Cols Dispatch--Waterparks Article & Wyandot Lake

The Columbus Dispatch did a fairly large article on the indoor waterpark craze in the Sunday (05/02) Business section. It basically explained how popular the concept has become, and all of the projects currently in the planning stages and/or under construction. Most of them were old news (Castaway Bay @ CP, Kalahari in Sandusky, and the proposed Great Lakes project near PKI), although there was a 42-acre development (mixed use office/residential/retail/hotel with an indoor waterpark) on Sandusky Bay that I had not read about before.

There was a sidebar article about Wyandot Lake, and how the Columbus Zoo (the owner of the property) would like to see the park "expand from its current 17 acres to 35 acres." This would be part of a bigger expansion of the zoo property which is partially dependent on a zoo tax levy that will go on the ballot in November. However, according to the article, Six Flags, Inc. "isn't ready to commit" to the project. (For somewhat obvious reasons...) It also said that Six Flag's lease on the property was only for four more years, and "after that, the future is uncertain."

I'd always assumed that Wyandot had never expanded *because* of the zoo's ownership of the land. I found it interesting that the zoo was actually encouraging the park to expand.

Does anyone have any information on Wyandot's performance? I remember hearing at one time (several years ago) that the park was pretty sucessful. However, a recent list of "for-profit attractions" in the Columbus MSA in Business First did not list Wyandot Lake at all. I found that surprising (especially since "Cloak & Dagger Dinner Theater" was #11! <G>).

Thanks... Joel

All I know is they better not do anything nasty to Sea Dragon!

Now that the Columbus Zoo's levy has passed and they can proceed with their expansion plans, what do you think about Wyandot's future? (Especially if the zoo is serious about wanting an expanded waterpark on site...)

Since the zoo owns the land and leases it to the park operator, this could be a pretty cheap buy for someone--in the neigborhood of $10M maybe?

Maybe this is the right buy for Great American Family Parks! (<--somewhat sarcastic)

Joel