Geauga Lake

For the nearby lake, see Geauga Lake (Ohio).
Geauga Lake

The entrance to Geauga Lake
Slogan "2 great parks for the price of 1"
Location Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio, United States
Coordinates 41°20′54″N 81°22′09″W / 41.34839°N 81.36919°W / 41.34839; -81.36919Coordinates: 41°20′54″N 81°22′09″W / 41.34839°N 81.36919°W / 41.34839; -81.36919
Owner Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
Opened 1887
Closed September 16, 2007
Previous names

Geauga Lake - 1887 to 2000, 2004
Six Flags Ohio - 2000 to 2001
Six Flags Worlds of Adventure - 2001 to 2003

Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom - 2005 to 2007
Operating season May through September
Area 550 acres (220 ha)
Rides
Total 54
Roller coasters 8
Water rides 2
Website www.geaugalake.com (archived)

Geauga Lake (previously named Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and Six Flags Ohio) was an amusement park located in Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio, United States, founded in 1887. On September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair, the park's owner, announced that the traditional amusement park would close down and that the property would operate solely as a water park, beginning in the 2008 season. The water park is still open today as Wildwater Kingdom.

History

1887: Pre-amusement park era

Further information: Geauga Lake (Ohio)

Geauga Lake was originally known as "Picnic Lake" or "Giles Pond."[1] The Geauga Lake area was home to early settlers such as the Staffords, Mark Patterson, Capt. Simon Henry with his wife Rhoda Parsons and their children, Charles Swires, the Brewsters, and Bohan Blair. There is currently a city park and ballfields on East Boulevard in Aurora, named after this lake. Sullivan Giles chose this area for his log cabin in 1817. He later built a large frame home on the spot behind Geauga Lake depot on the north side of the lake. When the railroad came to town in 1856, it made a stop at "pond station". Giles took advantage of his scenic lake location and, in the last half of the 19th century, established picnic grounds, a dance hall, and other entertainment near his home for the all-day pleasure of residents and those taking the train to the country for a getaway.

Geauga Lake opened for picnics and swimming in 1872. An 1880 history of Geauga County reported that the Giles residence "being easy of access by rail, has become, within a few years, a very popular place of resort during the summer months, for fishing, picnic, and excursion parties" and that "for the convenience of such parties, Mr. Giles has recently erected a hall of considerable size near the lake. The surrounding grounds are kept clean and attractive, and, without exception, this is the most charming place to spend a leisure day to be found in this section."[2] At the time, a full-sized steamboat circled the lake, towing a large scow, topped with a dance floor. The boat, first owned by William Banford and Rowe Fuller, was later purchased by the Kents. In 1907, the boat was shipped by rail to Brady Lake near Kent.

1887-1969: Geauga Lake amusement park

Geauga Lake park itself was established in 1887. Three major league baseball games were played on Sundays at Geauga Lake in 1888 (plus a Thursday exhibition game) by the Cleveland Forest Citys of the major league American Association.[3] By 1889, the park installed its first ride, a steam-powered carousel.[4] More rides would follow.

Big Dipper from across the lake.

William J. Kuhlman expanded the park in 1925. At that time, Geauga Lake built the Big Dipper, the then-largest wooden roller coaster of its time, 2,800 feet (850 m) long and 65 feet (20 m) high. Geauga Lake's Olympic-sized swimming pool was built, and it stayed in operation until the mid-1960s. On Sunday, July 11, 1926, Olympic medalist and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller set a new world record in the 220-yard free style swim in the pool in front of 3,000 spectators.[5] Lake swimming also continued over the coming decades. Many amusement parks at the time had race tracks, dance halls, and sometimes a theater and bowling alley, making them year round attractions. The race track was added in 1931, although it closed in 1969. The theater, dance hall, and bowling alley were also added around the same time. In 1937, the park's 1926 hand-carved Marcus Illions Carousel was added, after having been located in Philadelphia and Birmingham, at a cost of $35,000.[6]

At that point, the park's dance hall and ballroom were major draws, with big band music performed by Guy Lombardo, Fred Waring, Artie Shaw, and other big names of the time.

In 1942, a tornado hit the park, injuring six, destroying buildings, and damaging the Big Dipper.[7] The park reported $50,000 in damages, but it quickly rebuilt.[8] In July 1944, Viola Schryer ("Vi") took over management of the park after the death of her uncle William Kuhlman.[9]

In 1952, a fire destroyed the park's bowling alley, theater, dance hall and roller rink with damages estimated at $500,000.[10] At that time the park became strictly a seasonal amusement park, beach, and swimming area. The pool was closed and razed in the early 1960s, but lake swimming continued.

1969-2000: Geauga Lake amusement park (Funtime era)

In 1969, Funtime Incorporated purchased the park. The focus continued to be rides and swimming. The racetrack closed and was razed in 1969. In 1970 a marine life park, SeaWorld Ohio, was built across the lake from the amusement park and swimming area on land leased from Funtime. SeaWorld and Geauga Lake were friendly neighbors for 30 years. SeaWorld focused on marine life and shows, while Geauga Lake focused on thrill rides and swimming. SeaWorld was purchased by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1976 and later by Busch Entertainment Corp in late 1989.

In 1972, the Gold Rush log flume water ride was added, and two years later Geauga Lake added the Skyscraper, which took passengers up 21 stories for views of the park. Admission to the park was free until 1972. Until then, rides on various attractions were purchased on a pay-as-you-go basis. Beginning in 1973, the park converted to an admission charge with a pay-one-price for all the rides and attractions. The Geauga Dog became the park's mascot and would remain so until 1999. In 1976, the park added the Wildcat compact steel roller coaster, and a year later the park added the Double Loop, a looping steel coaster. For a time, the park ran a short-lived series of TV commercials featuring Geauga Dog and a singing, dancing adolescent boy performing a song about the park. The boy's off-key singing and awful dancing were deliberate, a means of getting viewers to notice the ad. It succeeded.

Corkscrew coaster made its debut in 1978, making Geauga Lake the first amusement park in Ohio and one of the first amusement parks anywhere to have two looping coasters. Swimming in the lake continued to be a feature at the park, and in 1983, the park added Boardwalk Shores, which featured a paddleboat marina, a new bath house, a children's swimming pool area and water slides. A year later, The Wave, the only authentic tsunami wave pool in the Midwest at the time, opened to rave reviews.

In 1986, more children's rides were added and themed as Rainbow Island, a children's dry ride area. Stingray water slides and the Euroracer Grand Prix rides were added.

In 1988, Geauga Lake celebrated its centennial by introducing the Raging Wolf Bobs, a wooden roller coaster with a hybrid twister/out and back design modeled after the original Bobs roller coaster at Chicago's defunct Riverview Park. Two years later, the park re-themed the children's water area as Turtle Beach, which was advertised as the ultimate children's water playground. Geauga Lake expanded its midway with The Mirage and the $2.1 million Texas Twister in the early 1990s.

A corporate deal in 1995 saw Premier Parks acquiring Funtime, giving Geauga Lake a new owner. Premier Parks invested $9 million in new rides, including the Mind Eraser (a steel looping shuttle Boomerang roller coaster) and Grizzly Run, a water rapids ride designed by Intamin. These attractions opened in 1996, and the Corkscrew was closed and sold and moved to Dizzee World in Chennai, Tamil Nadu India. The next year, the park expanded its water area by 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2) with Hook's Lagoon. Several new water slides were also added.

In 1998, Premier Parks purchased Six Flags from Time Warner. Serial Thriller, later known as Thunderhawk, was added. The next year, Americana, Time Warp, and an up-charge attraction Skycoaster were added. Premier Parks re-branded Geauga Lake in 2000 as Six Flags Ohio.

2000-2004: Six Flags era

The logo when it was known as Six Flags Worlds of Adventure

In 2000, Geauga Lake received a $40 million expansion and became Six Flags Ohio. As part of that expansion, the park received 20 new rides, including four new roller coasters.[11] A junior roller coaster called Road Runner Express, a wooden roller coaster called Villain, a Floorless roller coaster called Batman: Knight Flight and an Inverted impulse roller coaster called Superman: Ultimate Escape. Also added was a new shoot the chute water ride named Shipwreck Falls and a new wave pool in the water park. The old wave pool was razed, filled, and used for a new Looney Tunes themed kids' area known as Looney Tunes Boomtown.

Busch Entertainment determined that its SeaWorld parks should feature roller coasters, water rides, and other attractions to supplement the marine displays and shows, and the company began de-emphasizing the educational aspects of its parks. They began modifying their Orlando, San Antonio, and to a lesser extent their San Diego parks to reflect this. Due to Six Flags Ohio's close proximity, as well as the fact that the SeaWorld side of the lake had height restrictions, Busch approached Six Flags about buying the Six Flags park. Six Flags then made a counter offer to instead buy SeaWorld Ohio. That winter, Six Flags purchased SeaWorld for $110 million in cash, merging the two complexes into one, and changing the entire complex's name to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. By combining the parks, Six Flags created the largest theme park in the world to date, at 700 acres.[12] The SeaWorld side became known as the "Wild Life" area and remained primarily marine life shows, with a few portable children's rides placed throughout. In 2002, Shamu was replaced by Shouka, who came on a breeding loan from Marineland in Antibes, France. The original amusement park area became known as the "Wild Rides" area and continued expansion with a Vekoma Flying roller coaster called X-Flight. The small water park area also continued, so the park was marketed as "Three Parks for One Price".

In hopes to expand the water park area, the addition of Hurricane Mountain, the then-largest water slide complex in North America, occurred in 2003 and the water park area was later renamed Hurricane Harbor.

2004-2007: Cedar Fair era

View of Thunderhawk (yellow), Dominator (blue), and Raging Wolf Bobs (white) with the ferry boats (then unused) in the background in 2006

Facing financial difficulties across its chain and high debt, Six Flags considered selling the park. Two months before the 2004 season, a sale to Cedar Fair, owner of Cedar Point located 85 miles (137 km) away, was announced. The deal was finalized less than a month later for $145 million.[13] The park was immediately "unflagged", "unbranded", and reverted to the name Geauga Lake. The Six Flags Looney Tunes characters and DC superhero branding was removed. To conform with copyright laws, the names of many of the rides and roller coasters were changed. The Looney Tunes Boomtown kids area was renamed Kidsworks. The Hurricane Harbor water park area was renamed Hurricane Hannah's Waterpark. The marine life side was shut down immediately before opening. The animals were retained by Six Flags and relocated to other parks such as Six Flags Marine World and Wild Safari. While most of the marine area was razed, the amusement park area attractions and rides remained the same except for name changes.

As part of Cedar Fair's 2004 purchase of Geauga Lake, many of the coasters received new names as Cedar Fair does not own the rights to DC Comics characters. Below is a list of renamed rides:

In 2005, Cedar Fair invested $26 million in Wildwater Kingdom, a new water park on the former SeaWorld site, which resulted in the name being altered slightly to Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom. The Wildwater Kingdom side had about six water slides and a children's water play area. The Hurricane Hannah area remained.[14]

In 2006, Wildwater Kingdom was expanded to include Tidal Wave Bay. The Hurricane Hannah area was then shut down, leaving Wildwater Kingdom as the remaining water park. The season was also scaled back, eliminating the spring and fall weekend operations and opening strictly between Memorial Day and Labor Day with one last weekend in mid-September. At the end of the season, the X-Flight roller coaster was removed, as well as Steel Venom (formerly Superman The Ultimate Escape). The X-Flight was relocated to Kings Island and opened as Firehawk in 2007. Steel Venom was relocated to Dorney Park, where it opened for the 2008 season as Voodoo, until 2009 when it was renamed Possessed.

2007-present: Closing and redevelopment

One of the last standing rides, Ripcord, pictured in 2011

In 2007, the summer-only operation of Geauga Lake continued. Rumors ranging from the total closing of Geauga Lake to closing everything except the water park to scaling back the rides area even more were rampant. Cedar Fair refused to comment on the rumors. The 2007 Oktoberfest held on September 14–16, 2007, was the final weekend for the amusement park. On Friday, September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair announced its decision to not reopen the ride side of Geauga Lake park and that Wildwater Kingdom side would reopen exclusively as a water park called Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom.[15] This led to efforts to save Geauga Lake, especially landmarks such as the Big Dipper and the Carousel, including an online petition and letters to public officials.

Cedar Fair has placed the land of the amusement park side of the park up for sale. The remaining rides and remnants were auctioned separately on June 17, 2008. Many returned to the park for one last visit on the June 16 auction preview day and the June 17 auction.[16]

As of January 2013, the Geauga Lake side is still for sale and projects similar to Crocker Park in Westlake, Ohio are being considered.[17] Bainbridge Township and Cedar Fair hoped to have it resolved by the end of 2013.[18] In March 2013, Cedar Fair announced that they are putting Geauga Lake's property up for sale again. Unlike before, they are willing to sell the land in parcels.[19] Several companies have since shown interest in the land.[20][21]

Fate of Geauga Lake's coasters

What's left of the Geauga Lake entrance, pictured in 2011

Past coasters and attractions

The number of former attractions at the park reflects the different visions each of the owners had for the park. Below are some of the park's former rides that have been removed or are now operating at another amusement park.

Ride Year Opened Year Closed Description
Americana 1999 2007 Ferris wheel, now open at Kings Dominion
Bayern Curve 1974 1980 Schwarzkopf Bayern Kurve
Beaver Land Mine Ride 2000 2007 Zierer steel kiddie coaster, now operates at Papea City in Yvré-l'Evêque, France
Bel-Aire Express 1969 2006 Monorail
Big Dipper 1925 2007 John A. Miller wooden coaster. The park officially became an amusement park when this coaster opened. The ride formerly served as the park entrance gate. Former Names: The Clipper and Sky Rocket.
Big Ditch 1973 1985 Boat ride
Black Squid 1970 2007 Eyerly Spider, relocated to Kings Dominion but was in too poor of condition to reassemble
Boardwalk Typhoon 2007 Eli Bridge Scrambler, sold to Schlitterbahn water parks
Bounty 2001 2007 Chance Sea Dragon, sold to Schlitterbahn water parks
Bug 1977 Traver Tumble Bug
Calypso 1975 1986 Ramagosa Calypso
Carousel 1937 2007 Marcus Illions Grand Carousel, relocated to Worlds of Fun in 2011
Casino 1991 1999 Chance Casino
Corkscrew 1978 1995 Arrow Dynamics corkscrew steel coaster, Relocated to MGM Dizzee World as Roller Coaster since 1996.
Cyclone 1976 1980 Pinfari Z47 portable coaster[23]
Dodgems 1983 2007 Bumper cars
Dominator 2000 2007 Bolliger & Mabillard floorless steel coaster, now open at Kings Dominion
Double Loop 1977 2007 Arrow Dynamics double looping steel coaster, demolished
El Dorado 1991 2007 Weber 1001 Nachts pendulum ride. Moved to Kings Dominion but was closed in 2011 to make room for WindSeeker
Euroracers Grand Prix 1987 1999 Go Karts
Ferris Wheel 1969 1998 Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel
Ferry Boats 2001 2005 Two Ferry Boats operated as Cuyahoga Queen and Aurora Belle
Flying Scooters 1958 1999 Flying Scooters
Geauga Lake Stadium 1975 2007 Lakeside stadium originally built to host Sea World's water-ski shows
Geauga Queen 1980 Boat ride
Giant Slide 1980 Sack slide
Grizzly Run 1996 2007 Intamin Water rapids ride
Harbor Theatre 1998 2007 4-D Cinema
Hay Baler 1976 2007 Mack Matterhorn
Head Spin 1996 2007 Vekoma steel boomerang coaster, now open at Carowinds as Carolina Cobra
Hook's Lagoon 1997 2004 Water tree house
Kidworks Playzone 2000 2007 Kiddie rides area, rides located to Cedar Point in the Planet Snoopy section of the park
LEGO Racers 4-D 2007 2007 4-D Cinema film
Lighthouse Cruise 1985 2000 Boat ride
Little Dipper 1975 Wooden Family Coaster (NAD Comet Jr.)
Merry Oldies 1972 2007 Arrow Dynamics Antique Cars
Mission: Bermuda Triangle 2000 2004 Simulator film
Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall 1997 2005 Intamin first generation freefall, scraped parts for Demon Drop
Muzik Express 1978 2002 Spinning Himalaya-type ride
Palace Theatre 1977 2007 Entertainment Venue that was the park's Fun House from the 1940s through 1976
Pepsi Plunge 1972 2007 Log Flume
Pirates 4-D Adventure 1998 2004 4-D Cinema film
Power City Stage 1993 2007 Amphitheatre
Raging Wolf Bobs 1988 2007 Summers/Dinn wooden coaster, demolished
Ripcord 1999 2007 Skycoaster
Robots of Mars 2005 2006 4-D Cinema film
Rotor 1981 2000 Rotor-type ride
Shark Attack 2003 2005 Water slide tower
Shipwreck Falls 2000 2007 Shoot-the-Chutes water ride
Silver Bullet 1976 2003 HUSS Park Attractions enterprise ride
Skyscraper[26] 1974 2007 Observation tower, dismantled
Starfish 2003 2007 Spinning family ride
Steel Venom 2000 2006 Intamin impulse steel coaster, now open at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom as Possessed
Texas Twister 1993 2007 The first HUSS top spin in America, now open at California's Great America as Firefall
Thunder Alley Speedway 1998 2007 Go-karts
Thunderhawk 1998 2007 Vekoma SLC steel inverted coaster, now open at Michigan's Adventure
Time Warp 1999 2007 Chance-Morgan inverter thrill ride
Villain 2000 2007 Wooden/steel hybrid coaster built by Custom Coasters International (CCI), demolished
The Wave 1984 1999 Wave pool
Wild Mouse 1958 1971 Schiff wild mouse coaster. Relocated to Chippewa Lake Park in 1972 where it is currently SBNO since 1979
X-Flight 2001 2006 Vekoma flying steel coaster, now open at Kings Island as Firehawk
Yo-Yo 1981 2007 Chance-Morgan Yo-Yo chairswing ride, now open at Carowinds

Previous names and management

It is not uncommon for amusement parks to be sold and this property has changed hands a number of times, although there were only four ownership changes in the 124-year span from 1872 to 1996.

The park was originally two parks- Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio. Geauga Lake became Six Flags Ohio in 2000; before the 2001 season SeaWorld was purchased by Six Flags and the entire complex was combined and renamed Six Flags Worlds of Adventure.

Amusement Park Marine Park
Year Name Owner Manager Name Owner Manager
1872 Giles Pond / Picnic Lake Sullivan Giles -Same-
1888 Geauga Lake Alexander G. Kent -Same-
1925 Geauga Lake William J. Kuhlman -Same-
1945 Geauga Lake Carl Adrion, Harvey Schryer, & Charles Schryer -Same-
1968 Geauga Lake Funtime Inc. Gaspar Lococo, Earl Gascoigne, Dale Van Voorhis, & Milford Jacobson
1970 SeaWorld Ohio SeaWorld Milton C. Shedd, Ken Norris, David Dement, and George Millay
1976 SeaWorld Ohio Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
Combined Amusement/Water Park
1983 Geauga Lake Funtime Inc.
Fall 1989 SeaWorld Ohio Anheuser-Busch Daniel Trausch
1996 Geauga Lake Premier Parks Gaspar Lococo
1998 Geauga Lake Six Flags
1999 SeaWorld Cleveland Anheuser-Busch
2000 Six Flags Ohio Six Flags Jack Bateman, Daniel Trausch, Joe Costa
Combined Amusement/Water/Marine Park
Name Owner Manager
2001-2003 Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure Six Flags Rick McCurly
Combined Amusement/Water Park
Name Owner Manager
2004 Geauga Lake Cedar Fair Bill Spehn
2005–2007 Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom Cedar Fair Bill Spehn

References

  1. ↑ Wilson, Marcelle; Richard Fetzer (2007). Images of America: Aurora. Arcadia Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-0738550558.
  2. ↑ Pioneer and General History of Geauga County. Historical Society of Geauga County. 1880. p. 143.
  3. ↑ The Plain Dealer. July 23, 30 and August 27, 1888. Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Francis, David; Diane Francis (2004). Cleveland Amusement Park Memories. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-886228-89-4.
  5. ↑ The Plain Dealer. July 12, 1926. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Francis & Francis, p. 62
  7. ↑ The Plain Dealer. August 24, 1942. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ Francis & Francis, p. 65
  9. ↑ The Plain Dealer. July 27, 1944. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ Francis & Francis, p. 68
  11. ↑ "Geauga Lake to become Six Flags Ohio". The Vindicator. December 8, 1999. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  12. ↑ Krosnick, Brian. "5 Tragic Reasons Why the World's Largest Theme Park Stands Abandoned in Ohio". themeparktourist.com. Theme Park Tourist. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Six Flags agrees to sell Ohio park for $145M". Pittsburgh Business Times. March 10, 2004. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Geauga Lake Park Maps". GeaugaLakeToday.com. 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ Hovey, Brent (September 26, 2007). "Geauga Lake silences rides; water park stays". Aurora Advocate. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ "A Final Goodbye". GeaugaLakeToday.com. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  17. ↑ Lahmers, Ken (October 3, 2012). "Mixed uses for Geauga Lake land suggested in city master plan". Aurora Advocate. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  18. ↑ Arnold, Dave (January 15, 2013). "Bainbridge Township residents complain about abandoned Geauga Lake eyesore". WEWS-TV. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  19. ↑ Bullard, Stan. "Geauga Lake land will be sold -- in pieces". Crain's Cleveland Business. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  20. ↑ Tye, Chris (June 1, 2015). "Meijer superstore in talks to build on Geauga Lake land". wkyc.com. WKYC. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  21. ↑ Bullard, Stan (May 11, 2014). "Developers are sizing up massive Geauga Lake land". crainscleveland.com. Crain's Business. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  22. ↑ "Cyclone". POP World Media, LLC. POP World Media, LLC. 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  23. 1 2 "RCDB". Duane Marden. Rollercoaster Data Base. 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  24. ↑ Wendel, Kim (2008-10-22). "Geauga Lake: Where is it a year after closing? | wkyc.com". WKYC. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  25. ↑ "Burton: Century Village gets section of Geauga Lake Raging Wolf Bobs, coaster car". wkyc.com. 2008-08-22. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
  26. ↑ Wendel, Kim (October 2008). "Geauga Lake: Where is it a year after closing?". WKYC-TV.

Further reading

External links

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