Imagine strolling on Storybook walkways as the sun sets, hand-in-hand with your loved one, while you sip an icy cold beverage. Laughter floats through the air from the cornhole tournament, while groups of friends dressed as unicorns, fairies, dragons and superheroes search for clues in a scavenger hunt. You smell funnel cake, French fries and caramel corn as you climb the stairs to your favorite Storybook piece, such as The Lost Boys Treehouse.
Everything about this night is perfect, surreal, and you wish that Adult Fun Night could happen every week.
Where is this amazing experience? Come to the third annual Storybook Island Adult Fun Night at Storybook Island, located at 1301 Sheridan Lake Road, Rapid City, on Saturday, June 24, 2023, from 5 to 10 p.m.
“It’s a great opportunity for adults (over 21) to explore the park and maybe even recall fond memories from when they were young,” said Storybook Island CFO Mallory Hook. “Storybook Island is a place that brings the specialness, the magic and dreaminess of childhood back to life through these fantastic and iconic characters. And you can be any age to experience it. That’s the real beauty and fun of it. We often hear from visitors that Storybook Island is the Disney World of Rapid City. And once a year, it’s wonderful that adults have the opportunity to be kids again. We look forward to this night every year.”
Highlights of the adult fun night and the park include:
Live Music: The Stateline Ramblers
- Event organizers are expecting about 1,000 to attend the event, which will feature live music by Cullen Kelly and the Stateline Ramblers Band throughout the evening. Guests can purchase and sample everything from adult beverages and barbecue to crepes and pecans at a multitude of food trucks including Good Stuff, Mini Donuts and More, Mercy’s Tacos, O’Crepe and Wild West Pecans.
- Tickets are $5 in advance and may be purchased online at storybookisland.org; day-of tickets at the box office are $10. All guests must be 21 years of age or older and show proof of ID. All funds raised from the event will benefit the park. Hook said the park is supported solely by the generosity of ongoing sponsors and donors, as well as from funds raised at various events hosted by the park.
- Guests have the opportunity to explore the park throughout the event. The popular theme park, open Memorial Day through Labor Day, provides visitors of all ages the chance to wander and immerse themselves in more than 100 storybook, nursery rhyme and fairytale settings where imagination rules. A place where Snow White, Cinderella, the Three Little Pigs, Humpty Dumpty and more, come to “life.”
- The 8-½-acre children’s park has a vintage carousel, rope climb areas, live theater productions and the Storybook Island Line train ride through Middle Park, as well as lots of open grassy areas for kids to run and play. During the holidays, the park’s play settings are decked out in vibrant and colorful Christmas lights, which enhance the experience even more. A gift shop and concession stand are also available on-site and feature the park’s famous ice cream and seasonal hot chocolate.
- More than 200,000 people, many of them second- and third- generation family members, visit the 63-year-old park each year.
Adults who have experienced the joy of Storybook Island with their children, or as a child themselves, are especially excited about Adult Fun Night.
“We all remember the joy Storybook Island brought to us as children,” says one adult fan who goes every year. “Countless hours were spent here, swinging, sliding, running and playing. So maybe that’s why Adult Fun Night brings out this giddy, excitable child in us. It’s a way to go back, remember the good ol’ days, but in an adult way.”
“Had a blast! It was so nice to enjoy the wonderment of the park as an adult. Adult Night brought back the fun of being a kid,” says Rebecca Meyers, Hot Springs, South Dakota.
To purchase tickets to the adult fun night or for more information on the park, please visit storybookisland.org.
