Now what happens to Geauga Lake?

Whats with all the doom and gloom about GL?

I went there this year for the first time since the year it was rebranded SFWoA, and was pleasantly implessed with the water side, and how clean and neat everything looked. The pack was very full compared to most of the trip reports I read, and every ride I cared to watch was open and operating.

What precedent do we have for CF closing a park?

NONE, that's my point. You don't invest the kind of money CF did in purchasing the park and building a brand new waterpark to just turn around and close the park. GL has been through tough times before and made it, and they will do the same this time.

The biggest thing they could do now is to advertise the day lights out of the park. We should be seeing ads on TV, Billboards, Radio and Print ads everytime we turn around. There are a lot of people living around this park that could make it in less than an hour, yet they don't even know its there.

Wow, that was such a well written post that, for a moment, I forgot I was on Pointbuzz.

And, I think you are quite perceptive.
*** Edited 8/11/2006 6:26:49 PM UTC by Chief Wahoo***

I guess I am the Anti-Demographic then.

Until this year, I had been to GL 2 times in my life. Once as GL in 1983 and once as SFWoA in 2003. As SFWoA, I vowed never to return because of filfth and poor all around park service.

I will have been to GL 3 times this year after this weekend. Enjoyed every trip immensely.

I live equal distance (North of Columbus) from CP, KI and GL, I make well above your "market" demographic.

Go figure, I decided to give GL a try and would go there over KI any day (while under Paramount)

I agree with what Jeff said earlier, it's all about the marketing, and they need to do more and a better job of it. I think once people have had a chance to experience the *new* GL, it will be fine.

Just my 2 cents.
*** Edited 8/11/2006 7:48:16 PM UTC by RTurb0***

RTurb0 said:
I think today's announcement is Cedar Fair saying pretty clearly that they want to keep this park going.

Season pass holders from Cedar Fair will be impressed with the park, even if they weren't there during the bad years.

I am a season pass holder from MI Adventure and I loved GL. I wish I lived close to GL instead of close to MI Adventure. GL wins hands down when you compare it to MI Adventure.

In response to DrJekyll:

1) there were never three million visitors combined to GLP/SWO. Maybe in 2000 they came close... but i think they came short. Either way i think we can all agree that 2000 was an anomaly. Point is that there has never been a steady 3 mil draw to that park or to the area. If you talk the region, well there ARE three million in the Cleveland Metro area alone. Even if they can only cap out at 750,000 annual that is still more than enough to make a healthy profit if the park is run properly. It's not like they have year round expense like with the animal park, that's kind of why they didn't keep the animals. Whenever there is that kind of volume it is a sin not to turn a profit.

And really it isn't an equal comparision anymore to say that this park is two parks. It isn't anything like trying to run a sealife park and amusement park. It's an amusement/water park under one gate, just like all the others.

2) Not to take away from individuals who do have it hard, I really can't say that Cleveland has it bad at all. I wouldn't say that we're blazing hot like some regions, but we definately have some good things happening here. First the regions unemployment rate is marginally higher than the national average (right around 4.9 i think) compare that to a city like Detroit (closer to 8%). (check out the bureau of labor stats) Second there are developments and jobs moving into the region, sure they aren't "high paying industrial jobs", but who has those? The Chinese. There are plenty of good jobs in health care and education. And there is always good money to be made in the varios service industries by people who want to work. Even (gasp) when someone doesn't have a college degree. I won't say that things here couldn't be better, but we definately aren't in a recession situation where people are drastically changing their disposable income habits.

3) I tend to agree that GLP does have some stiff competition for the summer dollar even if you only look within Cuyahoga County. However, keep in mind that the population for the region is NOT loosing population. Even if Cuyahoga is losing population, all of the surrounding counties have seen that population increase and then some. (check out the census data) Even if the rate of increase is declining we still haven't crossed the threshold of regional population loss yet. If the population isn't declining then how can you say that jobs are leaving if the unemployement rate is stable?

4) GLP's land has been quite valuable for the last 20 years and uber valuable for the last 10. Ever since Streetsboro joined Solon as a center for commercial and industrial use for the region (oh wait i thought we didn't have jobs) Bainbridge and Aurora joined the ranks of Cleveland suburbs. Now we see Mantua on the horizon. Point is that it isn't a new thing for this land to have higher value as another purpose.

The thing i find interesting is that SFI could have sold that park to developers for far more money to housing developers, but they didn't. And some of that land (the old race track) was sold off already. Point is this isn't a new pressure and if CF wasn't in this for the long haul they would have sold off this property as soon as they got it, not after sinking in that cash for a waterpark.

On the other hand they haven't spent to much on the ride side.... hmmmm... maybe...

DrJekyll said:
The Happy Harbor area can be turned into a mini-amusement park focused on childrens rides and family attractions that everyone can ride together, maybe even relocating the Big Dipper to this area for nostalgia. The park would be able to be profitable from an attendance range of 500,000-1 million guests in a season that runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day at the current price point that ticketing is at.

I agree with everything you said, however I have a sugguestion. Instead of relocating Big Dipper, it would cheaper to just tear it down and rebuild it like todays coasters. I wouldn't mind seeing them re-locating it over in the area that hurricane Hanna used to be in.

Big Dipper is a classic. Why are people so quick to want to tear down classics? If they tear it down then they might as well tear them all down as far as I am concerned.

Ditto what Chief said. Big Dipper is the oldest roller coaster in Ohio, and I believe one of the ten oldest coasters in the world. It is also one of the few remaining roller coasters built by John Miller. And it's an amazing ride.

Show some respect, people.

I agree with what the Chief said. In 1993 The Big Dipper was presented a Coaster Classic Plaque by ACE. It is one of the oldest coasters in the US.

By the way gener pretty much hit the nail on the head. IF CF was going to sell the property and close the park they never would have invested in building a new water park and moving the floating bridge to access it.

I will say this again. Barring any drastic changes in the CF corporate strategy GL will be around for a while and they will invest in the ride side in the future.

No I like where Big Dipper is and don't want it torn down. I was just telling him if you relocate Big Dipper you might as well just rebuild it somewhere else in the park. Like where the old Hurricane Hanna used to be.

I would like for CF and GL to make a few things happen at GL, such as improving their ride reliability (which has been rather lackluster), putting in a few more coasters (they have plenty of room), and for those of us who have the parking passes, just wave us through like they do at CP. I'm sorry, but it is really annoying to have to sit there and wait while they take your pass, go into their litle cubicle or whatever to write down your # or whatnot, and then hand you a tearoff ticket to put in your window. I've actually suggested to the attendant that they need to change how they do that and just wave us through. It would save a lot of paper and waiting as well. Just some food for thought CF. :)

Why would you suggest them to add more coasters when they can't keep the ones they have now running?

They have 10 coasters, for a park that size, is crazy.

I'll agree that the parking thing is a bit annoying. I can't figure out why they haven't standardized operations company wide.

Hey Loopy, I noticed you didn't have any typos in you post. And you didn't even have to edit!

Woohoo for me!

Damn, I misspelled woohoo the first time.

*** Edited 8/23/2006 3:45:50 PM UTC by Loopy***

The last couple of times when I went to the park, the attendant did wave me through, once when I told her my Parking Pass number, and one she saw it and just waved me on by.

I still had to wait for them to write my pass # down at the parking gate. Also, Geauga Lake needs to improve upon its staffing levels, customer service, and communication between itsself and CP, especially when doing a promotion such as last weekend's.
*** Edited 8/29/2006 12:57:09 PM UTC by ltrain2006***

Here is a list of 5 things that I would like to see happen at Geauga Lake.

1. Increase ride reliability (i.e. Steel Venom, Skyscraper, and Monorail to start.)

2. GL needs to think of and put in a better way of getting people around the park. Possibly install a train like CP. Walking that far around the park to the other side, even with the bridge, is tiring. And the trams usually fill up too quickly (they only have 2).

3. For those of us with parking passes, please standardize operations in sync with CP and just wave us through instead of taking our pass in and writing the # down.

4. Lower the food prices in the park. I know McDonalds and KFC are right across the road but think of it this way- If GL lowered their food prices then they could potentially increase their in park revenue. The lower profit would potentially be compensated for in terms of volume.

5. Keep GL open for Halloween!!!!! I think more people would appreciate the additional opportunities to visit GL.

ROLLERCOASTERPSYCHO67 said:
I don't think you will see any new rides for at least a couple of years, but they will make capital improvements to make the ride side more appealing.

Yeah... I would definitely like to see some new paint on Dominator and Steel Venom.

Hint, hint... word is that Steel Venom is going to be painted this offseason.