Cedar Fair announces Geauga Lake will be water park only

AJ, didn't Kennywood want to buy Geauga Lake before it was sold to Premier? Imagine if that had happened... the different road the park would be walking in 2008.

Forget Cedar Fair...Kennywood will get my money.

Geee, I thought their attendance was up this year????
(not that I believed that)

*** This post was edited by FLYINGSCOOTER 9/21/2007 4:26:46 PM ***

It's really sad to see a park in 10 years go from the park everyone went to, to the park that everyone forgot about. I just hope Double Loop finds a home nearby.

I'm not surprised at all by this. I visited Geauga Lake on July 31st, and the ride side of the park was a ghost town. Everything was a walk-on with the exception of Thunderhawk, but that was only because they were running only one train. The waterpark side seemed to be thriving however, so this seems like a logical move for Cedar Fair. It's too bad they couldn't make it work.

Here are some photos I posted from my final visit in my Flickr gallery...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/djgreghaus/sets/72157601492754800/

I would really be a shame to see Big Dipper scrapped, but it I have a feeling that's what's going to happen. The ejector airtime on that coaster was so intense that I actually got bruises on my waist from the seatbelts. Oh well...

“Visiting Geauga Lake is a 119-year-old tradition in northeastern Ohio. That tradition will continue, but in a new and exciting way.”

Talk about spin!

That's another distrubing part of this story. Remember when Geauga Lake (SFO) had such a promising future, there was a separate forum on this site for discussing it? Scary how things can change so completely in less than a decade.

^ Cedar Fair's good at spin. I'm surprised Kinzel doesn't have vertigo by now.

*** This post was edited by Rob Ascough 9/21/2007 4:26:22 PM ***

I know a lot of people are going to potentially be mourning Big Dipper and 100% rightly so but I'll also be crushed to see something happen to Villain. I only rode the ride in the first two seasons when it was still open so my memories haven't been associated with it's rougher years. Back in it's first few years it was still one of the best coasters I'd ever ridden. I realize the ride may be a shell of it's former self now but I'd still like to hope it could be moved and revitalized.

I'm glad I got that Double Loop credit a few weeks back...
*** This post was edited by joe. 9/21/2007 4:26:52 PM ***

Hmmm...sorry to hear that what was anticipated by many has become reality. I'm sad, hurt and a little angry...though I'm not sure who I'm most upset with.

You can blame the old Funtime folks who wouldn't work with Anheuser-Busch and allow Sea World to dip their toes into the ride business.

You can blame Kinzel for not buying Geauga Lake back in the 70s when he had his first chance.

Certainly Premier/Six Flags deserves a BIG chunk of the blame for just decimating the goodwill that existed for Geauga Lake. The people of Cleveland/Akron know good service vs. bad.

You can blame Kinzel for some of the bonehead decisions he made that first season when he came out like a hard a$$ against programs that were popular just to save a buck or two.

You can blame the officials of the surrounding communities who were steadfast in their height requirements, of limited help with the roads/traffic, and generally combative toward any of the parks' owners.

Hey, if they really do right by the water park it could be a great thing. Schlitterbahn doesn't have mechanical rides and it is pretty darn popular. Throw in some of the newer water park attractions like surf riders and master blasters and they will be on to something.

But, as a former childhood and teen fan of the park; as a former employee; as a historian of the amusement industry...well...this just makes me want to cry.

It is a sad day indeed.*** This post was edited by wahoo skipper 9/21/2007 4:29:29 PM ***

Very true, Matt. The Villain will also be a major, major loss. When my (future) wife and I rode it in 2003, we found it to be one of the best wood coasters around. I'll definitely mourn the loss of that ride, although there are many more CCI rides around than John Miller rides, so that's why Big Dipper will likely get the lion's share of attention.

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SFGAdv lover said:
Paul Blackstone, CF is getting to expensive?!? I can get into Cedar Point for 42.95 and SFGAdv or SFMM for 59.99. Explain that to me.

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Its simple. I never said other parks were getting cheaper. On a relative basis... OK sure, maybe CF parks seem reasonable; but I don't care, its still 43 bucks per ticket, regardless of how much anybody else charges. Its also funny that you bring up gate prices but not parking, food, games, merchandise, etc. That stuff is undoubtedly getting expensive.

Anyway, my main point was that if parks expect me to pay my hard earned money to visit, they should offer something fun, something new, something exciting... There just isn't anything at CF parks these days that gets my family excited. I already said before this announcement that even if Geauga Lake stayed open for another year than they shouldn't expect to get any business from me.

Point taken. So Knoebels and Kennywood it is. :)

wahoo skipper, I blame everyone. How about that? ;)

I don't know if Double Loop has a future, but I sure hope so, it was probably my favorite coaster there. Perhaps it would fit in at WoF as a replacement for Orient Express.

I doubt that ride has a future. If there's no market for John Miller coasters, there's definitely no market for old Arrow loopers. Too bad, because it's a fun ride.

Anyone want to speculate on Dick Kinzel and Peter Crage's large purchase of Cedar Fair stock earlier this week? Whether or not anything illegal occured, it definitely makes these guys look shifty. Better yet, does anyone still want to argue that those stock purchases inspire "confidence" in the integration?

Now there are two SBNO Miller coasters in Ohio. Yet a ton of scrap metal masquerading as coasters continue to run at Kings Island and Cedar Point.

Something is seriously wrong with the world.

Agent Johnson...I do want to raise one point with you. Soak City at Cedar Point has nothing to do with Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom. Soak City was built by and large to get people to stay more nights in the Cedar Point resorts. It serves that purpose.

CP isn't going to level Soak City just because they have Wildwater Kingdom an hour and a half away.

I don't see the double loop being moved to another Cedar Fair park. Which of there parks would it actually help draw more guests that would make it worth the price of dismantling, moving and reassembling?

I suspect there is going to be a Geauga Lake auction and I just HOPE that the Dipper survives.

Public announcement: I will visit ANY park in North America that buys the Big Dipper. I don't care if it's "Joe's Picnic Grove".*** This post was edited by wahoo skipper 9/21/2007 4:40:17 PM ***

Nah, it's just Ohio. Oh wait, we have a SBNO Miller here in NJ. And TN has one as well.

Any states lacking a SBNO Miller coaster?

Well, this next phrase will not be popular. Cedar Point and Cedar Fair have made many 'bad moves' in the past. Now, if Ohio experiences heat waves, and groups all want to kick the tires and book, using the modern Sea World Great Lakes Grove, and they can do this for 3-4 years in a row, Kinzel is a genius.

But, if it is a week summer in terms of plus 80' weather. Conneaut Lake Park gets a smart operator, and there are cash-heavy folks doing homework now, Waldameer gets that new coaster operating properly, and both of those parks book groups heavily into that market, and finally, Kennywood continues to dominate the market with billboards, well.

Kinzel could be asked to resign. 'I told you so' will reign at IAAPA. Cedar Point, which now cannot clear 3 million will become another SF park packed with rides, since CF will have sold off Geauga Lake's west side to residential development, and they will be **** out of luck.

There will be no in between. Geuaga lake was fine before 1994. Sea World was fine before. Now look. if the latter happens, Bill Spehn will be beaten daily by Geauga County's chamber of commerece for losing car traffic, and on and on.