Conneaut Lake Park (CLP) Discussion Thread

[ricklap77]

I got to agree with a bunch of you guys.  He was the only one to bid.  Got the park for quite a good price.  Had he been willing to talk the truth about his intentions maybe the general public would not hate him as much and would understand better.  I think if it wasn't for the pandemic the park, and Blue Streak, would still be around and operating, but for how long!?  CLP and most of its rides were not in perfect shape.  I loved that place because it was so unique and mostly because of the Blue Streak.  Now that it's gone I don't think the park will remain.  They will probably build houses or condos.

[pryonisys]

The place was pretty much dead. Kind of sad because it wasn't awful when I was a young child, but it has been a disaster for years.
The fact that the owner has said nothing of his plans (he really doesn't have to) does leave those who live around there feeling pretty angry/annoyed about the whole thing, and I can get that, but the thing that makes me annoyed by him is that he has honestly been a pretty major jerk to the locals (they haven't been kind to him either of course).
There are some questionable (seeming) legal things that have gone on with the property lately, but that's the precedent that was set over the past 20 years or so, so I guess the new owner can't really be blamed for continuing to use the stupid system that was already in place.

[BRTeller]

20 hours ago, coasterbill said:

I still don't understand why we're supposed to hate this guy. If he outbid a bunch of other people who wanted to keep it as an amusement park then yeah, I could see why fans of the park would be disappointed but he was the only one who even bothered to bid because nobody wanted the place. He bought an entire amusement park and giant waterfront property for $1.2 million. None of these preservationist groups put in a bid. Even if someone scraped together some money on GoFundMe and put in a losing bid, at least we could say that SOMEONE wanted the place but nobody else did.

Obviously I've always been vocal about how much I disliked this park but I'm really not taking this stance because of that. If Standard Amusements came in and said "We're going to buy it, bring in GCI to fix up the coaster, clean the place up and add a bunch of new rides" I would have been like "F*ck yeah!" and I WISH that happened but it didn't.

Also, they put the rides up for sale including Blue Streak at one point. Nobody bought them. They probably would have let someone take that thing for free if they covered the cost of getting it out of there but again... nobody wanted it.

Nobody wanted the park or the coaster but everyone wanted to tell the only guy who did want it how he was supposed to run the place that they couldn't be bothered to bid a single penny on.

My comment is coming more from my issue of arrogant Pennsylvania folk that often times find belittling one group to be acceptable and funny (Having lived in PA for almost 2 decades, there's definitely a type). To me, it's just in bad taste, the guy is trying to be some wolf of wall street wannabe with this latest stunt. 

I couldn't care less about the park or his intentions, he definitely bought it on false pretenses which is dirty, but hey, it's business. I just want the guy to fail because he seems like a d*ck. 

If it's going to go down though, he definitely pulled off making it go down in the biggest white trash PA way ever. That to me is comical, and here I thought Williams Grove finding that the parking lot made more money being a flea market to be more profitable was one of the biggest PA amusement park fails. I now stand corrected. 

[Shavethewhales2]

17 hours ago, boldikus said:

^^ How exactly did he make false promises and string enthusiasts along? Serious question, I haven't been really following this.

There were several times he spoke of fixing things up and getting certain things running "next year". The tumble bug especially - it was supposedly pulled apart to be "fixed" and then it was suddenly scrapped. Basically every time he said something would be worked on and fixed it ended up being demolished instead. 

I don't fault him for ultimately electing to demolish the park, but he definitely got the local community and enthusiasts excited about the possibility of him actually fixing things up and keeping the park around, and then he pulled the rug. 

And you know what, there were several times before the park was sold that they actually did draw some pretty good crowds. The place did have potential. Look back at some of the posts from 2018/2019 and you'll see that the preservation group that had the park beforehand was almost there. There was a lot of work left to do, but they were making progress every year before the pandemic hit. So close but so far...

[CaptainUnknown]

How many of those promises were made post Covid? That nullified many promises across several industries. How many times did SEAS push back the opening of their (non Texas Stingray) 2020 coasters?

[ricklap77]

Just like I have always said the pandemic is what killed it for good.  The park was making progress slowly but could not afford any bump.  The pandemic was the bump they definetly not need.

[KPfan]

I don’t support the new owner’s strategy but at the end of the day it’s his mess to deal with.  Seems like decisions have been made based on the perceived return on investment without consideration for the thought of any sentimental, nostalgic or historical significance.  I’m assuming that this owner lacks experience in the amusement business as these actions to remove the coaster, water park, etc. strike to the core of CLPs guest base.  And so now he’ll have to build his planned vision and hope that it’s a hit, otherwise I suspect he just follows his exit strategy.  

[ricklap77]

Is Blue Streak still laying flat like a big woodpile?

[AmyUD06]

1 hour ago, ricklap77 said:

Is Blue Streak still laying flat like a big woodpile?

What else would it be doing?

[ricklap77]

11 hours ago, Mike240SX said:

What else would it be doing?

Have they cleaned up the land!!? 

[BRTeller]

16 hours ago, Mike240SX said:

What else would it be doing?

Well, I mean it could of always caught on fire again... lol

Anyways, when you have nearby parks like Knoebels and Kennywood, does this really matter? No, it doesn't. You can ride better versions of these destroyed rides at other parks in the same state. I don't like the current owner because I know his type in business and it's more of a personal issue with him than destroying the park. I'm still more saddened Williams Grove was let to rot but that's probably because it's only 20 minutes from my house.

[pryonisys]

I'm only sad because Blue Streak was my second coaster (it wasn't nearly as bad 30 years ago).  Overall this has been a very long time coming for the property, which is sad, but seemingly inevitable
Last I knew the remains of Blue Streak were mainly still lying on the ground, but the parts that were actually burned have been mainly cleaned up.  This may have changed, but that's what I last heard.

[ricklap77]

The owner was such in a hurry to take it down!  I guess he was tired and wanted to stop the enthusiasts following his every move.  Now that the coaster is gone, (or down should I say!!), it gives him peace as a lot of people just don't care anymore.  It is sad because Blue Streak was a good coaster.

[BitterOldHag]

https://newconneautlakepark.com/amusement-park-new-conneaut-lake-park-pa/
 

.  So it looks like the amusement park is still “closed due to construction”.  According to the website, they are “adding exciting new rides and games…at the new and improved Conneaut Lake Park!”  Apparently you can still ride the Octopus, Swings and Tilt A Whirl, so I assume no one bought them?  

[ricklap77]

From what I heard the Blue Streak is still laying in pieces on the ground!!  

[anonymouscactus]

So, I attended GHOST LAKE yesterday. I know nothing about Conneaut Lake other than they used to have Blue Streak which I never rode and that I'd drive near it on the way to Pittsburgh but have never been, but here is my copy and paste of my Google Maps review because I thought it was worth mentioning here.

"I had to scale back the review A LOT since I hit the Google Maps character limit

The whole tone was set by the "map" that was posted on Facebook which was a Google map with some blue text thrown over it with the name of each house, despite most not being labeled on the buildings themselves.

The DEVIL'S DEN dark ride. I read there is no VIP line for this one, so I assumed the line would probably get the longest. This "ride" was absolutely fantastic. There was one group ahead of us headbanging down the drop with their fists shaking in the air to amp us up. We smooshed our two grown-ass adult asses into the car and were PUSHED to the lift hill. How it carried us up I will have no idea, but after thinking we were going to snap the chain, derail at multiple points of times, being so confined that our elbows were rubbing up against the walls during the ride, we were giggling and horrified all at the same time.

We continued on to what looked like ACTUAL HOUSES IN A NEIGHBORHOOD that were torn apart and built into haunted houses. You know, houses are usually THEMED with a dining room scene, kitchen, etc but here it wasn't a part of the theme because you were walking through an actual abandoned house, complete with unlit stairs, no regard for safety, lots of OSHA violations, and no accessibility for handicapped whatsoever. Again, this is all a positive with complete sincerity.

There are no rules given at the houses. Nothing said about actors touching you. No gimmicky "waiver" to sign. No visible security at the gate. This haunt breaks all the rules of traditional haunted attractions and provides so much entertainment along the way.

You end up walking through very large rooms with only a few actors sprinkled throughout, but damn they tried their hardest with what was given to them. The sets are amateurish, and not well put together, but it's all a part of the charm. In the one house, there appeared to be no way out despite seeing an exit and people were ready to start climbing over the fence/set pieces to get out of the mosh of people because they were getting frustrated. Everyone is yelling at each other and nobody can see except for a scare actor trying to point the way out with no light and talking at room noise level while music is BLASTING. The only way out is by going through what appeared to be a backstage area, but wasn't, and didn't look like anything else earlier in the haunt, so people were confused and not going the way they were supposed to. A DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, INDEED!

Anyways, I could go on and on, but you just have to experience it for yourself. They won't win any REAL awards, but dang, we had fun.

We walked by the DEVIL'S DEN ride later on in the night and heard a very loud snapping sound and really loud grinding noises. I really do think the chain snapped, or something really bad was happening, but it all felt right at home and only added to the ambience.

We lucked out because even without the VIP it took us 1.5 hours to get through everything and most reviews complain about not getting through everything. We bought tickets online to save the initial line and I'm surprised they had the technology in place to even be able to redeem these virtual tickets given the general disrepair and unorganization of everything else. We started in the back at opening and made our way forward. Only the 3 houses up front had lines and where we spent the most of our time.

Good stuff. Check it out. Just PLEASE if you are familiar with haunts around the country, SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS APPROPRIATELY. It's unique and charming, and definitely worth $25 compared to much shorter, less enjoyable haunts out there. But I would put this in the "so bad, it's good" category, unlike some haunts which just fit in the "so bad" category. "

[ricklap77]

It's good to know that Ghost Lake was worth it and that it's still going on despite all the huge changes at the park!  CLP has always been very unique in its own way.  I think last year guests were allowed to walk the tunnel of the Blue Streak from the station in one of the halloween attractions! 

[cedar point kid]

does anyone know the whereabouts of the trains? i think the vettel and nad trains were saved but not shure

[pryonisys]

I think at least the lead car of one is in a local museum

[ricklap77]

Todd Joseph (the owner) has apparently given it to a local museum.  I have yet to see pictures of it!

[pryonisys]

Back on January 15th the Conneaut Lake Historical Society posted this on their facebook page

(Link for anyone who is interested in looking - https://www.facebook.com/ConneautLakeAreaHistoricalSociety/photos/a.1522566177863979/4650707001716532/ - the train still has snow in the seats when it made it into the building it seems )

[ricklap77]

At least one thing was preserved from the wonderful Blue Streak.