Six Flags Elitch Gardens, worth it??

Hey everyone, I am leaving to go to Breckenridge, Col. on Friday with my whole family(Cousins, Aunts, Uncles). We were thinking about going to Denver on Monday and hitting up Elitch Gardens. Is it worth it though? I have heard that it is extremely small and that it doesnt have the best rides and stuff.

So, is it worth it? And also, would the crowds be light since it is a Monday, or are they always light in this park?

Thank You!

Oh yeah, there is two little ones that are also going along, is there a kiddie area or any good rides for smaller children to go on?

You might want to consider Denver's other park, Lakeside. If I had a family that's where I would take them. Much less expensive than SFEG, lots of kiddie rides and a great wooden coaster, Cyclone.

I have to agree with Moosh on Lakeside. We just got back this morning from visiting Colorado and did both parks. While Elitch Gardens was O.K., I was really impressed by Lakeside. Especially at night with all of the neon, the surrounding mountains, and a breeze coming off of the lake, it's hard to resist it's small park atmosphere. Plus like Moosh said, it is less expensive. Some of the local hotels should have Lakeside pamphlets with discount coupons on them. If you still want to go to Six Flags, all I can say is that most of what you heard is true. The park is small and the coasters are just allright. I enjoyed Half Pipe the most and thought that Twister Two and Sidewinder were decent. The Boomerang and SLC are what they are and The Flying Coaster really beat me up. They also had a nice, well themed Looney Toons kids area that looked good. We were there yesterday (July 5th) on a Monday and it was pretty packed but a lot of people had off of work for the holiday. I'm not sure how it would be on a normal Monday but I would imagine not too terribley bad. Just get there early. It seemed like a lot of the crowds didn't start showing up until 11:00-11:30.

No go to Waterworld instead, the best water park in the west!!!

Since Mike mentioned Waterworld, I'll also mention that we hit that as well on our trip and had a great time. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours some storm clouds rolled in and dropped the air temp considerably. The park itself was very large and they have a ton of various types of slides although some of them (especially the ones in River Country) could have used a little more water in them. Journey to the Center of the Earth was definitely the highlight of park and I thought held up pretty good for being over 10 years old. Their newest attraction The Storm was pretty good as well, although it was just an enclosed multi-person tube ride with water, sound, and light effects. If you and your family are into waterparks, I would definitley check it out.

Whenever my travels take me near an amusement park I have never been to before, I feel obligated to check it out. Of course, your mileage may vary... Here are a few comments from a local:

Lakeside is visually stunning at night, as Pale Rider pointed out. Their Cyclone is an ACE coaster classic, and they also have one of the better Miler mouse coasters ("Wild Chipmunk"). The rest of the park consists of tradional amusement park rides, with some rare gems thrown in for good measure, such as a recently refurbished Whip, a coal-fired train that goes around Lake Rhoda, and "Skoota Boats" (bumper boats). Lakeside includes free parking with their $2 gate admission (which includes a 50 cent coupon), and you can buy tickets for individual rides or splurge on an all day wristband (last time I checked it was $12.75 per adult on weekdays, $17.75 on weekends). Note that on weekdays Lakeside opens fairly late in the afternoon, so don't plan on the major rides being open until 6:00pm-7:00pm.

Six Flags Elitch Gardens is a more modern park; they have the only North American installation of Intamin's Halfpipe design, and their Flying Coaster was the first ever Zamperla Volare ride. They also have a water park that is included with admission, though it is not as good as Waterworld. Parking costs $8 per vehicle, and standard adult admission is $36.99. That said, if you print your tickets from their web site they are only charging $25.99 right now. And select Diet Coke cans will give you $15 off gate admission Fri-Mon (Tues-Thurs is "Buy One Get One Free").

If you have the time, you should also check out the Alpine Slide at Heritage Square in Golden (just west of Denver). If you haven't done one of these, you will be in for a treat. And on the non-thrill ride front, I am obligated to plug the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, the highest train in the United States. Who'd have imagined a gift store on top of one of Colorado's Fourteeners?

--Kevin

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Kevin Knapp, Colorado Springs, kknappcyclone@aceonline.org
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Kevin,

That alpine slide looks cool. I've never done one before and wish that that I had known about it before my trip as I would have fit it in. I guess that's what return trips are for.

SFEG is not to miss. I have a season pass, I go there just about every weekend. And make sure you hit Twister II and Halfpipe. Lakeside, well,.... the admission into the park is cheap but it is $3.00 for just about every ride.

Ummm, WRONG! The most expensive ride at Lakeside is $2, as proved here. Not to mention you save the $8 you would have paid to park at SFEG. And Lakeside's most expensive POP is still less than SFEG's discounted admission.

SFEG may be a fine park, especially if you like having your wallet emptied SF-style. Lakeside is much more family-friendly with a superior wooden coaster.

mOOSH

*** Edited 7/7/2004 8:46:18 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

Well last year the price to enter the park was 50c and the price to ride Cyclone and Wild Chimpmunk was $3.00. But I still prefer SFEG over Lakeside anyday

OK.

ok;)