GL - this is what consitutes "fun"?

Yeah, so I was at GL on Monday the 23rd and Thursday the 26th.

No crowds either day, with Thursday being a complete and utter write-off day, crowd wise. I could've counted the cars in the parking lot if I wanted to devote 10 minutes to it.

First day:

Got there around 10'30", an hour and a half earlier than we had predicted when we left Toronto at 5'20"am.

Found out we couldn't bring bags onto the rides/leave them at the exits, which really, really pissed me off. Cedar Fair thing, I think. We had to walk from the back of the park, to the car, and back, which was a huge annoyance. They need to make this clearer - and make their lockers cheaper. $6 for a locker? Insane.

Double Loop - decent. No wait.

Villain - I'd assume it was the trains, but this ride tracked like butt. Could be a great ride if it was smoother.

Dominator - now this, this was a crazy coaster. Smooth, good elements, some intensity, lots and lots of fun. Went on 5 times. No waits, either. Longest we waited was one train for a front seat ride.

Raging Wolf Bobs - maybe the trains again, but this ride was absolutely terrible. Track lay-out wasn't superb, but the roughness and jerking around totally ruined anything that the ride could have going for it. My second least favourite woodie [behind DL's Predator].

Thunderhawk - a decent SLC, a bit rough, worth a ride or two [although we hated the second ride].

Superman - lots of fun, moreso than we thought it would be. No lines, at all. We were the only two people on the ride. Went thrice.

Headspin - rough as hell boomer, and we regretted riding it - even just for the credit.

Big Dipper - really enjoyable woodie. Tracked well, some good air with a loose seatbelt - really fun ride!

Beaver Land Mine Ride - decent kids coaster. I liked the twin cycling of it, going around twice. The back provided some good laughs.

X-Flight was closed the first day we were there. We also went on El Dorado [which was lame but had good visuals], and the Haybale, which had the most annoying music ever.

We also took the long walk along the boardwalk to the back of the park, only to find that EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED BACK THERE. It would've been incredibly obvious for them to put up signs or SOMETHING. The only things open were the kids playplace, the Pirate, the Scrambler, and the tilt-a-whirl type thing. Was a real piss-off. We rode the Pirate and the Scrambler, both were eh.

We left at around 6, bored as hell with the park.

Second day:

Parking lot was empty. We got there at 1, and STILL parked in the first row of parking.

X-Flight - went on four times. Not a great ride, but it was quite the experience. Let me tell you, though, Denny's French Toast Slam breakfast + this ride do NOT mix. Was feeling queasy after a few rides. My favourite ride was letting my body go limp and just swing around.

Superman - three times. Got there just as a train was being dispatched - with ONE rider on it [in the front]. The train then proceeded to SMACK a bird. Fortunately for the single rider, the bird hit the seat NEXT to him, and made some nice splats in the station. Bird guts all over the seat! Woo!

Dominator - six times. Got a little rough near the end. Another gripe I have with the park is the no-double-rides thing. A Cedar Fair thing, I know, but it is still terrible. A station is completely empty except for my friend and I. And yet, instead of staying on for a second ride, we have to get off, walk all the way around the overly long queue, and get in line again? That is just CRAP.

Villain - twice more. Front seat was a decent ride, but still too jerky.

Big Dipper - rode six times, got tons of air, had loads of fun. Easily the funnest coaster in the park.

Bumper cars - had them all to ourselves, so we set out on a DEMOLITION SPREE OF DOOM. Had some good fun, and the ride op gave us some long cycles.

Beaver Land Mine Ride - the front was not nearly as good as the back.

Thoroughly bored after four hours in the park, we left.

We stopped along the drive home at Waldameer [yay for spur-of-the-moment decisions!], and had more fun there than both days at Geauga Lake combined.

Over-all, it's incredibly obvious that the park is in a transitional period. Lots of things were closed, lots were being overhauled, and certain things still need different paintjobs and personalities [Superman, especially].

But that doesn't excuse the complete lack of enthusiasm from the park. The employees were terrible. Dispatch times were incredibly slow. Nobody showed any sort of enjoyment of their job, and quite frequently employees were bastards. There were a couple of nice ones [Brad on Dominator, and - the girl working the bumper cars], but for the most part, it was a dull, lifeless park.

Hearing the phrase, "The Fun is Back" in drab, monotone, sad, or depressed voices isn't going to make me, or anyone else in the general public, believe it.

Until they can fix employee morale, their park will NOT be a fun place to go, and will not be on my future Ohio itinerary.

At Michigan Adventure its like 10 dollars to rent a locker, but you get 7 back as a deposit. I actually prefer this method because then I get the locker for as long as I want. It can be good if you are going in and out of it all day, but if you're only needing it to put stuff for one ride, you're better off going to your car and leaving whatever there.

Villain was in sad shape even the last time I was there (which I think was 2002). I hope it gets the love it needs this off-season.

I wonder to what extent the lack of crowds contributes to the employee moral, contributing to the lack of crowds, etc.

Even as a guest, there are times when parks are *too* empty---it helps to have other people's energy to feed off of.

Yea maybe its just me, but I like standing in lines that are like 10-15 min long. It just isn't as fun when you can walk on every ride. Half the fun of going to a park is the waiting in line with the people your with. Just not waiting in an hour line.

Crowds are exactly the reason I don't visit parks in July or August. Walk-ons are precisely the reason I never miss a Halloweekend Friday night.

I like walk-ons, but waiting in line for five or ten minutes per ride doesn't irk me. Occasionally, you meet and talk to some other coaster lovers and get their viewpoints on the park, which is always neat.

Waiting for hours is what bothers me.

That last full week of full operation in August has always been and will always be ultra-slow. Schools start back up in the area.

I remember one time last year i went on a night late in september, there was no octoberfest, or fright fest. The park was basically a ghost town, there were probably no more than 100 people in the park, not including employees. It felt weird being there, you would look around, anywhere you were and the park was lifeless.

those are all day lockers though, so increased convenince, especially with the waterpark area

I personally get physically sick after riding 10 rollercoasters one right after another. I was there and the longest wait was 10 minutes on X-Flight b/c they had one train going and two person checking seats (this, obviously, was last year since you most likely won't see this w/ CF). I'd rather be there with a few other people to talk to, joke around with, or just plain get excited with. Sometimes you can make friends, too, and go spend the day with your new found friends... something that just doesn't happen when you don't have enough ppl in the park like described here.

Yes the park really sucks this year! But I am sure that it will be alot better next year because like this winter Cedar Fair bought it and then just like a month later they had to open it so I sure they have alot of things they are planning to do this off season at least I hope. Geauga Lake is really a great park with some good rides but overall it just really sucks this year.

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Cory Marshall

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Ben Englund said:
I was there and the longest wait was 10 minutes on X-Flight b/c they had one train going and two person checking seats (this, obviously, was last year since you most likely won't see this w/ CF).

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Actualy, when I was there a few weeks ago, X-Flight was running one train and had one person checking seats. A grand total of two people running the ride. Eventually three more people came back (apparently they were on break, although I can't figure out why all at the same time) and things moved a bit faster.

Come on- with a 10x better park within an hour there is barely any reason for once-a-year visitors to go here. CP = Competition killer