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36-457: Elitch's Zoological Gardens opened May 1, 1890, on 16 acres (6.5 ha) of former farmland bought by John Elitch and Mary Elitch. It was the first zoo west of Chicago, and it offered the Denver community a unique cultural experience. Mary Elitch Long managed the park for 26 years following John's death in 1891. Mary Elitch was the first woman to own and manage a zoo, and "until the opening of

72-478: A first drop measuring 89 feet 7 inches (27.31 m). One cycle lasts about 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Throughout the course, the track crosses itself 36 times. The ride originally used 12-car trains with two seats per car. For the new Twister, Fetterman created a modified mirror image of the original "Mister Twister" layout, compacting the ride but preserving the highlights of the old design and Allen's original mathematical model. These highlights include

108-493: A large double helix, which now wraps around the ride's curved station, and a large swoop curve at the top of the lift hill. To keep the swoop curve in the new design, Fetterman created a split lift hill. To achieve this, the train climbs halfway up the structure on one lift hill, makes a 180-degree turn and finishes the climb on a second lift hill, stacked directly above the first one. While several roller coasters use more than one lift hill in their layout, Twister's zig-zag lift hill

144-405: A new carousel in 1928. This carousel is still operational at Elitch Gardens. It was during this time the park's enduring slogan was first popularized: "Not to See Elitch's is Not to See Denver." As floral gardens were expanded and greenhouses built, Elitch's became a commercial florist. Mulvihill died in 1930, and the park's ownership transferred to his son-in-law Arnold Gurtler. In the mid-1930s,

180-698: A real small-scale car track with a gas station, all in Kid Scale. The floral business side of the park was quite successful, becoming the largest supplier of carnations in the country in the early 1950s. Despite substantial community outcry, the Trocadero Ballroom was torn down in 1976, claiming the declining popularity of ballroom dancing, replacing Denver's beloved landmark Old Troc with Skee-Ball and arcade games. The theater, which had switched formats from summer stock to star-centered performances in 1962, closed in 1991. Mister Twister opened in 1965. It

216-523: A restaurant. At church, John met a young Mary Elizabeth Hauck and he courted her with daily notes delivered to her by her 10-year-old brother, Edward. Elitch eventually sent a note stating, "I'm going to San Francisco for a job; will you marry me when I come for you?" Mary sent a note back saying "Yes." Mary knew her father would not consent, so in May 1872 the couple eloped and were married in San Jose. She

252-441: A trimmed airtime hill and make a right turn inside the structure of the second hill. The train descends another drop, traveling within the structure, and traverses a banked right turn into an underground tunnel, the entrance into which being where the on-ride photo is taken. Exiting the tunnel, the track makes another unbanked right turn, falls down a small drop, before rising up and hitting the curved final brake run, where it reenters

288-463: A variety of office and retail spaces. The site maintained many of the old trees and other park elements, including the historic Elitch Theatre, the entertainment gazebo, and the structure that once housed the carousel, which is now a picnic structure. The new development exceeded Colorado's Built Green and Energy Star programs and also used recycled construction materials Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wanted to build one of its Neighborhood Market grocery stores at

324-497: Is a custom wooden coaster designed by John Fetterman, with heavy inspiration taken from Mister Twister at Elitch Gardens . Knoebels began planning a roller coaster in 1998, following the popularity of its recent addition, Phoenix , a relocated coaster from Playland Park in San Antonio, Texas . Seeking to preserve another classic ride, the park looked into acquiring the defunct "Mister Twister", which had been abandoned when

360-418: Is unique. Once dispatched, the train drops out of the curved station, descends a slight lefthand turn through the structure, then makes a sweeping righthand turn and enters the lower section of the lift hill, which is stacked underneath the second lift hill. After climbing halfway up, the track leaves the first lift hill, and makes a left turn out of the structure, then slams into a 180 degree turn passing under

396-601: The Conejos Range in Colorado to reach the booming town of Durango, Colorado before the train tracks were laid. He opened a very successful restaurant there that he sold to return to Denver, Colorado . In 1884, Elitch was working at restaurants downtown and he became friends with many of Denver's civic leaders and he was one of the founders of the Denver Athletic Club . "On August 6, 1886, he opened

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432-559: The Denver City Park Zoo, Elitch was the only zoological gardens between Chicago and the West Coast." One of the bears was famous for dancing a waltz when the band played. The Elitch Theatre (1890) became home to the oldest summer stock theater in the country starting in 1893 and continuing to entertain until it closed in 1991. The building was the site of the first films exhibited in Colorado when Edison's Vitascope

468-482: The Elitch Palace Dining Room, located at 1541 Arapahoe Street. The dining room was the largest in Denver, comfortably seating two hundred persons." After five years of searching, in 1887 John and Mary purchased the 16-acre Chilcott farm in the town of Highland , just West of downtown Denver. Although the farm was intended to supply their restaurant with fresh produce, in 1888 John and Mary sold

504-779: The United States. John Elitch John Elitch Jr. (April 10, 1850 – March 10, 1891) was a restaurateur, businessman, actor, zookeeper, and original owner and namesake of Elitch Gardens and the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado . John Elitch Jr. , originally from Mobile, Alabama , "was a direct decendant [sic] of Stephen Hopkins , a signer of the Declaration of Independence." The Elitch family eventually moved to Santa Clara, California , where John attended Santa Clara College and worked with his father in

540-416: The entire Elitch Gardens amusement park was relocated to Denver, Colorado . However, Mister Twister had been closed for so long that it was no longer in operating condition, and space constraints made physically relocating the ride impossible. Knoebels purchased the blueprints and set out to rebuild the roller coaster from scratch, modifying the design to fit the space available. A groundbreaking ceremony for

576-405: The exit from the double helix and climbs the upper section of the lift hill. At the top of the lift hill, the track passes through the swoop curve before diving down an 89.6-foot first drop, then rising up a second hill for the first turnaround. The train dives off the turnaround in its second drop, and rises into the double helix, which goes twice around the station. After the helix, trains pass over

612-505: The gates to Elitch Gardens , continuing a tradition, in memory of Elitch. In 1897, his widow had Elitch's remains moved from California to Denver, and on September 17, Elitch was buried at Fairmount Cemetery , where Mary would later be buried beside him. The Historic Elitch Theatre is the only standing building left from opening day. Many of John Elitch's friends came to perform at the Elitch Theatre including James O'Neill, Charles Goodyear, and Sarah Bernhardt after his death. Although

648-486: The last season at its old location) and a second season goal of 1.2 million, the park was sold to Premier Parks who subsequently purchased all Six Flags parks. The park operated as 'Six Flags Elitch Gardens' until 2006. CNL Lifestyle Properties purchased Elitch Gardens from Six Flags in 2007 and leased it back to PARC Management . The park was rebranded simply as 'Elitch Gardens'. In 2011 CNL terminated its lease with PARC Management. Then Herschend Family Entertainment

684-448: The new Twister took place on November 3, 1998. At the time, the roller coaster was expected to cost $ 2 million to $ 3 million. Knoebels president Dick Knoebels described the ride as the largest project in the park's history. The ride was designed by Knoebels staff designer John Fetterman, based on John Allen's original design for Mister Twister. Fetterman had never ridden Mister Twister himself, but one of his friends had recommended

720-655: The old location. The new location sits adjacent to Interstate 25 between Empower Field at Mile High and the Pepsi Center . It is currently one of the few downtown amusement parks in the United States. At the old location, separate arson events a day apart in November 1995 destroyed the arcade building and heavily damaged the Splinter water ride and Wildcat roller coaster. Following two seasons at its new location with attendance of about one million (versus 750,000 for

756-454: The original. It was named Twister II until being renamed following a 2023 renovation. Knoebels , in Elysburg , Pennsylvania , considered relocating the original Mister Twister but, due to space constraints, built a new version very closely patterned after the original, which they simply called Twister . One feature of Mister Twister was that, after ascending the first hill, the rider

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792-469: The park changed owners, an agreement still stands that it always keep the Elitch name. Mary Elitch Long was allowed to live in her home in the gardens until her death. The original Elitch Gardens closed in 1994 and reopened in its current downtown location in 1995. Twister (roller coaster) Twister is a wooden roller coaster located at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania . It

828-500: The park was assumed by Buddy Gurtler's son, Sandy Gurtler. At its historic location the park had no expansion space, and the family had long planned to relocate to a larger location. The city of Denver provided a location in the Central Platte River Valley, an area that was once a Superfund cleanup site. On May 27, 1995, Elitch's opened at its new downtown location with fifteen of its twenty major rides from

864-408: The restaurant and decided to follow a dream to transform the land into a cultural resort with a zoo, plants, flowers, musicians, and a theater for his entertainment friends. Three years later, they opened the gates to Elitch's Zoological Gardens on May 1, 1890. Many famous friends of John Elitch were in attendance on opening day including P.T. Barnum , Denver mayor Wolfe Londoner . Elitch Gardens

900-502: The ride after having gone on Mister Twister. Twister ultimately cost $ 3 million to build. The Adams Construction Company built the ride over a period of eight months. The roller coaster opened on July 24, 1999. An auction for seats on Twister's inaugural ride raised $ 8,625 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation . Twister is 3,900 feet (1,200 m) long. It measures 101 feet 7 inches (30.96 m) tall, with

936-519: The site, but neighborhood residents protested the store, saying they didn't want a Wal-Mart in the area. In the fall of 2004, Wal-Mart decided not to build it. Sunflower Farmers Market announced they would anchor the center with a grocery store in July 2005. In January 2009 the Sunflower Market retail building at HGV Green Commons was designated as the first LEED core and shell Gold Supermarket in

972-608: The zoo portion of the park was discontinued, with the space being used for more formal gardens (and rides). A giant floral clock was added and the Trocadero Ballroom became a regular stop for touring big bands and home to An Evening at the Troc , a weekly radio broadcast. During this classic period of Big Band Jazz and Swing, the Trocadero Ballroom became a famous summertime night spot as its seemingly endless succession of brilliant stars provided countless hours of live national radio broadcasts in an age before television. In 1945, management

1008-533: Was 16 and he was 22. In 1872, they settled in San Francisco and John managed the restaurant in the California Theatre , where he met many entertainers and developed his love of the theater. Elitch and his wife shared a dream to become zookeepers at a resort with a theatre. In 1880, he arrived in Denver, Colorado to work at friends' restaurants saving money. In early 1881, he hiked across

1044-547: Was Colorado's first looping coaster, and arrived from Magic Springs and Crystal Falls park (where it operated as "the Roaring Tornado") in 1990. It was built by Arrow Dynamics in 1980, and is a launched shuttle loop that speeds into a drop, into a vertical loop, up another hill, and then proceeds to run the course backwards. It made the move to the new park, It is one of three Arrow launched loops made by Arrow to still operate today. In 1985, management and ownership of

1080-484: Was a 96-foot-tall (29 m) wooden coaster, designed by John Allen of Philadelphia Toboggan Company , and advertisements promoted the fact that it didn't "have a foot of straight track". It was regularly rated as one of the top ten rides in the country until it stopped operating in 1994 when the park was relocated. Twister III: Storm Chaser at the Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park is modeled after

1116-464: Was a huge success that John and Mary poured their hearts and souls into. After the gates closed for the first season, the work began for the next year. For the winter, John Elitch formed the Elitch, Schilling and Goodyear Minstrels, and toured Colorado and the west coast with a vaudeville act. Upon reaching San Francisco, John Elitch caught pneumonia and died on March 10, 1891, with Mary at his side. She decided to return to Denver, CO alone and opened

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1152-624: Was added in 1906. The carousel remains in operation today as the Kit Carson County Carousel in Burlington, Colorado . In 1916, the park was sold to John Mulvihill, with a provision stating the name could never be changed. New attractions appeared, including the fabulous Trocadero Ballroom in 1917, and two Philadelphia Toboggan Company creations: the Wildcat roller coaster — designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck — in 1922 and

1188-405: Was assumed by Gurtler's sons, Jack and Budd. In 1952, a section of the park called Kiddieland, oriented to small children, was opened. At a time when amusement parks catered almost exclusively to adults, Elitch's Kiddieland was an instant hit attraction with the first of many lucky generations of small fry. For tots, there were two-seat rocket planes, open-wheel race cars, real floating "motorboats",

1224-588: Was chosen to operate the park, Herschend Family Entertainment operated the park until 2015 when Premier Parks, LLC , the current operator of the park took over. The 28-acre (11 ha) site of the former amusement park has undergone redevelopment as Highlands' Garden Village. The site won the Environmental Protection Agency 's 2005 Overall Excellence in Smart Growth award for its new urbanism development of 308 housing units and

1260-430: Was show at the theatre on August 14, 1896. Many famous actors and actresses from New York and Hollywood performed on the Elitch Theatre stage. Offering New York wages, the theatre booked big stars for generations. Today the theatre is still standing at the original park site. The park's first roller coaster, a Toboggan Figure 8 , opened in 1904. The park's original carousel , built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company ,

1296-567: Was within the line of sight of another coaster, Lakeside Amusement Park 's crown jewel 'Cyclone'. The Wildcat was the oldest of the coasters in the park having been built in 1926 as "The Skyrocket" and revamped as "The Wildcat" in 1935. It was an out-and-back design by Herbert Schmeck of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, and like Mister Twister, did not make the move to downtown Denver. It has since been demolished to make room for residential development. The Sidewinder

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