| Geauga Lake | |
| Location: | Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio, United States |
| Coordinates: | 41.3484°N -81.3692°W |
| Homepage: | www.geaugalake.com (archived) |
| Owner: | Funtime, Inc. (1969–1995) Premier Parks/Six Flags (1995–2003) Cedar Fair (2004–2007) |
| Season: | May through September |
| Rides: | 54 |
| Coasters: | 8 |
| Water Rides: | 3 |
| Status: | Defunct |
Geauga Lake was an amusement park in Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio. It was established in 1887, in what had been a local recreation area adjacent to a lake of the same name. The first amusement ride was added in 1889, and the park's first roller coaster the Big Dipper was built in 1925. The park was sold to Funtime, Inc., in 1969 and was expanded over the years with additional rides and amenities. Funtime was acquired by Premier Parks in 1995, and for the 2000 season, they re-branded Geauga Lake as Six Flags Ohio, adding four new roller coasters. The following year, Six Flags bought the adjacent SeaWorld Ohio and combined the two parks under the name Six Flags Worlds of Adventure.
The park changed ownership again in 2004 after a purchase by Cedar Fair, and was renamed Geauga Lake once more. The park's SeaWorld portion was transformed into a water park in 2005, and together they became known as Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom. On September 21, 2007, less than a week after Geauga Lake closed for the season, Cedar Fair announced that the amusement park would be permanently closed. The water park continued to operate as Wildwater Kingdom through the 2016 season, before being closed as well.
Geauga Lake was originally known as "Picnic Lake" or "Giles Pond" after early settler Sullivan Giles.[1] Giles built a home in the area in 1817, and later established picnic grounds, a dance hall, and other entertainment, all of which was conveniently located near a train station, which brought in many visitors.
Geauga Lake opened for picnics and swimming in 1872. An 1880 history of Geauga County reported the Giles residence "being easy of access by rail" and a "very popular place of resort during the summer months, for fishing, picnic, and excursion parties." It also noted 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. In 1907, the boat was shipped by rail to Brady Lake near Kent.
Geauga Lake park was established in 1887. Major league baseball games were played at Geauga Lake in 1888 by the Cleveland Forest Citys of the major league American Association.[3] In 1889, the park installed its first ride, a steam-powered carousel.[4] More rides would soon follow.William J. Kuhlman expanded the park in 1925 and added the Big Dipper coaster and the park's Olympic-sized swimming pool, the latter of which stayed in operation until the mid-1960s. On July 11, 1926, Olympic medalist and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller set a new world record in the 220-yard freestyle swim in the pool in front of 3,000 spectators.[5] Lake swimming also continued throughout the coming decades. A race track was added in 1931. A theater, dance hall, and bowling alley were also added around the same time. The park's dance hall and ballroom were major attractions, with live music performed by Guy Lombardo, Fred Waring, Artie Shaw, and other big names of the time. In 1937, the park's hand-carved 1926 Marcus Illions carousel was installed at a cost of $35,000, after having been located in Philadelphia and Birmingham.[6]
In 1942, a tornado hit the park, injuring six, destroying multiple buildings, and damaging the Big Dipper.[7] The park reported $50,000 in damages, but it rebuilt.[8] In July 1944, Viola Schryer 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] Due to this, the park became strictly a seasonal amusement park, beach, and swimming area. The Olympic-sized swimming pool was closed and razed in the late 1960s, but lake swimming continued. Park admission was free, and park guests paid per ride.
In 1969, Funtime Incorporated purchased the park. The park's focus continued to be on rides and swimming. The race track closed in 1969. In 1970, a marine life park, SeaWorld Ohio, was built across the lake from the amusement park.
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. 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.
The Corkscrew coaster made its debut in 1978, making Geauga Lake the first amusement park in Ohio to have two looping coasters. Swimming in the lake continued to be popular at the park, so 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 first tsunami wave pool in the Midwest, opened.
In 1985, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, owner of SeaWorld, announced his intent to purchase Funtime and combine the two parks,[11] but the deal was never completed.[12] In 1986, more children's rides were added to a themed area known as Rainbow Island. Stingray water slides and the Euroracer Grand Prix rides were also 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 coaster designed by Vekoma, and Grizzly Run, a water rapids ride designed by Intamin. These attractions opened in 1996, and Corkscrew was closed and sold and moved to Dizzee World in India the same year. The next year, the park expanded its water area by 32000square feet with Hook's Lagoon. Several new water slides were also added. Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall, an Intamin first generation freefall ride was also added in 1997.
In 1998, Premier Parks purchased Six Flags from Time Warner. Serial Thriller, an inverted coaster later known as Thunderhawk, was added as well. The next year, Americana, Time Warp, and Skycoaster were added.
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:[13] a junior coaster called Road Runner Express, a wooden coaster called Villain, a floorless coaster called Batman: Knight Flight and an inverted impulse 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 filled, and used for a new Looney Tunes themed kids' area known as Looney Tunes Boomtown.
Around this time, 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. Due to Six Flags Ohio's close proximity to SeaWorld Ohio, 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 Ohio 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.[14] 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 2001, the park planned to construct a 200-foot tall coaster on the SeaWorld side of the park, but later abandoned those plans due to height restrictions and other conflicts with the city of Aurora.[15] The original amusement park area became known as the "Wild Rides" area and continued expansion with a Vekoma flying coaster called X-Flight. The original water park area also continued, so the park was marketed as "three parks for one price." In hopes to expand the water park, 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.
Facing financial difficulties across its chain, Six Flags considered selling the park. Two months before the 2004 season, a sale to Cedar Fair was announced. The deal was finalized less than a month later for $145 million.[16] The Geauga Lake name was promptly restored to the park. To conform with copyright and trademark laws, all Looney Tunes and DC Comics branding was removed from the park. The Looney Tunes Boomtown kids' area was renamed Kidworks. The Hurricane Harbor water park area was renamed Hurricane Hannah's Waterpark. The marine life portion of the park was closed and demolished, and the animals were relocated to other Six Flags parks, including Six Flags Marine World and Six Flags Great Adventure.
Examples of name changes that took place include:
In 2005, Cedar Fair invested $26 million in Wildwater Kingdom, a new water park on the former SeaWorld site, which resulted in the park's name being changed to Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom. The Wildwater Kingdom side had six water slides and a children's water play area. The Hurricane Hannah area remained. Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall was closed at the end of 2005. Usable parts were salvaged for Demon Drop, then located at Cedar Point.[17]
In 2006, Wildwater Kingdom was expanded to include Tidal Wave Bay. The Hurricane Hannah area was then shut down. The season was also scaled back, eliminating the spring and fall weekend operations, instead operating strictly between Memorial Day and Labor Day. At the end of the season, X-Flight and Steel Venom were removed. 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, and was later renamed Possessed.
Combined attendance at both parks reached an estimated 2.7 million visitors in 2001.[18] [19] By 2004, total park attendance had fallen to approximately 700,000 despite a $40 million investment on rides in 2000.[20] [21] Citing the Cleveland area as their "most difficult market," Six Flags sold the park to Cedar Fair in March 2004.[22] Speculation that the amusement park side would eventually close began after Cedar Fair relocated two major roller coasters – Steel Venom and X-Flight – to other parks prior to the 2007 season.[23]
In 2007, the summer-only operation of Geauga Lake continued. The annual Oktoberfest festival weekend held in September every year concluded on September 16, 2007, marking the amusement park's last day of operation.[24] On September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair announced that the ride side of Geauga Lake would permanently close, and that the water park side would continue to operate the following season as Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom. Cedar Fair also announced plans to move existing rides to other properties.[25] This led to efforts from locals to save Geauga Lake, especially landmark rides such as the Big Dipper and the Carousel.
Cedar Fair placed the amusement park side's land up for sale in 2008. The remaining rides and remnants were auctioned separately on June 17, 2008.[26]
In 2012 and 2013, Cleveland-based photographer and artist Johnny Joo visited Geauga Lake to capture the park in a state of decay.[27] These photos brought heavy local attention from families who had visited the park in its heyday.
As late as January 2013, the amusement park side was still for sale, and projects similar to Crocker Park in Westlake, Ohio were being considered.[28] Bainbridge Township and Cedar Fair hoped to have it resolved by the end of 2013.[29] In March 2013, Cedar Fair announced that they were putting Geauga Lake's property up for sale again. Unlike before, they were willing to sell the land in parcels.[30] Several companies showed interest in the land.[31] [32] On September 17, 2017, a plaque was unveiled in memory of the park.[33]
On August 25, 2020, it was announced that PulteGroup, a home construction company, would be building a housing development on the site of the Wildwater Kingdom parking lot.[34] PulteGroup acquired the 245 acre portion of the property for $2 million.[35] The development, known as Renaissance Park at Geauga Lake, included street names like "Carousel Court" and "Dipper Way" to pay tribute to former Geauga Lake attractions.[36] [37] In October 2020, developer Industrial Commercial Properties bought the remaining 377 acres of the property with plans to build homes, restaurants, and retail establishments.[38]
Below are some of the park's former rides that have been removed or are now operating at another amusement park.
| Ride | Manufacturer | Model | Year Opened | Year Closed | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Dipper | John A. Miller | Wooden | 1925 | 2007 | After this coaster opened, Geauga Lake officially became an amusement park, and the ride formerly stood by the park entrance gate. It has also been known as The Clipper and Sky Rocket. It was demolished in 2016 |
| Wild Mouse | Schiff | Wild Mouse coaster | 1958 | 1971 | Relocated to Chippewa Lake Park in 1972 and closed in 1978. It was torn down in 2013. |
| Little Dipper | NAD Comet Jr. | Wooden family roller coaster | 1952 | 1975 | |
| Cyclone | Pinfari | Z47 portable coaster | 1976 | 1980 | |
| Double Loop | Arrow Dynamics | Double looping steel coaster | 1977 | 2007 | Demolished. |
| Corkscrew | Arrow Dynamics | Corkscrew steel coaster | 1978 | 1995 | Relocated to Dizzee World and renamed "Roller Coaster" in 1995. |
| Raging Wolf Bobs | Dinn Corporation | Wooden twister coaster | 1988 | 2007 | Closed on June 16, 2007 due to a train derailment. Demolished between 2011 and 2014. |
| Head Spin | Vekoma | Steel boomerang coaster | 1996 | 2007 | Formerly known as Mind Eraser, now operating at Carowinds as The Flying Cobras. |
| Thunderhawk | Vekoma | Steel looping coaster | 1998 | 2007 | Formerly known as Serial Thriller, now operating at Michigan's Adventure. |
| Beaver Land Mine Ride | Zierer | Steel kiddie coaster | 2000 | 2007 | Formerly known as Road Runner Express, now operating at Papéa Parc in Yvré-l'Evêque, France as "Roller Coaster." |
| Dominator | Bolliger & Mabillard | Floorless steel coaster | 2000 | 2007 | Formerly known as Batman: Knight Flight, now operating at Kings Dominion. |
| Steel Venom | Intamin | Impulse steel coaster | 2000 | 2006 | Formerly known as Superman: Ultimate Escape, now operating at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom as Possessed. |
| Villain | Custom Coasters International | Wooden/steel hybrid coaster | 2000 | 2007 | Demolished. |
| X-Flight | Vekoma | Flying Dutchman | 2001 | 2006 | Relocated to Kings Island as Firehawk. Closed and demolished in 2018 to make room for Orion. |
| Ride | Year Opened | Year Closed | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americana | 1999 | 2007 | Ferris wheel. Moved from Old Indiana Fun Park in 1997, opened at Kings Dominion in 2009. | |
| Bayern Kurve | 1974 | 1981 | Schwarzkopf Bayern Kurve | |
| Bel-Aire Express | 1969 | 2006 | Monorail | |
| Big Ditch | 1973 | 1985 | Boat ride | |
| Black Squid | 1970 | 2007 | Eyerly Spider. Relocated to Kings Dominion, but was in too poor of condition to be reassembled. | |
| 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 | |
| Dodgems | 1983 | 2007 | Bumper cars | |
| El Dorado | 1991 | 2007 | Weber 1001 Nachts pendulum ride. Moved to Kings Dominion in 2009 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 | |
| Fly-O-Planes | 1952 | 1985 | Eyerly Fly-O-Planes | |
| Flying Scooters | 1958 | 1999 | Flying Scooters | |
| Geauga Lake Stadium | 1975 | 2007 | Lakeside stadium originally built to host SeaWorld'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 | |
| Kidworks Playzone | 2000 | 2007 | Kiddie rides area formerly known as Looney Tunes Boomtown, rides relocated to Cedar Point in the Planet Snoopy section of the park in 2008. | |
| LEGO Racers 4-D | 2007 | 2007 | 4-D cinema film | |
| Lighthouse Cruise | 1985 | 2000 | Boat ride | |
| 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. Scrapped, parts salvaged for Demon Drop. | |
| Muzik Express | 1978 | 2002 | Spinning Himalaya-type ride | |
| Palace Theatre | 1977 | 2007 | Entertainment venue which was previously a funhouse from the 1940s through 1976. | |
| Pepsi Plunge | 1972 | 2007 | Log flume. formerly known as Gold Rush. | |
| Pirates 4-D Adventure | 1998 | 2004 | 4-D cinema film | |
| Pirates Flight | 2002 | 2007 | Zamperla Balloon Race with pirate theme. | |
| Power City Stage | 1993 | 2007 | Amphitheatre formerly known as Gotham City Stage. | |
| Ripcord | 1999 | 2007 | Skycoaster | |
| Robots of Mars | 2005 | 2006 | 4-D Cinema film replaced by LEGO Racers 4-D. | |
| Rock-O-Planes | 1953 | 1982 | Eyerly Rock-O-Planes | |
| Roll-O-Planes | early 50's | mid 70's | Eyerly Roll-O-Plane | |
| Rotor | 1981 | 2000 | Rotor-type ride | |
| Shipwreck Falls | 2000 | 2007 | Shoot-the-Chutes water ride. Relocated to Celebration City in 2008, and closed the same year. | |
| Silver Bullet | 1976 | 2003 | HUSS Park Attractions enterprise ride | |
| Skyscraper[48] | 1974 | 2007 | Observation tower, dismantled. | |
| Starfish | 2003 | 2007 | Spinning family ride | |
| Texas Twister | 1993 | 2007 | The first HUSS top spin in America. It was relocated to California's Great America as Firefall in 2008. It was removed in 2016. | |
| Thunder Alley Speedway | 1998 | 2007 | Go-karts | |
| Time Warp | 1999 | 2007 | Chance Inverter thrill ride | |
| Yo-Yo | 1981 | 2007 | Chance Yo-Yo chairswing ride. Was operational at Carowinds from 2008 to 2022. | |
| Tilt-A-Whirl | 1999 | Operated at Wyandot Lake (Columbus Zoo) from 2000 to 2017, relocated to Funtimes Park for 2018. |
| Six Flags name | Cedar Fair name | Description | Now Known As: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taz's Twister | Mad Whirl | Zamperla Mini Tea Cups | Woodstock Whirlybirds |
| Daffy's Deep Diver | Dippy Divers | Zamperla Crazy Bus | Snoopy's Deep Sea Divers |
| Tweety's Club House | Tree Hopper | Zamperla Jumpin' Star | Kite Eating Tree |
| Wile E. Coyote Canyon Blaster | Hot Air Express | Zamperla Samba Balloons | Flying Ace Balloon Race |
| Yosemite Sam BoomTown Express | Half Pint Express | Snoopy's Express Railroad | |
| Speedy Gonzales' Trucking Company | Road Rally | PEANUTS Road Rally | |
| Marvin the Martian Rocket Ship Ride | Rocket Relay | Snoopy's Space Race | |
| Ride | Year Opened | Year Closed | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shark Attack | 2003 | 2005 | 3 raft slides |
| Hurricane Mountain | 2003 | 2005 | America's largest water slide complex at the time. |
| Stingray Wet Slides | 1987 | 2005 | Speed slides |
| Neptune Falls | 1982 | 2005 | 3 body slides |
| Hook's Lagoon | 1997 | 2005 | Water tree house |
| Turtle Beach | 1989 | 2005 | Kids play area |
| The Rampage | 1982 | 1996 | Water tobbogan, replaced by Hook's Lagoon. |
| Hurricane Bay | 2000 | 2005 | Wave pool |
| Calypso Creek | 2000 | 2005 | Lazy river |
| The Wave | 1984 | 1999 | Wave pool, removed to make way for Looney Tunes Boomtown. |
The park was originally two parks: Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio. Geauga Lake became Six Flags Ohio in 2000 and for the 2001 season, SeaWorld Ohio 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 | N/A | |||
| 1888 | Geauga Lake | Alexander G. Kent | ||||
| 1925 | William J. Kuhlman | |||||
| 1945 | Carl Adrion, Harvey Schryer, & Charles Schryer | |||||
| 1968 | 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 | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. | |||||
| Combined amusement and water park | ||||||
| 1983 | Geauga Lake | Funtime, Inc. | Gaspar Lococo, Earl Gascoigne, Dale Van Voorhis, & Milford Jacobson | SeaWorld Ohio | Anheuser-Busch | Daniel Trausch |
| Fall 1989 | ||||||
| 1996 | Geauga Lake | Premier Parks | Gaspar Lococo | |||
| 1998 | Geauga Lake | Six Flags | ||||
| 1999 | SeaWorld Cleveland | |||||
| 2000 | Six Flags Ohio | Six Flags | Jack Bateman, Daniel Trausch, Joe Costa | |||
| Combined amusement, water, and marine park | ||||||
| Name | Owner | Manager | ||||
| 2001-2003 | Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure | Six Flags | Rick McCurly | |||
| Combined amusement and water park | ||||||
| Name | Owner | Manager | ||||
| 2004 | Geauga Lake | Cedar Fair | Bill Spehn | |||
| 2005–2007 | Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom | |||||
Incidents at Geauga Lake