Reduced-capacity rides, sanitizing stations at amusement park’s pandemic-era reopening

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This article was published 27/06/2020 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The sun was beaming and so were the smiles at Tinkertown Family Fun Park Saturday as the business welcomed its first visitors of the season.

Although Tinkertown typically opens around Mother’s Day weekend, the amusement park became yet another business at odds with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Phase Three of the province’s economic strategy allowed Tinkertown to reopen, but with safety measures in place.

At the entry gate, wristbands and tickets have become a thing of the past, hand sanitizer stations are scattered throughout the grounds, and lines for rides are accompanied by pylons reminding visitors to keep their distance.

However, the most significant undertaking is reducing capacity on the rides; attendants are now sanitizing each ride after the little ones have gone for a spin.

As visitors trickled in through the gates Saturday, they wandered the grounds seeking refuge from the heat at shaded picnic sites.

At one picnic table, Myriam Savard sat with her family unpacking their lunch and celebrating her daughter’s recent birthday. Savard said it’s been a change of pace to try to find activities for kids during the pandemic, but her family is adapting with the easement of restrictions.

“I’m not too worried about COVID right now; I used to be really worried, but now we’re just encouraging (the kids) to practice hand sanitizing, limit touching, and keeping their space from others,” said Savard.

After two hours of opening, 300 visitors had entered the gates of Tinkertown.

“It’s a little slow,” said Tinkertown owner Randy Saluk.

“But that’s expected because of the weather and it’s our first weekend open. But people are positive. They’re just happy to get out and do something different,” said Saluk.

In a normal season, Saluk says they’ve seen anywhere between 100,000 to 200,000 visitors. He’s expecting this summer will be different.

“Now we’re just hoping to get enough traffic to pay the bills,” he said.

Over at the Streamliner Miniature Train ride, Jason Wang stood with his two children waiting to board.

“It’s a nice day today after all the rain, so I’ve decided to bring the kids to Tinkertown and have a fun afternoon,” Wang said.

“Obviously, it means a lot to have more facilities open, like restaurants and playgrounds, it’s not fun to stay at home especially with no school and daycare. We appreciate everything the government is doing for us,” said Wang, adding Tinkertown’s additional precautions make him feel safe.

With the spritz of a cleaning solution and a thorough wipe down, the train conductor called aboard the next ride.

Located seven kilometres east of the Royal Canadian Mint on Murdoch Road, Tinkertown was built in 1979 and has been operated by Saluk since 1996.

nadya.pankiw@freepress.mb.ca