Marineland Discussion Thread

[adamico2]

I would love to see Merlin take over and turn this place into Legoland, with a gondola system running all around the park.

[SoCalJasonland]

On 3/25/2024 at 10:07 PM, adamico2 said:

I would love to see Merlin take over and turn this place into Legoland, with a gondola system running all around the park.

The gondola system sounds great but have you seen this place? It would take at least 5000 years to make that much Lego!

Given that Verrückt was 167 feet tall, the current tallest water slide Kilimanjaro in Brazil is 164 feet tall and Niagara Falls is 167 feet tall, I think a trapdoor spped slide or water coaster of the same height as the falls would be a catch too. 

[BitterOldHag]

In case anyone was curious, Marineland has updated its website.  Let's just say it looks like a massive "Geauga Lake-ing" is going on this season. 

Attractions include:

• Friendship Cove (beluga whales)
• Polar Splash (water splash pad area)

And that's it. There is only one mention of amusement rides, and that is buried on the visitor information page, so since the park went through the effort to remove any pictures of the rides, this was most likely an oversight.  

On the plus side, admission is just $14.95 CAD and parking "is always free"... 

[bert425]

2 hours ago, BitterOldHag said:

In case anyone was curious, Marineland has updated its website.  Let's just say it looks like a massive "Geauga Lake-ing" is going on this season. 

Attractions include:

• Friendship Cove (beluga whales)
• Polar Splash (water splash pad area)

And that's it. There is only one mention of amusement rides, and that is buried on the visitor information page, so since the park went through the effort to remove any pictures of the rides, this was most likely an oversight.  

On the plus side, admission is just $14.95 CAD and parking "is always free"... 

on the FAQ page, the Rides are listed as "not available". . as is the Hungry Bear restaurant, the aquarium, the penguins, the educational talks. . and most other things.
no mention of the deer (unless included with "land animal exhibits") . . but as that is close to the splash pad? I'd guess that's open still.

it's basically a picnic area they are charging admission to (due to the splash pad) and  the belugas

but still . . nice to see they are trying to stay open somewhat.

 

[SoCalJasonland]

On 5/1/2024 at 12:33 PM, bert425 said:

on the FAQ page, the Rides are listed as "not available". . as is the Hungry Bear restaurant, the aquarium, the penguins, the educational talks. . and most other things.
no mention of the deer (unless included with "land animal exhibits") . . but as that is close to the splash pad? I'd guess that's open still.

it's basically a picnic area they are charging admission to (due to the splash pad) and  the belugas

but still . . nice to see they are trying to stay open somewhat.

 

The website is now down for maintenance but my local park has a free splash pad and picnic area.  It sounds like they are not really tryng to stay open but to find some way to pay to feed any remaining animals before they can relocate them.  I heard belugas will eat you out of house and home and not so easy to put up for adoption

[ricklap77]

Probably next year we will see the rides back in operation and most of the animals gone.

[Sledgehammer_77]

Wonderland needs some serious competition. I hope within the next few seasons Marineland adds a medium coaster and a few flats/attractions to get the ball rolling. You'd need some aggressively deep pockets to make it successful. I wonder who purchased it.

[abovethesink]

I know I am not saying anything original here, but it will always blow my mind that a park with this much land LITERALLY within the distance of human sight from a top ten most visited tourist attraction in the world has amounted to so little. Any park in this spot should be a slam dunk success on paper. 

[ricklap77]

20 hours ago, abovethesink said:

I know I am not saying anything original here, but it will always blow my mind that a park with this much land LITERALLY within the distance of human sight from a top ten most visited tourist attraction in the world has amounted to so little. Any park in this spot should be a slam dunk success on paper. 

Well, years ago there were rumors that Seaworld and Disney had made offers to the owner to purchase the park but it was just not for sale.  It would make so much sense and be probably very lucrative for a big chain to buy the park.  It's in such a hot tourist spot and the land of the park is like 3 times larger than Canada's Wonderland.  So much space for huge roller coasters!  It would be a shame to see the place being demolished and have condos and houses built on it, because that is also a lucrative possibility.

[ricklap77]

 

[KBrylczyk]

Good news, but also I guess I can't count on getting on Dragon Mountain during my road trip to Canada's Wonderland this year.

[larrygator]

I heard a rumor the buyer is Donny Rogers of Northern Star Amusements. 

[Haymaker]

 

[ricklap77]

 

[abovethesink]

It is a purchase that makes a lot of sense. It goes without saying that this is prime potential real estate for a majorly successful park if there was a company in position to eat the massive upfront costs of building a desirable one. It would be a strange time economically in the world to do so, but ignoring that, if someone were to do so, the reasons SeaWorld makes a ton of sense are swimming around in the open. They wouldn't even have to try to salvage the even more awful than their own reputaiton of this place as a home for animals, either. As questionable as SeaWorld's own habits and faciliies continue to be, there are levels to being bad at something. If they shipped the wildlife off to their own parks, it would be an upgrade for the wildlife. Then this is a wide open canvas for Busch Gardens Niagara Falls.

Hell, I think the acreage of MarineLand is close to 3x Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Over time, if successful, this plot of land is literally big enough to be an Aquatica, a Sesame Place, and a full size Busch Gardens. Obviously that is dreaming EXTREMELY big, but they are within eyesight of Niagara Falls. A top ten most visited spot on the entire globe. The potential here is legitimately off the charts. It would just be so expensive to get started at any real scale. But they could just start with a Sesame Place and see how it does, or anything like that.

[SoCalJasonland]

On 4/14/2025 at 10:45 AM, abovethesink said:

It is a purchase that makes a lot of sense. It goes without saying that this is prime potential real estate for a majorly successful park if there was a company in position to eat the massive upfront costs of building a desirable one. It would be a strange time economically in the world to do so, but ignoring that, if someone were to do so, the reasons SeaWorld makes a ton of sense are swimming around in the open. They wouldn't even have to try to salvage the even more awful than their own reputaiton of this place as a home for animals, either. As questionable as SeaWorld's own habits and faciliies continue to be, there are levels to being bad at something. If they shipped the wildlife off to their own parks, it would be an upgrade for the wildlife. Then this is a wide open canvas for Busch Gardens Niagara Falls.

Hell, I think the acreage of MarineLand is close to 3x Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Over time, if successful, this plot of land is literally big enough to be an Aquatica, a Sesame Place, and a full size Busch Gardens. Obviously that is dreaming EXTREMELY big, but they are within eyesight of Niagara Falls. A top ten most visited spot on the entire globe. The potential here is legitimately off the charts. It would just be so expensive to get started at any real scale. But they could just start with a Sesame Place and see how it does, or anything like that.

I have watched a lot of Youtube videos on Niagra Falls area and while the falls, Maid of the Mist, and other falls/river activities look busy; Marineland, Clifton Hill, the local casinos always appear dead. 

Does the Niagra area have enough local people to buy passes?  Are people from out of the area seeking an amusement park?  Would people visiting from larger cities rather have a Six Flags/Cedar Fair pass and visit their local park more often?  During the 9 months of the year of colder weather, is is worth the cost to staff and maintain the park when people with money are flying south to Florida for amusements?

[abovethesink]

14 million plus people travel to within a couple miles of the entrance gates annually. A population to pull in from is not the problem no matter what it looks like. You can sit here and list dozens and dozens of parks that live and many that thrive on much, much less. 

[KBrylczyk]

I mean, Six Flags is trying to turn Darien Lake into a 4-day resort if we're going by their ads.  Maybe climate change is making these guys focus on the north?  Buffalo - The New Orlando.  They both even end in O.