Geauga Lake's Big Dipper for sale on eBay

birdhombre said:
Maybe if we start a rumor that it was Frankie Yankovic's favorite ride, the city of Cleveland will buy it and move it to the Flats or something. :)

And Weird Al Yankovic can play at the grand re-opening! I'd go..it would be my TENTH time seeing the man. Although, contrary to legend, the two Mr. Yankovics...despite their shared affinity for accordion polkas...were not related.

Maybe part of the problem is nobody knows who to write the check out to. Perhaps someone would be more willing to deal if they knew who they were dealing with, and not some kind of shadowy personality who's on third second or third mouthpiece since the park was closed.

ffej said:
Dipper is closer to running than you might think. It is in very good shape.

Sadly, a lot of what is in 'good shape' won't be able to moved anyway?

Now... say a park does buy the coaster.

How much do you think that dismantling, transporting, and re-assembling would wind up costing the park, assuming they hired a decent contractor... and assuming the average park that purchased this coaster was 200 miles away? Labor is probably most of your cost, is it not?

I really can't think of any within 100 miles that would want take it, or need it.

But in all honesty, when the park was last up & running in 2006, I really thought Big Dipper was still in great shape. The thing that made the ride really "all that" is just that it's not all that tall, it's not all that long, but it's so smooth, and the sheer amount of pops of air-time is unbelievable because the seating is loose unlike some of other trains that are used for other wooden coasters. It doesn't take that big of a footprint, so it could be a good staple probably in a small park.

I'd hate to see it go the way of a fire-pit.

I know a certain waterpark just across the lake that could benefit from adding a few dry rides. They could also add some of the wet rides too, which would create a very unique water park.

That'll never happen, but I can daydream...

I think the best thing for dipper is to stay put and run where it is.It would cost more and wood would have to be replaced if moved, but it is possible. As far as a shadowy figure goes, you can get hold of me and I can direct you where to write the check.

So why the need for secrecy? I can understand a person not wanting it to be public knowledge if they come into some object of large value, such as a rare painting, jewelry, or even winning the lottery. But here, we're talking about an object that is of debatable value to a few people, and no value to many.

Is the owner a compulsive coaster buyer who doesn't want people to know of his addiction? Or is he just wanted by Interpol?

Or perhaps if the efforts to relocate/reopen the ride fail, they don't want to be known as the person who owned it when it happened.

I'm with RGB... it's like a bunch of kids (or coaster enthusiasts) that have no idea how to conduct a financial transaction. I mean, look at the eBay Q&A... I can't even believe that's for real. If you're a real park operator who has tens of millions of dollars invested in your property, do you read that and think, "Sounds like a swell, smart guy to buy a coaster from?" I'm guessing no.

^ Agreed.

Richard Bannister said:
I agree. There are coasters that are worth saving, but IMHO the Big Dipper isn't one of them. The ongoing SBNO-ness of Aska is far more of a tragedy IMHO.

I enjoyed Big Dipper quite a bit, but if there was a ride at Geauga Lake I'd have worried about saving it would have been Villain.

As for Aska, that saddens me even more. Might have been my favorite ride on that trip.

Jeff said:
"Sounds like a swell, smart guy to buy a coaster from?" I'm guessing no.

Agreed. Plus if you look at the sellers feedback you will see that out of 20 individual feedbacks 2 were pretty unhappy dealing with this person.

As for all the secrecy about the owner look at the sellers eBay user name. It is an address in Tuscarawas. Plus it is easy to get their listed phone and address through eBay.

The final days of this coaster have been bizarre.

Is Aska still SBNO? I was thinking they finally put it down.

How many bids were made on it at the auction? 1 yes one. If it wasn't for this person buying the coaster, it would be down already. He is trying to do something good here. Nobody knows what has happened with the plans for dipper when it was bought. Do you possibly think that the plans fell apart during this economic disaster (talk about kids errr politicians not handling money properly). So please everyone, don't judge the owner of this coaster for the partial stories you may have heard. All I know is that this gentleman is trying everything possible to SAVE this ride, like it or not is a part of cleveland history!!

Are you kidding me? He's a schmuck. If he had any idea about what he was doing, he wouldn't be trying to resell it now.

How many bids were made on it at the auction? 1

And none were made by a park that was interested...

Perfect coaster for a park like Delgrossos

Jeff said:
Are you kidding me? He's a schmuck. If he had any idea about what he was doing, he wouldn't be trying to resell it now.

Have you ever met the man Jeff? So are you telling me that everyone that was affected by the recession is a schmuck because they're plans were destroyed? You don't know the entire story, neither do I . I am starting to think that you are trying on a foil hat sir. lol.

I was thinking the exact same thing, Charles. I'm not a big fan of the ride, but that park needs something exactly like it. DelGrosso's would get some great publicity if they could save it.

As far as the owner of the coaster, I don't know anything about him/her, so what's with all the hate?

Of course I don't know the guy, he's an Interntown Man of Mystery! That's exactly why he's a schmuck. Someone with a clue wouldn't be engaging in this cloak and dagger nonsense.

Here's the thing, for as much as I never cared for the ride, I've been absolutely stunned at the layers of incompetence to do something with it. It was never a big secret that Cedar Fair had no desire to do anything with it, and the best anyone outside of the company was able to do is... what? There has been no plan to relocate, no feasibility, no cost analysis, no fundraising or solicitation of investors... nothing.