Two more out the door at Geagua Lake?

Heres my main gripe, CF can remove everything. I really don't care, But even the most traditionals ADD SOMETHING.

Waterpark, IMHO thats different and genuinely not related. People go for the amusement or the waterpark, Not for the most part, BOTH.

Chuck, who says us AMUSEMENT people are looking at LESS, There is no arguing that.

Heh. You might wanna remind all those people leaving wet coaster seats behind!

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BATWING FAN SFA said:
Well I think that people are just in arms about it over the rides slated for removal.If it were any coaster other than Dominator that was being removed<or rumored to be removed> & relocated then people wouldn't be batting an eye as much about it & in fact would probably be saying good riddance.

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It's not simply Dominator... it's the fact that Two major coasters have already been removed, and now two more are rumored to be on the chopping block... with NO signs of any significant improvements. It all seems like this park is being dismantled piece by piece... that CF is not looking at this as a park, but rather a storage area for the other parks in this over extended chain.

X-Flight, re-named Firehawk, is being moved to Kings Island in Cincinnati, while the next location for Steel Venom is undetermined, Edwards said.

"They were popular coasters, but they weren't the most popular coasters there. We just think they'll be more popular and better utilized at other parks," he said,

http://www.cleveland.com/chagrinheraldsun/news/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1175717251159120.xml&coll=4

Why do I think that above quote will be used again.

Just out of curiosity...the two coasters being removed are right on the lake.

COULD that portion of the lake be turned into a beach area?

Doubtful. Dominator and Thunderhawk sit on top of a bunch of sludge it is difficult to imagine how they could turn that into a beach. And even if they could, so what? Sand and a couple of benches doesn't seem like fair compensation for taking away two coasters; although, honestly, i wouldn't be surprised if they just put up another big disgusting wall over in that area like they did by Steel Venom and X-flight.

What the hell is "fair compensation"? Who the hell said anyone was entitled to having coasters there to begin with?

I have to agree with Brett (Impulsive) - Stop looking at this through enthusiast-colored glasses. Even if Dominator and Thunderhawk get moved, there's still a nice selection of roller coasters that can be enjoyed.

I honestly think this could be the best thing that could happen to the place. I have always been kind of a nay-sayer since the SFO growth, but since the ugly green thing in the parking lot has been gone, I've actually enjoyed GL more.

Sure, it's nice to have those rides, but they just don't seem to belong at Geauga Lake. Call it Feng Shui (however the hell you spell it), call it whatever you want - it just doesn't "feel" right.

-Josh

While I personally couldn't care about Thunderhawk being moved, I would have to say that Dominator leaving doesn't thrill me, but not for some of the other reasons that people are giving here.

I'd have to say for me that the reason I find Dominator exciting and interesting is the fact that it IS laid out over the water and the swamp area. Relocating this ride to another park wouldn't change the fact that it's a great coaster (it's one of my top ten), but it *would* certainly change the atmosphere of it.

If they are trying to reduce the coaster count, get rid of some of the old or crappy rides that just aren't worth it (Double Loop or Head Spin anyone?). Get rid of those coasters and keep the unique/interesting ones.

But you can't move Double Loop or Head Spin and have them headline another park. Heck, most parks already have a boomerang. You could move Dominator to almost any park that doesn't already have a floorless and it would be a headliner.

^^ There's nothing saying they couldn't install Dominator over water at its new home. Or, at least build a pond around the coaster once it goes in. Although, I'd have to guess having a coaster over water increases maintenance costs since you can't easily access the track and supports for inspections.

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Impulse-ive said:
I think they're going in the right direction, I think they're cutting the appropriate fat, and I think if you look at the situation realistically instead of with enthusiast-colored glasses, these moves make perfect sense.

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Yeah, my posts that said the same thing got pretty much ignored too. :)

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FLYINGSCOOTER said:"They were popular coasters, but they weren't the most popular coasters there. We just think they'll be more popular and better utilized at other parks," he said.

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Regarding that quote, what do you think was more popular than X-Flight? My guess would be Dominator, Thunderhawk, and Big Dipper.

I think it would be different if it wasn't such a large removal, i.e. two coasters at once, as compared to a gradual removal over time.

X-Factor

^Well it is gradual, two last year, two this year, two next year and so on, until they have to buy two coasters a year to send to other parks.:)

I can't believe there are so many people on this site that actually believe this park is going to survive. It is pretty obvious that when Cedar Fair made the decision to buy the Paramount parks GL's fate was sealed. They immediately cut back on their plans for the water park, they started removing high cost rides (Mr. Hyde), and began the process of moving the rides that still have value and are probably not fully depreciated to parks in the chain with a future.

It is cyrstal clear the GL no longer fits in Cedar Fairs long term plans in any shape, don't kid yourself about the traditional park thing, they already have MA for that. If they wanted to preserve this park they would have completely removed the old water park and replace lost coasters with something bigger than a "Corn Hole" game. In fact, I think the corn hole thing is a complete joke, they make a big deal about corn holes, it tells me they want the attendance to continue to dip, just hastening the eventual closing of the park. This park has one or two years left, the water park perhaps a couple of more, but within five years this whole plot of land is townhomes.

They are not going to leave this park in any shape that a competitor may buy it and be right in their back yard once again. In business this is called a divestature, and at this point that is all GL is in Cedar Fair's world.

Did Six Flags screw the place up...absolutely. Did CF do anything to improve it, absolutely not. I believe they had good intentions when they bought it, or else they would have never moved the water park. But when they went down the path of taking on Paramount, they decided to go with plan B on GL, remove your competition by purchasing them and divesting their assets.

I cant believe everyone just assumes this rumor is true.

^After what happened last year what makes you think it isn't?

^My thoughts exactly Touchdown.

SFI ruined the park by turning it into something that it wasn't meant to be & left a bad impression on the GP as a result.They sacrificed quality in favor of quantity in an effor to become a CP clone & the gamble didn't pay off.

CF simply underestimated how bad the park's reputation was under SFI & thought that they could turn it around but obviously they couldn't & with the paramount purchase<mainly for the sake of getting KI> CF is now in debt so,while it makes no sense in the eyes of coaster enthusiasts it makes financial sense in the eyes of CF executives to liquidate the assets from a failing sector of the business & redistribute those assets to the more successful sectors of the business.

I don't see the water park side closing at all. It really has the potential to become one of the best water parks in the country if it keeps growing. It seems to me to be very popular.

GL has never been my favorite park. I would be slightly saddened to see it close, but I would feel better about it if the rides were relocated to other parks.

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Lord Gonchar said:

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Impulse-ive said:
I think they're going in the right direction, I think they're cutting the appropriate fat, and I think if you look at the situation realistically instead of with enthusiast-colored glasses, these moves make perfect sense.

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Yeah, my posts that said the same thing got pretty much ignored too. :)

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I'm not going to comment much on this as a business decision. I'm not sure I agree with exactly how CF is handling this, but I can see that if the speculation is true that they are ripping out rides now to "restart", then they could end up in the right place. However...

Why should anyone here look at this situation from anything but "enthusiast-colored glasses"? Most people here are enthusiasts, right? Here's a real world example:

The company I do financial analysis for bought a Sears Appliance Shop building. It was in a nice location but not doing much business. Local contractors who contracted their appliances from the shop were the main customers. We closed the Sears, fixed the building, and brought in Sherwin Williams to open a (successful) paint store.

Do you know how many of the local contractors said, "Well, I really only liked the store because of the appliances but I really appreciate your business savvy so we will buy paint there even though we don't need it"? I'll answer the question for you: none.

I'm not trying to defend anyone who thinks that the park needs to add coasters to survive, but expecting an enthusiast to look at this from any other perspective but as an enthusiast is unrealistic.

- Jeff

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Raven-Phile said:Who the hell said anyone was entitled to having coasters there to begin with?

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Um, no one did. I believe someone was just stating his opinion that when you look at the removals last year and now most likely this year, getting nothing in their place does seem a bit unusual. I re-read Paul's post several times and don't recall seeing him say anything to the extent that he was entitled to have roller coasters at Geauga Lake.

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Raven-Phile said:Sure, it's nice to have those rides, but they just don't seem to belong at Geauga Lake. Call it Feng Shui (however the hell you spell it), call it whatever you want - it just doesn't "feel" right.

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And who the hell are you to tell people what "feels right"? Oh wait... that's your opinion.

Ray P. (edit for spelling) *** Edited 8/30/2007 1:13:33 PM UTC by ProgRay***