Lost Island Theme Park: What Went Wrong in 2022

In the first year of business, Lost Island Theme Park was hoping for a longer season as they will now close their doors earlier than they wanted to for 2022.

Looking back on the 2022 season I think it'd be safe to say it wasn't exactly the start Lost Island was looking for. The park opened this past June and according to KWWL, the park was seeing anywhere from 250-700 daily guests.

General Manager Eric Bertch talked with KWWL and looked back at both the positives and negatives of this year. Sadly, they had no choice but to close early due to a lack of parkgoers and a shortage of staff members.

We were projecting a lot higher numbers than we saw. When those numbers didn't continue to improve, and with the staffing challenges we were having, it didn't make sense for us to remain open and lose money

Patrons and staffing weren't the only problems Lost Island Theme Park faced this summer, as multiple rides were never operational this year. The Launch Coaster and Flume ride, which were both supposed to be major attractions at the park, were never up and running, according to KWWL.

I hate saying this because not everything should be about money but in the tough world of business, it's pretty dang hard to remain open if you're not making enough of it. While this story sounds pretty negative and fairly, it wasn't the opening season Lost Island was hoping for, General Manager Eric Bertch and the staff are looking at some of the positives as well. The Lost Island staff is hoping to learn from those and what could be done differently next year.

He told KWWL

We learned that amusement rides are much less reliable than waterslides. The learning curve on the nuances of operating those rights took us a little longer than we hoped. The park has continued to improve, and the rides have become much more reliable. We are happy that we did have some guests out here to help us learn and overcome those challenges.

The Lost Island staff is already putting plans into place for next season. They're hoping to be open on Friday and Saturday nights and are currently taking applications for next year. Lost Island is looking to fill around 300 seasonal jobs for next summer and will start hiring in February, according to KWWL.

My younger sister lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and she spent 2 summers working at a big amusement park in Shakopee, Minnesota. I called to ask her what that experience was like and she said "I liked that every day was different. I had fun with the people I worked with and it was great being outside." If that sounds right up your alley, you might want to consider applying at Lost Island. They're looking for plenty of seasonal workers next year.

The first year of business can be the hardest for some places. Next year, Lost Island plans on learning from its mistakes and giving Iowa one of the best amusement park experiences it possibly can.