Cedar Fair announces Geauga Lake will be water park only

When the shocking announcement was made that Cedar Fair had taken over GL it immediately lept to my mind that it was all an insidious plot to close down the park. It made horrifying sense that with one fell swoop they would be able to eliminate competition in the market, use much of GL's equipment at other locations (giving them "new" marketable attractions at a fraction of the cost), and sell that insanely valuable lakeside property for McMansions or More Retail and make a gazillion dollars. Good deal!

Unfortunately for us park operators are running businesses, not museums or nostalgic landmarks. It's logical that a park like Geauga Lake, which finds itself no longer out there in the boonies but taking up space in an ever densifying metro area, would eventually go the way so many others have gone. I think of Euclid Beach, Idora, and Riverview as examples of parks that have met similar fates- profits were low, attendance was down, the locals were grumbling, and the land around was being put to better use. Who wouldn't sell?

The only ones affected negatively in these deals are the fans like us that are left behind to bemoan the fact that a piece of history is about to come to an end. And we, unfortunately, are low on the list of these companies priorities.

The big slap in the face is that they didn't let the people of Cleveland know. Let's try to figure out what's up with that. Did they not want a huge run on the park at the last minute? Would it have overwhelmed the park with business when all they were trying to do was hold a successful Oktoberfest? Would an Astroworld-type send off with media coverage and everyone coming out for a final fling have ruined their spin that Geauga Lake is not really closing, but reinventing itself as a regional water park? Puhleeze.

My only hope now is that Cedar Fair steps up and does the right thing with the classic attractions that made Geauga Lake great. The big steel coasters will delight and thrill riders in other cities, which will be a sure money maker for CF. So everyone wins there. And the Illions machine is worth a fortune-they've got 10 or 12 places they could put it. But will they please risk the time and money to save the Big Dipper, the Rocket Ships, yes, even the Double Loop? It would be so great it they could live on, too.

Lots of pictures from the last day.

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=47807

I don't know the specifics, but as a partnership, they are required to payout a certain percentage of revenue as dividends in order to maintain their taxation status. They can raise or lower the amount of the payout based on their cash flow and revenue. But no way can they unilaterally decide to reduce the dividend so Geauga Lake or Dorney Park, or whoever gets more capital investment. They do that and the only people who get the money is the IRS, not to mention a whole s***load of investigators who will come swarming in.

Sounds like I'm channeling Gonch here, but yes it is about the unitholders more than the season pass holders or the GP. To put it in perspective, I;m very small potatoes as far as units go, but my investment is still the equivalent of buying 50 or 60 MAXX passes.

It's definitely sad to lose a park like this, but don't let your emotions run your brain. Like Impulsive said, sell your units at a low price, and who are you spiting? Are you willing to lose money on the transaction just to put CF in their place? Someone will come along and buy those units at a bargain price. If you really don't like the way the company does business, then sell. But if you sell your shares, you have no say.

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Jeff said:
That doesn't make sense, Paul. I see this all of the time in enthusiast forums... "If they didn't spend money on this, they could've spent money on that." That's not how business goes! If you don't have to spend money, you keep it, not spend it on something else!

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If thats the case then I honestly do not understand how this business works. Are you arguing that if the Paramount purchase never happened that this would have played out exactly as it did?

At the end of May I started a topic here on Coasterbuzz titled "Why Geauga Lake Cannot Survive as Part of Cedar Fair" http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=47067

Here are some of your responses to my claims that Geauga Lake is in trouble:

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Jeff said:
The park is in good shape. Yes, the food pricing is still too high, though since I wasn't eating there I didn't really look at what the variety is. But overall the park really is quite beautiful with a lot of good things to do.

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And

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Jeff said:
The point is that this is not a tragedy. Sure they're not happy with attendance to date, but with careful and meaningful capital, controlling maintenance costs and the right training, they're going to get there. Hopefully the grass roots efforts combined with solid media buys will help. The park's death has been greatly exaggerated, mostly by a bunch of coaster enthusiasts who think $15 million rides are the answer to everything.

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Do you still stand by the assessment that Geauga Lake is in good shape, that Cedar Fair is going to do good things with the park and that the park's death is exaggerated by a bunch of bored enthusiasts?

There were severe mistakes made by all ownerships. You can't run Geauga Lake like it's Magic Mountain, and you can't run it like it's Cedar Point East. Regardless of the business aspect, though, I just think that the timing of this announcement reflects some horrible customer service.

If they had decided in January that this was going to happen, it's one thing, but the decision definitely wasn't made yesterday. Why not let people know a couple weeks ago and give the park a final hurrah?

I don't get what the advantage is to letting the park go out with a whimper.

...so what about that park that's closer not coming close again?...

kpjb,youre right,a place with CLASS like Kennywood would have handled this much better than what CF did.Pretty sure years ago Kennywood even let everyone know in advance when the Laser Loop was going to be taken out so they could get their last rides on it.

If CF was really trying to keep Geauga alive why did they eliminate marketing people,not add any attractions(not even a flat ride which wouldnt have cost that much)and not really go full tilt on ads(TV).Just dont make sense..

They only thing they invested in was the water park,which was they only thing the planned to keep.*** This post was edited by Ex_Westview and KW_worker 9/22/2007 3:16:29 PM ***

Here's why i think they didn't wait til january to make an announcement: The wrecking balls and deconstruction crews may be arriving in a few weeks to get things started. Who knows, maybe even start on it next week.

why not take advantage of what's left of the good weather?
*** This post was edited by FLYINGSCOOTER 9/22/2007 3:14:26 PM ***

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If they had decided in January that this was going to happen, it's one thing, but the decision definitely wasn't made yesterday. Why not let people know a couple weeks ago and give the park a final hurrah?

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You're certainly not the first to say this, but you're the coolest one to say it so I quoted you. My reply applies to all claims of such nature. :)

Why not do a big 'last hurrah'? Because Geauga Lake isn't closing. They will be operating next year as a waterpark. It's probably not real smart for 2008's buisiness to have a big 'farewell' in 2007.

Personally, I don't do water parks. So... they may as well have sold it to a developer as far as I am concerned..... Bah!

How many water rides can there possibly be avalible to take up the entire portions of both sides of the lake?

They make mention of exclusive water parks and of water parks built within the gates of a traditional amusement park. How about a traditional amusement park with NO water park section!?!?!?!?!

Thank God for Kennywood which owns a water park 2 miles down the road. Sometimes segregation is GOOD.

Well now I can go to Kennywood twice next year and save a lot of mileage on the car....... P-h-h-h-h-h-httt..... :( *** This post was edited by Chooch249 9/22/2007 3:32:00 PM ***

^^LG, it still could have been done. Announce that the rides would have new homes next summer so come get your last rides on them while they are still at Geauga Lake.

The Geauga Lake that I grew up with is now closed. Wildwater Kingdom is just an adulterized version of another great park I grew up with. Despite what the press release says, the "tradition" is dead. All we have left is a 3 year old waterpark where a once great marine park once stood.

Can someone post a picture of that sign they put outside the gates this summer that read something like: "as advertised, X-Flight, Steel Venom, and the monorail have been removed from the park." What is the sign going to say next year? "As advertised, all attractions north of the lake have been removed."?

http://rollercoasterfreak.com/Geauga_Lake/IMGP4952.JPG

I sure hope a park with CLASS shows up and saved the Big Dipper, AS IS. If CF took it to another park, they'd probably neuter it (see Blue Streak, Thunderhawk..).

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LG, it still could have been done. Announce that the rides would have new homes next summer so come get your last rides on them while they are still at Geauga Lake.

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Still gives the impression that the park won't be doing business in 2008.

Reading some of these posts.... one thing stands out...

No chain other than CF could announce that it is closing an ammusement park (sorry... closing the rides side but leaving the water park is STILL CLOSING THE RIDES SIDE) and STILL have people defend the move.

Oh well... as long as the sun rises in (and sets on) Sandusky, I suppose all is well in the world.

IMO, Cedar Fair should have never bought the place. I don't see how it could have been that great of a threat to Cedar Point in the first place if it was already running itself into the ground under Six Flags (which it obviously was, otherwise it wouldn't have been sold in the first place).

So who's fault was it? Busch pulled out SeaWorld. Strike 1. Six Flags tried to compete with Cedar Point and filled the park with rides it couldn't afford in the long run. Strike 2. Cedar Fair bought it, knowing that it would take a lot of work to make it profitable, with its flagship park less than 2 hours away. Strike 3. How can you say that Cedar Fair was the solitary reason GL is dying?

I don't see why everyone loves Kennywood so much. It's a nice park but it's not really that special.

"...Pretty sure years ago Kennywood even let everyone know in advance when the Laser Loop was going to be taken out so they could get their last rides on it."

Two words: Gold Rusher.

Another statement in that article really scares me, and should start to scare others... that the water park section was clearly the highest attendance portion of the park... NO DUH!!!!

Look at Idlewild Soak Zone, Hershey's Boardwalk section, Del Grosso's water park section, ect.... if numbers talk (in business, of course they do) this is going to mean more eating away at the traditional park sections if not total elimination. They ALL have higher numbers in the water section.

How many more parks are going to see the numbers in the water section skyrocket as the park section deminishes? Then how many more properties are going to switch to "exclusive water parks"?????

I hate to say this, but I fear this may be the start of a trend...... :(

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Are you arguing that if the Paramount purchase never happened that this would have played out exactly as it did?

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Absolutely. The company has long since treated the parks as individual business units that must justify their own capital expenditures with adequate ROI. That's one of the biggest differences between Six Flags and Cedar Fair in terms of cap ex over the years. It's why Michigan's Adventure has only had one serious new attraction since being purchased (Grand Rapids). Six Flags was notorious for putting expensive rides in smaller parks like Dairen Lake.

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Do you still stand by the assessment that Geauga Lake is in good shape, that Cedar Fair is going to do good things with the park and that the park's death is exaggerated by a bunch of bored enthusiasts?

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Being that was May, and you left out the part about enthusiasts who think $15 million rides were the answer, yes. I still maintain that big expensive rollycoasters wouldn't help. Obviously they didn't see the gains they were hoping for this year. I'm disappointed to, but I guess the market realities are what they are.

As for people suggesting they'd close it to boost CP attendance, recall that Six Flags was bleeding bodies every year and CP was at least maintaining. There was no problem there to begin with.

Hey, I'm disappointed to, but considering the bigger picture of the last decade, now I think that perhaps it was inevitable. I think it'll do well as a water park, as it has for a long time.

By the way, I noticed the post from Agent Johnson about them closing Soak City. I tend to respect your opinion in the general sense, but what are you thinking? Why would they piss away Soak City money mostly generated by resort guests? That's completely irrational.

They can spin it all they want, but I'll bet the big headline in Cleveland today is that "GEAUGA LAKE IS CLOSING." Given the way information travels these days, who is going to bother to show up at the waterpark next season? I, for one, won't drive 150 miles for a waterpark, especially since I'm getting a new one only 15 miles away (and that one will even have a classic roller coaster!). There have been a lot of people in Northeast Ohio who have thought that Geauga Lake has been closed since before Six Flags put their name on the place.

So now Cedar Fair has their hands full with this park. Remember that advertising blitz that the park didn't get this year or last year? If they don't push it next year, that waterpark is going to die. And if they get a summer like last year, no amount of advertising will save it.

Sorry, but I don't understand the logic behind a stand-alone waterpark. Amusement parks are very weather-sensitive. Why does it make sense to take a weather-sensitive business and make it even more so?

I wonder if we could somehow get the Big Dipper AND the Screechin' Eagle for Columbus. Wouldn't it be cool to have THREE Coaster Classics (two of them built by John Miller) in one park? That'd be one better than Kennywood! Pity the Eagle and the Dipper are so similar...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Geauga Lake is now gone and what is going to happen? well I do like water parks but since I was born I went Geauga lake over hundreds of times. I was going to Gl since 1998 to this year.

Its a good thing that I went to Geauga Lake in 2006 in a record 58 times that year then in 2005 i went there 35 times.

well where can I go to have fun in a amusement park. once opon a time there was a special place called Geauga Lake park but no more just like what happened to Euclid Beach park. I don't now if Gl Will have the same thing happen. I don't know, i really don't Know.

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There are a lot of really emotional responses here, and some pretty ridiculous accusations too, the worst of which being that Cedar Fair didn't try or intentionally tanked the park. Come on, do you really think they'd buy the park if they didn't think they could make it work?

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Yes. Companies, especially retail, do this all of the time. CompUSA bought Computer City and announced they were closing Computer City, look where CompUSA is now by the way... Competive markets do this sort of thing. Grocery stores do the same thing. Wal-Mart especially. How many vacant Wal-Mart buildings are there down the street from a Super Wal-Mart. The retail store pays the lease on the new store and the old store until they find a business they can sublet to that willn't compete with them head to head.