Coaster Community

One of the parks Valerie and I had been meaning to visit for a while was Elitch Gardens. Valerie works at an independent hotel, and one of the properties is about 20 minutes from Elitch Gardens. Each year the managers go out to the owners home in Breckenridge to set the budget for the next year so they don't have to worry about to dealing with other distractions. I wasn't able to go out there with her last year because of scheduling conflicts, but this year we were able to suggest some dates that would work best for us. I flew out last Friday after I was done with work and met up with her later that evening. After eating a late dinner we decided not to set a definitive time that we wanted to be at the park since we both wanted to sleep in.

As we went through the entrance we had to go through a metal detector and have our bag inspected by security. Since this was a former Six Flags park that didn't surprise me. What did surprise me is that I had to give up my bandanna. Black and Blue "teardrop" style bandannas are considered gang related clothing. It wasn't that they suspected that I was in a gang, it was more that they presented it as that I could be a target. At first I was a little put out by this, but the way they handled this situation ended up being a good compromise. They give you a number that you can take to guest relations after you leave the park to pick up your bandanna. During the interim I was given a stars and stripes bandanna and Valerie was given a choice of some more effeminate bandannas. These weren't the highest quality of bandannas, especially compared to our broken-in cotton bandannas. However, the fact that they were willing to give us a bandanna to wear shows that they have an understanding that we were wearing them for a utilitarian purpose, versus a gang-related fashion statement. This went a long way towards easing our already frustrating morning.

As I usually do at any new park, I stopped to take pictures of the entrance area. They had their Halloween decorations up in preparation for Fright Fest and I couldn't miss out on taking pictures of that. I never know when I might be able to use an idea for my own Halloween display. We continued on and ended up in the Startoon Studios area of the park where the Cactus Coaster is located as well as the other kiddie rides for the park. I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to ride this coaster or not since I wasn't sure what PARC Management's policy on kiddie coasters were. I asked the ride-op if adults were allowed to ride, and he politely informed me that they weren't.

That left us with 5 coasters we could ride since the Flying Coaster was closed for the year, and is most likely going to be moved to another park in the chain. I took a look at the map and decided to head on towards Twister II. On our way there I remembered that this park had a Boomerang and I made the executive decision that we should ride that first if we were going to ride it at all. We got in line and found an empty lane for the second to last car. I mentioned to Valerie that maybe we should sit in the second row since it theoretically would have lower g-forces. However, while writing this I realize there is a bit of a flaw in this logic since this coaster goes both backwards and forwards. If you ride in the front or the back you are going to be riding at the opposite end of the train on the return trip. Even with my flawed logic this ended up being the best ride on a Boomerang I have ever had. It wasn't rough and other than making both me and Valerie dizzy it was somewhat fun. In the future I think I will ride Boomerangs in the back since it seems like the return trips are the hardest on my body.

With the Boomerang out of the way we continued with our original plan of riding Twister II. I have decided that like Valerie, I enjoy almost all wooden coasters. With that being said, there was nothing really all that awe-inspiring about this coaster. There are several twisting (but not steep) drops, and no air-time even in the back. There is one intentionally scary head-chopper at the beginning of the ride with what looks like a saw blade on its side ready to slice off your outstretched arms. Otherwise, the only other notable part of the ride is a fairly lengthy tunnel. It's possible that it might be more fun to ride in the dark, but during the day it is mediocre at best.

We decided to take a coaster break and we headed over to the opposite side of the park to ride Ghost Blasters. This was the park's newest ride and has only been open for a few weeks. This is the newest version of the Sally Corp dark ride and is much better than the Scooby Doo versions I have been on. It has some very spooky effects with full animatronics, but I think it could still be tolerated well by most children. Since this is an interactive shooting dark ride most children will probably focus on their scores more than the effects. One effect in particular that I really enjoyed was an awesome wall of fog effect with a projected image on it. It was similar to the effect used on the Revenge of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios Florida. I didn't score very well on it, but I was also trying to enjoy the effects. This is a great ride for folks who love Halloween, and it was my favorite experience in the park.

After riding Ghost Blasters we hopped next door to ride Mind Eraser. I wasn't expecting much out of this Vekoma coaster, and I got what I was expecting. It was a rough ride with my ears banging into the padded head rests constantly through the ride. It jostled me so much I had to take off my sun glasses half-way through to keep them from falling off. I really didn't find anything enjoyable about this coaster. I wanted to give it a second chance by riding it again, but the next time I swung by there was at least a 30 minute wait. I decided to pass figuring my opinion probably wasn't going to change.

After we got our ears boxed on Mind Eraser we walked over to Half Pipe. It had been open when we walked by it on our way to Twister II earlier in the day, but this time around the entrance was blocked by an employee explaining that it was closed for the day. Instead, we made our way to Sidewinder. This ended up being my 75th coaster and the last one I rode that day. Since it went backwards and looked similar to the Boomerang without a cobra roll, Valerie decided to sit it out. Looking back that might have been the wiser choice. To get to the coaster loading station you have to go up about five flights of stairs. The coaster is essentially two pieces of raised track that drop in to a center loop. Once you go through one way you return backwards. When you look at the coaster from the side the drops don't look that bad. However, you get ejector air-time that sends your head into the rear head rest no matter how hard you are holding it there already. I came off the ride with a headache, and walking down those five flights of stairs didn't seem to help anything.

Valerie and I agreed that we were done for the day and decided to go on the Observation Tower before we left so I could take some pictures. Unfortunately, we found out it was closed down like several rides that day. Instead, we browsed the gift shop and I bought my standard magnet and shot glass. Both of which were about $2 more than I usually pay at most theme parks. After paying, we checked out at Guest Relations to pick up our bandannas and we said goodbye to the park. Overall, we were glad we didn't have to pay for tickets. I don't think we would have felt like we would have gotten our money's worth. The park was very clean and well landscaped. Unfortunately, that's really all the park has to offer aside from Ghost Blasters. This isn't a good park for coaster enthusiasts unless you are just dying to rack up some credits. If you fancy spin and puke rides, then you might enjoy this park as they did seem to have the typical attractions in that genre. This will be my last trip report for a while since the season is winding down, but I do have a few topics on the burner that I am going to try to cover over the course of the next few months. Until then, take a look at the rest of my photos from this trip in my Gallery or on Facebook.

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