Playland opening soon

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Exciting news for kids or kids at heart-- Playland will be open starting Thursday.

"We are at a place where we can open the doors, so we decided that it would be a great thing for the kids and families of Fresno," said Bruce Batti, Vice Chair Storyland & Playland.

For the first time in almost two years Playland is being brought back to life.

"The truth is this park takes a lot of attention, and it's not just the money, it's making sure that when the guest experience it-- you have to have smiles all around," said Bruce Batti, Vice Chair Storyland & Playland.

Initially closing because of a lack of funding, board members said this time around they're focused on sustainability.

"We don't want to go to the community to ask them to keep these parks open, were going to run it so these parks are self sufficient," said Batti.

Over the last four months hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for the re-opening.

The makeover doesn't stop at a fresh coat of paint and life size dinosaurs. Coming this summer two new rides and a new train depot entrance will be added to the park.

"In a couple weeks the teacups are coming from Italy, and then once again we will have boats on lake Washington," said Batti.

They hope a new eye catching front entrance will bring a trickle effect from the Chaffee Zoo and Storyland.

"Our synergy with the zoo is different than it was before we can cross promote now. Past that, also the fact that the zoos attendance is meteoric and in terms of its rise," said Batti.

An all day pass to Playland is $16 or you can buy individual ride tickets for $1 to $3.

"Were finding that threshold between affordability and sustainability, and that's really important to everyone," said Batti.