Geauga Lake is an amusement park in Bainbridge City and Aurora, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1887 in a local recreation area adjacent to the lake of the same name, the first amusement rides were added in 1889, and the first roller coaster in the park - later known as the Big Dipper - was built in 1925. In 1969, the park sold to Funtime, Inc., and expanded over the years with additional rides and facilities. Further expansion took place in the mid and late 1990s after the acquisition of Funtime by Premier Parks in 1995. Prior to the 2000 season, soon after the Premier Park acquired Six Flags, the park was re-branded as Six Flags Ohio and four new roller coaster added. A year later, Six Flags purchased adjacent SeaWorld Ohio and merged two parks under the name of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure .
The park changed ownership again in 2004 after purchase by Cedar Fair. The SeaWorld section of the park was converted into a water park in 2005, and together they are known as Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom . On September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair announced the closure of the amusement park in 2008, and that the property will operate only as a water park under the title of Wildwater Kingdom. Cedar Fair announced Wildwater Kingdom will not reopen after the 2016 season.
Video Geauga Lake
History
Pre-entertainment park era
Lake Geauga was originally known as "Picnic Lake" or "Giles Pond." Geauga Lake area is home to early settlers such as Staffords, Mark Patterson, Captain Simon Henry with his wife, Rhoda Parsons and their children, Charles Swires, Brewsters, and Bohan Blair. There is a city park and soccer field on East Boulevard in Aurora, named after this lake. Sullivan Giles chose this area for a log cabin in 1817. He then built a large skeletal house in a place behind the Geauga Lake depot on the north side of the lake. When the train came to town in 1856, it stopped at the "pool station". Giles took advantage of the beautiful lakeside location and, in the last half of the 19th century, set up picnic grounds, dance halls and other entertainment near his home for the enjoyment of all-day residents and those who took the train to the country.
Lake Geauga opened for picnics and swims in 1872. The 1880s history in Geauga County reports Giles's residence "easily accessible by train, has become, in recent years, a very popular place in the resort during the summer, for fishing, picnicking, and a party of sightseeing "and" for the convenience of such parties, Mr. Giles recently set up a hall of considerable size near the lake.The surrounding grounds remain clean and attractive, and, without exception, this is the most interesting place for spending a holiday day can be found in this section. "At that moment, a full-sized steamshaft circled the lake, pulling a huge chunk, topped by a dance floor. The ship, first owned by William Banford and Rowe Fuller, was later purchased by Kents. In 1907, the ship was sent by train to Brady Lake near Kent.
1887-1969: amusement park of Lake Geauga
Geauga Lake Park was founded in 1887. Three major league baseball games were played on Sunday at Lake Geauga in 1888 (plus Thursday's matches) by Cleveland Forest Citys of the American Association's major leagues. In 1889, the park installed its first rides, a steam-powered carousel. More rides will follow.
William J. Kuhlman expanded the park in 1925. At that time, Lake Geauga built the Big Dipper, the largest wooden roller coaster of its time, 2,800 feet (850 m) in length and 65 feet (20 m) tall. The Geauga Lake Olympic-size swimming pool was built, and remained in operation until the mid-1960s. On Sunday, July 11, 1926, Olympic medalist and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller set a new world record in a 220-yard style freestyle in a swimming pool in front of 3,000 spectators. The swim lake also continues for the next few decades. Many amusement parks at the time have race tracks, dance halls, and sometimes theaters and bowling alleys, making them a year-round attraction. The race track was added in 1931, although closed in 1969. Theater, ballroom, and bowling arena were also added around the same time. In 1937, the 1926 park carved by Marcus Illions Carousel was added, after being in Philadelphia and Birmingham, at a cost of $ 35,000.
At that time, ballroom and garden ballroom was the main drawing, with great band music performed by Guy Lombardo, Fred Waring, Artie Shaw, and other big names at the time.
In 1942, a tornado hit the park, wounding six, demolishing the building, and damaging the Big Dipper. The park reported $ 50,000 in damage, but was quickly rebuilt. In July 1944, Viola Schryer ("Vi") took over the management of the park after the death of his uncle William Kuhlman.
In 1952, fires destroyed the bowling arena in parks, theaters, ballrooms and roller arenas with estimated damage of $ 500,000. At that time the park became a seasonal amusement park, beach, and swimming area. The pool was closed and destroyed in the early 1960s, but the lake pool continues.
1969-2000: amusement park Geauga Lake (Funtime era)
In 1969, Funtime Incorporated bought the park. The focus continues to be a vehicle and swim. The races were closed and destroyed in 1969. In 1970, a marine life park, SeaWorld Ohio, was built across the lake from the amusement park after Funtime persuaded SeaWorld to build a marine park on the other side of the lake. SeaWorld and Geauga Lake are a friendly neighbor for 30 years working together to become a regional destination. SeaWorld focuses on marine life and performances, while Lake Geauga focuses on rides and swimming. SeaWorld was purchased by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1976 and later by Busch Entertainment Corp. in late 1989.
In 1972, a Gold Rush log water ferry was added, and two years later Lake Geauga added Skyscraper, which took passengers up 21 floors for park views. Entrance to the park was free until 1972. Until then, rides in various tourist attractions were purchased with a pay-as-you-go system. Beginning in 1973, the park was converted into an entrance ticket at a price of one price for all rides and attractions. The Geauga dog became the park's mascot and will remain so until 1999. In 1976, the park added a Wildcat steel roller coaster, and a year later the park added a Double Loop, a looping steel coaster. For a while, the park runs a series of short TV commercials featuring Geauga Dog and a singer, a dancing teenage boy doing a song about the park. The boy's terrible off-key song and dancing are deliberate, a means of getting viewers to pay attention to advertising. It worked.
Corkscrew coaster debuted in 1978, making Geauga Lake the first amusement park in Ohio and one of the first theme parks anywhere has two coaster loops. Swimming in the lake continues to be a feature in the park, and in 1983, the park added Boardwalk Shores, featuring a paddleboat marina, a new bath house, a children's pool area and a waterslide. A year later, The Wave, the only original tsunami wave in the Midwest at the time, opened for a warm welcome.
In 1986, more children's rides were added and given the theme as Pelangi Island, a dry travel area for children. Stingray water slides and rides of the Euroracer Grand Prix were added.
In 1988, Lake Geauga celebrated its birthday by introducing the Raging Wolf Bobs, a wooden roller coaster with a twister/out and back hybrid design that mimics the original roller coaster model Bobs in the dead Riverview Park. Two years later, the park was re-themed children's water territory as Turtle Beach, which is advertised as a major children's water park. Geauga Lake expanded its territory with The Mirage and Texas Twister for $ 2.1 million in the early 1990s.
The company's agreement in 1995 saw Park Premier acquire Funtime, giving Lake Geauga the new owner. Premier Parks invested $ 9 million for new rides, including Mind Eraser, a steel-coated shuttle looping designed by Vekoma, and Grizzly Run, a water rides designed by Intamin. It was opened in 1996, and Corkscrew was closed and sold and transferred to Dizzee World in Chennai, Tamil Nadu India. The following year, the park expanded its 32,000 square foot (3,000 m 2 ) waters area with Hook's Lagoon. Several new water slides were also added.
In 1998, Premier Parks bought Six Flags from Time Warner. Serial Thriller, later known as Thunderhawk, was added. The following year, Americana, Time Warp, and Skycoaster's up-charge appeal were added. The Premier Park re-branded Lake Geauga in 2000 as Six Flags Ohio.
2000-2004: Six Flags Era
In 2000, Lake Geauga received an expansion of $ 40 million and became Six Flags Ohio. As part of the expansion, the park received 20 new rides, including four new roller coasters. A junior roller coaster called Road Runner Express, a wooden roller coaster named Villain, a floorless roller coaster called Batman: Knight Flight and an inverted impulse roller coaster named Superman: Ultimate Escape. Also added is a new shoot up water chute named Shipwreck Falls and a new wave pool in a water park. The old wave pool is torn down, stuffed, and used for the new Looney Tunes themed children area known as Looney Tunes Boomtown.
Busch Entertainment determined that its SeaWorld park should feature roller coasters, water rides, and other attractions to complement marine exhibits and shows, and companies are beginning to highlight the educational aspects of the park. They are beginning to modify Orlando, San Antonio, and at their lower San Diego Park level to reflect this. Being close to Six Flags Ohio, as well as the fact that the SeaWorld side of the lake has a height limit, Busch approached Six Flags about buying a Six Flags park. Six Flags then made a counter offer to buy SeaWorld Ohio. That winter, Six Flags bought SeaWorld for $ 110 million in cash, combining the two complexes into one, and transformed the entire complex into Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. By combining the park, Six Flags creates the largest amusement park in the world to date, covering an area of ​​700 hectares. The SeaWorld side is known as the "Wild Life" area and remains a show of marine life, with several rides of portable children stationed throughout. In 2002, Shamu was replaced by Shouka, who came from a breeding loan from Marineland in Antibes, France. The original amusement park area is known as the "Wild Ranges" area and continued expansion with the Vekoma Flying roller coaster called X-Flight. The small water park area is also continued, so the park is marketed as "Three Parks for One Price".
In hopes of expanding the water park area, the addition of Hurricane Mountain, North America's largest water landslide, occurred in 2003 and the water park area was later renamed Hurricane Harbor.
2004-2007: Cedar Fair era
Faced with financial difficulties across its high chains and debts, Six Flags is considered selling the park. Two months before the 2004 season, sales to Cedar Fair, owner of Cedar Point, located 85 miles (137 km), were announced. The deal was completed less than a month later for $ 145 million. The park was soon "unflagging", "unbranded", and returned to Geauga Lake's name. Six Flags Looney Tunes and DC superhero branding characters have been removed. In order to comply with copyright laws, the names of many rides and roller coasters are changed. The Looney Tunes Boomtown children's area was renamed Kidsworks. The Hurricane Harbor water park area is renamed Hurricane Hannah Waterpark. The side of sea life was closed immediately before it opened. The animals were held by Six Flags and transferred to other parks like Six Flags Marine World and Wild Safari. While most of the marine areas are destroyed, attractions and rides in amusement parks remain the same except for name changes.
As part of the purchase of Lake Geauga in 2004 at the Cedar Fair, many of the glass towers received a new name because the Cedar Fair did not have the rights to the DC Comics character. Below is a list of renamed rides:
- Batman: Knight Flight lost Batman theme and opened in 2004 under the name Dominator
- Mind Eraser renamed Head Spin
- Serial Thriller renamed Thunderhawk
- Superman: Ultimate Escape renamed Steel Venom
- Road Runner Express was renamed to Beaver Land Mine Ride
In 2005, Cedar Fair invested $ 26 million in Wildwater Kingdom, a new water park on the former SeaWorld site, which caused the name to be changed slightly into Lake Geauga & Wildwater Kingdom. The Wildwater Kingdom side has about six water slides and a children's water play area. Hannah Hurricane area remains.
In 2006, the Wildwater Government was expanded to include Tidal Wave Bay. The Hurricane Hannah area was then closed, leaving the Wildwater Kingdom as the remaining water park. This season was also lowered, eliminating the spring and fall of late operations and opening tight between Memorial Day and Labor Day with one last weekend in mid-September. At the end of the season, the X-Flight roller coaster has been removed, as well as Steel Venom (formerly Superman The Ultimate Escape). X-Flight was transferred to Kings Island and opened as Firehawk in 2007. Steel Venom was transferred to Dorney Park, where it opened for the 2008 season as Voodoo, until 2009 when his name was replaced Possessed.
Closure and rebuilding of land
In 2007 Lake Geauga's summer operations continued. Rumors ranging from the total closure of Lake Geauga to the closure of everything except the water park to climb back the rides are even more rampant. Cedar Fair refused to comment on the rumor. The Oktoberfest 2007 was held on 14-16 September 2007, was the last weekend for amusement parks. On Friday, September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair announced its decision to permanently cover the travel side of the Geauga Lake park and that the Wildwater Kingdom side would reopen exclusively as a water park called the Geooga Lake Water Kingdom. This led to efforts to save Lake Geauga, especially landmarks such as Big Dipper and Carousel, including online petitions and letters to public officials.
Cedar Fair places the park amusement park on the side of the park for sale. The remaining venues and remnants are auctioned separately on June 17, 2008. Many return to the park for one final visit and auction day.
Until the end of January 2013, the Geauga Lake side is still on sale and similar projects with Crocker Park in Westlake, Ohio are being considered. Bainbridge Township and Cedar Fair hope to complete by the end of 2013. In March 2013, Cedar Fair announced that they are installing Lake Geauga property for resale. Unlike before, they were willing to sell the land in packages. Some companies show interest in the land. On September 17, 2017, a plaque was inaugurated to commemorate the park.
Maps Geauga Lake
Geauga Lake beach fate
- Beaver Land Mine Ride: Sale to Papa  © amusement park city in YvrÃÆ' © -l'EvÃÆ'ªque, France
- Big Dipper: Roller coaster listed for auction on eBay in 2010 but failed to accept bid; dismantled in October 2016.
- Dominator: Now open in Kings Dominion
- Double Loop: Disassembled, sold to Cleveland Scrap for $ 25,000
- Spin Head: Now open in Carowinds as The Flying Cobra
- Cyclone: ​​Now Landslide and travel with Amusements of America. Removed in 1980.
- Little Dipper: Deleted in 1975
- Raging Wolf Bobs: Eradicated. Purchased for $ 2,500 at auction; some timber and tracks sold at online auctions; tracks of steel, stations, and all mechanical elements removed in 2008; parts of tracks and cars donated to the Geauga County Historical Society;
- Venom Steel: Now open at Dorney Park & ​​â € <â €
- Thunderhawk: Now open in Michigan Adventure
- Criminals: Dismantled, sold to Cleveland Scrap for $ 2,500
- Wild Mouse: Relocated in 1972 to Chippewa Lake Park. Get off at Spring 2013 at Chippewa Lake Park.
- X-Flight: Now open on Kings Island as Firehawk
Numerical order and attractions
The number of previous attractions in the park reflects the various visions that each owner has for the park. Below are some former rides in parks that have been removed or are now operating in other amusement parks.
Previous name and management
Not infrequently amusement parks are sold and this property has changed hands several times, although there are only four ownership changes in the 124-year range from 1872 to 1996.
The park is originally two parks - Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio. Lake Geauga became Six Flags Ohio in 2000; before SeaWorld in 2001 was purchased by Six Flags and the entire complex was merged and renamed to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure.
References
Further reading
- Smolko, Tom; Joe Taylor (2014). Geauga Lake: The Sunrise to the Sunset . Cleveland, Ohio: Landmarks Cleveland Press, Inc. ISBNÃ, 978-0-936760-36-0. < span>
External links
- Geauga Lake in DataBase's Roller Coaster
- Official Kingdom of Wildlife Sites
- The Aurora Historical Society, has a large collection of objects and history of GL and Sea World
- Geauga Lake Park 1888-2007 - Geauga Lake Park, Today and Forever. Photos and maps
- Ryder, Diane (2009-06-09). "The Wildwater Kingdom survives". The News-Herald . Retrieved 2009-06-09 . Ã,
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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