Wyandot Lake

Wyandot Lake

Powell, Ohio, USA

Status

Defunct

Opened

1937

Closed

September 10, 2006

Owner

Zoological Park Association, Inc.

Operator

Premier Parks/Six Flags

History

NamesOperators

Wyandot Lake

1984 - 2006

Zoo Park

1937 - 1983

Premier Parks/Six Flags

1996 - 2006

Funtime Parks

1984 - 1995

Wyandot Lake was a water park/theme park located in Powell, Ohio, USA, adjacent to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. The park was operated by Six Flags under a lease from the Zoo owners; of which they would take over the property after the 2006 season, reconstructing it as a water park named Zoombezi Bay while the rides and coasters became part of the Zoo itself.

History

Zoo Park opened in 1937 by Leo and Elmer Haenlein, who previously owned the nearby Olentangy Park. After Olentangy closed, the rides from the park were brought over to the new park.

following the death of Leo Haenlein in the 1950s, management transitioned over to traveling ride operator Floyd Goodling. In 1870, after Goodlings' death, the Zoo and Park were sold by the City of Columbus to the non-profit Columbus Zoological Park Association.

In 1983, Funtime Parks acquired a lease to construct a water park adjacent to the Zoo called Wyandot Lake, of which the previously housed rides at Zoo Park would be retained. Wyandot Lake officially opened on May 24, 1984.

On August 15, 1995, Funtime Inc., consisting of Wyandot Lake, Geauga Lake and Darien Lake was sold to Premier Parks for $60 million. When Premier Parks changed its name to Six Flags in June 2000, the park did not adorn the Six Flags moniker and was instead branded as "A Six Flags Theme Park"; similar to Frontier City, American Adventures and Wild Waves and Enchanted Village, and as such did not adorn any usage of the Looney Tunes or DC Comics characters. However, The chain's season pass was otherwise applicable for use at the park.

On September 22, 2002, a fire destroyed the park's Bumper Cars ride and part of its gift shop.

With Six Flags' undergoing financial issues, the company began selling or terminating leases for lesser-popular parks in the chain. Wyandot Lake was one of these parks, and the company announced on April 13, 2006 that they would not renew their operations lease with Columbus Zoo and would sell the park back. Following the end of the 2006 season on September 10, Six Flags closed the Wyandot Lake section on their website and redirected visitors to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.

After the sale was closed, Columbus Zoo management announced that the park would undergo a complete transformation and would not open for the 2007 season. Many of the rides were removed as Wyandot Lake began a major transformation into Zoombezi Bay with new water slides and an expansion onto Wyandot Lake's former picnic grounds. The remaining rides, alongside some new ones purchased by the Zoo would become part of a new section of the Zoo entitled Jungle Jack's Landing. The new offerings opened to the public on May 26, 2008.

Former coasters

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Status
Sea Dragon	Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc.	Wooden	1956	2006	Repurposed for Jungle Jack's Landing

Former attractions

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Barracuda	Sellner Manufacturing	Tilt-A-Whirl	2000	2006	Repurposed for Jungle Jack's Landing
Black Squid	Unknown	Octopus	2000	2006	Sold
Bumper Cars	Unknown	Bumper Cars	unknown	2002	Destroyed by Fire
Critter Express	Venture	Critter Track	2000	2000 or earlier	Unknown
Dune Cycles	Hampton Rides	Motor Cycle	2000	2006	Sold
Guppies	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Bulgy The Whale	2000	2006	Sold
Dune Buggies	Hampton Rides	Umbrella Ride	2000	2006	Sold
Flying Elephants	Zamperla	Junior Jets	2000	2006	Sold
Grand Carousel	Mangels-Illions	Carousel	1946	1999	Relocated to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
Grand Carousel	Allan Herschell Company	Junior Carousel	2000	2006	Sold
Havoc Harbor	Unknown	Bumper Cars	2003	2006	Repurposed for Jungle Jack's Landing
Monsoon	King Amusement Rides	Frolic	1985 or earlier	2006	Unknown
Neptune's Revenge	Eli Bridge Company	Scrambler	1986	2006	Repurposed for Jungle Jack's Landing
Rock-O-Plane	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Rock-O-Plane	2000	2002 or later	Unknown
Sea Horse	Eyerly Aircraft Company	Midge-O-Racer	2000	2006	Sold
Starfish	Eli Bridge Company	Junior Ferris Wheel	2000	2006	Sold
Sunshine Speedway	Unknown	Go-Karts	2006	2006	Unknown
Tottering Turtles	Chambers	Junior Tumble Bug	2000	2006	Sold