Budget Friendly Vacation to Silverwood Theme Park

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Looking for a vacation that won’t break the bank?  This year we decided to go on a road trip to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho.  We wanted to have a nice family vacation where we could do something that everyone in the family would enjoy.    Silverwood is not too far of a drive from the Seattle area, it was just under six hour drive for us.    They have a huge water and amusement park that all ages can enjoy.

Where to we stayed:  Silverwood RV Park (3 nights lodging cost 84.00)

A great way to save money is to camp.  We stayed at the Silverwood RV Park, the camp sites are 28.00 for the tent sites, and 60.00 for the RV spots with full hook up.  We decided to stay at Silverwood RV Park for three main reason:

1. We have three boys with a broad age range, the two older boys are 12 and 14 and the youngest is 4.  I really liked the idea of being so close to the park (just a short walk) so the two older boys could stay at the Silverwood when the 4 year old gets tuckered out and needs a break.
2. I also liked the idea of being able to walk back to the campsite for meals and not being required to eat at the park.  There were times we eat out and I have to say Silverwood has done great in offering lots of food option at a very reasonable rate, our family of five was able to get a full meals including drinks for under 30.00.
3. We went to the park during the 4th of July, so we wanted to be able to see and enjoy fireworks from our campsite.

When we arrived we were greeting by the very friendly staff, checked in and off we went to find our camp site.  When we found our site, somebody was actually in our spot.    So we went to the front desk, talked to the staff and they promptly found a solution.  We were given a couple options for spots and have to say it was a better option then our original site.  We had heard that this RV park had some draw backs such as no campfires allowed (which I not going to lie was kind of a bummer),  but I knew this when I booked the site because it is mentioned on their website.   I had also heard that it can be a bit loud because it was located near busy roads.   The noise was not bad at all and we had no problem sleeping.    The tent sites are a bit small and they only allow one tent.  The park had a store with for coffee and supplies, and two buildings with bathrooms and couple showers (one MUST have showers when camping).    We had a great time staying here and would recommend it for a short stay.  If you have plans for a longer vacation you might stay here for the Silverwood portion of your trip, then move to one of the other parks for the remainder of your trip.

Bonus: If you stay at the Silverwood RV Park, they offer discount tickets to the park for only 39.99 per person and 19.95 for 7 and under and seniors. This is a couple dollars cheaper per ticket then the discounted price on the Silverwood website.

Other Lodging Options:

Farrugut State Park – This is a very large campground with lots of things to do such as hiking trails, play grounds, frisbee fields and swimming in the lake.  From what I understand the campsites are a nice size and you can have open campfires.  It is less then 10 minute drive to the Silverwood Theme Park.   It has bathrooms and showers.  There per night fees are 28.00.

Lake Coeur d’ Alene Camping resort – This campground also has lots of the activities such as hiking, biking,  boating, fishing and swimming in the pool, game room, laundry and a store.  This campground has full hook-up for RV’s ad nice large camp sites for tents,  They also have cabins if you don’t like sleeping in tents.  They do have a two night minimum stay required.    The cabins start at 70.00,  RV Sites at 40.00, tent sites 32.00.  They do not allow pets,  and you can have an open fire.

Not the camping type:  There are lots of places to stay in the Coeur d’Alene or surrounding areas.

What we ate: (food cost 200.00)

Because we were camping were were able to make most of our meals,  so our cost was not much more then our normal grocery budget for five days.  We went out a couple times,  and splurged on goodies and snacks at the park.   I brought about 100.00 worth of groceries  for the five days, and spent 100.00 eating out and snacks.

Travel expense:  (Cost of gas for mid-size SUV $150.00)

We used about 40 gallons of gas to get to Silverwood and back home.

Sliverwood Park tickets:  (Two day pass cost for family of 5 – $330.00)

I recommend a two day pass, which will give you one day for water park (which is only open for about 6 -8 hours) and the rest of the time in the amusement park.  If you are on more of a conservative budget you can fit a lot in in one day and enjoy some other activities in the area such as hiking,  swimming,  and enjoying the outdoors.

Here are some places where you can get discount tickets to Silverwood Theme Park:

• Local Costco in Coeur d’ Alene (I have found them at my Seattle area Costco too)
• On the Silverwood website (cheaper than buying tickets at the gate)
• Your hotel or RV park may offer discounted tickets
• If you are not sure you want a one day or two,  you can buy a one day then on the day you go,  go into any retail store and ask for a hop back pass for the second day it will be half the price of the full day single fair.

I had never been to Silverwood before and was not sure what to expect, we went on what I figured would be a very busy weekend (4th of July) and I was expecting to deal with long lines and big crowds.  I was delightfully surprised!  We got a two-day pass and spent our first day (July 3rd) at the amusement park.  It was amazing, there were no lines and lots of room to move about.

There were rides for all ages!   My older boys had a blast on Aftershock, Spin Cycle and Tremers.  My little guy had a great time on the little kiddie rides.  The train ride was very cool and entertaining for the whole family.

They have a magic show that was short but impressive.   We enjoyed the main street with shopping, and lots of treats as well as places to get meals.  I was really impressed with the prices for the merchandize and the food they offered.   Everything was extremely reasonable.     My older boys both got nice sweatshirts.  The most expensive sweatshirt was around $35 but the average was about $25.  We found the employees to be both helpful and friendly.

On the second day July 4th (which I understand is one of their busier days) it was much more crowded but still very enjoyably.  We started out at Boulder Beach for the first part of the day.  We didn’t get there until about noon and all the chairs were taken.  If you go to the water park, make sure you go early enough to get a chair you can use for the day.  You also have an option of renting a private cabana for 143.00.   If you want any shade to get out of the heat I would recommend these, they were very nice.   My older boys spent a good amout of time on the slides and wave pools, and they loved it.   The wait time was about 30 minutes on the high demand slides, but for one of the busiest days of they year, it didn’t seem too bad.

I went on the lazy river with my 4 year old and we had a great time relaxing in the sun,  you can float up to a place that sells frozen drinks and drift on the lazy river with a yummy and refreshing beverage.

The rest of the day we spend back at the amusement park and it was definetly more cowed than the day before, but the lines were still very reasonable,  with the longest wait time at about 30 minutes for the3  most desirable rides.   Several rides had no wait times at all even with the larger crowds.

At 10:00 pm the park had a firework show for the 4th of July,  it was amazing and quite long.   It could easily compared to our local Seattle show.  We could see it from the edge of the RV park, in the grassy area.

Overall, I’d say this park rocks!   Our family had and absolute blast and we will definitely be going again, I love that it’s close enough to home that it only takes a half a day to get there.  This was an amazing trip our family will not soon forget.  It was fun and very affordable, its a place that just about any family can afford.     Two thumbs up from us!

I was given admission tickets for my family in exchange for an honest review.   All thoughts and opinions are my own.