaker 4 (15:15):
It was a really cool, intense ride. It was like
one of the first rides I ever ever operated. Yeah,
it was funny. The first guest that ever wrote it
was my dad and my little brother. And just like
you said, the little person gets squished on that ride.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yes, so I do.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
My little brother did not like that ride.

Speaker 6 (15:27):
Yeah, never did I so.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
But yeah. So that was jeff a question and I
think you guys answered that perfectly. Thanks Jeff. All Right,
So the Miller's this is a husband and wife team.
They both asked a question and they wanted to know
a how did silver would become involved with Canopy Village
and how is the community informed about our support of
Canopy Village. So what I do know is that Canopy

(15:52):
Village is very very near and dear to the Norton's heart.
That is something that they are very very involved in personally,
on a personal level as well as obviously Silverwood's professional level.
And in terms of the community being informed, I mean, gosh, we.

Speaker 5 (16:10):
Well, I mean we do a thing Cordline Press every year.
We do get hand over that check. I think that
is the best way that it gets informed. And then
we also post on social media. But before every train
ride we do announce that all donations on the train
go to Canopy Village. Yes, as people have to be
listening to hear that yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
And I'll just say this. One of the things that
I do love about the park, and I do love
about the Nortons is they're very, very very involved in
the community. But it's not a bragging right, you know
what I mean, it's just something that they do. They're
not doing it for the attention. They're not doing it
to let the community know that they're doing it. They're
doing it because it better is a community kind of
like a silent partner, and so many things that you

(16:53):
wouldn't even know about, and so.

Speaker 6 (16:55):
That's that's what's great about it.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
So yeah, i'd say the number one way we let
the community know just by announcing it there on the
train and through social and just well.

Speaker 5 (17:03):
And then we also have our little donation cuts all
over the park that do have a QR code if
you want to learn more and any cash, extra cash
that you have, you can throw it in there. So
it's a little more difficult now that our cashles park,
but that is all over for people to be more
under informed about Canopy Village.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
And I write press releases every season.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
Yeah, so everybody reads those.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, everybody reads I know that the Quarterline Press does,
so thank you.

Speaker 6 (17:31):
Devin weeks.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
We'll give her a shout out for for all of
her hard work with us. But great question from the Miller's.
And then our last question is from Angelina Stevens, and
she wants to know what's the average attendance at Silverwood
each year.

Speaker 5 (17:44):
So it has continued to increase and then it hovers
right around seven hundred and twenty five thousand people, fifty
thousand that includes Scary Wood.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, yeah, so which I think counts.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
Yes, Yeah, our best year was twenty twenty one, which
we actually went over eight hundred thousand for the first
time ever.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
We haven't hit that again.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
But post pandemic post.

Speaker 5 (18:05):
Pandemic twenty twenty one, we were open, Washington organ were not.
We had a lot of people coming over, especially in June. Yeah,
that was a big month for us.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
Definitely, definitely, And yeah, I mean every summer that it's beautiful.
Obviously weather changes that, like we had a lot of
really rainy Saturdays this year.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
Yeah, we had a we had a weird weather this here.
We could talk about that.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
Yeah, we'll talk about that when we get into our
wrap up. But thank you Angelina for that question.

Speaker 6 (18:30):
Let's give stuff away.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
But you think Okay, let's do it.

Speaker 6 (18:32):
Do your little spinney spin.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
We have a winner.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, I might have chosen this one before. What I
just I want to do the very last one because
we did the first one and now we're doing the
last one because it's been a year.

Speaker 6 (18:48):
So I just chose the last one.

Speaker 3 (18:49):
I see.

Speaker 6 (18:50):
Okay, So we're going to call random number five hundred
and sixty six.

Speaker 2 (18:55):
Okay, I actually think it's two thousand, six hundred and
fifty five. I think I wrote that wrong.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
We have it a letter.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Okay, let's give her or him a.

Speaker 8 (19:03):
Call this Hey, Zach, This is Sarah, Jean, Jordan, and
Michael from the Silverwood Show podcast here at Silverwood Theme Park.

Speaker 6 (19:18):
How are you?

Speaker 2 (19:20):
We are so good? Hey, Zach. You are this week's
loyal listener and we've got a pair of free Silverwood
tickets for you for signing up.

Speaker 5 (19:28):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (19:29):
Okay, great, you don't.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
Have to use them this year. We know it's the
only season, but.

Speaker 7 (19:33):
If you want to, that was gonna be my question.

Speaker 3 (19:35):
But no, we you can use them in next year.
We can. We can make sure they roll out.

Speaker 5 (19:40):
We just went yesterday.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
Actually, oh well well then absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Hey, you can always come back.

Speaker 3 (19:47):
But do you have a good time a good labor day?

Speaker 7 (19:51):
Yeah, it was great.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
We spent the entire day.

Speaker 7 (19:53):
We we did the homeschool.

Speaker 3 (19:55):
Thing so o fun.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
Yeah greats Where do you live, Jeff, Zach?

Speaker 6 (20:04):
No, it was our first mail train.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
Sorry, yes, I know that was totally meaning that was
that was fult.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well awesome. Then we definitely know that you'll be able
to use them as well. So why don't we maybe
do you want to play a little game with us
for your chance to win seventy five dollars in silverwood?

Speaker 7 (20:21):
Let's do it.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
I love it, I love it. He's ready, Okay, So
we're going to do a little true or false with you.
So I've got five tru or false questions you have
a fifty percent chance of getting right. Just tell me
if it's true or false. Every time you get it right,
you get five dollars, and we'll keep moving on even
if you get it wrong. And then at the end,
Jordan has a SoundBite for you of a ride and
if you can guess what ride that is, you've got
another fifty dollars.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
Thank, Okay, all right, you got this, You got this,
all right, Zach.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Here we go true or false. The first episode of
The Silverwood Show podcast aired on September eleventh, twenty twenty four.

Speaker 7 (20:57):
I would say that's true.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
It is. We are celebrating our one year anniversary this episode.
Can you believe that?

Speaker 3 (21:04):
That's cool?

Speaker 7 (21:05):
Nice?

Speaker 2 (21:05):
Super crazy? Okay, So we have five dollars in the bank.
Number two, corkscrew goes backward during Scary Wood.

Speaker 7 (21:14):
My kids did it twice yesterday and I'm pretty sure
it just goes forward the whole way.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yes, job, nice job. That would be timber Terror that
goes backward during Scary Wood. So you got that one right, okay.
Number three Silverwood staff are called cast members. Yes, true,
correct to he's on for three. Yes, we got fifteen
dollars in the bank. Next up, owner Gary Norton purchased

(21:41):
this property in nineteen seventy seven.

Speaker 7 (21:46):
I mean, I don't I've read the history of it,
but that seems a little early to me. Maybe he'd
changed it from an airfield to a I thought he
purchased it in the eighties or something, but I'm gonna
I'm gonna say maybe he owned it before that and
just changed it over to Silverwood.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
So true, you should around with your guns, with your Gun.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yes, yes, yeah, So he actually purchased it in nineteen
eighty one when it.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
Was still you were right yourself, and then turned it
in the park after that. But we knew that, you know.

Speaker 3 (22:23):
So there's that.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
Okay, number five, Scarywood's original haunted attraction, Blood by You
is still operating today.

Speaker 7 (22:33):
I don't have any idea.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
We don't.

Speaker 7 (22:35):
We haven't done Scary Wood. I'll just say true.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah. Jobs four is pretty good in the bank. Now
it's Jordan's turn.

Speaker 5 (22:44):
Okay, so we have a SoundBite for a ride that's
either in Silverwood or Boulder Beach. I will play that
here in a second. Mama, let you know the last
two gases that were incorrect, so you can kind of
narrow it down. So we had a guess of Eagle Hunt,
and we had a guess of Avalanche Mountain. So here
comes the SoundBite.

Speaker 3 (23:12):
Do you know what ride that is?

Speaker 7 (23:14):
Oh? Boy? For a next I should know the names
of these rides better.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
We can help you if we can give you like, yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
You know it.

Speaker 7 (23:27):
It just sounds like somebody's going down a slide. Okay, yeah,
that sounds like someone's going down the slide. The the
one with the Purple.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
The racing Slide. Riptad Racer, Yeah, riptad Racer. His button's
not right, but it's not working.

Speaker 2 (23:50):
You got seventy dollars and a pair of silverwood tickets.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Nice wors to go.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
I got it wrong.

Speaker 3 (23:56):
You Didcochet. You're wrong?

Speaker 6 (23:59):
Yeah, I was totally wrong.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
So yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 5 (24:03):
So that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
We got seventy dollars and a pair of tickets for you. You
want to do those next year? You want to come
this year?

Speaker 7 (24:10):
Yeah, well we'll do them for next year.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Okay, perfect that. I'll get a hold of you and
let you know what you need to do to get
a hold of me.

Speaker 6 (24:16):
So we can get those two next season.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
But hey, you're going to be on the podcast on
our one year anniversary, so make sure to listen, make
sure to watch on YouTube. And thank you so much
for being You were actually our last loyal listener of
the one year mark. So appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 7 (24:33):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Awesome, We'll see it's a good one bye.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
Okay you And and and what he picked up all
the first like ring.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
That was that was impressive.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Yeah, he was ready.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
It's like he knew we Yeah, I don't know, we've
never had that. No, so yeah, so thank you, thank.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
You Zach, not Jeff, but Jeff was our first mail train.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
Well that was your fault.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
I get confused. I'm getting old, Jordan. The brain was
a work and.

Speaker 6 (25:00):
Then we're going to got Okay, I didn't just give
you a paper cut today.

Speaker 5 (25:06):
Oh stopid okay, says like I.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Was blowing up balloons and yes, let's be going. All right,
let's move on to the big drop.

Speaker 5 (25:21):
Drum.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
All right, what do you say we uh, we do
a little wrap up of wrap it up for seven
day a week season.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Yeah, let's just wrap up the last year.

Speaker 6 (25:32):
Yeah, yeah, altogether.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
Yeah, so what are our successes? What would you say
our biggest successes were of since September of last year
to September this year.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Okay, what do you guys?

Speaker 6 (25:44):
Hear the noise? Okay?

Speaker 5 (25:46):
Is it gone?

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Now?

Speaker 3 (25:47):
Sorry, you're trying to make me think I'm crazy that mi.
I hear that one all the time, so it's not.
It's normal to me.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
But go ahead, okay, anyway, successes, do you just want
to go like one by one?

Speaker 4 (26:00):
Go ahead, Michael, Yeah, yeah, I think like our off
season I thought was a success a lot of the
stuff that we were trying to achieve with our kind
of our projects, just kind of figuring out how we
can get organized in a way that we can get
everything we want to get done done. I thought we
kind of got everything a lot of those checks or
those boxes checked off, which was really exciting. And then
kind of the big thing for us on the operation

(26:20):
side was getting Tremors ready to go for the new season,
and then not just getting it ready, but then us
learning how to operate it in a in a safe
and efficient and a fun way for the guests and
honestly for us in the ride side. I thought that
was a massive success. Definitely had our challenges and stuff
of learning what it's like with two trains going at
the same time. But I don't know if you guys
have been out in the park, but like you rarely

(26:42):
ever saw that ride busy, and that used to be
one of our busiest, longest wait time rides, and we
like literally cut the line not even in.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Half, like more than on our busiest days. What was
the length of that I don't.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
I mean, I don't think we ever got to the
point where we like maybe one or two days to
the season where we had to like do a legitimate queue.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
It struggled to even get.

Speaker 4 (27:01):
Around that corner as it kind of came outside, so
everyone was in the shade a they're getting ready to
go ride and stuff, and it just we our operators
did such an amazing job. If you ever had a
chance to watch them, like there was no slowing down,
there was no like waytime, like they were going and
still having good customer service and stuff, and like it
was a hard work. Like when they got their break,
you could tell they were they were they were ready
to sit down and enjoy their food and take their

(27:23):
break because it just was a non stop kind of
like stump Pilot is, but this was even more so.
And that was a really awesome experience. And then from
an aquatic side, we had one of our best years
we've ever had. We got three audits through our program
that we run with this Jeff Ellison associates with all
of our certification for our lifeguards, making sure we're doing
things safely in the right way.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
And we had three exceeds, which is our you know,
really good score that's like getting an A.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
And then we had our first ever perfect score, which
was really cool. So we had a really cool celebration
and party for all of our exceeds and then we did,
you know, an even bigger party for our perfect score
and so that was really awesome for chout out to
our guards for what they did all summer long. I
know that their time ended yesterday, whereas you know, our
ride operation will keep going through the weekends and scary
wood and stuff. But on an operation side, I thought

(28:11):
it was a really really cool experience to have the
season that we had. Kind of it wasn't a new ride,
but it felt like a new ride at the same time,
and so there was kind of that rush and the
energy of like trying to learn that and I think
those were just really cool successes for us on the
operational side.

Speaker 6 (28:26):
Yeah, yeah, for sure, go ahead.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
I mean I got a piggyback at the Tremor's thing,
and I think mostly because expect well, especially because and
Michael you saw me out there. I got to go
out there on the very first day and actually open
the gate to let everybody in and just to be
in the midst of that excitement and so many of
these like die hard Tremors fans that showed up and

(28:48):
wanted to write it and just I mean, you're not
supposed to run in the park, but I mean just
to see people like running for trems, Yeah, it was insane.
And then just to be able to get them amped
up and have them cheering and they and stand on
the other side and watch these these folks exit the
ride and to see those smiles and to see that
excitement and to hear the kids say, oh, let's go again,

(29:10):
Let's go again. And then by the end of the season,
having so many kids, you know, Quinn's age, that were
like I wrote it eight hundred times this season, you
know what I mean, Like that would have never happened before.
And so I just I feel like that brought a
lot of nostalgia to young and old, and so it
was just a really neat experience to be able to
be a part of that. And from a marketing standpoint,

(29:31):
it was so much fun. It was so much fun
to do the seismic upgrade and Tremor's unleashed, and so
it was definitely that was probably my highlight for sure.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
Yeah, I was going to say, like I think Jordan
you as well. We've been fortunate enough to be around
for a few new rides, yeah, you know, or re
theming and stuff. I think this is kind of more
of the unique thing. And I think I literally went
the entire summer without hearing anyone say anything bad about
the Tremor's upgrade. No, totally was veterans, like when I've
been riding that since nineties, and then there's you know,

(30:01):
like you know, your daughter just riding this for the
first time, and you know, the kind of new era
and stuff, and like everyone loved it, whether it was
their first time writing it or it's like, oh, let's
compare it to the old time, Like it was an
amazing attraction and it's it's so it's fast, it's smooth,
but you don't lose the wooden coaster field at the
same time. And then the theming was awesome with what
you guys did and stuff, and just it was really

(30:23):
cool that that day specifically, I remember Gary was there
and Paul our CEO and justin our GM like we
would just be asking people.

Speaker 1 (30:30):
Hey, how would you like it? Loved it? Loved it.
That was awesome. That was so cool. That was fast, that.

Speaker 4 (30:34):
Was scary, that was awesome, Like it was like cool,
you're kind of waiting to hear something bad and it
never happened, even.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
On and we all know how negative Facebook can be.
There haven't even been any like negative comments. You know,
people just really love it and they're still commenting on
the videos and well, and.

Speaker 5 (30:49):
I think there's the nostalgia factor of what it was
like in ninety nine, because I think that's kind of
what this did was brought it back to its glory
day of opening ninety nine where it doesn't have the
extreme jerkiness that has developed over the years, just how
a natural coaster does. And so to see all those comments,
to see like those who wrote it opening year saying

(31:10):
like it's even better than that, that's really cool.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
So right it eight times in a row, wearing makeup,
tying ties, juggling, eating, and to win a huge or.

Speaker 6 (31:20):
No I won, I won, I totally won.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
But let's just say I had a lot of fun
on tremors too, so I have a personal connection now.

Speaker 6 (31:28):
But I should bring up Quarkscrew as well.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
Corkscrew, go ahead, because that was I mean again, from.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Are these successes? Are these memories?

Speaker 5 (31:34):
No?

Speaker 2 (31:34):
These are successes because really sounds like that commercial and
from a marketing standpoint, again, that whole ad that we
did for Kirkscrew telling the story about I mean, I cried.
Shout out to Jay, shout out to the producer Jay
over here for coming up with the coolest concept and

(31:54):
putting it all together because I cried over a roller coaster.
It gave that roller I know, I cry, really, I know,
but it gave Corkscrew life for for someone like me
who has only been here for a year and a half,
now you know what I mean. And so it just
it really did. It made it a real tangible thing

(32:15):
with motions and it really brings you back for the
people like me that might not have known the history
of that coaster. And so it was so fun having
that fiftieth birthday and having everybody show up and to
have people that ran it or wrote it from Notts
and from you know when it opened here. So it
just it was a really really neat experience. And I
would say that was a huge success too.

Speaker 5 (32:36):
So you touched on all like the marketing side, so
I'll go entertainment. Yeah, from a review standpoint, the train
ride was the best reviewed train we've had ever.

Speaker 6 (32:48):
Could it have been because of Dynamite Dan.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
No, definitely wasn't because of Dynamite. I barely was in it.

Speaker 5 (32:54):
I was yesterday, But so that's always fun to see
in our in our reformers this year were just amazing.
So we had a great group and that was really fun. Yeah,
going back to the marketing side and kind of touching
on Trumors, kind of wrapping this whole thing up. As
we do send out surveys and we get a lot

(33:14):
of survey feedback coming back. One thing that we really
were hoping hoping that this Tremor's upgrade would do for
us was increase how people value tickets or see value
in tickets, and that was an overwhelming success. So it
was like ten percent higher. People saw their admission as
more favorable because of really what I think is because

(33:38):
Tremor's line was moving baustable, they were able to do
more things and all that. So we definitely pay close
attention to that. We want people to feel the value
out here, and I think Tremor's definitely helped with that.

Speaker 6 (33:48):
Yeah, on hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
So for those of you who ask about that survey,
you know, we really do look into that and we
really do the attention so that we can adjust things
accordingly to make your experience here that much better.

Speaker 5 (33:59):
And that's how I I also judge entertainment and see
it's successful because if someone people rate it positive at all,
then it's successful. And so we want to make sure
that we're watching that closely.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
And I do have to say, Jordan, your entertainment team,
this is great. Was it was fun, amazing, and they
kept those smiles on their faces, and they kept those
characters throughout the whole entire season. And they're singing voices.
I mean, hello engineer. I mean I watched some really
incredible moments with them, surprising, you know, just seeing little
girls looking up at them like you know, ranger Rosie

(34:31):
or an engineer. It just a lot of memories were
made there for sure. So great job to the entertainment team.
Shout out to them, thank you.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
Yeah. So yeah, how about challenges. Challenge We'll start with you.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Sarah, biggest challenge I think for me personally the season
there was a lot of negativity, and not just Silverwood.
It really wasn't so much directed at Silverwood, but based
upon the things that are happening in our world. A
lot of people are very stressed out, and sometimes what's
available to them can become a punching bag, and so

(35:03):
being in public relations and dealing with reviews and dealing
with helping out the guests in that manner, it just
there was a lot more people are going through it
right now, and so I think in terms of a challenge,
it was one of those things constantly having to remind
myself that it wasn't me, it wasn't us, It was
just whatever's going on in their life, sometimes being projected

(35:26):
onto what was readily available, and a lot of times
that social media, you know, unfortunately, and.

Speaker 6 (35:31):
So you know, the world's been through it.

Speaker 2 (35:34):
Over the course of the last year. We've seen a
lot of tough times for a lot of tough people,
and ultimately it becomes one of these things where we're
at theme park and at least we get to provide
something that can bring them joy once they get through
those gates and they can forget about all those hardships
and forget about all of that and be here and
create those amazing memories they're going to last a lifetime.
So it was just maneuvering that and trying to translate

(35:56):
things to people in a way that would help them
to realize, yeah, that that happiness is just on the
other side of those gates and through that tunnel. You know.

Speaker 5 (36:04):
Yeah, I think that's something I was gonna also touch on,
but I'll do something a little different, Okay.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
I think this year the weather was difficult for us,
Like we.

Speaker 5 (36:12):
Had either it was like ninety four or seventy four,
there wasn't a lot imperteam. And when there was in between,
we saw good attendance. But it was those polar opposites
and then Saturdays, Saturdays.

Speaker 3 (36:25):
Weekends, all that kind of stuff. I mean, we.

Speaker 5 (36:29):
Michael was m d during a huge rainstorm. I was
back up, and so that was that was also a challenge,
and we had lightning come and just turn and come
over top of us, and so people, I mean, we
can't control the weather obviously, yeah, but also people come
out here to have a great time, and it's it's
a bummer for us when we when we see that
we have to for safety reasons temporarily shut down things

(36:49):
because and and kind of interrupt their day. And so
that's always a challenge and just seeing that is is
a bummer for us.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
And we do what we can and we got it
open and I think.

Speaker 6 (37:00):
It was fast. Yeah, a good job.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
Unfortunately, we can't push the weather.

Speaker 5 (37:05):
We can't do much about the weather, so I think
that was a challenge, and especially coming through July and August.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
I will say that watching the staff and how seamless
those operations again, and this is why the training and
everything is amazing. When you get to see those cast
members out there just they know what to do and
it's it's great to watch them in those situations that
aren't a day to day thing that usually only happened
maybe once in a season, and how great of a
job that they do at making sure that everybody understands

(37:31):
what's going on.

Speaker 6 (37:32):
And I was really proud of everybody.

Speaker 5 (37:34):
Well, I think that that kind of piggys back on.
Something I wanted to talk about with success was just
our our staffing this year and hiring we had. We
didn't have to advertise that much, and I think there's
a lot of people that are seeing, you know, working
at Silverwood as a really fun job, and so.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
I think that's a success.

Speaker 5 (37:51):
And to be able to not say like we we
just had turnover after turn over total, we were able
to sustain kind of our numbers throughout the season, and
even Scarywood right now showing that with full auditions coming in.

Speaker 6 (38:01):
Yeah, which is awesome.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
Yeah, no, exactly.

Speaker 4 (38:03):
The staffing was so nice, like just to see that
all come in and be like, oh my gosh. We
we can provide a great experience for the guests. We
can also provide a great experience for our cast members
because we have so many and we can be flexible
and with our with their schedule and and oh hey
can I get off a little bit early to go
do this?

Speaker 1 (38:20):
Yeah we can.

Speaker 4 (38:21):
We can figure out our ways around that the best
that we can and stuff, and like to be able
to have that like not be like, no, I'm so sorry,
I need you here, like to make that work, Like
it's nice to not have to go back to that challenges.
I feel like every year you have your typical challenges,
you know, depending on what apartment you're in, that are
kind of like your normal ones. Again, even though staffing
was great, there were still certain days we had to

(38:42):
figure it out and stuff. Then you know there's other
challenges like like you kind of acknowledged and stuff like
there's more unique challenges this year that some of our
departments haven't faced before.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
And I thought that.

Speaker 4 (38:53):
They did an absolutely amazing job handling those things, like
you know, for an example, figuring out how to operate
a ride differently than oh, this is how I've always
operated cool. Well, now there's a new train or you know,
new food buildings, like new new things that we're selling.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
Okay, well how do we do this? How did that?
Like all across the.

Speaker 4 (39:08):
Board revenue operations, even custodia, we had a whole new
cleaning setup. We used different cleaning supplies this year, and
so like figuring out how to do that was a
lot of work and a lot of coordination between multiple
departments to make sure that that worked out. And like again,
you have your normal stuff, which is just kind of
part of the rush, but there's also a few unique
things that put some of our frontline, our leadership, our

(39:30):
management level in some unique positions. And I thought everyone
rose to the challenge and did an amazing job. And again,
like you said, just the weather was just so unique
and so weird. Like you said, we only had I
think one or two days where we had to shut
down a little bit for lightning. But it wasn't even
a lightning issue, which I know we've had.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
In years past.

Speaker 4 (39:47):
It just was too cold or too hot and that's
not just the guess, that's also our cast members making
sure that they're warm or that they're not too hot
and they're staying comfortable and stuff. And so I think
that was kind of the big thing for us.

Speaker 5 (39:58):
Well, and we dealt with forecast. Forecast was kind of
the big thing. Was like, it'll be forecasted for a
week of rain, rain, rain, rain, and rain. Then the
day comes and it's like not not And so people
go out of that forecast and everybody has it on
their phone and we have to kind of handle that accordingly.

Speaker 2 (40:14):
Well, then we have this wildfire, you know that actually
didn't affect us in any way, shape or form, but
to someone who maybe is not from the area and
they see that in the news and there's this three
thousand something acre wildfire burning in the same town that
Silverwood is in, and they think, oh, you know, either
a it's going to be smoky, or are we going
to have to get evacuated, and when in reality it

(40:35):
was you know, ten miles north of us and the
wind was blowing it north and so we really didn't
see any effect from it. But that was one of
the number one questions I've gotten over the last month.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
Yeah, and that fire didn't impact our park, but it
definitely impacted some of our customers and teammates. Like I
know people in the park that literally had to evacuate
their homes, figure out where they're going to live, and
then they came back to work the next day, which
kind of just talks about the kind of people that
we have out here that like they don't even know
where they're sleeping tonight because they're trying to make sure
everyone's safe and everything's okay and all their possessions and

(41:07):
loved ones are all taken care of while they're coming
out to work the same day to make sure our
guests are having a great time.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Like, yeah, it just speaks a lot to the type
of people that we have.

Speaker 6 (41:14):
Out here, one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
Like I don't have my own personal team, but it
was like if I had Spark cards in my back pocket,
the amount of Spark cards that I would have given
out would have been I mean, I would have ran
out one hundred percent because they just I was so
impressed by so many, so many, so yeah, so great job.
Big shout out to the cast and crew for all
the hard work they put in the season because it
did not go unnoticed.

Speaker 6 (41:37):
So here's the hope and you guys get to celebrate
a little.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
Bit survivor would and yeah, it's gonna be a lot
of fun.

Speaker 3 (41:44):
So what's next, favorite memory?

Speaker 6 (41:46):
Favorite memory you have to start to start this one.

Speaker 5 (41:48):
Yeah, yeah, there's there's a lot of favorite memories from
this year. There's always a lot of memories from the season.
I think having Kelly and jose out twice ride the
rides with King five over there in Seattle, and for
them to experience the park for the first time was
was a really great memory that I that I had.

(42:10):
And they're gonna be coming out for Scary Wood too,
which it is gonna be really really really fun.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
Really fun. Yeah, and just drop that episode, you know,
we've got We've got a great episode with them. So
if you guys are wondering, we're talking about it's one
of our funnest episodes for sure.

Speaker 3 (42:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (42:24):
They're with Local Lens Seattle, the YouTube series, so go
you can go and watch that and they give a
lot of tips and tricks.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
On them and I joined the Park. Yeah, that's a
good one. I love that memory memory. Michael Sure, I.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
Would say like in the park, I would I would
say just again the tremors was the success being really
cool and then just seeing how many people love that
and whether that was like that nostalgia or something new,
And then I would also say just again with like,
I think our guests were given a really great show
this year, and I think, like the staffing, I don't

(42:54):
think people quite understand like how nice that is, how
much of a stress release that can like be when
when we're able to have everything fully staffed and give
the guests what we want and what they deserve. And
I thought that was awesome, Like behind closed doors, like
we had a lot of new leadership this year and
new managers, new supervisors, new leads, and I like, I

(43:14):
was stunned with how amazing they were this year. Each
of them all had their own unique challenges they had
to do, whether it was taking over for someone I've
been here for a while or doing something completely new,
And there's too many of them to name, but like,
they all did such an amazing job this year that
I feel super excited about going into Scary Wood, super
excited about going into next year because I feel like
we just have such an awesome rock star leadership team.

(43:36):
And it also shout out to our frontline. I thought
they did a really good job this year, and we
hope to have every single one of them come back
next year early.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
And that says a lot too, because the more that
they keep coming back, that's when our staffing will continue.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
To still be Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
So yeah, great job to everybody there. But gosh, I mean,
my number one best memory was when you said, no,
we're not going to hit however many loyal listeners it.

Speaker 3 (44:02):
Was, oh and no.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
The podcast is my number one favorite memory because watching
this evolve and watching this grow.

Speaker 5 (44:13):
Has been I mean, favorite episode is what favorite one?

Speaker 2 (44:18):
Beach was so much that our last episode was by
far my favorite because I finally got to go, you know,
have a besty day, which are it did, which was
awesome and we had so much fun. But you know,
just for those who might not know my background, I
was twenty years in radio prior to working at Silverwood,
and so from going from being a radio personality who
did podcasts, you know, on the side, to coming here

(44:39):
and actually doing my dream podcast in my dream studio
with my dream co host, to like this has been such.

Speaker 3 (44:45):
A dream co host totally. That is yeah, high praise.

Speaker 6 (44:49):
I mean, I still want to kick you in the
ship time.

Speaker 2 (44:51):
But don't get me wrong, Like you could not ask
for a better Like I've seen a lot of morning shows.

Speaker 3 (44:57):
Let's just say.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
We're kind of awesome. So it's so it's been a
really really fun thing for me. And so now to
be a year into this and to be on our
thirty seventh episode and still watching, I mean, it's been
a gradual climb, but we're climbing nonetheless, and that's how
that matters. You know, it's never linear per se, But
I think we're doing a great job. And so that's
my number one, my number two, and I can't say names,

(45:20):
but we had a very special guest come in that
was kind of a lister and it was awesome because
I got to bond with her not so much even
just her, but her twins, and to get to experience
her on a level that was very normal, and to
just be a part of that family for a weekend
and get to show them around the park and to

(45:41):
see them feel for the first time in a really
long time like they could experience a normal sea in
a weekend. And shout out to Michael for coming through
and really helping us out in that it was just
it was wonderful and they were so happy and they
were up on the what are those called paratrooper and
they screamed down, We're coming back every summer and so

(46:05):
and I believe that, I really really do. And so
to know that we can kind of help people from
all aspects.

Speaker 6 (46:10):
Was really cool.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
They wanted to feel normal versus feel special, and that's
what was really really neat about that. But the kiddos
just stole my heart and that was by far one
of my favorite memories of the whole entire summer.

Speaker 5 (46:24):
So yeah, I did remember one more. I had another one.
I was like, I couldn't think of it in the time.
The opening show for the David da Vinci Magic Show. Yeh,
was so much energy in the room and it was
just so much fun to watch that show, and so
I will always remember that.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
I will remember the three of us all standing there
and I looked from face to face and I'm not
kidding you, we were all picking our jaws up off
the floor.

Speaker 6 (46:49):
Because it was like, did he just do that?

Speaker 3 (46:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (46:52):
Did he just do that? Is this crowd really like it?

Speaker 6 (46:54):
Just it was mind blowing.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
So and then to see parad effects grow to how
it and all the hard work. And there's a shout
out too to every single one of those tax that's
working in the TOI. They have have just really been
able to adjust their sales and and just really come
through and long days, long Night's great team in there,
new shows and they just really proved that they can

(47:18):
do anything at all. So shout out to the entertainment
behind the scenes crew. There.

Speaker 5 (47:24):
We have two more that we're gonna do and so
we're gonna have to make these a little faster.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
What we've learned.

Speaker 5 (47:30):
We kind of touched on this, but yeah, Michael, what
did you learn was the biggest thing you learned this here?

Speaker 1 (47:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (47:35):
I think I kind of already nailed it, but like
I think I would just learn that we have such
an amazing leadership team out here and the future super
bright with these people that we have out here making
this such a fun place. And then I also just
kind of learned, like it's really cool what can be
accomplished when multiple departments come together and work together, and
how much it benefits the park and how much it

(47:55):
benefits benefits the guests, and just so many different things
that we've seen too many to name, but there's just
so many like cool opportunities where you just I feel
like our park's getting really connected as a group to
get all these objectives and things done behind the scenes
so that way it shows in an amazing way in
the park for our guests they would have a great time.
And again, I just thought it was just a really

(48:16):
great year and just what can we take from it
for next year? Is really exciting stuff.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
Yeah, would you learn.

Speaker 2 (48:23):
I learned Let's see, well, first I learned what hawking was.
I honestly, this is actually really fun memory for me too,
because I learned a lot from it, just solely from
getting to go out and to help with the parking
and to help people take money do all that stuff,
and to get to experience another side of the park.
I mean, I'm up in the office a lot, or

(48:45):
I'm in the podcast studio or you know, taking photos
or doing so many things, and so to actually kind
of be put out there where I was having a
run back and forth and truly like get immersed in
the chaos. I had a lot of fun first of all,
but it also helped me find a new appreciation I
think for a lot of our seasonal cast members who
go out there and really just like they're working. They

(49:08):
are working. So yeah, if you see a cast member
who looks tired at the end of the day, they're
tired for a reason. And I only did that for
an hour and I felt like I ran a marathon.
I was sore the next day. It was like, wow, Okay.
So I think I learned just to kind of look
at everybody on a level where like, again, everybody's going
through something, so if someone's having a rough day, you know,

(49:30):
just be kind well, And.

Speaker 5 (49:32):
I think that's the thing with Cast and probably anywhere
really is you aren't the first person this person has
told the same thing, has interacted with and so trying
to bring that same energy to every person that steps
in front of you is not always going to be consistent, right,
And so we want it to be as but you'd
have to be a robot to have that happen.

Speaker 6 (49:51):
And we're not a guy. We don't want it.

Speaker 3 (49:52):
We don't want to be a ya No. So yeah,
what did I learned? I think.

Speaker 5 (49:58):
This year obviously presented some challenges that we have talked about,
and I think being able to adjust quickly.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
And a lot was something that we just had to do.

Speaker 5 (50:11):
And it just when you have a good team around
you that is able to also quickly adjust to things
and then maybe quickly adjust back to things. It's just
it actually bonds you closer because you're going through the
same thing and everybody's going through the same thing, and
so I think that's always going to be a learning curve.

(50:31):
I don't think anybody really. Change is always going to
be a more difficult thing. Some people adapt better than others,
but constant change is kind of what happens, especially with
this small season that you have to make the most
out of and now we're heading into scary wood.

Speaker 3 (50:51):
That would be my thing, and.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Just can I just quickly say too and you kind
of learn and I've learned too about this staff over
this last year, is if somebody can only give twenty
percent that day, that everybody is going to adjust, you
know what I mean. It's there's always one hundred percent
given here. And that's what's absolutely amazing is there's such
a great foundation. You know, It's just there's even the
little cracks, it doesn't matter, it's never gonna gonna crumble.

Speaker 6 (51:16):
And that's really really neat.

Speaker 2 (51:17):
You don't see that in a lot of places for sure,
And I can tell you in twenty years in radio
took was one crack and everything fell apart. So to
be a part of such a really cool family, I
learned a lot what it's like to work for a
true family owned and operated. You know that first year
on the volt So.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
That's great, yesome, last one. Here we go.

Speaker 5 (51:39):
What are we looking forward to in twenty twenty six
or even in the more near range, will be scary Wood.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
Yeah, I mean obviously scary Wood.

Speaker 4 (51:49):
I know I'm not sure how much you guys have
talked about it, but yeah, we talked about some new.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Bigger battery stuff coming through Scarywood.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
And right now what I'm kind of doing is trying
to help Jordan with you know, getting him an army,
to a team set up to along with our maintenance
and facilities crew to kind of make the magic come
alive and make it special. And you know, on these
weekdays when we're not open, we're we're getting everything ready
for Scary Wood, and it's so cool. I know people
don't get to see it, but it's so cool to

(52:17):
watch it all come together over a month and stuff.
And maybe one of those years we can show some
of those behind the scenes stuff of all the magic
that kind of goes into it, and what starts out
as just some cardboard on our runway turned into an
amazing haunt. That month and a half later, you're seeing
a thousand people go through screaming their heads off about.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
And it's just really cool to see that.

Speaker 4 (52:36):
And then kind of like one eye on today, one
eye on tomorrow, we're looking at what, you know, projects
are coming up, what do we want to do, what
do we want to be next year, What's something that
we want to clean up to make nicer, what's something
fun we want to add. Like, there's so much that
are on that's on the table, and what all gets
approved and pushed back for the future, I don't know,
but it's kind of building all that up and getting

(52:57):
it ready for the winter and stuff as they're there
is no there is no dead time. There's there's the
time where the guests you know, aren't here. That's just
because we're getting ready for the next season to bring
them back. And so for me, I've kind of learned
over the last couple of years, like there is no
slow down time. It's it's just a different style of
getting everything ready and stuff.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
But I know a lot of stuff that we've.

Speaker 4 (53:16):
Talked about and that's being discussed is really really exciting stuff.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
Can't talk about it like super exciting too.

Speaker 4 (53:22):
And yeah, and I'm just excited to see what this
park continues to grow and look like over the next
few months and years while also maintaining like its culture
and it's it's charm about it that makes it so
special and so unique.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
Yeah, I like that. I mean, you know, I'm looking
forward a scary way. Fruity Pebbles has been waiting for me.
She has just been tucked away in my closet, that
alter ego, and she is ready to attack and say, boop,
what happened so scary?

Speaker 3 (53:49):
What happened yesterday in your office?

Speaker 6 (53:51):
Oh Jordan, you and your bubble?

Speaker 2 (53:53):
But balloons whatever they were, the balloons that we're talking about.
So Jordan, he comes over into my little corner and
he's got two red boons, which red balloons are terrifying anyway,
from someone who used to be afraid of clowns and
now it's a clown, but that red balloon symbolizes just everything,
everything scary. And he puts the two red balloons on
my desk and I'm like, I know what's going to happen,

(54:13):
but is it going to happen? But when's it going
to happen? And what's going to happen? And so these
balloons are just sitting there and all of a sudden,
boom boom. Yeah, it was just giddy and he's so
excited and awesome, really really cool. I'm not gonna lie.
So yeah, just things like that coming together and got
some fun stuff. I mean, I don't know what I'm
allowed to say, but in the theater illusion that's going

(54:34):
to be happening during Scary Wood and just getting to
be a part of getting the ads ready. You know,
we were doing our commercial shoots and getting to have
our our zombie and our clown and and can I
just shout out if you guys missed are what what is?
What is Keith's cloud name? Flip flop flip flop? So

(54:55):
if you guys missed flip flops uh flop really throwing
out the first pitch of the Spoken Indians. You can
find that on our Instagram.

Speaker 3 (55:05):
You are everything magical.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
It is the greatest thing I've ever seen. And that
poor uh catcher, he had no idea what was coming.
So if you want to see an embarrassing moment for
the Catcher of the Spoken Indians, you got to check
that out.

Speaker 3 (55:17):
Did you say it?

Speaker 2 (55:19):
You have to see it. So just that preview of
what's to come. And you know, I love scary woods,
So that's my first thing I'm looking forward to. But
then you know, I've got my first full season.

Speaker 6 (55:29):
Under my belt.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
I've got a half a season under my belt, and
now to be able to go in just fully knowledgeable
of the first six months, last six months and really
just I've got so many but Redride, so many changes
that I want to see kind of happen. And it
was so much smoother this year. There's another success than
it was the previous year. And so to see how
things have kind of what direction we need to go.

(55:52):
So that's what I'm excited about, is just to see joy.

Speaker 5 (55:58):
Yeah, I think for me, I'm definitely looking forward to
scare it. As these haunts start to come together out
on the runway, they look really really cool, So just
continue to tweak that and we'll continue to get to
training and all that stuff. So all that's kind of
coming together. But in twenty twenty six, I mean, I
think there's a lot, like you said that it's on
the table that could be coming. I think the one

(56:20):
thing I really enjoy doing is once the season closes
is going through all the details of the surveys and
all that stuff and say, Okay, where can we improve
what can we do to make this a better experience
for everybody? And so that kind of happens in this
November December timeframe. But I mean we've started early with
some of these ideas, and as that evolves and goes

(56:42):
through the approval process, then we'll go into like the
real fun stuff, which is like the creation.

Speaker 6 (56:47):
Ofty is the best part.

Speaker 5 (56:49):
So I mean, we learned a lot this year, and
we want to bring that forward to twenty twenty six.
I wish I could say a lot more, but like
I said, that'll be coming for for a future episode
once we once we get everything approved.

Speaker 2 (57:07):
Wait are we starting season two after this?

Speaker 3 (57:08):
Season two starts after this?

Speaker 2 (57:11):
I just got goosebumps again. Don't make fun of me.

Speaker 6 (57:13):
I know I always get goosebumps and little lump in
my throat.

Speaker 3 (57:15):
Tell me when you don't have goosebumps.

Speaker 2 (57:17):
That I'm excited about everything. So yes, how could you
not be We get to work at a theme park
for a living. You guys, this is the most exciting
thing in the world. So if you don't have goosewumps
every day, you know you're doing it wrong.

Speaker 7 (57:30):
Right.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
So thank you to everybody too that came out this season.
A huge thank you. We're gonna wrap things up, yeah,
so uh make sure to sign up to be a
loyal listener for season two. We could be calling you
with your chance to win of hair tickets and up
to seventy five dollars in silver wooded cash. You can
do that at silverwoodthemepark dot com Slash podcast. Thanks for
coming out for twenty twenty five. We still got four

(57:52):
weekends left. Then it's Scarywood. Get your tickets and we
will see you soon. And that's a wrap on this
week's ride. Thanks for tuning in to the Silverwood Show.
If you had a blast to make sure to subscribe,
leave us a review and share the fun with your
fellow thrill seekers. Got a question, story, or suggestion, send
it our way to podcast at silverwood themepark dot com

(58:14):
for a chance to be featured in our mail train segment.
Until next time, keep your hands and feet inside the
podcast and stay thrilling.

Speaker 3 (58:23):
What God, God Come?

Speaker 7 (58:26):
Time that fun