Canadmos Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 As a few of you know, I moved to Denver at the beginning of the summer. Well, I finally got around to visiting Six Flags Elitch Gardens. The first thing that hit me when I arrived at the park was how damn small it is! If there are no crowds you could easily run around and finish the entire park in well under an hour. Luckily on both my visits the crowds were minimal. If the crowds were large, I can see how the park could easily become a frustration to many people with its few rides and small walkways. My most recent visit was both fun and frustrating. Shortly after arriving at the park my girl friend wanted to purchase a drink from a vending machine (she wanted a bottle rather than a clumsy cup). After finding one we tried to insert some dollar bills, but absolutely no vending machines were accepting bills! After trying about ten different machines we decided to walk to a vendor to try and get some change. Upon arriving at the first open vendor and asking if I could get some change for the pop machine the cashiers response was "Uhhhhh, I just started working here and I don't know....". Fair enough, so we walked some more and found another open vendor and asked him. His response was that he can't give out change. OK. So then we walked around for 15 minutes trying to find a place that sold bottled anything. We did eventually get a drink, but the hassle hardly seemed worth it, especially when they charge $3.50. The other thing that kind of annoyed me was the number of things that were closed. Almost every game and stand was closed. Another thing that seemed odd was that there was hardly any Six Flags merchandise in any of the gift shops. I couldn't find a single coaster/ride shirt. Oh well, at least the lines were short and the coasters were open. I don't have any pictures from my first visit (camera broke while camping in July), so all these pictures, captions and comments are from my most recent trip on October first. Heading towards the park, we exit the ghetto known as Aurora CO. Passing the Fillmore.. You know you are close when you see the giant alien dudes! Hm, what are we doing at the Pepsi center? Wrong turn perhaps? Nope! Why pay $15 to park at Six Flags when you can park for $5 next door??? Crossing the bridge to the park you get a pretty nice view. Upon entering the park, one of the first things you see is a closed section of the park. And then this, a tiny 'main street' and a tiny wheel for a tiny park. weeeeeeeeeeee First ride of the day was Sidewinder, which is definitely the best ride in the park. Ejector airtime, no headbanging and a positive g filled loop. weeeeeee After hiking to the top of the platform we find out the ride is broken down with some people stuck in a car. Oh well, at least the view is nice from the top. After waiting for about 15 minutes for the maintenance guy to show up we finally got our ride. filler Note the signs of encouragement to lay down some cash on a Flash Pass even though crowds were at a minimum all day? Yay! A boomerang that didn't kick the shit out of me and one that had no line! I also thought it was neat that they let you queue for any row like any other coaster. Closed. The ride I was most looking forward to! Its a good thing I'm walking the correct direction through the queue line. The real reason I came to the park! To chuck missiles off of rides! One train operation. I did really like the train on Twister II. There was plenty of padding, a big divider (not some tiny one that you end up landing on), the lap bars clicked pretty high and stayed high and the seat belts didn't auto retract. Overall, I think that Twister II was a fun ride and fairly smooth throughout most of the ride. The one thing that really let me down was the lack of airtime in any seat. Those trims are also a real killer. Halfpipe was fun, but nothing special, especially when your pod fails to get even one rotation. After halfpipe we decided to go ride Twister again. This time around we rode in the front car, which was a lot more fun than the back car. Potential airtime spot. Sad. Closed. I've always wanted to have my mind erased. It must be working because I have no idea what the hell is going on. Damn! This thing is on par with Darien Lake's! Seriously! Mind Eraser through the grass!1 More missiles! Last ride of the day was on the wheel. Thanks for reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/pipesdrums2/SFEG/28.jpg - Is it Jesus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkdcoaster Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Cool pics!, thanks for the report. It looks like a nice little park despite having any major rides. Did Twister II get totally re-tracked? it sure looks like it. JEFF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadmos Posted October 3, 2006 Author Share Posted October 3, 2006 I don't think the end got new wood, but I could be wrong. I wasn't paying too close attention to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I swear, two of those pics in your TR look like ones I have taken last July. Glad you had a great trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Nice TR. Looks like a nice little park.\ I wish more parks had top spins. Like *cough*my home park*cough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr.gumbo Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 This park looks fantastic...for a six flags park But seriously, nice photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrillrider15 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 One sweet photo trip review. A small park can still be fun (especially when there are no lines). Looks like you had a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCKR Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/pipesdrums2/SFEG/28.jpg - Is it Jesus? Nah, it's obviously a panda that fell off of a tall building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvcoasterguy Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 FYI, all the Rainbows/Zamperla Version of the Rainbow are closed until a problem can be resolved. I'm not sure exactly what is wrong, but it was a manufacturer-found problem. So, in this case, the closed Rainbow is not actually Six Flags's fault. Nice TR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twister II Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Blah the Rainbows/Zamperla Version of the Rainbow are closed until a problem can be resolved. blah blah blah blah blah Good thing SFEG has a Huss Rainbow. Yea, looks like a usual day in the park. Small crowds, most rides open. Twister II was completely all retracked this year, sections of it has already been repainted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadmos Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 Do you know if they ever turn the trims on Twister off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yfzraptor Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I thought sidewinder was an awesome ride. No one seemed to agree with me that it was so great though because it is so short. The tower they have is also really intense. Sounds like you had a down and up day, similar to mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twister II Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 Do you know if they ever turn the trims on Twister off? I've had more rides with them off than on. I know a ride op, the chain lift speed determines if the trims go or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadmos Posted October 5, 2006 Author Share Posted October 5, 2006 With them off does it make a big difference on the rest of the ride? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kraxleRIDAH Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Wow. That park is a lot nicer looking than what most people had me believing in the past. Sure, it has no spectacular rides there, but it looks well kept. Great TR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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