Geauga Lake Going to Close?

AlbertY said:
I went to Geauga Lake for the first time on Thursday and pretty much every ride was a walk-on, including Dominator, which was the most enjoyable coaster at the park for us. Not sure how busy it is on the weekends, but if our trip was any indication, I can't see how they are making any money. We were able to ride just about every coaster in the park at least twice, and some more, almost always in the front seat, in less than four hours. We only rode Villain once, by choice. ;)

And one or two other things. We spent nothing inside the park--we were just there for the rides (and we were there only four hours). Drove an hour to the park.

Oh, and I must say Villain is the most brutal wooden coaster I have ever ridden..

..Al

I had about the same trip on Memorial Day, which is only within a 45 min drive from home. Every coaster was a walk-on. This is why I don't feel the need to attend Coaster EXT. You can just go to the park about any day of the week for ERT!

My brother came with me, and we didn't spend any money in the park eithier. We walked across the street to KFC for some lunch after riding everything, then it was off to Wildwater Kingdom for the rest of the day!

The water park is great. I absolutely love it! This is the GL's element right here. Focus more on the water park, while maintaining the ride side and keeping it clean. This park has potential for a water slide coaster! :)

Chris - part of the reason SF sold the park was that people weren't going to it. It used to have a reputation as a small family owned park. Then Six Flags bought it and mis-managed it into the ground. They tried to compete with Cedar Point thinking that it was just rides that made Cedar Point, not the atmosphere. So they threw in a bunch of rides, had crappy operation and when that didn't work, they bailed. When a park gets the reputation that GL had under SF, its not going to go away easy. It doesn't take long to ruin a reputation, but it takes years to fix it.

Yes I know how Six Flags operated. That not what I meant for what I would like Cedar Fair to do with the park. I would like them to keep the water park there main focus but without forgeting the ride side. In my previous post I was a little upset sorry. And Dick Kinzel is a great guy in the amusement park industry

Except that the ride side was never really a part before SF took over.

It always was a water park with a few rides. Then six flags came in and gave it a bad boob job. Sometimes the best way to fix the botched job is to come in a remove the crap. They may be good rides, but good rides do not a good park make. So get rid of the bad boobs, bring the park back to reality and then start to build it again.

Yes remove the problems. Then after you get things back to were you want them, slowly add new rides.

And you are making the assumption that they are done removing the problems. I think CF is doing it the smart way. Instead of just ripping out the E implants and leaving the park with just an A cup (with padding) they are slowly removing the junk until the park is enjoyable (probably around a C). Hopefully they find that spot sooner rather than later, but I'll trust them to make that determination.

Best. Reply. Ever.

Well done.

JuggaLotus said:
Except that the ride side was never really a part before SF took over.

It always was a water park with a few rides. Then six flags came in and gave it a bad boob job. Sometimes the best way to fix the botched job is to come in a remove the crap. They may be good rides, but good rides do not a good park make. So get rid of the bad boobs, bring the park back to reality and then start to build it again.

No, it was always a ride park with a small waterpark. Have you see how many rides the park had prior to 2000? The 50's Midway was a flat ride heaven.

No, I know they are not done with fixing the problems. I have been to GL plenty of times and I know what needs to be done. This is one of the reasons this whole thread even started...

^^

Geauga Lake didn't have a water park prior to 1983, then from '83 to '89 they focused on the water attractions for the most part (other than one coaster being added in 1988 (RWB) for its 100th anniversary).

Premier took over in '96 and added a few rides. This is what I feel was the turning point more toward the rides and less water.

2000 was the SF acquisition. The ride infusion continues. '01 was when they bought the former Sea World.

Then of course 2004 was the CF purchase and the rest is history.

Cedar Fair wont let Geauga Lake close. They just did a darn near 20 million dollar water park on the old Sea World side. Its been packed when i have gone. If they have money trouble then Cedar Fair will find a way to keep it open. They also spent a ton on buying it from Six Flags who ran it into the ground. I am guessing they will have a coaster, a big one going to be built at the park. Needs to be like Magnum or Force. They only took out X-Flight cause it was costing them money to keep it fixed.

I get the impression that CP is in a damned if you do/don't situation. They have a flagship park in Sandusky that has struggled with attendance the last couple years. They blame it on gas prices and weather (although strangely, not a peep about INTIMIN), but CP is not exactly the pull it once was. But, it is the flagship.
Now, back in the old days (ie. pre-six flags) GL at least gamely tried to compete with CP in its own way. When they first debuted the Raging Wolf Bobs and Texas Twister there was a palpable Buzz. Granted, not quite like the Millenium force, but at least it was something.

CF is in a position where they can't really promote GL as a full competitor for CP, as they want to get CP's gate back up. So, they've been promoting GL as a cut-rate stepsibling and the results are predictable. KI is far enough away that it isn't really affected, yet. However, when CP decides to become an overnight "destination" I believe the same will occur to them.

should be interesting to find out if the rumor was true all along.. (about closing).

I long for the old days when it was GL/SW. I don't consider GL to be a power park as far as rides go. I actually only go for their water park. Hubby and I chill for hours in the wave pool when it's toasty out. If I want rides, that's CP territory.

I think all of this speculation and nonsense about the imminent demise of the park is crap. Have any of these people bothered to go there? The park has been open all of two weeks, and they're loading up the joint during the week with buses of school groups. That sure seems pretty positive to me.

These "discussions" grow tiresome.

It's not an old discussion for me as I just went there for the first time this week. It's interesting to hear what other people think of the park, especially those who have been there over the past several years.

I haven't been over to the water park yet, but I'm sure I'll make it over there some time this season.

..Al

Well I am new to posting on PointBuzz and all. But I use to work at Dorney Park, when CF first purchased it and I can tell you this they were not happy with attendance and the way the park was setup (AKA Rides). They at the time was talking about selling the park and I remember talking to my manager (Full-Timer) who said that CF was very unhappy. But after they put a lot of money into the park the parks attendance actually is one of CF top parks. I believe that it will take time and they will not close it down or sell it.

I think Cedar Fair is really missing the boat with making Geauga Lake and Cedar Point destinations. You would think with two parks being so close, they would run specials for their hotels and/or campgrounds. When I was younger, we would drive from Erie, PA to Cedar Point, spend a couple of days there at the campground and then spend a day at Geauga Lake.

They don't need to offer any "specials" for CP when their occupancy is near 100%.

You pretty much have to make up your own "special" when planning a few days at CP.