Geauga Lake letter on Website

gener - so you automatically assume that they DIDN'T do everything they could to turn a profit? My guess is that the attendance wasn't there, and what they tried in order to boost attendance didn't work. Without people coming to the park, CF can't keep it open just so a piece of Cleveland's history isn't lost.

It's sad to see the park go. But I agree that Cedar Fair made the right decision based on the way the park was operating. While I dont blame it on Six Flags I place a lot of it on them. I'm sure it will do very well as just a water park.

On another note, Cedar Point may finally get a top spin ;)

This is very sad indeed... I have enjoyed GL all my life and have lived in the area for 40 years. My 3 year old daughter had a blast this year challenging the kiddie rides.

But you know what really burns me up about this -- that this wasn't officially announced until after the park was closed for the season. We can all assume it may have been coming -- but now it's here and we can't have a last ride one Big Dipper, Merry-Go-Round etc.

I think it would have been a better PR attempt to announce this would be the last season during the season so people would have had a chance to enjoy the park for the last time and say so long. Heck, I'm sure they would have a huge surge of attendance with people wanting to take one last look down the midway or a ride on the old fashion cars, etc...

Although it was on a much smaller scale... but when Erieview Park at Geneva on the Lake closed last year, they announced it during the season and I remember being their the last weekend -- it was packed and there was a better sense of closure with people making one last visit.

To Cedar Fair -- I say BLAH to you :(

Wow, I saw this coming and I am saddened. But what I am surprised at is at the people blaming Cedar Fair for this. You can't be more wrong. The park was just not profitable and every company that ever owned it tried to get rid of it. The park has the worse attendence of any Cedar Fair park (not sure if MI Adventure passed it last year) but it is unbelievably too big. Why would anyone want to own a park that is 700+ acres bringing in 600,000 people when they have a 125 acre park (Valleyfair) or a 105 acre park (Carowinds) bringing in 1+ million visitors a year. Even Michigan's Adventure has grown from a park bringing in 450,000 visitors to 600,000+ visitors a year, and it hasn't even reached its potential. GL's Wildwater Kingdom and its parking lot would probably take up 150-200 acres. And if you ask me, that's still to big for a water park that would probably struggle to bring 300,000 a year.

cedarpoint24/7 said:
It's sad to see the park go. But I agree that Cedar Fair made the right decision based on the way the park was operating. While I dont blame it on Six Flags I place a lot of it on them. I'm sure it will do very well as just a water park.

On another note, Cedar Point may finally get a top spin ;)

Not only Six Flags, but Busch gave up on Sea World. That's what started all this crap. If Busch would have never given up on Sea World, Six Flags would not have spent 150+ million that year to acquire it and renovate, and would probably still be operating the original Geauga Lake.

As for the top spin... please don't bring Texas Twister to Cedar Point. :) That ride has lost all its intensity and is not the same as it used to be.
*** Edited 9/22/2007 1:22:51 AM UTC by CPGuru***

Pogues said:
I think it would have been a better PR attempt to announce this would be the last season during the season so people would have had a chance to enjoy the park for the last time and say so long.

That aspect bothers me. Reminds me of Fascination at Cedar Point from a few years back. It's not an entire park, but finding out Fascination was going away after it was too late for one last visit was not cool. The park handled Schwabinchen and White Water Landing the right way. Hopefully they'll continue to do that whenever possible.

My only demand for Cedar Fair is that the name is not Wild Water Kingdom or Geauga Lake's Wild Water Kingdom. The Park should just be "Geauga Lake".

Just picture it now...

World's Best Amusement Park for 2010... Cedar Point (like usuall)

World's Best Water Park for 2010... Geauga Lake (kicking Schliterbawn out of number one after a 12 year reign.). :)

I hope Big Dipper isn't scrapped. That was my favorite ride there.

I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to build the park back in the future. Add a few flat rides for people to ride on their way into and out of the water park, but I won't get my hopes up. I think it's more likely that the land will be sold for real estate. :(

GL was 700+ acres IF you include the lake.

Well they could scrap Big Dipper anyway and rebuild it with brand new wood in another park. If that happens maybe they'll re-build it as a GCI somewhere. I doubt they'll rebuild it right away. It might take them 5 years at least to get caught up. I think GL's Wildwater Kingdom will do Great by itself anyway. Dover Lake isn't around anymore so this is a great move. Everyone I talked to said they spent more time in the water park during the day then in the ride side. Anybody that did go ride in the ride side, you were done with everything within 3 hours at least! Everything was a walk on! I felt bad for Dominator because it never truly had a full queue. This sucks for fans of Geauga Lake but I understand Cedar Fair's Decision on this move.

Yea it sucks to be done with everything in 3 hours, when you could ride two rides at CP in that time.

"The park was just not profitable and every company that ever owned it tried to get rid of it."

This is just not true. Premeir Parks bought it out from Funtime BECAUSE it was a profitable park. Funtime was just as happy to let the park run and pocket that profit as long as they could. But when a suitor came a calling it was the entire chain or nothing. They weren't going to sell out the cash cow (GLP) and be left with Darien and Wyandot (both on worse financial footing). Believe me that there were more than one interested buyers that just didn't want anything to do with the other parks. GLP was always one of the more profitable parks out there.

Furthermore SFI didn't want to get rid of it. It was the only state-side park they had that was worth anything that wasn't turning a profit. Remember all that debt they were running?

Finally, GLP was able to operate with 750,000 to 1,000,000 annually for years with a hefty profit. Among some of the better numbers for a park their size, and better ratio numbers than some of the big boys. Don't fool yourself, GLP might have been a hill-billy's paradise for years; but it was always a moneymaker. That is until SW was bought out.

You all don't remember what really happened to this park. Yes SW was responsible for a number of guests. But no more than 20 or 30 percent in the end (when the park was drawing more like 1.8 mil annually). SFI was the ruination of this park. And it was one thing that turned away the customers that had been coming to the park for years. A high price for a lousy product. They were asking for CP prices when they weren't anywhere as clean or as efficient. It had nothing to do with the rides. The people liked the rides.

To get back to who went to the park in the past. Over a third of the parks attendance was group/company picnics. You can't put that at SW. Another thirty five to forty percent could have been put to the season pass. Again something that isn't being generated by the fish park across the way. Even if you make the absurd assumption that the remaining third of attendance was from the bush company that still leaves an attendance of over a million annually to play with.

Sea World just wasn't that important.

Before the park was flagged it was 1.85 for a hot dog. The next year it was almost three. twenty ounce cokes went from a buck and change to well over two. Acoss the board and overnight the price of visiting the park doubled through food, games and gift shop pricing. And even this very season the prices are still comparable to those in Sandusky. How can you ever expect to bring back the customers when you're charging the same prices as another park and you're inferior? And don't give me that line about the gate price. The park would have been better not reducing the gate price and rolling back all of the in park prices including parking. You just can't have the same price structure when you aren't drawing the crowd. You can't go for the per cap number, you have to go for the volume.

Jugga, I think it's entirely possible that CF acquired the park with the full intent to close the rides once the waterpark was established. For the price they got the property for it would be a perfectly reasonable plan.

It seems to me that they really did little to try to help GLP along. Yes they spent that money on the waterpark and yes they built those pavilions. But neither of those investments do anything for the appearance or opinions of the customers who spend time in GLP. They didn't even try to freshen up the worst of the stands with a little paint. The only real investment in GLP that I can think of was in the Jukebox. But still that was only what? 40,00 to 60,000 grand max? If they went all out on it (which it didn't look that good when i went in) So again I still think that there is a good possibility that this was the plan from day one, and if that is the case, I'm pretty torqued that they would mislead the general public.

Maybe there were things in the back of the house that went on, but they didn't do anything to take advantage of the one infrastructure item that SFI did to help GLP (add fiberoptic to have a real register system). And the employee stock didn't look any better or more motivated than the last year i worked there.

If, on the other hand, they did try everything they thought would work, that would just be pathetic. Either Sphen is a blithering incompentent or corporate tied his hands if they really did try everything they thought would help. The more i look at what happened the past three years the more i have to scratch my head.

After meeting Mr. Sphen this past season it could go either way i think.

Six Flags were just in over their heads (besides some being on the take, i don't have the evident, but i'm just saying where there's smoke...), CF are either snakes in the grass or just plain fools.

Either way it just occured to me between posts that my two week old daughter will never get to see the place where I spent over a third of my life at (either through work or play). The place where I met my wife. The place where I made many of my friends today (and where they met their wives/husbands about a dozen marriages that I can think of, none in divorce yet). An amusement park that has two of the best wooden coasters in the region. One of which is a classic Miller that cannot be replaced. A place that holds memories for Clevelanders in much the same way as Euclid Beach but doesn't have to close because of social and urban blight pressures. And it isn't closing because there isn't a market for it anymore. The market here is the same as it's been for running on twenty years now.

And that just makes me sad.

Wow. I'm glad I pushed for a visit this season (I hadn't been in probably five or six years.)

While I wouldn't say GL was my *favorite* park, it is the park I grew up with. My parents' house is about 45 minutes away from it, and although I looked up directions, I still knew the way almost by heart.

I agree with the above posts -- I "knew" it would be my last ride on Batman and Serial Thriller (all right all right... Dominator and Thunderhawk) but my last time to the park ever? I figured it would at least have a few more seasons. THAT is the only place where I truly fault Cedar Fair... Based on the state of the park and the timing of this announcement, I'm sure they've known for a while (whether it be two weeks or two months... I'm certain the decision wasn't made in the last four days...) Really, they couldn't have let people know ahead of time, so that they could get their last rides in, their last true GL memories made? Makes me wish I'd taken one more spin on the Dipper, bruises on my legs be damned... I have a sad, sorry feeling that ride's destined for kindling. (The managment rides I read about somewhere kind of confirm that for me.) Wish they'd be able to move it to the other side, though.

You know... I have this struggle -- maybe it sounds ridiculous, but whatever -- with wanting to send CF a message that I'm displeased, and knowing that the best way to do it is not patronize their chain. But dangit I live in Columbus, so I have KI 2 hours one direction, and CP 2 hours the other, so... yeah. Platinum Pass here I come. I may send them a letter of disappointment though.

(FTR... I understand you don't keep a park if it's not turning a profit. BUT... I still feel like there could've been at least one more season of trying, of that 'right size' thing that keeps getting thrown around. And selfishly, I'm hung up on, 'what do you MEAN no more Geauga Lake?' And... WWK side is *not* GL. It just doesn't "feel" the same. It IS nice, and I liked it a lot, but it's not GL.)

Anyways... long and rambly... but my roommate doesn't really give a crap so I may as well whine/fuss where there's people who understand... at least to a degree.

Not the biggest park, not the best park, not my favorite park, but still special to me... it will be missed. :(

Could the fact that Dick just purchased 10,000 shares of common stock mean anything? Could he be investigated for insider trading?

Seems to be more than a coincidence, doesn't it?

Let the yard sale begin.

The final fate of this park reminds me of Boblo Island's history. Changing owners 3 times in 10 years before finally meeting it's demise. On the plus side, the other Cedar Fair parks will benifit from Geauga Lake's ride package. I'm looking foreward to riding a new coaster at Michigan's Adventure next year. *hopefully*

This is sad! I grew up on GL. It was a great park then. This reminds me of when my Mom used to reminisce about Euclid Beach. :(

This is sad.
From the business side-CF did what they had to do w/o going into more debt.
From the consumer side - CF could have done more for the park.

This is truly sad! I saw this coming, but not this soon. I agree 110% that they needed to announce this during the season, to give us a last chance to visit the park!

Walt said:
Outside of Rob, I'm not sure I really even know anyone who works out there.

Speaking of Rob, does that mean he's looking for a job?