Continued: Cedar Fair announces Geauga Lake will be water park only

What's done is done & the rides are coming down,at least some of us will be able to enjoy them at their new locations.

Because you'll be spending all your time at KD instead of SFA, right?

Heres a theory

Dont CF make a attempt to fix any coaster(or flat ride)as soon as possible?

What I dont understand is why RWB went down they made no attempt to fix it,unless the reason was,why put time and money to fix a ride when its going to be taken down at the end of the season when the park closes for good.Seems odd.

That was definitely an indication of things to come. If you spent money fixing a ride and it broke, why let it stand idle? Shouldn't you be trying to get something out of the money you just invested?

Then again, maybe it's my inability to understand why people are so willing to accept everything they're told

Our entire political process is based upon people voting for those who say the right thing...not what they do. And your concerned that some enthusiasts are taking the word of Cedar Fair...?

In the grand scheme of life...when this decision was made has no affect. Trying to convince people to think objectivley is even less useful.

Most people are emotional creatures incapable of allowing the brain to trump the heart. Once you accept this...the key is to find means of profiting from this phenomenon.

trimbrakes said:
Heres a theory
Dont CF make a attempt to fix any coaster(or flat ride)as soon as possible?
What I dont understand is why RWB went down they made no attempt to fix it,unless the reason was,why put time and money to fix a ride when its going to be taken down at the end of the season when the park closes for good.Seems odd.

I had that same thought. They normally waste no time fixing coasters. (SOB was diffeant though, as there were injuries.)

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-Mark

Jeffrey R Smith said:

Our entire political process is based upon people voting for those who say the right thing...not what they do.

Not really. People vote for politicians because they expect them to do the things the say they're going to do. The fact that they often fail to match their words with action says nothing about the political process- it says that politicians, like most people in a position of power, lie through their teeth.

FLYINGSCOOTER said:
trimbrakes said:
Heres a theory
Dont CF make a attempt to fix any coaster(or flat ride)as soon as possible?
What I dont understand is why RWB went down they made no attempt to fix it,unless the reason was,why put time and money to fix a ride when its going to be taken down at the end of the season when the park closes for good.Seems odd.

I had that same thought. They normally waste no time fixing coasters. (SOB was diffeant though, as there were injuries.)

That's assuming that the park had the money in the budget and was unwilling to spend it.

Considering work was recently done on the ride, shouldn't the contractor have been called in to make the repairs? After all, it was likely something they did that failed. What is the usual "warranty" for repair work in the amusement industry?

I would argue that more and more people are voting for politicians based on the fact they don't want the other guy(gal) to win more than voting because they really like/admire the person they select. A "lesser of two evils" vote seems to be more and more common these days.

As much as an CEO might think they have their Boards in their pocket, the reality is a Board can vote to do whatever and whenever. No, I would not be surprised if Kinzel had it in mind to close GL X months ago. I would equally not be surprised if he didn't know for certain how the Board would come down. A lot has changed for Cedar Fair in the last two years and what use to be easy decisions has become much more complex with the scrutiny the Paramount purchase has garnered.

Let's face it, I'm sure at one time Eisner felt he had his Board in his pocket...and maybe he did...but things changed their too.

I still think that if CF knew for SURE that the park would be closed...with advanced notice...that they might have acknowledged it more publicly. I mean, it would be in their best interest to do so in some fashion as they are going to try and make the water park work. You would think they wouldn't want to offend their market who will ultimately make or break the remaining business.

Just because it's been awhile...

My *belief* is that CF had probably decided to close the park earlier, but that the original INTENT may have been to close the park down more gradually, over the course of a few years. Alternatively, I'm also willing to believe that they had CONSIDERED "my" (LOL!) boardwalk proposal, making the place look and feel as much like SCBB as possible. Dipper and RWB along the lake, some flats, some beach, etc.

Under either case, it would seem plausible, or even likely, that the Board later decided "it's time to cut our losses, take a one-time hit from investors, and clear the place off our books".

Time will tell for sure, but I think CF *may* have done themselves a disservice in the Cleveland market, no business that's been around for over 120 years can simply be closed without SOME repercussions. Of course, the Wall St. market is probably the one Kinzel and the Board have their eyes on... ;)

^Right. By now I'm sure you've seen the great article on 'Motley Fool' about just that. But for the most part, I think the majority of people who enjoyed Geauga Lake's water fun offerings this past year aren't going to boycott the park come June 08.

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this thread or on the forums here yet, but a lot of the smallers rides like the bumper cars have been packed up and are ready to be loaded for shipment.

Thunderhawk's first drop has been completely removed.

Dominator's cobra-roll has been removed as is the turn after the first loop.

And that's from what could be photographed above the treeline.

I'm sure a lot of the other stuff has been packed up and is ready for the big move.

Big Dipper and Raging Wolf Bobs? Hopefully in splinters by now. *crosses fingers*

What do you have against the Dipper?

This reminds me of the time when everyone said they "knew" Maverick needed a retrofit months in advance.

Why does everything have to be a conspiracy? Closing the park, or some portion of it, was always a contingency from the day they bought the place, of course. You don't spend $145 million buying a business without an exit strategy in case things don't work out.

Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog

wahoo skipper said:
What do you have against the Dipper?

It being a horrible ride is what I have against it. Is it so hard to believe there are some people actually out there that don't like it? Don't act so surprised people. It's my opinion and to each his/her own.

wahoo skipper said:
What do you have against the Dipper?

It's just bait. Don't take it.

kRaXLeRidAh said:
I'm sure a lot of the other stuff has been packed up and is ready for the big move.

I highly doubt it. They are probably prioritizing the removals, with the 2008 installations leaving first, then 2009 or 2010 installs, finally demolitions last. Also moving bumper cars can be done by just a couple of people in a short amount of time, while crane work takes a larger team and generally longer for safety reasons. *** Edited 10/1/2007 6:43:53 PM UTC by otterkpr***

Jeff said:
The final decision was made at the last board meeting, period. You can speculate whatever you want, but thems the facts.

Note what Jeff said: The final decision

You don't spend $145 million buying a business without an exit strategy in case things don't work out.

Does anyone think that at the last board meeting Dick Kinzel said "Is there anything else?" and someone said "Let's close the ride side at Geauga Lake."

For that matter, when was the last time Kinzel didn't get what he wanted from the board?

No doubt the decision to close GL's ride side was Kinzel's--the board vote was just a formality. And I doubt DK made that decision on the spur of the moment. The fact that RWB was never repaired suggests that the decision was made before then.

This Isn't A Hospital--It's An Insane Asylum!

...not to mention the fact that the original waterpark was left to rot, without even spending the minimum dollars necessary to demolish or move it. In retrospect, that should have been a much greater tip-off than it was.

Cedar Fair is (and even before the Paramount Park deal, was) a big corporation. It is not the kind of company that turns on a dime. This kind of decision is not reached in a couple of days, or even a couple of months.

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