Geauga
Lake History
1997
Two new attractions debut this season. Hook's Lagoon, a
five-story tall water structure with tipping water bucket, is placed
next to Neptune's Falls. Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall, an Intamin first
generation freefall ride, is installed in the spot where the
Tilt-a-Whirl and Musik Express once stood. Both the Tilt-a-Whirl and
Musik Express were relocated nearby while the Yukon Yahoo's were also
moved to make room for the ride. The Yahoo's were placed next to the
Stagecoach Theater along the path to Raging Wolf Bobs. Mr. Hyde was
purchased at auction from Rocky Point Park in Warwick, Rhode Island,
which recently closed. The ride originally began life at Six Flags
Great America in Gurnee, Illinois.
1998
The $10 million Serial Thriller, a Vekoma
suspended looping coaster, debuts thus becoming the biggest ride
purchase in park history. The ride would be located on the island
where the Sky Glide and Big Ditch boat ride once resided along the
lakefront. The coaster would become one of the most popular rides ever
installed and Geauga Lake would set an attendance record of 1.3
million guests.
Premier
Parks would purchase the Six Flags chain of parks from Time Warner in
February for $1.8 billion, thus creating the world's second largest
theme park company after Disney. Premier would then begin converting
some of their properties into Six Flags parks.
1999
Three additions were added this season.
Americana, a giant Ferris Wheel, is added on the lakefront opposite
the main gate. The ride was purchased from the now defunct Old Indiana
park in Indiana. Time Warp, a Double Inverter ride from Chance Rides,
is added near the Palace Theater. A skycoaster is added by Grizzly
Run.
Premier begins the
groundwork to what the next season would bring. Geauga Lake's sister
park, Darien Lake, is converted to Six Flags Darien Lake this year and
rumors begin to circulate that Geauga Lake would be next. They
purchase an additional 38 acres of land to expand the parking lot. The
nearby Aurora Woodlands Inn and also a nearby campground are also
purchased. Towards the end of the season large sections of the park
begin to look like construction sites. Rainbow Island, the historic
arcade by Big Dipper, and The Wave disappear. In December Premier
Parks, who had already changed their name to Six Flags Inc. by this
time, announce that Geauga Lake would undertake the most dramatic
conversion ever for an amusement park and change its name to Six Flags
Ohio. Total cost of the conversion is $40 million. The Flying
Scooters, Scrambler, Tilt-a-Whirl, Casino, and Rotor are removed.
2000
What an incredible season this was!
The conversion brings four new roller coasters to the park. Headlining
was Batman Knight Flight, the world's longest floorless roller coaster
from Bolliger and Mabillard of Monthey, Switzerland. It would be
located along the lakefront between Texas Twister and Raging Wolf
Bobs. Superman Ultimate Escape, an impulse coaster from Intamin of
Wollerau, Switzerland, would be the very first ride of its kind in a
North American theme park and the world's first with a twisting tower.
The ride would be located along Route 43. The Villain, a wood
track/steel structured coaster from Custom Coasters Inc. of West
Chester, Ohio, is shoehorned in the tight spot between Double
Loop/public picnic area and Geauga Lake Road. Roadrunner Express, a
large Tivoli family coaster from Zierer, would be located next to the
Dodgems.
Boardwalk Shores
became Hurricane Harbor with a new wave pool. Hurricane Bay, which was
much smaller than The Wave but offered continuous wave action, was
placed in the former Rainbow Island area. The monorail would also be
rerouted to accommodate the new pool. A new lazy river, Calypso Creek,
is also added. Shipwreck Falls, a shoot-the-chutes water ride from
Hopkins, is built on the former site of the historic arcade building.
A brand new kid's
area, dubbed Looney Tunes Boomtown, is built on the former site of The
Wave. Boomtown would house seven family rides from Zamperla as well as
Larger Than Life, a large play area that featured two dry water
slides, and Gotcha Games, a foam ball play area.
The Stagecoach
Theater by Texas Twister is transformed into the "Batman Stunt Show".
The Yukon Yahoo's were moved once again to the spot formerly home to
the Scrambler and Flying Scooters. The ride would be located in a
large barn and renamed Hay Baler. Towards the end of the season the
Mirage, which had been missing in action all season, begins to be
re-assembled. The magic carpet would be transformed into a large
convertible and be renamed El Dorado. The Spider would be relocated
near Skyscraper. The Euroracers Grand Prix would be removed and a new
go-cart track would be built in the same vicinity as the old track. It
would also receive a new name - Thunder Alley Speedway.
2001
As if the prior season wasn't enough, Six
Flags wasn't finished yet. In January, Busch Entertainment sells Sea
World Ohio for $110 million and Six Flags combines both sides of the
lake. Because of this, the park would go through another name change,
this time to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. The park would be the
first to offer rides, waterslides, and animals for one price. However
the deal would mean that Six Flags could not keep Shamu, the dolphins
and several other animals Busch wanted to retain thus leaving the
newly christened "Wild Life" side of the park without a star
attraction. Six Flags brings in four dolphins from sister park Six
Flags Marine World to offer shows in the now vacant Killer Whale
Stadium. To liven the evenings on the Wild Life side, the park offers
New Orleans Nights with live entertainment and food. The Batman Stunt
Show is moved to the Water Ski Stadium and becomes the "Batman
Water Thrill Spectacular," featuring boats, jet skis, stunts, and
pyrotechnics. Towards the end of the season the Scrambler returns and
is placed in the Happy Harbor area and is renamed Boardwalk Typhoon.
The Bounty, a Chance Sea Dragon, the Spider, now renamed Black Squid,
and Pirate's Flight, a pirate ship themed Zamperla Balloon Race from
Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, are
added.
Another new
roller coaster is added to the rides side bringing the coaster count
to ten. X-Flight, a Flying Dutchman coaster from Vekoma, is added. It
opens Memorial Day weekend and becomes one of the most popular rides
in the park. The ride is built along Route 43 behind the Thunder Alley
Speedway go-cart track in former parking lot space thus creating a new
icon for the park to travelers passing by. To accommodate the ride
Geauga Lake Road had to be rerouted around the ride.
The park
adds ferry boat service to shuttle guests between both sides of the
lake. Two small pontoon boats would shuttle guests until the two
larger ferries arrived by mid-summer. A floating bridge is added as
well and connected the midway by Raging Wolf Bobs to Happy Harbor by
the Black Squid.
2002
The Yo-Yo is moved to the Happy Harbor
area to join the other rides added in late 2001. The "All
Star Pets" show, a leftover from Sea World, is replaced with Tiger
Island, featuring four beautiful bengal tigers (three white males and
one orange female). While entertaining, Tiger Island's purpose was
educational in showing the strengths and abilities the tigers can
perform.
Mid-year Six
Flags acquires a female orca from France. Shouka would call the Killer
Whale Stadium home. Upon arrival she did not perform right away but by
the end of the season she would be able to perform several behaviors.
Six Flags tries to acquire a male for mating purposes from Argentina
but is hit with several roadblocks. Their efforts were unsuccessful.
With Shouka in the Killer Whale Stadium, the dolphins were moved to
Dolphin Harbor, which housed stingrays in 2001.
Six Flags
installs Base Camp Zebra along the path behind Happy Harbor between
both sides of the park. The attraction featured two zebras in a
simulated African habitat.
A new
children's ride, Starcastle Voyage, was added to the large plaza in
front of the Water Ski Stadium. The park begins adding concerts and holds them in the Water Ski Stadium. When the performers of
the Batman show were not performing on concert days, they would meet
and greet guests in front of the stadium.
Six Flags begins
the long needed re-tracking of Raging Wolf Bobs, replacing the track
on the second half of the ride.
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