Late last week, we sprung a huge surprise on the kids. To them, it was a mundane Thursday school night. They expected an evening filled with with my delightful cooking, homework, and dishes. They never expected to be herded to the van to be whisked off to a mysterious fate. Gosh, I love surprises.
They speculated as we drove toward the city. Nobody guessed Denver’s 124-year-old ever-popular amusement park, Elitch Gardens. As we pulled into the parking lot, I glanced back to see three rows of dropped jaws. Some of them chewed their coats in mock shock. I announced we were there to preview a new ride called the Brain Drain and kickoff the 2014 season in style. We had a blast. Not all the rides were open, but we got the idea.
If summer is going to be like this, we’ll never want it to end.
The little ones had fun in KiddieLand, especially in the Goofy Gazebo where they spent half the night blasting foam balls at each other.
The star of the night was the brand-new, 7-story tall Brain Drain. It’s difficult to describe, other than it’s a giant circle with a rollercoaster-style line of cars that zip around inside the circle at blurring speeds, stopping, going backward, upside down. I didn’t ride it because I’m me, but the three oldest kids couldn’t wait. They were exhilarated by it.
We also had fun visiting classic rides like the Sea Dragon, the Turn of the Century, the Boomerang, Tea Cups, and Ferris Wheel.
But the best part of the night was after the sun sank enough in the sky for the lights to flicker on, creating a show of color and magic. Is there anything better than an amusement park on a warm summer night? Hardly.
Elitch Gardens is now open for the 2014 season with a lot of fun in store, including concerts, dive-in movies at the water park, events like Fright Fest, and of course, the new Brain Drain. Be sure to check the calendar for park hours before summer gets in full swing.
Thanks to Elitch Gardens for inviting our family to attend a preview night party. The views expressed are solely ours.
I come here all the time but rarely comment because I usually can’t think of anything intelligent, and putting “great post” all the time gets old (even though your anti-spam words are always awesome and “supergrover” was really hard to pass up), but it’s Mothers’ Day and all day I’ve been thinking I want to come here and say you totally amaze me, being a Supercharged Extra Mother of Many and still finding time to write cool stuff about them and also make up inspirational sayings and post them over pictures of reuben sandwiches. Go you. xo
Awww, thank you Allison! I think this is one of my favorite encouraging comments, ever. I’m glad to know you and I thank you, again, for making me smile!