| Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Statistics | |
|
Location |
Aurora, Ohio, USA |
|
Opened |
1887 |
|
Closed |
September 16, 2007 |
|
Owner |
|
|
Size |
548 acres (221.8 hectares) |
Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom was an amusement park in Aurora, Ohio that closed on September 16, 2007. The water park, however, remained open until September 5, 2016 when Wildwater Kingdom closed. All buildings, and roller coasters not sold were demolished. Big Dipper was the last one to stand until October of 2016, when it was finally demolished due to trespassers climbing on the rotting structure.
History[]
Geauga Lake was founded in 1887 and started out as a picnic meadow before it was soon home to a ballroom, and a steamboat that hosted dance parties on weekends. In 1925 the Big Dipper opened and it was the fastest and tallest rollercoaster of its time. Sea World opened across the lake in 1970. Geauga Lake was bought by Premier Parks in 1995 and they added Mind Eraser and Grizzly Run. Renamed Six Flags Ohio in 2000, the park opened 20 new rides including 4 major rollercoasters. Villain, Batman Knight Flight, Superman: Ultimate Escape, and X-Flight. In 2001 Anheuser Busch (the owner of the adjacent Sea World) wanted to buy Six Flags Ohio. Six Flags countered Sea World’s offer and bought Sea World for $110 million. Sea World would be combined with Six Flags. The park opened up as Six Flags World Of Adventure in 2001 and became the largest amusement park in the entire world. In 2004, 4 years after the park was called Six Flags and 3 years after it combined with Sea World, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure was purchased by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. They changed the name back to Geauga Lake and eliminated everything having to do with Looney Tunes or DC Comics characters. If that wasn’t enough they also changed the names of all the popular rides and rollercoasters. Cedar Fair wanted nothing to do with animals so the Sea World side of the park was left with only climbing nets, a 4D simulator and rides. The park removed X-Flight and Steel Venom (Superman) from the park in hopes to give off a more local and family feel to the park. In 2007 the park shut down the Raging Wolf Bobs at the beginning of the season and eliminated the spring and Halloween events and closed on September 16, 2007.
Location[]
Past roller coasters (14)[]
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Closed | Relocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Dipper | John A. Miller | Wooden | 1925 | 2007 | — |
| Beaver Land Mine Ride | Zierer | Family | 2000 | 2007 | Papea City |
| Corkscrew | Arrow Dynamics | Sit-Down Corkscrew | 1978 | 1995 | MGM Dizzee World |
| Cyclone | Pinfari | Sit-Down | 1976 | 1980 | Holiday World |
| Dominator | Bolliger & Mabillard | Floorless | 2000 | 2007 | Kings Dominion |
| Double Loop | Arrow Dynamics | Sit-Down | 1977 | 2007 | — |
| Head Spin | Vekoma | Boomerang | 1996 | 2007 | Carowinds |
| Little Dipper | Wooden Junior | 1975 | N/A | ||
| Steel Venom | Intamin AG | Shuttle | 2000 | 2006 | Dorney Park |
| Raging Wolf Bobs | Dinn Corporation | Wooden | 1988 | 2007 | N/A |
| Thunderhawk | Vekoma | Inverted | 1998 | 2007 | Michigan's Adventure |
| Villain | Custom Coasters International, Inc. | Wooden | 2000 | 2007 | N/A |
| Wild Mouse | B. A. Schiff & Associates | Steel | 1958 | 1971 | Chippewa Lake Park |
| X-Flight | Vekoma | Flying | 2001 | 2006 | Kings Island |
External links[]
- Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom at Cedar Fair (archived 2007-08-12)
- Six Flags Worlds of Adventure at Six Flags (archived 2003-12-10, 2002-08-02, 2001-06-02)
- Six Flags Ohio (archived 2000-08-15)
- Geauga Lake Amusement Park (archived 1999-02-23]
- Geauga Lake at the Geauga Lake Wiki
- Geauga Lake at Logopedia
- Six Flags Worlds of Adventure at the Looney Tunes Wiki
- Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom at the Roller Coaster DataBase
- Six Flags Worlds of Adventure at the Six Flags Wiki
- Geauga Lake at Wikipedia