Plain Dealer: Park dismantling coaster for move

Taking it off was easy (and I don't mean hitting the pylon, I mean removing the broken parts). Putting it back on will be just as easy. Heck, taking the door panel off was the hardest part and it isn't that hard. My dad has his parts guy looking for one right now. It's tough because mine is heated and electronic so he said it may be harder to find. I spoke with the parts dept at one of the Ford dealerships in the city today and a new heated/electronic colour matched mirror is $217.20 new. Worst comes to worst I'll go for that because my dad will get it at mechanic's cost.

Trust me on this one, if SFWOA didn't do 2.7 mil in 2001 it was still in excess of 2.5 mil. Remember that GLP had been pulling in well over 1.5 mil during the 90's. The fact that the park is unable to crack the million mark at this time shows how poorly the general public felt about the WOA product. Especially when one considers that with the new branding and animals came a major hike in park prices (games going from 1.00 to 5.00 or a hot dog from 1.85 to over 3.00 or even the gate price increase). Yes there were some new rides and some new buildings, but for most people, i think, it was still the old GLP with a new coat of paint.

And to think that there isn't enough spending money around allow for GLP to compete with KI and CP is rediculous. I argue that the numbers for 2000 and 2001 show that the park was well on its way to doing just that. It was the poor product that killed the Six Flags experiment, not some mystical market bias toward GLP. So to argue that GLP must reduce its ride count or close the ride park completely just because there isn't enough room in the market to support both GLP and CP at a 3 mil annual attendance is rediculous.

On the other hand I would agree the removal of x-flight will have no effect on the attendance. Mostly because more people in the market aren't aware that the park is still open or that there was a coaster called "x-flight". (Remember there are over 4.5 million residents in the Cleveland/Akron/Canton area. 700,000 is a small portion of that). Furthermore i would also agree with the general sentiment that the park would be better off with its removal bacuase the gate doens't warrent the number of rides the park has, especially considering what a maitenence issue this ride can be. But from what i can gather it's not because the park is running with some enormous debt inherited from SFI, that debt stayed with SFI. It's a matter of operating a park that is appropriate for the size attendance the park is drawing. But if there is any hope of bringing people back to the park at this time, prices must be lowered on every park item and service.

e x i t english said:
They don't need anything big to counter this, and attendance won't go down because of it.

Well, my girlfriend and I probably won't go to GL now, it was her favorite ride there... and we go a good 10 times a year... and we usually bring people with us.

*** Edited 12/15/2006 11:25:21 PM UTC by liebevision***

Yes, but you're forgetting to calculate in the number of people who HATE X-Flight so much, they don't go there all season...ten times! In fact, they go a negative number of visits. And they don't bring their friends either!

So it all balances out. ;)
*** Edited 12/15/2006 5:27:10 AM UTC by Ensign Smith***

I'm sad about X-Flight leaving but at the same time it was an eye sore. The footprint jutted into the parking lot and looked horrible. The queue system was just rediculous and pointless, and on top of that the "themeing" was going downhill, all the times I was there last season the sign wasn't even hanging from the crane thing, sad.

After working in the amusement business for 4 years, going on my 5th, I know that the Vekoma Flying Dutchman is one of the hardest rides to operate, mechanically and efficiently. I want nothing more than to see it end up here in my back yard at MIA but I know for a fact that there may be 2-3 people that could actually run that hunk, and the others would just stand there with dumb looks on their faces. If it ends up there they wouldn't have to worry about a line except for the 2 Saturdays that they are busy. Plus MIA Maintanence is the worst of the company and they would hate it the most.

I see KI getting it, but I don't want them to. The park gets roughly the same amount of people annually that CP gets, and they have no capacity rides. I say their best bet would be to get a B&M hyper, possibly even toss things up and throw in a loop with the clam shell restraints and maybe a seat belt. All XF at KI would do would be to add iritated guests, waiting in a long ass line. I rode BORG during an ERT and waited 25 minutes and there were only 150 of us there. The line was well over two hours for the whole day after that.

The best idea would be to move XF to MIA behind WW, and then build a high capacity (B&M) at KI. Just my two cents.

Actually now that Geauga Lake has removed like 2 rides, and possibly the Steel Venom, they have plenty of room to work with for future development. I think if Business picks up in the future, they could add another coaster, but for now, I think Geauga Lake wants to get rid of rides that are costing them more to fix then the ride is worth. Now as far as lowering prices goes, they can only lower the admission so much. It's down to $26.00 a person. What they get you in is the price of food. For a Large Drink, it could cost you about $5.00 which is what you expect if your going to the movies. I'll miss X-Flight, but I"m sure PKI will be able to handle the maintenance more. One good thing to note is Geauga Lake can work on creating more parking spaces now. The former waterpark they should just dismantle already and do something with that. So I think we cannot give up just yet on Geauga Lake. The park still has potential, but they have a long way to go.

Wow, someone has some issues with necrophilia. ;)

What the heck is necrophilia? I'm confused. I'm trying to be optimistic for Geauga Lake, I know they can be better. :)

I live right near Michigans Adventure and havent seen any heavy equipment out there when I've looked. Nor have I heard anything locally about X Flight comming this way. We'll take it though... Happily. :D

Umm, it's going to KI as Firehawk.
http://www3.cedarfair.com/KingsIsland/news/index.cfm

All I have to say is, wow.

I dont know if I'm brain dead right now but I'm not quite sure where you were getting with that Bryan.....:)

I know what necrophilia is, but not sure how it ties up with Shawns post.......

*** Edited 2/7/2007 10:43:47 PM UTC by TTD 120mph***

If I understand correctly, he's suggesting that GL is dead, or at least mortally wounded. So anybody who is enamored of such a place is romantically involved with a corpse. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;) )

Hmmmm.....interesting.......:P

Sir Bumpalot said:
This is a wild theory, but:

Maybe the X-Flight removal is a long term plan for Cedar Point. This might mean that Cedar Point is getting a B&M Flyer for their next roller coaster, and they didn't want Geauga Lake competing. Since CP probably won't get a new coaster for a few years now, removing X-Flight now would make it look like it wasn't being removed for CP's benefit.

If X-Flight were announced to be removed in 2009, and a week later, Cedar Point announced a new flying coaster, Geauga Lake fans might get even more discouraged and cause bad publicity.

-Just a thought

I don't mean to rip on you, but that is the worst theory i have ever heard because every thing I have heard abut B&M flyers is they are 100 times better than Vekomas and X-Flight would never compete. Plus lots of people don't look at Geauga as a ride park and it doesn't bring people from 7+ hours like Cedar Point.

Oh you guys kill me...hehe

No, I was saying that the thread was almost two months old and I didn't think it needed dug up from the grave since we have enough GL-PKI-SV-FH-XF threads going as is.

That was all, man y'all read into things waaay too much. :)

Ohhhhhhhhhhh. I didn't even notice the thread got bumped.

Think I like my theory better.

That's just not right man...the whole corpse thing ;)

Seriously, I still believe in GL and think it's a viable park and local destination. I stand behind the direction CF is taking the park and it actually may make me visit there more often than before. If it's a more intimate setting then it's a totally different feeling than CP and it makes for a very nice day trip just to get away.