O.K. now the B.S. starts to show up. GL's closing.

The greatest threat Cedar Point has is the economy of Detroit.

I dont view GL as having been competition to Cedar Point due to the different types of experiences the places are. Cedar Point is built on such a grand scale; considering not only the amount of and quality/type of rides, but also the "resorts" (i use that term loosely), the environment, the shows, the global draw; it's on a different level than GL ever was.

That is why I compared CP and GL to the Cleveland Indians and the Columbus Clippers. Sure, they both play baseball, but you cannot consider one as compeition for the other, even if they were 5 miles apart.

No comparison.

*** Edited 9/25/2007 9:08:46 PM UTC by OhioStater***

Personal note...

I just found out 45 minutes ago that one of my jobs (I have 5 payment sources...I think) will be ending 10/5/07. I found out by a phone call. The employees in the home health office found out today when a person walked in the building and told them..."we're done."

Apparently insurance companies were not paying the bills, so this particular branch is closing. Other branches of the company are doing fine...they will remain open.

The moral of the story...I wonder if anybody is all that upset that a business who was losing money in one particular branch had the nerve to close the said branch? Should they keep the branch open so the employees don't face a hardship?

This is called life. Just because some people are emotionally wrapped up in a particular business does not mean the rules of a free market do not apply. I'm pissed that I will be losing some income and will have to go through the effort to find means of replacing this income...but I understand that my employer could not be expected to keep operating at a loss. I also understand why they did not tell me earlier...as I would have moved somewhere else and never finished my job with them.

It hurts, it sucks, and I might even have a slight tear welling up in my eye. I will get back to work (already placed two calls for other job opportunities)...rather than blame "big business" which cannot possibly be expected to care more about my situation than I do myself!

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Rob Ascough said:

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dexter said:

Yes, CF is a business. It's not hard for me to believe that sometimes businesses are capable of being dishonest in order to make a profit.

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There it is... there's the quote I've been looking for. How that's something we can't all agree on is beyond me.

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Just because you quoted someone that shares your viewpoint doesn't make you right.

I'm not saying there aren't businesses out there that are dishonest with their practices, it's just that you are blatantly making an assumption that this is the case with Cedar Fair with absolutely no lead in fact or truth. Just an assumption you are making yourself believe because you can have someone to blame.

Anybody else buy into Rob's conspiracy theory?

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Jeffrey R Smith said:
Personal note...

I just found out 45 minutes ago that one of my jobs (I have 5 payment sources...I think) will be ending 10/5/07. I found out by a phone call. The employees in the home health office found out today when a person walked in the building and told them..."we're done."

Apparently insurance companies were not paying the bills, so this particular branch is closing. Other branches of the company are doing fine...they will remain open.

The moral of the story...I wonder if anybody is all that upset that a business who was losing money in one particular branch had the nerve to close the said branch? Should they keep the branch open so the employees don't face a hardship?

This is called life. Just because some people are emotionally wrapped up in a particular business does not mean the rules of a free market do not apply. I'm pissed that I will be losing some income and will have to go through the effort to find means of replacing this income...but I understand that my employer could not be expected to keep operating at a loss. I also understand why they did not tell me earlier...as I would have moved somewhere else and never finished my job with them.

It hurts, it sucks, and I might even have a slight tear welling up in my eye. I will get back to work (already placed two calls for other job opportunities)...rather than blame "big business" which cannot possibly be expected to care more about my situation than I do myself!

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This post makes the most sense of anything I've ever read in this entire "debate" which I've just watched and not said anything. Well said, sums up just about anything I would have posted.

I've had friends who worked at a grocery store, people worked there years, all their lives, but it was falling behind others in the chain, so it closed, they didn't find out until a week or 2 because they had to make sure it was really going through. I'm sure some of these employees at the park new SOMETHING of this nature was going to happen, given how many TR's I've read where the place was just empty. Same basic idea, they worked and were patrons there for how long, but its still a business that doesn't run on past memories alone, it runs on dollars.

*** Edited 9/25/2007 11:34:21 PM UTC by P18***

The better people working full-time at GL will be placed elsewhere around the company if they're willing to relocate. Believe me, there are a lot of positions all over the former Paramount Parks they'd like to have "Cedar Fair people" in.

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enfynet said:

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Gemini said:
There have been numerous claims here that the closing was "competition" related. The people making that argument would probably expect a huge attendance increase at Cedar Point.

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I do think it was "competition" in a sense that caused this. Six Flags tried to compete so CF had to look at it as competition. In no way do I believe GL was ever competition for CP. However, I can see CF deciding to NOT improve GL in attempts to keep numbers at CP from declining.

Geauga Lake's "Haunt" was cancelled when Halloweekends numbers were sub-par.

[edited because I suck at typing] *** Edited 9/25/2007 8:28:02 PM UTC by enfynet***

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I doubt it,if that were the case then why hasn't SFI closed down SFFT,or SFA when there are other SF parks close by in either the same state or overlapping markets? They tend to market both parks to the same audience with their SP promotions of "Buy a six flags america pass & get into great adventure free" ads....hence one reason why SFGRADV gets more capital for rides while SFA does not.

My point is that CF only saw GL as competition during the SFO/SFWOA era....once they aqquired the park it was senseless to demolish it just to avoid competition when the revenue generated by both parks ends up in the same hands.

If they wanted to do that then they wouldn't be planning to operate it in 08 as a waterpark ony attraction & would just sell all of the land much like SFI did with SFAW.

Good thing those employees didn't know ahead of time the rides section of the park was closing. They might have started destroying those horrible s*** coasters that had no value historic or otherwise, aren't worth sending to other parks in the chain, and nobody rode anyway. The bastards.

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enfynet said:
Geauga Lake's "Haunt" was cancelled when Halloweekends numbers were sub-par.

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Halloweekends numbers have never, ever been "sub-par." Where'd you get that? They set a record for Saturday attendance, made the Fright Zone one way, and because of the lengthened season started posting 4th quarter profits for a mostly seasonal company. Get the facts.

^Agreed. We went during the six flags years for the Haunt. Attendance was good even when the weather was horrible.

There were actually two occasions we went when it snowed! Those are memories my kids and I will have forever, tossing snowballs into the lake off the boardwalk and then jumping on Serical Thriller.

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RatherGoodBear said:
Good thing those employees didn't know ahead of time the rides section of the park was closing. They might have started destroying those horrible s*** coasters that had no value historic or otherwise, aren't worth sending to other parks in the chain, and nobody rode anyway. The bastards.

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Maybe Cedar Fair should have told them. The way some of you talk, they would have burned down the rides and buildings and reduce the cost of demolition.

I agree the park should have made an announcement about the park closing. I think that being hush hush about the situation was crap. But on the other hand I understand why they did it.

1. They might have been afraid that they didn’t have enough staff had a large crowd showed up for the final weekend. When I was there the last Saturday they had very low staff (out side of the coasters) and most of the restaurants and games were closed.

2. I also think the staff behaviors may have been an issue, but you also may have had the opposite. A few years ago I gave Six Flags a lot of credit for announcing that they were going to close Astroworld. I think it would have been cool if Cedar Fair would have done the same.

I will miss GL but at the same time made some solid points on the POD Cast and that the great park that it once was closed many years ago. It’s ashamed that things went the way they did but business is business and the bottom line cannot be change on feelings alone.

I still think for the community it would have been nice to hear that the park was going to close.

RIP GL

OK, why are we saying RIP Geauga Lake? It will be open next year. The entire park is not closing.

I am a little disappointed myself in the decision, from an enthusiasts' point of view. However, when I look at the logistics of the whole situation, it seems that closing the rides side was the only answer.

^Okay, let's clarify. The semi-lame waterpark built three years ago on the smoldering ruins of the former nation's best marine park will be open next year.

It's not Geauga Lake. It's "Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom". Even the truth-massagers in Sandusky know they can't present it as being the same.

^ Your opinion of a "semi-lame" waterpark obviously wasn't shared buy those who packed WWK instead of patronizing the ride side more ;)

I dig that water park, and I generally am not that interested in water parks.

And the Cleveland SeaWorld was a shadow of what the Orlando park was, even in 2000. It wasn't best by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, I got more out of the aquarium in Baltimore.

Semi-lame? Is that your honest opinion, or is it being skewed by your opinion on the closing? I haven't been to Wildwater Kingdom, but everyone I know who has been there came away with good things to say. I've never heard anything less than positive about the place.

It wasn't awful but it certainly wasn't anything special. Ho-hum is the way I'd describe it, and that's not my emotions talking.

As for Sea World, I remember going there in 1993. At the time I thought it was nice but once I finally got to Sea World in Orlando in 1995, I saw how much better the Florida park was. Now that the Orlando version has mechanical rides as well, I think it's one of the best theme parks around. Of course, it's the kind of park that the one in Ohio could only dream of being as it operated for only part of the year. It doesn't surprise me that park didn't make it.

I'd put it a notch or three above ho-hum, if only for the tornado. The grotto was pretty cool, too. But, what really makes it is the environment---the Busch infrastructure and landscaping is just great, and they've maintained it pretty well.

If WWK and Soak City were equidistant from me, I'd pick WWK in a heartbeat.

I feel the same way Brian. When my girlfriend and I went this summer it felt like we were on vacation, and I dig that. Their slides are cool, even though they could use a couple more, the lazy river is great, the play structure is great, the pool with the bball hoops is great. Outside of the Disney parks its my favorite waterpark.

Sea World Ohio was one of my favorite parks, period. I thought it was always maintained very well and it was a beautiful setting. I also enjoyed the "smallness" of it (though I suspect Shamu did not). I think it had a great deal more character than the Florida park.

Jeff, I'm glad you liked the Baltimore Aquarium. My brother works there. Of course, he is the IT Manager so unless you really enjoyed the phone system I guess he can't take much credit for the rest.

I think Wildwater Kingdom needs a few more signature "rides" to really put itself on the map. An aqua blaster, a flow rider, maybe a better "river" transportation system. Heck, if they could move the large splash boat ride over that wouldn't hurt either.

I do think in our misery over the loss of the "rides" side we really are forgetting what a potential gem the "wet" side can become.