This Yan gondola was originally built for Circus Circus in Las Vegas.It operates as a jig-back with two pods of five cabins each.The top of the gondola is near the park entrance.Loading area.Outdoor control pedestal.Unlike other Lift Engineering gondolas, this one has CWA cabins.The towers are all unique portal-style designs.Middle part of the line.The first two standalone towers are integrated into a water slide platform.The bottom terminal also supports water slides.A group of cabins at the drive station.This looks like an new Leitner-Poma bullwheel.Side view of the motor room with a nod to the circus origin of this lift.This terminal mimics many of Yan’s detachable designs even though it is not detachable.Big sheave assembly near the bottom terminal.Lower station overview.View up the lift line.Towers 2 A and B.Cabins passing T3.Middle section of the lift.Cabins pass at the halfway point.Top terminal loading area.Return bullwheel and lift line.Leaving the upper terminal.T6.Each cabin has two grips.Tower 3.View up at T2.Another view of the drive-tension station.Yan assembly.Drive cabinets in the motor room.
This lift is technically a relocation from Circus-Circuis (a hotel/casino) in Las Vegas, NV. But, from what I can tell, it may have never even been installed in Las Vegas, before coming to Denver.
The area around the lower terminal, called the “Big Top”, has a circus theme. The lift was installed at Circus-Circus but only ran for about a year and had very low hours when it was sold and relocated to Water World. A couple of other fun facts: the bucket at the very top of the lower terminal structure used to dump water on the cabins as they entered the terminal, and the cabins used to have automatic doors that were problematic and replaced with the current manual ones.
Glad that you could make it over there to take some more pictures of this unique lift Peter!
When would the lift have operated at Circus Circus? I can’t find any information on it, but its limited existence would definitely explain why it’s hard to turn anything up.
Lift has been repainted and renamed for the 2021 season, it’s now Alpine Springs Express.
This was done with a renovation of the drive terminal area, the circus theme is no longer and the waterslides over the lift were replaced.
They got rid of the whole circus theme for that section of the park. The gondola is no longer in the original Circus Circus colors either, it got a fresh coat of paint.
Are there any photos/videos of the ride when it was in Vegas? I’ve been trying to find ANYTHING about it at Circus Circus and haven’t had any luck whatsoever.
I don’t know for sure, but I think those are original to the lift. I’m not sure if it ever ran at Circus Circus, or sat unused, but that pink is definitely a carry over from Circus Circus. They were repainted a couple years ago, after these pictures were taken.
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Did all YAN gondolas have these giant hangers or was that just this one?
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Just this one.
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Whats up with the circus themed windows on the drive? That doesn’t fit within a waterpark
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This lift is technically a relocation from Circus-Circuis (a hotel/casino) in Las Vegas, NV. But, from what I can tell, it may have never even been installed in Las Vegas, before coming to Denver.
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The area around the lower terminal, called the “Big Top”, has a circus theme. The lift was installed at Circus-Circus but only ran for about a year and had very low hours when it was sold and relocated to Water World. A couple of other fun facts: the bucket at the very top of the lower terminal structure used to dump water on the cabins as they entered the terminal, and the cabins used to have automatic doors that were problematic and replaced with the current manual ones.
Glad that you could make it over there to take some more pictures of this unique lift Peter!
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When would the lift have operated at Circus Circus? I can’t find any information on it, but its limited existence would definitely explain why it’s hard to turn anything up.
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Lift has been repainted and renamed for the 2021 season, it’s now Alpine Springs Express.
This was done with a renovation of the drive terminal area, the circus theme is no longer and the waterslides over the lift were replaced.
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I winced when I heard “Yan Gondola” … but it’s fixed grip lol.
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I just noticed that there are no operator houses on the lift. Also why did they change the name from Funhouse Express to Alpine Springs Express?
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They got rid of the whole circus theme for that section of the park. The gondola is no longer in the original Circus Circus colors either, it got a fresh coat of paint.
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Are there any photos/videos of the ride when it was in Vegas? I’ve been trying to find ANYTHING about it at Circus Circus and haven’t had any luck whatsoever.
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Did this lift originally come with CWA cabins?
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I’d guess that YAN supplied their own cabins. But I’m not to sure about that.
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The only YAN cabins I’ve seen in Colorado were from the old Keystone gondola that lasted only a year or two.
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I don’t know for sure, but I think those are original to the lift. I’m not sure if it ever ran at Circus Circus, or sat unused, but that pink is definitely a carry over from Circus Circus. They were repainted a couple years ago, after these pictures were taken.
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