For those who want to celebrate and pop the cork, the Coeur d'Alene area's Silverwood Theme Park soon will have the Corkscrew.
The Corkscrew is a roller coaster coming to Silverwood from Knott's Berry Farm in California, where the ride has been a popular attraction.Silverwood owner Gary Norton took a ride on the roller coaster and decided to spend $250,000 on it for his 1990 season, beginning next June 15. The Corkscrew will shut down Sunday at Knott's Berry Farm, and crews will immediately start to dissasemble it.
The roller coaster is 1,200 feet long, 70 feet high, and travels at a speed of 47 mph.
When Silverwood reopens in June, the ride may have a new name, but it will still have the same scary revolutions, general manager Richard Anderson said. And it will be only one of 12 amusement rides scheduled to be on-line on that date.
Anderson also has purchased a log flume ride from Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, and an antique carousel from western Washington that was once used to entertain children on the grounds of Medical Lake Hospital.
There were 120,000 guests at Silverwood during its 1988 season. The park features all kinds of vintage aircraft and trains.