Well, that was fun - Mantis farewell

Have to say that I liked that there was a day set aside and made a little special to say farewell to a ride. I was not a huge Mantis fan by any stretch but I made a special trip up for its last day and to get a button. I even kept my eyes open for the scavenger hunt for last ride tickets while I was there. Spoke to several folks on Sunday that were like me, didn't ride the Mantis all that much, but made sure to take the opportunity for one last ride.

Thanks Cedar for the chance for a "last stand."

It was a nice gesture. If only we had that same last chance to ride Villain and Big Dipper. :(

You did. It was called closing day 2007.

and Batman Night Flight/Dominator,Double Loop,Mind Erasor,Raging Wolf Bobs,Serial Thriller/Thunderhawk.

If you would have told me 7 years ago that 7 years from now people would still be butthurt on message boards over the closing of GL I would have thought you were nuts.

Here we are.

I miss it, that was truly my home park, but it's done and over with. Honestly now with it looking as dismal as it is now, I'd love to head in there and venture around. Maybe even Airsoft if the opportunity allowed haha.

Same with Rolling Acres if anyone near me knows about that dingy place in Akron.

Yep, I know about Rolling Acres. Canton Center Mall is just about the same.

Yeah, I'd love to tour Randal Park Mall now. Used to go to that place all the time when it was in it's prime.

Red Garter Rob said:
You did. It was called closing day 2007.

Slight difference......No announcement, no swag, no one knew.

Yeah its a shame what happened to Randall Park Mall, once a DeBartolo gem. Sadly its Southern Park counterpart near Youngstown is evolving to a stagnant venue as well.

coasterJay said:

Red Garter Rob said:
You did. It was called closing day 2007.

Slight difference......No announcement, no swag, no one knew.

I don'tcare so much about the lack of swag but it would have been nice to know that the last time I was there was going to be the last time. I would have made a point of taking way more pictures than I did. I miss it but I'm pretty sure it's not coming back and I'm mostly over it. Sad about the Dipper becuase it was my first and I only got to share it with one of my kids but I'm not going to obsess about it. Both of my grandparents' houses from when I was really little are gone, one for I-480 and the other for airport expansion. Geauga Lake was not the first childhood place of mine to go away and I'm sure it won't be the last.

I rode Mantis with my boys on Sunday to get our pins. I didn't really enjoy the ride but I figured one last time I may as well ride with them and make it a group thing. I'm looking forward to sitting down on it, maybe I'll enjoy it then instead of warming the bench by the loop every visit.

Red Garter Rob said:
You did. It was called closing day 2007.

Rob wins the Internet today.

coasterJay said:
Slight difference......No announcement, no swag, no one knew.

That's because no one was going in the first place.

Jeff said:

That's because no one was going in the first place.

No one was riding Mantis either, a 19 year old ride, but it got a grand farewell...how swell.

THEY BAWT IT TO CLOZE IT!!!!11!!ONE!!!

I see where people get that logic, and if they did, honestly, smart move. Why take traffic away from CP, admission there is more, and isn't a joint park. Smart business move

However, Six Flags killed the park, too much development, too quick, even the local infrastructure couldn't keep up..traffic jams for miles back then.

Dennis Urban said:
and Batman Night Flight/Dominator,Double Loop,Mind Erasor,Raging Wolf Bobs,Serial Thriller/Thunderhawk.

Almost. Wolf Ka-bobs derailed in June of 2007 and never re-opened. :)

If there are complaints, let's keep them a bit more current eh? Space Spiral and Wildcat both closed unceremoniously. Oh the humanity!

THREAD THE NEEDLE!

At least we knew Space Spiral was on its way out. Wildcat was a surprise and I still miss it.

I think Ouimet took over Cedar Fair to shut down Wildcat. Wake up SHEEPle!!

Jeff said:
THEY BAWT IT TO CLOZE IT!!!!11!!ONE!!!

Spelling, grammar, and chat shorthand I guess doesn't apply here?

It probably wasn't bought to close it at first, but it sure seems like that in hindsight.

That other park was closed because of a business decision for sure, albeit a poor one. SF grew the park to fast and too big for the infrastructure to support it, although on paper it looked like a good plan. Advertising it was "better than CP" was also a very dumb move which probably infuriated the former CEO even more. Then Cedar Fair took over and got rid of animals saying they don't do animals, not true, but I get they were expensive to maintain. People slowly stopped going because of the lack of animals, poor to no ads and major rides in front of the park disappearing making it look closed. Then some brilliant CEO thought he had a gold mine in the form of land but the economy tanked. It was already downsized to the point to where it would probably have done well, but its gone.

No one knowingly had their last chance to ride some rides that are now gone forever (although some can still be ridden at other parks), yet we have a month long party when Mantis, which will be reborn, is being closed. At least we might have something that resembles Batman Knight Flight (Dominator) back in Ohio!