It's pretty often you see these "what if six flags hadn't bought Geuaga Lake? What if Six Flags hadn't mismanaged and ruined the park?"
First of all, I recognize that there are some people who genuinely miss Geauga Lake, or appreciate the historic rides there that were lost when the park was closed. My only visit to Geauga Lake was in 1995, the year before it was bought by Six Flags. Secondly, Geauga Lake was a part of Premier before Six Flags was, as the company got the park in the Funtime acquistion that brought their park total to five.
Geauga Lake was fun, but it could be described as quaint next to Sea World Ohio. At the time, there were only four major roller coasters there
- Corkscrew
- Double Loop
- Raging Wolf Bobs
- Big Dipper
It was fun, and I made some of my earliest coaster memories there such as my first inversion, but it was a half-day park. It was what we did after Sea World. Name a half day amusement park in this country that enthusiasts dont consider beneath them. They're few and far between.
If Geauga Lake really had stayed independent all these years those rides would be either long gone anyway or enthusiasts would just want to know when the RMC conversion was coming. It'd be a park they stopped at for credit runs between Cedar Point and Kings Island and only to mock the park for how out of date and badly kept it was.
People are preparing to disagree, but how many jokes have you heard about Dorney Park's Possessed? Would it be less of one if it was still at Geauga Lake?
How big of jokes are Batwing at SFA and Nighthawk at Carowinds? How loud was the celebration when Cedar Fair demolished Firehawk? How many times have you heard people complain that Dominator is the worst floorless, and third-tier in a park with a weak lineup to start? Those were literally Geauga Lake's headline attractions the entire time it was a Six Flags park.
Enthusiasts don't care about the kind of park Geauga Lake was, and they have vocally hate the rides that were built there to give it national prominence.
eBut because Premier gambled big and built a bunch of rides that brought national attention, a lot of people grew up wanting to experience those amazing rides and feeling dejected when Cedar Fair closed the park and scrapped the rides. Or maybe they grew up ACTUALLY riding those rides and feeling ESPECIALLY dejected that Six Flags wasn't able to make it work and sold it off to be slaughtered.
At any rate, for most ppl you can't say Six Flags ruin
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Not sure if this has been suggested before, please feel free to delete if it has. I know others have done things about this, as it's pretty well known in the realm of "abandoned or run down parks" but I thought it would be neat to see Kevin's take on it.
For those who don't know, Geauga Lake was one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, home to one of the oldest roller coasters in the world (or at least the country). It was located in Aurora, Ohio, not too far from Cedar Point, and was at one point a massive park around a lake that consisted of a big roller coaster section, a water park, and a Sea World. I went there numerous times as a kid, first when it was in its biggest development stage and later after it had lost its Six Flags branding, and finally when it had been fully demoted to just a water park (Wildwater Kingdom) before completely closing in 2016. As of 2017, all of the structures in the amusement and water parks have been demolished or relocated, including the Big Dipper, which had operated since 1925.
This is just a big piece of not only Ohio history, but American park history, particularly in the 90s-early 2000s. There's a lot to sift through concerning its downfall and the decisions that led up to it, and I thought it'd be really interesting and beneficial for the community here to be able to talk about it.
Hello fine folks of Akron! I’m in town visiting my brother and love documenting abandoned spaces and was wondering if Geauga Lake is completely torn down or if there is anything still there that I could document! We used to go there ages ago as kids and would like to visit for nostalgia purposes. TIA!
Please welcome the first coaster to arrive at Geauga Lake!
"Big Dipper Revamped"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbpG-BJaO2U
A little while back I remember hearing about how at one point in time geauga lake was going to add a hyper coaster but I can't find any information about it anywhere. So does anybody know if this is true or not or is it just a rumor?
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