Geauga Lake Today posts pre-season tour photos

I won't miss Steel Venom or X-Flight, but I kinda liked the trick-track on Villian. I'll also miss the monorail. It would have been neat if it was reconfigured to serve as transportation between the dry rides and the waterpark.

I, OTOH, will miss both Steel Venom & X-Flight. Those alone were the two main reasons I first visited Worlds of Adventure back in '01, and have enjoyed the park until my last visit on Memorial Day '06.

Just one year later, three key rides that were open & running are now closed & demolished (X-flight, SV, & the monorail)... and they didn't open up anything new in place of it. At the very least, I was hoping that they would have finished up their waterpark concept from '04 plans... but that never happened & Shark Attack slides are probably still rotting away in its old location.

I wonder what will happen to this park within the next 5yrs. Time will tell, but it makes you think if they got rid of these 3 rides... what's next, and what, if anything, will be improved in terms of attractions to bring back the crowds again.

Looks like they had some left over paint from Thunderhawk and used it on Texas Twister. That sucker is bright now. It sucks that they had to remove the trick-track from Villain cause I thought it was the rides "own" element. Course, other people would say because it beat the heck out of you. Now it's just a short boring section of track. Be interesting to see the new 4-D movie since I'm a big racing fan and everyone loves Legos.

Now lets see if CF advertises the heck out of the park so attendence goes up that way they won't have to remove Dominator in a year or two and perhaps we might get a new attraction at the park.

They've been showing the new commerical quite frequently here in the Cleveland area lately. Some may say it's cheesy but it's exactly the kind of commercial they have been needing to get the word out about the park.

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...and they didn't open up anything new in place of it.

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That was the whole point. The park was ridiculously over-built by Six Flags.

It is sad to see the Monorail gone, along with some of the coasters, but based on what Mr. Kinzel said in his Plain Dealer interview, the park needed to cut costs, and having two large coasters and an old monorail removed should hopefully help them save money on both staffing and maintenance.

Plus, the park decided to do part of what I had been advocating, which was the removal of the part of the park dubbed "Crap Corner." Having non-operating rides just sitting there does not look good to guests, and the large coasters in that area are not necessarily what the demographic they are going after wants.

If they can at least revive some of what the OLD (Funtime Inc, first part of Premier) Geauhe Lake had, then they might have a shot at being successful again. In my humble opinion, that means fewer coasters, more family friendly attractions, and better atmosphere. I also think that to succeed they need to focus on giving guests a good value. The more value they can build into the roughly $27 ticket, the better they will come across with families!

If only they had a "new" ride or water slide to go with the small ticket price increase...

-Sam

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That was the whole point. The park was ridiculously over-built by Six Flags.

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What I was referring to is not the fact of opening anything new in the physical location of X-Flight, monorail, or Steel Venom... but just opening up something new like the Shark Attack slides, or a new slide/complex on the waterpark side to use as marketing for '07 instead of constantly ripping out their attractions and bumping up the price a couple dollars.

One of the comments I found most amusing was about Time Warp. They say it's one of the few Chance Inverters built. Obviously, they never go to carnivals, as I can't seem to escape the Inverter at the bigger fairs. True, most of them are single-sided Inverters, but what's the difference?

I will miss those coasters X-Flight and Steel Venom they were my rides but they said there is new paint on Head Spin and finally the villian is now smooth.

I Miss the trick track also.

I say sell one side of Time Warp. I have never seen both sides full, and both sides never need to run at the same time. I think the problem is- who would buy it?

The dismantling of those three rides will drop attendance and raise prices? yes for CF just to rip you off for less rides at GL and about the old waterpark its still standing and it will smell worse. I call it the Stinky Waterpark. Even though they got rid of the rides I just hope that they won't get rid any more rides.

both sides indeed run... Obviously you weren't there for the better part of last season... Oh and the price bump (I think atleast) is needed as the minimum wage went up in Ohio.
*** This post was edited by crombiedude11 5/18/2007 9:19:45 PM ***

Clark, the time warp cannot really be split in two... Maybe you could sell the arm and the car, but the tower in the middle is used by both sides.

If you are really trying to unload equipment, I'd put one of the three Dominator trains up for sale... if Dorney can get away with two, so can Geauga Lake.

I will miss X-Flight and SUE/Steel Venom, which i liked way more than Wicked Twister.

(sarcasm on)
But GL did give us something new this year. Let's not forget about CornHole. (why can't i say that with a straight face??? I'm sorry, I just can't see getting excited about this. As enthusiasts, how many of you have told friends: Guess what geauga lake is getting this year?!?!?!? Oh my God, they're getting CORNHOLE!!!!! We're so there, dude!
(sarcasm off)

Yeah, really. I can imagine Marsha saying "Gee, John, it's been a long time since I ever saw a cornhole! See kids, why don't you go over there and play the cornhole?" That's REAL family fun. I can't believe Pat Robertson didn't put a stop to it. But he's so busy talking with God that I can understand the oversight.

But lemme change the subject before we get shut down....

IT IS MY OPINION that the much popularized notions that Geauga Lake was "overbuilt" or that the "footprint was too large" are pure garbage. The formula worked at one point, didn't it? Weren't Geauga Lake and Sea World two parks that fed off of each other? If both parks were made "great," wouldn't both become greater? I think that it is - hold on - CEDAR FAIR that's letting the ship go down. The CRITICAL TIME POINT for the park came and went when Dick and the gang decided to remove the wildlife side [to make way for Ohio's 45'th WATERPARK]. THAT WAS THE POINT where they degraded the power of the combination into much less than the sum of its' parts - no other park in the region could boast killer whales and a white Bengal tiger show. Six Flags didn't exactly set the industry on its' ears with its' new park concept, by any means, but I think "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" was an unfortunate casualty of the SIX FLAGS INC CORPORATE FIASCO, the ramifications of which is only now fully coming to light.

Cedar Fair's Geauga Lake, on the other hand, is now simply a stranded ocean liner that's starting to take on water. It's got nothing going for it, only a new game called a "cornhole toss" and some new umbrellas over by the wave pool (if that's not a sign that the lifeboats need to be deployed then I don't know what else is). There are signs of deconstruction visible to area residents and anybody with an interest and a computer (the idea of "repackaging" Geauga Lake liabilities like X-Flight and Superman, or whatever Cedar Fair decided to call it, and sending them to "far off" lands, not exactly a bad idea), further undermining public opinion about the park. I think Cedar Fair is prepared to "take one for the team," in my opinion. I hope I am wrong.

^ That was my post. Wow, how did that happen?

^ Never saw that before :)

No... the formula never worked. It worked as two parks that combined for nearly 3 million in admission, but it has never worked as one gate. Furthermore, "Dick and the gang" didn't decide to remove the animal park as much as Six Flags took most of it with them. Where do you get animals one month prior to opening? I'd also remind you that the water park is the only game in town other than the small Pioneer Waterland, which frankly seems like an unknown to most people.

I still maintain that it's a marketing problem. I work near the park, with people who all live nearby. They still think the park is dirty, that the water park is small and cramped, and that the rides aren't working most of the time. The park hasn't managed to get people back yet to see how much better it is. They're not getting that message out.