Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom

Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom was an amusement park in Aurora, Ohio, USA. First opening in 1887 as a local recreational area; Geauga Lake would gain its first ride, a steam powered carousel, in 1889. It closed on September 16, 2007. The water park continued to operate until September 5, 2016.

History

In 1969, a group of former Cedar Point executives formed Funtime Parks and purchased Geauga Lake.^[1] The company sold the land across the lake to Sea World on the basis that the new attraction would increase visitor numbers at Geauga Lake. The area became SeaWorld Ohio.^[2] Funtime owned the park until August 15, 1995, when it was sold to Premier Parks as part of a $60 million deal in which it acquired Geauga Lake, Darien Lake, and Wyandot Lake.^[3]

After Premier Parks purchased Six Flags from Time Warner, the company began a phased rebranding of their major parks under the Six Flags umbrella. In December 1999, it was announced that Geauga Lake would gain a $40 million expansion and would be rebranded as Six Flags Ohio for the 2000 season with the major addition of the DC Comics and Looney Tunes licenses. The expansion included over twenty new rides including four new roller coasters, a new water attraction and a larger wave pool in the renamed Hurricane Harbor; of which the older wave pool would become the site of a new children's area - Looney Tunes BoomTown. The expansion was made for the park to compete with major rival Cedar Point.^[4]

In 2001, Busch Entertainment began the process of rebranding their SeaWorld parks as proper amusement parks and removing the educational aspects. SeaWorld Ohio, which was located next to Six Flags Ohio; was not legally allowed to add roller coasters or flat rides for this reason. Busch offered Six Flags to purchase Six Flags Ohio, but Six Flags counter-offered and officially made the announcement of purchasing SeaWorld Ohio on January 12, 2001.^[5] After the purchase was completed, Six Flags merged the two parks together to create a large 700 acre complex called Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. The park was branded as being "Three Parks for the Price of One", and featured the original amusement area which was now named "Wild Rides", the "Hurricane Harbor" water park, and the former site of SeaWorld Ohio was renamed "Wild Life".^[6] The creation of Worlds of Adventure not only formed the largest Six Flags park but the largest theme park of all time.

Following the 2003 season, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure was struggling with low attendance as Six Flags faced financial problems. The main issues went towards guests being worn-out from exploring the massive 700-acre park.^[7]

In March 2004, two months before the 2004 season, Six Flags announced they would sell Worlds of Adventure to Cedar Fair for $145 million.^[8] After the sale was complete, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure reverted back to the Geauga Lake name which also brought along many changes. The DC Comics and Looney Tunes attractions were debranded and rebranded under generic names; with the costumed characters replaced with ones from the Peanuts franchise; with Snoopy becoming the park's new mascot. The Hurricane Harbor Water Park was renamed as Hurricane Hannah's, while the "Wild Life" animal area was removed entirely with the animals relocated to other Six Flags parks, as the purchase did not include ownership of the animals since Cedar Fair does not expertise with animal attractions.

In November 2004, Cedar Fair announced that the former SeaWorld Ohio/Wild Life site would become home to a standalone water park named Wildwater Kingdom for the 2005 season, costing $26 million to construct.^[9]

Beginning in the 2006 season to avoid competing with Cedar Point, Cedar Fair downsized and restructured Geauga Lake as a family-friendly alternative. This included the removal of the Hurricane Hannah's area (which had been sealed off), major attractions such as Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall and the removal of the Halloween Haunt event to concise with a shorter season run from Memorial Day weekend to mid-September.

After the removal of several major rides such as X-Flight, Steel Venom and Bel-Air Express along with the SeaWorld area by the start of the 2007 season, visitors were unhappy about the quick and confusing changes made, and attendance flatlined.^[10] Geauga Lake's final operating day was September 16, 2007. Five days later, Cedar Fair would publicly announce that Geauga Lake would only operate as a water park from the 2008 season onwards, effectively closing the amusement portion for good.^[11] Cedar Fair kept most of the rides and relocated them to their other parks; with seven children's rides sent to Cedar Point for its new Planet Snoopy area.^[12] An auction of the rest of the rides was held on June 17, 2008.^[13]

On August 19, 2016, Cedar Fair announced that Wildwater Kingdom would close on September 5 and would not reopen for the 2017 season.^[14]

Former roller coasters (14)

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Beaver Land Mine Ride Previously Roadrunner Express	Zierer	Sit-Down	2000	2007	Relocated to Papéa Parc
Big Dipper	John A. Miller	Wooden	1925	2007	Scrapped
Corkscrew	Arrow Development	Sit-Down	1978	1995	Relocated to MGM Dizzee World
Cyclone	Pinfari	Sit-Down	1976	1980	Relocated to Holiday World
Dominator Previously Batman Knight Flight	Bolliger & Mabillard	Floorless	2000	2007	Relocated to Kings Dominion
Double Loop	Arrow Development	Sit-Down	1977	2007	Scrapped
Head Spin Previously Mind Eraser	Vekoma	Shuttle	1996	2007	Relocated to Carowinds
Little Dipper	National Amusement Device Company	Wooden Family	1952 - 1962	1975	Unknown
Raging Wolf Bobs	Dinn Corporation	Wooden	1988	2007	Scrapped
Steel Venom Previously Superman Ultimate Escape	Intamin	Shuttle	2000	2006	Relocated to Dorney Park
Thunderhawk Previously Serial Thriller	Vekoma	Inverted	1998	2007	Relocated to Michigan's Adventure
Villain	Custom Coasters International, Inc.	Wooden	2000	2007	Scrapped
Wild Mouse	B. A. Schiff & Associates	Wild Mouse	Unknown	Unknown	Relocated to Chippewa Lake Park
X-Flight	Vekoma	Flying	2001	2006	Relocated to Kings Island

Closed attractions

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Americana Previously Giant Wheel	Chance Rides	Ferris Wheel	1999	2007	Relocated to Kings Dominion
Bayern Kurve	Schwarzkopf	Bayern Kurve	1973	1980	Unknown
Bel-Air Express	Universal Design	Monorail	1969	2006	Scrapped
Black Squid Previously Black Widow and The Spider	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Octopus	1970	2007	Relocated to Kings Dominion (Never operated)
Boardwalk Typhoon Previously Scrambler	Eli Bridge Company	Scrambler	1977 or earlier	2007	Sold to Schlitterbahn Water Parks
Bounty	Chance Rides	Pirate Ship	2001	2007	Sold to Schlitterbahn Water Parks
Carousel	Marcus Illions	Carousel	1937	2007	Relocated to Worlds of Fun
Carousel	Allan Herschell Company	Junior Carousel	1971^[15]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Casino	Chance Rides	Trabant/Satellite	1991^[16]	1999	Relocated to Enchanted Village
Century Cycle	Hampton Rides	Motor Cycle	1969^[17]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Critter Express	Venture	Critter Track	1986	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Dippy Divers Previously Daffy's Deep Diver	Zamperla	Junior Flying Carpet	2000	2007	Relocated to Cedar Point
Dodgems	Unknown	Dodgems	1983	2007	Scrapped
El Dorado Previously The Mirage	Weber	Flying Carpet	1991	2007	Relocated to Kings Dominion
Flying Jumbos	Zamperla	Junior Jets	1969^[18]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Fly-O-Plane^[19]^[20]	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Fly-O-Plane	1942	1983	Unknown
Grizzly Run	Intamin	River Rapids	1996	2007	Scrapped
Guppies	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Bulgy The Whale	1969^[21]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Half Pint Express Previously Yosemite Sam BoomTown Express	Zamperla	Junior Railway	2000	2007	Relocated to Cedar Point
Hay Baler	Mack Rides	Matterhorn	1976	2007	Scrapped
Horseless Highway	Hampton Rides	Umbrella Ride	1969^[22]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Hot Air Express Previously Wile E. Coyote Canyon Blaster	Zamperla	Samba Balloon	2000	2007	Relocated to Cedar Point
June Bug Jump	Zamperla	Junior Jets	2002	2007	Relocated to Knoebels Amusement Resort
Lickety Split	Unknown	Tracked Ride	1969^[23]	1999	Unknown
Mad Whirl Previously Taz's Twister	Zamperla	Junior Teacups	2000	2007	Relocated to Cedar Point
Merry Oldies	Arrow Development	Track Ride	1972	2007	Scrapped
Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall	Intamin	Free Fall	1997	2005	Scrapped - parts to Cedar Point
Paratrooper	Hrubetz	Lifting Paratrooper		1980	Unknown
Pepsi Plunge Previously Cuyahoga River Logging Co., Deerpark Plunge and Gold Rush	Sansei Technologies	Log Flume	1972	2007	Sold to Schlitterbahn Water Parks
Pinwheel	Eli Bridge Company	Junior Ferris Wheel	1969^[24]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Pirate's Flight	Zamperla	Balloon Race	2002	2007	Sold to Schlitterbahn Water Parks
Rainbow Racers	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Midge-O-Racer	1969^[25]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
RipCord	Sky Fun 1 Inc.	Skycoaster	1999	2007	Unknown
Road Rally Previously Speedy Gonzales' Trucking Company	Zamperla	Track Ride	2000	2007	Relocated to Cedar Point
Rocket Relay Previously Marvin the Martian Rocket Ship Ride	Zamperla	Junior Jets	2000	2007	Relocated to Cedar Point
Rock-O-Plane	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Rock-O-Plane		1982	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Round Up	Hrubetz	Round Up		1980	Unknown
Salt Water Tugs	Allan Herschell Company	Wet Boats	1969^[26]	1999	Unknown
Shipwreck Falls	Hopkins	Shoot The Chute	2000	2007	Relocated to Celebration City
Silver Bullet	HUSS	Enterprise	1979	2003	Scrapped
Smackers	Unknown	Junior Bumper Cars	1969^[27]	1999	Unknown
Skyscraper	Intamin	Observation Tower	1974	2006^[28]	Scrapped
Space Patrol	Unknown	Rocket Swing Ride	1969^[29]	1999	Unknown
Starcastle Voyage	Vekoma	Swing Carousel	2002	2007	Sold
Starfish	Chance Rides	Trabant/Satellite	2003	2007	Sold
Star Shooters	Allan Herschell Company	Sky Fighters	1969^[30]	1999	Unknown
Tea Party	Zamperla	Tea Cup	2002	2007	Relocated to Idlewild & SoakZone
Texas Twister	HUSS	Top Spin	1993	2007	Relocated to California's Great America
Thriller Bees	HUSS	Ramba Zamba/Swingaround	2003	2007	Relocated to Antibes Land via PARC Management
Thunder Alley Speedway	J&J Amusements	Go-Karts	1998	2007	Scrapped
Tilt-A-Whirl	Sellner Manufacturing	Tilt-A-Whirl	1970	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Time Warp	Chance Rides	Inverter	1999	2007	Unknown
Toddling Turtles	Chambers	Junior Tumble Bug	1969^[31]	1999	Relocated to Wyandot Lake
Toot n' Hoot	Hampton Rides	Umbrella Ride	1969^[32]	1999	Unknown
Tree Hopper Previously Tweety's Club House	Zamperla	Junior Drop Tower	2000	2007	Relocated to Cedar Point
Tumble Bug^[33]	Traver Engineering	Tumble Bug	1930	1977	Scrapped
Yo Yo	Chance Rides	Waveswinger	1981	2007	Relocated to Carowinds

Water slides

Geauga Lake also included an adjacent water park, known as Hurricane Hannah's.^[34] During Six Flags ownership, it was called "Hurricane Harbor".

Hurricane Hannah's was closed off to guests after the 2005 season following the opening of Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom on the former SeaWorld/Wild Life site.

References

↑ "Geauga Lake Funtime". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1988-05-26. p. 66. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
↑ "Funtime, Inc., Adding New Rides, Attractions to Geauga Lake Park". The Plain Dealer. 1969-05-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
↑ "Premier Parks acquires Funtime parks". The Daily Oklahoman. 1995-08-16. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
↑ "Geauga Lake to Expand and Become Six Flags Ohio". Ultimate Rollercoaster.
↑ "Six Flags acquires SeaWorld of Ohio". Chillicothe Gazette. 2001-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
↑ "Six Flags Buys SeaWorld Ohio To Combine Parks". Ultimate Rollercoaster.
↑ "How Six Flags Built & DESTROYED the World's Largest Theme Park". Airtime Thrills.
↑ Cedar Fair, L.P. completes acquisition of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure - Amusement Today (Wayback archive)
↑ "Geauga Lake plans expansion".
↑ "The Rise and Fall of Geauga Lake, Sea World, and Wild Water Kingdom in Ohio". cleveland.com.
↑ "Geauga Lake silences rides; water park remains".
↑ "Cedar Point gets Geauga Lake rides". The Plain Dealer. 2008-01-12. p. 19. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
↑ "Geauga Lake auctions off an era of thrills".
↑ "Cedar Fair Pulls the Plug on Ohio's Wildwater Kingdom". NewsPlusNotes. 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "Two high-speed rides make their debut at Geauga Lake". The Plain Dealer. 1991-06-17. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "Geauga Lake Attracts Many War Workers". The Akron Beacon Journal. 30 May 1942. p. 20.
↑ "Ride fall injures woman". The Akron Beacon Journal. 9 August 1983. p. 24.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "Geauga Lake History". Geauga Lake Today.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.
↑ "Article clipped from The Plain Dealer". The Plain Dealer. 1930-05-29. p. 20.
↑ "Trifecta of fun: Geauga Lake rejoins Cedar Point, Kings Island in Ohio lineup". The Blade. 2004-05-23. Retrieved 2025-01-24.

External links

Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

This box: view edit Amusement parks operated by Cedar Fair
Transferred as part of Six Flags merger	California's Great America Canada's Wonderland Carowinds Cedar Point Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Kings Dominion Kings Island Knott's Berry Farm Michigan's Adventure Valleyfair Worlds of Fun
Closed or sold prior to Six Flags merger	Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park Knott's Camp Snoopy

This box: view edit Amusement parks operated by Six Flags
Current Theme Parks	California's Great America Canada's Wonderland Carowinds Cedar Point Dorney Park Frontier City Kings Dominion Kings Island Knott's Berry Farm La Ronde Michigan's Adventure Six Flags America Six Flags Darien Lake Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great Escape Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Mexico Six Flags New England Six Flags Over Georgia Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags Qiddiya Six Flags St. Louis Valleyfair Worlds of Fun
Current Water Parks (Within Park Grounds)	Carolina Harbor Oceans of Fun Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (Great Escape) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (Over Georgia) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (St. Louis) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Darien Lake Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Maryland Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New England South Bay Shores Splash Works Soak City (Kings Dominion) Soak City (Kings Island) Soak City (Valleyfair) WildWater Adventure Wildwater Kingdom Wild West Water Works
Current Water Parks (Separate Admission or Standalone)	Aquarabia Qiddiya City Castaway Bay Cedar Point Shores Knott's Soak City Schlitterbahn Galveston Schlitterbahn New Braunfels Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Arlington Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Chicago Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New Jersey Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oklahoma City Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford Six Flags Hurricane Harbor San Antonio Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown Six Flags White Water White Water Bay
Former Properties (Theme Parks)	American Adventures Bellewaerde Park Six Flags AstroWorld Six Flags AutoWorld Six Flags Belgium Six Flags Elitch Gardens Six Flags Holland Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Six Flags New Orleans Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Walibi Aquitaine Walibi Lorraine Walibi Rhône-Alpes Warner Bros. Movie World Germany Warner Bros. Park Madrid Wild Waves and Enchanted Village Wyandot Lake
Former Properties (Water Parks)	Aqualibi Hurricane Harbor (Worlds of Adventure) Six Flags Atlantis Island Kingdom Six Flags Splashwater Kingdom Six Flags WaterWorld Waterworld Sacramento
Cancelled	Dubailand Zhejiang

[1] "Geauga Lake Funtime". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1988-05-26. p. 66. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[2] "Funtime, Inc., Adding New Rides, Attractions to Geauga Lake Park". The Plain Dealer. 1969-05-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[3] "Premier Parks acquires Funtime parks". The Daily Oklahoman. 1995-08-16. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[4] "Geauga Lake to Expand and Become Six Flags Ohio". Ultimate Rollercoaster.

[5] "Six Flags acquires SeaWorld of Ohio". Chillicothe Gazette. 2001-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-28.

[6] "Six Flags Buys SeaWorld Ohio To Combine Parks". Ultimate Rollercoaster.

[7] "How Six Flags Built & DESTROYED the World's Largest Theme Park". Airtime Thrills.

[8] Cedar Fair, L.P. completes acquisition of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure - Amusement Today (Wayback archive)

[9] "Geauga Lake plans expansion".

[10] "The Rise and Fall of Geauga Lake, Sea World, and Wild Water Kingdom in Ohio". cleveland.com.

[11] "Geauga Lake silences rides; water park remains".

[12] "Cedar Point gets Geauga Lake rides". The Plain Dealer. 2008-01-12. p. 19. Retrieved 2025-01-25.

[13] "Geauga Lake auctions off an era of thrills".

[14] "Cedar Fair Pulls the Plug on Ohio's Wildwater Kingdom". NewsPlusNotes. 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[15] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[16] "Two high-speed rides make their debut at Geauga Lake". The Plain Dealer. 1991-06-17. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-01-19.

[17] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[18] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[19] "Geauga Lake Attracts Many War Workers". The Akron Beacon Journal. 30 May 1942. p. 20.

[20] "Ride fall injures woman". The Akron Beacon Journal. 9 August 1983. p. 24.

[21] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[22] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[23] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[24] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[25] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[26] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[27] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[28] "Geauga Lake History". Geauga Lake Today.

[29] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[30] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[31] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[32] "A Brief History of Geauga Lake". Roller Coaster Freak.

[33] "Article clipped from The Plain Dealer". The Plain Dealer. 1930-05-29. p. 20.

[34] "Trifecta of fun: Geauga Lake rejoins Cedar Point, Kings Island in Ohio lineup". The Blade. 2004-05-23. Retrieved 2025-01-24.

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