What Cedar Fair park should inherit "Big Dipper"?

New and improved like GL did for Wolf Bobs! ;)

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kRaXLeRidAh said:

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CoastaPlaya said:
What if CF purchased SFMM and shut it down since it was a gangster-infested, poorly operated dump without a horrid reputaton, no flats worth mentioning and a park they had already been outdrawing with KBF for years? And THEN parceled out the rides amongst the other CF parks?

-CO

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LOL. I like how you assumed using Magic Mountain as a counter-example would help me realize how I feel about this Geauga Lake situation.

Secondly, I could really give a rats ass if Magic Mountain were to be closed. That park is a dump, but that still doesn't escape the fact that the venue is still capable of drawing over 2.8 million guests annually.

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You never cease to amaze me. You jump on others for being pissed that GL is closing, yet when Playa brings up SFMM as an example to you, your response is, you could care less if the dump closes.

If memory serves me correctly, you were the biggest supporter of the Mountain in any topic that negatively spoke about it. Now it's a dump and you wouldn't care if it shuttered forever?

PUHHHHLEASE!!!!!!!

If the Mountain closed, you would be all over Shapiro for such a bonehead move. Maybe you don't like Shapiro and his direction of the SF parks, but anyone that has been here (CB) for awhile knows your history of praising this park.

I think DL should buy it at one time they were bidding on the comet from crystal beach and they stopped bidding at $200,000 and that's when Great Escape got it even though it was supposed to go to Martin's Fantasy Island.

I still want to see Coney Ohio get a decent woodie. A nice relic like the Big Dipper would certainly give boost to the parks historical status.

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Chitown said:

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kRaXLeRidAh said:

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CoastaPlaya said:
What if CF purchased SFMM and shut it down since it was a gangster-infested, poorly operated dump without a horrid reputaton, no flats worth mentioning and a park they had already been outdrawing with KBF for years? And THEN parceled out the rides amongst the other CF parks?

-CO

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LOL. I like how you assumed using Magic Mountain as a counter-example would help me realize how I feel about this Geauga Lake situation.

Secondly, I could really give a rats ass if Magic Mountain were to be closed. That park is a dump, but that still doesn't escape the fact that the venue is still capable of drawing over 2.8 million guests annually.

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You never cease to amaze me. You jump on others for being pissed that GL is closing, yet when Playa brings up SFMM as an example to you, your response is, you could care less if the dump closes.

If memory serves me correctly, you were the biggest supporter of the Mountain in any topic that negatively spoke about it. Now it's a dump and you wouldn't care if it shuttered forever?

PUHHHHLEASE!!!!!!!

If the Mountain closed, you would be all over Shapiro for such a bonehead move. Maybe you don't like Shapiro and his direction of the SF parks, but anyone that has been here (CB) for awhile knows your history of praising this park.

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Haha. Though you would be correct in the statement that I used to defend the park (not praise it as you put it), it's actually been awhile since I have done that -- and for good reason. As Moosh put it...I've turned to the dark side. ;)

You obviously didn't read my trip reports from the park earlier this summer. I have no intention of ever returning to Magic Mountain in the near future and am not all talk. My three visits this year have really soured my outlook on this park to such an extreme level where I can confidentally say I won't go back anytime soon.

So no need to get all valleygirl on me PUHHHHLEASE!. I'll say it again, just so you know how much I mean it. I could really give a rats ass if Magic Mountain were to be closed. And same said with what's going on with Geauga Lake. Glad we cleared that up. Bye.

Double Loop to Lakemont to give DelGrosso's "new" Corkscrew some competition! Okay... just wishful thinking...

Personally, I'd like to see either Villian or Raging Wolf Bobs to to Dorney. But like someone said... you could build a new coaster (especially a steel structure / wood track coaster) for just a little more and not have to worry about 1) relocating 2) transporting 3) having it fit an existing area that it was not built for. Dorney needs a wooden coaster to fill the gap by the (oft maligned) Hercules (I suppose Hydra was supposed to be the lame replacement).

Then again, that is just wishful thinking as well. On my one visit to Geauga Lake, all coasters were walk ons... and in all my visits to Dorney, I never had to wait very long for Talon and Steel Force, and all others were walk ons... even the NEW Hydra... while Wild Water Kingdom was booming. Considering what has happened at Geauga Lake... I would be happy in 10 years to still have Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, and not simply Wild Water Kingdom.

Why is it that because someone either hates a ride or determines it doesn't meet their personal requirements for a ride to be deemed historic, it needs to be demolished and forgotten? If anything, that illustrates nothing more than how selfish and self-serving some people are.

First of all, the Dipper is a historic ride. Originally built more than a century ago... having entertained millions and millions of riders... survived a depression, wars and complete shifts in culture... one of the last surviving John Miller coasters... maybe none of that meets some kind of etched-in-stone guideline but it sure makes the coaster more than just a little important.

Second, the ride's not really that old. Practically the entire coaster was rebuilt with new wood in the early 80's and the thing operated up until a few weeks ago so it's not like some rotting relic. In fact, I'd guess that ride to be in better shape than 50% of wood coasters operating today.

Third, the chances of the ride being relevant to another park has everything to do with Cedar Fair. They can opt to demolish the ride, or pay a little money to dismantle it and relocate it somewhere. Techically, there isn't a Cedar Fair park that needs an old wood coaster, but that doesn't mean a park wouldn't benefit from having a solid, reliable, family-friendly attraction. People are under the erroneous assumption that any new ride a park installs has to be noteworthy in some kind of technical way, but the truth is there is nothing that says a park can't introduce a fun new ride for the hell of it. Place the Dipper at any Cedar Fair park and it's not like people won't line up to ride it. As I said in the Geauga Lake news thread, this is up to Cedar Fair to make right and to make work. They can do it, it's just a matter of whether or not they'll pull the trigger and respect history for once.

*** Edited 9/24/2007 2:00:18 AM UTC by Rob Ascough***

I think Big Dipper and Double Loop should be saved because they were great rides and have a lot of history--Big Dipper is the oldest operating coaster in Ohio. But I'm also of the mind to get Cedar Fair to change their mind or at least realize how many people they are disappointing by closing Geauga Lake. People over at GeaugaLakeToday are in a frenzy and slowly we're gaining momentum for a legitimate fight. Please help us. Go to this link and sign the petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/geaugalake/index.html

You will be asked to make a donation, but you can decline by closing out...your signature will be recorded. We've already accumulated 200 plus signatures in one day...imagine what we can do in a week...a month!! Please help save Ohio's history!

I'm not sure a month will be enough. Take the time to write actual letters and MAIL then, not email. That makes a stronger statement.

A petition is not going to do anything. These plans for Geauga Lake have already been set in stone months and months before the formal announcement made a few days ago. A few thousand (if it actually gets that many) online signatures isn't going to change that.

Many of the rides at Geauga Lake have already found homes at the other Cedar Fair properties.

FYI, 2008 season pass renewal flyers recently sent out to Great America pass holders advertise a new thrillride for 2008 with an image of Geauga Lake's Texas Twister in the background.

No turning back now.

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Jeffrey R Smith said:
New and improved like GL did for Wolf Bobs! ;)

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LOL, a year after they finish retracking it, she derails. And so does the park.
Prophecy.
;) *** Edited 9/24/2007 12:48:36 PM UTC by FLYINGSCOOTER***

I guess I'm one of the few people that really enjoyed Big Dipper and the Raging Wolf Bobs.

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matt. said:
We get it. You don't care when a park you don't care about closes. That's fine, but prodding and poking folks who are understandably saddened by a park closing, and doing it over and over again is getting pretty trollish IMO.

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matt, on behalf of anyone that actually had some good memories at Geauga Lake, let me be the first to thank you for that statement.

I will "get over it" eventually, but as a 37-year old who grew up with the park, it is still sort of a bitter pill to swallow.

Ray P.

That's exactly what it is- a bitter pill. It's especially bitter because it's been three freakin' days since this announcement- hardly a decent amount of time for anyone affected by this news to "get over it".

And why should people get over it? Since when is it wrong to get attached to something on an emotional level? Just because someone doesn't understand where the emotional people are coming from doesn't mean that person is somehow rising above the situation and looking at things from a higher level. Being callous and arrogant doesn't make you insightful, it just makes you an asshole.

I went to Geauga Lake 3 years ago. I rode every coaster once, Doninator 3 times, Wolf Bobs 2 times, Villain 2 times only because my wife liked it, and the Big Dipper 7 times. I think that says something. To me everything else there was worth one ride and the Big Dipper shouldn't be inherited by a park it should stay and be operated. It looks really nice from across the lake and what would be wrong with operating the Big Dipper and a couple other rides. Wyandot Lake was doing it.

I was about to make that point Wabash.

Whos to say they wont incorpoate BD in the waterpark somehow? Wabash is referring of course to the "Sea Dragon".

Even with the zoo's new waterpark expansion, the Sea Dragon is staying.

There's nothing that says they won't. Seeing the Dipper integrated into the waterpark would probably be the best outcome aside from keeping the park open, but considering Cedar Fair's aversion to any kind of preservation, no one can envision them making the effort to do that. Too bad, as it would probably help to get rid of the sour taste in some people's mouths.

I wouldn't expect ANY park to dismantle and move a wooden coaster to another area of the park. I expect the land on the rides side to be sold at some point in the near future.

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Wabash Cannonball said:
It looks really nice from across the lake and what would be wrong with operating the Big Dipper and a couple other rides. Wyandot Lake was doing it.

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And the park was sold the Columbus Zoo which tells me how well that model worked out for them.

It will be interesting to see if they can make the park work though. But it smells of the same situation here. The zoo and Wyandot probably fed each other like Sea World and Geauga did. Now that they are combined, they in theory will have the same attendance as before, but more overhead.

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Rob Ascough said:
Why is it that because someone either hates a ride or determines it doesn't meet their personal requirements for a ride to be deemed historic, it needs to be demolished and forgotten? If anything, that illustrates nothing more than how selfish and self-serving some people are.

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I didn't see you all up in arms when Psyclone was taken down this year.

So what? Am I suddenly the cheerleader for every endangered coaster? I wasn't up in arms over Hercules either. But I know a lot of people liked Hercules and I wasn't infecting any "R.I.P.' threads with negativity. I didn't shed a tear over the demolition of that ride but I certainly didn't rub salt in the wound by telling people I wanted to see the thing catch fire.