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.

As the year went on, the Tofte family endured more hardship and tragedy: Roger Tofte’s 13-year-old great-grandson Wyatt, along with the boy’s grandmother, Peggy Mosso, died in the Beachie Creek Fire east of Salem. Roger’s grandson Chris Tofte made a harrowing attempt to save his family. The Tofte family organized a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for medical expenses.

“My nephew and his wife, they lost everything,” Vaslev told OPB. “When people want to help, it gives them that vehicle to be able to help — and people really did help them.”

In October, after exhausting their options with federal loans and facing debt, the Toftes announced they would cut the park’s 2020 season short. Emboldened by the support they saw for Chris and Angela, they again turned to crowdfunding, along with selling park memorabilia, Roger Tofte’s paintings and allowing families to ‘Buy-a-Brick’ to permanently add to the park with names and messages. In early December, the family announced that community funding was keeping the park afloat through early 2021.

“It’s just amazing, the support the community has shown us,” Vaslev said. “It’s fun to read the messages ... they came when they were children, and now they’re bringing their children, and they just don’t want that to stop.”

Three generations of Toftes have worked in the park over its near 50-year history. In 1964, Roger Tofte — then a draftsman for the Oregon State Highway Department, a commercial artist and a watch repairman — bought 20 acres of land just south of Salem for $4,000.

Over the next seven years, Tofte crafted nearly every structure and woodland creature out of concrete. He opened the park’s gates in 1971. Over the years, his daughter Susan has composed all of Enchanted Forest’s music, and his son Ken learned animatronics for the park’s characters.

“[It was] just a burning desire to create. It was more or less kind of a hobby in some way, but I just knew it would work if I just kept continuing,” Tofte said.

Mary Tofte told OPB she spent much of her early childhood at Enchanted Forest and was just 2 years old when her father started construction.

“I just thought all kids had castles in their backyard,” Tofte said.

The Toftes hope to welcome guests back to Enchanted Forest safely for its 50th anniversary on Aug. 8, 2021.

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