Lakeside Amusement Park

While I was turned off by the janky rides at Elitch Gardens, at Lakeside Amusement Park, the general disrepair renders it sort of charming. Also located in Denver (but not right downtown), Lakeside is sort of wonderfully decrepit. Several classic rides still exist, while the park leaves others to rot in place. Meanwhile, the rest of the park is a neon dream of days gone by.

Lakeside Amusement Park

True to its name, Lakeside Amusement Park is located next to a small lake, right in the corner of I-70 and Sheridan Boulevard. It’s a relatively pretty setting, but it’s not in the best neighborhood. Visits during the day are fine, but the park really comes alive at night. Retro neon signs are everywhere, and some of the building and booth designs are right out of the 1930s. And you can still see the original Tower of Jewels and almost feel how the park might have looked when it opened in 1908.

But then, there is also a lot of decay. What used to be a speed boat dock on the lake is crumbling into it. An old whip ride is partially dismantled but still standing. What used to be a house of mirrors stands empty. The lights on the Tower of Jewels aren’t lit. It’s wonderful that it’s all still preserved, somewhat, but sad that so much isn’t working.

Roller Coasters

There are supposedly four roller coasters at Lakeside Amusement Park. But during my visit last fall, only the main Cyclone roller coaster and a kid’s coaster were operating.

The big deal at Lakeside is the Cyclone. This wooden coaster has been thrilling guests since 1940 and nothing much about it has changed since. It’s all manually operated with big open seats and a lovely tunnel at the beginning. It’s definitely not the fastest, most thrilling roller coaster you’ve ever been on, but I like it better than anything at Elitch’s! The coaster has a typical circular cyclone layout and the first drop is near the road, but other sections of it afford nice views over the lake.

As for other roller coasters at Lakeside, there’s the 1955 Wild Chipmunk wild mouse-style steel coaster next to the Cyclone, and a 1989 Dragon family coaster in the middle of the park. When I visited, Wild Chipmunk was dark and while Dragon was lit up, there was no coaster on the tracks.

There’s another rickety-looking steel coaster sort of plunked down near the parking lot but it’s not even close to being ready to ride. It’s like they bought it and parked it but haven’t set it up to use yet.

Other Rides

Most of the rest of the rides at Lakeside Amusement Park are pretty typical flat rides. There’s a Spider, Tilt-A-Whirl, Scrambler, Matterhorn, and a Round-Up. A Zoom drop tower ride looked interesting but wasn’t open. And I love the names and signs for the Auto Skooter (bumper cars) and the Skoota Boat (bumper boats.) A Merry Go Round bathed in neon is housed in a solid concrete pavilion.

Two classic rides to take note of are the Loop-O-Plane and the Rock-O-Plane, made in the ’30s. The Loop-O-Plane takes two riders at a time on a head-over-heels trip in a pair of tin cans. The Rock-O-Plane is like a Ferris wheel but with caged seats that also flip you end-over-end. (I didn’t see it operating during my visit.) They also used to have a Roll-O-Plane, but not anymore. (And there’s one more type of O-Plane model Lakeside never had, a Fly-O-Plane.)

Another interesting ride is the Orient Express miniature train. The trains are leftover from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and feature a slick, all-metal, art deco design. This honestly makes it a bit noisy inside. But the train makes a loop around the lake and offers a nice view of the lit-up park from across the water.

Food & Games

There’s a little central area with a grill and snacks, like ice cream and churros. Prices are very cheap, too – $2 churros or ice cream, and $1 Icees and drinks. There’s some seating in the grill area that’s covered, and also an open park space with benches. Notice the architecture around this part – it’s ’60s on top of ’30s on top of Moroccan like everything has been built on top of what came before. Wikipedia says that the marble and mirror back bar in the grill was salvaged from Denver’s Union Station.

I don’t remember any kind of gift shop, but there are gaming areas with all the regular amusement park and arcade games. All food and games are cash only!

Pricing

Lakeside Amusement Park is pretty cheap to visit overall. Admission just to walk around is $5 (up from $4 during my visit and $3.50 the year before.) To ride any rides, you have to purchase ride tickets or an all-rides pass. Tickets cost 50 cents each and rides are 1-6 tickets per ride.

Here’s the current lineup with prices:

• 6 tickets/$3 for the Cyclone Roller Coaster, Sport Cars (go karts), and Zoom (drop tower.)
• 5 tickets/$2.50 for the Train, Auto Skooter (bumper cars), and I think the Skoota Boats (bumper boats.)
• 4 tickets/$2 for the Chimpunk (not sure if this is the Wild Chipmunk coaster?) and Spider.
• 3 tickets/$1.50 for the Flying Dutchman (like a swings ride), Loop-O-Plane, and Satellite (like Dumbo w/ planes.)
• 2 tickets/$1 for the Hurricane (swings ride w/ a moveable wing), Matterhorn, Rock-O-Plane, Round Up, Scrambler, and Tilt-A-Whirl.
• 1 ticket/$.50 each for several kiddie rides
• (They don’t list the carousel on the website – I hope it’s okay. I remember it being only 1 ticket.)

You must pay admission plus tickets for each ride, meaning one ride on the Cyclone effectively costs $8, and $3 for re-rides. To ride everything listed once (providing they’re all open) would cost $31.50. Otherwise, you can get a wristband to ride all the rides you can. Weekend & Holiday prices are $30 for adults taller than 48″ or $25 for under 48″. During the week, it’s $20/$15. Make sure to check Lakeside’s Facebook and Twitter for coupons!

Note that you can pay your admission with a card at the front gate, but everywhere else in the park is CASH ONLY. Parking is free in a large adjacent gravel lot.

Hours

Hours at Lakeside Amusement Park are general at best. You might even consider calling ahead to make sure of them before you visit. And not all rides are guaranteed to be open every day or for the entire day. The park opens for weekends starting May 14 and resumes more or less daily operation starting June 8 (closed Tuesdays.) That stands until August 21, when it goes back to weekend operation until September 18, and they warn you that after Labor Day, they may close early.

On Saturdays and Sundays, they open the gates at 1 pm with kiddie rides and picnic pavilions open, then open “most” rides at 2:00. On rare Fridays (currently July 8, 29, and June 10), they’ll open the gates at noon and the rides at 1:00. Then during the week, gates open at 6 pm with most rides starting at 7 pm. Generally, Kiddie rides close at about 10:00 pm with the rest of the park open until 11:00, and to 11:30 on the weekends.

Conclusion

On the one hand, Lakeside Amusement Park is very much a run-down little amusement park that’s falling apart and not in the best part of town. Lines are a bit of a free-for-all with plenty of line-cutting, fighting, smoking, and trash.

But on the other hand, it’s the kind of place where you should visit while you can before it sinks into the mist like Brigadoon. Likewise, if you see a ride open that you want to ride, ride it! You may not get another chance. Lakeside is one of America’s oldest amusement parks and it still actually feels like it with all the old architecture and neon spirit. It’s charming as heck if you can look past the decay and bad behavior.

Of course, I’d love to see all the rides open and operating and the park restored to its former glory. But it’s also kind of delightful the way it is.