Travel NW – Silverwood Theme Park – our trip, plus enter to win TWO tickets! ($86 value)

My husband and son on the Log Flume ride. Do you think they’re having fun?

Water slides, roller coasters, kiddie rides, kiddie slides, sunshine and smiles that just won’t quit – that pretty much sums up our day at Silverwood Theme Park in Northern Idaho last weekend. The entire family had a blast – from the minute the park opened until the kids were so worn out from the fun that we had to carry them to the car.

This place has it all. You’d be hard pressed to NOT find something you’d enjoy. I especially loved that it had great options for the younger kids – my two-year-old had as much fun as the five-year-old because there were age appropriate activities for them both – and they are well intermixed.

Saving money at Silverwood:

Saving on Admission – Northwest Costco stores sell adult tickets for $35.99 (reg. $43.99) and a children’s ticket (3-7 years) for $17.95 (reg. $21.95). If you’re not a Costco member you can save some by buying your tickets online, ahead of time.

If we would have been in town an extra day, I totally would have went for the 2- or 3-day pass. You save 20-25% off and the park could easily entertain you for three straight days – dawn to dusk. 🙂

If you combine a few families and can come up with at least 15 people, Silverwood offers Group Discounts. And of course if you live close enough, season tickets could easily pay for themselves!

Saving on food and drinks – Start the day off with a big breakfast. Outside food is not allowed in the park, but my kids were having so much fun – it was all I could do to get them to stop and eat! We brought water bottles and kept them filled up from the water fountains – stay hydrated! I was surprised at how reasonable the park food prices were. They weren’t rock bottom prices, but it certainly wasn’t as expensive as other places. I got a ginormous chicken taco salad, with soda for $6.95 – big enough for two people. The kids got personal sized pizzas for about $6.

If you drink soda, you can get a refillable souvenir soda cup for about $8. You can refill it all day – most concession stands have a separate line just for drink refills. But if you can make it with just water for the day – that’s the best bet especially on hot days!

Mid-afternoon and they were exhausted! Ice cream hit the spot.

I recommend budgeting about $10 a person for food – for the day. That includes about $7 for a meal, plus $3 for an extra treat like an ice cream cone or cotton candy. We stopped by the Ice Cream Parlor (pink building, near games) and we got HUGE ice cream cones for about $3.50 each. They claim to be single scoop, but they were the biggest scoops we’ve ever seen and we ended up sharing one cone between two people.

Save on parking, carpool! – Parking is $4 a car, so if you’re going with other families, try and carpool and limit the number of vehicles you are bringing.

Other great Silverwood tips

Shaded areas are prime real estate at Silverwood. Find a spot and make it your homebase.

Get there early! My aunt (who lives in Northern Idaho) suggested this and I’m so glad. The park opened at 11 a.m. but we were there around 10:15. We got our tickets and then stood in line for the water park – and there was already a line at 10:15! While we waited in line we applied sunblock on all the kids. Getting in line early is good because especially on hot days you can get into the water park and find a place in the shade – prime real estate on HOT days. Get a good spot and use it as “home base” where you can keep your bags. Right inside the water park is Polliwog Park one of my favorite places for my kids. There were things to do for both the kids and we probably could have stayed here all day!

Pack life jackets, sunblock, swim diapers, towels, sun hats – We packed life jackets but they already had them in the park (they only allow U.S. Coast Guard approved flotation devices, if you bring your own). Our favorite are these puddle jumpers (see on Amazon Stearns Kids Puddle Jumper Deluxe Life Jacket) – our five-year-old still wears them and they are great for being able to move around and still float. If you’re little one is still in diapers – make sure and pack swim diapers (Pampers Splashers Size 3-4 Disposable Swim Pants 24 Count) – they are required! And pack plenty of sunblock – you’ll need to reapply it all day long!

Bring a change of clothes, sturdy shoes for rides – We spent the morning at the water park (before it got too hot) and then we changed out of our swimsuits into a change of clothes for the amusement park section! You can’t wear your swimsuits on the rides- so bring a change of clothes and shoes.

Here are some photos from our day:

Once you’re in the park all the rides and water slides are free, they are included with your admission. I found there were lots of rides for all age groups. My son went on the Frog Hopper ride with his second cousin, age seven. They both enjoyed the rides!

My daughter, who just turned two-years-old, even enjoyed the rides with her three-year-old cousin! They had lots of options to choose from for the kids.

So glad we packed a stroller because this was the scene by the end of the day! My husband carried my son to the car – they were wiped out after all the fun.

Wanna go?  ENTER to win two Silverwood passes, good for any age (value of $83).
Silverwood generously gave me two extra passes to giveaway to a lucky Queen Bee reader!

How to enter – There are a MAXIMUM of four (4) entries possible. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry – because each comment is considered one entry. Do not comment in the Facebook comment area (I’m trying to remove that), but where it says Leave a Comment below.

1. REQUIRED ENTRY – Leave a comment on this post. Tell me what you think you’d enjoy most at Silverwood Park or share some tips for making the most of your time/money at amusement parks.
2. Head over to Queen Bee Coupons Facebook and “like” us. If you’re already a Facebook fan, share the giveaway with your friends by posting it on your wall. (If you aren’t seeing Queen Bee Facebook updates in your feed, you may need to comment or “like” a post every once in while). Leave a separate comment on this post saying you did this.
3. Sign up for Queen Bee Coupons daily email and leave a comment telling me you did this. If you already subscribe, leave a comment saying so.
4. Follow Queen Bee Coupons on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway.  Tweet something like:
   Win two tickets to Silverwood Theme Park @silverwood4fun @QueenBeeCoupons – http://wp.me/pFgsr-iW6
   Leave a comment and let me know you tweeted.

Disclosure: Silverwood Theme Park provided complimentary tickets to my family, so we could try out the park and report back to you. All thoughts, opinions and suggestions are solely mine. Silverwood also graciously gave us two extra tickets to giveaway to two lucky readers!