Geauga Lake coasters may be auctioned off

I would gladly trade Mean Streak for the Villain (hey it already has a western name and logo too) if that ride joins the "great amusement park in the sky" it would probably be my highest rated coaster to do so.

eightdotthree: Not surprisingly, Jeff and Agent Johnson both caught what you didnt: When you move a wood coaster, you have to completely re-track it. Given that almost all of the Villain's problems can be traced back to (a) Gerstlauer trains, which Cedar Fair already said don't come with the ride, and (b) worn-out track work, which has to be re-done anyway.

Agent Johnson brings up some interesting points about the engineering, and again that gives fairly major advantages to Villain and Wolf Bobs, mostly to Villain, just because of the documentation that ought to be available. I guess to put any of those rides up, someone has to stand behind the engineering. But getting a PE to sign off on the ride ought to be the easy part.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

What's the deal with Double Loop?

bholcomb.......yes, pressure treated wood will burn just like any other wood, but i think what Jeff meant was that it is ILLEGAL to burn it......which it is.

Arrow Dynamics welded the track when the DL was built in 1977. Actually, the welder was a man named John Lane, who also built the Loch Ness Monster. The DL was built to precision, and is a good ride, but it is aging.

Adding new trains with lap bars, tunnels, and other items, and you have a great ride with a 42' height requirement.

But, the welding, in leiu of bolting, was the way to go then, and the track has lasted. Good then...bad now.

I agree that the Villain is definately worth saving. I also think that Big Dipper is worth saving. Villain should go to a park that is not to far from GL to save on costs of moving the coaster. A small park like Darien Lake or Seabreeze or even possibly Kennywood would be good homes for that coaster. Big Dipper should end up at a smaller park like Kenobles where it would fit right in with all the history that exists on those wooden coasters there.

Big Dipper is a good ride, just not a mjaor draw for a major amusement park. RWB was and still is a terrible ride. That should turn into a bonfire very quickly. If CF does not sell all of the coasters, or they do not get auctioned off, BD and Villain may show up at other Cf parks in the near future. Villain could easily go along the beach at CP over by WT.

Once the Norton contracts are signed, and a reserve price is set, CF no longer has ownership. If the reserve, if there is one is not met, CF can decide to accept or not accept any bids.

Basically CF doesn't care by now who buys the rides and where they go. Would it be utopia to see them all at other parks? Yes. Will it happen? No.

^^It's a matter of opinion, but RWB was a much better ride after the retracking. It didn't have a whole lot of air, but it had some nice turns and surprises. And compared to its former reputation, it was butter smooth. A great first woodie for kids. I was looking forward to taking my daughter on it last year, but the accident occurred early in the season, and she didn't hit 48" until September.

For $2.5 million dollars, Funtime got bang for the buck. The ride, loosely modeled, upgraded all the hard transitions that the Bobs was notorious for.

Coasters of today have to appeal to the masses, and somewhere that was forgotten with certain fans. Anyway, the RWB, with a pretty whacky marketing campaign in Pittsburgh show a wolf in the mountain snow did peak interest, and gave the revenue needed for the next project at Darien Lake, the Predator.

Also, the RWB, in additon to being a link to a greater bygone era, allowed GL to begin the rebuilding of the long overdue Dipper. If for some reason the Dipper was delayed into the operating season due to re-construction delays, the RWB was available to woodie fans.

It was a good, fast, smooth ride when it was running at top form. No one can take that away. And, it didn't intimidate riders who were just tall enough to ride. Its the same reason the Blue Streak at Cedar Point is so popular against the Mean Streak. Its just plain fun.

Dinn did a bang up job. I will miss the Raging Wolf Bobs. Glad to have rode it in 2004. I always thought it would be around for many years to come.

I first rode RWB in 2003, way after its glory days. It was better in 2004 or 2005 when we went back to the park.

I assume the other main problem with DL is the fact that it wouldn't make much of an impact at a park unless it was in the middle of nowhere (as Libertyland's Revolution will probably end up being a good addition to DelGrosso's.) DL is actually one of my favorite Arrow coasters because it's smooth and fun. I'd take that thing over any of their mega-loopers from the 80's/90's.

Who says they wouldn't buy another looper in better condition?

Who says they won't?

Is there anyone out there to keep these coasters in their same locations? Due to cedar fair's greed the rides might be in danger of being demolished [ sorry if that is harsh to you] though I think that cedar fair doesn't care about history just money and their main park, Cedar Point.

Double Loop isn't even an interesting ride by today's standards. It had its day, but beyond nostalgia I don't think it has any value to anyone beyond the price you could get for scrap. And hey, Cedar Fair can have some spare Arrow looper trains.

^I liked DL because it has a layout that I never experienced before on an Arrow looper. You get a nice pop of airtime in the front seat after the second loop.

It's much better then the standard Arrow corkscrew.

Yeah, I agree. It honestly isn't nostalgia for me, I never went to GL until the early 90's. I realize it isn't the most exciting ride out there, but for how old it was, it was always very smooth (did the welding over bolting help this?) and it was a fun little ride.

I'd liken it to a Pirate ship. They're old and everyone's gone on a flat that's more interesting and exciting, but they're still solid, fun rides.

DL is nice for kids who see it as a big thrill and their first looping coaster.

Twistercoasterman, CF may be the ones to close the park, but do you honestly think Six Flags was going to continue to run the park for a loss?

^^ It was a little nostalgic, but still a fun ride despite the fact that it was an old steel coaster that survived. I liked the airtime hill and the back-to-back loops at the end of the ride were quite enjoyable.

Sounds like it's time to accept any reasonable offer rather then let them rot or be torn down.

I'd agree. The steel coaster and Villain could bring in some cash by recycling/scrapping it. The wooden coasters are more than useless, though. Not only won't they bring in a penny, but they'll cost a good amount to tear down and haul away. If someone offered them one dollar for Dipper and Bobs, I imagine they'd accept it just to save the teardown costs.