How is everything going at Geauga Lake?

My sister will be coming to visit later in July and she loves wooden coasters. We are definitely planning to go to KW and we might go to another park as well.

I am asking, How good is GL now that CF appears to be turning it around? I did look at some of the early trip reports this year and they seem to mention that the condition of the coasters is improving, especially RWB. Does anyone else have something to say about the park's coasters, both wood and steel. What about the rest of the park? How are the crowds (or lack thereof), the operations, the appearance, the cleanliness, and the staff?

The retracking of Raging Wolf Bobs is complete, and the ride is fairly smooth now. It still isn't the most exciting ride around but at least it doesn't relocate your spine anymore.

Villian is nowhere near as good as it once was. It still gives a fast and exciting ride but it will really shake you up.

Big Dipper is running great! The best coaster in the park.

I've only gone once this year but crowds were not an issue. And with the lack of crowds, operations really don't become an issue (unless you want to ride Big Dipper soon after a rainstorm).

o-hum.Appearance-wise, the park is just ho-hum. It looks about the same as it always looked. It's usually clean (not many people to mess it up). Staff attitude ranges from bored surly teenagers to the hyper chipper types.

The remains of the old waterpark area give the park a bit of a depressing feel.

The boardwalk has been relocated for the third or fourth time, this time it spans the middle of the lake, the old ferry boats are no longer used (I think they are still sitting at the dock). The new waterpark looks nice but I haven't really checked it out in detail.

I haven't been this year, but, last year I loved GL. They have a nice collection of coasters and it is a pretty clean park. Crowds were pretty light and I went on a weekend. I didn't visit the new waterpark either but it looks great and I plan on getting there again this year. I only met the nice employees so I'm not sure about any surly employees. Just don't go in with the mindset that you are visiting a larger park like Cedar Point or King's Island. My only real complaint was the lack of food choices there. I had a hot dog and it was good. Nothing spectacular though. I found that Raging Wolf Bobs was the surprise coaster of the trip. I thought it was much more fun than Big Dipper or Villain. *** Edited 7/6/2006 4:19:42 PM UTC by Coasterbuzzer***

"Big Dipper is running great! The best coaster in the park."

Big Dipper was my first and will always hold a special place in my heart. It's good to hear that she is still as much fun as she was in 1974 when I had my first go at her.

(Why did I just assign a gender to a roller coaster??) ;)

Why don't they take them ferry boats, Have a around the lake tour, Put a few cheesy scenes in and play some sing along music in between some cheap jokes.

Unless SF still owns em, Why sit on em waiting for a buyer when you have a perfect oportunity to make a family attraction out of them?

Chuck, who thinks the Lake is the charm at Geauga, Why not use it?

I agree, and sticking the boardwalk in the middle of the lake really reduces the usefulness of the lake.

Geauga Lake had a ride similar to what you describe in the olden days: The Big Ditch. Part of that ride featured a canal cut through the swampy edge of the lake. The remains of this can still be seen underneath Thunderhawk.

I go by the park at least once a week. I have never seen the parking lot more than 1/4 full even on weekends. So it should be clean.

They use to have the Big Ditch, which was like a 'poormans' version of CP's boat ride. It was fun though.

I agree, the boardwalk down the middle of the lake looks stupid. The lake is an asset and it should be used better.

We went on June 25th (a Sunday), and the park was actually briskly attended. Dominator was running three trains, the SLC and X-Flight had huge lines (I skipped these two), and there were people everywhere. It seems like the park is turning around, but there's still some work to be done. The old waterpark sits vacant, and looks terrible from the Big Dipper, the G-trains on RWB need to be removed as soon as possible, and they need to do a lot of work widening the midways around Dominator/RWB.

It seemed like, with the exception of the ops crew at Dominator, most of the employees aren't used to level of crowds they were experiencing for that day. We cut out of the park early and headed to Waldameer and Conneaut Lake.

I was there on the 25th also. The park was so packed because Cleveland Clinic was there for their company picnic. I waited over an hour for X-Flight. That was the only ride I rode that day.

GL's WWK waterpark is where the action is.

The grill on the WWK also serves the best food in the park.

We're going there one final visit for the season tomorrow (Friday), and unless the weather doesn't cooperate, we'll only be on the 'ride side' the last few hours when WWK closes.

...2 visits to each park we can get to in 2006...

Arson, You obvioulsy didn't ride RWB with the traillerd PTC train. I'll take the G trains thank you very much.

Chuck, who says scrap em all from villain and RWB or leave it alone.

I was there on June 14, and the park was pretty much deserted. On a picture perfect day, couldnt have been better weather. Basically everything a walk on, inless you wanted to wait for the front, and even then it was usually either a walk on or a 1-2 train wait.

I was at the park on the last Saturday in June, for Cleveland Clinic Day. It was incredible to see that the park still can handle crowds. Dominator ran 3 trains all day and other coasters that could handle multiple trains, had them. The operations are great this year. As for the coasters: as previously mentioned, Villain will beat you up and RWB is almost boring because it is so smooth. One tip for anyone visiting GL: if you don't like rough coasters, DO NOT ride Big Dipper in the back seat as your only ride. The coaster is so much more enjoyable in any seat in the first car. As for the Villain: if you are going to get beat up, you might as well sit in the back seat so you get an excellent drop off the turn around.

If you are a waterpark person, do not pass it up. Granted the wave pool is extremely "weird" with its lateral waves and the lifeguards blow their whistle if you are "too high" on your innertube, it is still a fun waterpark. Just be ready to make some violation you didn't know existed. All in all, the park has turned around a lot and it's a shame to see it so empty every day. If you do end up visiting, post a TR so that other people can see this park is turning around. Have a good trip.

Midwave; Which grill on the water side?
Forgive my ignorance, but was it one of the food places that was there when it was SFWOA? Located sort-of in the middle of the midway?

That place had great food when it was open.

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Sarah Jackson said:
I was there on the 25th also. The park was so packed because Cleveland Clinic was there for their company picnic.

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I was there on CCF weekend last year and it was ... it made me want to jump off the top of the big funnel thingy. GL rarely gets crowds, but when they do it really REALLY sucks.

Cleveland Clinic Day is nuts out at GL. I never go near the park that weekend.

Weekends as of late - the park has been getting some good business on Saturdays while Sundays are a little lighter. Haven't been during the week yet so I'm not sure what the crowds are like. I know CF recently stated that attendance has been slightly up at their parks so I wonder how Geauga has been doing with their numbers.

Any park with a price included water park will be dead during the day. Look at Dorney and Holiday World, for example, so Geauga Lake having hardly any lines for rides is not surprising.

Wolf Bobs may be boring but I will take it as it is this year compared to the last couple of years. The G-trains aren't that bad, much better than the old PTC trailered trains. I personally think the old Legend train runs better than the old Villain train.

Villain is painful in spots. I've taken a couple of rides this year and have decided to avoid it again (I avoided it last year). I'll take a back seat ride on Big Dipper over any seat on Villain until they get the problem areas fixed.

The old water park area is a little disgusting with the green algae water in the old landing pools so if you ride Dipper or Skyscraper don't be surprised to see it. Other than that the park is definitely cleaner.

People who know I'm a fan of the park have told me what a good time they've had and how surprised they were of the park experience, especially after not going to the park for a few years.

X Factor

Thats good to see the park is doing better. I always thought it had a lot of potential. I have only been there once, back when Six Flags owned it. I'm used to Cedar Point and Kings Island and was shocked by this park the first time I went. It was dirty, with cigarette butts everywhere. Rides only had one train running, even with lines over an hour long. The staff wasn't nice. I onced asked a worker why Serial Thriller (Thunderhawk now) was being closed and other pleople where allowed to stay in line. He asked me "why didn't I mind my own "f"ing business. I lost all respect for Six Flags that day, so I the park is getting better.

Shorty Pete's Smokehouse BBQ :) .. in the same location as before, just behind the Splash Landing/Liquid Lightning area, on the former location of Tiger Island.

I wonder if they'll ever revive the other great eatery on that side, and serve up those great fajita salads, at ... Swampwater Jacks ... which has since been converted into the 'Happy Harbor Cafe', since the idea they used in 2004 to renovate it into a 1/2 Chinese and 1/2 Italian eatery didn't go over so well.

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FLYINGSCOOTER said:
Midwave; Which grill on the water side?
Forgive my ignorance, but was it one of the food places that was there when it was SFWOA? Located sort-of in the middle of the midway?

That place had great food when it was open.

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Here's my take after going this week with my family...I was pretty impressed - especially considering my past trips there.

http://www.pointbuzz.com/cpplace.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=18898

As mentioned elsewhere, the one area for improvement is the food.

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midwave said:
GL's WWK waterpark is where the action is.

The grill on the WWK also serves the best food in the park.

We're going there one final visit for the season tomorrow (Friday), and unless the weather doesn't cooperate, we'll only be on the 'ride side' the last few hours when WWK closes.

...2 visits to each park we can get to in 2006...

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That figures about the Big Dipper. My one and only ride was in the very back seat and it felt like it crushed my spine. I never rode it again that day. I guess I'll have to give it one more chance on a return visit this year.