Where did Conneaut go wrong?

I'm reading a book on Conneaut Lake. They were looking forward to a great 100 year anniversary in 1991 (the year the book was written. Now obviously around that time, something went terribly wrong and they have gone through two bankruptcys and are still struggling some ways. What went wrong? How did the park's future get turned around within a year or two?
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G.Bush:We will find those who did it, smoke them out of their holes, get them running, and bring them to justice.
I pray that I will never see a Six Flags Conneaut Lake

bigkirby - Where did you get a Conneaut Lake book at?

I think what went wrong was the park trading hands and a number of other things.. like bigger parks such as Cedar Point, Six Flags/Geauga Lake, and Kennywood. Its not advertised at ALL, nothing is heard about it at all (unless you live a lot closer then I do), I didn't even know it was open this year until I did some research..

So I don't think Conneaut did anything at all.. just that people are attracted to the big parks

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AIM: Pritti Kittie

"Imagine all the people.. living life in peace.." -John Lennon

I haven't been there, but it seems to me that the addition of a new CCI or GCI wooden coaster might be just what they need to get people excited about the park, again. I know they have a great old woodie, a new masterpiece to go beside it would be great.

The park had some bad management for a few years. I'm talking really bad management. I've even heard criminal charges were filed against one of the previous owners, though I don't know if that's true. The current management sounds promising, but I doubt you'll see a new CCI or GCI sprouting up anytime soon or ever. It is a shame because it is a great family park. We had one of the best overall park experiences of the season at Connueat this year.
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Christ how do you kids do it

Yes, the criminal charges are true.. I forget who and why.. but it is true.

As for a CCI or a GCI? Forget that thought, they barely have enough money for what they have. I'm sure if word of mouth gets out and the park adds a general admission fee (instead of the free thing they have now, and pay for rides) it would help out greatly.. I say.. make a general admission at $5 - $7 a person (cheaper if younger, shorter) and keep the riding about the same. Make the waterpark a seperate charge attraction. Train the employees to be more courteous, add another dollar for games, raise up the food prices, and most importantly... ADVERTISE! Conneaut Lake is a great park and can be better with a little help :)

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AIM: Pritti Kittie

"Imagine all the people.. living life in peace.." -John Lennon

Conneaut Lake is a really cool park, and the Blue Streak is something every fan needs to experience. I'm under the impression from talking to my dad about the area that in the 50's it was a weekend getaway type place. Families from Pittsburgh (like my grandparents and my dad) would head out there for a couple days, go to the lake, picnic, that sort of thing. As time went by, less and less families spent thier leisure time on this type of activity, gradually becoming more likely to take "a big trip" than hit an area like Conneaut.

I'd imagine it's a combination of the bad management, competing with big parks, and the shift in how people spend their leisure time that has affected them. I hope it can stay open, I really had a good time there. Definitely one of my highlights this year.

Where Conneaut went wrong? Conneaut went wrong when they forgot what kind of park they were and how that park should operate. The general concensus is that the park started to have problems when they put up the fence and instituted a general admission fee for the whole park, virtually eliminating resort traffic. Then the owners decided to auction off all the rides and offer only the waterpark, hotel, and entertainment. Again, forgetting that without the main park, there is no draw for the hotel, the other entertainment, and the waterpark. It's a tragic tale of short-sighted mismanagement, where park management failed to see how the park operates as a complete system including the amusement park, the waterpark, the hotel, the lake, the town, and the resort. It almost cost us a very nice park.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Jess said:
bigkirby - Where did you get a Conneaut Lake book at?

I got it from the Geauga County Public Library. I found it also at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0935408045/qid%3D1004667382/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/002-7140506-2060817

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Well since the book is out of print, looks like I'll have to get my little brother to actually utilize the school library and try to find the book for me... It's gonna be a few years before that one happens..
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AIM: Pritti Kittie

"Imagine all the people.. living life in peace.." -John Lennon

Order it used.
Does anyone think Conneaut can bounce back?
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G.Bush:We will find those who did it, smoke them out of their holes, get them running, and bring them to justice.
I pray that I will never see a Six Flags Conneaut Lake

Well, I think that I would agree that it all goes back to bad management. The park really is kinda sad, and the employees are rude as hell. I think that whatever management is there now needs to work on training procedures for those people.

I was there a while back and stayed in the hotel $20 a night. (awsome) There is no phone, television or air-conditioning in the rooms, but what a neat old hotel. It felt like staying at grandma's house. Very pretty by the water.

To be honest I think the only thing that might save that park is if like, the Knobels bought it or something. They would respect the historic aspect of the park, which is so very important.

I must have been there on a bad day because everyone was pretty nice. Proved that a park didn't need huge rides, just needed to be fun.

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G.Bush:We will find those who did it, smoke them out of their holes, get them running, and bring them to justice.
I pray that I will never see a Six Flags Conneaut Lake

Another problem going on is they have a Huss Ranger which keeps braking down. This year, to get it working, they invested $60,000 into getting a new motor...and the dang thing still doesn't work right.
They have a couple of high-maintainence rides which really takes a toll on their pocket book

They could have probably sold the ranger for ($20k?) and kept the other 60k. That would probably have been enough for new flat rides. Funny, they said the Ranger was a primary draw. I saw bigger lines for the Tumblebug though.

I love da' bug!

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CL also claims that the Ranger is one of their biggest draws, which I agreee with, but they could get the same ride action in a refurbished Eyerly Loop O Plane. Heck, they could even add to the thrill catagory with a Chance Zipper...which you can find used at only $70,000.

Zipper...did I hear Zipper? That's the best idea I've heard in a long time. I think it's time to vote the Ranger off. That thing is evil. Not only is it broke down a lot, it's very uncomfortable.
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Christ how do you kids do it

*** This post was edited by loriu on 11/2/2001. ***

From where I stand, I see regional competition as Conneaut's biggest problem right now. Being in Western PA, the park is reasonably close to both Waldameer and Kennywood. From what I have heard, Waldameer is a small park like CLP, but is in much better shape having been under good ownership/management for many years. I can see Waldameer being viewed as the "nice park" in the area, thus the destination of choice. And then there is Kennywood... enough said.

Since there are people who actually live in the area, can anyone tell me if I am right with my assumptions?

Actually, they have a Loop O Plane, it's by the Yo-Yo- ride.
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I visited Conneaut for the first time this year. For the way they are struggling they sure had a ton of people in the park which suprised me. Most waits were around 10 minutes or so. I expected to see a run down park with lots of garbage and peeling paint. We really enjoyed Conneaut. Their Tumble Bug is awsome! It's run faster then Kennywoods. No wonder they call theirs the Turtle. I hope they turn things around. Hopefully their 125th will be a lot better than their 100th.
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Hello, My name is Dan and I'm a coasterholic.

Ten minutes? most of my waits were 1 ride (as in, I waited 1 train for Blue Streak, waited about 2 cars for Devils Den.. thats about all I ride, actually.) I would love to see 10 minute waits again, and I hate waiting in line. I remember back about my very first ride on Blue Streak, the wooden queue was in use and quite full, as were queue lines for every other ride in that park too. I'd give my left arm (I use the right one) to see a full lot, full queues, and the rides running at capacity (I remember the days when Blue Streak ran TWO trains.. and there were more than 6 cars in the "Bumper Cars").

I'm not sure if you can tell yet or not, but I have many emotional attachments to the park, and I hate to see the way this park has been run into the ground the past few years. Many rides have been torn out, bad management, less and less people frequenting the park like it used to be. Anyone onle else remember the days before Six Flags and *Bigger Rides = Better Park*?

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AIM: Pritti Kittie

"Imagine all the people.. living life in peace.." -John Lennon