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Photo TR: Enchanted Forest, Oaks Park and Thrill-ville USA


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This PTR is a little late, but, better late than never............ On Father's Day, my family and I decided to get totally crazy and hit every single theme park in the state of Oregon! That's right people, all two of them. Well, three if you count the now defunct Thrill-ville USA.

 

First stop was Enchanted Forest. This is a pretty groovy little park about an hours drive south of Portland. It is located right off I-5 and if you blink you'd miss it as you drive by. Most of the park is made up of walk through attractions with a few "larger" rides. A really great log flume, an interesting interactive dark ride, and probably one of the strangest coasters on the planet. I tried to get a good selection of pictures showing a lot of what this park has since it is rarely seen by most people. Enjoy!

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It's amazing how fast a ride can deteriorate when it is just left sitting.

 

Anyway, that is all there is of Thrill-ville. It was basically just a few rides plopped down in a parking lot so no big loss, IMO. I do hope The Ripper survieves, though.

 

Up next, Oaks Park..........

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A few final shots of The Ripper.

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Giant slide and Rock O Plane.

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There's a kiddie coaster credit I never got back there.

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Partially dismanteled rides.

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A look towards the back of the park where the go cart track and water slides are.

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Looking down from the road.

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The Ripper. Hopefully this will find a home somewhere.

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As we left, I took a few pictures of Thrill-ville USA. Or what's left of it.

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So that wraps up our day at Enchanted Forest. We always have fun at this park even though it is small.

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Glad we got those ponchos.

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And the final drop!

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Down a small water fall before heading to the "coaster" section of the ride.

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Then you wind around through the forest a bit.

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Inside the saw mill.

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Credit? RCDB counts it, Coaster Fanatics counts it, and we all know Jeff would count it, so I'm counting it, too! Look at my freakin ride list people. I need all the credits I can get.

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Up the lift into the saw mill.

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They even provide you with FREE ponchos. It wasn't very hot and you do get wet so we were more than happy to use them.

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And finally we finish the day with their log flume. One of the best I have ever been on.

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It is one of them super cool trackless rides. Not sure who made it. Sally maybe? I know everything you see inside the ride was done in house as almost everything in this park is.

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Now we head over to English Village for Challenge of Mondor.

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And finally you pass back by the mountain and then over some of the park and into the station. It really is an interesting coaster and more exciting than it looks.

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Then it's up the second lift hill.

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Some low to the ground bits.

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This coaster litterally travels "through the trees".

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Leaving the mountain the ride pics up speed.

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Up the lift and into the mountain. You travel briefly through an icy cave and then exit the mountain out into the forest which just so happens to be enchanted.

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In this picture you can see how there used to be two tracks. They turned the old second lift hill into a waterfall.

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Of course we rode it again so I could get a proper lift hill POV. I had to stick the camera lense through one of the holes.

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The view going up the lift hill on our first ride.

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Ellie and I are safe and sound. No need for that silly warning about keeping your arms inside the vehicle at all times on this coaster.

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First you get into your pod.

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Alright, time for Ice Mountain Bobsleds!

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Now who wants their picture taken with some stupid mouse when they could dress up and get a picure with Abe Lincoln?

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Shooting things is always fun!

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that lead to more slides!

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More caves...

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It is one of best haunted houses I have been through.

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The best part of Tofteville is the haunted house.

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Tofteville is their western town. Lots of people in the park as you can see.

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Next up is Tofteville

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A slide, of course!

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Just about to wrap up Story Book Lane. What could be inside that shoe? (besides a little old woman)

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You can get some interesting pictures in here.

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The crooked house!

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Someone needs a pair of tweezers. Seriously, I wonder how many little kids have had nightmares because to this thing.

 

"O'kay kids, just walk into that evil witch's mouth. There is nothing to scared of. It'll be fun!"

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One of the many caves you encounter along your journey. This one is the seven dwarf's mine.

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Pretty high tech stuff here.

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Three bears cottage.

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They eve left fallen trees that you have to duck under while winding through Story Book Lane.

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As you can see, Enchanted Forest is quite litterally in the middle of a forest. They cut out and trimmed back a little as possible when building this park.

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A small but fun maze. This park is great for kids as it has many tunnels, mazes, caves and slides.

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And out the key hole.

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Into the rabit hole.....

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Yay, candy!

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Now through the castle and into Story Book Lane. Yeah, that's not creepy.

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Wait, are we at Enchanted Forest or one of Dave and Falefel's favorite miniature golf courses?

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Inside, the "not much bigger than Disneyland's" castle is the first thing you see. Through the castle awaits Story Book Lane.

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As you can see the place was packed when we got there. This is pretty much all of the park you can see as you drive by.

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This is the sign that tells you your in the right place.

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The Haunted House and the Ice Mountain Bobsleds are two of the main reasons this little park is a great visit!

 

Did you get to see the Dancing Waters show, too? It's nothing spectacular, but it's a sweet little show, and a nice rest stop during your day there...

 

But every time I see pix of Thrillville-USA, I kick myself, knowing the number of times I went to Enchanted Forest, I "could of" just wandered over there and get myself a couple more cedits...

 

Oh well.

 

Thanks for sharing your great day at the Forest. And a look at what's left of (sniff) the other park.

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Thank you for being kind to my old stomping ground. I just kills me to see Thrill-Ville looking like this. What really worries me is that is someone doesn't pick up the Ripper soon it's going to go to the scrap yard!

 

I haven't had the time or the heart to go out, silly, but I just can't bring myself to go out. I am glad I had the chance to run the park for as long as I did, I had some good times there, got to go to IAAPA many times, meet a lot of great people whilst working there.

 

Ed Roberts

Former GM Thrill-Ville USA

www.nightmarefactorysalem.com

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Very nice Photo TR of a park that I've been wanting to visit, but...as always...never seemed to find the time.

 

I rode The Ripper back in 1989 when it was still at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. And I've always wanted to ride the Ice Mountain Bobsled because it looked like a fun little coaster.

 

But I had no idea that the park had a log flume like that. It looks like a great little place. Hopefully most of the rides---especially the unique ones---will find a new home.

 

Eric

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Great TR. The Enchanted Forest seems like a really cool park. Very unique, especially with that bobsled ride and log flume. It seems to give off a very "personal" feel. It's great how they seem to have made it a point to keep the greenery around it intact.

As for Thrill-Ville...always sad to see a park past it's heyday .

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Yay for Enchanted Forest and Thrillsville!! I used to live in Corvallis; we hit the Enchanted Forest one summer day. I have to say, it's not a bad park ,especially for those in the 5-12 age range. Ice Mountain is one strange coaster, a bit of a terrain coaster with a little Space Mountain thrown in. Yes, the haunted house was surprisingly good (and old-school). Even had the musty smell down pat! And Thrillsville- too bad. I just rode the Ripper, a very fun if scary mouse-like coaster. I think it was starting to fade even when I rode it in 2004; it had noticeable rust all around, squeaking, and crazy sounds. Didn't do much else at Thrillsville. Oregon could sure use another theme park. I suppose there is the Enchanted Village/Wild Waves up in Sea-Tac.... .

 

Didn't ever go to Oaks Park. How was that?

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Holy crap!

Thanks for this trip awesome trip report.

I had been to Enchanted Forrest/Thrillsville about 8 years ago, when I lived in Oregon, and remember it being the best thing since sliced bread!

Just the theming was amazing, and to this day I like any type of walkthroughs, so I was in heaven.

Also, I remember being scared out of my mind on a ride at Thrillsville, my change flying everywhere, and my mother yelling STOP THE RIDE!

Ahh, this brings back memories.

Again, thanks!

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Enchanted Forest is a really nice little park. Thrill-ville was, well, a carnival that set up next to it.

 

Oddly enough, Thrill-Ville USA was there in some configuration or another for 25 plus years, maybe more, heck I worked there for 16 years.

 

And while I do not disagree it looked to many as though it was a roadside carnival. Many of the ride can be found at the a carnival, when I was there we did a lot to make it more than just a trap...

 

Love, care, customer care, good eats, things that are not found in many of your big theme parks.

 

True Enchanted Forest is special, no denying that the Toftee family has put tons of creativity into this real hidden gem. We love taking the kids there when we have the time.

 

Ed

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Here is a link to my Enchanted Forest video form a couple years ago http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33039 Thought some of you might enjoy seeing some video of this park.

 

So moving on to Oaks Park. We were at EF for all of maybe two hours. We stopped for lunch on the drive up to Oaks and arrived at about 1pm. Oaks Park is even smaller than EF but it is a lot older and has a bit more history to it. I actually did a fairly detailed PTR of this park last year so I'll keep this one short and sweet. After Oaks we headed into downtown Portland for a while, got some diner and then headed back home.

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The kids decided to get a picture with this creepy statue of one of Portland's former mayors.

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We made it across the bride without jumping. Looking back at some of the Portland skyline.

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24 hour suicide counseling. I wonder if that sign has ever actually stopped someone from jumping. I'm thinking no.

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And looking North. That first bridge you see would be our part of our return route.

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Looking South from the start of our journey.

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One of Portland's nick names is "bridge town". The Willamette river runs through the middle of Portland and there are a lot of bridges. We decided to walk across this one.

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So after we finished at Oaks we headed down to the water front and then decided we'd go for a walk around some of downtown since it was such a nice day.

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So that pretty much sums up Oaks Park. We certainly do not have much a selection when it comes to theme parks here in the Pacific Northwest but I guess what we do have is actually pretty unique.

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A miniature train travels around the picnic area.

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A lot of people come here just to picnic. I actually took this picture last year if your wondering where the sun and the people went.

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They also have an old dance hall that I have never been in.

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In front of the skating rink and looking down the midway you can just about see the entire park. There is no admission to get in and an all day rist band is only 14 bucks (mine was free because it was Fathers Day) so it is really a pretty inexpensive visit. Worth doing of you happen to find yourself in Portland, OR.

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A look inside.

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Every park needs a little safe, wholesome, family fun, don't you think?

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But it is most known for its old roller skating rink.

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For the true theme park geek, Oaks is really about two things. One is the classic scooters.

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Screamin Eagle is great. I love these things!

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This part is kinda smooth. The rest, not so much.

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Poor innocent children.

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Speaking of excited! Who wouldn't be excited to ride one of these?

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As you can see we are VERY excited to have a disco at our home park.

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The disco hadn't been installed yet on our Fathers Day trip last year.

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The Rock O Plane may be in danger at Thrill-ville but it is still up and running here. This thing has been here since I was a kid.

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Oaks Park this way.

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Continuing on.........

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So that was may Father's Day and it was a great one! Hope you all enjoyed the pics!

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Ah, but today I'm feeling like a nice cold Margarita.

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Even our table is BACT approved.

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And finally, we stop for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

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It rains so much here, even the statues have umbrellas.

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Tried to get an artsy pic from Pioneer Courthouse Square. I think it turned out pretty decent.

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Beaver.

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And a few blocks down we pass another of my favorite places to have a beer in Portland. BACT will appreciate both of those pics.

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Heading into downtown we pass one of my favorite places to have a beer in Portland.

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Looking back now from the second bridge at the first on we crossed.

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We've been thinking about making the trek down to Oregon for these parks but now, without the 3rd park, we can't decide if it's worth the gas money. What do you think? I've always wondered about that haunted house too... is it a walk through or a ride through?

 

Thanks for the help!

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^ If you felt it was worth the trip before, then Thrill-ville being closed shouldn't change how you feel. Not to say anything against Thrill-ville, but I have seen larger traveling carnivals. The Ripper was a nice little coaster and the park was worth a stop if you were already there doing Enchanted Forest.

 

The haunted house is a walk through and is a lot of fun. It is kind of hard for me to give a recommendation for EF because I have been going there since I was a very small child. I don't even have any memory of my first few visits. I really love the park and it is VERY unique. I haven't been to as many parks as a lot of the members of this sit, but I read nearly every trip report posted, and I think I can safely say that there really isn't any park like it in the US. Having said that, if you REALLY took your time and did everything in the park, including multiple rides on the coaster, dark ride, and log flume, it would still be a half day park, at best.

 

Oaks is also a very small park but it is just a few minutes out of Downtown Portland. I would recommend the trip just to do some site seeing in Portland as it is one of the best larger cities I have ever seen in terms of things to see and do in a very condensed area.

 

Hope that helps.

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Enchanted Forest is a very unique park in a very nice setting. We visited the park once in the mid 90s. It was a fun time for us then and it looks like it's gotten even better since. Thanks for posting the TR.

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  • 8 months later...

We really like this park, low tech, easy to watch the children without losing them, and low cost for a days fun. We have been to Enchanted Forest Many Times, as a young adult, with our children, and now as older adults with our grandchildren, and hopefully someday with our great grandchildren. We go next week. I am glad to see that much is the same. It seems only a few items have changed. The little thrill park outside was never an interest to us. The rollarcoaster was just like something called the Mouse at the Beach in SF, that I rode when a child. I will report back when I get new info. I will have photos. Thanks for whoever did this site.

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