Enchanted Forest rides, villages smashed by ice-packed falling trees. ‘Humpty Dumpty is OK’

Enchanted Forest, Oregon’s fairytale theme park near Salem, Ore., was set to reopen March 19 after a GoFundMe campaign raised more than $400,000 to help the family-owned business rebound from the financially devastating tourism tailspin caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

But the beloved amusement park has suffered another setback: The weight of an inch of ice piling up on tree branches Friday night toppled a dozen Douglas firs and snapped off limbs that went crashing into rides and structures.

The kiddie train was smashed, the tower was smacked off the castle, and other miniature structures were crushed in the villages handmade by park founder Roger Tofte, a former draftsman for the Oregon State Highway Division who bought the land and started building Enchanted Forest in the mid-1960s.

Huge trees blocked paths and tracks, and “put a sick feeling in our stomachs when we saw the damage,” said Susan Vaslev, a second generation of the Tofte family. “We have a lot of work to do to get back to where we were the day before. It’s dangerous here, a hardhat area. It looks like a war zone.”

On Monday, the family met roofers and a construction crew to talk about starting repairs, all while the park was still without power.

“Luckily, we had a lot of big trees,” Vaslev said of the woodland setting, “so we’re not a parking lot.”

She wants to reassure fans that the entire park was not destroyed. “Humpty Dumpty is OK,” she said.

Vaslev said they were fortunate that the GoFundMe campaign allowed them to keep their insurance coverage. But they will have to fund the sizable deductible and debris removal.

The state’s September wildfires were an even more tragic time for the family.

Roger Tofte’s 13-year-old great-grandson Wyatt Tofte, died in the Beachie Creek fire. His grandmother, 71-year-old Peggy Mosso, was killed, and Wyatt’s mother, Angela Mosso, was seriously hurt.

Vaslev said the family will know soon if they can still reopen March 19.