Vancouver's amusement park underwent a summer makeover just in time for the season's opening, but visitors to Playland are still frustrated to find several rides are not operating - including a brand new one.
As of Aug. 5, five of Playland's rides are closed for maintenance, including the newest addition (Skybender), leaving a few visitors confused and disappointed.
The Wooden Roller Coaster, Skybender, Drop Zone, Hell's Gate, and the Flume are closed temporarily, as several park-goers pointed out on social media.
Fortunately, thrill-seekers won't have to wait much longer for rides to start reopening.
Both the Skybender and Wooden Roller Coaster are anticipated to open again by next week, Laura Ballance, Media Relations for the PNE, told Vancouver Is Awesome by phone.
Why are the Playland rides closed?
"Unfortunately, with new rides, you're sometimes tweaking them and changing them," Ballance explained. "We have a policy that we don't open a single thing until we're 100 per cent confident."
The Flume and Hell's Gate, however, weren't slated to be part of the 2022 season at all due to supply chain issues, and aren't anticipated to return before the next season, according to Ballance. The rides were simply too big to carry out of the park for renovation work, she adds.
"We can't move them – they're large. So they're in the park but they're not actually part of this year's offering," Balance said.
Visitors may also stumble across other closed features, such as carnival games and food stands. Ballance said that this may be because the features are scheduled to open during the fair.
She did confirm one game and one stand that are currently closed. A game called Play Quarters has been idle in anticipation of a replacement game, though it physically remains in the park. The Fun Dunkers stand is also closed, however, this is the smallest of Playland's three Fun Dunkers stands and is PNE-owned (and therefore closed when the Fair is not happening).
Ballance also noted that games typically start an hour after the park opens.
