Geauga Lake auction dates 6/17 & 6/18

Lets do this again. We saw this thread at work, and the 'first impression' was "Hey, plenty of GL supporters may be out of town. I wonder if that was planned?"

Its not meant to have a conspiracy theory against Cedar Point's powers to be, or create a huge media circus.

Its just a 'sitting in the office' thought we had and even I wonder if that was Norton's only available date, or did Cedar Point deny some local die hards another final chance to walk the sacred grounds of Ohio's second most storied park.

Its just too hard to pass up some water cooler gossip and wonder if that date was planned, or just Cedar Point kicking dirt on the coffin. You tell me.

You've been jumping on conspiracy bandwagons a lot lately, and since I "know" who you are and the kinds of dealings you're into, it reeks of some kind of "I don't get to play in the transaction" thing. I'd expect more from you because you do know better and you know that silly suggestions like this one only fuel the kids who don't get it and adults who believe that business has no place in the equation of amusement parks.

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LostKause said:
Nice...Make it uncool to see beyond what's told to you. Make it funny. Make it silly to believe that a giant corporation can't come up with a plan.

Weather it's true or not, it doesn't hurt to look at it and try to understand it.

What's hilarious is that people fall for misdirection and slight-of-hand every time.

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Yes, call us non-thinkers without sharing your own position. That's a good low-risk strategy for you. You get to champion the preservationists, slam the corporation and people making logical arguments, and be a hero because no one likes the fact that the park closed.

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CoasterComet said:
Being a loudmouth (to me) is better than being an Americanized lemming and just going with the whole 'well its life, it's reality' crap.

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Funny, I thought they were one and the same.

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CoasterComet said:If I'm gonna bash anyone it's gonna be Cedar Fair for crappy decisions and for the increasing homogenization/dumbing/erasing history transformations that they are doing to their parks.

Being a loudmouth (to me) is better than being an Americanized lemming and just going with the whole 'well its life, it's reality' crap.

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The "business working in its best interests is bad, but the individual doing the same is good" mentality is one I guess I'll never get.

^^I see what you're saying Jeff. Guess what I was thinking about is how it seems that so many people tend to go with the flow, versus standing up for what they truly-in their heart believe. It takes courage to stand up for what you think.

As a society, with all the media and crap that is out there, it's almost like were puppets sometimes.

So much is nearly dictated to us through Gap, American Idol, Madonna, etc., that even though it is a free country and all that, seems people are just willing to take the easy way out.

Hey guys, I'm not the best at writing stuff down or getting out how I feel in words - but I do my best :) Seems like so much on here is dismissed with a sarcastic line, or a twist of extreme reasoning. It's all in fun right ;)

Damn, I wish I would have joined the debate team in school! I could be a talking head, politician or lawyer! Or a cop! *** Edited 3/15/2008 3:43:29 AM UTC by CoasterComet***

Point taken, Jeff. I just don't get how some so-called "conspiracy theory" can not be explored a little further before it gets to a point in the discussion where it can be laughed at.

If I am, or you are, capable of distorting truth in whatever aspect of life, don't you think the big wigs who run company x are capable? It's always a possibility, even if it is not necessarily true.

Funny how this conversation took the turn it usually takes when I get involved, except I haven't said much of anything ;)

I get what everyone is saying, I really do. Lately it seems that whenever Cedar Fair makes a desison to do something, someone is second-guessing the timing of the announcement or the information it contains. Then again, I suppose the company brought this on itself. If there was no conspiracy behind the closing of Geauga Lake, there was certainly a lot about it that was shady, mysterious and altogether misleading. It seems some people refuse to forget all of that, and I for one am happy. More than six months later, I'm convinced the whole thing still stinks.

I'm with Agent Johnson. I don't think this is an example of a conspiracy, but knowing now how the dates of the auction line up with an enthusiast event, add me to the list of people that are now giving this just a little bit of thought. It's not like Norton has a full schedule of park auctions (you can see their schedule on their website) so this does kinda make you wonder, even if just a little....

“Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence”

-Napoleon Bonaparte

Awesome timing, Brian.

A more appropriate quote has never been dropped in these forums. :)

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LostKause said:
If I am, or you are, capable of distorting truth in whatever aspect of life, don't you think the big wigs who run company x are capable? It's always a possibility, even if it is not necessarily true.

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Possibilities always exist. They are not the foundation for rational debate. It's possible I could be Dick Kinzel, right?

Remember, I've been one of the most vocal critics of Cedar Fair and their decision making process as of late, and that puts me in a somewhat uncomfortable position because so many of the people on the other side are people I know on a first-name basis. If you're going to come here and even suggest that I eat spoon-fed crap, you're not paying attention.

This reminds me of a post recently from Scoble on "Twittering Assholes", specifically the part on the fact that Internet audiences are so used to guiding the conversation that now they throw tantrums when it doesn't align with what they want. It's like even the allegedly sophisticated audiences are turning into Entertainment Tonight watchers who want to see where Britney most recently puked. No one is willing to explore the intricacies of an issue anymore, they just want to have an emotional response and call someone names.

Let's not be that audience, eh?

I'd like to see how many people actually put their money where their mouths are and actually boycott Cedar Fair this year and even beyond. I honestly don't think that many will.

Maybe there's nothing "new" coming to the closest Cedar Fair park near you, but I guarantee you that if your local Cedar Fair park or Cedar Point builds something spectacular for 2009 (as they claim), you'll be back.

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Jeff said:
No one is willing to explore the intricacies of an issue anymore, they just want to have an emotional response and call someone names.

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Jerk.

I bet that Geauga Lake was a pretty nice park before Six Flags tried to make it into Worlds of Adventure. I remember looking at that walkway they were building along the lake attempting to link the two parks. If Six Flags was smarter about the whole thing Cedar Point would have some solid competition in Cleveland's back yard.

Once Cedar Fair got a hold of the property it must have been obvious what was going to happen. No doubt they'll make sure homes are built on that property before another roller coaster is built there. And I bet the community of Geauga Lake is just fine with that given how crazy traffic got around the park. I think of this auction as the final salvo in the coaster wars between Cedar Fair and Six Flags, at least for a while.

Its sad really, but Geauga Lake was a casualty of war. *** Edited 3/15/2008 7:36:58 PM UTC by rc-madness***

Geauga Lake was never "pretty nice" as far as I'm concerned. Even when I was a kid and didn't know better, it was a place you went because you couldn't afford Cedar Point. That doesn't mean it didn't have its own charm. It was certainly the first park to really take water park rides to a new level. The treat there was always SeaWorld.

There is no "community of Geauga Lake." It's not a city or township. There's the city of Aurora, and there's Bainbridge Township. The two are overrun with retail. Geauga Lake was the least of its problems.

I visited Geauga Lake for the first time in 2000. The park's bad management decisions took away what ever redeeming qualities the park might have had. I felt bad for the residents in the area caught up in the traffic, which was a nightmare. Two lane roads which were not built to handle the volume of visitors.

The park was wrecked before Cedar Fair got their hands on it. Even though it is Cedar Fair who is dismantling the park, I blame Six Flags for Geauga Lake's fate. Its sad to see any park go down though.

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Intamin Fan said:
I'd like to see how many people actually put their money where their mouths are and actually boycott Cedar Fair this year and even beyond. I honestly don't think that many will.

Maybe there's nothing "new" coming to the closest Cedar Fair park near you, but I guarantee you that if your local Cedar Fair park or Cedar Point builds something spectacular for 2009 (as they claim), you'll be back.

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That reminds me of just how many SFAW fanboys that said they'd never patronize another SF park again after SFAW closed in 05 & yet look at how many have returned in the two full seasons since then.

Sure the SFAW fanboys cried conspiracy at every turn when it was announced that the park would close but even they didn't act like many of the GL fanboys have in the months since GL closed.

Six Flags didn't kill the park. Busch did.

Busch chopped off the park's legs.
Six Flags cut off the park's arms.
Cedar Fair delivered the final bullet to the head.

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Jeff said:

...If you're going to come here and even suggest that I eat spoon-fed crap, you're not paying attention.

...No one is willing to explore the intricacies of an issue anymore, they just want to have an emotional response and call someone names.

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Disrespecting you is not my intentions. I'm sorry if I offended you. That's a pretty good rebuttal.

But the reality is that you do have a lot of power around here. You speak to people on the inside of CF on a regular basis. You and those who work with you on this site are very good at controlling the direction of the discussions.

I will stand by the idea that trying to figure out if CF scheduled the auction to happen the same time as the ACE event IS a great way of "exploring the intricacies" of the issue. It just very ironic to dismiss it as an idea that only crazy people would believe. We don't have to take the conspiracy theory any further as far as I am concerned, because at least I have seeded a little doubt into the conversation. I just wish everyone would think instead of accept everything at face value.

Okay, I'll think for a minute.

To believe that this was done intentionally, you have to believe that someone at Cedar Fair---who is busy trying to liquidate this park as fast as they can, to stem the bleeding---spent time looking at enthusiast event calendars. Not only did they pick a time that the auction house could schedule, that customers were likely to come (read: not once the season starts, but after the snow melts), etc. etc., they also had to pick a week that the "trouble makers" would be out of town.

And, that's if they believed that enthusiasts would be "trouble makers" rather than just enthusiasts hoping to pick up a spare running wheel or some bent rusted ride safety sign for their private collections.

Thinking further, I'm also reminded of Occam's Razor, which states that the simpler of two competing explanations is probably the right one.

So, I'm inclined to believe the simpler explanation, which is that this just happens to be the time they picked for other, more relevant business reasons.

My experience, and personal bias, is that ulterior motives are often figments of the observer's imagination. Hence, I happen to agree with Napoleon---trying to read too much into things will more often than not leave you with egg on your face.

Then again, he got slaughtered at Waterloo, so what did he know?

Edited to add: is it possible that this was done intentionally to shut out the enthusiasts? Sure.

It's also possible that the earth under the old ride side will open up and swallow it whole, and the way I see it, only slightly less likely.
*** Edited 3/17/2008 1:34:03 AM UTC by Brian Noble***

Well, LostKause, there's your thinking that you suggest no one else is doing.