A day at Elitch Gardens, a former Six Flags park in Denver

I recently had a chance to visit Elitch Gardens theme park during a visit to Denver, Colorado. The park used to be be a Six Flags park, but it’s now independently owned. It’s a fun seasonal amusement park with a connected water park. Here are some highlights of my visit.

The entrance to the Elitch Gardens.


A look at the park from the city train bridge. We were staying in the middle of downtown and the park was just one inexpensive train stop away.


As soon as you go through the turnstiles, you’re inside this hub area with food, drinks and shops.


 The “Main Street” area leads into the park. It’s hard to see in this photo, but the banners all down the middle of the street are adverting different movies that are shown in the park, such as Star Wars and Minions.


 The day we were there, the local Parks and Rec had a few tents up showing off animal pelts and live animals such as snakes and owls.


 A nice picture spot as you reach the area of the park where you can go left or right.


 The entrance to Island Kingdom Water Park is right inside the theme park. The day we were there in late May, it hadn’t yet opened for the season.


 A booth for purchasing Rapid Ride, their version of Fastpass for skipping the lines.


 There aren’t any table service restaurants at the park, but they do have the Rustlers Food Court and a few other quick service options. We had pizza near the front of the park at Basil & Tomato Pizza Co.


 I love the design of this sign on the Tower of Doom drop ride.


 Some girls scream as they drop to their “Doom”.


 This coaster is called Boomerang because it takes riders forwards through the track, then backwards.


 Some kids run from the splash of Shipwreck Falls. This log ride drops guests over 50 feet.


 I’ve seen these surf or skateboard back-and-forth rides before, but never one this big. This ride is called Half Pipe.


 This is probably the prettiest spot in the park.


 The park has one dark ride. It’s a shooter called Ghost Blasters. The animatronic in front of the ride is well done. Here’s a ride-through:


 The taller of the spinning seat Star Flyer rides at the park. Notice the wooden coaster behind it …


 I enjoyed the Twister 2 wooden roller coaster. It was a bit rough, as wooden coasters tend to be, but it wasn’t unenjoyable.


 A view of downtown Denver from the Twister II queue. Unfortunately, because the park is right near downtown, the land it sits on is valuable. A developer has plans to redo this area of town, which means Elitch Gardens could eventually have to move or close. But they’re saying the park would not be closed for “many years”/”the foreseeable future”.


 A look inside the little kids area of the park, KiddieLand.


 This undercover area of KiddieLand may look familiar to those of you who have been to the back of Woodie Woodpecker’s KidZone at Universal Studios Florida. It’s a ball play area.


 This motorcycle ride made me wish I was small enough to ride. It even has the kids popping wheelies. It’s called Mike’s Bikes.


 Of course, what amusement park would be complete without a spinning tea cup ride. Theirs is called KidSpin.

If you’d like to visit Elitch Gardens, the park is open from April through October. You can find out more information at ElitchGardens.com. Our sponsor MeiTravel can help you plan a trip.

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2 Comments

  1. Having lived in Colorado for most of my life, and having spent some time at the old Elitch’s (that’s what locals call it) as well as the “new” location off I-25, and also Lakeside amusement park (the “other park” in Colorado), there’s nothing at Elitch’s that the world would miss if it were to shut down. Mostly, it’s a place for the gang-bangers to hang-out at while normal attendees enjoy extremely long lines for mediocre (at best) rides with super low hourly capacity.