Geauga Lake Poll

[Racerrider]

What Do YOU think???????????

[The Interpreter]

How about the people who didn't go?

How about general economic conditions?

Things are seldom so simple, or simplistic, as to be either a or b....

[tigellinus]

^^Or public perception!

In August 05 (with all coasters still there, btw) my sister who at the time lived in Mayfield Village (a hop, skip, and a jump from GL) even told me when I asked her about it, "Geauga Lake sucks." Keep in mind she had only moved to Cleveland in May 05...in three months her unbiased opinion was tainted, which may have been from the Six Flags days, but a bad rep is hard to shake!

[pkimike]

I have a friend who lives by GL also. When I told him I went there he thought it was funny. He didn't have much good to say about the park. Keep in mind that this is a friend who is all about Cleveland.

I liked the park but the first time I went there I had a feeling CF was going to close it. I actually told the person I was with that I thought CF would move the rides somewhere else. There was just nobody there. I hate that it is gone but you can't keep a park open that is losing money.

[Beast1979]

I agree with all of the above posts, but I have to say that Six Flags did help by adding several rides, a kiddie land, waterpark, and removing sea world, all within a matter of 2 or 3 years.

[The Interpreter]

Y'all DO realize a large contingent of the amusement industry thinks Cedar Fair way overemphasizes coasters and should only be building what are perceived as family rides, at a lower cost, particularly during this recession, and while faced with the huge debt they incurred largely in buying Paramount Parks. Many in the industry do not subscribe to the theory of if you build a large thrill coaster, it will quickly pay for itself. Many think the track that Paramount Parks was on is the more correct one. Still others think the Disney, Busch, Universal way would have greatly added to Paramount's profits, and could have been done and done well on an albeit smaller scale.

I don't think that adding all those rides is what hurt Geauga Lake. Adding all those rides to a property that could not support the crowds they drew was part of it. Poor customer service was part of it. Lack of beefing up infrastructure was part of it. Poor food selection and understaffing and inadequate and insufficent food outlets were part of it.

A very inaccessible location was part of it. The park was VERY hard for out-of-towners to find.

And doing away with the animals (a decision Cedar Fair made) was part of it. Constructing the new waterpark with non-union labor (a decision Cedar Fair also made) was also part of it.

And being in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton area also was certainly a part of it. The area is in economic decline, and may not be able to support a theme park while also supporting Cedar Point.

Nothing is as clear cut as a or b in a situation like this. It's a. And b. And at least a thousand other things.

[Beast1979]

The Removal of Sea World.......That decision, while it may not be the deciding move, shouldn't go unnoticed.

[geaugafan2013]

The closing of Sew World was not a smart idea and then try replacing it with Shouka and other animals was definatley not a good idea at all. Six Flags tried bringing it into a new generation, they most likley saw a whole new way to make the park good but the company was in a huge dedt so they sold their larger parks and guess what that park was probabaly one of their major parks that could get more profit off of it by selling it. Now I know that when Cedar Fair bought the park they only had a month to advertise a whole new park but they really didnt, they could have advertised as the park was open through the season. So i understand for a bad attendance the first year but then the second year rolled around and you know as well as i know the second season should have been the year that they made their comeback, but they really didnt make a good comeback they added a water park. In Ohio if your park is declining in attendance you really cant try holding it up with a water park...in Ohio. Cedar Fair is known for adding big roller coasters so we all kinda thought that the amusement park was going to continue on with being bid nope they just continue with a water park. And honestley i went to the water park once and in an hour i was bored and this was on the year that it was actually all open. So their attendance now is not going to strive because you can be bored in an hour! In 2003 i went to Six Flags every weekend because we had season passes but that park was always crowded even if it was during the week. Then i went once in 2007 and it was rather boring in the water park side and not to many people were there!

[faeriewench]

I blame SeaWorld AND Six Flags >_>

[flightoffear1996]

I think that downsizing the pakr was a good idea and removing Dominator. The park was ment to be a smaller park which Six Flags didnt't seem to care and they just watned to make some quick money.

[The Interpreter]

The closing of Sew World was not a smart idea and then try replacing it with Shouka and other animals was definatley not a good idea at all. Six Flags tried bringing it into a new generation, they most likley saw a whole new way to make the park good but the company was in a huge dedt so they sold their larger parks and guess what that park was probabaly one of their major parks that could get more profit off of it by selling it....

What? First, Anheuser Busch sold SeaWorld of Ohio to Six Flags, and keeping the branding was not an option offered to Six Flags. Shamu wasn't staying, no matter what. On the other hand, Six Flags DID offer its Ohio animals to Cedar Fair as part of the park, but Cedar Fair declined, with Mr. Kinzel rather famously saying "We aren't in the animal business!"

Second, Six Flags did not sell and has not sold its larger parks: Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags over Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia are perceived as being the big 5. None has been sold. Six Flags Worlds of Adventure was an experiment, one that was to have taken place at Kentucky Kingdom, which was at one point going to move to property closer to Kings Island (don't ask me for more details on this, I've said enough already). When Kings Island immediately responded to the threat with Action Zone and an unprecedented level of investment for a Paramount Park, Gary Story wisely decided to take his mega-park elsewhere.

Somewhat less wisely, it was after Cedar Point he decided to go. Perhaps you remember the ridiculous advertisements of the giddy family that passed Cedar Point to get to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. Similar ads even ran in Cinc, with the Mason park being the one passed by the family going to SFWofA.

More than anything else, crushing debt levels caused by overexpansion, along with neglect of infrastructure, poor customer service and a lack of focus on daily operation, did in Gary Story's Six Flags. He nearly took the entire chain down with him, not just Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and Six Flags Astroworld.

[pkimike]

The closing of Sew World was not a smart idea and then try replacing it with Shouka and other animals was definatley not a good idea at all. Six Flags tried bringing it into a new generation, they most likley saw a whole new way to make the park good but the company was in a huge dedt so they sold their larger parks and guess what that park was probabaly one of their major parks that could get more profit off of it by selling it. Now I know that when Cedar Fair bought the park they only had a month to advertise a whole new park but they really didnt, they could have advertised as the park was open through the season. So i understand for a bad attendance the first year but then the second year rolled around and you know as well as i know the second season should have been the year that they made their comeback, but they really didnt make a good comeback they added a water park. In Ohio if your park is declining in attendance you really cant try holding it up with a water park...in Ohio. Cedar Fair is known for adding big roller coasters so we all kinda thought that the amusement park was going to continue on with being bid nope they just continue with a water park. And honestley i went to the water park once and in an hour i was bored and this was on the year that it was actually all open. So their attendance now is not going to strive because you can be bored in an hour! In 2003 i went to Six Flags every weekend because we had season passes but that park was always crowded even if it was during the week. Then i went once in 2007 and it was rather boring in the water park side and not to many people were there!

I think adding a waterpark was a good move. Parks these days need to have a good waterpark. I can only think of a few that don't. Was it a good move at the expense of the animals, no but CF was not going to run a park with animals. They don't do that. The waterpark can be ok as long as they keep it up. Many people join local swimming pools and I think the price of a season pass there is a good value when you look at it that way. Is that enough? I don't know. As the waterpark stands now I don't see people from out of the area going there unless they add something to draw them. Time will tell on that.

I also think not adding any coasters was a good decision. They had 10 and were to big as it was. Take Kennywood, they have 5 adult coasters. With more coasters you have more staffing and maintenance.

I think Sea World kept GL around. Six Flags bought it and people were excited and went to check it out. But when the dust settled there was no market for a big park with no animals. Add to that they were suddenly owned by someone who was severely in debt, owned three parks in the same state and GL was the one lossing money.

[geaugafan2013]

You think that water park is good...I dont see what is good in it at all its very boring. The only ride i would pay the unreasonable price for is liquid lighting but i wouldnt pay that price for one ride that is actually fun. And do you think that the water park is going to be kept up, I personally dont think it will at all, There was nothing new last year and there wont be anything new this upcoming season. And havent you ever seen the attendance drop between 2003 and 2004 personally i think people completley forgot that the park was even around in 2004 because the attendance was way down the next year after Six Flags sold the park. And i was just at Kennywood last year and the park was great...Yeah it didnt have large rides but the flat rides that they have there are thrilling flat rides compared to what Geauga Lake had. They didnt have any flats. And i think that if they wanted to return the park back to its roots i think they should have cleaned up the front of the park and added tons of flat rides, because that was what the classic Geauga Lake had! And yea they did close Sea World because they bought it out so they werent going to be able to keep the name, So yes i do know that, that was definatley not an option to keep the branding names and animals. And do you know how much land Geauga Lake actually owned, It was a HUGE park so it was most likley one of the larger park even though a lot of it was still undeveloped.

[pkimike]

You think that water park is good...I dont see what is good in it at all its very boring. The only ride i would pay the unreasonable price for is liquid lighting but i wouldnt pay that price for one ride that is actually fun. And do you think that the water park is going to be kept up, I personally dont think it will at all, There was nothing new last year and there wont be anything new this upcoming season. And havent you ever seen the attendance drop between 2003 and 2004 personally i think people completley forgot that the park was even around in 2004 because the attendance was way down the next year after Six Flags sold the park. And i was just at Kennywood last year and the park was great...Yeah it didnt have large rides but the flat rides that they have there are thrilling flat rides compared to what Geauga Lake had. They didnt have any flats. And i think that if they wanted to return the park back to its roots i think they should have cleaned up the front of the park and added tons of flat rides, because that was what the classic Geauga Lake had! And yea they did close Sea World because they bought it out so they werent going to be able to keep the name, So yes i do know that, that was definatley not an option to keep the branding names and animals. And do you know how much land Geauga Lake actually owned, It was a HUGE park so it was most likley one of the larger park even though a lot of it was still undeveloped.

Yea, I think it is a nice little water park. I agreed with you that if I was from out of town there would be nothing that would attract me to it. If I was a local with a family I think 49.99 per person for a season pass is a pretty good bargain. When I grew up we paid that per summer for a membership to the local pool and that is all it had. A pool. I think we paid $200 for a family of 4. And yes as long as people go to the park I think they will keep it up. If it doesn't make money they will close it. If it was their desire to close or not take care of it it would be gone already. They could have closed it with the ride side.

Thank you for agreeing with me about Kennywood. I love that park. You don't have to have a lot of coasters to be a great park. I was responding to how you said you thought they would build more coasters since that was their reputation. I think that would have been a bad decision for CF.

[flightoffear1996]

Join a local swimming pool? Are you nutz its over $500 a year for one person to join the one were I live.

[The Interpreter]

Location, location, location. The swimming pool where you live does not compete with Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom.

[BavarianBeatle]

I have said this before, but I don't know if "fault" is the word I would use. GL, back in the day when I lived around Cleveland was a small family park that offered a relaxing atmosphere, not a lot of huge thrill rides, and a good time with family and friends. It was an alternative to the huge crowds, long, lines etc, that have always been present at CP. I often enjoyed an evening at GL after work in the summer much more than CP for that reason. Six Flags attempted to turn GL into a direct competitor of CP as opposed to a quiet alternative. And they failed. I don't know that "fault" describes what happened. Someone made a business judgment that seemed right to them at the time, but, in the end turned out badly. Sadly, businesses of all kinds succeed and fail every day in a free society. So, the cause of GL's demise is simply that we live in a capitalistic free country where people sometimes make incorrect decisions! Nothing more, nothing less....

[geaugafan2013]

Back in 2000 when Six Flags was rebranding Geauga Lake to Six Flags they probably had every intention on making this park acheive. Now by making that park acheive they had to open more things which took the park and spun it around and made it a whole new park. It wasn't Geauga Lake anymore, and Six Flags probably didn't want people remembering it like that. So they added tons of rides that i personally thought were great. Now after 3 years of operation under Six Flags, they decide to sell the park to Cedar Fair, which they want to return the park back to its roots. The first year nothing happens, the second year the park adds a major new water park, (actually not that major) ACCROSS the lake not on the same side as the park where it originally was. Then the third year they finally added the second addition and they failed to do that because all we got was the wave pool. Then finally their dream came true the Amusement Park finally closed.

[XGatorHead 8904]

Six Flags Worlds of Adventure was an experiment, one that was to have taken place at Kentucky Kingdom, which was at one point going to move to property closer to Kings Island (don't ask me for more details on this, I've said enough already). When Kings Island immediately responded to the threat with Action Zone and an unprecedented level of investment for a Paramount Park, Gary Story wisely decided to take his mega-park elsewhere.

*light bulb goes off in head*

Aha! Now the rumor I heard years ago makes sense! Thanks for shedding a little bit of light on that tidbit I had hidden away in my mind's "Preposterous" file. It was a rumor I thought was too ridiculous to be true, but in hindsight would have made sense under Six Flag's then management. But, like Terpy, I've said enough.

*ducks back in the shadows*

[Racerrider]

Somewhat less wisely, it was after Cedar Point he decided to go. Perhaps you remember the ridiculous advertisements of the giddy family that passed Cedar Point to get to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. Similar ads even ran in Cinc, with the Mason park being the one passed by the family going to SFWofA.

Are you talking about this HORRIBLE commercial?

[74Gibson]

^ I really don't know anything about Geuga Lake but I can say that that commerecial probably did more harm than good.

[Tomkatt7]

Somewhat less wisely, it was after Cedar Point he decided to go. Perhaps you remember the ridiculous advertisements of the giddy family that passed Cedar Point to get to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. Similar ads even ran in Cinc, with the Mason park being the one passed by the family going to SFWofA.

Are you talking about this HORRIBLE commercial?

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Wow, thats some nice cheese indeed, but, believe it or not, the one he was talking about was different, and worse!!!!

LOL

[tigellinus]

^^Where did they pass by CP and KI??

[geaugafan2013]

Thats the kind of advertisment that i talk about all the time sucking, needing to do more and better ones!

[The Interpreter]

The advertisements of which I spoke were NOT for Geauga Lake (the 2004 one posted was for Cedar Fair's Geauga Lake), but for Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. They were much, much worse (and sillier) than the one posted today!

[geaugafan2013]

First of all Six Flags did companay commercials. Cedar Fair does actual park commercials but Cedar Fairs suck compared to Six Flags.

[The Interpreter]

I'm not quite sure what you mean. I can assure you the commercials for Six Flags Ohio and Six Flags Worlds of Adventure were made specifically for that property. How could they otherwise say they passed Cedar Point or Kings Island to get to the Six Flags park?

ALL park chains have been known to show rides from other parks in the chain in a commercial tailored for the local park. For instance, Rebel Yell has been seen in Kings Island commercials. Moreover, sometimes rides appear in other companies' commercials. For instance, Racer appeared in Great Adventure ads while Rolling Thunder was still being built!

[Tomkatt7]

I'm not quite sure what you mean. I can assure you the commercials for Six Flags Ohio and Six Flags Worlds of Adventure were made specifically for that property. How could they otherwise say they passed Cedar Point or Kings Island to get to the Six Flags park?

ALL park chains have been known to show rides from other parks in the chain in a commercial tailored for the local park. For instance, Rebel Yell has been seen in Kings Island commercials. Moreover, sometimes rides appear in other companies' commercials. For instance, Racer appeared in Great Adventure ads while Rolling Thunder was still being built!

Is that even legal???

I could understand companies showing stuff from their other properties, but a competitor?

Seems like a lawsuit ready to happen.

[The Interpreter]

Sounds more like to me that Taft Broadcasting and Time Warner's Six Flags agreed to co-operate and use each other rides in promos. There was a lot of cooperation and mutual admiration between Six Flags and Taft. Next time you are at Great Adventure, look at the statute on the right side of the midway as you enter the park, just by the fountain. Gee, what is on the right side of International Street by the fountain at Kings Island? Look at the centerpiece wooden coaster at Kings Island when the park opened. What was the centerpiece wooden coaster later built at Great Adventure? What are the names of the great tortoises at Great Adventure? The parallels, and there are many, go on and on. As recently as year before last, who was in the motion theater at Great Adventure? Spongebob Square Pants!

[geaugafan2013]

Yea using other parks in a company ad is showing off that park but its showing off several different parks.