Trip Report: Lakeside Amusement Park

I visited family in Denver about a week ago and visited Lakeside Amusement Park on a Thursday evening for approx. 3 hours. The park was not too busy with less than 10 minute lines for everything but the Wild Chipmunk and Cyclone coasters that were closer to 20 - 30 minutes in length. Here are my thoughts on the rides and park.

1. Cyclone wooden coaster is still in good condition and I had no bumps or bruises after riding. I easily could have ridden another 10 times but my family wanted to move on the to the other attractions and get out of there.

2. Wild Chipmunk wild mouse coaster. The only other two wild mouse coasters I have ridden recently are the Mack coasters at DCA and Knott's. This blows them out of the water. Uncontrolled full speed turns with the car leaning to the side through violent drops with what appears to be no braking until the end of the ride places Wild Chipmunk as the best wild mouse I have ridden.

3. Their drop tower was short but excellent. I was commenting to people next to me that Magic Mountain's was like three times as tall. I just don't remember flying three inches out of my seat on the Magic Mountain version and feeling like I had to grab on the save my life. The belt kept me in but this just felt more thrilling. This is a good drop tower for extreme air. It is short air but sweet air.

4. The classic whip ride is great and was operating at a good enough speed that you actually whipped out at the edge of the track. It felt thrilling like an early scrambler attraction.

5. The classic Eyerly Rock O Plane was operating normally but the Roll O Plane was lying on the ground in pieces.

6. We also went on the Ferris Wheel, go carts, bumper cars, Himalaya, Tilt-O-Whirl, flying Dutchman, Hear Flip, scrambler and the Rocketship. These rides are pretty standard and don't need much comment.

7. They have a small train ride that goes around something they call a lake. We had ridden it before and didn't go again. We also skipped the bumper boats, round up, and kids rides.

The Dragon Coaster, Monster, kite flyer and Roll O Plane had all broken since my last visit two years ago.

My food recommendation is don't eat it unless you think 7-11 has good food. They do know how to heat frozen pizza, stick hot dogs in the microwave or hot water, and pop popcorn. There are bottled soft drinks and water but you can bring your own drinks in and we purchased water before we got there.

There are an abandoned and rotting old racetrack grandstand, Ferris Wheel type attraction and other features at the park that give this place a haunted Scooby Doo or Silent Hill feel to it. It is definitively worth a trip if you are in the Denver area of Colorado.

There is a Rock O Plane in the background

Ferris Wheel at dusk

Where do I board this contraption?

Wild Chipmunk brakeman

Wild Chipmunk

Wild Chipmunk

Rocketjets

It might be closed

Scrambler and part of Cyclone

This used to light up all pretty like

Ceiling at bumper boats has seen better days

Flying Dutchman

Dragon Coaster is closed

Whip ride was fast and exciting

Ferris Wheel at night

killer air for a drop ride

Roll O Plane is broken

A few more photos.

Abandoned racetrack

Go cart track is pretty short

Cyclone in the background

Some of the games

Games booth

Great report! I haven't seen a full trip report of Lakeside in quite some time. I hope to make it out to that park someday since I love classic wooden coasters.

And yes that drop tower is amazing since it's one of those ARM/Larson ones. The air on those things is unreal.

Great report! I haven't seen a full trip report of Lakeside in quite some time. I hope to make it out to that park someday since I love classic wooden coasters.

 

And yes that drop tower is amazing since it's one of those ARM/Larson ones. The air on those things is unreal.

Thanks, it was the best $17 I spent on the trip. They wanted like $84 for a day pass for the Breckenridge mountain coaster and other attractions and I skipped it.

I also didn't do a good job explaining a Rock O Plane. It is basically a Ferris Wheel and Top Spin combined in one. You are belted tight and there is a cage over the car. The cars go around like a Ferris Wheel but you have a brake lever in your car so you can stop the rotation. You can ride all the way around facing outward if you want to. You just lock the brake at the desired rotation and let go when you want to release. You can get a good flip or two on every rotation if you lock at the bottom and release at the top when you are upside down.

Thanks for the TR! I'm planning on making it here in 2018. I wish it wasn't so rough around the edges - especially the famous tower. This seems to be one of those parks that has so much character and history, but it is being slowly ruined by owners who can't or won't take care of it properly.

Looks like a dump.

Great report though.

Thanks for the TR! I'm planning on making it here in 2018. I wish it wasn't so rough around the edges - especially the famous tower. This seems to be one of those parks that has so much character and history, but it is being slowly ruined by owners who can't or won't take care of it properly.

From a 2014 article

5) Yes, there have been plenty of offers to buy Lakeside/develop the property... and no, owner Rhoda Krasner is not interested Owner Rhoda Krasner is notoriously uninterested in selling the property or partnering with an investor to put money into "fixing it up." The beauty of Lakeside may be in the eye of the beholder, but anyone who visits the park and gets its old-school charm knows the park is fine just the way it is. Krasner has been known to say that part of the reason she hasn't struck a deal is because she wishes to stick by her father Ben's original intent of keeping the park affordable to all

Thanks for the TR! I'm planning on making it here in 2018. I wish it wasn't so rough around the edges - especially the famous tower. This seems to be one of those parks that has so much character and history, but it is being slowly ruined by owners who can't or won't take care of it properly.

 

From a 2014 article

 

5) Yes, there have been plenty of offers to buy Lakeside/develop the property... and no, owner Rhoda Krasner is not interested Owner Rhoda Krasner is notoriously uninterested in selling the property or partnering with an investor to put money into "fixing it up." The beauty of Lakeside may be in the eye of the beholder, but anyone who visits the park and gets its old-school charm knows the park is fine just the way it is. Krasner has been known to say that part of the reason she hasn't struck a deal is because she wishes to stick by her father Ben's original intent of keeping the park affordable to all

Oh yeah, I think I remember us talking about this before. I respect the intention, but man that's a recipe for inevitable disaster. A lot of the small classic parks that have gone out of business suffered from poor public perception because they let little things like painting slip. Rough appearance + old rides + management that refuses to update operations to reflect the present day = eventual closure. An accident on a ride, however minor, would ruin them with the park looking so ragged.

^I hear what you are saying but am confident that the rides get the proper maintenance, as time someone visits the park a few rides are down and it is not always the same rides.

I think the park keeping only night time hours on most weekdays shows that the owner is in touch with the needs of her clientele.

^I hear what you are saying but am confident that the rides get the proper maintenance, as time someone visits the park a few rides are down and it is not always the same rides.

 

I think the park keeping only night time hours on most weekdays shows that the owner is in touch with the needs of her clientele.

I never felt unsafe on the rides and they did appear maintained and ran well. I imagine rough Denver weather eats up the facades and low attendance doesn't leave a lot of money in the capital improvement budget for improvements or non-essential repairs. This park really does have a lot to offer for the price from child to adult. They let you bring a picnic and carry around your own non-alcoholic drinks. Probably best if you skip the food anyway. The park really feels like a time warp to the 1980s or 1990s. The only way you can tell it is a more recent decade while in the park is guests and their cell phone cameras. The rest of the place is classic.