Columbus Zoo buys Wyandot Lake!

[familyman]

Six Flags sells Wyandot Lake Amusement Park for $2 Million. I for one am very happy. Six Flags has not invested in the park in recent years. I know the Columbus Zoo will take the park in the right direction!

[Outdoor Man]

is Six Flags liquidating all their parks?

[jzarley]

Yes, this is good news. There have been a few threads posted about this subject here over the last several months.

Technically, the Zoo is just buying the fixtures and equipment from Six Flags, as they already owned the land which SF leased from them. (Hence the low purchase price of only $2M).

[teenageninja]

Just another thing Six Flags didn't need, that probably brought in next to no revenue.

[BoddaH1994]

$2 Million sounds extremely cheap for a park, no matter how small it is.

[jzarley]

$2 Million sounds extremely cheap for a park, no matter how small it is.

But again...it didn't include any actual real estate, since the Zoo already owned the land. It's also been a few years since SF added anything new there, so my guess is that most FF&E items were pretty well into their depreciation schedules.

But I agree...just hearing the number sounds like quite a bargain. (Especially after the $1.24B price tag for Paramount Parks <g>.)

[CoastersNSich]

As little as the park had, ridewise or landwise, I found it to be a nice experience last year, which was my first ever visit to that park. A small, classic wood coaster, several flat rides, and a good water park. The wave pool was intense, the lazy river went underneath the Sea Dragon coaster - innertubes were optional, meaning you could freely swim in the lazy river without tubes. Simply, a relaxed atmosphere for someone with just a few hours.

Whatever Columbus Zoo does next, I hope includes much of the existing Wyandot Lake - plus some more water attractions, and maybe even a small-medium roller coaster. When I think of Six Flags, I think of large parks that require the whoe day to do - Wyandot didn't really fit in. I'd compare it to more like Coney Island - a small assortment of rides, small coaster, and a waterpark/pool with slides - and affordable, even when buying an all-day pass*. It will never be Kings Island or Cedar Point - but not everyone wants to mess with a megapark for rides, a coaster, and swimming/slides.

*Wyandot is POP only, which is still relatively affordable.

[RailRider]

Not surprising it has always been one of those things that you just wonder why it had never happend. I would imagine we will see both the zoo and Wyandot Lake combined in to one attraction and one ticket. The Zoo may very well go in the direction of Busch Adventure Parks.

[erniebald57]

I'm glad to see the zoo taking back over. Wyandot Lake has barely been touched for the last 10 years. I've really had no reason to go for a while now since there has been nothing new and Kings Island has continuously upgraded it's waterpark. I don't think that the zoo has any huge plans for the park, given the somewhat limited area to work with and the not so large pocketbook at hand. I would look for some improvements, but I wouldn't hold my breath for Busch Gardens Ohio....not that I wouldn't like to see it though.

[jzarley]

There have been some long range growth plans listed on the zoo's web site over the last several years and listed in the news (particularly when they were getting the levy passed in 2004). Apparently, part of the zoo's plans was to expand the waterpark site from 18 acres to 35, but that SF had said they didn't have any interest in participating.

Part of the announced plan is to reconfigure Powell Rd. so that it joins Riverside Dr. on the North side of the golf course. This makes all the zoo's land contiguous. A 50-acre African Savannah is slated for the area that's now currently across Powell Rd. The plans also included moving the main entrance off Riverside, and using the land between the Zoo and WL as "green space" plaza with shared ticket booths, fully paving the parket lot, etc. I read an article somewhere recently where Jerry Boren was quoted as saying that they had hopes to expand the waterpark and possibly give it an "animal theme." While small, WL is profitable, and the Zoo sees the waterpark as a funding engine for other zoo intiatives. From what I've read, I can't really determine whether the plan is still to offer them both as separate gates, or combine them into one gate.

And while non-profit, the Columbus Zoo has been pretty successful in fund raising and continously improving itself. (It's put in a lot more new attractions over the past five years than SF did at WL...) The new "Asia Quest" area of the zoo (opens next week, I believe) cost in the neighborhood of $12M...

I've always thought that WL would be better off to remove all of the dry, "carnival" rides and focus solely on being a waterpark. However, there's the Sea Dragon to consider...a John Allen design with some historic significance.

With nearly 500 acres owned, the Columbus Zoo is the largest municipally-owned zoo in the country...of course, it's not actually in Columbus--or even Franklin County for that matter

[Jasper]

$2 Million that is almost dirt cheap.