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Military get in free at Silverwood

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Military families looking build some memories or to bond together after a long deployment have a great opportunity to visit the northwest's largest theme park in May.

Silverwood Theme Park, located just north of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Highway 95 in scenic northern Idaho, is hosting American Heroes Weekend May 28-30. All military personnel (as well as police officers and fire fighters) with valid military ID receive free admission to the park over the three days.

The park is open weekends from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Silverwood Theme Park is the largest theme and water park in the northwest with 216 acres of fun and more than 65 rides, slides, shows and attractions in the park. The park boasts four massive roller coasters, one drop tower and a myriad of other family-friendly rides and attractions, as well as the Boulder Beach water park with two expansive wave pools, numerous water slides, play areas for the kids and VIP cabanas.

Several years ago, the park opened a new, custom, first-of-its-kind in North America, family raft ride named Ricochet Rapids. This new slide cascades down a 40-foot mountain into a 30- foot valley, with the additional exhilaration of a steep drop into a 20-foot diameter enclosed mega tube. Five to six riders will "ricochet" up and down the sides of the gargantuan tube before continuing down the sharp turns and drops of the mountain.

For young children, Polliwog Park is the perfect place for kids to frolic and play with hoses, slide down slides and run through geysers.

For adults, Silverwood has raging roller coasters that feature 65 mph drops. There are four main coasters that will thrill fans.

Since its opening in 1999, Tremors - one of the park's two wooden coasters -has been one of the top rated wood coasters in the country. Corkscrew, another coaster, was the first modern inverting coaster. It originally opened at Knott's Berry Farm in California, and was also the first to takes riders upside down - not once but twice - as they moved through the double helix, the highlight of the coaster ride. In 1990 Corkscrew found its new home at Silverwood and continues as a little piece of history and a thrilling ride that people will enjoy for a while to come.

Timber terror opened in 1996 and Silverwood has never been the same. Belonging to a genre of roller coasters know as air coasters, Timber Terror is sure to put plenty of air between riders' seats, giving the coaster thrills and chills all its own.

After leaving the loading station riders climb straight up the first hill, 85 feet in the air. Turning, the train makes the drop into the first chain of hills, provoking Timber Terror's well-known sensation of weightlessness. The thrills don't stop there as the train makes the turn and heads back through another run of hills before roaring into a crushing 360- degree turn, finally breaking just before arriving back at the loading station.

Finally, there is Aftershock, the metal monster that now dominates the skies over Silverwood. This 191-foot tall beast is really two thrills in one, because not only does it take riders forward through a cobra roll and inverted loop at over 65 mph, but backward as well.

Once riders board, the cars slowly move backward up the starting tower until riders are staring straight at the ground at nearly 190 feet in the air. Then gravity takes over and pulls the train 177 feet straight down as it reaches speeds of 65 miles per hour. Riders twist and turn though mind-blowing loops and rolls until they reach the second tower. This time, they'll be looking at the sky as the coaster pulls you upward at a 90-degree angle, only to release and send the train barreling through the whole thing backward.

For more information on Silverwood, visit www.silverwoodthemepark.com.

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