Two more out the door at Geagua Lake?

It was hard to believe that both X-Flight and Steel Venom left Geagua Lake and have new homes, but now it's being said over at Screamscape that Dominator will reside at KD, and Thunderhawk will move to MI next year (according to multiple "sources" with Dominator--I know, I know).

While there weren't many people at all riding either the day we were there back in mid-June, it was a particularly bad day weather-wise. But when it was sunny, there were more than enough seats available on Dominator, unlike my SFO trip in 2000.

I have to admit I'm really conflicted on this one. With King's Dominion being roughly two-hours down the road from me, I would love to have Dominator, but I would hate to see GL lose it in the process. I would think if they kept Thunderhawk, it would still keep that small-park feel that they're aiming for (no offense to any MI-fans).

Dominator seems like the star attraction at the park and Thunderhawk looks like the next star attraction with Steel Venom and X-Flight gone. The park would lack a major attraction to draw people especially a steel coaster since I would think a boomerang, an old Arrow looper and a family coaster won't bring people through the gate.

Is it because CF doesn't want CP to have competition because it sounded like attendance was higher this year at GL

I know what your'e saying I-Fan but SF screwed the place up when they managed it & CF is stuck fixing the damage.The park simply didn't work out as CF had hoped it would & attendance is down & with the debt that CF is under from the paramount purchase it makes sense to relocate rides rather than build new ones.

Now I'm happy that Domintaor will be making it's home close by at KD but why remove Thunderhawk? Every park now a days has an invert as part of their lineup so that's going to be a terrible loss for the park but I guess there's no point in keeping the rides if the demand for them isn't as high.

Assuming these two would go as well, what are you left with?

A park that looks more like the pre-SF Geauga Lake than ever. :)

Complete phase-out of the ride side in the near future?

Well Screamscape has been right alot lately and they beileve that it is true, and so does Geagua Lake today, so I guess you never know.

Without the floorless, there is no reason to go there ever again. There are other waterparks closer, and the rest of the rides are average experiences.

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BATWING FAN SFA said:
SF screwed the place up when they managed it & CF is stuck fixing the damage.The park simply didn't work out as CF had hoped it would & attendance is down.

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I REALLY would like someone to explain how Six Flags screwed up Geauga Lake. I remember when it was Six Flags that the parking lots were busy all the time, and there were actually lines for the rides. When CF came in nobody came to the park, and somehow that's Six Flags Fault?. I remember that even Kintzel himself admitted that the animals were more of a draw than he had thought.

Park attendance everywhere has dropped, so parks everywhere need to retire attractions quicker than adding them, thats just good business.

I'm skeptical about this news but if it is true, I'll be very disappointed. Cedar Fair has done nothing at all to correct the damage done by Six Flags because they've done nothing at all to the rides side of the park. When the park was SFO/SFWoA, it drew more than a million people a year without a major waterpark so it's obvious the potential audience is there. Why didn't they do anything aside from removing major coasters and doing barely enough to keep the wood coasters rideable?

A good Villain and Big Dipper would be enough to draw me to the park, but Dominator and even Thunderhawk added something special to the park. Without those rides, who the hell is going to care about it?

Also explain to me how taking out two star attractions and leaving another one SBNO(RWB). Reminds me of last season with SV and XF leaving and Monarial gone. I don't get their motive...remove to popular attractions despite an increase in attendence? Is DICK that worried about Geauga Lake turning around into a better park? I do know one think...CF is gone down the drain in the last few years.

Some of us will always visit GL as long as Big Dipper continues to shine.

Rob: The waterpark during the Six Flags era had many more attractions than Wildwater Kingdom does now. Explain to me how that didn't qualify as a major waterpark.

Kennywooddude: Cedar Fair isn't trying to increase attendance by removing these rides. They're trying to 'right-size' the park to match its attendance and target audience of families. I don't foresee Cedar Fair ever removing the ride side completely, but I think the focus is going to be turning Geauga Lake into a destination waterpark with a small amusement park on the side.

If this is true, it would not suprise me that GL announces at the end of the season that the ride side will not open in 2008 while the remaining rides are either moved to the Seaworld side or moved to other CF parks. Then the land on the ride side is sold to a developer.

With the removal of several star attractions, there is just too much land to cover with smaller attractions.

I think the improvements made over the past few years on the rides side have been mainly cosmetic. Villian retrack was required since it was almost becoming unridable.

KoasterKeith

Perhaps the plan was to purchases Geauga Lake, and slowly destroy it. Businesses have been known to buy the competition and shut it down before..........and Cedar Fair did buy the park at a rock bottom price, which they can probably salvage most of their investment out of the rides that they are relocating. Plus the value of the land itself. Lake front property is always valuable.

Cedar Fair isn't going to lose much off this purchase and may make money even if they close it down. That's a shame and welcome to corporate America, where making $ any way possible is always the most important goal.

If Geauga Lake was a good park, it is close enough to threaten Cedar Point's attendance. If Six Flags had managed the park correctly and continued adding rides, it could have done just that. It probably would have because Cedar Point is not a family park and the water park is a separate ticket. Cedar Point is a thrill park. When the animals were at Worlds of Adventure plus the water park, it was more of a family park.

Slowly Cedar Fair is destroying all the unique attractions at Geauga Lake. It almost seems by design. Although they have sunk money into the waterpark, which sort of backs up the thought they they just want a waterpark there.

What a sad sad shame. Remember not so long ago when it was a nice 2-day trip with Sea World one day and the Six Flags park the other day? That was one of the mistakes, combining what was 2 gate fees into one gate fee. Poor management was the other mistake. The only thing that Cedar Fair has done their was clean up the place........ *** Edited 8/27/2007 5:43:31 PM UTC by super7****

Six Flags saw a boost in attendance short term because of the new name (Six Flags Ohio) and all their new rides. But, I doubt they would have maintained that attendance level over the long term. We'll never know though because they dumped the park.

Geauga Lake did just fine without all the rides either already removed or being rumored to being removed. However, Cedar Fair may again be underestimating the draw that Sea World had for the park. By having a separate park, it offered families the incentive to go there for a weekend, stay over night and attend both parks. But, now with only one park, there is far less incentive for people to travel to the area. That leaves the locals. Well, if I was still a local, I'd pass up GL and drive to Cedar Point. Come to think of it, even growing up we did that. Geauga Lake was just never "all that" to me. I loved Sea World though.

I can see their thought in removing rides to get the park budget to a manageable level. But, you need to do something else to boost attendance levels. Bring in more groups, make the water park bigger, clean up the nastiness that is the park today, something. I just don't see the park surviving. Then again, it wouldn't bother me if it closed down all together because once Sea World left, I didn't really care anymore.

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PhantomTails said:
Rob: The waterpark during the Six Flags era had many more attractions than Wildwater Kingdom does now. Explain to me how that didn't qualify as a major waterpark.

Kennywooddude: Cedar Fair isn't trying to increase attendance by removing these rides. They're trying to 'right-size' the park to match its attendance and target audience of families. I don't foresee Cedar Fair ever removing the ride side completely, but I think the focus is going to be turning Geauga Lake into a destination waterpark with a small amusement park on the side.

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The park is at the right size right now! Honestly, its not like Geauga Lake has so much to offer. You have like 15 attractions on the ride side. It dosen't matter. We may loose two star coasters but at least they'll be replaced by a "Guess Your Weight" and a "Cornhole" game.

Wait, I'm confused.

We're saying returning GL to what it was before SF moved in (or as close as possible at this point) is a bad thing?

I don't understand enthusiasts. ;)

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Six Flags saw a boost in attendance short term because of the new name (Six Flags Ohio) and all their new rides. But, I doubt they would have maintained that attendance level over the long term. We'll never know though because they dumped the park.

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I think the fact that they sold the park is all the answer we need. :)

Actually, to return it before SF...we'd loose about 2/3 of the coaster...Douple Loop and Big Dipper. There is no way CF will invest to fix RWB. They're cheap and taking out is better suited for them.

This is better in the long run for Geauga Lake. The park was profitable when in 'competition' with Cedar Point, Kennywood, and Conneaut Lake along with Sea World for group business.

Geauga Lake was a perfect fit for weekend packages with Sea World, for families who wanted to avoid the Cedar Point crowds, yet have a different Kennywood experience.

Now, their is no group competition from Sea World or Conneaut Lake, and of course, Cedar Point will always have the marquis coasters.

So, they now will focus on what made them profitable in the 70's-90's, and move forward. Remember what a blast Boardwalk Shores was when it opened. The Wave hogged up many Pittsburgh commercials in the day.

Think positive.