Geauga Lake letter on Website

I don't have much to say, but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFKbYdwf5qg :)

It's gonna be FUN!!! *** Edited 9/23/2007 10:35:16 AM UTC by Gomez***

I'm sure Bill Spehn was paid a decent sum as GM of Geauga Lake. But now, all he will be in charge of is a waterpark. Do you think that it will affect his compensation package?

And essentially, wouldn't he be on par with someone who runs one of the stand-alone Soak City's out in California?

I've actually wondered where Spehn will end up. I can't imagine he'll stay at GL.

Bill's background is in water parks (he was the Soak City manager for a number of years). Until a slot opens up at one of the other parks my guess is that he will stay right where he is.

Another thought, all along we thought (at least I did) the waterpark for GLP was a good move for the park. After all it was by my account a move back to one of the old parks strengths, a waterpark that catered to the needs of the season pass holders (ie baby sitting facilities). But the fact that the new waterpark was on the other side of the lake set up this issue of a park too big that many bring up as to one of the factors to the downfall of the park. Thus, either the CF elite are as smart as many of you think and knew that the removal of the waterpark would help speed the demise of the park or they made the same mistake that i did in thinking that it wouldn't fragment the park and alienate park guests.

I do love the idea to move that old log ride anywhere let along CP. That is the one ride in the park that needs to just fade into memory.

And yes exit have given more than two ****s about this park for more than twenty years.

I can't say I'm upset, since I've never been to GL. I live in Michigan, so to drive twice as far for half as much park was never appealing. I did intend on visiting this year since I got a Maxx Pass, but never found the time. Now it sort of sucks that I'll never get to go. As a kid my folks took me to SW, so I got to see GL from across the pond, but that was it.

I understand CF's decision from a business standpoint, but I do think it was rotten of them to announce its closure after the season ended. I can appreciate the connection people around Cleveland have with it, since I have the same kind of connection with CP. I can imagine how upset I'd be if CP was hypothetically closed without warning.

Loopy said:

I bet Kennywood and Waldameer are doing cartwheels in thier front yards. Even the people that want Conneaut Lake are ecstatic I bet.

I don't see it that way at all. Geauga Lake draws mainly from the Cleveland market. Most people here have never been to Kennywood, and many probably don't even know that it exists. Waldameer? Forget it, it's not even on the map in Cleveland.

Most people in Cleveland that were GL customers will just go to Cedar Point if they want to go to a ride park, or just not go to one at all. I can see Cedar Point picking up maybe a hundred thousand visits due to the GL rides closing. The group sales people will actively go after groups like the Cleveland Clinic, which can rapidly increase CP's numbers.

Also, CF is correct that Wildwater Kingdom is the big draw. A large portion of GL's attendance was probably from passholders going frequently to swim. I see no reason at all why those people will go elsewhere, they will still come frequently to swim. When they want rides, they will take a once a year trip to Cedar Point as the big event of the summer. Not go to a park in PA that has a few old wooden coasters.

I think the new coaster at Waldameer will be great, I'm happy for the park and the park fans in Erie. But, it's not going mean anything to the Cleveland market. Same with Kennywood. With GL gone, they are in competition with CP for the Cleveland market, a competition they can't win. For every coaster enthusiast that is infatuated with Kennywood's so called charm, there are 100 Clevelanders who would rather go to CP, which has all the big rides and the reputation.

It is always sad that people's traditions are ruined when a park closes. Many people develop emotional ties with a park, and the park is a part of a family for many generations. I don't believe that CF bought the park to close it, I think they had good intentions that just didn't work out.

I also believe that Six Flags would have closed the entire park and sold the land if a buyer wasn't found. The sale of Sea World was the beginning of the end, it was the "Titanic" event for Geauga Lake. At least the water park is still open and people can still enjoy recreation at Geauga Lake.

Jamie the Crazy said:
I'm a bit confused about what exactly they're doing. They mention a picnic grove on the website. Where is that going to be? .

When the water park was Sea World, there were catering facilites at the top of the hill, in back of the stadiums. This area would be up the hill in back of the wave pool now. All those facilities may still be intact, as you can see a rest room if you look up the hill from the wave pool. So, they may be using the old Sea World group areas.

If that's the case Pete, then Kennywood is just throwing money away advertising in the Cleveland market.

I seriously doubt the park has that kind of money to just pour down the drain. They're getting a good amount of business from the Cleveland and surrounding areas, trust me.

I went to Kennywood once and I wouldn't go back. KW didn't offer enough for me. I think the Blue Streak at CP is a far better coaster than anything KW has.

^ And next, you're going to tell me that Big Dipper at GL was a better ride than anything at Kennywood, too, right?

Kennywood does an excellent job keeping their old coasters running well.

Yes

I took my wife and kids to Kennywood for the first time a couple of years ago. I thought it was a nice park though completely different than CP. It was a lot less intense in terms of rides crammed into every nook and cranny and there was a lot of green/landscaped space and shade. I actually preferred the wood coasters at Kennywood because they still use the old style restraints (one of them, the Jack Rabbit I believe, had just a leather strap for each row that had just 2 (maybe 3) punch holes). I would prefer the Blue Streak with the old restraints over the Kennywood wooden coasters. But I know there are many people on this site who see no difference in the ride experience with the old and new restraints. Kennywood also had a few old time rides that were cool to see. They operated on relatively simple mechanical devices (before the modern days of complex/computer devices) which were cool to see. So I think Kennywood has a lot to offer though its not a place I would want to go to again and again.

I think Kennywood advertising in Cleveland speaks more about the areas economics/population trends. You see a lot of service type entities from Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Columbus trying to break one of the other two areas. But at the same time, people from those areas are trying to break into the other two areas. To me that tells me that if Pittsburgh people are trying to break into the Cleveland market while Cleveland people are trying to break into the Pittsburgh market, neither market is very strong. I think that is what is happening with the KW ads in Cleveland. I suspect they are drawing some people there (particularly with many hotels in the area offering packaged deals with KW tickets included in room prices and additional tickets for $10 or so). But I think the problem is that they are doing that in the face of seeing their core area getting smaller.

I have never been to Kennywood but from what I hear it is just a nice all around park. Since Gl is no mo' I will give Kennywood a try next year.

clevelander said:
Since Gl is no mo'.

No mo', I thought that the waterpark is staying. Or maybe I'm confused by the definition of mo'. It's not in my dictionary.

Urban dictionary may be helpful...of course, it may just confuse you even more because its filled with "words" that aren't really words. Seriously, does it hurt that much to finish typing out "more," or was rhyming the goal?

Text removed... don't post copyrighted material here. Link to it. -J
*** Edited 9/25/2007 3:06:08 AM UTC by Jeff***

"What a slap in the face to the town that has supported the park for over 100 years," goes another comment at Cleveland.com.

Ha! Bainbridge and Aurora supported the park? Maybe in someone's dreams. Those two townships, especially Bainbridge, gave the park nothing but trouble once Six Flags took over from what I understand, and it continued that way under Cedar Fair management. They sounded to me like what Alton Towers has to put up with, though thankfully they didn't force the rides to be shorter than the trees.

^ That hasn't hurt the rides at Alton Towers any. They worked with the restrictions and came up with some kick a$$ rides. Nemesis is THE best invert I've ever been on.

My main point wasn't about the rides, it was the often hostile relationship between the park and the townships, even though SF and CF both tried to get them to ease up and sweeten the relationship, it didn't seem like they wanted the park there except for the money that it was making for the city. I've heard various leaders there call the park an eyesore and a bad spot on the land.