Who killed Geauga Lake?

[JRHcoasterki]

^^ You literally just made me spit out my drink!

[gforce1994]

Say it, don't spray it!

[JRHcoasterki]

^

[JJLehto]

Is it possible they killed themselves? I only went once but the park was completely dead and frankly I wasn't impressed. It had some good rides and all but eh... not sure I've ever felt depressed at a park haha

I agree with some of the comments that it may have grown too much for its own good. Too big too survive.

 

 

Hell you're an hour from Cedar Point, a local park is the best you can hope for

[alpengeist04]

Who killed Geauga Lake?

 

Not sure, but I do know video killed the radio star.

[gforce1994]

It had some good rides and all but eh... not sure I've ever felt depressed at a park haha

I agree with some of the comments that it may have grown too much for its own good. Too big too survive.

 

 

Hell you're an hour from Cedar Point, a local park is the best you can hope for

 

Coney Island in Ohio, is easily depressing. Home of the world's first "Spine tearing" coaster!

 

Is it possible they killed themselves?

Instead of "shooting themeself in the foot", they nabbed the heart by accident.

[SLUSHIE]

I'm glad I at least got to visit the place before it closed, but sadly I didn't get to ride some of the coasters that are still sitting there deteriorating.

 

The place must have been pretty impressive when it was Worlds of Adventure.

[GayCoasterGuy]

When I worked at CP (91-93) we would always go to Geauga. Sure, it was a bit trashy, but it was a whole lotta FUN. Big Dipper had some rough track years, but over all gave a great classic ride, full of laterals and great air time. With the loss of Screechin' Eagle and Big Dipper (and for me, Blue Streak) Ohio is not a hot coaster state (for me, anyway) the way it used to be.

 

I'm sad about Geauga still... it was CRAP when Six Flags run it. It was over-ridiculous to see all those new BIG steel coasters plunked down in random spots in a tiny traditional park.

 

Why not focus on something a little more refreshing - and something that *could* still go somewhere, like this:

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Restore-Revolution/388480361172971

 

(I was told I could mention this ride and it's hopeful 'restoration' as long as I included good old pics)

 

 

mmmmmmm......

 

 

*Much stranger things have happened*

[lilsam1993]

This place killed Kentucy Kingdom IMO

[ernierocker]

^Great job staying on topic.

[lilsam1993]

Well...when Six Flags took over GL they over expanded. Many rides put into the park was for other Six Flags parks. Kentucky Kingdom had several attractions in GL that was meant for KK

[cfc]

^Maybe it was a murder-suicide.

[theonetheonlyJT]

^I have the answer to every ones question on this matter,The butler did it!

[Chroniq]

The lack of enough large trucks and hammers.

[The49er]

It was Mr. Green, in the hall, with the candlestick.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Is it possible they killed themselves? I only went once but the park was completely dead and frankly I wasn't impressed. It had some good rides and all but eh... not sure I've ever felt depressed at a park haha

I agree with some of the comments that it may have grown too much for its own good. Too big too survive.

 

 

Hell you're an hour from Cedar Point, a local park is the best you can hope for

 

SFI in the premier era destroyed the park by trying to turn it into something it never really could sustain & I think they tried to do this with their other original properties as well when they should've remained small to moderate vs trying to be something they weren't.

 

Having said that SFI was in a position about a decade ago where the philosphy was on expansion,expansion expansion chainwide without thought to the long term consequences of their wreckless spending & it ultimately caught up with them but not before some of these parks paid the ultimate price for it,namely SFWOA/GL & SFAW.

[Taylorb29]

Most of what has been stated were factors in the closure of the park. Did CF mismanage the park? For sure SF destroy the image of the park, expand to quick, ruin the feeling of what the park had been, and one factor that hasn't been stated...they marketed heavily towards demographics that did not suit a family park feel. I grew up at Geauga lake and eventually CP and remember spending afternoons at GL if only for just a few hours at least 30+ times a season. In the early/mid 90's(as far back as I can remember) the park was always clean and had a buzz (partially from sfo across the lake) but it felt like a second home. Once the park started adding massive attractions (for the park) the feeling started to change, not to the level of the final seasons but it changed. The park started adding cookie cutter games and taking away some of the character of the park. But it was still fun! When PP purchased SF even prior to the first name change (they were a member of the six flags family(one very messed up family)) the park really changed. PP expanded their company too quick and GL suffered, the park was dirty, had an odor, and the staff was unfriendly. The first rebrand and mega expansion...was a train wreck... They basically dumped anything they could get their hands on into the park and the execution was terrible, constant ride break downs and just didn't feel right...regardless this is the last point I believe the park could have saved its self. Prior to the purchase of SWO the park had a chance to profit with marketable attractions in an reasonable economy... SF should have stayed away from the purchase of SWO but it was SW that originally wanted to purchase GL(they were adding coasters to their other parks at the time) but SF made a counter offer that won and purchased what they believed was their competition but in reality their best ally...but again at this point a logical decision...but SF marketed heavily to demographics that did not have the pocket books to drive the incremental revenue needed to make a profit in the industry. In most parks admission covers at best operating costs. The number of high school age kids in the park greatly increased and really the park felt like it couldn't manage their guests. Scaring away families slowly... Many bad PR issues occurred during this time including accidents (some if which were not SFs fault like power outages. After the first year of the combined parks attendance started to fall. The economy hit the can and the image of the park didn't help this. SF ran while they had the chance and CF did not overpay for the assets of the park just a few years earlier SF spent I believe was around 110mil on SWO. With other investments CF really got a deal on the assets of the park compared to the paramount deal. (Paramount had a much better cash flow in their parks) the decision to not purchase the animals was a CF decision but it should have been expected (after the dolphin show incidents at CP in the 90's) CF did improve a few aspects of the park from an operational aspect (impressive considering SF basically had no proper maintenance plan for the prior seasons) but the park made awful pr decisions, struggled to remove themeing put in place by SF, and put in a god awful marketing campaign. And the park just sank from there even more...the waterpark investment was a wise choice however not in the way CF completed it. The park had a waterpark that was only a few years old and they just decided to reinvent the wheel. But this decision shows CF wanted room to expand the rides area if the park. Removal of x-flight and their impulse coaster should have been expected both had serious issues during their operation (dominator was the only SF era coaster that didn't) but what killed GL in the end...Paramount parks...GL would have operated for a few more seasons had it not been for the purchase of these parks. I am a firm believer that GL would not still be here today due to economic conditions but could have survived longer...CF just did it quick and in the wrong way...the last day the park was open I remember telling the people I was with I thought we would get one more season... I hate to say it but GL is gone for good that's clear... The more concerning factor now is how CF is running their remaining parks...they are dirty, mismanaged, and just not what I would have ever expected. CF is a company that treats their employees very poorly, overlooks the details, and is turning into SF with cookie cutter rides (windseeker) in the majority of their parks. Maybe a new CEO will help but I have never appreciated parks that are the same as another park their is nothing unique...I believe Matt O will make them a lot more money (his background is in finance) but that he will do little to change their parks in a positive way!

[ernierocker]

^Please use paragraphs. Thank you.

[OISU8P]

Looks like bad blood is still going on over there.

 

Bainbridge Township residents complain about abandoned Geauga Lake eyesore

BAINBRIDGE TOWNSHIP, Ohio - Bainbridge Township resident Bob Watson walked along Geauga Lake Road, just north of the former amusement park with the same name.

 

The view from his neighborhood is pleasant until he spots what remains of Geauga Lake over barbed-fire fences and overgrown weeds.

 

Watson said he can only speculate why was the park property was left abandoned in 2007 by its owner, Cedar Fair.

 

"Six Flags got approved to do over a 200-foot rollercoaster. As soon as that was approved, Cedar Point bought it and killed the park to kill the competition for Cedar Point," Watson said. "They don't care about the residents. The proof is over there. The structures are gone."

 

Area businesses along busy Aurora Road wouldn't speak on camera, but a few said they would like to see a new neighbor, or neighbors, taking care of the property. Cedar Fair only operates the still quite lucrative Wildwater Kingdom. On Tuesday, a spokesperson said the water park is not part of the 500 acres it has had up for sale since it was purchased in the fall of 2007.

 

While the property has been criticized by angry neighbors demanding that something must be done to keep up the maintenance of the property, Cedar Fair said it has not received any direct request from either Aurora or Bainbridge Township. The company vowed by phone late Tuesday afternoon to respond to any official requests.

 

Bainbridge Township Trustee Jeff Markley has worked with neighbors’ complaints and Cedar Fair representatives since it purchased the park. His hope is that negotiations with the planners in Aurora, his fellow trustees and the mayor will be able to hammer out new zoning proposals to facilitate a purchase that will bring in more revenue from taxes lost when Geauga Lake closed.

 

Markley said he hopes the attraction of Geauga Lake itself will draw in a few interested land buyers of multiple visions, but is not interested in breaking it up into 30-acre lots. He said he has bigger visions for a future tenant.

 

"Breaking it up into small lots as a master plan... I don't feel comfortable as a trustee allowing that to happen. We have to have a master plan for 653 acres to figure that out," Markley said.

 

"We're looking to completely redo our zoning and take Geauga Lake and look at a piece of that. We've engaged Cedar Fair and they have actually come to a couple of our meetings… We hope to have it all resolved this year.”

 

Markley said Cedar Fair has an outside zoning entity working for them and now engaged in discussions with Aurora and Bainbridge Township.

 

"It's a disgrace, I mean, it really is. It's the life-after-people kind of thing with the grass and weeds coming up, and trees coming up through the pavement," Markley said. "Folks I know in Aurora say they are always hearing about ‘When is Bainbridge going to do something about it? It’s an eyesore.’ We don't own the property; we don't have a lot of control."

 

For Watson, the park's maintenance solution is simple.

 

"The area needs to have it cleaned up and maybe put back the way it used to be," Watson said.

 

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/oh_geauga/Bainbridge-Township-residents-complain-about-abandoned-Geauga-Lake-eyesore

[Invertalon]

It does look like crap... We go to WWK almost every weekend in summer and I can't believe how BAD the ride side looks... The entire parking lot is an eyesore, along with that whole area. I am surprised they have not complained sooner.

[Lareson]

More than likely sometime this year, this will be taken care of like the article states, since Ouimet is trying to "clean" the company out, so to speak. They sold the empty plots of land, I think last year, here in Michigan that was suppose to be come the 2nd Cedar Point in the 70's but fell through. Six Flags pretty much knew why they wanted out of the park, and kind of left everything when they sold it, except the animal side of the park which they took everything there.

 

I feel sorry that the people of that area have to look at what remains of Geauga Lake. If it didn't become the over-saturated park it was during the 90's and early 2000's, it probably would still be there. With the way Cedar Fair was then and the direction Cedar Fair is going under Ouimet, I'm sure they want to try and get this solved as soon as possible. Hopefully the lake does get turned into a more recreational spot, with possibly Big Dipper ran similar to how the Coney Island Cyclone is, but it might be too late for that coaster. Been 6 years since it operated last without any maintenance, so at this point, it could be too far gone.

 

That article seems to have a slight error, Cedar Fair bought the property back in 2004, not 2007 like it states.

[OISU8P]

I would have to agree with that just from the pictures I have seen. Didn't the two townships give the park a hard time and most residents on the main roads wanted it gone? I thought I read that somewhere at one point. Anyways, if so then this may be Cedar Fairs way of giving them the middle finger. Eventually they will get fined and probably have clean it up I guess.

[beatle11]

"Six Flags got approved to do over a 200-foot rollercoaster. As soon as that was approved, Cedar Point bought it and killed the park to kill the competition for Cedar Point," Watson said. "They don't care about the residents. The proof is over there. The structures are gone."

 

Yeah, cause Cedar Fair intended to lose money by buying the park just to close it. I can imagine the area probably is very overgrown though.

[SoCalCoasters]

This looks like it's becoming the spiritual successor to the ruins Lincoln Park, in all the wrong ways. Who wants to start taking bets on how long it'll be before a major piece of the wooden coaster's track collapses from lack of upkeep?

[GayCoasterGuy]

Who killed Geauga Lake?

 

GWAR did. They kill everything.