Now what happens to Geauga Lake?

Exactly, it's been said before and I'll say it again CP, PKI and GLP has coexisted for over 100 years what makes this year different?

I don't know, maybe that they were competitors and now they're subsidiaries of the third largest park chain. Other than that, not so much.

Oh, and PKI has only been around since 1971. A little less than 100 years, methinks.

The reason that people believe that all three parks will be fine is that CF allows their parks to act somewhat independantly. For example (not that i've been there) but from my understanding when Worlds of Fun was acquired it was allowed to continue operating as a themed park. Even though most of the holdings are not. CF hasn't historically required all of the parks to fit one CF mold from the consumers point of view. Organizationaly it may, and i would bet is, a different story.

To believe that CF will change the current models of each park significantly is to believe that CF will drastically change their M.O. Which while possible is quite improbable. How do you think they put themselves in the position to become the third largest park chain?

And one last thought. The markets for KI and the northen parks really don't overlap, except in Columbus. Furthermore the market for GLP has historically been different from those at KI and CP. It looks to me that GLP is going back to what has worked in the past, which would mean going after that different market from CP. IE, local families, season pass holders, local company picnics and those looking for a less costly day of fun.

wel you're right, but I added PKI in there at the very end, cause I forgot about it ;)

I remember back in 2003 at SFWoA the rides were almost always walk on, except on saturdays, and bring a friend free days. The only reason SFWoA attendance was so high was because they always had buy one get one free tickets, bring a friend free days for season pass holders, $49.99 season passes. They basically just gave the gate away, i had friends that went 10 times that season without ever paying to pay, because of all the free tickets they gave out.

When CF bough SFWoA, you didn't see free tickets, buy one get one free discounts, "bring a friend free" days for season pass holders, and deep discounts such as bring a friend for $5 for season pass holders. *** Edited 6/19/2006 2:21:59 AM UTC by thevillain***

I think that Cedar Fair really missed their chance when they drastically cut back Phase II of WWK. People were naturally dissapointed and let down. This would have been the perfect season (if the original plans for Phase II would have followed through) to advertise in commercials that Wildwater Kingdom is the top water park in the area and one of the largest. But, instead the commercials will advertise that they are adding a new wave pool and families who don't know the difference will say "don't they already have a wavepool?" I agree that TWB is a great addition, but, teamed up with GL's ten coasters and a good-sized ride side, this could have been the year to make Geauga Lake special. Right now, there is really nothing that makes a family decide to drive and extra hour or 2 past Cedar Point to Geauga Lake, and the large waterpark with new innovative attractions (masterblaster, tornado slide, colorful new slides versus Soak City's white and black ones) could have been the single thing that would have encouraged families to check out Geauga Lake.

Oh well, maybe next year.

If you check the new from the Toledo Blade today, you'll see that GL did $25 million last year. That doesn't justify huge additional spending.

That observation doesn't exactly give me a warm, happy feeling about GL's future.

Neither does my visit the other day.

I want to see it return to its family park glory days, but given the way I saw it going the other night, I just don't see that happening.

I too want to see GL prosper. I've always had a soft spot for the 'little park' that wasn't CP or KI. And it's the closest thing to my home park, since it's closer to me than CP. I usually get to CP 5 or 6 times in a season and GL 8 or 10 times.

Consider this. GL had revenue of 26 million last year, next to last for CF, either in terms of pre- or post-purchase of Paramount Parks. And that's with 10 coasters, the second highest count in the pre-purchase chain, and still up in the upper echelons, even after the sale.

Well duh... coasters don't equate to giant revenue. Haven't you been following Six Flags? You can't blame Cedar Fair for building all of those rides. Geauga Lake did just fine for decades without all of those rides.

I don't know what their revenue target will be in the long term, but I suspect it's more Valleyfair or Worlds of Fun than it is Dorney.

Jeff said:
Well duh... coasters don't equate to giant revenue. Haven't you been following Six Flags? You can't blame Cedar Fair for building all of those rides. Geauga Lake did just fine for decades without all of those rides.

I went with my girlfriend, who's never really seen the workings of the industry like most of us here (or some of us, apparently...) have, and she even said that it's just too weird there with the amount of stuff they have.

It's very hard to put into words, but it's like there's too much to do, but not enough to do. It's too small to be a big park, but there's a lot of big park stuff there, and at the same time, there's too much stuff for it to be a small park. (still at the same time, I get bored and run out of stuff quickly). From the admission aspect, I think the park is almost too much for 24.95, but I wouldn't pay any more for it. Does that make any sense?

I know its not really an option, but GL would almost benefit from the removal of some of their coasters that came in 2000.

They can move them to Michigan's Adventure. We'll take em.

I can just see the new Michigan's Adventure slogan: "We'll take whatever we can get!"

And Josh, I think the point that you may be trying to convey is one of mediocrity. Sure, Geauga Lake has a lot of roller coasters and things to do, but save for the water park, they're all mediocre things to do. Is it worth more than 25 bucks admission? Maybe, maybe not.

Ehhh... Yeah, that probably is what I'm getting at. It's an odd type of mediocrity, and still a very hard one to explain.

I really can't think of a very "PC" way to describe the things that I saw and experienced when I was there the other day, but there were a couple of instances which really stood out in my mind.

Probably the only one I can put into words is the one where they made Jen and I hold our flip-flops on Thunderhawk when we had put them off on the side. We were towards the middle-back of the train and when I asked if we were allowed to put them in the boxes, we were told that we had to take them with us, no exceptions.

When the train pulled out, I noticed a pile of shoes and sandal-type things stacked up near the front of the station, and the first thing that popped into my head was the fact that we were told that the policy was the holding of the shoes for everyone, but we were the only 2 people who were forced to hold them. Strange, but I have my theory as to why. I don't want to get into that, because it could get out of hand quickly.

e x i t english said:

I went with my girlfriend, who's never really seen the workings of the industry like most of us here (or some of us, apparently...) have, and she even said that it's just too weird there with the amount of stuff they have.

It's very hard to put into words, but it's like there's too much to do, but not enough to do. It's too small to be a big park, but there's a lot of big park stuff there, and at the same time, there's too much stuff for it to be a small park. (still at the same time, I get bored and run out of stuff quickly). From the admission aspect, I think the park is almost too much for 24.95, but I wouldn't pay any more for it. Does that make any sense?

I know its not really an option, but GL would almost benefit from the removal of some of their coasters that came in 2000.

Exit, you have exactly explained my sentiments. It's really hard to quantify something so intangible, but those of that hit the park frequently probably all understand.

It's like, it doesn't have the right atmosphere or something. Not like it used to. I just don't experience the same kind of excitement or wonder as when I go to other parks.

I don't know I'd go so far as to suggest removal of coasters, but when I imagine the prospect of CP (someday) putting in a new coaster, it doesn't jazz me as much I think it should. Certainly not like the impending Maverick -- whatever it is. And I'm not saying they shouldn't put in a new one. Just that whatever is wrong with GL is more fundamental than how many rides they put in. Pardon me while I get all mystical, but it's like it's a problem of spirit.

Maybe I'm just getting a bit bored of PKI, (I've been going there since about two years after they opened), but I abosolutely love my trips to GL, and can't wait for Labor Day weekend to get up there again. Wish I could say the same for PKI, I went Sunday rode SOB and Plankton's Plunge with my kids, and was ready to go.

Even my five year old daughter wants to get back to CP and GL. Don't get me wrong, I love PKI, but I pretty much equally love GL. Great park, and doing great these days. Look where it's come from in the past couple of years...a total 180! Awesome waterpark! Great coasters! (Long live the Dipper).

GL seems small and compact for all of the rides it has, so it gets boring walking in the same place over and over again, Cedar Point seems bigger, because of its layout and everything is more spreadout. I agree that geauga lake is lacking atmosphere, and if they would maybe put a new coaster, not huge, but not too small, and some flat rides where the old waterpark was, that would bring back some atmosphere.

Well consider that the original GLP was 65 acres of developed park no wonder it seems small. It is. But there is a ton of stuff in that 65 acres to do.

Second, at this time GLP is not and can not expect to draw people the extra two hours past CP. It just doensn't make sense. All effort and marketing should be to recapture the Cleveland and western PA markets. Things were so botched at the end people don't even think about the park anymore. Most people i talk to don't even know that GLP has a new waterpark. The conversation almost always goes like this,

"oh so you're one of those amusement park nuts, eh?"

"Ya i'm going to GLP this Sunday."

"Oh ya, it's not SF anymore is it?"

"Nope. Cedar Point's parent company owns them now."

"They don't have animals anymore, what's over there now?"

"Oh they tore all that down and put in this great new waterpark. Plenty of room and more cutting edge than Soak City in some ways."

"Wow i didn't know that."

Almost exactly like that. And they never know what's happening there. That is where GLP/CF is failing right now. They are not getting the word out. This park has shown to have the ability to draw in excess of 1.5 mil consistantly. And it's not like they have a bad product and should be ashamed to market the hell out of it. It is imperitive to not only reintroduce a culture to the park's work force, but to also reintroduce the general public to the good stuff the park has to offer.