Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom is © Copyright 2006 Cedar Fair, L.P.
X-Flight is ® 2006 Cedar Fair, L.P.
Mission: Bermuda Triangle and Sea World are © 2006 Busch Entertainment Corporation.
SIX FLAGS and all related indicia are trademarks of Six Flags Theme Parks Inc. ®, ™ and © 2006.
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
X-Flight is ® 2006 Cedar Fair, L.P.
Mission: Bermuda Triangle and Sea World are © 2006 Busch Entertainment Corporation.
SIX FLAGS and all related indicia are trademarks of Six Flags Theme Parks Inc. ®, ™ and © 2006.
LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
The ride that defined an era.
If there was one ride that accurately embodied the times at Geauga Lake, X-Flight would be it. The ride was installed at the height of the Six Flags regime, however, the fallout that soon followed turned the signature attraction into a fiscal black hole. As Geauga Lake enters 2007, the new owners have no choice but to make an unprecedented move: They would remove the single most expensive attraction ever opened at the park.
The X-Flight story begins in the mid 1990's. By most accounts, this was a great time for the amusement industry. The public wanted Bigger, Faster, Loopier, & Scarier, and the parks were more than willing to accommodate. The number of new attractions being installed shot to record highs. In Aurora Ohio, a small company named Funtime Inc. was able to transform Geauga Lake into a respectable mid-size amusement park. Attendance was hovering slightly above one million guests, and with trendsetting improvements every few years, some heads in Sandusky Ohio were turning. After all, Funtime Inc. was started by former employees of the amusement park operator Cedar Fair L.P., based in Sandusky. Their flagship park, Cedar Point was just two hours away from Geauga Lake. Richard Kinzel, CEO of Cedar Fair at the time became interested in the idea of purchasing Geauga Lake so that the two parks could benefit each other. He would have to wait almost two decades later for this chance, as Premier Parks Inc. acquired Geauga Lake when they purchased Funtime Inc. in 1995.
There were several major amusement park operators at the time: Cedar Fair, Six Flags, & Paramount's all come to mind. Premier Parks of Oklahoma City still had a fairly small footprint in the industry, and they really didn't have a flagship park, or for that matter, a park that could seriously compete with the three other companies. They shocked the business world in the late 90's with the announcement that they would buy Six Flags from Time Warner Entertainment. As if a minor league baseball team had just purchased the New York Yankees, the move caught many off guard. Premier Parks held the Six Flags brand, and began to formulate their business plan for the next several years. Management was not satisfied with their status in Ohio, and prepared to take on Cedar Point in their own backyard.
There were several major amusement park operators at the time: Cedar Fair, Six Flags, & Paramount's all come to mind. Premier Parks of Oklahoma City still had a fairly small footprint in the industry, and they really didn't have a flagship park, or for that matter, a park that could seriously compete with the three other companies. They shocked the business world in the late 90's with the announcement that they would buy Six Flags from Time Warner Entertainment. As if a minor league baseball team had just purchased the New York Yankees, the move caught many off guard. Premier Parks held the Six Flags brand, and began to formulate their business plan for the next several years. Management was not satisfied with their status in Ohio, and prepared to take on Cedar Point in their own backyard.
In 2000, the Six Flags name came to Geauga Lake, along with an unheard of forty million dollars worth of improvements- in one season. Six Flags wanted a part of the Ohio market, and they knew that Cedar Point would present a formidable challenge. Geauga Lake became "Six Flags Ohio", and four new roller coasters were installed. The new owners also installed Hurricane Harbor, a new waterpark, a new kids area, and a shoot-the-chute water ride. As expected, attendance at the park skyrocketed. At Cedar Point, the park opened the world's tallest and fastest coaster at the time, Millennium Force. Both parks were confident that their new guns would give them the advantage. In the end, it was a draw: Cedar Point and Six Flags both had record seasons.
Six Flag's neighbor, adjacent Sea World Ohio, did not have the same prosperity. Agustus Busch desperately wanted out of Ohio- Sea World's only seasonal park. In late 2000, negotiations were held to sell Sea World Ohio to Six Flags Ohio. When all was said and done in early 2001, Six Flags announced that their upcoming season would be their biggest yet, with the inclusion of the newly acquired marine park, and with the addition of a new coaster, X-Flight. In just two seasons, Six Flags had spent an outlandish one-hundred and sixty five million dollars on improving the park. The collective brows of Cedar Fair began to perspire at the thought of how deep the pockets of Six Flags were.
The 2003 season was coming to a close at Six Flags, and corporate realized the park was in trouble. Attendance was sinking fast in the two years after X-Flight was built. It is hard to pinpoint one specific reason why guests stopped coming (in fact there may have been many reasons), but it became quite clear to the residents of Northeast Ohio that their entertainment dollar was better spent at Cedar Point. A white flag was raised in Aurora, and Richard Kinzel finally got his wish. Cedar Fair L.P. would purchase the park from Six Flags for 144 million dollars. The park would be redubbed "Geauga Lake" for the 2004 season, however the marine park would be permanently closed.
Six Flag's neighbor, adjacent Sea World Ohio, did not have the same prosperity. Agustus Busch desperately wanted out of Ohio- Sea World's only seasonal park. In late 2000, negotiations were held to sell Sea World Ohio to Six Flags Ohio. When all was said and done in early 2001, Six Flags announced that their upcoming season would be their biggest yet, with the inclusion of the newly acquired marine park, and with the addition of a new coaster, X-Flight. In just two seasons, Six Flags had spent an outlandish one-hundred and sixty five million dollars on improving the park. The collective brows of Cedar Fair began to perspire at the thought of how deep the pockets of Six Flags were.
The 2003 season was coming to a close at Six Flags, and corporate realized the park was in trouble. Attendance was sinking fast in the two years after X-Flight was built. It is hard to pinpoint one specific reason why guests stopped coming (in fact there may have been many reasons), but it became quite clear to the residents of Northeast Ohio that their entertainment dollar was better spent at Cedar Point. A white flag was raised in Aurora, and Richard Kinzel finally got his wish. Cedar Fair L.P. would purchase the park from Six Flags for 144 million dollars. The park would be redubbed "Geauga Lake" for the 2004 season, however the marine park would be permanently closed.
December 1st, 2001 Land clearing begins for new ride.
December 26th, 2001 Track and support columns begin to arrive for new ride.
January 4th, 2001 X-Flight is announced.
January 10th, 2001 Six Flags purchases Sea World Ohio.
February 1st, 2001 Park changes name to Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure
February 9th, 2001 First footers are molded
February 24th 2001 Vertical installation begins
April 5th, 2001 Layout completed
April 12th, 2001 Construction Tour
May 24th, 2001 X-Flight Media Preview
May 27th, 2001 X-Flight Opening Weekend
March 10th ,2004 Cedar Fair purchases Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure
November 22nd, 2006, Cedar Fair announces the removal of X-Flight.
December 26th, 2001 Track and support columns begin to arrive for new ride.
January 4th, 2001 X-Flight is announced.
January 10th, 2001 Six Flags purchases Sea World Ohio.
February 1st, 2001 Park changes name to Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure
February 9th, 2001 First footers are molded
February 24th 2001 Vertical installation begins
April 5th, 2001 Layout completed
April 12th, 2001 Construction Tour
May 24th, 2001 X-Flight Media Preview
May 27th, 2001 X-Flight Opening Weekend
March 10th ,2004 Cedar Fair purchases Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure
November 22nd, 2006, Cedar Fair announces the removal of X-Flight.
1997 1999 2000
2001 2004 2005
The myriad of names and logos confused guests.
With the new owners, Geauga Lake once again had a promising outlook. However, Cedar Fair made it quite clear that this property would return to it's roots as a family oriented park. In 2004, the phrase "Family Amusement Park" was even added to the park logo. Management boldly cited that "The Fun Is Back!" at the park, despite the animals skipping town. The aftermath of the transition between Six Flags and Cedar Fair is a topic which I could spend much more time editorializing, but it really deserves it's own overview which would be much larger than this article was intended. It is, however, Cedar Fair's beginning, and so it really isn't fair to start critiquing all their decisions.
What exactly was the aftermath of the transition, you ask? Attendance at the property fell from a reported 2 million in 2001 to just 700,000 in 2004, and stayed relatively unchanged for the next two seasons. A lifeboat was sent out in 2005 in the form of a new waterpark, however this failed to impact patronage as well. Attendance was up slightly the following summer in 2006, but still short of goals. Corporate management decided to act.
At the end of the 2006 season, rumors began to circulate about the removal of a signature attraction at the park. Photographs showed up a few weeks later showing key components missing from X-Flight. Cedar Fair sheepishly admitted prior to Thanksgiving that the ride was being relocated to another park. The ride had simply become far too expensive for a park of Geauga Lake's size to try and operate. X-Flight wasn't even the park's most popular ride, yet it commanded the largest chunk of the maintenance budget.
Many fans were outraged and vowed not to return to Geauga Lake. In the end, the ride's removal was a matter of dollars and cents, and something I see as akin to cutting out the fat in your diet. Sure, the food tastes good, but too much fat is not healthy for you.
If you really look at it, that's exactly what X-Flight was: excess. An aqward jettison from a family park into extreme thrills. Looking at the pre-six flags time, you would never expect the park to build and maintain this kind of attraction. The ride was so hastily planned, it was even built on a parking lot, and much like a "special celebrity guest appearence" on a sitcom, it's placement was inscrutable.
All in all, however, she was a fun ride, and will be missed by both employees and guests alike. X-Flight will be remembered as the coaster that was truly unlike anything ever seen before, and if Cedar Fair has it's way, will never been seen again at Geauga Lake. If this is for the better, is yet to be seen.
What exactly was the aftermath of the transition, you ask? Attendance at the property fell from a reported 2 million in 2001 to just 700,000 in 2004, and stayed relatively unchanged for the next two seasons. A lifeboat was sent out in 2005 in the form of a new waterpark, however this failed to impact patronage as well. Attendance was up slightly the following summer in 2006, but still short of goals. Corporate management decided to act.
At the end of the 2006 season, rumors began to circulate about the removal of a signature attraction at the park. Photographs showed up a few weeks later showing key components missing from X-Flight. Cedar Fair sheepishly admitted prior to Thanksgiving that the ride was being relocated to another park. The ride had simply become far too expensive for a park of Geauga Lake's size to try and operate. X-Flight wasn't even the park's most popular ride, yet it commanded the largest chunk of the maintenance budget.
Many fans were outraged and vowed not to return to Geauga Lake. In the end, the ride's removal was a matter of dollars and cents, and something I see as akin to cutting out the fat in your diet. Sure, the food tastes good, but too much fat is not healthy for you.
If you really look at it, that's exactly what X-Flight was: excess. An aqward jettison from a family park into extreme thrills. Looking at the pre-six flags time, you would never expect the park to build and maintain this kind of attraction. The ride was so hastily planned, it was even built on a parking lot, and much like a "special celebrity guest appearence" on a sitcom, it's placement was inscrutable.
All in all, however, she was a fun ride, and will be missed by both employees and guests alike. X-Flight will be remembered as the coaster that was truly unlike anything ever seen before, and if Cedar Fair has it's way, will never been seen again at Geauga Lake. If this is for the better, is yet to be seen.
Click here to see more pictures of X-Flight. We have dozens of pictures, and we are always adding more.
