Despite my initial reservations, I ended up having a great time at this theme park. I usually detest theme parks because they involve standing in long lines all day in the hot sun. Surprisingly, the lines here were pretty short. We attended on a Saturday in late May. Average line length was probably 10 min. on the short end, 30 min. on the long end. (I was just a chaperone on a student band trip, so kind of an adult in the background. As such, rides weren't my main priority but rather survival.)

I found the following attractions enjoyable:

• The train ride. It follows an amusing loop through mining locations and wildlife, etc., but the fun part is the on-train character hosts who not only narrate the tour but engage in some "off-script" shooting contests and shenanigans.

• The magic show. I was expecting a cheesy kids magic show. Was blown away by the level of magic here. It felt like something you might see in Las Vegas, with people and objects disappearing/reappearing in ways that mesmerized me. It was just as entertaining for adults as children, with the added bonus of being in a cool, dark theatre.

Our large group (120 band students) performed on a lawn and had lunch in pavilions by the chuckwagon. The pavilions worked well, but the concert lawn was removed from the main park attractions and isolated from the rest of the park, weirdly enough. As such, guests likely don't see/enjoy the performers, just parents. I would recommend having band concerts play in the entry way where people pool up before the gates open (nothing else to do there but enjoy the show) or somewhere closer to attractions so that passing guests can enjoy the music and so that band performers can feel more seen. How about near some of the eatery places, so that park guests sitting down to eat can enjoy some music.

Additionally, the parents have to sit on an open lawn, baking in the sun, to watch. How about including an awning there? I swear I nearly died in the sun trying to record my daughter playing the saxophone.

Finally, just a comment on Mainstreet USA, which is like a Disneyland clone here. It's fine to look to the past (e.g., 1890-1910) and reflect fondly about a time when life was simpler and more wholesome/enjoyable, but recognize that this nostalgia is a psychological delusion. The selective history ignores the racial segregation, immigrant exploitation, suppression of female votes/voices, emerging industrial revolution that changed cities into squalid factories, and other hardships of the time.

It's common for each generation to look nostalgically at the past, and it was the same for people of this same 1890-1910 time period, who romanticized the country life and quiet gardens in contrast to emerging factory lives. These little towns lack economic strength to survive; they all become economically stagnate and depressed over time. The never-ending ragtime music is wearingly cliche. Scott Joplin is played non-stop on all speakers from dawn to dusk here. How about mixing up the music a bit more?

In the train station near the train ride, there's a newspaper you can read. I hoped that it might be a real newspaper with events from the time. Sadly, it was just hidden advertisements for the candy store and ice cream shop, with some references to sasquatch citings. I recommend that Silverwood take a more balanced view of history and provide a replica of an actual newspaper of the time. Sure, escapism and imagining a fictitious town is fun for a moment, but most people prefer to pepper in their amusement with a more historical learning.