Do you miss Sea World?

Any idea why Ohio was originally chosen as a Sea World location? I could understand all of the others: bordering oceans, but Ohio always struck me as comical.

I don't know, what year did Sea World even open? I'm sure a lot of people ask why we have CP in Ohio though.

Sea World Ohio opened in 1970. In '68, the original Sea World, California went public raising quite a bit of captial which they used to go to Aurora. Why Aurora? I've got no idea. I'm sure Geauga Lake was a consideration for them since there was already a draw for that park. The location wasn't bad with the Ohio Turnpike nearby not too mention relative proximity to Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Youngstown, Pittsburg, etc.

FYI: Sea World, Florida opened in 1973 and Sea World, Texas opened in 1988.

Also, when Busch pulled out they took the 2 orcas, many of the performing dolphins, and the penguins...all major draws for the park. *** Edited 12/22/2004 8:47:36 PM UTC by Chief Wahoo***

The penguins were always may favorite!

How in the World (pun intended), did Six Flags miss how difficult it would be to replace the animals? Seems like a no-brainer to me that you would have to research that enough to know how long it would take and the costs involved.

Seems like a a comedy of errors occured. I'd bet many SF execs got an arse chewin' over the Ohio deal.

MrScott

My guess is that Six Flags was told by Busch to buy it or they'd sell it to someone else and they certainly didn't want competition in their backyard.

Six Flags was in a similar position as Cedar Point. Do we open it with it looking like a shell of its former self or do we close it and bite the bulled for the season? I thought then and I still think that closing it and regrouping would have put them in a better position the following year.

But would that decision have led to a different conclusion? I think not. I dare say SF was in way overhead. They bit off more than they could chew.

Sad, really. I visited in 1999 during the change of ownership and back then, it seemed to hold promise. Unlike many, SW brought me to GL...not the other way around.

MrScott

Busch sold the park after the end of the 2000 season, so you didn't see the change in ownership then.

Then it must have been 2000. I remember they had just bought a nearby hotel and it was all ripped up for renovations. I think they also had just started the shuttle service. I must be getting my dates and/or events mixed up.

MrScott

My point is exactly that Jeff, perhaps they should have looked into or even locked down a set of whales before spending the money. Considering that you can't just go out and catch or buy one, one would think that it could be tricky replacing them. Anticipating the worst and planning for it is exactly what a company should do. If they couldn't replace the big name acts for a marine park they needed to realize that the park then becomes a waste of time and funds.

They could have easily sent all the remaining animals out at that time in '01 to other properties (like they did when CF bought the park), and then made a fresh start with the property. Instead you have three years of mediocrity, all the while the general public saying, "it looks like Sea World, it smell like Sea World, but this sure ain't Sea World." It was all a recipe for disaster. You even had all the same inept BEC management that was driving SWO into the ground to finish the job.

I can't say i know the exact details of the purchase. However i will say that i believe that it was BEC that approached SFI. And SFI should have told them to take a hike. As they did with just about every acquisition, they paid way to much for too little. Who else would have bought a floundering marine park? Noone other than those in the market looking to build more high priced, low quality housing (like the rest of Aurora). BEC wouldn't have seen a dime more than what the land was worth with anyone but an amusement park company. SFI just couldn't stop themselves through that time period. They couldn't see what they were doing to the company for all the grandious plans to take over the industry.
*** Edited 12/28/2004 7:03:43 AM UTC by gener***

Greatest amusement park acquisition debacle in recent history.

The problems:

1. No whales, the number one draw of any marine park.

2. The park was put together too quickly. That side of the park should have been closed in 2001, with 2002 being the debut of SWOA.

3. The hire anyone to fill positions attitude. Too many crummy employees with a combined management team that didn't like working with each other. This was nail in the coffin, people use to exceptional employees during their visits to Sea World, were in for a suprise.

4. Basically SFI was in over theri head. Then when the gate numbers didn't go as expected budgets were slashed. This caused low staffing and the closing of attractions, food stands, and shops that should have been open. All of this ruined the guest expereince.
*** Edited 12/28/2004 9:32:03 AM UTC by Commish***
*** Edited 12/28/2004 9:33:05 AM UTC by Commish***

How about lack of time to combine the two parks. No cross lake in-house phones in May. No consistant timekeeping payroll system. Not determining the heads of departments until the end of March. Removing the single greatest unifying force in the park and sending him to Europe.

Placing people with no idea how SFI budgeted or ran their parks at the head of departments. Talk about culture shock! Not only were the managers of SWO unable to manage the spending under BEC (a very liberal operation budget-wise) but the Director of the foods department went and blew the labor budget BEFORE there was a SFWOA budget! Add in the fact that the pay rates were significantly increased and the wasted labor on the marine side units and you can see why WOA wasn't very profitable.

Even before May 5 the park was so far behind there was no way out.

I mentioned too much too quickly.....referring to your point about lack of time.

Your 100% right about the debacle that was first year management. Around year 3 just before the buy out, things were still not goin great in that catagory.

SF just needs to die. AT SFFT onthe Rattler, there is so much bubblegum it looks like xmas lights. Really pathetic. They just need to close. Try one thing it falls flat. They need to go. They cant do anything right at all. Oh ya i remember on superman, oh one train isnt working so the whole ride closed on a realy crowded saturday. very pathetic

We all get the point that everyone here hates SF. We don't need to go on and on about how bad of parks they run and how none of their rides ever run. This good post will get closed faster than SFWOA if you don't drop the SF issue.

I DON'T HATE SIX FLAGS! I can be a Cedar Point fan without hating all the other parks. Granted SFWoA had its problems but I never failed to have a good time there. This park for all its faults does have some good rides.

One of the problems I think Busch had with Sea World is that they couldn't make it to what the other parks havefor whatever reason {ohio weather, aurora authorites etc.

Do you remember when CP employees could get free tickets to Sea World? This was a popular day of excursion for many employees and the tickets went fast. Most enjoyed the relaxing pace instead of hurrying from ride to ride.

I don't hate SF or their parks. It would be a tragity of gargantuan proportions if the company folded! How many parks would be sucked up into the urban sprawl that has encroached on so many parks once built on the very edge of a metroarea?

My points are what they always are: SWO/GLP merger was a bumbling mess, SFI has little skill in managing parks from a corporate level, it was the BEC remanents that ran the WOA experament into the ground. Granted SFI had a big hand in the destruction of our park, but i wouldn't even say it was majority of a plurality in this case. The bulk of the blame needs to go with the innept handling of personell and budget by department directors in 2001 (most of whom were former BEC employees).

Commish, I'm not sure what you meant here,

"Around year 3 just before the buy out, things were still not goin great in that catagory."

Were you talking about the CF buy out?
*** Edited 1/3/2005 5:43:54 AM UTC by gener***

No, I was referring to the 2003 season at SWOA.

I'm with the VillageIdiot on this topic. I have a lot of memories going to Sea World. And when they changed it to SFWOA I was really excited because I could see the wildlife and sealife. My biggest memory was seeing Shuedka perform. I loved seeing that show, I went to see it at least three times and cheerished each time I saw it. When I saw the pictures of them demolishing of that stadium, it just ripped me apart. I'm going to Miss the sea life in Ohio. I guess I'll just have to go Florida to see Sheudka and his pals at Sea World. I do welcome the new plans that Cedar Fair is going to do with Geauga Lake. Like I'm anxious to go to the waterpark because I was never really impressed with the waterpark compared to Soak City or Dover Lake Waterpark.

I don't miss sea world. If you have been there once, I think that would last you your whole lifetime.