Goliath513 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 So for the first time in a while, I had some free time on a Saturday, so I decided to go down to Denver to meet up with my friend Matt (kenshinmac) at Elitch Gardens for Fright Fest. I hadn't been to the park since June 2005, so I had some catching up to do. On to the pictures! Twister II looks beautiful at night. That's all! So we didn't have to end the night on a negative note after riding Mind Eraser (this was worse than SFDK's Kong and almost as bad as SFA's Mind Eraser from the ECT), we headed back to ride something without a line. Anything would be better than ending with Crap. Yes, Mind Eraser = Crap with a capital "C" More night-time camera epic failure trying to capture the patented Vekoma-gap. Elissa friendly Halloween costumes! We saw this map of 36 rooms on the door to Brutal Planet. Matt has a high-res photo of this from the daytime and no glare from the flash. I should not have bought the cheap camera that fails at night pictures even on the night setting. Despite it not being a very photogenic park during the day, it sure looks great at sunset! I heard they finally opened this thing up this season for the first time in nearly 10 years. We ended up skipping Screams to do Brutal Planet (the other haunted maze) because of the 3 hour wait for this. The most people Elitch's water park has ever seen! Kinda looks like someone out of Saw V which I saw last night. The only one of the Volare models with the conveyer-belt station. Why haven't they begun taking down this yet!?? Downtown Denver is conveniently located just outside the park. Twister II and Invesco Field! He looked older than just one year old. Maybe 70 times that. Those poor souls... Brown Streak: The Ride! What is that at the bottom of the splash? To our surprise, they were actually still running Shipwreck Falls this late in the season in the cold weather. Bush shot Shake, Rattle, and Roll's queue offers some nice angles for Twister shots! Thunder Bolt is lacking a-TENT-ion. These are Flying Coaster's cars, all dismantled in the graveyard behind Twister, in preparation for their move to another park. After riding Twister at Knoebel's earlier this year, I have been spoiled to the point where I can no longer appreciate this ride for how good it is compared to other coasters in the park. Shiny and good looking, but will leave you in pain and full of regret. Hmm, kinda sounds like the last girl I dated... Cedar Fair takeover of Elitch's! Sidewinder offered the only airtime in the park. Elitch's needs something with good airtime to replace Flying Coaster. We then went over to pay tribute Flying Coaster, which has been permanently shut down because it is a hunk-of-a-junk effing ride. You can probably guess who Alfred Packer is even if you couldn't read the sign in the picture above. Alfred Packer's Cowboy Cannibal BBQ - Wow! Mind Eraser got a new paint job last year. Too bad it doesn't ride as good as it looks. Wait, I didn't know there were trees by Flying Coaster? So this is why they had to replace the old Chaos with a new model. Do I trust the new one now? They converted the water park's changing room into a haunted house for Fright Fest! Time to "pull a Hanno" Last time I was here, it was Six Flags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vffreak07 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 How was all the haunted stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haux Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 The observation tower was open at least once in 2006. I know because I went in it. That Mr. Six tombstone is great. I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillgeek Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Very nice pics Sam! That park looks like a county fair with an SLC Yeah how was the haunted stuff? You didn't really focus much on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercrzyjames Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Wow, i haven't been to Elitch Gardens since '03!! Cool photo tour. Hopefully they can continue making improvements at the park. Sad to see Flying Coaster go, was such an odd ride. Hopefully it'll be replaced with something better. Any news of that yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I was there on the 18th. Had business in Denver and the meetings finished up in the morning so I was able to go to the park in the afternoon. I thought Twister was an Ok coaster. Not the best but certainly not the worst. I found Minderaser to be a good ride. I rode in the front and was surprised. Not a bad park but not a lot to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshinmac Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Anyway I'll follow up Sam's post as I am Matt... It was an amazingly warm day which unfortunately resulted in half of Denver being at the park. Still early in the day it was pretty reasonable. Anyway you don't care what I am saying here do you... Who am I kidding 99% of you won't even read this line. I apologize for some of the duplicate themes with Sam's pics... I have included a few pics from previous trips due to not taking too many pics this last trip. Oh and if you think my captions are crap feel free to make suggestions. I'll happily take any constructive feedback. I honestly have never seen this ride set up in the new park... Still based on the wreckage maybe that is for the best. Random new Chaos sexiness... These rides are so under appreciated. Apparently that is the answer. No idea who thought this was a good idea. The ride op actually reassured us that the lift hill was not on fire... Saw this warning in line for Twister 2 a few weeks ago. First thought that came to mind for me was where on earth do you use a fog machine on a coaster. Apparently I was the only one totally excited to get on the Tower of Doom. Due to the wind they were running 4 people max at a time. You can see that really went to town with dyeing the water. It looks like someone had a mild nosebleed in it. I'll just end with a pic from the tower of the park as the lights were coming on. I do love this park under the new management it isn't too large but there is a fair amount of fun to be had. It is going to be a long off season. Yep it is a new used Hearst... With the temporary registration still in the window. After our ride on Thunderbolt on the way out we noticed a little something odd with the park's promo Hearst. After that trying to find a reasonable ride to finish the night we wandered across the beauty that is Twister 2 at night. I loved this angle... If that gap isn't there it isn't Genuine Vekoma... It isn't called Mind Eraser for nothing! Later in the evening waiting for Brutal Planet we consulted the cheat sheet that the management saw fit to put on one of the walls by the queue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Those are some great pics especially the last one. I LOL'd at the Mr. Six grave. Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeti762 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I understand the "no spitting or throwing rocks off the coaster" but "no missiles?" Don't they search for WMDs at the gate????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillgeek Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 ^That was my first thought too!! Again, very nice pics. I also really like the last one from the tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Looks like not much has changed since my visit back in August except for all of the Fright Fest stuff. As for the water park, I'd say its pretty successful and I saw a lot of families go into it when I went. Sure its not Water World. Quick question, was Ghost Blasters up and running? Last time I was there, the ride was still undergoing some groundwork and electric work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliath513 Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 ^ Yeah it was open. It just opened up a month and a week ago. The queue was full and overflowing into the gift shop where the entrance is. Cool ride, but not worth the over 1 hour wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MixedDrink Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I understand the "no spitting or throwing rocks off the coaster" but "no missiles?" Don't they search for WMDs at the gate????? They figure the evil Theme Park terrorists might be able to sneak one in their pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshinmac Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I understand the "no spitting or throwing rocks off the coaster" but "no missiles?" Don't they search for WMDs at the gate????? They figure the evil Theme Park terrorists might be able to sneak one in their pocket. I've always wondered about that sign myself. Anyone know if it was brought over from the original ride or something? That is the only way I could explain the language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycamps Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I've always wanted to go to Elitch Gardens. I hope that it doesn't end up like Astroland did, being in the middle of Denver like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speeddeamon128 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Nice TR Sam. Do you miss DK being your home park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshinmac Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I've always wanted to go to Elitch Gardens. I hope that it doesn't end up like Astroland did, being in the middle of Denver like that.I think it is pretty unlikely as I understand it the land can't be heavily built on due to it being designated a floodplain. So anything else that could be built on the land would have to have a lot of open land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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