Castaway Bay- the Future

So I've been thinking about the future of castaway bay. I remember it was a pretty big deal when it opened. Cedar points first indoor water park.

I believe, at the time, the only equivalents in Sandusky were the great wolf lodge and kalahari.

At the time it was close to what the competition. Now, there are several more indoor water parks located in Sandusky, and kalahari and great wolf have expanded. Castaway bay however, has stayed pretty much the same.

Now, i must say that i am a fan of castaway bay. my family has spent a lot of nights at the hotel in the past. From my experience the rooms are nice, the theming is fine and the water park, although small, is fun. However, after seeing what has happened with breakers and how amazing it is now, i can't help but look to castaway bay and dream that it might get a facelift/expansion soon.

If so, what would you want to see come to the property? is an expansion of the water park possible? What are your thoughts?

Too many water parks,
In too small a town,
With too much major competition,
With too little space to expand to compete.

Keep it like it is, it works fine for what it’s supposed to be.

But that’s just my thoughts.

Yeah I kinda had the same thought. I’ve always been amazed how many indoor water parks there are in Sandusky. Doesn’t make sense to me... Spring through fall, the attraction in samdusky is Cedar Point. I don’t see why you’d spend time at an indoor water park during your Cedar Point vacation (unless you get completely rained out). In the winter, three just isn’t anything else in Sandusky to draw people to travel from long distances. But I guess it works. Like my signature says...

All they have to do is keep up on maintenance and keep applying lipstick when needed. No reason to reinvent the wheel.

As long as there is enough to do there to keep my kids happy while I sit in the hot tub and the wave pool keeps waving it's all good. Aside from the wishful thinking of free day pass admission with a platinum pass I don't see any reason to change much. I don't think it really needs to compete with the other indoor water parks since it's part of the larger Cedar Point "package" and not a stand alone.

The main thing is that It is open year round...meaning year round income for cedar point. No reason they would do away with that.

I think Castaway Bay serves its purpose in size and amenities. The present indoor waterpark, along with the new sports complex, is marketed as part of the whole Cedar Point resort complex. Being sold out and crowded often would support an expansion of Castaway Bay, which may not be the case right now. The current facility would most likely evolve before it expands.

Does Sandusky have too many indoor waterparks? Maybe. I sure don't believe the area can support anymore Great Wolfs or Kalahari's. The Sandusky-Lake Erie Islands region was once known and marketed as Vacationland for decades. All these indoor water parks that have opened up in the last 15 years is a reinvention of the region, by transitioning seasonal operation to year round operation for some area businesses.

And Cedar Point was once marketed as the queen of American watering places, now it’s not even quite the court jester of indoor watering places.
But why be what you’re not, let Kalahari be Kalahari. I don’t thinks it’s in CPs DNA to be a true Kalahri direct competitor. They can both survive and thrive with each other around.

So wait, in the same post you're arguing both that CP isn't what it once was, and that it can't be something different than it is now?

The fact that there's a big, apparently successful sports complex just down the street is a pretty compelling reason that CB could expand into serving the youth sports tournament market, which would put them in more direct competition with Kalahari.

Apparently CF bought land on Cleveland Road across the street from Castaway Bay. That may have been in an effort to clean up some blighted properties at their "front door" or for some type of expansion of the maintenance facility...or possibly for something for Castaway Bay.

Back to who go there when...Great Wolf Lodge came first and then Castaway Bay got built. Kalahari came after those two but obviously came it with a fury. I think the Wisconsin Dells is evidence of the fruitlessness of any "too many water parks in a small town" argument. That said, I don't see Castaway Bay expanding. I think the next move for CP Resorts is whatever they decide to do with the Sandcastle property.

djDaemon said:

So wait, in the same post you're arguing both that CP isn't what it once was, and that it can't be something different than it is now?

No, thats not what I said. But, thank you for putting words in my mouth/post.

'But why be what you’re not,' and 'I don’t thinks it’s in CPs DNA' are hardly statements that they 'can't be something different than what it is now'.

Clearly CP has evolved into what it is today from its roots as a bathing beach.

CF has also evolved from what it was more recently and shed its freestanding waterparks operations.

It's also pretty clear that the expansion/remodel of CP Express is to better serve the sports park.

My prior post was that the 38,000 sqft Castaway Bay, which this thread was about, wouldn't have viable expansion space to compete with the 173,000 sqft Kalahari waterpark and its 215,000 sqft convention center space directly. The convention business is what keeps Kalahari very busy throughout the off season.

If they wanted to compete directly with a Kalahari size waterpark and/or convention center, a CP Exrpess expansion would've been more viable given the adjacent land for an expansion.

My point as stated was let Castaway Bay be what it is intended to be, a mid-tier hotel/waterpark that serves it purpose quite well.

And just because they can, doesn't make it a great idea. At one point, someone thought it was a good idea to compete with the go-karts and mini golf courses, we see how well that turned out.

That guest interest changed over time doesn't mean Challenge Park wasn't a great idea at the onset and for many years after. They simply "let it be what it was intended to be" for too long instead of augmenting it into something more profitable.

Similarly for CB, they don't need to compete 1:1 with Kalahari, but they can certainly augment the property to better support the nearby SFP, rather than making the same mistake as they did with Challenge Park by allowing the property to stagnate.

Castaway is probably getting due for some renovations and upgrades. We usually do a stay once a year there and have noticed things are getting tired and worn. I agree it will never be Kalahari but should be a very nice indoor water park if maintained properly. I just think its about time for a nice makeover.