Believe it or not...a fun day at Geauga Lake

We had intended to arrive at the park at opening, but breakfast took longer than we thought and the the Geauga Lake "Exit Here" sign was missing from I-271 North (?)!

The one nice thing about GL is that their bigger rides are for the most part set in two areas. I realize that when the park is busy it can make these areas quite packed, but as the crowds were very light this past Sunday it wasn't an issue.

The GOOD Surprises:

X-Flight- I would have skipped X-Flight, but my friend who both drove and paid for the tickets had never been to the park and had never been on one of these- My Shock...it was close to being smooth!

Big Dipper- The Big Dipper was also much smoother than I remember it to be and I never realized just how much air time that ancient coaster threw at you!

Dominator- What can I say...its my favorite coaster in Ohio!

Serial Thriller (I forgot what they re-named it already)- Again a whole lot smoother than I have ever seen a Vekoma SLC! I don't know maybe it was because they painted it orange?

BAD Surprises

Robots of Mars- It was one of those 3D Movies where if you weren't in the direct center a lot of the effects were lost. It also went way overboard on the water sprays! I did like that the seats vibrated (get your minds out of the gutter!)

Escape From Dino Island- 1st off I was expecting the 45-passenger simulators that SW-FL has/had for Wild Artic Bermuda Triangle, but these were much smaller. The crew of the ride counted you off and sent you down a dark hallway- we had no idea where we were supposed to go- we found a room and walked inside it- we were right. This ride again had way to much water- but it was cool that they had both that effect and the insects flying past your legs on a moving simulator! One odd note- in the story you are riding in a flying all-terrain vehicle that is enclosed- when you crash into the water you get wet (?!)- note this is before the windshield is smashed a few moments later.

Water Park- We didn't do anything in the water park, but why are there two?

Raging Wolf Bobs- The parts of the track that were re-tracked were awsome but unfortunately did not compensate for the parts that were not- they retracked those other parts like 5 years ago- are they ever going finnish?!

The Villain- I was shocked to come home and find that this POS was in the Top 50 Woodies! Yes I hated it that much and again would have skipped it if it weren't for my friend.

Double Loop- No need to explain anything- read my signature!

Serial Thriller with a new name- As I said the park was not busy- but we waited almost 30 minutes for this ride- why? 1 Train running and the other odd thing- In fact for the entire park they only had 2 or 3 Ops on each ride.

Whereas CP has 6 Ops checking Lapbars on Raptor- Dominator has only 2 (Dom was the only coaster running more than 1 train, though the 3rd time we rode it- they were also down to one)

Shows-?

The Ski Stadium is on the maps, but there was no show!

Let me start of some rumors now:

When we rode the Sky Tower thingy we could see huge piles of dirt in the direction where some of the stadiums used to be.

General Oddness:

The moved the floating bridge- why? The moved it right next to an existing path to the otherside and then closed that path.

Again- why are their two completely separate water parks?

CP/CF has now purchased it two closest (geographically) competitors and by the looks of things is going to do as little as possible to them.

Okay lots of negatives, but we still had fun! Dominator is just that good! Also the former S:UE & Vekoma Bommerange were ridden and enjoyed and the Big Dipper slips into my top 20 fav woodies close to the top 10!

RIP Nasty Fall- yes we rode it- and I do like those rides- just enough of a tummy tickle and the sensation of riding butt first really fast is fun- the "uprighting" part was VERY painfull!

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Whereas CP has 6 Ops checking Lapbars on Raptor- Dominator has only 2 ...

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What was the date of your trip? Could kids returning back to school be zapping some of their workforce and forcing them down to lower numbers?

During a march trip, all of the coasters at GL were running full crews. A crew of 6 or 7 on Dominator and a two train operation even though the crowds were light with some trains going out with only 3 or 4 riders. On that trip, the GL crews put CP crews (who were more interested in putting on a "show" ["Look how cool we are... Look how much fun we have..."] than dispatching trains efficiently)

Dominator wasn't an issue really at all with just the two- it was just the only similar ride pairing I could think of off hand...The problem was their SLC and the most bored looking slow crew I have ever seen coupled with only one train to create the only long line in the Park. 30 minutes IMO is ridiculous (Jeff, did I spell it right?) considering how slow the park was.

As for the date, as mentioned in my post above it was this past Sunday. And those of you who are not from this area may not know that most colleges in Ohio are not on the semester system and don't start until Sept. *** Edited 8/30/2005 2:45:12 AM UTC by BrownStreak***

Believe it or not? You act as though its a lousy park.

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BrownStreak said:
When we rode the Sky Tower thingy we could see huge piles of dirt in the direction where some of the stadiums used to be.

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Probably the second half of the waterpark update.

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Again- why are their two completely separate water parks?

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They are updating the waterpark in two stages.

GL is making a mistake not telling their customers outside the website about the second half of the expansion.

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CP/CF has now purchased it two closest (geographically) competitors and by the looks of things is going to do as little as possible to them.

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See: http://www.geaugalake.com/public/new/2005/index.cfm

They are doing a heck of a lot of work on the park.

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30 minutes IMO is ridiculous (Jeff, did I spell it right?) considering how slow the park was.

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According to http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ridiculous+ yes it is the right spelling.

:) *** Edited 8/30/2005 2:53:26 AM UTC by eightdotthree***

They have done alot to this park in the year and a half that they have owned it! And they are still doing more. The new water park is great. I see nothing but possitive things happining there since Cedar Fair purchased it.

I couldn't reply to this thread without being really negative about the park and my last visit, so I'll just leave it at that. Glad you had a "fun day" at the park even though it did seem like there were quite a few not so great things going on. If I can only have one issue with Kentucky Kingdom over the 5 years I've been going to the park, I can expect not to have half a dozen issues in 3 hrs. at GL.

+Danny

*knows what's happening to the water park* but I cannot tell :(. Sorry wish I could. Also I don't like the title of this topic.

Why wouldn't you have fun at Geauga Lake? I think you'd have more fun here because it is a smaller park.

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"E"Coster Gurl said:
*Also I don't like the title of this topic.

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Sorry you don't like my title, but going to that particular park was not my decision, but as I was being treated I didn't have the choice. I have not been there in 3 or 4 years and there we no real changes to the park for good- I knew that before going there so I was not exspecting to have a good time.

Before you jump all over me- I am NOT one to do a water park and a theme park in the same day. If I'm going to a water park, that's a day in and of itself. And besides there is really nothing at their water park that I have not seen at a dozens of other water park clones as opposed to innovative rides Master Blaster or the dark rides which that park outside Denver has.

I knew that all of the animals were gone because as far as I know CF is still not allowed to have animals in their parks, that coupled with the fact that there was no water-ski show and no new rides (adding a new movie to a simulator is not a new ride) I did not think I would have much fun at that park, so yes my title of this topic of MY trip to the park is quite accurate!

Hey BS, where in Columbus do you live?

You were actually born within a month of me!

"I knew that all of the animals were gone because as far as I know CF is still not allowed to have animals in their parks, that coupled with the fact that there was no water-ski show and no new rides (adding a new movie to a simulator is not a new ride) I did not think I would have much fun at that park, so yes my title of this topic of MY trip to the park is quite accurate!"

Not allowed? More like none of their parks have animals as they are very expensive to take care of.

*There are two waterparks for the time being because they are in the middle of a project to relocate/build a new waterpark on the old Seaworld site. Once that project is finished, the old waterpark will probably disappear.

*Raging Wolf Bobs will be finished eventually. The high turn by the lake is the last section left and I've heard numerous rumors about what they are going to do. It will probably be more than just a standard retracking. It's actually starting to become a halfway respectable coaster.

*Villian is actually a really good coaster. Unfortunately, it is having a bad year. I believe trackwork is in the plans for the near future and it will be a good ride again.

*Big Dipper is an amazing ride. A few years ago it was virtually unrideable but they've done a lot of work on it since then.

*I don't think anybody is "not allowing" Cedar Fair to have animals, they just don't want to do it.

*I agree with the bridge thing. I can't understand that one at all. Especially since trying to get on one of the boats really tries my patience.

Geauga Lake is a pretty nice park overall. They have a good collection of rides, a really nice carousel with a wonderful working band organ. And there's still some interesting unique elements around that give it some atmosphere - like the games building behind Big Dipper. I always have a good time at Geauga Lake except for one thing. Every time I go it rains and it takes them a really long time to reopen the rides. Often the wooden coasters shut down in a drizzle and never reopen at all!

From my understanding as a former (thankyfully former) employee of CP- after their most of their dolphins died the rest were taken away and the park got a fine and is prevented from having animals in their parks for a period of time. Those too young to remember may not know that the stadium near the lake (if its still there- it was a diving show in 1999) used to house a dolphin show!

Also- Why did they take out their Fun House?!?!?! AND their Dark Ride?!?!?! But this isn't a CP post so I'll stop now.

And BTW john peck, I live in Schumacher Place, a little wedge of a neighborhood east of German Village...why?

Oh and btw, there is more than one section of the RWB that have not been retracked...AND I thought the Villain sucked the last time I rode it too... *** Edited 9/2/2005 3:08:01 PM UTC by BrownStreak***

Which section of Wolf Kabobs would that be? You can see the new wood on the first half of the ride as it hasn't been painted yet (ever?). The second half was retracked when the park was under Six Flags control. It's just that one turn around that's left.

When was the last time you rode Villian? It got pretty rave reviews the first few seaons it was open.

Well, gee if you read my post above, you would see that I rode Villain last Sunday...the time before that was '01, '02, or '03- I don't remember which, but it was Labor Day weekend.

And look I don't know the Wolf layout by heart- we didn't torture ourselves more than once- but there is a part in the middle of the run and at the end that are painfully rough!

Its interesting that Vil & Wolfs were the ONLY two coasters with no line at all! Apparently I'm not alone in my feelings of them...

And I'm also wondering if possibly that why the Golden Ticket Awards seem a bit "off" at times- because someone rode a coaster a year or more ago and remember it to have been good or bad with no recent rides on it to tell if their opinion is the same. *** Edited 9/3/2005 5:42:55 AM UTC by BrownStreak***

Sheesh, you're awfully pissy. Sorry to bother you.

"As for the date, as mentioned in my post above it was this past Sunday. And those of you who are not from this area may not know that most colleges in Ohio are not on the semester system and don't start until Sept."

Hey, the kids that work at Geauga Lake are mostly in high school and not college, so many students were done with their "summer" work at Geauga Lake by the weekend. Not to mention Bowling Green State University, Kent State, University of Toledo, University of Akron, and Cleveland State all started before or right after your vist date. Considering Akron and Kent the closest colleges to the park that would deplete their staffing.

Also I was at the park Saturday crowds were extremely light. I waited five minutes for Dominator, I can't complain.

I wish some of us, (I have problems with it too), would just go to a park to have fun and not be so critical.