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Elitch Gardens

F.A.S.T.

Hyper Poster
Elitch, despite the fact that it doesn't actually have gardens anymore, was a great little park. It was clean, the staff was friendly, and it had a nice layout. Yes, the park doesn't have any world class coasters, but don't let that stop you from having fun.

The day had a rough start. My friends dad did cook breakfast for us, but he had to finish up some work before we headed off to the park.

For all of you guys who love photos from inside the car, here's one for you!:
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We got into the park at 11:30. It didn't matter that we had a late start because the park is small and was not busy:
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I really loved the park's grand entrance. The atmosphere was great! Nice themeing, lush green plants, and some intense music was playing. It reminded me of a tiny Disneyland.
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First up was the arrow shuttle. I loved the ride! It's arguably the best coaster in the park!
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It is a glorious loop!
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Hopefully this picture will get you going:
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Looking out from the loading platform. If you look closely you can see MindEraser in the background. ;)
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The loading platform was a great area to snap some pictures of the park:
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The Flying Coaster SNBO as always.
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Next we took a ride on the Tower of Doom! It was my first second generation Intamin drop tower. I enjoyed it more than a S&S shot/drop tower.
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Two of the six/seven coasters in the park are barely visible:
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Where's my fall protection? :lol: - Sorry that was a stupid joke!
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Twister II was next on the list. Sadly this coaster was not as good as I expected.
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We love wide coasters!
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Twister II, Sign#II
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A quick shot of the old Mr. Twister.
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Under the station they have a whole room of pictures from some of the historic coasters at the old park location. That was the only time I wish there was a line so I could read about them.
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The Flying Coasters trains are sitting in a field behind Twister II. I wonder when they'll finally remove or refurbish it.
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There's no airtime on this ride:
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The Tunnel of Death!
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From sidewinder:
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Halfpipe! I'm not sure if I enjoyed Hafpipe or Avatar Aribender more...
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The dang sun ruined so many of my shots!
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It was getting hot so it was time for some water rides!
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The very large wave:
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I'll give you $5 if you can read this.
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Elitch's tower that's been sitting for awhile. I wish I could have grabbed some shots of the park from there.
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Lunch!

After lunch we took a ride on the SLC.
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There's something about clocks without numbers that freak me out!
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I hate the sun!
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This is the last shot of the SLC. I promise I won't put you though any more pain.
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There was one last clone to ride!
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For some odd reason, I liked it better than the one at Knotts.
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The Flying coaster all alone.
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Fenced off like it's some kind of leper.
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Ratings:
Sidewinder: 8/10
Twister II: 7/10
Halfpipe: 8/10
MindEraser: 5/10
Boomerang: 5/10

Overall park rating: 8/10
It's a great little park. I recommend visiting it if you are in the area!
 

Jake

Strata Poster
I've always found it strange that they have a shuttle loop and a boomerang...

Thanks for posting! We don't see Elitch Gardens much...
 
I'll give you $5 if you can read this.

Blaster Canyon. Pants or shorts must be worn over bathing suit bottoms and shoes are required.

Nice report though, Elitch looks like a decent park, but we don't see much of it because of the location, so thanks for sharing! Their lineup doesn't look amazing, but the atmosphere seems decent and stuff.
 

F.A.S.T.

Hyper Poster
^ Oh so close! Disaster Canyon. ;) Tisk Tisk Tisk!

Their lineup doesn't look amazing, but the atmosphere seems decent and stuff.
The atmosphere really made the park. Without it, it's just a average park with average coasters. The only bad thing about that park was that they had frequent ride "breakdowns". It slowed us down a lot. Granted they would only last ten minutes or so, but the breakdowns weren't isolated to one ride.
Tower of Doom's first car was out for a fourth of the day, and then they started having problems with the whole tower. They'd still operate the ride, but when a sensor went off they'd call the mechanic and run the cars empty.
Halfpipe had problems stopping in the right place so the restraints would unlock. I sat on the ride for at least five minutes.
I'm not exactly sure what was wrong with Sidewinder, but we sat up on the loading platform waiting for the mechanic for at least 12 minutes. Which was odd because he didn't so ****. They just ran the car empty and let us get on.
Hopefully they'll put a little more TLC into their rides this next off season.
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
It's great to get reports from some different parks, Jake's right there - excellent stuff.

The park itself, while it looks tidy, looks pretty, erm...

It's like if you took all the most mediocre rides out of the UK (that were once a long time ago, considered good) and put them in one park, that's what you'd get... :lol:

Twister II looks fun... I like woodies that are about speed and twists. I love airtime woodies more, but I really enjoy fast, twisting woodies as well.

So yeah, looks like quite an eclectic little park :)
 
Aw damn I was SO close, and that was like, the easiest part to read, especially considering it showed the name of the ride a few pictures before that, haha.
 

valleyfair!

Hyper Poster
Been going to Elitch Gardens quite a bit the past few years because I have been going to school in Colorado. (Unfortunately haven't made it yet this season.) Glad to see you had a great time and it really is a nice little park even though the coasters are mediocre. Nice to see the Flying Coaster trains haven't moved in at least 3 years now behind Twister II... Coming from a former Minnesota boy, I think Avatar Airbender is actually better then Half Pipe even though it is 30 feet shorter. Sidewinder was actually the biggest surprise for me the first time I visited the park, airtime is actually quite nice on the drop right after the launch.

Glad you had fun and next time you get a chance to get out there let me know because there is a possibility I could meet up with you!
 
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