VHS recording of the last day at the Original Elitch Gardens in Northwest Denver 1994

VHS recording of Last Day at the Original Elitch Gardens in northwest Denver in 1994.
This home video was recorded on a briefcase size VHS camcorder on the last day of the original location of Elitch Gardens in October of 1994 and shows the park as it is opening to the public, the park alive with activity and family fun, and the end and the dismantling of all of the rides including the Sidewinder, Mister Twister, Paradise, Tilt-a-Whirl, and many more rides.
Elitch Gardens has touched the lives of most of Colorado’s residents and after 104 years of successful operation, Elitch Gardens closed its doors at the famous northwest Denver location and moved to its new Downtown Denver location under Six Flags ownership.

[@graysadventureland4253]

Bye bye childhood memories. 😢. It was great to go down memory lane and then the ending just made me so sad. One of the best amusement parks. Wish they were all still like this.

[@jercasgav]

At least we are lucky enough to have Lakeside, it is one (if not the most), historically intact amusement parks in the entire USA.

[@TacoTot]

Some of my earliest memories as a little kid in the 80's are from this park. I remember the log ride especially well and the "gum" tree.

[@TMcConnaughhay]

I worked there summer of 1989. The real crime was that they moved without the log ride or the wild cat, and when they rebuilt the twister at the new location, it wasn't nearly as good a coaster as the original. :-( At the new location, they haven't really added any big thrill rides in many years. Some of these same rides are still operating at the new park which is all asphalt and no charm!

[@oopsibrokethecow]

Bleh, Elitch's sucks now. I haven't been in about ten years, and I don't miss it. It just turned into another corporate amusement park, with generic rides. I was so sad when it moved locations, there was something surreal about the original location that could never be duplicated. I feel like it lost its character when it moved. Lakeside is still there though, in the original spot.

[@tanneraitken3768]

oopsibrokethecow it's actually gotten better TBH.

[@SlushysSecret]

@@tanneraitken3768 wrong, a bunch of teens sneak in, the security sucks and there's always some bull crap happening

[@thedarkknight1357]

I only wish lakeside would keep up with replacing ride lights and it's paint job. Basically making the park look even more amazing by up keeping it

[@jooleepadoolie]

Mister Twister lives again at Knoebels Amusement Park in Ely, PA. They tried to move the original, but it was too far gone. They bought the blueprints and rebuilt it at Knoebels. One of the bolts from the original coaster is now embedded in the new Twister at Knoebels. Knoebels is the last of its kind. No fee to get it, and you can bring your own food. Great place.

[@ontheflylens]

We were spoiled rotten as kids living just a few streets down off 29th, we rode our bikes to original Elitch Gardens, lotta great times, beautiful park.

[@lmumma1]

I remember it newer, more vibrant and special than this video portrays, this was the reality. Bummer

[@florapura284]

Honestly it's really sad to see what it was... compared to what is now... it seemed so amazing in those days. It was the place my parents met each other. It's the place where a woman put so much heart in running till she died.. now the the new place has no gardens really it's very industrial it's expensive it's not organized at all. Also they if weather moves in they close all the rides and only open half them up again.

[@cyberbri6899]

Yeah, it seemed like every time my wife and I would bring our kids to the new location about half the rides would be closed and I can’t remember how much the cost of emission was when we’d go to the new location but even the discount coupons would still cost a family if 4 like 150 bucks and we’d just go on the kid rides because our kids were too small for the big rides. Then when our kids were older and could go in the bigger rides we’d lay all that money and would only be able to go on a few rides because how long the lines would be and about half the rides would be closed. Our kids had much more fun at Heritage Square but now that’s closed.

[@timothyschwartz8034]

The new park has lots of bells and whistles but scores a zero for character and charm. It's just a huge money grab now. I miss the old one.

[@gptm1]

Timothy Schwartz For only $69.99 you get a season pass to both water park and theme parks. But wait...throw in another $40 for VIP rides where you can cut in line (if rides didn’t close on you; no refunds if they did). Also if you pay another $40 you can cut in lines for the hunted house attractions which are just a dark rooms with props. Wish you can eat everyday at elitches? Purchase our meal plans for only $59.99 extra. So you can enjoy their delicious not well made burgers with skinny salty dried up fries. Lakeside: $2.20 to get in the park. hotdog $1.50 and unlimited $22. That’s it!

[@itscooldude167]

@@gptm1 I do wish I could have gone, If I could go to 2 defunct parks it would be this and geauga lake

[@shawnj1843]

I like the old Elitch gardens better, more fun BIGGER..And more fun....

[@garfieldxcruz]

What a absolute waste of an iconic amusement park.

[@anthonychihuahua]

Ha! As northsider youngsters in the early 80's, me and a friend would sneak into Elitch's from 38th side at that gate where the sun-face paintings started, just up and across the street from the ice cream place (now Javier's). We'd find someone willing to "lick-transfer" their hand stamp to our hand and then we'd be in like Flynn! Although, I'm sure Flynn paid to get in! Good times..💭

[@moniquegarcia1011]

Lol i remember that

[@anthonychihuahua]

​@@moniquegarcia1011 ✊🏼Northsider for life! I hope you're doing well, Monique, and God's Good Blessing's to you and yours 🙏

[@ashleyriedel4059]

9:18 NOooooOOoOOo my heart. lol

[@wgb01001]

The Rainbow! As a kid that ride scared the hell out of me and I never went on it. It was so much bigger in my memories...

[@moniquegarcia1011]

Me too so creepy that ride

[@oopsibrokethecow]

The silence towards the end is ominous. So somber.

[@farmyardflavours]

Elitch Gardens and Lakeside were awesome when i was growing up. So glad Lakeside remains

[@thedarkknight1357]

I just wish it was refurbished and kept up when it comes to the lights and the paint job then that park will truly be amazing

[@michaelwhite4976]

Since we are all on memory lane here. How many of us ate a good lunch, just to go on the Round Up and see if we could keep it down...✋😂

[@ashleyriedel4059]

Omg, 4:44 with the galloping horse cars...Deffo had a flashback to 3 years old lol!!!

[@mamanay5766]

Hadn’t thought of the old eliches in years. I remember that last day. Had a heck of a hail storm that day!

[@rictrexell2118]

Even though I was raised in Wisconsin, I went out to Denver for a year and got an apartment on Meade St. which was about a mile from Elitches. I took a walk one day and saw it and remembered the name. I went there a few times just to see the people and watch the roller coaster. I looked it up one day on Google and learned it was sold and that a new one was built and run by Six Flags, but was having money problems. I just watched another video and saw how it was now made into apartments. It is sort of like watching one of those Twilight Zone TV shows. Once you go there and it is an amusement park, the next time it is a apartment complex. Just needs some guy to come out and say this always was an apartment complex and there never was an amusement park here.

[@tanneraitken3768]

Ric Trexell it's no longer six flags it's elitch gardens again and it is HUGE. it's actually gotten a lot better

[@TrentonBlessWrestlemania489]

Indeed. However, the area where the second Elitch Gardens now sits is gonna be redeveloped soon. So, expect Elitch's to move again in the next few years.

[@raymondgarcia7514]

The Log Ride was the best! The old timey music. The characters. Even that nasty gum tree! Inimitable!

[@hikaruultma]

Okay here are the rides that are still at Elitches now that I see in this video...... It's kinda been tradition for me to go yearly at this point but I honestly don't wanna go back till I have kids of my own... Enjoy 0:48 The Hollywood (Paradise) 6:50 1:03 The Sidewinder 4:54 1:33 The Tilt a Whirl killed a few people and was left at the park waaay longer than it shoulda been 3:10 looks like the same dang Ferris wheel we have now!! The other one isn't still being used tho 6:15 The Twister II... I've felt that thing jump 6:54 6:45 that basketball thing def still being used, exact same thing 7:18 landscape / turbine for Disaster Canyon :S 7:44 The Spider D: 8:20 some indoor teacup ride thing... It's still there 2018 8:31 The Carousel 9:45 that clock!? 10:54 Troika (oddly enough) Wow, there's a lot of re-painted assets including most of the seat fixtures you saw... Anybody who's been to Elitches now knows that this looks almost identical aside from some minor details. Might have missed some stuff but I spent a good amount of time to get you that list so :P

[@John-hs4om]

My mom got stuck on that twister during a hail storm

[@0ut.the.0x]

And now, the 2nd one is moving. I feel you guys, who are sad about your childhood amusement park moving. This park meant everything to you. And the current one means everything to me. I’m gonna miss it.

[@bunnybgood411]

Sad. I went to Elitch's with my family often in the 1960s.

[@mikegarcia7672]

I can remember going here in the 1970s, and 1980s a lot. Great times there!

[@adamhilgefort2589]

I grew up 3 blocks from Old Elitches and I never could like the new one

[@wildsmiley]

Adam Hilgefort I’m with you there, brother.

[@conniechamberlain1259]

My dad helped put together one of the rides because instructions came in German.My mother worked in the greenhouse one year.I spent a good part of my time there watching them dance. I loved at 39th and Yates,road # 13 bus.I loved growing up in and around the area.

[@ArtificialExperience]

Thank you for this video. Growing up in Denver, Elitch Gardens has so many great memories for me and my family. I had to stop watching near the end when they were dismantling the rides. You have made my day, thank you.

[@mikeb7998]

Thank you for the video....spent a lot of my childhood in that park....remembered most if it...but it was the little details that have faded over the years.

[@allmediaservices430]

This is sad. And happy. Bittersweet.

[@dingdangwallawalla4249]

This video really kind of bummed me out. I didnt catch it, but did they show the gum tree?

[@graysadventureland4253]

Waiting in line for the log ride! Wasn't there another one around the Wild Cat coaster too? It's been a long time since those good old days.

[@willcartershaves]

the old eliches,,,was the best. The new one is downtown and sucks ass. Way too expensive,,,generic rides and with todays generation,,it sucks even more...look in this video,,,everyone is having a blast and with smiles on there face...u dont see people walking around using cell phones,,,,theyre concentrating on having fun. Also take notice to some of the females rocking the poof hairstyles,,,,lol man thats the 80s and 90s look. I use to hang out here on friday and saturdays with homies picking up chics and just having fun....i miss it dearly. The new eliches isnt fun at all....not even close

[@InflatablePlane]

Oh wow I saw the Rainbow! It was still at the new location when I went in 1999. Rode it several times and loved it lol.

[@freedrose5441]

It was just sitting there for years then they put a new ride

[@wildsmiley]

My home away from home for several summers during my childhood, back in the faraway time called the 1980s. I lived only a few blocks away. So sad then, still sad now. Oh but the memories..

[@ncpers737]

Had a lot of memory's in this park growing up.

[@TraUrban]

Some of the best times of my life❣ We lived down the block and could here all the fun.

[@nfcoasterferg]

Wow, it seemed like such a charming old park in it’s original spot. Love how they crammed the rides in and even out one up on a roof!

[@darylbrunscheen5667]

You published this in May of 2017. Elitches hasn't been with Six Flags for years now. They were, for a time, but they ceased that partnership a few years ago.

[@johnnywu2]

This is so great. Thank you for this.

[@stealtheli]

As a kid I always thought we had three roller coasters. Twister, Wild cat, and ??? . I can see that I was wrong. BUT...... The 80's as a teen was amazing.

[@edwardkirkland2022]

There was also a Wild Mouse coaster there for a while.

[@Jules-nm6ut]

The fact that there moving for a 3rd time :/

[@mattman237]

Who is moving?

[@abrahamjavalera5158]

Matt Man elitch’s is moving

[@thepointycircle4800]

Since when?

[@t.finguz877]

it was all a dream....best park in the country no apts and houses takes its place

[@Ferris1986]

2:05 “We’re getting closer, we’re getting better, cleaner, trimmer, all those things.” Yeah no. It’s almost too close, it’s definitely not better for some reasons, it’s almost dirtier, and it’s too industrial. Hopefully that will change with the redevelopment of the new park coming in a few years.

[@sadpringle6985]

Brings back the good old days

[@georgieleejrs8299]

I remember even getting a chance to work there only a short time back in the 80's a long time ago the supervisors were buttholes back then; got hired by the other park Lakeside; was there for almost 12 years; miss Denver now!!

[@areannaquintessa]

nostalgia. i used to go all the time when i was a kid with my family. good memories so sad its gone. cool video.

[@ps4fan794]

areanna beyer it's back in a new form

[@pheez33]

Does anyone know what the song was that played over the PA in the waiting line for the Splinter?????

[@shawnsnow7748]

The theme song from How the West Was Won

[@carathomas8398]

Brings back childhood memories. Thanks for sharing

[@oopsibrokethecow]

My favorite ride was the one with the Hawaiian lady statue, but now I can't remember the name of it. I used to ride it over and over, I don't know if I ever knew the name, but I sure loved it. Just hearing the sound of its mechanisms in the background brings back memories and feelings.

[@pheez33]

Was that the rainbow ride? I loved that ride...and the Sea Dragon. Damn, I just loved Elitch's...

[@oodololly2529]

The Rainbow!!!

[@suzannasena1488]

The nostalgia is real. Such a magical place. Still remember how it felt to be there.

[@seanlewis1148]

Why was the old Elitch's closed in the first place?

[@wildsmiley]

The owners wanted to expand out. They couldn’t do that in the original location anymore. When they moved toward downtown, they got the room, but at the cost of the neighborhood charm, classic feel and the beautiful soul of the original park. Now it’s just another typical corporate theme park with expensive prices, long wait lines and very little if any personality. So very sad. A waste.

[@moniquegarcia1011]

I went 2 days ago and its so overpriced dirty gross and the workers suck. Food sucks waited so long just to get in and spent all day in long lines i hate it its on its way of being demolished only reason i like it is the water park

[@djbille4283]

I moved to Denver in 1981 and lived there for almost 40 years. I remember visiting this park in the 80’s and how much fun it was, the great rides and nostalgic atmosphere. I visited the new location in the mid 90’s and it just wasn’t the same. Watching this video brought back many memories and caused a few tears to fall 😢. Thanks for posting.

[@graceasmr4989]

Poor old park

[@wayneharris5141]

A true treasure - gone forever, I wept with nostalgia.

[@sunsetsarsaparillaman]

And now they're moving again😑

[@danieldt9439]

Denvertrooper where

[@sunsetsarsaparillaman]

It's not determined yet. The current Elitches is in the heart of downtown Denver and the land it's on is worth a lot of money. So they plan to shut down the park and remove all of it. They may just shut down Elitches for good, but hopefully they'll move it to a different location.

[@danieldt9439]

@@sunsetsarsaparillaman damn but do you know when?

[@sunsetsarsaparillaman]

It will probably take a few years to completely shut down the park

[@danieldt9439]

@@sunsetsarsaparillaman oh thanks for the information 👍

[@cyberbri6899]

The end of this video is too sad. Our family went there quite a bit in the 70’s and 80’s. I also remember when it was free to go in and you would buy tickets to go in the rides and you could bring coolers and have a picnic. Things were so much better back then.

[@danariusm.4283]

Does anyone know where the old park was situated?

[@pheez33]

38th and Tennyson

[@oopsibrokethecow]

I remember Denver 2 news.

[@furripupau]

I remember going to Elitch's in the 90s. The log ride piled up, and the logs began to override flume. They had to stop the ride and we all had to exit via the maintenance path. I recall it being in the news when the same thing happened again a few months later and injured people.

[@anthonychihuahua]

I wonder if they 'logged' a complaint later? I'd jokingly hold my hand up as if something was on it and say "EEE!-LEECHES" as a play on words after sticking my hand into the log ride water to splash on my fellow riders..

[@moniquegarcia1011]

My fave as a kid since I was 4 or 5 when it shut down was that ski lift ride that let you get a nice view of the park

[@gptm1]

2020. Elitch Gardens II will have it’s last day as well.

[@kaidanalexander2840]

Really?

[@IDontKnowWhatThisAccountIs]

New elitches could not compare

[@milehighkit4725]

Sooo...Sad!!!

[@michaelwhite4976]

So many awesome summers spent here. Seeing tore down at original location was like saying " good bye" to an old friend..😞

[@tonymantini3147]

The new park sucks prices are ridiculous rides suck it's a shame what it's become it was perfect back then

[@cdt8830]

The splinter!! The best ride!! Man I miss the old park 😞

[@isoisoiso5280]

Feels. ❤😭😭😭😭

[@zoeysavino709]

That was a long time ago I would rather go to the Elitch gardens today in 2020

[@moniquegarcia1011]

U must have not had the privilege of going to this park (the original.)

[@cdt8830]

Your an idiot 😂 😝

[@zoeysavino709]

@@cdt8830 No

[@cdt8830]

@@zoeysavino709 dummy

[@niggasdontdiewex4995]

I miss old Denver

[@oodololly2529]

We do too!

[@jayleno1259]

Amen 38th and lowell represent