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Geauga Lake Discussion Thread


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Hey everybody!

 

This thread is simple! Rather than having a million little threads about everything that goes on at Geauga Lake, this thread is designed to consolidate it all into one user-friendly thread. Feel free to use it to post updates, trip reports, questions, comments, and of course, general discussion. For pictures and videos of the park as well as past updates, see TPR's Park Index Page.

 

Official Park Website (Waterpark)

 

Below are some links to past announcements and updates from the park, you may be interested in. Enjoy!

 

--Robb

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2005

March 20th, 2005 Raging Wolf Bobs gets Legend's Gerstlauer trains - SEE BELOW!

August 10th, 2005 - Cedar Fair underwhelmed by park's attendance figures

November 14th, 2005 - Wave Pool announced for 2006

December 26th, 2005 - Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall being scavenged for Cedar Point's Demon Drop

 

2006

November 22nd, 2006 - X-Flight will be leaving Geauga Lake

December 1st, 2006 - Villian to be retracked

 

2007

January 22nd, 2007 - parts of X-Flight spotted at King's Island

February 5th, 2007 - Improvements for 2007 announced

February 5th, 2007 - Official announcement that X-Flight is going to Kings Island and that Steel Venom will also removed from Geauga Lake

March 1st, 2007 - Clues point to Steel Venom going to Dorney Park

April 24th, 2007 - Article reports that X-Flight is going to Dorney

June 16th, 2007 - Raging Wolf Bobs derails

August 28th, 2007 - Rumors that Dominator will go to Kings Dominion and Thunderhawk will go to Michigan Adventures

September 21st, 2007 - Cedar Fair announces that Geauga Lake will be solely a water in 2008.

 

2008

June 15th, 2008 - All remianing rides to go to auction. ACE if offered The Big Dipper at no charge.

June 17th, 2008 - Mystery buyer gets The Big Dipper for $5,000

June 17th, 2008 - Other rides sold for scrap

June 19th, 2008 - Geauga Lake auction results

July 9th, 2008 - Double Loop is destroyed

July 22nd, 2008 - Villian is being torn down

August 22nd, 2008 - Parts of Raging Wolf Bobs donated to local Historical Society

Augsut 22nd, 2008 - Cedar Fair unsuccessful in getting minimum bid for property.

 

2010

April 10th, 2010 - Mystery owner puts Big Dipper up for sale for $65,000

September 7th, 2010 - After falling to get the minimum bid at auction it is announced that Big Dipper will be demolished on September 15th without a buyer

October 2nd, 2010 - Two enthusiasts agree to purchase the Big Dipper

 

2011

January 10th, 2011 - The Big Dipper back in limbo as sale falls through

July 18th, 2011 - Big Dipper is still up for sale

 

2020

November 2nd, 2020 - Park land purchased for retail, dining & commercial development

 

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From the Geuaga Lake Site:

http://www.geaugalake.com/public/new/20 ... cfm#raging

 

Quote
To continue Cedar Fair's excellent reputation for constantly maintaining each of its rides while continuing its commitment to restoring the cosmetic qualities of all attractions, Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom will refurbish many of its coasters and attractions. The Raging Wolf Bobs will receive a major overhaul of its wood tracking. In addition, a Gerstlauer train purchased from Holiday World, will be added to the Raging Wolf Bobs this summer. This will bring the total trains on the Raging Wolf Bobs to two.

 

I mean, the Gerstlauer train they had on it in 2003 actually ran just fine, MUCH better than that awful trailered PTC train, so this is certainly an improvement! I don't think I've EVER seen two trains operating on this ride since I first starting going to the park in 1996.

 

--Robb

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I mean, the Gerstlauer train they had on it in 2003 actually ran just fine, MUCH better than that awful trailered PTC train, so this is certainly an improvement! I don't think I've EVER seen two trains operating on this ride since I first starting going to the park in 1996.

 

Too bad that you never visited the park prior to 1996, because this ride used to be pretty good. Over the last couple years, it has gone severely downhill.

 

Even with the retracking, it was bashing violently last season. The G-trains are a little less forgiving on the body for the style of ride that this was delivering. We can only hope that they get this thing running back to "good" ride that it used to be.

 

// Not a big G-train fan

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If I remember correctly, Does'nt Villian use Gerstlauer trains?

 

Thinking out loud here If GL get desperate for spares or even a car of train, could they swap between rides?

 

Raging Wolf Bobs was closed, when I went there ... mind you it was a Six Flags park back then I'm semi looking forward in get a ride on it now

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Not a fan of the G-trains and definitley not a fan of RWB. When I rode it back in 2003, it was literally the only time I've ever prayed for a ride to end. As a matter, I think I received a mild concussion from a twin G-train dosage of both Villian and RWB. I guess now the park can deliver double the punishment to it's guests. Sorry for the drama, but the day from a physical perspective was about the worse I've ever had in a park. So, for anyone that rode the Legend in it's first two years, how did it run? I'm curious if the park got rid of it because of the ride it gave or because of possible maintanence concerns.

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What year are those pictures from? I grew up on that coaster. Weren't there two different color schemes on the trains? Gosh, that ride used to run so well. Hopefully the retrack gives it some more speed for the final turns. I don't mind a G-train when there aren't potholes, but the first half of RWB really gave that train a bad name. It was seriously night and day, the first half to the second half. Some people that talk crap about that ride obviously haven't marathoned in the front seat at night. The back is where is hurts the most. And to think that 2 seasons ago the heavy train actually *fell* through the lift hill and it was down for a few weeks.

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^ I believe the pics are from 92 or 93. It was probably only running one train. Small crowd from what I remember. It was running excellently on this particular day.

 

The one thing about Raging Wolf Bobs is that, if you don't have the speed going around those turns, it is just plain boring.

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  • 5 months later...

From Screamscape:

http://www.screamscape.com/html/geauga_lake.htm

 

(8/10/05) Going into their second year running the park, Cedar Fair admits that Geauga Lake still isn’t living up to expectations according to this article:

 

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/business/12290355.htm

 

It seems that cheaper prices, new management, and even a new waterpark just are not enough to drive tourists to the park. What are they lacking?

 

According to Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel, they underestimated the drawing power and impact of no longer having animals at the park, not giving enough credit to what SeaWorld had done when they created the park. Through the first seven months of this year, attendance at Geauga Lake was down 5 percent over the dismal numbers of 2004.

 

Guest comments frequently complain about the park isn’t worth visiting any more now that the animals are gone. They are not defeated however and think that eventually the public will embrace the new Geauga Lake and forget about the legacy of Shamu.

 

I've thought all along that CF purchasing GL and closing the Sea World side was a bad idea. I originally gave them 5 years before they closed the park and moved the rides to other Cedar Fair properties.

 

I still don't understand why they didn't do that right off the bat. I mean, CP could have gotten the floorless, Michigan's Adventure could have gotten a Boomerang or SLC, Valleyfair could have gotten an Impulse, and WoF could have gotten another woodie. There are tons of flat rides and water rides that would give all the other properties small new additions for the next 2-3 seasons!

 

Personally I think the company could have used those assets other places to make money instead of keep GL open and lose money. Not that I want to see a park close, because I like GL, but looking at it purely from a business perspective it never made any sense to try to make something out of a park where two major chains (Busch and Six Flags) pulled out.

 

--Robb "What are your thoughts?" Alvey

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One thought about Cedar Fair's purchase of GL was that is was made just because they may have been getting a bargain, $145 m for all of GL when six flags (I believe) paid $110 mil just for the sea world part.

 

It has become obvious from the decline in attendance that the animals was what differentiating GL from Cedar Point in the market.

 

My initial thought when the CF purchase happened was that they would close it real soon and move the rides to other CF parks and possibly make a killing on a sale of the land.

 

It will be interesting (probably sad) to see what happens to GL because now it is really just a poor man's Cedar Point.

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I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to close the park .. for one the locals complain too much, and it would save Cedar Fair alot of money with new addidtions.

 

As long as they keep the Big Dipper running as is with no changes .. fine with me .. but tear down Raging Wolf Bobs and send Villian to either Dorney or WOF. Big Dipper is good for CP.

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I only visited Geauga Lake back probably 20 years ago, and back then it seemed like a nice, charming "local" park, ala Holiday World. As I have written many times on this board, we were HUGE Sea World fans. I went there for the first time 20+ years ago, when I was a kid, with my sister-in-law and her friends who were all from the Cleveland area. When I got older I would take my niece and mom there, and eventually, when Herb and I hooked up, we would take Ashley and Tiffany there every summer. I was devastated when I heard they were closing.

 

Personally, I think GL survived all those years because of Sea World. People who came a distance to visit Sea World would take in a day at GL??

 

I don't think it's the "animals" that are missed (as if saying that putting in 'no name' fish would draw the customers back...lol), it's SEA WORLD that is missed. I still can't believe that Busch chose to close this park. There was always a crowd, and if they had wanted to expand into rides as they have done at their remaining parks, they could have bought GL.

 

In all my Orlando trips, I have never visited Sea World because it always cost $10+ more than our Ohio park ever did, plus, when I go to Orlando I go to visit the rodents, not the fish. I can understand why there has a been a backlash... most (non local) people probably feel like me... SW was the big draw.

 

I can see Cedar Fair looking to unload the park now too, just as Six Flags did....

 

Shari

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I don't see Cedar Fair unloading this park anytime soon. Anyone who has attended the park this summer knows first hand how much Cedar Fair has done to improve the place.

 

The Waterpark Project will help alot, and the first phase is VERY nice. Can't wait to see it when it is completely finished.

 

Let's not forget the train wreck (http://www.thrillnetwork.com/stories_view.php/45) that Cedar Fair inherited when they purchased this park. I am sure that they knew what they were getting into.

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This is ridiculous that Cedar Fair has kept pouring money into the the park and lowered ticket prices to completely give away the gate, and they STILL can't make this turkey fly.

 

As for it being a "train wreck" when they purchased it, I think some people would beg to differ and say it's gone downhill since Cedar Fair bought it (attendance keeps dropping).

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All I know is the last two times I was there unter the Six Flags banner we had a great time. We visited both sides of the park and loved it.

 

I haven't been back since CF, so I can't comment on that.

 

While I don't see CF closing this anytime soon either, I still think it would have been smarter to buy the property for the assets and hand them out to the other CF parks.

 

--Robb

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