BAD NEWS for lesoudsville lake

I read a news paper article that said the current owner/ manager, Mr. Couch has not been in contact with the Nebraska man who was interested in buying the park this February. He also commented that the park reopening this year is doubtful!

I was extremely disappointed becuase I had planned on visiting the park for the first time this summer!

That's not cool. Maybe Mr. Couch should get his act together.

I have found the article to read if anyone is interested.. ARTICLE

Mr. Jennings spouts:

"It's not so much opening the park to ride the rides, it's the picnics," he had said. "That's where the money is made. The days of going out just to ride the rollercoaster are over."

Tell that to SF, CF, and Paramount. Guess these 3 companies have had it all wrong. :)

In retrospect I am glad that I took my one trip to LL on a whim a couple of years ago. They definately have a gem of a coaster there. What a shame to have it go to waste. If LL is not going to get it's act together, I hope some other park salvages the Eagle. Not that they need it, but what a splendid addition to HW the Eagle would be. Now that's a good dream.

I think he was making more of a statement towards the Screechin' Eagle... people used to come out to ride it. Thats not really the case anymore. My guess though ;)

Or HW of the East? ;)

Rctycoon2k,
I was also going to mention something like that. Mr. Jennings said "rollercoaster" as in singular. Screechin' Eagle is their biggest attraction, but when I was there hardly anybody was riding it. It was the shortest wait in the park, and sure the capacity helps there, but more people were riding the flume and the other coaster. If your one big coaster doesn't attract guests, you're screwed unless you have something else that's really special and quite frankly LL doesn't have anything like that apart from possibly the flume.

Thanks Incidentalist, just wanted to make sure that I might be right... (for a change) :).

I think what Mr. Couch meant is that you need more than just a rollercoaster to attract people to the park. In a sense he's right I'm sorry to say because that is the mentality of the public for the most part today. I've seen and heard it too many times. That's the American Way to bigger, better, faster, political correctness and Walmarts/fast food corporations that spew mostly bullcrap to begin with.

Try to get someone, whose never been, to go to one of the many small parks with only one signature attraction like the Eagle, and you'll commonly hear, "OH?...How many coasters do they have? They only have one coaster?? I don't want to go there."

I'd like to ask these people who make these ignorant responses, "Have you forgotten how to have fun in the first place?" As many parks as I've been to, and I worry when a park has too many coasters. Usually that's when I find they aren't maintained properly or are loaded with brakes everywhere. Now that's what I call fun. Sheesh...yeah right

Wood - anything else is an imitation

I think that the need for smaller amusement parks is unbelievably high- its just that very few parks seem to do "small parks" right.

A chain of larger FECs would do extremely well if done right. Imagine a place with go-karts, mini golf and an enormous arcade, just like a standard FEC, but with a small amusement consisting of a modest wood roller coaster, some family rides, a few crazy flats and an upcharge attraction or two. Mr. Couch is right- people want more than just a roller coaster- but that roller coaster, and the rides that go along with it, would be the very keys to the success of this new breed of FEC.

Built in the right locations, operated and marketed correctly, a chain of "new-age" FECs would be a goldmine. Pity that no one with the ability to start that kind of chain has seen the writing on the wall. An alternative to Saturday night at the mall or at the movies? Yeah, there's money in that.

I'm not sure what an FEC is, but if it means a wooden coaster in Nashville, I'd be all for it!

I'm assuming it means Family Entertainment Center...?

Dude everyone agrees Nashville needs something, but not every post in every random thread has to contain that thought.

Bosshawk.

That is part of his signature. Who cares?

FEC... yes, I mean Family Entertainment Center. Kinda like Boomers (Dania Beach), except with a full-fledged amusement park instead of JUST a great wood coaster!

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Thrillerman said:
I'd like to ask these people who make these ignorant responses...

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Why is it that as soon as someone isn't aligned with your opinion or beliefs that they're "ignorant?"

IMO, the park is done. I chalked that up a long time ago.

At this point it would be more prudent to hope for a new home for Screechin' Eagle rather than hope for the park to sucessfully re-open.

I enjoyed the park and was sad to see it close, however it came as no shock. It just is not a sound business investement and hasn't been for years.

Cincinnati is a tough market. And the only way the park could compete was to market themselves as a cheap alternative. But a fledgling park in a dire financial bind cannot suceed by operating on a steeply discounted admission rate.

First it was Surf Cincinnati closing shop, then Americana (then LeSourdesville Lake) and next it will be the Beach.

Mark my words, the Beach will get socked with a 1-2-3 punch within the next year. I can guarantee that they are sweating it.

Shaggy

*** Edited 3/29/2004 3:37:10 PM UTC by Shaggy***

So if the Screechin' Eagle would get a new home where would it be? I am not sure if PKI would buy it, but it would fit in with Coney Mall having two Wooden Coasters in the same area of the park like Coney Island did.

Don't forget... the park MADE money in 2002. Jeff Pugh just spent it all out from under Jerry. Pugh screwed him over, and now Jerry is afraid to trust anyone to run the park.

With corporate picnics, that place is a sell-out on weekends if they can get enough of them together, and the park can handle a pretty large crowd.

Don't believe me? Look at Strickers Grove.