Lakeside offers retro ride into the 20th century

By Andy Piper   |   September 4, 2009   |   2:01 PM

This is the Space Age rewound, complete with UFOs, Skyfighters and a Satellite. Cadillac fins and taillights direct from the 1950s decorate the flying saucers and helicopters of the Space Ride. G forces drag at the faces of riders on the Loop-O-Plane, the Round-Up and the Mission to Mars.

This is also the Belle Epoque rewound, with Straus waltzes and Sousa marches echoing across a tree-shaded, bench-lined park glimmering in the afternoon sun as unicorns, rabbits and panthers prance on the carousel nearby.

This is Lakeside Amusement Park, a part of Denver history since 1908 (but not a part of Denver, since it resides in its own incorporated city just across Sheridan Boulevard).

The lake that give the town and amusement park their name is Lake Rhoda, a natural body of water between Interstate 70 and 44th Avenue. Originally known as West Berkeley Lake, it was renamed for young Rhoda Krasner by her father, Ben Krasner, after he bought the amusement park during the Great Depression.

Today, Rhoda Krasner is general manager of the park. But “I don’t run it — it runs me” she said, turning to look with pride at rides that date from every decade of the 20th century, as well as the first decade of the 21st.

The oldest is the Carousel, which dates from the park’s opening 101 years ago. The newest is a 140-foot drop tower. The most unique are the rides that capture America’s midcentury dreams of flight and speed.

Among them:

• The Satellite, which allows pilots of all ages to control the height of their own delta-wing jets, climbing as high as 35 feet above the lake shore.
• The Loop-O-Plane, which hurls riders upside down in steel-caged cockpits shaped like the noses of World War II bombers.
• The Whip, a Coney Island staple invented in 1914 that, as the name says, whips riders around two large turntables in easychair-like cars.
• The Wild Chipmunk, a go-it-alone roller-coaster full of sharp turns that threaten to toss riders into the sky.
• Miniature Train Ride around Lake Rhoda, pulled by the first miniature-gauge diesel locomotive.

According to Lakeside spokesperson Connie Moore, the park maintains these decades-old rides by finding parts through amusement park networks and organizations such as the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

The park also incorporates architectural styles from throughout the 20th century, including art deco ride structures and ticket booths, and the Exposition-style Tower of Jewels.

If you go:

• Admission: $2.50 per person (Labor Day Weekend special $2.00)
• Rides: 1-5 coupons each. Coupons $0.50 (Labor Day Weekend special $0.10 per coupon) Unlimited rides, $19.75 (Labor Day Weekend special $7.95)
• Parking: Free, but you pay admission as you drive in

Click here to see historic Lakeside Amusement Park pictures in the Denver Public Library collection.

The drama of amusement parks

Amusement parks have played featured roles in Hollywood movies from comedies (National Lampoon’s Vacation) to musicals (Grease) to action films (Beverly Hills Cop III,  Sudden Impact). Sometimes they are one of the key characters (Jurassic Park,  Rollercoaster).

For me, the most powerful amusement park appearances in movies come from film noir: the dramatic murder and climactic carousel fight scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, and the confrontation between Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles’ Harry Lime on a Viennese Ferris wheel in The Third Man.

What’s your favorite amusement park movie?

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Tagged: carousel, lake rhoda, lakewood amusement park, roller-coaster