Geauga Dog

I've read several different TR's on other sites about how busy WWK was this year and it's good to see it seemed to do well. Hopefully CF will get the hint and actually do something next year. There hasn't been anything significant since Tidal Wave Bay in 2006 so it is loooooong overdue for a new slide of some sort. Even when the ride side was open it seemed like there wasn't enough capacity for the crowds it was getting. Oh, Elissa, you can thank Busch for how nice the park looks. CF would never build a water park like WWK.

Mark, you have a great collection of postcards and brochures. I've enjoyed looking at them and look forward to future installments. As for the birthday cake building at Martin's Fantasy Island, based on the photo of the western town in the brochure, I have a feeling it may have been the brown building with the small arch on the right side of this photo I took back in May.

I highly disagree. Waldameer is just as old as Geauga Lake, and smaller, and is thriving. Kennywood continues to keep the nostaligia factor going while still adding new additons. GL could still survive with a little bit of new investment. Cedar Fair failed to do so unless you want to say that cornhole in 2007 was a major addition to the ride side. Those two parks co-existed for over 100 years. As much as CP tries to be more family friendly it will never be. For them it's all thrills, thrills, and thrills. They are best known for their coasters. GL could have continued to balance the Northern Ohio market as being more focused on family attractions just like Kennywood and Idlewild co-exist and still being owned by the same owner.

What you just listed are a bunch of national chains that CF has installed in the park, well minus Coasters but since you can find one in just about all of the original pre-Paramount Parks it could be considered one, but what about the regular food stands? Their fries used to be good, near Potato Patch quality and a good portion for the price. Now you pay more for less product and less quality. Anyway... You also have to take into account that Cedar Fair didn't exactly market the park all that well from 2004 through 2006. Having the slogan "The Fun Is Back" in '04 when in fact it had never left in the first place was down right awful. Of course the timing was bad, having just acquired the park right as the season was about to start in a couple of months didn't help the situation. When Wildwater Kingdom was new in 2005 there was no major marketing for the then new water park. 2006's "What A Surprise" highlighting a children's birthday party where the kid opens the present and they are transplanted to Geauga Lake (using footage from other parks) was very lackluster. These first few years you saw very few commericals for GL on TV. Then finally in 2007 they did a great commercial for the park, showing a lot of actual park footage, and having it aired much more frequently on TV actually worked. Having been there every weekend during that season there was a very noticeable increase of guests in the park, despite what many people wrote about in TR's. The park's busiest days were always towards the end of the week.

It is my understanding that Six Flags had to find a way to get money or the banks would no longer give them loans. Couldn't they have sold Darien Lake, Frontier City, Elitch Gardens, and maybe Astroworld instead for what they got for SFWoA? Could it have lasted a little longer if the Paramount deal didn't take place? I loved SFWoA and still to this day I wonder what it would have been like under Shapiro, especially after seeing photos of what they did to Marine World for the transition into Discovery Kingdom. I'm sure we would have seen the exorbitant prices and tacky advertising but you get some of that at CP anyway. At the same time, after I visited Dorney Park in 2005, I could easily see this being the direction CF could have taken with Geauga Lake. Okay, take Dominator out (I would not have been happy but if it meant the park would remain open then I'm fine with that). Add some flats to fill in that dead space in the front where Mr. Hyde's used to be.

Might as well add the Intamin Vertical Lift coaster also known as Fahrenheit at Hersheypark. As much as I love B&M coasters something from Intamin might be a nice change despite their not so stellar safety record. At the same time does Magic Mountain really need more inversions?

That City Museum looks pretty tripped out. I'll have to visit if I get back to St. Louis. I can't even imagine being in a park with temps that high. When I went in June the temps were hovering around 100 already. Don't know how the group survived that. I don't know why I seem surprised you picked Mr. Freeze as your favorite even though I highly agree with your assessment since it is the best shuttle coaster I've been on as well. I did not know that Evel Knievel was a twin. I loved it. If that's the case let's bring more European coaster twins to America. Thanks for the photos. They brought back a lot of fantastic memories.

They could always advertise it as the first coaster in the Southeast with a beyond vertical drop. Something tells me that if this is a success that SFGAm will have one planted on the old Splashwater Falls site.

Sorry, Double Loop is already scrapped - one of the first to be ripped out. Cedar Fair wants what's left of the park gone ASAP so that they could sell it but they are asking too much for the land. They will make sure there is no amusement park rebuilt on that property. The current site is basically a landfill now with a few structures still standing and Aurora and Bainbridge are doing nothing about it. There was a plan to build more shopping (as if that area needs anymore) that fell through. Recently there was an article stating that officials in Aurora and Bainbridge would like to rezone the land.

I wasn't going to post any more in this topic since I figured it has run its course but with the news that the Big Dipper is yet again for sale I thought I'd post a few old GL pics mostly from before Premier came into the picture. If you have been to my website, Geauga Lake Today, then you have seen these before but for those who haven't or may not have been too familiar with the old Funtime era then these photos will give you a sense of what the park was like back then. Big Dipper's first drop and the midway. The king of the park in its sparkling white paint job. Once the ride was rebuilt it remained unpainted. The turnaround from Turtle Beach. The drop before the turnaround taken from the monorail. This used to be a double down when it first opened. Double Loop. The rise after the first drop. I always loved Double Loop. A simple coaster that remained smooth to the very end. Sorry, SFoT, but GL's Double Loop was the first back to back vertical looping coaster. Also no Villain in the background. Never quite understood the yellow/purple paint job Six Flags gave it for 2000 and how that fit into the Coyote Creek/Western Village theme. The Corkscrew made GL the first park in Ohio with two looping coasters. Taken from the Skyscraper. You might be able to see the Traver Rocket Ship tower behind the lift hill. Taken from the monorail. 1988 was the park's 100th anniversary. It was a big year for them. The birthday present was Raging Wolf Bobs. I preferred the unpainted look of the ride. It was a rare occurence for parks to add wood coasters back then as most parks were heavy into the steel rides. 1996 and the first year under Premier Parks. Goodbye Corkscrew, hello Mind Eraser. This was a big deal since it was the first coaster in eight years. Now for a comparison photo. The back of this photo says September 1987. Photo taken in, I believe, 2006 because Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall is gone. This is what we are missing, folks. To those who miss Opryland, Astroworld, even Wonderland Sydney, I understand the pain. Thanks for viewing.

I remember seeing Dick Knoebel at the auction looking over the rolling stock. If it wasn't for the Flying Turns I wonder if he would have been interested. It would have been a good fit for them. CardCraze, you seem to know the soap opera all too well.

As disgusting as it is to see this ride just sit and rot it is pretty obvious no one wants the ride. This isn't the first time the owner has tried to sell the coaster.

Voyage - intense from chain release to brake run. Leaves you rather breathless. Laser - for a small Schwarzkopf this packed a punch. I greyed out on the second loop every time. He was a genius. Ravine Flyer II - not as intense as Voyage but night rides on this can be insane. Superman (SFGAm and SFGAdv) - while the layout may be meh the pretzel loop makes up for it. I can only imagine what Tatsu's massive pretzel loop is like. Batman - any Batman is intense though I thought SFStL's was a bit more intense than the others (or is it that I'm getting old).

I have to agree - Hydra's jo-jo roll is one of the best. Other faves include: Dominator when it was at GL - the long run out over the wetlands Adventure Express Son of Beast - I know what you may be thinking but the pre-lift wasn't that bad compared to the rest of the ride. Phoenix - the darkest tunnel I've ever coasted through Conneaut's Blue Streak - for its classic musty tunnel

I think of the four Windseekers CP's may be the most intimidating because of its location. During the day would be no problem but come night fall, being next to the dark abyss called Lake Erie, would creep me out a bit swinging at that height.

That was my first thought but I think the actual tower may be where the old Cinema 180/Laser Tag thingy used to be next to the restrooms. They'll probably use the old Flight Commander area and the hardly used concession stand next to it for the queue. I'm actually thrilled that KI is getting this and putting the ride in that particular area of Coney Mall. That area has needed some sort of rejuvenation since there are only three rides at that end of the mall. Plus I have to say "yay" for Mondial since it's been quite awhile since we've seen anything from them added to a park. Let's hope we'll start seeing more of their products installed in the U.S. The last time Kings Island advertised up here in Cleveland was when Boomerang Bay was new. Before that it was Drop Zone and Face/Off so basically we don't hear much about the park here.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I'm glad some of these photos have stirred many a memory of past visits to these parks. I'm doing something a little different with this update, which focuses on SFGAm. My first ever visit was back in 1998 and along with these few photos I'll post a few from subsequent visits between 2000 and 2005, the last time I was there. I remember it was in the middle of winter when my brother, who likes coasters but isn't into them like I am, were coming home from the hospital where my dad was having surgery. Out of the blue we started talking about parks when he said that he wanted to ride the Batman coaster and I put the trip together. I remember the park being dead due to the rainy two days we were at Great America hence the quality of the photos from this time. The trip was one of the very few that my brother and I have done together since we don't do much together anyway. Fast forward to 2000. Having my first ever season pass to the then newly rechristened Six Flags Ohio provided an opportunity to revisit this park - and I fell in love with the place. It's still my favorite Six Flags park. The "everyone must have this photo in their collection" shot. This is why we are here in 1998. Sorry for the quality of these photos. "Rainy days and photos like these always get me down" Demon's light tunnel is sweet. This actually was a pretty good ride from the back seat. American Eagle and Splashwater Falls. Viper was the newest coaster there. One of my top 10 favorite coasters. My favorite photo from 1998. From what I recall it wasn't a bad ride back then. Now it's a different story. Giant Drop from the queue. Hometown Square 2000. One of my favorite areas in the park. Here's Iron Wolf again. Never got to ride Power Dive in any of my visits to the park. Raging Bull. This ride seems to get somewhat lackluster reviews because of "the brake" but I find the ride to be quite divine, especially in the back seat. View from the station. From the train ride. I miss this ride a lot. SFGAm seems incomplete without a large Ferris Wheel. Photo taken in 2000, the final year. Trailblazer. Loved the theming on this ride. I understand it's no longer at the park. I had a primitive digital camera at the time of these photos. Sorry for the quality of these Shock Wave photos. Great shot - poor quality. The first drop from the queue bridge. Now for a hodge podge of photos from 2001 through 2005. Got a better digital camera by then. I loved American Eagle backwards. Going into the zero-g roll from Batman's exit ramp. I used to cuss at this ride. It took me four years to finally ride it. 2001 - still under construction, 2002 - closed, 2003- vallied a few days before my visit, and 2004 - closed. I went to the park in 2005 for my birthday and they had it open. After all those years of cussing at the ride I actually ended up loving it. Great ride! Not your typical Demon corkscrew photo. I like how Raging Bull casts a shadow on Chubasco. RB's hammerhead from the station. One of my favorites of Raging Bull. For the Shock Wave/GASM fans. This was taken in 2002 when the coaster was in SBNO status. The classic Whizzer. Vertical Velocity. Better wrap this up - this is getting lengthy. Condor at night. Triple Play's beautiful light package. I think CP's used to look like this back in the day. Now if we can only get KI's Shake, Rattle, and Roll to look like this. Columbia at night. Thanks for viewing.

Now that's a very rare piece of memorabilia. Never knew KD had a ticket system. I can vaguely remember Dick Van Dyke doing Kings Island commericals around the time Screamin' Demon was built. Must have been the spokesman for the parks back then.

The closest I've seen of a Starflyer is Flight at Martin's Fantasy Island. I know it's a Zamperla but I still find it rather striking. I never got to ride it due to the no single rider's rule. I can't even imagine being 400 feet up would be like. I'm also thinking that if it was going to be a large accelerator they would have started construction by now. They started Dragster in mid summer 2002 with almost half of the tower up by Halloweekends.

I have a hard time believing that. Even though this is about Indiana how do you explain areas that have multiple parks that are relatively close to each other (outside of Florida and California) and are each other's main competition? Six Flags America/Kings Dominion/Busch Gardens? Hersheypark/Dorney Park/Knoebel's/Six Flags Great Adventure? Cedar Point/former Geauga Lake/Kennywood/Waldameer? Kings Island/Kentucky Kingdom/Holiday World? I would think the increased competition would be healthy between the parks (unlike the CF monopoly here in Ohio) and we'd see some interesting things developed to attract more guests.

Martin's Fantasy Island in May Six Flags St. Louis in June (2 days) Kennywood, Kings Island, Darien Lake in July I may try to hit Kennywood or Darien Lake one more time this year.

Using Microsoft Streets and Trips, Holiday World is at least 2.5 to 3 hours away. Kings Island is about 2 hours, SFGAm is about 3.5 to 4 hours and Indiana Beach is about 1.5 hours. Other than Indiana Beach these parks are within a healthy distance that a new park could succeed. I wouldn't forsee Holiday World suffering but maybe step up their game even moreso than they are doing now (and what they've been doing these past few years have been quite remarkable for a park its size). If Old Indiana never had the accident they might still be in business today and I wonder how that park would have been developed through the years. That's another park I find fascinating due to so little being known about it.

^That's true as well. In CF's eyes nothing can surpass what's at the Point but at the same time wouldn't CF just love to take the record away from Kingda Ka?

Who would've thought that KD would get a giga since CP is the only American park to have one? I'd like to say hoax given the stats but you can't rule out the possibility.

^Sydney did have Australia's Wonderland/Wonderland Sydney, which was billed as the largest theme park in the Southern Hemisphere but from what I could get out of reading its history the lack of new additions helped with its demise. It's still a park I find quite fascinating. As for the States, Indianapolis always comes to mind. With direct access to Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Fort Wayne, and Chicago, which are within an easy day's drive, there is a huge potential for a nice sized regional theme park. Too bad the Garfield park never materialized.