Cedar Fair to buy SFWoA

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Jeff said:

Let the season pass complaining go. You're all looking at it in terms of "what's good for me" and not what's good for the company.

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Why in the world would I not look at it as "what's good for me"? What would be my purpose, exactly?

Yes, in a purist, "what's good for me" world, every park is free without a season pass, all of the rides are fantastic and the food is free.

In a purist "what's good for the company" world, everyone just sends them cash and they don't actually have to even open the park.

Reality lives somewhere in between, which is what's being discussed. The people complaining are suggesting they won't visit this season with GL offering no kind of cross-park entrance in either season pass. Now maybe that's what Cedar Fair wants from GL this season, a quieter year without lots of folks from CP heading over while they figure out their game.

Personally, I'm disappointed. But I'll still make it there if the ticket price is under 30 bucks. Also, a 1 day ticket discout at GL for CF season pass holders would be nice... ;)

Wrong.just look at the SFA ads...in them they're always trying to market SFGRADV to folks in SFA's target demographical region.

Will CF use this same strategy? probably not,but then again we havn't seen yet just how they plan to market the former SFWOA/now just plain old GL.

Look we gotta be true to our coaster-geeky roots ...

It's TPFKASFWoA

(The Park Formerly Known As Six Flags Worlds of Adenture for those that are a little ... ah ... slow?)

I guess the main thing to look forward to is their official website...

...since it's a Cedar Fair product now, it's only a matter of time before Six Flags yanks the park off of their website, and Cedar Fair creates a new one for Geauga Lake...

...this will also then reveal all the new names & so-forth. Alas, what kind of pictures will they use for their new site? Six Flags photos? photoshopped pictures? drawings? The Six Flags pics are copyright, so that's probably out.

**sigh**

I guess time will tell when all this folds out over the course of the next month & a half (man, that's not that far away, is it?)

Actually, Brett, the park did what Prince did. Changed its name from Geauga Lake to an unpronouncable, weird combonation of symbols, so it was then to be referred to as TPFKAGL. Now that, like Prince, the park is getting back to basics(and another thing in common for both, getting away from all Warner Bro.s licensing;)), it can now just be reffered to as Geauga lake!

Get your Prince refrences right so you don't offend any of us "Phams"!;)

I do feel a loss with the animal side gone, but really it's not that big of a deal. Sea World ran a world class marine life park, Six Flags did not.

When SF took over, it was just wishful thinking that the marine park had the quality it did when it was Sea World. As much as I wanted to think it was still about the same, it really lost a lot. One of the problems with SFWoA was that a lot of Sea World customers saw the difference and didn't come back.

In addition to that, Six Flags ran a crappy amusement park. Although Cedar Point was always my favorite place to go, the old Geauga Lake was a great place to go for day or a few hours of fun. Six Flags may have built roller coasters, but they ruined the experience that was once Geauga Lake. It was a poorly run park that had so many annoying things that the good rides couldn't make up for.

Most people who purchased SFWoA passes will trade them in for Geauga Lake passes. They bought them to go to SFWoA, most don't care that they were also good at other Six Flags properties.

My friend's family is a typical example. His wife and kids have SFWoA passes, mainly because of the water park. They enjoyed Geauga Lake before Six Flags. After Six Flags, they did nothing but complain about the park, but they still went because it was close and had a water park. They didn't really go on the rides, and didn't use the Sea World side. Once a year they spent 4 days at Cedar Point and stayed at Sandcastle Suites. They wanted to go on rides at a "real" amusement park. If these people are typical, which I think they are, is it any wonder SFWoA failed?

I expect Cedar Fair to recreate the Geauga Lake experience. Meaning, fun traditional amusement park that is well run, with safe rides and operations, with good customer service and reasonable admission prices. Many people I've talked to expect the same thing. They don't expect Cedar Point, they just want Geauga Lake back. Not some "Superpark" that didn't deliver.

There are big differences in the purpose of Geauga Lake and Cedar Point. Whereas Cedar Point is a vacation destination, or at the very least, a big event for most visitors, Geauga Lake is an urban park that is there mainly to serve the locals for some entertainment. And, to provide a nice setting for Cleveland area companies when they have annual picnics. Geauga Lake is also on an RTA bus line to provide easy access for guests who may not have the resources to afford a longer car trip to a destination park.

I think Cedar Fair will do wonderful things to Geauga Lake, and build the park back up to a solid 1.5 to 2.0 million guests a year. Not having the overhead of the animal park will make this park very profitable at that attendance level. I'm looking forward to going back to Geauga Lake!

A bigger question is what will happen to their huge Bermuda Triangle simulator? And what about Pirates 4D? Will they stay open, or will they close? I can see half of the park staying open, with the two big rides and the smaller flat rides open, along with the kiddie park and the food. The kiddie park could be open while the Loony Tunes place is de-themmed.

I too will miss the great birds, reptiles, and other small animals. I really loved the birds! Escecially those cockatoos they had near Bermuda Triangle. Those were cool.

The possabilites are endless for the Seaworld side of the park.

I would like to see the Sim and the 4D stay open... but wouldn't that require keeping a pretty good portion of the wildlife side open? I was under the impression that they were closing that entire side this season.

sorry if this has already been mentioned--

but is there any possibility that this could be Dorney's new floorless?

i dont see it fitting in there too well- but it would make sense *** Edited 3/11/2004 5:14:59 PM UTC by ZNitroMan***

Nope...no chance.....it's custom, for the terrain. After all, it wouldn't make sense for CP to buy the park and rip out it's premier coaster. The public would be very unhappy!

ok, i almost figured that- but with all this crazy news im almost ready for anything

For all of you that are defending CF's decision on their season pass policies at GL, I respect that and understand your reasons.

I just don't want to be lumped in with the "whiney enthusiast" category because I am the farthest from it. I only stated why CF passes should be honored at GL as pretty much a "grand-opening" promotional type deal. Entice people in to show off your service and product.

I don't think SF suffered with SFWoA by giving away the gate. They suffered from poor service as most of you regulars in that area know all to well.

Scott (still an enthusiast in disguise) :)

The flip-side to that, Chitown, is that it's going to be a massive undertaking to show off an exceptional product and service when you only have a month and a half to prepare. Personally, I agree with you--that CF season passes should be honored. It may not make the park money at the gate, but it would boost attendance figures and generate revenue in other aspects, like parking, food, and merchandise. I don't see how this wouldn't be a good thing.

So Jeff, you would still like Cedar Point if they took half of your favorite attractions or parts of the park away if Paramount or Universal or Busch or Six Flags purchased the park? If you had problems at SF parks before, you wouldn't want them to own it, especially if they were taking out some of your favorite parts. Read my first post in the thread and you'll see I thought it was a great idea at first. At that point, I didn't realize about the wildlife side and how much it really meant to me going. I don't even care about this season pass issue everyone is complaining about. If I used to spend 4 hours in the wildlife side and 4 hours in the wild rides side when I used to go, the park would be worth half as much to me in 2004 when the wildlife side is gone. Understand or do you have another smartass comment to show you weren't really even reading?

I've seen poor service at Six Flags, Paramount, Cedar Fair, Universal, even Disney parks. It doesn't happen all the time and most people here seem to just be following people and saying they have "bad service" just because its the cool thing to say or something. I've been 6 times in the last 3 years and never had problems and I'll stick with what I know unless there's clear factual information as to why something went wrong. I guess employee idiocy at Cedar Fair parks isn't a problem though unless they work at Six Flags parks. Cedar Fair can do no wrong. Those aren't dumb employees. They're just dressed up for Halloween. That's not one-train operation. They're just putting them through so fast you're only seeing one. That's not trash. It's part of the normal "Cedar Fair theming". And I'm not just a SF fanboy. I won't even talk about what has happened at SFKK and SFNE before. ;)

-Danny *** Edited 3/11/2004 6:02:37 PM UTC by Koaster King*** *** Edited 3/11/2004 6:06:03 PM UTC by Koaster King***

To be honest, I had to do a double take to make sure today wasn't April 1.

As a business owner, I am not certain what the business plan would be. I suppose a two-park pass would be a good option to help create the 'destination' concept. Otherwise, the parks seem pretty close together.

Anyone have any thoughts on them dismantling the park and sending the rides around the country??? I'm not advocating that, just wondering if that seems feasible to anyone.

Maybe CF can figure out what that smell is that comes from under the exit walkway on BKF.

Marketing the two parks in one market is going to be really easy. Just base the commercials and ads on what the greater Cleveland public thinks...

Cedar Point is, and always be, one of the greatest amusement parks in the world- and how can you not with that location on the Great Lake and record-breaking rides.

Geauga Lake is, a humble little park. Fun for a day, but not a resort. A place for the company picnic and family get-togethers.

Get it? Cedar Point- Thrills. Big Rides.

Geauga Lake- more time for togetherness.

So to speak.

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Cedar Point- Thrills. Big Rides.

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I'd take it a bit further than that and say:

Cedar Point- Thrills. Big Rides. Resort. Multi-day Destination

Don't want to sound stupid here, but this is a stupid question. Can someone provide a phonetic representation of Geauga Lake so I know how to pronounce it?

GEE AW GA

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Chitown said:

Scott (still an enthusiast in disguise) :)

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So...that's the explaination... Dude, take the mask off...you can't really be that bad looking... ;) ROFLMAO!!! hahahahaha ;) ;) ;)