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Posted at 3:53 PM EST (2053 GMT)
 Mar. 10th, 2004 -- Cedar Fair, L.P. held a conference call this afternoon to discuss the principle agreement they've reached to purchase Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. The conference call drew many questions about the future of Geauga Lake Amusement Park.
-The live animals will be relocated within Six Flags parks, presumably to Six Flags Marine World. Cedar Fair president Dick Kinzel said that Cedar Fair has no real experience in dealing with all of the live animals.
-Cedar Fair hopes to have the sale complete by early April, and open the park in time for the scheduled opening day of May 1st.
-Cedar Fair plans to market the park as a regional, traditional family park.
-They changed the name back to Geauga Lake because locals can identify with the name and they could no longer keep the Six Flags name.
-Superman Ultimate Escape, Batman Knight Flight, Roadrunner Express and Looney Tunes Boomtown will have name changes, since Cedar Fair does not have licensing agreements with Looney Tunes or DC Comics.
-Bill Spehn, who has spent 25 years with Cedar Fair, is the new General Manager of Geauga Lake. He was the Vice President of Operations at Cedar Point.
-Geaugalake.com will be the new website for the park, once the sale is completed in April. Kinzel said it will be the primary way for Cedar Fair to communicate with the public on the changes at the park.
-Cedar Fair is not sure how to develop the former Sea World property, since there will be no animals. They might open the rides close to the Geauga Lake side, but the rest of the "Sea World" side will be closed in 2004.
-Pricing for the 2004 season has not yet been set, it will be dealt with once the sale is complete.
-Cedar Fair season passes will NOT be valid at Geauga Lake in 2004, but they are planning on a Cedar Point/Geauga Lake combo pass for the future.
-Cedar Fair will continue to add rides at Geauga Lake, just as they do at every Cedar Fair park. "Capital drives our industry", Kinzel said.
-Kinzel said all employee positions, including full-time employees will be evaulated. Cedar Fair plans to keep the core of the full-time employees at the park.
-The acquisition of Geauga Lake will not affect Cedar Point's marketing strategies at all.
-Kinzel said all rides should be open for opening day, except for Silver Bullet. He said that the ride might not operate. It was closed for the majority of the 2003 season.
-The waterpark will be included in front-gate admission, similar to how Cedar Fair runs Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom.
-Cedar Fair will work with local officals to eliminate traffic problems. Kinzel stated that Cedar Fair is a "good corportate citizen".
-Cedar Fair realizes that Geauga Lake could take an attendance hit because of the loss of the animals. They believe they can make up for it in the long run.
-The former Six Flags Hotel will continue to operate seasonally.
-Cedar Fair is looking into upgrading the campground, they believe it has great potential.
[Editor's Note: The call lasted about 50 minutes, and Cedar Fair officials took a strong stance that they will market the park individually from Cedar Point and will upgrade the park as normal, not giving preference to Cedar Point. They believe Geauga Lake has tremendous potential to become a great money-maker for the company.-Bryan]
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bk2004
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 7731
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Wow, this is a shocker! Now the park will turn into a Cedar Fair park, which means cleanliness and friendlyness (even more than it had)! This is pretty cool. Got me by surprise
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| 3/10/2004 4:33 PM |
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coasterphil
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 9211
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This is a great surprise. I can't wait to see what they do with the park.
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| 3/10/2004 5:15 PM |
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freekbat
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 83
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Until Cedar Fair is in the mood to fix it, Geauga Lake will apparently be gutted. No Wildlife side at all, even though the areas and the trainers are pretty much in place. Many of the animals are already in place. It will essentially be old GL with the rides Six Flags has added in recent years. Some of which, might I add, are deep in Wildlife territory. They plan to rename and re-theme BKF, SUE, and Boomtown before opening day. To what, exactly? Why couldn't Cedar Fair buy this park out at the END of the year?
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| 3/10/2004 5:57 PM |
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Chip
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7217
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I'm still shocked that Cedar Fair bought this park. I guess Six Flags realized they could never completely compete with Cedar Point.
They sound like they have great plans for the park. I'm interested in what they're going to rename some of the rides.
I'm kind of excited about this. I hope this means good for the park and surrounding area.
I wonder how things are going to work at Cedar Point with management. There's surely going to be a lot of moving around with Mr. Spehn leaving his position.
Silver Bullet is their Enterprise, if anyone was wondering.
Oh man. They'd better keep Big Dipper as an ACE Coaster Classic! Remember what they did to Blue Streak? I hope they don't freak out and add seat belts and stuff to this great ride.
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| 3/10/2004 6:33 PM |
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raser
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2046
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First I am shocked, now upset, as I was taking my family there for a week of entertainment including the animal side as they have some of the best animal shows I have ever seen... Now I have a dissappointed daughter and don't know what to do...
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| 3/10/2004 10:33 PM |
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Jill Anne
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 568
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I am disappointed... honestly.
Even with season passholders probably not in attendence--which was the best part of the original deal in my mind till I read this, the chance to go on my season pass--this park is going to be cramped. The paths aren't big enough for all the people that are likely to go and ride the coasters... and the wildlife side being closed is just sad. All the good food was over there.
Cedar Fair trying their hand at a "traditional" park is interesting. But if they don't run it like one then I don't see the point.
~me.
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| 3/11/2004 8:58 AM |
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lectricShark
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1269
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Will SFMW be able to take in so many more animals? Or should i say, were there actually a lot of animals there?
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| 3/11/2004 7:10 PM |
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Graham
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 3340
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They had a lot of animals, I think it was 6,000 (but I'm sure that includes the fish in the lake). I don’t think SFMW will be able to accommodate all the animals. The whale was on lease so it might go back to its home. And I assume some of the surplus animals will be sold to zoos and such.
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| 3/11/2004 10:34 PM |
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Magnum Robert
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 3196
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I'm sad to see the animals go. I think that will really alienate a lot of people from GL.
I'm glad Bill Spehn will be the GM of GL. I think he'll turn the park around and recreate a positive image. He certainly has his work cut out for him though.
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| 3/13/2004 11:00 PM |
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