After delaying its opening for a week, Wonderland Amusement Park opened its doors for the season over the Easter holiday weekend in Amarillo for its 72nd season of family fun.
The park, which opened in 1951, has been a staple of fun in the Texas Panhandle, drawing visitors from Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico. Paul Borchardt, president and owner of the park, is now in his 58th year working at the park. He has been president since 1975.
Borchardt spoke about the significance of opening weekend to kick off the season and for getting new employees up to speed. This year’s opening was delayed by a week.
“For us, it’s so important to get the season started and get our people trained so that we can take care of guests through the season,” Borchardt said. “This sets the tone and gives us a chance to make a great first impression on our guests to make them want to return.”
With some April showers coming in on Sunday, it created new challenges for the park that depends on the weather for its business.
“The opening day of the season is usually kind of cold as we strive to get started the first weekend in April, but this year, we had big temperature swings on Saturday and rain on Sunday,” Borchardt added.
With the closing of Joyland in Lubbock last year, Borchardt does feel that Wonderland may get many people who visited that park, but he said they he felt they were already getting many of those people anyway, so he did not expect a significant impact from its closing.
“I think we will get some of the crowd that regularly went to Joyland, but we were already getting a lot of those people that also went there,” Borchardt said.
Borchardt said the key to getting people to come to Wonderland is giving them an experience they cannot get elsewhere.
“People that want to come to an amusement park do not want to wait in long lines to get on a ride, and they want to have a good family experience at a fair cost,” he said.
To him, the key to getting and keeping customers is the wow experience.
“We use the word ‘wow’ a lot, because that’s the experience that we expect our guests to have as they walk through our gates,” Borchardt said. “We are glad to be here to be able to provide a good experience to our families.”
With a shortage in labor due to a tight job market, Borchardt said that he was thankful to get so many great people to work for him during the season. He said that a typical Wonderland employee is a people person with a positive attitude. This is a wonderful opportunity for many to get work experience with their first job, he added.
According to Borchardt, he has about 38% new employees each year, out of the 200 people that the park employs.
“We have had so many people come to work here as their first job, and when I am out and about each day, I bump into so many people that used to work here,” he said. “I just find it amazing when I am picking up stuff from suppliers and seeing people that used to serve guests here now serving me.”
The park currently has 32 attractions, with four inoperable due to supply chain issues. Much of the issue has to do with computer chips needed for these attractions’ functions. Borchardt says that he strives to make the park the safest that it can be, with employee training and proper maintenance of the attractions.
“Safety is always our top priority,” he added. “Our mission is to make people want to come back after they visit. We do all we can to make sure of that, to give people a safe and fun experience.”
Borchardt said that he is very committed to giving back to the community, and there will be many opportunities to support local schools, with many special nights that will donate a portion of proceeds to area schools. June will also have a partnership that will earn those who give blood a chance to score a free ticket for their donation.
“Let’s all get together and do it; make it happen for a good cause,” Borchardt said. “We have such great relationships in the community, and I am so honored that the community gives us such great support.”
When asked about the future viability of the amusement park, Borchardt says that he feels very good about the future outlook of Wonderland, especially with the growth of Amarillo. He did say that the unfortunate nature of his business is very controlled by the weather.
“We are always looking for new attractions to give people what they are looking for,” Borchardt said. “I think we have a really good mix of rides. We have been recognized as one of the best amusement parks in the country by Amusement Today.”
Borchardt said that he has no plans to retire anytime soon from the business after more than 50 years in the industry.
“People ask me all the time why I don’t retire; why should I?” Borchardt said. “I really enjoy what I do. I work with young people and see what we are producing for the next generation. Amarillo has got a lot of great people, and it is great to see them come out to the park.”
For more information about Wonderland, its upcoming events and its schedule, go to https://www.wonderlandpark.com/ .
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