Geauga Lake Monorail Closed Indefinately!

Today I learned that the Bellaire Express monorail at Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom is closed indefinitely. From what I was told by the manager of ride operations, this may be due to the condition of the old waterpark. It could be for mechanical reasons though, but I doubt the park would tell us if that is the case.

-Sam

IMHO in the ride's current track configuation it is no loss. Had the ride been used to transport people around the park closing it would be worrisome.

I'm not shocked. I was waiting for it to happen. That monorail was great in the early 90's. Actually had a view of the park booming. Now, it's a trashy ghost town waterpark, and the old turtle beach is just nasty.

I saw on Screamscape that the Monorail "may have given its last rides." I certainly hope not - a refurbished, reconfigured monorail would fit great in the area that may be redeveloped in the not too distant future. This monorail is one of the things I love about Geauga Lake - I know it's not really for transportation (only one station) but it's something everyone could do.

When I was at the park for CoasterEXT on 6/4, the operator at Skyscraper said that the monorail was down due to mechanical reasons. Now, are they saying that the old Hurricane Hannah's site is so bad that it's unsafe to operate the monorail through it? I remember that this one segment between the old wave pool and Aurora Rd. had to be operated at a much lower speed that in the first half of the course. *** Edited 6/14/2006 4:19:21 AM UTC by CoastersNSich*** *** Edited 6/14/2006 4:21:11 AM UTC by CoastersNSich***

Ya I wonder why it always wondered why it slowed down on that part. When I was on the Dipper and looked at the old waterpark it did look like a disaster zone. What will become of the old waterpark?

^My guess is that eventually it will house some more coasters and a new themed area.

Update the monorail to run across the lake and move people. That'd be especially useful now that there are no more ferry boats (Which were HORRIBLY run, by the way. It shouldn't take 45 minutes to make a round trip.).

The monorail in its current state is a disaster, especially that painfully slow turn around the old wave pool. But when (and if) they figure out what they're doing with the old waterpark area, they should restore the monorail to operation, and maybe reconfigure it as an actual transportation ride.

Geauga Lake needs...something. I can't quite figure it out but there is something about that place that makes it seem like it isn't quite a "real" park. The removal of a unique ride that provides some atmosphere and helps it to stand out from other parks would be a real loss.

I love the monorail there... it provides a great family-park atmosphere that's fun to ride & fun to watch, too...

...but the problem I have with it is what the main complaint is...
1> It really goes nowhere. That is where Geauga Lake's main park used to be located, but now it just feels more like an isolated corner, so a reconfiguration of the layout would be needed.
2> The ride is boring after the 1st half because you go into a deserted former-waterpark that's disgusting, dirty, and void of any life.
3> The final stretch is EXTREMELY slow. I think it's because of the configuration of the monorail & the "tight" S-turns (I use that term loosely)... so therefore it has to take 'em extra slow & that just makes the last half of the ride absolutely DRAG!

If they could make the layout a little more interesting by stretching across the midway by the lake and then go around the Big Dipper, it would be much better, trying to keep a somewhat even oval so there's not so much slow-down...

...but for the love of God... please do not remove that ride! They've already removed what seems like a half a dozen rides since Cedar Fair took over (the Enterprise & Mr. Hyde's for example)... so let's just modify it & put some capital expendature into the ride-side next year, can we please? Even if it's to clean up the junk from the old waterpark.

Those ferry's were time consuming. It'd take 20 mins to load and unload.
It never occured to me before that the Monorail always slowed down by the waterpark, but it did.
I'll miss that ride, though. My kids loved it.

I rode the monorail last year and it was just an ok ride. If it actually went somewhere besides over the old abandoned amusement park, er, I mean, water park, it would probably be enjoyable again.

While everyone says that the monorail goes nowhere, and it's true, let's remember the Cedar Points sky ride is also a non factor for getting around the park.

Yes the sky ride takes you down Cedar Point's midway, where you can get off, but you still have 90% of the park ahead of you, after you get off.

It's starting to sound like we have a winner for the next old nostalgic ride on Cedar Fair's choping block. *** Edited 6/14/2006 1:12:11 PM UTC by Coasterphan***

Cedar Point's Skyride takes you across the main midway, and then it dumps you off within a short walk of the train station where you can catch a ride to Frontier Town.

Nevertheless, if I really want to get around a park, I've found the fastest way is to just walk. But I still think transportation rides should actually go somewhere.

I'm still waiting for a park to use an antique car ride as transportation. How cool would that be?

What happened to the other lift they had at CP? (frontier lift) I think it was called. It use to dump you behind the Mine Ride.

The GL monorail was in a sorry state back in the 90's. They had to handmake replacement parts because the manufacturer was done with that ride years and years ago.

I do think GL could use a transportation solution, but that monorail isn't the answer.

^^Which is what makes it such a desirable ride for Cedar Fair to remove from the park.

Cedar Point's Frontier Lift was removed ultimately to make room for Iron Dragon. (And Coasters, and Mantis:TCFKAB, and Snake River Falls, and Millennium Force).

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The station building for the Frontier Lift is now used as a restroom building and is located right next to Skyhawk.

http://www.pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=2610

Cedar Point's skyride is by no way useless, it is a fantastic way to get from MF/Mantis to Raptor and back again without walking too far.

Wasn't the Frontier lift building always a restroom underneath though? They just don't really use the top part of the building anymore.