Cedar Point to close Goodtime Theater

https://www.cedarpoint.com/blog-article/online-fun/The-Curtain-Closes

Funny thing is, in all my years of going to CP, I've been in there only once. Turns out now it was the last day of operation, and 2nd to last show. Saw the Midnight Syndicate show at 9pm on Nov 1st.

Goodbye Theatre, or Goodnight, Theatre?

Paging birdman....

I know I ...and MANY others have said this has been coming for a few years now (but to be honest, I had my money on the sports stadium to come down first).

Random Thoughts First:

I'm still upset they got rid of the IMAX...man that was cool when I was kid ;-)

When was the last time they used the first room in that theater? That is A LOT of wasted space.

That is the STUPIDEST place CP could put their show.

The bleacher setup is even more stupid! Seriously, what were they thinking (let's put bleachers off center, way in the back, behind lots of poles, point the speakers AWAY from them, so said guests in the back can't hear anything, etc)... (see speculation below for more)?

Cadillac cars are AWFUL now (run down, cars not working, etc). 3/4ths of public can barely fit in to them.

It does strike me as VERY odd to get rid of the whole building. CP seriously lacks a good place to watch an entertaining show. Palace Theater sucks ( you can't see over anyone in front of you, and there are poles everywhere.) Lusty Lills and Red Saloon both of the same problem of lack of seating. The sports complex is probably the best now, but it's just bleacher seating.

Speculation:

That's a BIG building. I originally thought that a show ride like Canada's Wonderland or what Knott's is getting would be pretty darn cool there, but CP's site mentions that they are removing the whole building.

When they put those bleachers in at CP for the night show it screams, hack/rush job. There is a pretty good spot around there and behind those and next to the theater to add room...

The Cadillac cars are really run down lately. I would bet the farm this is the last season for them.

If you take down the building, clear some room/make by the bleachers, and clear out the Cadillac cars you have one heck of nice area for a Wooden coaster ;-)

The removal could set up the area to actually put in a nice evening performance venue set up so that one is not wedged in there so bad it ruins the experience (for those watching and those just trying to get through)

I don't see them blocking the entrance to the park there. They need it, and use it WAY to much. BUT it is the only entrance that has NOT been redone. I would easily expect that to go with the new area.

I would also expect wording on the dorms right there too to happen soon.

Hmmm.....

I bet a typical roller coaster is not going in that spot. It's pretty obvious what IS going into that spot.

Did they say that the building is being demolished, or did they only insinuate that the building will no longer house any more shows? What I think the park will be adding in that spot could easily use that building. If the building has to go, that's okay too.

Is anyone on the same page as me? ;)

I get from the article that the entire building is going.

If indeed CP is destined for the next dark ride of that type in the chain, I'd say it's the perfect spot and I don't know why that never crossed my mind. (I've been busy compulsing and worrying over the possible fate of the Colliseum/Ballroom, I guess.) It might be a good thing if the entire building goes. The current one, in spite of it's iconic status on the midway, is so old-assed and the new ride deserves its own custom designed space. Plus, while the space is huge, these dark rides can and should fit into a smaller space. (See Knott's) I see the area as home not only to a new ride but maybe another attraction or two. Or improved viewing space for the show. My every hope is the grown-in look to the area is preserved and the Marina entrance is merely refreshed rather than altered a great deal. I'd also venture a guess that the Turnpike/Cadillac area will remain as is- at least for a while yet.
As for the Cedars, I suppose the writing's on the wall and it's days are numbered. I like the idea of another guest hotel there, or maybe a restaurant complex of some sort accessible from both inside and out of the park.

I echo the sentiments that the stadium would've/should've been next on the chopping block and this announcement comes as a surprise. I've said it before, but had it been up to me it would have already been gone and the Luminosity stage would be in its place. It would have been the perfect spot with the lake as a backdrop, the beach for pyrotechnics, a large area to work with for a viewing plaza, Windseeker next to it, and an exit nearby.

But nobody's calling me for ideas, they must've lost my number.

As an employee of CP in the early 70's I remember we spent a lot of time going into that new-fangled IMAX cinema. We watched the movies over and over and they never got old. (my favorite of all time was the one about the circus- the IMAX effects played well and some of it was quite dizzying) I also had quite a few friends in the Live Show department and many were part of the rotating warm up acts in the pre show area. (Shout out to the Marimba Sisters! Beautiful twin girls- their "Lady of Spain" and "Sabre Dance" numbers were breathtaking!) (No,... really)
After the IMAX movies went away I'm sorry to say I never set foot in the building again, not for an ice show or Midnight Syndicate, sadly.

So bye bye, Cedar Point Cinema, thanks for the Good Times. I can't wait to see what's next.

RollerCoasterGod said:

Cadillac cars are AWFUL now (run down, cars not working, etc). 3/4ths of public can barely fit in to them.

Are you sure you don't mean the Turnpike cars? Adults fit in the Cadillac cars just fine. And I've not seen any issues with them not working the last few years.

I have mixed feelings on the whole thing. Losing the Goodtime Theater means one less thing to do with the kids together. I really hope they continue turning the tide on axing the family stuff because '14 brought Pipe Scream and Lake Erie Eagles, which I think was a step in the right direction.

Making Dinosaurs Alive free with Platinum Pass holders eased the pain of losing PWE, despite what others think it was compared to Western Cruise. I think CP is losing a large venue that set them apart from other parks, I'll just trust that the park is undergoing a much needed major refresh and bringing it up to the type of entertainment that is expected in the 21st century.

And Cadillac Cars? Those are good. I could see losing Turnpike cars because it's low capacity with two seated vehicles. I have a feeling there is going to be a change of flow where Calypso is no longer a dead end. It would also be nice to tunnel the Marina gate like they did on the resort side to eliminate the crosswalk there.

Make no mistake, that whole area of the park looks to see a major transformation.

I agree, TURNPIKE cars (the hotrod-looking cars under Raptor) are so uncomfortable for any regular sized adult. I've wedged myself into them a few times the past few years because my son wanted to "drive the FAST cars..."

As for the Coliseum, I get the nostalgia. But here's my personal experience of the building, having never personally seen the ballroom. It's a HUGE arcade that only seems busy when it rains with a roof covered in seagull crap that looks awful from the Sky Ride. I don't actively want to see it disappear but wouldn't miss it at all if it did.

I'm not upset to see the Good Times Theater go. The building itself is definitely not in the greatest condition. But I am sad to see Snoopy On Ice end its run. My son LOVES seeing the Peanuts gang throughout the park and enjoyed the show. Plus I was looking forward to (hopefully) seeing Midnight Syndicate there during HalloWeekends 2015, as we didn't make the trip this past fall...

And someone else made a great point; hopefully they can do whatever they are going to do without losing too many of the fully grown trees in that area.

Kings Island is bringing back the Flying Eagles with Woodstock Gliders next year. Perhaps they will also be able to bring back their Antique Cars attraction if and when the Cadillac Cars are removed from Cedar Point. I'm amazed that Cedar Point has gone this long with 3 driving attractions, 2 of which with the exact same style cars.

I love turnpike cars, and every park should have one. I prefer them over antiques, for sure.
Having said that, my last attempt at Turnpike resulted in the walk of shame. So unless the ride is upgraded with more comfortable cars (those are Arrow cars from the 70's I think) I've taken my last Turnpike ride whether anyone else has or not.

Kings Island outright removed their cars when Italian Job went in, right? They didn't relocate. I was trying to think of what was really missing there, and maybe that's it.

Correct. There were two antiques there, one had a station in Coney, Le Taxis, and the other was on the Rivertown side, Overland Auto Livery or something like that. They occupied the same area, one had cars with tops and the other had no tops.
There was also the Sunshine Turnpike that ran for years on the south border of Happy Land. It was a traditional turnpike ride with the sports cars and there were originally two separate tracks. Along the way the right station was used for games and the two tracks were combined into one. It was a nice ride. It was removed when the big theater went in that spot.

When Italian Job went in the park murmured something about how we should watch for the antiques to return someday, but so far no. I think the path where the Dinos are would make a good location, (think of the haunted car ride they might have in the fall!) but so far the rubber guys are hangin on for another season. Or ten.
Another good spot for antiques would be in the wooded area you pass through on the way to Thunder Canyon. That's a long walk with nothing going on from here to there, and the setting would be perfect.

Truthfully, a lot of parks are removing their car rides. The good ones left that come to mind are Autopia, naturally, and the ones at Dollywood which are electric. And everyone can fit.

I've been patiently watching for Kings Island to announce the return of the antique cars.

I have a great, yet foggy, memory of Good Times Theater. It was 2001, just days before the park opened for the season, and I was attending a motivational speaker presentation there for employees. I can't remember his name, but the things he talked about really helped me to find myself. Leaving the theater, I felt optimistic and recharged. It was really awesome, and quite generous I believe, for Cedar Fair to allow us the opportunity to hear him.

A few days after his appearance, I went to the book store at the Sandusky Mall and bought several "self-help" books.

I wish I could remember who he was.

Also, before his presentation, we were given a show in the waiting area. I forget what the show was, I remember a brass section. Whoever it was were adding the finishing touches for their public run at the park.

I'm glad you found inspiration in the motivational speaker.

But... What happened?

:-)

Jeff said:

Are you sure you don't mean the Turnpike cars? Adults fit in the Cadillac cars just fine. And I've not seen any issues with them not working the last few years.

Yeah...I messed that one up. hit my self in the back of the head..

thanks :-)

Last time I rode the Turnpike cars I had to sit sideways, turn my knees opposite, and use my HAND to push on the gas pedal. Since then (8 years later) I just enjoy watching my daughters driving around in them...And watching the employees struggle to remove a car, and put another one on every time one breaks down right after a kid/person gets into one...seriously, it seemed to happen almost every time this year. A 10 person wait can turn into a 45 minutes ordeal sometimes. After the 4th time I told my kids we'll just have to settle for the other two car rides (which I agree with CP has a lot of them.) Heck, CP use to have 3 bumper car rides at one time too.

As for the Colosseum, I too see more coming to it. CP uses it as a multipurpose building obviously. I thought we MIGHT see a dark ride this coming year in that, due to the MASS removal of arcade games this past year (anyone else notice how many games were truly removed from there), and possibly something going on over at the end of the Snoopy Boutique. The snoopy Boutique had half of their store blocked off last year, that's a lot of storage space. The last couple of years more has been taken away than added to it, and it definitely is starting to get the run down feeling inside of it, around it, bathrooms, etc.

As for Midnight Syndicate, I see them going to Kings Island next year into their big theater. I would LOVE to see Ed Alonzo be rotated to CP this coming year (it seems that Cedar Fair and him are jumping parks each year.) He was great family entertainment...but I don't know if CP has a big enough place now for him to perform.

If Turnpike gets removed, they can't even relocate it to Dorney and market it as a new ride like everything else in the chain that got relocated since Cedar Fair already did that 20 years ago when they took some Turnpike cars to operate at Road Rally.

RCMAC said:

Truthfully, a lot of parks are removing their car rides. The good ones left that come to mind are Autopia, naturally, and the ones at Dollywood which are electric. And everyone can fit.

You are spot on (though from what the Disney nerds say, Autopia's days are numbered, at least on the west coast).

While the old models are nightmares from a staffing, maintenance and environmental standpoint, the concept is timeless: all kids love the opportunity to drive a car.

I would love to see a park reinvent this concept and do something fun with it.

For example, anyone here ever do the car ride at Gilroy Gardens? I think it's a Morgan electric model but the landscaping, buildings and passbys make it a unique experience. The mentioned idea of a "haunted trail" version at Kings Island is a fantastic one. An expansion of DCA's Carsland with a reborn Autopia would be a huge hit.

I get that parks don't know how to market these experiences as new and exciting but the timeless charm makes it one of those classic experiences people love. Get rid of the fumes, give it a surprising layout and watch the queues fill up.

You may already be hip, but if not check out Hong Kong's version of Autopia. There's a plethora of pov's on youtube. It's absolutely stunning with an almost alien landscape that just screams kooky Tomorrowland.

Weird I know, but on my last visit to Disneyland Ca. I insisted we go straight to Autopia when the rope dropped as I had never seen the new version and I had heard the line could get long later in the day. I wasn't disappointed. I've ridden Orlando's ride only once and thought it was a total snooze. There's additional open space back there along the back path that connects Tomorrowland and Fantasyland for a really nice Autopia-style ride. I really never understood the wide multi lane racetrack concept, except maybe for capacity's sake. There sure is nothing scenic or creative about it.

One of my favorite rides ever was the one at Kennywood. It had a great multi-layered course and it could be seen from the actual road outside the park which I thought was great. (The ride at Cincinnati's Coney Island did the same thing and went around Lake Como for a nice long ride). Toward the end Kennywood upgraded their ride to electric cars and for some reason reversed the direction. I didn't mind that so much, but the new cars were little antique roadsters instead of sports cars. They kept the retro CoGo gas station, so the whole thing looked quite incongruous.
Kennywood has also "promised" a rebirth of the Turnpike, but once again, so far no. And if they do my guess is it won't be as nice.

Dorney's ride was ok, and I was glad to see Valleyfair putting theirs back in this year. I don't remember, but was there information or maybe a rumor that MA's Be Bop Blvd. is going away? If I recall correctly it was one of, if not the first one that was all electric.

Back in the day, a visit to Sandusky Mall was a part of my family's every visit to Cedar Point. My mother was fond of the pizza place in the mall.

For a few years, the mall counted a Cedar Point Gifts store among its tenants -- my recollection is that Cedar Point had purchased a small chain of gift stores?

Cedar Point Cinema/Good Times Theater is part of my "sentimental Cedar Point," but I think it is time for the building to be removed.

I'm sure I was not the only one who noticed that Kennywood had one of their old turnpike cars parked on the midway this season near the Sky Rocket entrance.

I'm sure I am also not the only person who noticed that it was Car #15.

I'm fairly certain that Kennywood has not announced any expansion plans for the 2015 season.

Coincidence?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.