Geauga Lake: Worlds Once Adventured

in the present day amusement park scene the state of Ohio is extremely prominent as the home of Cedar Point and Kings Island to well-established parks which are home to some of the world's greatest rollercoasters these two parks stand as Ohio's greatest attracting millions of thrill seeking patrons each year however there once was a third Park that stood tall alongside the likes of Cedar Point and in the minds of some enthusiasts was actually superior to it with 120 years of operation it suddenly closed its doors without warning how did it rise to prominence as one of the greatest parks in the world and what led to its abrupt and unexpected closure join us as we look at the story of Geauga Lake located right between Bainbridge Township and Aurora Ohio lies a large area of land located right next to a lake this property was originally owned by a man named Sullivan Giles who built his home on the property as railroads were rapidly expanding during this time the train eventually passed right by Giles property sensing an opportunity he established the property as scenic picnic grounds where people could stop and relax before continuing on their way Giles also built a dance hall further adding to the appeal of his property the property itself was well known not only as a picnic ground but also as a place to swim in the lake Giles Pond eventually became one of the most popular destinations along the railway providing an enjoyable and scenic day of leisure to all those who attended with Giles pawn being firmly established as a respectable leisure destination the year 1887 brought about a significant change no longer known as Giles Pond Geauga Lake Park was officially established major league baseball games were the parks main attraction for a year until a steam-powered carousel was added in 1888 the addition of this ride would pave the way for Geauga Lake to grow in size over the following years the park's next significant addition took place in 1925 with the construction of the Big Dipper roller coaster and an Olympic sized swimming pool at the time of its construction the Big Dipper was the largest coaster of its kind with a height of 65 feet taking a note from other parks of the time Geauga Lake constructed a racetrack theater bowling alley and a dance hall which managed to pull in large crowds due to frequent performances of big-band music at the dawn of the 1940s the park would sustain some difficult obstacles in its expansion the first of which occurred in 1942 when a tornado struck causing substantial damage to buildings and damaging the Big Dipper despite the damage the park rebuilt the damaged structures and continued its operations 10 years later a fire broke out that destroyed the dancehall bowling alley roller rink and theater the park also closed the swimming pool becoming a seasonal park only in 1969 Geauga Lake was sold to company funtime incorporated despite the change in ownership few things changed inside the park in its first few years under the new management meanwhile across the lake a new park was being constructed which would eventually open in 1970 this park was SeaWorld Ohio which was only the second SeaWorld Park to open right behind SeaWorld San Antonio quite an ambitious project the park promised to provide thrilling shows and captivating animal exhibits for all to see featuring killer whales sea lions dolphins and many other species of sea life SeaWorld Ohio did very well in its first years pulling in well over 1 million people per operating season despite the parks close proximity to Geauga Lake the two parks did not compete rather they benefited each other by offering two very different types of entertainment Geauga Lake folk stunts thrill rides and other such attractions and see world focused on live shows and educational presentations with its animals over the following two decades the two businesses coexisted with only the lake separating them during this time Geauga Lake opened up a number of new rides including the corkscrew roller coaster this coaster manufactured by aerodynamics flipped its riders upside down twice before returning to the station another aerodynamics coaster built during this time was the double loop true to its nature the double loop held the significance of being the first coaster to feature two consecutive vertical loops as both it and the corkscrew were manufactured by aerodynamics the park would frequently switch the ride cars between the two rides in addition to these two coasters Geauga Lake also added an assortment of other rides such as the gold rush log flume the skyscraper observation tower and the dodge and bumper cars the park continued to rise in popularity further cementing Geauga Lake as one of the greatest amusement parks of the Midwest Geauga Lake celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 1988 with a new wooden roller coaster the raging wolf bombs with a top speed of 50 miles per hour the raging wolf Bob's took riders on a twisting turning ride with plenty of rough turns funtime Incorporated continued to operate the park until 1995 when another change of hands would take place that would alter Geauga Lake future in 1995 Geauga Lake was an amusement park with 107 years of operation already behind it the parks reputation was well known and it was held in high regard as one of the United States best amusement parks another change of hands took place in 1995 when funtime incorporated was purchased by premier parks premier wasted no time and further adding to the parks lineup in 1996 of a Como boomerang coaster known as mind eraser open to the public although it is a common model of roller coaster the mind erasers still brought the thrills as it sent riders both forward and backward through a loop and two inversions also opening that same year was the grizzly run a water ride designed and manufactured by intamin in a park well known for its roller coasters grizzly run provided a welcome change with its sharp turns and Rapids around every corner and even some waterfalls two years later in 1998 another coaster was added this time much different than the ones previous known as serial thriller this coaster was a vakama suspended looping coaster with the track above riders looped and twisted their way over the lake with their feet dangling with it's bright red track serial thriller definitely stood out from the rest of the park's lineup although vekoma SLC's are infamous for the very rough rides serial thriller brought the pain as well as lots of thrills to Geauga Lake Geauga Lake stride lineup was expanding well beyond what many park goers had anticipated but little did they know that serial thriller was only the beginning of an expansion that would transform Geauga Lake you the year 2000 brought about tremendous changes to Geauga Lake premier parks purchased six flags incorporated from Time Warner this new acquisition allowed premier to rebrand some of its existing parks as Six Flags parks giving them access to Six Flags licenses such as Looney Tunes and DC superheroes on the chairman of Co premier parks we've owned JA Lake since 1995 and I think in the last four or five years made a pretty significant investment here in our view really transformed the park and dramatically improved its entertainment and its product and we're going to crowd our efforts up to this point but I have to tell you that they've all been pointing toward and they've all been leading to today and we've really been on a mission become Six Flags Ohio in 2000 jiya go Lake was rebranded into a Six Flags park but the parks name was only the first thing to change in an ambitious move Six Flags announced that 20 new rides would be added to the park for the 2000 season among these rides a particular note were a total of four new roller coasters the site of the old wave pool was used as the location for a new redeveloped children's area called looney tunes boomtown no longer Geauga Lake Six Flags Ohio opened its doors to the public in May of 2000 and audiences were amazed at the parks transformation the four new roller coasters definitely added to the parks appeal for thrill-seekers the first of these new coasters was the Road Runner Express which was added in the Looney Tunes area of the park although small in size the coaster was a great family coaster and provided an introductory experience for kids hoping to ride the larger coasters one day the park received a new wooden roller coaster called the villain which was designed by custom coasters international the makers of other well-known coasters like boulder dash at Lake compounds and mega Zeff at Jazz land although it was advertised as a wooden coaster the villain was actually a hybrid coaster with steel supports and a wooden although initially a very smooth ride the villains track soon deteriorated and became extremely rough leading to a REIT racking in 2001 two of the park's new coasters used the DC Comics license in their theming the first of which was Superman ultimate escape manufactured by intamin this inverted steal impulse coaster shot riders forward and backward up into two vertical corkscrews the ride vehicles gained height each time they were launched providing a short but very exhilarating experience the final new coaster that was added for the 2000 season was Batman night flight this floorless bnm coaster gained media attention for having what was at the time the tallest vertical loop in the world with a height of 135 feet the coaster also held the record for world's longest floorless coaster which it still holds today much like serial thriller Batman night flight was located right next to the lake allowing for some sections of track to be over the water the combination of these four coasters the park's new theming and all the other new rides that were added proved to be a huge hit with park visitors Six Flags Ohio was quickly considered to be one of the flagship parks in the Six Flags lineup but there was still even more on the horizon the year was 2001 and across the lake from Six Flags Ohio SeaWorld Ohio wasn't doing so well the colder climate limited the park to operating only on a May to September basis whereas there other parks are open year-round Busch Entertainment had recently decided to stray from the educational aspect of their parks in favor of thrill rides but the close proximity to Six Flags Ohio prevented them from adding thrill rides to their Ohio Park Busch Kenner taemin approached Six Flags about possibly being able to buy Six Flags Ohio in a surprising move Six Flags proposed a counter bid to instead buy SeaWorld Ohio and the deal was soon finalized the two parks were merged and in 2001 Six Flags Ohio became Six Flags worlds of adventure ice know more about this all-new mega party let's check it out at the time of its opening worlds of adventure was the largest amusement park in the world with a total size of 700 acres six flags also expanded the waterpark effectively advertising the park as three parks and one the original Geauga Lake Park was referred to as the wild ride side and SeaWorld Ohio was labeled as the wildlife side Six Flags continue to present the many shows that had been present when the park was SeaWorld Ohio and they also added some small children's rides in the area ferry votes were added on a continuous route to shuttle people from one side of the lake to the other although it was also possible to walk around the ferry votes proved to be a convenient and scenic shortcut the newly expanded waterpark was dubbed Hurricane Harbor and had some new slides added to it for the 2001 season the newly opened Park was incredibly popular but six legs were not done adding attractions just yet to further add to the 2001 season a new roller coaster was constructed one that attracted a great deal of media attention the new coaster dubbed X flight was a totally new experience that allowed riders to lay face down as they rode giving the feeling of flying through the air this coaster was manufactured by the coma and was yet another fantastic addition to one of the fastest growing amusement parks in the world audiences praised Six Flags ambition an expanding Park and it soon grew to be an even more popular destination than the nearby Cedar Point however Six Flags ambition may have been too much as the park would be hit with financial difficulties that would bring about some drastic changes the year was 2004 and six flags was going through some significant financial difficulties leading them to sell or close some of their parks initially worlds of adventure was not considered to be a sellable part due to its size and importance to the company eventually though six flags made the decision to put the park up for sale soon enough right before the start of the 2004 season Six Flags announced that the park had been sold to Cedar Fair which owns many other parks such as Cedar Point Michigan's Adventure and Kings Island longtime patrons of the park had varied opinions of what this could mean some were optimistic hoping that Cedar Fair would continue what six flags started expanding the park and continuously adding to the ride lineup others were very paranoid stating that the park's close proximity to Cedar Point was a sign that Cedar Fair may have just purchased it to eliminate competition as six legs no longer owned the park the name was reverted back to Geauga Lake and all Looney Tunes and DC Comics licensing was removed leading to many rides being renamed Road Runner Express was changed to Beaver land mine ride Superman ultimate escape was changed to steal venom although the ride retained its red and blue paint scheme and Batman night flight was changed to Dominator some rides were also renamed even though their original names containing no licensing serial thriller was renamed Thunder Hawk and mind eraser was changed to head spin additionally the hurricane harbor water park was renamed to the slightly less impressive hurricane Hanna's the final change was one of the most drastic as Cedar Fair shut down the Wildlife side of the park as Cedar Fair is not a company that specializes in animal shows all the animals were relocated to other Six Flags parks with these changes Geauga Lake once again open to the public in 2004 and audiences were not impressed although the rides that many loved were still present the absence of the marine life Park seriously impacted the parks attendance as it dropped drastically compared to the previous year in 2005 Cedar Fair used the land that SeaWorld previously stood on to construct a wild water Kingdom a new water park that was included with admission strangely hurricane Hanna's remained open giving the park a total of two water this didn't last long though as Hurricane Hannah's closed the following year and wild water kingdom received a new expansion in the form of a wave although more attractions were planned for the waterpark the wave pool was the only one that would come to fruition many people's worst fears came true when in 2006 ex flight and steal venom were removed from Geauga Lake some claim that Cedar Fair were simply scaling back Geauga Lake and restoring it to its former glory as a small-town amusement park still though many feared the Geauga Lake Stein was on the clock and sadly they were correct Geauga lakes 2007 season was quite an uneventful one after removing two of its most popular coasters and scaling back its days of operation including removing its Halloween events the park operated in 2007 with only one new attraction a Lego Racers movie and the 4d theater the raging wolf Bob's coaster shut down early in the season and did not reopen time seemed bleak for the historic park but still some people hope the 2008 season would bring new changes Geauga Lake closed for the season on September 16 2007 little did people realize that this would be the last day the park would ever operate a mere five days later on September 21st 2007 Cedar Fair announced that the ride side of Geauga Lake would cease to operate and that the property would operate solely as a waterpark Cedar Fair claimed that the decision was made the day it was announced but few people believed such a statement Cedar Fair's abrupt decision to shut down the park meant that no one got a chance to say goodbye no opportunities to take a few final pictures a proper send-off was an afterthought to Cedar Fair as they calmly stated basically our board of directors made the decision yesterday afternoon that the market demand simply isn't there to support the park as it's currently structured the student was made to operate the park exclusively at the waterpark only waterpark only you would close the rollercoasters and all the other amusement rides that section of the park correct yes that is correct people in the Aurora Ohio area were heartbroken that their beloved Park of 120 years was shutting down never to reopen amusement park enthusiasts at the time criticized the then CEO of Cedar Fair dick Kinsel of purchasing Geauga Lake with the intent of closing it and redistributing its rides to eliminate competition with Cedar Point Cedar Fair denied this but enthusiasts were not convinced regardless of criticism Cedar Fair continued to operate wild water kingdom renaming at Geauga Lake swaiiow Water Kingdom for the 2008 season Ohio residents resented Cedar Fair's treatment of the park as the company levelled the property removing all the rides and relocating them to other parks as the years passed the Geauga Lake subscript was dropped from the water park and wild water kingdom continued to operate on the land where SeaWorld once stood in 2008 visitors to wild water Kingdom could glance out across the lake and observe the coasters being slowly dismantled leveling the property visitors were granted one final opportunity to enter the park as the rides were auctioned off to the highest bidders the empty walkways and derelict buildings stood in stark contrast to the colorful bustling park that existed less than a year prior after the auction demolition began not a single building was left intact although strangely the infrastructure of the park remains curious enthusiasts can view satellite images of the property showing the curved pathways that once led to towering coasters concrete supports can still be seen sinking into the swamp where Dominator and Thunderhawk once stood and a dried-up grisly run can still be observed slowly being overtaken by weeds and grass however two structures continue to stand as a reminder of what once was Geauga Lake once grand entrance now stands at half its original height fenced off to the general public as mother nature reclaims it and lastly the Big Dipper roller coaster continues to stand to this very day it was allegedly sold when all the rides are auctioned off but the buyer has yet to dismantle it so there it remains a stark reminder of the magnificent park that once was today parts of Geauga Lake still live on across the country and continue to thrill and entertain people of all ages dominator was moved to Kings Dominion where it continues to operate headspin was relocated to Carowinds where it was renamed Carolina Cobra steel venom is now currently at Dorney Park under the name possessed Thunder Hawk was moved to Michigan's adventure where it was repainted but retains the same name and finally ex flight is now operating at Kings Island and is now called fire Hawk sadly though not all of Geauga Lake schoo stirs were saved the double loop was demolished and sold for scrap as was the villain after operating for only seven years and most sadly the raging wolf Bob's was demolished on the property in 2012 after standing but not operating for five years you Oh Geauga Lake was a small town park that thrilled and entertained guests for almost 120 years from its humble beginnings as a picnic ground and swimming area to becoming the largest park in the world it's legacy will never be forgotten some blames six flags for its downfall while some blame Cedar Fair however one thing is clear right on the county line of Bainbridge Township in Aurora Ohio there once stood an amusement park that grew and changed like none other before it having been owned by many different companies all of which left their influence on the park it soon became too large for its own good people who explore the property today will find only faded walkways and a crumbling coaster but little do they know that these worlds were once adventure by people of all ages Yoga Lake is gone but memories of its many forms remain although only one small section of the property continues to operate the Big Dipper still stands as a reminder of what once was a thrilling world-class park with a story to match

Channel: RampagingRex Productions

Views: 190,532

Rating: 4.9390864 out of 5

Keywords: Geauga Lake, Geauga, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Ohio, Six Flags, Six Flags Ohio, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, Worlds of Adventure, Superman, Ultimate Escape, Batman, Knight Flight, B&M, Intamin, Dominator, Vekoma, Serial Thriller, SLC, Theme Park, Amusement Park, Documentary, SeaWorld, SeaWorld Ohio, Cleveland, Cedar Fair, WildWater Kingdom, Water Park, Abandoned, Big Dipper, Six Flags New Orleans, Abandoned Six Flags, Premiere, Wooden Coaster, Raging Wolf Bobs

Id: -jJMS3aMTbA

Length: 23min 0sec (1380 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 16 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/InvertedPrey]

So horribly sad. Six Flags and Cedar Fair both lost a lot of my respect after destroying a historic gem like Geauga Lake.

[u/MrBrightside711]

I think the park might still be around if Six Flags sold it to Busch.

[u/elbrim]

Living only thirty minutes from this my whole life, it breaks my heart... What a beautiful park with a rich history... but with Big Dipper finally coming down, it's really over...

[u/freshmaker_phd]

Hitting me in them feels.

[u/mikeokay]

Great video. I'm glad I got to experience the park when I did, which was close to the initial opening as SFO. The villain was an amazing coaster that first Memorial Day weekend, but it sounds like it didn't stay that good for very long. Big Dipper was a true classic as well.

[u/svendust99]

Great vid for sure. Always makes me sad to think about the last few years of the park. I was happy to visit the park at Geauga Lake and then again as SFWoA.

[u/AshleyScared]

This guy's documentaries are great. Have you seen the one on Six Flags New Orleans?