Geauga Lake: Where have all the people gone?

I went to GL this past weekend, both on Saturday and Sunday to visit my friends working there, and was supried to find the park very uncrowded, even more so than last year especially on Sunday. Maybe because it was CP opening weekend? I have also yet to see an ad for the park on T.V. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on why the park wasn't very crowded even though it was an amazing weekend weather wise.

Where have all the people gone?
Lone time passing.
Where have all the people gone?
Lone time ago.
Where have all the people gone?
Gone to theme parks every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

mOOSH [Confused? Click here]

*** Edited 5/10/2004 9:55:42 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

I'll help add to the crowds by being there next Saturday (although if they had accepted the CP season passes, I would have been there next Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning).

No advertising. A good side effect is that the light crowds are helping to ease the staff in with the new policies.

was superman/steel venom running this past weekend?

-- thanks

No, it should be up next though. Last weekend train wasn't on, this weekend it was. So im guessing next for sure.

As best I can tell, most parks were not too crowded this past weekend.

I'd wait to see what the crowds are like this Summer (and I bet they'll be fairly big) before juding the success of CF's purchase of Geauga Lake.

Don't forget that yesterday was Mother's Day. A busy day for dining out, but not necessarily visiting amusement parks.

*** Edited 5/10/2004 11:34:56 PM UTC by CoasterDad64***

I havn't been to the parks yet but looking from the Live Cedar Point Cams it wasn't that busy either, there were no long lines for TTD, it was working though! :) I'd wait till school gets out thats when families like to go, although for the adults they just go when they want! hmmmm...make you wonder don't it? lol!

Yea, we actualy did half a day at gl and the other half at cp on sunday. The crouds at gl were very light, hardly any waits.

Cp was a little buisy with about a 45 min wait for dragster.

I went to GL on Sunday with my Godchildren, and the overall experience if it was busy, would have been lousy, but since we got to stay on the rides for 3 rides in a row, I guess that's fine with me :)

Six Flags knew how to market the family well, they just didn't implement it the best. Cedar Fair apparently has no clue what to market, and that showed this weekend. I've seen no tv ads, and only heard one commercial for the park, and that was in a gas station over their radio.

There was NO crowd at GL, and I don't think there were 300 people in that park! NEVER, EVER, did Six Flags have such a pathetic turnout, even on a cold November final weekend! It was 82 degrees, and the park was EMPTY!

I will have to make a trip report, but I warn most of you that are not children..Stay Away from the Kids Areas in the park, unless you want to be hating shows like Barney, The Learning Channel, and Kids Sing The Hits CDs, cause that's the garbage they play in the park now! BLAH!!!!!!!

CF destroyed the former Looney Tunes Boomtown....It was stripped down and they didn't even cover the old Looney Tunes signs well enough, so you can still see what they did say! With all the backdrops of the former Looney Tunes gone now, the shade you could find in the park is now gone, and the rides look pathetic because your kids go around NOTHING to look at, but the messed up paint on the ground that is now scratched up because of the Cedar Fair decision to license nothing in that park! Cedar Fair better get maintenance to fix the look of Kidsworks Playzone, and change that Barney-style music!

Btw, GL Souvineer mugs are now $8.95 and refills are 2 bucks, while the 'Fool The Guesser' game is a whopping 5 dollars! (at least 50% of the games didn't list the price to play!)

Some merchandise is cheaper than Six Flags had offered, but at least SF had character in their stuff. GL merchandise is as generic looking as you can get, and unfortunately, most of the prices went up 25-60 percent in the park!

The park is NOT pricing this place as a Family Park anymore, and I can only see teenagers and young adults with alot of money able to afford going there regularly. A family of 2 adults and 2 children will now spend at least 40% more money than when Six Flags owned it, and will not be entertained as much!

Upon arrival to a ride entry point that my Godson was questionable at riding, we were told by the Ride Op that he was too short, which makes me wonder why Cedar Fair took away the measurement guides at the entrance to the rides? Adjust them if the guidelines changed, but don't rip them out! There was NOT staff at the rides first entry to measure the guests, except at the largest coasters only! I was told to take my Godson to guest services to get him "professionally measured"!!!!! That was the dumbest thing they've ever done in any park was to have the new owner rip out the pre-entry measuring device!

On the good side, the Fudge they make is still buy 1 lbs, get 1/2 lb. free ($9.99 total) and many of the shops are still accepting the 15% Season Pass Holder discount we were getting from Six Flags, but you have to ask for the discount! :)

*** Edited 5/11/2004 9:21:33 AM UTC by midwave***

What there is a Season Pass discount!!!! NOooOooo That's one thing I wish I had on opening weekend! And they actually accept giving you a 15% discount if you ask? Wow!

I wouldn't expect to see a GL commercial at all this year. I would never advertise the park with the shape it is in right now. Maybe later on in the year, but not yet. Though I did hear my first GL radio commercial on May 10th. It had the GL theme song and advertised the season passes. A DISCOUNTED season pass can be found at Giant Eagle for $54.95 (GREAT now they tell me!)

I personally think CF could have done a MUCH worse job in Boomtown, but manage to keep a little of the feel. Granted it is VERY disapointing if you knew what it looked like before, you'll be upset now. That area needs a HUGE PAINT job VERY bad though.

It's going to be interesting seeing GL's numbers later on. Though I wonder how much SFWoA spent on just the animals/staff for them/and animal food. That had to be a huge drain on money, people or no people coming in. Now the drain is closed.

As for last Mother's Day at SFWoA. SFWoA advertised bring you mom for free with Season Pass coupon.

It's way to early though to tell anything. June should give us all a better idea.

Marketing plans are typically a done deal by October the previous year. Cedar Fair had about six weeks. I've heard a couple of radio spots, and I don't expect to see or hear much more than that.

To say they "have no clue" is a fairly ridiculous thing to say seeing as how they've dominated the market for years with their other park. The marketing VP got promoted to his own park this year. He didn't get that for not having a clue.

I wouldn't market the park heavily this year either. The park isn't "done," and the last thing you want to do is pack in huge crowds and not be able to deliver the experience you're hoping for. They want to erase the Six Flags service reputation, not reinforce it.

Cedar Fair also didn't "decide" not to license anything... they can't license those properties. Six Flags has exclusivity there. You make it sounds like they made a deliberate choice to make things suck as much as possible just to piss you off. It's nothing that dark and scary.

It sounds from the various trip reports that overall things aren't horrible, but obviously there's work to be done. I bet things won't be in full swing for a couple more weeks. *** Edited 5/11/2004 12:23:43 PM UTC by Jeff***

midwave,

I think you answered your own question as to why the park hasn't been heavily marketed yet. Cedar Fair has literally only had weeks to attempt to convert the park to it's tastes.

Some things like height measuring sticks and signage for games probably were a lesser priority than, say, getting the rides up to par, taking down the Six Flags stuff, etc.

As for $5 for the Guessing game...that is ridiculous. I have to agree with you there. $5? What the heck are they thinking? I used to be a guesser at Geauga Lake...many moons ago, and $5 ain't worth it. That really is pretty sad.

Isn't it $5 for the Guessing Game at CP though? I don't really pay attention to the games, but I'd swear that's the same price...

Word of mouth will probably do a lot for GL this season. I know that we were impressed with it on opening day, despite light crowds and have thusly told people that we had a good time there. Word spreads when people are saying they had fun.

$5 is a ripoff no matter what park you are at. It is particularly galling when you know that the most expensive "prize" you can win is probably worth $1 or less.

Frankly, if you see me on the midway...give me your $5 and I will embarass you about your weight for 10 minutes and at least make an event of it.

I don't see why CF has to be given all kinds of slack while some people round here were beating SFWOA management with a cat-o'-nine-tails for years.

I'd take my kids to a Six Flags Boomtown over a CF-themed area anyday and especially a CF kiddie zone without it.

Kids don't give a rat's hoohah about management changes or licensing. They're kids. Tell that story to a eight year-old and see how long they sit through it.

-'Playa

*** Edited 5/11/2004 1:03:57 PM UTC by CoastaPlaya***

Yes - the Guessing Games at Cedar Point are $5.

I noticed the $5 guessing game at CP on Sunday, but I also noticed that the game was well-stocked with nice plush. The usual crap that they were throwing at that game (remember the plastic back-scratchers?) was all gone.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

So, instead of the prize being worth $1 it is now worth $2? Well, that certainly changes things.