Summer began at the UOP May 23 with the opening of the adventure experiences including tubing, zipline, alpine slide and action tower as well as the summer bobsled rides.
UOP Marketing and Media Production Manager Kole Normann says extreme tubing is one of the most exciting events at the park.
“That's where we put you on an inner tube and we push you down the out runs of our K64 and our K90 ski jumping hills,” Nordmann said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” May 23. “So, it's kind of like winter tubing, in a way, but you tube down the landing hills that we used in the summertime for training. And when you get up to the 90, and we buff that hill, you go about 50 miles an hour on that inner tube.”
With 17 curves, the Alpine Slide he says is probably the most popular activity.
“Our Alpine slide is kind of like an old school playground slide,” he explained. “So, it's all metal all the way down, but it's completely covered in a shade system. If you're at least 48 inches tall, you can drive your own sled. If not, you can ride with mom or dad all the way down, and you control your speed the entire ride. There's a little lever on the front of the cart. Or if you push down, you go a little bit faster. If you pull back, that kind of hits the brake a little bit.”
He says a popular option to enjoy all of the fun is a Gold Pass session. There are two sessions each day - morning and afternoon - to enjoy unlimited activities within that time frame.
“Last summer was our first summer we introduced dynamic pricing, or what we term plan ahead pricing,” he said. “So, the further ahead you book your tickets, the better the price you're going to get. Ticket prices never go down, but it's all based on demand. So, you can go through our entire calendar see weekends that might not be as busy and you're going to get a better price on that ticket.”
The Summer Gold Pass features 3.5 hour morning or afternoon sessions with unlimited use of the Action Tower, Extreme Zipline, Freestyle Zipline, Extreme Tubing, Alpine Slide and Discovery Ropes Course. Bobsled rides are sold separately. For a complete list of summer hours of operation, activity availability schedules and rates, see the link online at kpcw.org.
