While larger amusement parks fail miserably in this economy (the Six Flags corporation is currently struggling with bankruptcy), Tofte's forest is doing just fine, thankyouverymuch. WHAT?), and accomplishes exactly what the classic roadside attraction is supposed to accomplish: It transports you inside another person's dream. It's good, clean summertime fun that's surprisingly inexpensive (only $9.95 admission? Wait. It's Disneyland-without the suffocating morality. It's got a log ride, a chili-infested snack bar menu, amazingly awesome souvenirs, and one of the best rides ever created: the Challenge of Mondor. And Peter Pumpkin Eater's imprisonment of his wife in a pumpkin shell? Let's just say that attractions such as this give the modern thinker pause.Įnchanted Forest features punny jokes alongside almost panic-inducing mazes cute animatronic squirrels alongside unsettlingly hot teenage employees. Alice-making her way through Wonderland-stares accusingly at the hookah-smoking caterpillar. Adorable dwarves live in spitting distance of haggish witches. Tofte's representations of classic fairytale characters are closer in tone to the original stories-which means while there may be an abundance of whimsy, there's also an undercurrent of dread. There, the squeaky cleanliness and ostentatious perfection creates an unsettling distance. I'd always had a big interest in art-so I figured, 'Why not?'"Īnd rest assured, you won't find this level of DIY craftsmanship at Disneyland. "I'd seen a few little parks," Tofte told the Mercury, "but they weren't very impressive. In the early '60s, Tofte was a father of four, and realized that there wasn't much "family entertainment" in the Salem area. What sets the Enchanted Forest apart from its bigger and better-financed competition (think Disneyland and Six Flags) is obvious from the get-go: It was lovingly created and built by the creative and detailed hand of Roger Tofte and his family. In 1971, Tofte opened "Enchanted Forest"-a small-ish fairy tale-themed park situated on a rolling hillside just a scootch south of Salem. But instead of working in oils, watercolors, or clay, his medium is the amusement park. Seventy-nine-year-old Roger Tofte is an artist. However, while everyone's scrounging around looking for what's best in Portland year after year, we often forget that behind what's proclaimed as "the best" is a person. ANNUAL "BEST OF" FEATURES in newspapers and magazines make money-and there ain't nothing wrong with that.
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