Conneaut Lake not opening this year

Conneaut Lake Park has cancelled their 2020 season: http://www.newconneautlakepark.com/2020-season-update/cancellation-...season.cfm

Where's Pepsi when you need them? (Another addition to the CBuzz memes).

OMG, this park is like the little engine that could. Someone please finally stick a fork into it, bulldoze the property and make it into condos like it should have been 10-15 years ago....

I'm not sure condos are the answer in that little pocket of Northwest PA. Conneaut Lake as is actually fits in quite well in that area.

If they needed condos wouldn't they have built them already?

I'll never understand coaster enthusiasts rooting for a park to close. I get it, even if it were hitting on all cylinders, Conneaut Lake wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. "I don't see how they can make it work" is a reasonable response. But "stick a fork in it" just seems odd, unless you're a condo enthusiast.

They're in a tough spot. But I totally understand the decision not to try to ramp up, train staff, etc. if there's no guarantee they'll even be able to open. I hope it works out for them. The Blue Streak would be a real loss.

I’m in agreement.
I know Conneaut is several memes rolled into one, and there’s a certain amount of accuracy there. But maybe a lot of it applies to the Conneaut of the past.
It will never be the nicest place, but I sense that recently they’ve turned a corner. Their release is well written and sounds honest and sensible, and not like a bunch of spin. I can easily see how it makes sense for them to bow out, and how they must feel bad about it.
I’ve held in the back of my mind that if things looked a whole lot safer and if they were available I’d like to visit Conneaut and Waldameer, maybe late in the season. Both small parks that I haven’t visited in a while. Oh well, so much for that.

hambone said:

I'll never understand coaster enthusiasts rooting for a park to close.

I don't think that's a fair read on what goes on with regard to this park. There's a long running tragic comedy about this park, and I would consider the response to that to be dark comedy. It's also pretty deeply rooted in nostalgia, which is not a thing everyone shares.

What if CF were to buy it?

(come on, don't let me down, take the bait)

So they can close it?

I know what Dorney's getting next year: Dreams that are out of touch with reality.

Will Bill Spehn get hired to oversee the two waterslides and lazy river that will continue to operate after they close the rest of the park?

hambone said:

I'll never understand coaster enthusiasts rooting for a park to close.

I sit alone in the dark muttering obscenities under my breath and praying to the forces of evil that control me for Conneaut Lake Park to die a horrible, painful death.

Why?

Conneaut Lake Park knows what it did!

BrettV said:
Will Bill Spehn get hired to oversee the two waterslides and lazy river that will continue to operate after they close the rest of the park?

How well do you really know your history?

Conneaut Lake Park was doing OK, then the owners made their first poor decision when they attempted to make it a gated park. I guess that didn't last long. The next boneheaded decision was...are you ready for this?...to sell off all of the rides except the Blue Streak and carousel, and operate strictly as a concert venue and waterpark. That was the move that darned near killed the park completely. Lots of infighting resulted, Conneaut's rides were scattered to the four winds, then they ended up with a bunch of junk from Old Indiana to replace some of it, and you've been following their slog through tax liens and bankruptcy court ever since.

One of the biggest problems facing Conneaut Lake this season is that they are not, and for practical reasons cannot be, a gated park. This means there is no practical way to control the number of people in the park, which is the first and most important point of every single operation's coronavirus response plan. If you have no way to control the crowd, you have no workable plan.

Yeah, that's probably scaring Knoebel's as well. At least Waldameer *can* close the gate and count people as they go in and out.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Can they manage flow in and out of the parking lot?

In 2021 you'll have to park mid-Streak

ApolloAndy said:
Can they manage flow in and out of the parking lot?

I'm guessing you've never been there, or not been there recently.

The midway at Conneaut Lake runs from the disused admission booths up by the highway back to the lake. In the middle is the ticket booth. The ticket booth is in the middle of one of several streets that cut across the midway. These streets are (mostly) closed to traffic, but they are not vacated, and there are residences located within the apparent boundaries of the park grounds. There are multiple parking areas, including along the road that runs along the lake, and immediately across from the bumper car building where the Yo-Yo used to be. You may think of the grass lot across the highway from the park as "the parking lot" but there are a lot more parking areas, along streets, adjacent to the picnic groves, around the hotel, behind the midway, and in other areas around the park. Access to the park is literally not controlled in any appreciable way.
Have you ever been to a festival where a carnival sets up in the streets, something like the Pumpkin Fest in Circleville, OH? Where you end up with the Ferris wheel sitting in front of a bank? Imagine if that were a permanent setup, except the streets are open and the rides and joints are sitting on lots along with the houses and businesses. It's not quite totally integrated like that, but it isn't too far off either. Ever think about having a roller coaster in your back yard? There is literally a private house next to the miniature railroad track and the Blue Streak is literally in its back yard.

Conneaut Lake is quite possibly the strangest amusement park I have ever visited. And the series of questionable decisions, questionable fires, and questionable management activities have all served to just keep making it stranger.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Pumpkin Show.

RideMan said:

Conneaut Lake is quite possibly the strangest amusement park I have ever visited. And the series of questionable decisions, questionable fires, and questionable management activities have all served to just keep making it stranger.

You didn't even mention the famous gum wall. (To say nothing of the large jar at the ticket booth, the last time I was there, labeled "help us pay our taxes."