Teen breaks into Geauga Lake and gets pictures ON the big dipper

You're spot on Noggin, and the analogy is hilarious 😂

Cartwright said:

What was unfortunate is that there was never an opportunity for anyone else to come in and make a run of the place.

This is completely untrue. If this were a viable business, someone would have bought it as such. Three owners between the two properties couldn't make it work. The day Busch sold the marine park to Six Flags was the beginning of the end. Dick Kinzel's ego didn't see it.

The people who are still butt hurt about it think rainbows and unicorns are all the park needed. They have their stupid conspiracy theories, too. Between those two thought processes, it's pretty clear that they have no idea how business works.

The world's largest "entertainment" McDonald's* in Orlando does a fine business. If I moved the world's largest "entertainment" McDonald's to Elkhart, Indiana (population 51,000) it wouldn't. Like SFWoA, it would suddenly too big for its market.

*That's how they describe it on their website, which presumably means there's an actual world's largest McDonald's somewhere and Oerther Foods found a PR hook to promote.

That, and it's a total dump.

I remember the commercials when Six Flags bought the park where they had this dorky family with the dad saying they drove past Cedar Point to get to Six Flags Ohio and I remember laughing thinking I don't care what you renamed it or how many new rides you built this year that just isn't happening. Nobody passes Cedar Point to get to Geauga Lake. Everybody knew that except Six Flags apparently. My only real gripe with Cedar Fair is that I wish they had anounced the closing before the end of the season so that we would have known it was our last chance to experience the park. I would have taken more pictures and as hot as it was that day I would have spent more time on the ride side or come for an extra day that summer just to concentrate on rides.

When GL closed, it was funny how all those fans said they would never step foot in CP again... oh how that changed.

DK never bought it to kill it. He tried to clean up the SF mess but unfortunately it was too late.

Jeff said:

That, and it's a total dump.

I'll defer to your expertise. "World's largest McDonald's" has always been enough to get me to pass the place by without a second look. (Also, I can only get Beefy King in Orlando.)

Paisley said:

My only real gripe with Cedar Fair is that I wish they had announced the closing before the end of the season so that we would have known it was our last chance to experience the park. .

Announcing the park closing after the season made a peaceful closing for CF.

CPBoy77 said:

When GL closed, it was funny how all those fans said they would never step foot in CP again... oh how that changed.

Yeah, the same entitled goons that complain about everything.

Jeff said:

This is completely untrue. If this were a viable business, someone would have bought it as such. Three owners between the two properties couldn't make it work. The day Busch sold the marine park to Six Flags was the beginning of the end. Dick Kinzel's ego didn't see it.

I swear the park "as is" - minus the rides Cedar Fair chose to keep - was not ever an option at the auction or during any land sale. The no entertainment clause Cedar Fair has in place, plus the fact that they immediately came in and destroyed the basic infrastructure proves to me they were not going to allow anyone else to ever have the chance to operate what was left as a park.

Who would want to?

Massive park, aged infrastructure, poor city policies, lack of resorts, roads, hotels, and other needed tourism infrastructure. It wasn't a viable business for years, someone like Busch isn't going to come in and turn it around in a heartbeat.

Seconding thedevariouseffect.

Cartwright said:

....destroyed the basic infrastructure proves to me they were not going to allow anyone else to ever have the chance to operate what was left as a park.

Perhaps you've watched too many episodes of Dallas, Dynasty and The Young and The Restless? That's just not how business works.... outside of soap operas.

What could have happened is after the sale and demolition of the ride side, the city could have let Cedar Fair sell to viable businesses who wanted the land and who would like to do business in the town. However, the city wants something extravagant to go there (even though right now it's a wasteland), and has blocked or caused havoc on any potential sale including the current one. So Cedar Fair currently has no choice other than to pay taxes on vacant unsellable property that the city makes thousands off of annually.

It took until a vote in 2014 to put the land as mixed use, but still has some stipulations. When Cedar Fair threatens to sue, you know it's getting hostile there. They want out, they have for years, it's just a matter of how much longer are they willing to be patient and quiet.

They could have had a movie studio, an online realty service (CoStar), and currently Meijer. However everytime a potential sale pops up, look at the Township's reaction to it.

Then the poor infrastructure, highways, and locality all comes into play. First they didn't want the big park, and now all they can do is complain it isn't there anymore. It's pathetic.

Thedevariouseffect, it is not fair to introduce facts to conspiracy theories!

Yes, most of the Geauga conspiracies involve Cedar Fair being nefarious and "cleverly" planning to bring down Geauga Lake by pouring millions of dollars into it instead not pouring millions of dollars into it and just shutting it down and distributing rides. None of the theorists concern themselves with major players in the matter, the local governments.

True. I do think in a way they wanted to make it a viable option. But between the Paramount Debt, the recession, terrible local relationship, and the issues surrounding Geauga Lake itself and the eventual Apollo Management merger just gave it the perfect forecast for them to close the ride side and try and make a viable waterpark in the northern city with a bit of a healthier climate for negotiations.

It's a shame that park is no longer there, but it is what it is.

Yeah. The conspiracy theorists seem to focus on the park and the last owner, and there were so many more balls in the air, so to speak.

I would be delighted to be able to go over to Ohio and spend a day at Geauga Lake, but I can't. And that's just the way it is. Maybe I'm overly unsentimental, but every amusement park will close someday. I missed Idora Park by a year or two, I only had one chance at William's Grove (which had a great name, says someone named William....) and someday Cedar Point will close.

^ I hope you're wrong on that.

If you type in Cedar Point on Google, it says permanently closed, but I know that's wrong.

^ I wish it would say something along the lines of: "Closed for Season" or even "Temporarily Closed."

^ that's probably because of miscues with Google's servers thinking that when the park closes for the season, it's closed permanently.

noggin said:
Seconding thedevariouseffect.

Cartwright said:

....destroyed the basic infrastructure proves to me they were not going to allow anyone else to ever have the chance to operate what was left as a park.

Perhaps you've watched too many episodes of Dallas, Dynasty and The Young and The Restless? That's just not how business works.... outside of soap operas.

Actually, as someone who has experience with Economic Development I can verify that sadly the type of behavior that Cartwright referenced happens in the real world too.