| Geauga Lake | |
|---|---|
| The entrance to Geauga Lake | |
| Location | Aurora, Ohio, United States |
| Owner | Cedar Fair Entertainment Company |
| Opened | 1887 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Previous names | Geauga Lake - 1888 to 2000, 2004 Six Flags Ohio - 2000 to 2001 Six Flags Worlds of Adventure - 2001 to 2004 |
| Operating season | May through September |
| Area | 690 acres (280 ha) |
| Rides | about 40 at closing total
|
| Slogan | "2 great parks for the price of 1" |
Geauga Lake was an amusement park located in Aurora, Ohio, United States, founded in 1888. 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.
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Geauga Lake was previously known as "Picnic Lake" or "Giles Pond."[1] Sullivan Giles chose this area for his log cabin in 1817. The surrounding area is often referred to as the Geauga lake area. 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] 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 Cleveland's team in the major league American Association.[3] By 1889 the park installed its first ride, a steam-powered carousel.[4] More rides would follow.
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 theatre and bowling alley, making them year round attractions. The race track was added in 1931, although it closed in 1969. The theatre, 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.
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, was built across the lake from the amusement park and swimming area on land leased from Funtime. Sea World and Geauga Lake were friendly neighbors for 30 years. Sea World focused on marine life and shows, while Geauga Lake focused on thrill rides and swimming. Sea World 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 second amusement park in Ohio (Cedar Point in Sandusky was the first) 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 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 Theme Parks from Time Warner. Serial Thriller, later known as Thunderhawk, was added. The next year, a new ferris wheel, Americana, Double inverting ride, Time Warp, and up-charge attraction Skycoaster were added. Premier Parks rebranded Geauga Lake in 2000 as Six Flags Ohio.
In 2000, Six Flags received $40 million in improvements, primarily four new roller coasters. One was a junior roller coaster the Beaver Land Mine Ride (Road Runner Express in 2000). Others included a wooden double out and back roller coaster called The Villain, a Bolliger & Mabillard floorless roller coaster called Batman Knight Flight (later Dominator) and an Intamin suspended impulse shuttle coaster called Superman Ultimate Escape (later Steel Venom). Also added this year, a new chutes water ride was added along with 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.
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 Geauga Lake/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 fall, Six Flags purchased Sea World for $110 million in cash, merging the two complexes into one, and changing the entire complex's name to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. 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 the whale 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 coaster titled X-Flight (now Firehawk at Kings Island). The small water park area also continued, so the park was marketed as "Three Parks for One Price".
To expand the water park area, in 2003 Six Flags added Hurricane Mountain, the then-largest water slide complex in North America, and renamed the water park area Hurricane Harbor.
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. The park was immediately "unflagged", "unbranded", and reverted to the name Geauga Lake. The Six Flags Looney Tunes characters and superhero branding was removed. To conform with copyright laws, the names of many of the rides and roller coasters were changed. The Hurricane Harbor water park area was renamed Hurricane Hannah's Waterpark and the marine life side was shut down immediately before opening. The animals were retained by Six Flags. While most of the marine area was razed, the amusement park area attractions and rides remained the same except for name changes.
In 2005, Cedar Fair invested $26 million dollars in Wildwater Kingdom, a new water park on the former Sea World site. The Wildwater Kingdom side had about six waterslides and a children's water play area. The Hurricane Hannah area remained.
In 2006, Wildwater Kingdom is 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. And Steel Venom relocated to Dorney Park, where it opened for the 2008 season as Voodoo, until 2009 when it was renamed Possessed.
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 [11] , except to say that the park will continue "to focus on fun filled wholesome family entertainment" and a total closing would not happen. The 2007 Oktoberfest on September 14, 15 and 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. 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 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.[12]
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:
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. | ||||
| Fall 1989 | SeaWorld Ohio | Anheuser-Busch | Daniel Trausch | |||
| 1996 | Geauga Lake | Premier Parks | Gaspar Lococo | |||
| 1998 | Geauga Lake | Six Flags | ||||
| 2000 | Six Flags Ohio | Six Flags | Jack Bateman, Daniel Trausch, Joe Costa | |||
| Combined Amusement/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 | |||
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 demolished or are now operating at another amusement park.
| Ride | Year Opened | Year Closed | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Americana | 1999 | 2007 | Ferris wheel, now open at Kings Dominion |
| 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. |
| Corkscrew | 1978 | 1995 | Arrow Dynamics corkscrew steel coaster |
| Cyclone | 1976 | 1980 | Pinfari Z47 portable coaster |
| Dodgems | 1983 | 2007 | Bumper cars |
| Dominator | 2000 | 2007 | Bolliger & Mabillard floorless steel coaster, now open at Kings Dominion |
| El Dorado | 1983 | 2007 | Weber 1001 Nachts pendulum ride. Moved to Kings Dominion but was closed in 2011 to make room for Windseeker |
| Double Loop | 1977 | 2007 | Arrow Dynamics double looping steel coaster, demolished |
| Geauga Lake Stadium | 1970's | 2008 | Lakeside stadium originally built to host Sea World's water-ski shows |
| Grizzly Run | 1996 | 2007 | Water rapids ride |
| Harbor Theatre | 1998 | 2007 | 4-D Cinema |
| 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 |
| LEGO Racers 4-D | 2007 | 2007 | 4-D Cinema film |
| Mission: Bermuda Triangle | 2000 | 2004 | Simulator film |
| Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall | 1997 | 2005 | Intamin first generation freefall |
| 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 |
| 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, to be scrapped soon |
| Robots of Mars | 2005 | 2006 | 4-D Cinema film |
| The 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 Maschinenfabrik enterprise ride |
| Skyscraper[16] | 1974 | 2007 | Observation tower, demolished |
| 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 |
| The Villain | 2000 | 2007 | Wooden/steel hybrid coaster built by Custom Coasters International (CCI), demolished |
| The Wave | 1984 | 1999 | Wave pool |
| Wild Mouse | 1958 | 1970s | Schiff wild mouse coaster |
| X-Flight | 2001 | 2006 | Vekoma flying steel coaster, now open at Kings Island as Firehawk |
| Yo-Yo | 1976 | 2007 | Chance-Morgan Yo-Yo chairswing ride, now open at Carowinds |
The park has had millions of dollars spent by its owners. Here are some capital expenditures since 1993, both to purchase the park and to install new rides.
| Year | Details | Approximate cost (U.S. dollars) |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Added Texas Twister | $2 million |
| 1996 | Added Head Spin and Grizzly Run | $7 million |
| 1997 | Added Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall & Hook's Lagoon | $2 million |
| 1998 | Added Serial Thriller | $10 million |
| 1999 | Added three new rides: Ripcord, Americana, & Time Warp | $2 million |
| 2000 | Rebranded as Six Flags Ohio, added 4 Roller Coasters, Water Park, Kids Area, and Shipwreck Falls water ride. | $44 million |
| 2001 | Purchase and integration of Sea World Ohio, added X-Flight | $127 million |
| 2004 | Acquisition by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. | $144 million |
| 2005 | Added Wildwater Kingdom, Dino Island, Robots of Mars, and Lakeside Catering, Refurbishment of Raging Wolf Bobs | $23 million |
| 2006 | Tidal Wave Bay and Cabanas | $3 million |
| 2007 | Added LEGO Racers 4-D movie, Painted Texas Twister, Remodeled Jukebox Cafe, Expanded Cabana Service, Cornhole Toss game | Minimal amount spent |
| Estimated Total | $359 million |
For a detailed history of the park from 1888 to the present, see The History of Geauga Lake at the park's official site.
1970: Sea World Ohio Opens
1983: The park opens Boardwalk Shores, the first water park to be included in an amusement park for one price.
1996: Geauga Lake is sold to Premier Parks, which later goes on to purchase Six Flags.
May 5, 2000: Six Flags Ohio opens for the first time under its new name.
January 10, 2001: Six Flags Ohio purchases neighboring Sea World Ohio for $110 million.
March 10, 2004: Six Flags sells the park to Cedar Fair, who changes the name back to Geauga Lake. Six Flags keeps the animals and disperses them to other properties. By opening day 2004, the portion of the park formerly known as SeaWorld is closed.
June 2005: A 20 acre (80,000 m²) Water Park located on the former site of SeaWorld of Ohio opens, under the name of Wildwater Kingdom. The admission price was dropped 10 dollars to $24.95. The annual Haunt (Halloween event) makes its final run this season, and is not continued the following seasons.
June 2006: Wildwater Kingdom opens its Caribbean-themed wave pool, Tidal Wave Bay. This wave pool measures 325 feet (99 m) wide by 220 feet (67 m) long; holds 390,000 gallons of water; and has cabanas, which guests can rent.
2007: The park's 2007 operating schedule has been significantly cut back compared with the schedules of seasons past. The park will now be open Memorial Day to Labor Day with Oktoberfest acting as a bonus weekend following the official closing of the park. X-Flight, Steel Venom, and Bel-Aire Express are now absent from the ride line up.[17] The park also goes smoke-free this year, restricting public smoking to designated areas.[18] New for 2007 are LEGO Racers (a 4D film), and Magician Tim Hill. The park also offers local season pass holders swimming lessons.
Post-2007 season: Cedar Fair closes the amusement park side of the park, sending some rides to other Cedar Fair parks. Other rides were auctioned in June 2008 and a few were scrapped (Double Loop, Villain, Haybaler). The water park remains as Wildwater Kingdom.[19]
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