Photo TR: Lakeside Amusement Park

Here are my photos from my recent trip to Lakeside Amusement Park. I really do enjoy going to this local park even though many residents may call it "ghetto". It is kinda like going back in time there with all the old fashion art deco and old school rides. This year (2008) marks the parks 100th anniversary and by the looks of it (and what one park manager told me) the park is going to be around for many more years. They have many plans on adding rides, refurbishing old ones, and getting rid of old eye sores (i.e. the old race way in the parking lot). Well not much else to say but enjoy the pictures I took. I think I got some really good ones.

I say goodbye with my blue rabbit I rode.

Why I always make this face is beyond me.

We ended the night on the Merry Go Round. David is a goof.

Tried to get my friend David and I in the same shot...failed. This is on The Hurricane.

Done

Darkness.

Last shots of The Cyclone.

The train station.

This is the bumper cars. They are in serious need of a refurb. When I rode I went like 2 miles per hour. Lame. No damage can be done at granny speed.

It's kinda like a spaceship...from the 60s.

The lighthouse on the unused pier.

Great shot.

Let there be light.

Closed all night.

Magical...or just a kinda blurry shot.

"Spiderman...Spiderman...Does whatever a spider can..." Those movies are great.

Wow...ooooh.....aahhhh

Pretty.

Attempt at a lift hill POV but I left the flash on.

Cyclone station.

Now it is getting dark...time for some lightage.

The Satellite and the Rock-O-Plane (which I love).

The Spider. The clouds look pretty cool in the background. We had a light drizzle.

Closed tonight.

The Whip. Whip it...Whip it good.

Art deco lion.

I am proud of this shot.

The Flying Dutchmen. Closed all night.

Inside.

Wrong... it's just a really nice forward moving spinny-ma-bob. Fun though.

Holy crap we got transported to Disneyland.

More like bumber boats. This signage is awesome.

And I am still dumb enough to get lost in this.

This is not called the round-up, but the Loop-O-Plane. It's very tight seatbelt fun!

The Round-Up had was run on a very long cycle as some kid on our "spin" tossed his cookies after getting off.

The Dragon powered coaster. I like the queue line up to it.

Toot toot...here comes the train.

Geese by the train tracks.

There have never been Speed Boats running here in my lifetime and this pier has been "temporarily" closed for just as long. It would be nice to have it refurbed and set up tables on it at least.

Old (working) fountain at the center of the center gardens.

The lead horse on the Merry Go Round.

Neat!

In the station of The Cyclone.

She's comin around so let's go ride!

Me waiting to get scrambled.

Different angle of the Tilt-A-Whirl.

The Wild Chipmunk is great, slams you around a bit and gives a little air.

No need for labels on some of these.

Explains itself.

The Staride has been closed down ever since I've known, and I've been to the park since I was a baby. They say it's a landmark.

Oops did I say carousel? I meant the Merry Go Round. (You can kinda see the prices for unlimited riding to the left).

Closer shot of The Cyclone with a train doing its thang.

The center gardens and some of the shops and games.

The carousel building from across the center gardens.

Of course the main draw to the park is The Cyclone.

The icon of the park... could use some touching up but it is still magnificent.

Great PTR, Lakeside looks like such a cool park. What is the "Staride"?

^It was a bucket seat type of Ferris Wheel.

Where are the shots of the new S&S tower "Zoom" ?

 

Nice full coverage of the park. I went there last summer, but we got the Cedar Point treatment and had to wait out the rain for most of the day. I agree about all the refurbs necessary. New flats, and maybe a new coaster could do wonders for this park.

Lakeside is a really cool park. But it's only alive at night with all the lights. Your pictures are pretty cool.

 

The Hurricane isn't run well at all. At least it wasn't when I rode. Do they still run it too fast to snap the cables?

I'm going to Lakeside in a month. Do they allow cameras on the rides?

The Hurricane isn't run well at all. At least it wasn't when I rode. Do they still run it too fast to snap the cables?

It does go fast, but it takes forever for it to stop. The operator had to grab one of the "planes" and try to pull it to a stop.

 

Do they allow cameras on the rides?

There doesn't seem to be any big deal about cameras.

Everytime I go to Denver I visit Lakeside. I love it more than Elitch's! But haux is right it's alot more alive at night. Great photos man keep up the good work!

Where are the shots of the new S&S tower "Zoom" ?

 

 

It is definatly not an S&S tower! Its ARM tower is so much more fun than an S&S.

 

I love all the art deco in this park. I only got to visit it once in 1980, but I am glad they retained all that awesome neon!

Thank you for posting these as I am a really big fan of traditional parks. I bet things really do not look a lot different than they did in the 60's.

Great photos! This truly does look like an amusement park right out of the 50s. I'd love to visit it sometime, it looks so pretty with all the lights and it also has a lot of classic rides, some of which (Loop-O-Plane, rock-O-Plane) can't be found anywhere around here. Didn't they have a Roll-O-Plane at one point as well? They featured this park on PBS' "Great Old Amusement Parks" and I think I remember seeing one.

I agree it is a great park. It is in need of some TLC though... I really hope that they can keep making progress towards becoming an even more pleasant place to be.

 

It could be fun to do a meet at the park sometime...

A paved, noncar bashing parking lot would be nice too.

Great TR, and a great beautiful old park, especially at night. You can't forget the Cyclone, the last great Ed Vettle coaster operating.

Its a shame Lakeside isn't open during the Democratic National Convention this August. Since Elitches isn't allowed to be open during that, oh my..Lakeside is missing a chance to make a LOT of money with the thousands of visitors coming to Denver !!

^Why isn't Elitch's allowed to open then?

^Why isn't Elitch's allowed to open then?

 

The 2008 National Democratic Convention is taking place at the Denver Pepsi Center in August which is right next door to Elitch Gardens and since there is ( I believe ) a security zone around the Pepsi Center of a radius of one mile which includes Elitches as a result Elitch Gardens isn't allowed to be open during the convention however both Lakeside and Waterword can be open if they choose too since both parks fall out of that security zone. Why Lakeside isn't open that week, I don't get it.

Great photos. Love the design of the buildings and signs, they give a very retro futuristic look. The place seems to really come alive at night with all the lights. Oh and that is such a cool train !