Wanda Woman Enters the Enchanted Forest - Turner, Oregon

[Wanda Woman]

The Boy Wonder and I went to the Enchanted Forest in Turner, Oregon (about an hour south of Portland and about 15 minutes south of Salem) for the second year in a row and it's high time I did a trip report about this little gem of a theme park.

The Enchanted Forest is the dream of one man, Roger Tofte. Tofte was a draftsman for the Oregon Highway Department and repaired watches as a sideline. He was very artistic and creative and tried his hand at several things that didn't pan out. He remembered trips and outings from his boyhood and recalled fondly the stops made at roadside family attractions. Oregon didn't have anything like that and the idea for the Enchanted Forest came to be.

Tofte bought the original 20 acres of overgrown forested hillside for $4,000, paying $50 a month for it. He cleared pathways himself and bought bags of gravel and cement using the money he made from repairing watches. His wife and four children helped out. It took seven years of hard work, but Enchanted Forest opened in 1971.

I say all this to help you understand the EF does not have a vast staff of Imagineers. This is still a family-owned and run park and that is a large part of its charm.

The pics here are from this year and last year's visits. A few pics were downloaded from the internet last year as we were deciding what places to visit and I've long since forgotten where I stole them from, so I apologize for that in advance.

Enough yakking, let's go to the Enchanted Forest, shall we?



We're here!




The entrance.



The ticket booth (there's only one).




Prices.



You can buy tickets for each ride (after paying admission) or buy a ride bracelet. We're in for the long haul. Bracelets please.



Have fun storming the castle, boys! (I don't know those kids.)




The castle moat has guardians.








A castle sentry.




There are scenes inside the castle, sort of like the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through.

Here is Old King Cole, who seems to be a bit blurry.



And Sleeping Beauty herself!



Time to exit the castle and hike up the Fairy Tale Trail.





More to come. Read down to post 5 below for next installment.

[Melonballer]

Great. Thanks for posting this. I have heard lots of good things about that park, so getting a Micechat trip report from there is awesome.

[aimster]

That Sleeping Beauty looks almost exactly like Disney's.

[vfire]

Wow, looks really intriguing so far, can't wait to see the rest. Thanks for posting this TR.

[Wanda Woman]

Which way?




The first thing we see is Humpty Dumpty, who is channeling WC Fields.




Little Miss Muffet looks like she wishes she had Captain Crunch instead of curds and whey. What would Santa look like if he were a SPIDER?





Look! A pretty gingerbread house.




There is a scene inside of Hansel, Gretel, and the witch, but I wasn't able to get even a blurry pic of it.


Next up is Alice in Wonderland.




You have to be a small rabbit to fit in the rabbit hole. I did a most unattractive duck walk through here. No, there are no pictures.



Lots of pretty things to see.




I couldn't figure out what these unusual rabbit heads on wires were supposed to be.



Alice asks the Caterpillar for directions.





It's time for tea!




You exit the rabbit hole through this key hole.





Even the lamb doesn't want summer vacation to end.




Jack and Jill. Jack is stylin' in lederhosen.




The enjoyable path. It's a very beautiful setting.



More to come. Read down to post 7 for more photos!

[NeverNeverland]

So cute! More please.

[Wanda Woman]

What's next?




A tiny house. You could look in the window and see seven little beds and some forest animals doing housework. I need animals like that.





What's this?




Hmmmmm. I guess there were some copyright issues.





In here!




Pretty colored pools.



Spooky dwarfs at work.




The Old Hag! You go inside her mouth and can ride the slide down.




The Evil Queen!




Is it naptime?









Their house.



Scenes from inside. Mama Bear seems to be accusing Papa Bear of eating all the porridge.




Goldilocks looks a lot like a doll.




Is this the Haunted Shack?




No, it's the Crooked Man's house. It was fun to try to walk through here.




More to come.

[Wanda Woman]

The last of the fairytale trail.


Don't go in there, Red!




Eeek!




I think the reason Peter couldn't keep his wife was because of his horrible taste in clothing.





There was a sister who lived in a giant shoe.



The giant shoe has a giant slide!



That was the end of the fairytale trail. Now on to the other side of the park. We come first to something that looks like Frontierland.



Tofteville is named after the Tofte family who built and run Enchanted Forest,




It's like the crooked man built Tofteville.



Boot Hill. Love it!











Fort Fearless. You enter up the stairs on the left, go across the top and then down a long slide.








I think we went down that slide at least 20 times.



The Indian caves are dark and and narrow. You can choose several different paths. One of the entrances is here and you can end up on the other side of the street inside of a teepee!



It's funny to watch people come out of the teepee and have NO IDEA where they are or how they got there.




The Wagon Wheel Opera House is actually a gift shop, but you can also watch a continuously running movie about the building of EF in there.




There is a laser shooting arcade and if you hit the targets, you're rewarded with some cute animations.



There is also a remote controlled boat marina. Just like the Jungle Cruise boats at the Dland Hotel, if you hit the target, you get to see some animations.









You can get your picture taken with Abraham Lincoln! He'll even help you get your Civil War on.






The pic!




EF even has a character. Meet Chippy!




More tomorrow. Time for bed.
More in post # 14 below!

[aashee]

Very cool Wanda, the park looks very charming. Thanks for posting, I'll be looking for the rest!

[The Dark Lady]

This is easily the best TR I've seen in a while! Great job, Wanda!

[The Dark Lady]

Originally Posted by Wanda Woman

What would Santa look like if he were a SPIDER?

How about . . . what would Santa look like if he were about to be eaten by a giant SPIDER?


"Revenge," by GraySapphire on DA

[SummerInFL]

Great TR Wanda! I love little side attractions like that!!!

[TikiRoomLiz]

That's a pretty good little park for just one family to have put together. Although it does seem that Storybook characters are popular to build parks around since there is something similar in Pennsylvania ... although there you can't take a picture with Abe Lincoln.

Great stuff Wanda!

[Wanda Woman]

The Pan for Treasure was very popular.




Kids dig the pan into the sand, pour the sand in the sieve, and get to keep any pretty rocks and stones left in the sieve.




What's through here?




A Haunted House?






This was voted the best walk-through Haunted House in 1991 by Inside Track. Last year, I couldn't tell you anything about it, as we were too terrified to look at anything. At one point, the Boy Wonder asked why I was squeezing his hand so hard. It was entirely too long for me.

However, this year, with Wonder Sis in tow and having been through it last year, I was able to actually look at the displays. They're a mix of macabre and humor. You walk through at your own pace, it's VERY dark inside, a few things start up suddenly as you pass, there are stairs and unexpected walls, and the whole thing takes about eight or nine minutes to go through. It's a well-done fun creep-out, but not for the small fry.




Next, it's up the hill for the kiddie rides.
Keep on reading to the next page for even more!

[Ginarella]

Wanda, enchanted pictures and TR. EF looks so adorable. I can't wait to see the rest!