Brings a tear to one's eye.

Those were the days. Oh, do I miss that park so.

Brings a tear to one's eye.

There has been to many tears to my eyes latley. If you know what I mean.

I went to Sea World Ohio when I was younger but never made it to the theme park side but it makes me truly sad to know that in Aurora and the area around there is filled with families who have lost the park that have been parts of their lives for years. Similar to KK.

Imagine if KI were to close one day. Many people would lose family traditions. Sure you can travel to other regional parks but its just not the same. I have memories of my gpa linked to KI. By going to another park, it wouldnt be the same. Samething with Geauga Lake. Someone has a memory of their grandma sitting at a bench outside of a ride and will never get to see that bench/ride area and smile with memories...

I was also taken to Sea World when I was very young. I do not remember it a whole lot, but I remember playing in a ball pit and fishing with my parents off of a dock. My parents had most of the trip recorded on VHS, but they recorded over most of it by accident. (Kinda like the Everybody Loves Raymond episode where he records the Super Bowl over their wedding tape, only we recorded the Home and Garden channel)

The good ol' days, when the park had a clear vision of what it should be.

No mega expansion, no mega licenses, no mega prices.

A local picnic park with beautiful grounds, a solid ride collection, and a price that the locals could afford.

This looked like a fun park. Would've liked to have visited :-)

I went to Geauga Lake once in 2006. Didn't care much for the park. It was like a ghost town and not just from lack of patrons, but from closed sections of the park and shuttered buildings. Even towards the end it seemed to have lost a lot of the charm it had in the above video.

OP, thanks for posting!

When I lived up and went to Kent I drove down to Geuga Lake to snap pictures. I took these photos in 2010 with just a standard Point and Shoot

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49728734@N02/archives/date-posted/2010/04/29/

I didnt break into the park, just pictures you can get from public land around the park. The pictures of the big dipper were from the screen in front. I didnt venture to take any pictures on private property. But sad to drive around the park and see remnants of what once was...

so, I am not sure why but I think its because of all of secrets about GL that keep me interested in the park I never visited, except once to see Sea World. But if one would venture over to the GL message boards, http://geaugalaketoday.freepowerboards.com/index.php there are some people, who iam sure would be as upset as we would be if our park closed one day.

But there is a rumor on their site about Big Dipper going to Coney Island?

But there is a rumor on their site about Big Dipper going to Coney Island?

The structure isn't salvageable at this point, and I doubt the trains are, either. They've had no protection or maintenance since the park closed.

The more I read and see about Geauga Lake, the stronger my impression becomes that it at some point(s) in its life was a charming little park on a lake that felt like Cedar Point, only without the Kinzel-esque "big-coasters-means-big-fun" atmosphere that Cedar Point has in certain parts. If I'm right, then I'm increasingly bummed that I never knew GL ever existed till 2008. (I've always wondered if I'd have liked Villain... Rough as it may have been, I've never met a CCI I 100% disliked.)

The more I read and see about Geauga Lake, the stronger my impression becomes that it at some point(s) in its life was a charming little park on a lake that felt like Cedar Point, only without the Kinzel-esque "big-coasters-means-big-fun" atmosphere that Cedar Point has in certain parts. If I'm right, then I'm increasingly bummed that I never knew GL ever existed till 2008. (I've always wondered if I'd have liked Villain... Rough as it may have been, I've never met a CCI I 100% disliked.)

Villain was a blast, unfortunately the park's atmosphere had already been destroyed by the time it was built. The park's heyday was in the '80s and early to mid '90s. The flagging was the beginning of the end.

I visited Geauga Lake and Sea World the summer of 1991 and loved it! The Big Dipper was a fantastic wooden coaster and I am glad I took that opportunity to ride it! I recall having a bit of motion sickness after sitting through their cinema 180 attraction, however. This was the first and only time an amusement park ride/attraction has made me ill...well, not counting International Bandstand Karaoke during the 90's There is a charm in smaller parks like this and it's always so sad to witness them being wiped off the map Bigger is not always better!