kraxleRIDAH

Yes, I'm sure a roller coaster made mostly out of wood and operates on gravity eats up less electricity than a roller coaster that fires hundreds of electromagnetic staters in less than a minute.

I wouldn't say so. The only reason why we would say that about any California ride is because the parks don't really have a traditional off-season.

My opinion: Company takes out two high-cost-to-operate/maintain roller coasters at a relatively small park with sagging attendance (700,000 guests in 2005). Park still has 8 roller coasters, plenty of family rides, and a solid water park. Company hopes transformation will appeal to families looking for an affordable amusement park option. Your opinion: OMG! They are starting to take Geauga Lake apart and nothing will be left EVER except for the water park and a few rides! How on earth will the park be able to survive by removing TWO roller coasters? They are STILL SO NEW! It makes NO SENSE! Now, which one seems more likely? Don't mind me dramatizing your half because that's exactly what you sound like.

GA desperately needs something of more substance than yet another short low-capacity gimmick coaster. I don't see where Great America has the available real estate to put in anything more than a "short low-capacity gimmick coaster." I mean, this park has 8 roller coasters only ONE of which is over 2,500-feet long. That really says something. And in order to build a smaller than average water park, they were forced to dismantle a medium sized flying coaster and if I believe to be correct, that lake behind it too.

I'll say two weeks at the most, for each.

Haha. That's a funny one. Normally, I cringe at cheese, but for some reason I laughed at that one.

That's good news. I hope they do open it this Saturday, considering its reopening date has already been pushed back once. UGH. I'm so anxious to start seeing photo updates of the park being cleaned up. I have honestly had fantasies of the park with all the rides completely repainted, all the building facades fixed up, cracked pathways repaved, and dead foliage raked out. The sad part? NOBODY SHOULD HAVE TO EVER FANTASIZE ABOUT THOSE KIND OF THINGS.

Or even better...reserve one side of Colossus to operate with backward-running trains kind of like what Kings Dominion does with Rebel Yell. I've thought about that a few times, but two things always lead me to believe it wouldn't be done. 1. It's Magic Mountain. They HARDLY ever run both sides of Colossus. Meaning if they DO make one side operate permanently in reverse, you'd probably go to the park to find you can only ride Colossus forward or Colossus backward, and not both. 2. The trains. If the B&M wood trains were that bad for Psyclone, imagine what it would do to Colossus! Running one side backward for October every year is one thing, but year round?

^ Is Greased Lightnin's footprint still open at Great America? That's a thought. I don't think it's likely it will go to Great America considering V2 is at Discovery Kingdom, but then again, V2 was altered. I suppose they could pull it off.

I also heard you just made that up.

I'm sure Laser will be just fine. And if by some strange chance it DOES get ripped out for whatever reason (like, for example...an Impulse coaster)...what can one do? I'll tell you. We mourn and get over it. HAHAHA. Wicked Twister Jr. It would be so ridiculous.

Legends never die.. but you, sir, can for suggesting that Laser has outlived itself. It will have a new life elsewhere. You are correct. Legends never die. However, Laser, is not a legend. Legends are not two-loop rides built in the late 80's and attached to a foundation held up by stacks of wood planks over concrete. I also appreciate the death wish. You are SUCH a good person.

You're talking about Orient Express? That reopened months ago.

And Flashback has been closed for Hurricane Harbor's "safety" for the past 3 years now too, SFNO's Batman is just being dismantled "for repairs," etc.... If removing 2 of the parks newest coasters isn't a sign that Cedar Fair may have other plans for park, I'm not sure what is. Downsizing would be removing the SLC or Boomerang, not two of the newest/most marketable coasters... Ha. Flashback initially really was closed frequently due to its location adjacent to Hurricane Harbor, but then was then eventually discontinued from operations due to a combination of factors including its sporadical closures due to its location, low patronage, and tight budget cuts (under Burke's management). And Mark Shapiro and Jeff Speed stated in a January 12 conference call with investors that New Orlean's Batman coaster was removed because it only received minor damage and was "salvageable." Repairs are being addressed on the attraction where it is needed and the company plans on reassembling it at another one of its parks as they see fit. So I don't see how those two examples work for your point. They're all true. As for Geauga Lake, it really is downsizing by removing these two rides. I don't understand how you can't comprehend the fact that X-Flight and Steel Venom are two of the most costliest attractions at Geauga Lake to maintain and operate and for a park the size of Geauga Lake with sagging attendance to retain them, will prevent Cedar Fair from fully restoring the park back to what it used to be before Six Flags was behind the wheel. Six Flags made a huge mistake by installing Steel Venom and X-Flight in Geauga Lake in hopes to directly compete with Cedar Point. In case you forgot, Six Flags built FIVE roller coasters in TWO years at Geauga Lake. The park's balance of attractions was completely thrown off. Their plan of turning that park into the Midwest version of Magic Mountain blew up in their face. Having lost MILLIONS on the Ohio park, we saw them exit the Ohio market with their tail between their legs. By removing X-Flight and Steel Venom and relocating them elsewhere is a smart move on Cedar Fair's part. Please. 1998 - Mamba 2000 - Boomerang 2001 - Camp Snoopy 2002 - Thunderhawk 2003 - Paradise Falls 2004 - Spinning Dragons 2006 - Patriot I hardly call that "doesn't get much love." For a park that attracts less than a million people annually, that's a lot of damn love.

^ Ya, but don't most Dinn/Summers coasters start off as good rides and then eventually crap themselves out over the years?

^ I can sympathize. Schwarzkopf coasters are scarce nowadays. I can see why some enthusiasts would like to see it continue operating. However, from an outsider perspective, Laser has really outlived itself and is pretty much a fossil of the steel coaster world. I can certainly see Dorney Park removing Laser to have it replaced with an Impulse coaster.

^ No wood coaster is ever dismantled by the means of fire. I'm going to guess Psyclone will be taken down in portions. Probably with high-power cutting tools.

I too have also heard about the new independant power feed being fed into Dorney Park a month or two ago. It would make sense wouldn't it? Cedar Point and Valleyfair! did the same thing when Wicked Twister and Steel Venom were on their way in.

^ I don't think we'll have to worry so much about Geauga Lake's future. Sure, two coasters may be on the way out, but the park still has 8 -- a few of which are still notable rides. A lot of people may take these as signs of Cedar Fair "dismantling" the park, but all it really is, is just downsizing and relocating assetts to properties that could benefit from them. With Cedar Point so close, Geauga Lake doesn't really need to be a competitor in the thrillride department. I see Cedar Fair doing their best to re-establish Geauga Lake in its own little niche in that market.

Bizarre off-season for coasters isn't it? Magic Mountain removes two coasters, and Geauga Lake may be taking out that same number. We all know pieces of X-Flight are now at Kings Island, but in Cedar Point and Geauga Lake's joint 2007 Group Information and Catering Guide, Steel Venom is deliberately missing from the park map along with X-Flight. A park would only modify the upcoming season's map to reflect changes from the previous season. Nevermind the fact that Steel Venom also did not operate from June through the rest of the 2006 season at Geauga Lake. I think we should all expect Steel Venom to start dismantling prep as soon as X-Flight is completely taken care of. The removal of both X-Flight and Steel Venom brings Geauga Lake's coaster roster count down to 8 (that's still a decent amount) from a previous count of 10. Take a look for yourself here. At this point, Geauga Lake's official website has not reflected this change. So keep an eye out for any changes or updates.

Minor miscalculation. Thanks for catching that for me. But still. Even nearly 16 years for Psyclone is still much longer than it needed to be around...

Psyclone opened in March 1991, so it was close to its 16th birthday before it closed for good last month. If you ask me, that's a fairly long run for such an unpopular attraction. People will tell you that Flashback was left idle after it closed just so the park could keep the "most coasters in one park crown." This is not true. The park's annual budget under Kieran Burke's management allotted very little room for needed infrastructure improvements, which would include funding the dismantling of a ride that was no longer suit to be operational. That, in addition to the fact that removing the ride was not very high on the priority list when X and the baggage of problems it carries was consuming a lot of funding, as well as smaller attractions that required complete refurbishments.

Ka trains may not hit exactly 128 mph again on the way down the drop, but they definitely do exceed 95 mph going down its 418' drop. And as mentioned before me, Storm Runner trains aren't passing the 95 mph near the end of the ride like Ka does.

Add me to the list of Batman fans. There's no doubt about it...it's a great coaster, which was part of the reason why Six Flags plopped a whole bunch of them in their parks over the past 15 years or so. I think it's true that because this ride has been multiplied over the world, it's not really touted about or appreciated as much. Clone schmone, Batman rocks.

Haha. It's fun to read posts that say "I can't believe this coaster only got #32." Keep in mind people...there were over 300 coasters ranked in this poll --- ANY of the rides that placed within the top 100 are good rides.