I honestly couldn't remember the last time I was excited to go to Geauga Lake as much as I was on Saturday. With Cedar Fair taking over, there was a major hope for everything to improve. Many things did, but nothing is perfect, and Geauga Lake needs time to recover from the Six Flags era.
I showed up around 9:15 and bought my season pass and had it processed within 10 minutes. The first major change was that the gates were open early, and you could roam around the park before the rides were open. Me and my friend Tim both walked around the park, covering the entire park within a half hour. There weren't as many physical changes as you would think, but the changes that have already been made were great. One major physical change that I didn't care for was the area formerly occupied by Silver Bullet (1979 Huss Enterprise). Wood was placed were the ride was fixed to the ground and picnic tables were thrown in the area, but it was gated off. It looked hurried, but then again, that area probably wasn't that high on the agenda...so I couldn't hold it against them.
By that time Batman had opened (It will never be Dominator to me). There was no line, and the ops had two trains running well. We hopped in the back row, I wanted to see if the vibrations were gone. That was one hope that wasn't fulfilled, but it only happens in the corkscrews, so it's tolerable. However, the train was sporting like-new or brand new wheels on every assembly, and it was flying. It was flying through the first-half, and the mid-course was hardly touching, so the second half was running faster than I could ever remember. All in all, it ran at a 9.5/10 all day.
Since Batman was running so well, I actually felt like giving Thunderhawk (Vekoma SLC) a try. Well, even Cedar Fair can't work it's magic on a ride like the SLC. However, Thunderhawk still holds the title of least rough SLC...for whatever that's worth. I also said hey to Cris1021, who is now a ride op at the park and was working at Thunderhawk. It was the first of many hellos to people that I haven't seen since last season...there was a lot of those on this day.
We walked over to Big Dipper, but the op informed us that the ride might not run at all, which was a blow. Me and Tim walked down to the boat docks to check out the waterpark work going on...and there really wasn't that much. It was right around this time that I spotted an absolutely gorgeous chick walking around by herself. I was trying to think up a line to throw her way, but she started talking to me and Tim first. Turns out she was a reporter from the Sandusky Register (although I never would've guessed she was out of college), and she took some quotes from us for an article that I have yet to see printed.
We saw Time Warp (Chance Double Inverter) was running both sides for the first time in a long time, which was great to see. This would be a recurring theme all day, even though crowds were generally light. I passed on riding since I'm not a fan of the ride.
After that, we walked over to the former wildlife side, which is partially open. All of the non-coaster rides were running except for Yo-Yo, which is probably getting an extended rehab. The rest of that area is dead in every sense of the word, and the best restaurants in the park are no longer operating, which is a huge disappointment to me.
We went back and got some more laps on Batman, which still shocked me that it was running so well. Villain wasn't running, so we went over to Double Loop, which was running two trains even though it had no line and hardly any passengers. Double Loop is at it's best in the front seat, and it was running as good as it was last year. Something tells me that Loop didn't need a lot of work over the offseason.
Villain finally opened, so we rode in the second to last row. There wasn't too much retracking done over the offseason, but Cedar Fair hit the spots that needed it most. The ride was absolutely flying, not rough, and was running like brand new. I was amazed at how well it was running, and it reclaims the best wooden coaster in Ohio title for me. There was great airtime over every hill, and the trick-track was actually enjoyable. It was easily the most pleasant surprise of the day.
It was right about this time that I met the most rag-tag group of people I've ever seen at the park. I met the trio of Magnum Robert, Hector and Leeloo. Hector was off the wall goofy, Magnum Robert actually seemed laid-back (although you wouldn't know it on the boards
) and Leeloo was just as nice as she seems. She did call me "dear"...and I haven't been called that since an old lady called me that a few weeks ago.
The Bumper Car building got a new paint job which looked nice, and the carousel had some shrubs and trees removed from in front of it, so it stood out a lot more. However, it was time to ride the Beaver. Beaver still has that enormously long train, and it's still a fun family coaster, even though it's a beaver. beaver. beaver....yeah, you could just make joke after joke about the name of this ride, which I did on Saturday.
By this time, Big Dipper was up and running, so we hopped on. The ride had a lot of retracking done, and only one train was running. The ride was somewhat slower than last year, but it hasn't had time to break in yet. The slam on the turnaround that I've become accustomed to over the years wasn't there, and it just didn't feel right. I'll give Dipper a few weeks to break in before I give it a final verdict.
Head Spin, which had been running earlier, was down and didn't open again while I was at the park. Steel Venom was closed with lots of work going on. X-Flight had only one train, and I didn't feel like waiting in line when Villain and Batman were running so well with no wait.
The rest of the day was full of re-rides, saying hello to old friends and taking in the changes at the park. The employees were very efficient and friendly, which is a welcome change. There was not big crowds or a big ruckus like some idiots that call themselves "experts" thought there would be. It was a very enjoyable day and I can't wait to go back...I just wish the parking wasn't still $8.
Oh yeah....Cheese on a stick is back....now at the Fresh Cut Fries stand in the 50's area.
ACE'ers rejoice!
'04 ATL of Happy Harbor at Geauga Lake
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