Enchanted Forest theme park owners struggle to survive the pandemic

For nearly half a century, Enchanted Forest has been the backdrop to countless childhood memories for Oregonians.

In a normal year, the family-owned fairytale theme park welcomes close to 200,000 people. But amid surging coronavirus cases and stringent restrictions, the park was forced to close early. Fearing the closure would remain permanent, founder Roger Tofte and his daughters-turned-managers Susan Vaslev and Mary Tofte resorted to crowdfunding. The call to action seems to have worked: more than 6,500 donors have given more than $360,000 toward the park’s survival.

The Tofte family joined OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to talk about the financial hardships of keeping the Enchanted Forest park alive amid the pandemic.

“We were a thriving family business before — we had no debt, the park was full all the time,” Vaslev said. “About a week before March 19, when we would have opened, COVID hit.”

The park remained closed in the spring but was able to reopen in June under state guidelines that allowed a total of 250 people in the park. But with at least 50 employees needed to keep the park operational, that meant bringing in just a fraction of the normal crowd — and the normal profits.

“Even at less than 10% capacity, you’re not bringing in the same amount of revenue per person, because things like rides aren’t able to operate at full capacity,” Vaslev said.