Yesterday (Sunday, 9/28) was the last day of Silverwood being open, so Evanna and mom were planning on visiting and taking a couple friends. In talking about the scheduling, I realized I had not posted about my last visit to Silverwood with Evanna on 8/30.
Frankly it was because our incident just felt like more of the same of what we’ve experienced at Silverwood this season (here, here, here, and here–though not in chronological order–and it felt like anything else I posted would just be beating the metaphorical dead horse. My intent is not to dump on Silverwood, but make them–and the public when Silverwood doesn’t respond–aware of the issues. From my perspective, over the course of the entire season, it seems to be either a focus or training change related to accessibility.
This one was more dangerous though. By a lot.
After a couple seasons of talking about the Log Flume, Evanna decided she wanted to try it.
The pictures I took don’t show it well, but the layout of the loading/unloading area inside is this: the waterway splits into two areas to alternate loading and unloading. The normal area for loading and unloading is in front of us in the picture a bit, with the right lane loading/unloading from the right side, and the left one from the area between the two lanes. This detail is important in a bit.
The handicap loading/unloading area is on the right side, back a bit from the regular line, with a gate that opens to allow access, and an area that allows a rider to stash their wheelchair or other devices. Note of high importance: the handicap area is ONLY on the right, and can only load/unload from the right lane.
All went relatively well. We boarded and rode. But at the end of the ride, our car was directed to the LEFT lane. So we did the only thing we could do at the time: we unloaded, and waited in that center area between lanes for the attendant. And waited…and waited, holding Evanna, since her wheelchair was across a water lane from where we were, with no way of crossing. He gave no direction, provided no solution…just kept going, leaving us stranded.
After several sets of riders had gone through, a boat was stopped at the handicap area, so I yelled out to him, exasperated, if I could walk across the boat to get to her wheelchair. He opened the gate to allow, and we did, nearly losing my balance doing so.
This incident kinda sums up our Silverwood season. I don’t know what exactly changed or who directed the changes, but I do know that there were changes, and those changes had an impact on Evanna and her desire to visit…and I’m not sure she even picked up on a lot of the changes, or the words that were insensitive or uncaring, or Silverwood’s social media choosing instead of responding to one of the first incidences that I posted about on IG to just block me from tagging them. But I did.
And I can say that unless something major changes, we will not be getting season passes for the 2026 season (after having them the previous four seasons).
