Six Flags Ohio

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.

History

Pre-amusement park era

Geauga Lake was originally known as "Picnic Lake" or "Giles Pond" after early settler Sullivan Giles. 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." 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.

1887–1968: Geauga Lake amusement park

Geauga Lake park was established in 1887. Three Major League baseball games were played at Geauga Lake in 1888 by the Cleveland Blues of the major league American Association, specifically on Sundays to avoid Cleveland's blue laws of the time. In 1889, the park installed its first ride, a steam-powered carousel. 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. 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.

In 1942, a tornado hit the park, injuring six, destroying multiple buildings, and damaging the Big Dipper. The park reported $50,000 in damages, but it rebuilt. In July 1944, Viola Schryer took over management of the park after the death of her uncle William Kuhlman.

In 1952, a fire destroyed the park's bowling alley, theater, dance hall and roller rink, with damages estimated at $500,000. 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.

1969–1999: Funtime era

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, but the deal was never completed. 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 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.

2000–2003: Six Flags era

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: 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. 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. 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.

2004–2007: Cedar Fair era

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. 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:
* Batman: Knight Flight lost the Batman theming and opened in 2004 under the name of Dominator
* Mind Eraser was renamed Head Spin
* Serial Thriller was renamed Thunderhawk
* Superman: Ultimate Escape was renamed Steel Venom
* Road Runner Express was renamed Beaver Land Mine Ride

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.

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.

Decline

Combined attendance at both parks reached an estimated 2.7 million visitors in 2001.Alt URL
/ref> By 2004, total park attendance had fallen to approximately 700,000 despite a $40 million investment on rides in 2000. Citing the Cleveland area as their "most difficult market," Six Flags sold the park to Cedar Fair in March 2004. 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.

Closing and land redevelopment

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. 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. At the time, the park was still facing financial issues and its attendance levels had declined. Cedar Fair also announced plans to move existing rides to other properties. 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.

In 2012 and 2013, Cleveland-based photographer and artist Johnny Joo visited Geauga Lake to capture the park in a state of decay. 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. Bainbridge Township and Cedar Fair hoped to have it resolved by the end of 2013. 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. Several companies showed interest in the land. On September 17, 2017, a plaque was unveiled in memory of the park.

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. PulteGroup acquired the 245 acre portion of the property for $2 million. 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. In October 2020, developer Industrial Commercial Properties bought the remaining 377 acres of the property with plans to build homes, restaurants, and retail establishments.

On September 17, 2024, Aurora City Council unanimously voted to purchase 48 acres of land, along with the adjacent lake, from Industrial Commercial Properties. The land was acquired for a total of $5.3 million, including $1.3 million of stimulus money from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The city of Aurora plans to develop this newly-acquired property as a public park, which may include amenities like a beach, pool, and a place for boating. The city council had announced their plans in spring 2023.

Plans for 2025 include construction of a Meijer supercenter.

Fate of Geauga Lake's coasters

* Beaver Land Mine Ride: Sold to Papéa Parc amusement park in Yvré-l'Evêque, France and renamed "The Roller Coaster."
* Big Dipper: The roller coaster was listed for auction on eBay in 2010 but failed to receive a bid; it was demolished in October 2016.
* Dominator: Relocated to Kings Dominion.
* Double Loop: Demolished and sold to Cleveland Scrap for $25,000.
* Head Spin: Relocated to Carowinds and renamed "The Flying Cobras."
* Cyclone: Moved to Holiday World and renamed "Firecracker" in 1980. In 1998 it was moved to Jolly Roger Amusement Park under the same name. In 1999 it was purchased by Amusements of America, and renamed Avalanche. It remained in operation until 2009.
* Little Dipper: Removed in 1975.
* Raging Wolf Bobs: Demolished. Purchased for $2,500 at auction; some wood and track sold in online auctions; steel track, station, and all mechanical elements removed in 2008; part of track and car donated to Geauga County Historical Society. Two of the original red Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters cars were acquired in 2017 by the Amusement Preservation Museum, and have been fully restored.
* Steel Venom: Relocated to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom as Possessed.
* Thunderhawk: Relocated to Michigan's Adventure.
* Villain: Demolished, sold to Cleveland Scrap for $2,500.
* Wild Mouse: Relocated in 1972 to Chippewa Lake Park. It closed in 1978 alongside the park, and it was eventually torn down in 2013.
* X-Flight: Relocated in March 2007 to Kings Island and renamed " Firehawk." It closed on October 28, 2018. It was demolished and removed from Kings Island after the 2018 season.

Past coasters and attractions

Below are some of the park's former rides that have been removed or are now operating at another amusement park.

Roller coasters

Other attractions

Looney Tunes Boomtown

Hurricane Harbor

Previous names and management

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.

See also

Incidents at Geauga Lake

References

Further reading

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External links

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Aurora Historical Society, has a large collection of GL and Sea World items and history

Geauga Lake Park 1888-2007
Geauga Lake Park, Today and Forever. Photos and maps
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Amusement parks in Ohio
Buildings and structures in Geauga County, Ohio
Buildings and structures in Portage County, Ohio
Former Six Flags theme parks
Tourist attractions in Geauga County, Ohio
Tourist attractions in Portage County, Ohio
Cedar Fair amusement parks
1887 establishments in Ohio
2007 disestablishments in Ohio
Defunct amusement parks in Ohio
Aurora, Ohio
Funtime, Inc.
Modern ruins in the United States