My dad’s company had their annual employee pinic here EVERY year until 1991😢 I remember the stick-on ride passes, the fluorescent hand stamps under the black light, standing in line for the log ride-that music and the wolf howls!
Wildcat clearly had some zip over those hills. My first and all time favorite roller coaster. I will also never forget that splinter splashdown hill. It was great fun to watch and ride. Love seeing the track just under that water just like I remember. Now for the positive: I'm sure there are many arrow flumes left. Also Knoebels Phoenix and Twister are probably a lot like that old pair of woodies. Phoenix was made by the same guy who made Wildcat. I would like to ride that spider and that tilt a whirl which still run today for who knows how long. Keep the Lakeside Cyclone as long as you can, Denver. It's the only one left.
What A beautiful park, looks so lush with all the trees & gardens . Until this day I can’t believe they moved this once wonderful park to where it’s at now because of greed. I hate money hungry corporations.
I must've been some sort of anti-excitement nerd when it came to the rides here, lol! My two favs were the Log Ride and the sky gondola, only because they didn't have a ride like "The Hearts" like at Lakeside. The Sea Dragon, by that newly installed, indoor IMAX type "ride" was also a fun one!
Wow....this brings back some great memories (I didn't go there until the mid-80's but still). The log ride was one my most treasured rides at this park. Who remembers the "gum" tree next to the que line?
Thank you, thank you so very much for this utterly priceless footage. I lived only a couple blocks from the park as a kid in the ‘80s. I still remember the sound of the screams from riders on the Twister and the Wildcat when in bed at night. I can still walk around the park in my mind but to see it is something else entirely. Especially the footage of my favorite ride, the Splinter (the log ride). Made me tear up. Wonderful memories. Thanks.
It will be missed. Mr Twister will be missed. The Wildcat will be missed. The original log ride will be missed. The Rainbow will be missed. The legendary theater will be missed. The legendary gum trees... not so much. But everything else will be missed
What a great time capsule. Thank you for sharing this I wouldnt even have been born until 4 summers later. I didnt get to go here until 1998 which by them it had moved tonits present location and was being run by Six Flags. Twister II was my first roller coaster too.
It breaks my heart to see the Elitch Gardens of old. What a great place it was. Since it moved it's just a sad corporate amusement park which is barely managed. It now serves as a dumping ground for parents, primarily lower income, who want their gangster-in-training teenagers to be somebody else's problem for the Summer. For only $150 bucks they get an unlimited summer pass that includes the meal plan so they don't even have to worry about feeding them - those kids can get fat off that food Elitches serves and show off their ever-increasing muffin tops in their favorite inappropriate skin-revealing outfits each and every day. I would advise families with younger children - or even a family with wholesome teenagers who still have a shot at success in life - to avoid the freak-show that Elitch Gardens has become.
The old one hands down. It had history with old structures from the late 1800s, beautiful gardens, a theater, and was made to be as beautiful as it was fun! The old Elitch's was started as an orchard, garden, and zoo along with music, dancing, and rides. Then over the years as the city filled in the orchard grounds were filled in, and more rides were put in. The new one was just an imitation of Six Flags with all the hokey rides and modern "stuff" that everyone thought was so cool in the mid 1990s. No more trees for shade, no more gardens, no more historic buildings, no more historic/unique rides, smooshed into a dirty area of lower downtown Denver by the old industrial rail yards...bleh!
My dad’s company had their annual employee pinic here EVERY year until 1991😢 I remember the stick-on ride passes, the fluorescent hand stamps under the black light, standing in line for the log ride-that music and the wolf howls!
Thanks for making this man cry 😂( J K.). I loved the video, thank you for bringing back some fond memories.🤗❤️
Lots of memories there!
Wonderful memories.
Wildcat clearly had some zip over those hills. My first and all time favorite roller coaster. I will also never forget that splinter splashdown hill. It was great fun to watch and ride. Love seeing the track just under that water just like I remember.
Now for the positive: I'm sure there are many arrow flumes left. Also Knoebels Phoenix and Twister are probably a lot like that old pair of woodies. Phoenix was made by the same guy who made Wildcat. I would like to ride that spider and that tilt a whirl which still run today for who knows how long. Keep the Lakeside Cyclone as long as you can, Denver. It's the only one left.
I remember that old western-looking building. Pretty sure that the gondola passed through it at one point!
I worked there in the summer of 82. The park had something magical about it that the new Elitches has not been able to capture.
The new Elitchs is nothing more than a corporate shell
What A beautiful park, looks so lush with all the trees & gardens . Until this day I can’t believe they moved this once wonderful park to where it’s at now because of greed. I hate money hungry corporations.
I must've been some sort of anti-excitement nerd when it came to the rides here, lol! My two favs were the Log Ride and the sky gondola, only because they didn't have a ride like "The Hearts" like at Lakeside. The Sea Dragon, by that newly installed, indoor IMAX type "ride" was also a fun one!
My "happiest place on Earth".
Thank you for the memories. :)
Fun memories growing up in the 70s going to the original Elitch's. My has Denver changed since.
Wow....this brings back some great memories (I didn't go there until the mid-80's but still). The log ride was one my most treasured rides at this park. Who remembers the "gum" tree next to the que line?
Thank you, thank you so very much for this utterly priceless footage. I lived only a couple blocks from the park as a kid in the ‘80s. I still remember the sound of the screams from riders on the Twister and the Wildcat when in bed at night. I can still walk around the park in my mind but to see it is something else entirely. Especially the footage of my favorite ride, the Splinter (the log ride). Made me tear up. Wonderful memories. Thanks.
Ahhh this is trigger memories from my early years
The sky gondolas 😅
great! thanks for the flashback....those two coasters were great....what a fun place....(went there in the 70s!!!)
This is exactly the era I was there - I could have been in any of the public scenes. First girl I ever kissed was on the mine ride. Good times.
It will be missed. Mr Twister will be missed. The Wildcat will be missed. The original log ride will be missed. The Rainbow will be missed. The legendary theater will be missed. The legendary gum trees... not so much. But everything else will be missed
The Elitch Theatre remains and is protected as a historical landmark. The carousel house is still there too.
@@adcsoundlabs1692 I know and I'm glad
@@LukeLovesRose I feel the same way...
First visit ? Summer of '72 !
I worked there that summer (and the next three) I miss the old park.
This is AMAZING! We miss this park so much---thanks for posting the footage!
Remember the gum tree?
those were fun times - you're welcome!
@@oodololly2529 Yes, super gross.
yeah i know arcwall14 i know, you can't stop change as much as we'd like to
What a great time capsule. Thank you for sharing this I wouldnt even have been born until 4 summers later. I didnt get to go here until 1998 which by them it had moved tonits present location and was being run by Six Flags. Twister II was my first roller coaster too.
Great memories!
It breaks my heart to see the Elitch Gardens of old. What a great place it was. Since it moved it's just a sad corporate amusement park which is barely managed. It now serves as a dumping ground for parents, primarily lower income, who want their gangster-in-training teenagers to be somebody else's problem for the Summer. For only $150 bucks they get an unlimited summer pass that includes the meal plan so they don't even have to worry about feeding them - those kids can get fat off that food Elitches serves and show off their ever-increasing muffin tops in their favorite inappropriate skin-revealing outfits each and every day. I would advise families with younger children - or even a family with wholesome teenagers who still have a shot at success in life - to avoid the freak-show that Elitch Gardens has become.
Which Elitch was better, this one or the current one now?
I only ever went to the old one...
The old one by far
Puh-lease. The original Elitch Gardens was Elitchs.
The old one hands down. It had history with old structures from the late 1800s, beautiful gardens, a theater, and was made to be as beautiful as it was fun! The old Elitch's was started as an orchard, garden, and zoo along with music, dancing, and rides. Then over the years as the city filled in the orchard grounds were filled in, and more rides were put in.
The new one was just an imitation of Six Flags with all the hokey rides and modern "stuff" that everyone thought was so cool in the mid 1990s. No more trees for shade, no more gardens, no more historic buildings, no more historic/unique rides, smooshed into a dirty area of lower downtown Denver by the old industrial rail yards...bleh!
Sound would be nice 🙄
turn on your record player