Cedar Point Removing Good Times Theatre

I usually am in the minority, so I am not surprised at the lack of sympathy for my POV. That's OK, at least I had a forum where I could voice it. I consider it finished.

Oh no, sorry for any misunderstanding. I'll be the first to say you're entitled to your opinion and I get it. I've seen many of my favorite attractions removed over the years, too.

My comment was more about your reaction. Canceling your season passes seems extreme, that's all. But like I said, its up to you. And if the removal of the ice show is the straw that broke the camel's back for you then maybe a membership to a zoo or conservatory instead of an amusement park would fit your needs and be money better spent.

You're definitely entitled to your opinion, and no one is faulting you for that. However, like RCMAC pointed out, we find it a bit extreme to refuse to purchase season passes over the removal of this under-utilized theatre.

RCMAC said:
Maybe after 40+ years of exposure to the elements the infrastructure is so bad that it's not worth saving. Maybe backstage, fly, dressing, restroom, and storage areas are inadequate for stage and ice shows.

You pretty much nail it right here. The numbers at the theater have been in a decline and the theater itself is slowly falling apart. For starters the roof leaked, badly in some portions, like over the ice on stage left. So much that the Techs would have to chip away at the ice that would build up during a rainy day. The place was built for movies, not as a performance space so only stage left had a wing for scenic and space for storage. Stage right had ZERO space for storage of anything. The fly system was automated but slow as molasses. All that coupled with how much it cost to produce the show each year (those skaters made damn good money), its surprising it lasted as long as it did.

Hopefully with the money they will be saving from producing this show, the park will be able to produce 2 or more new shows in the coming years. Id like to see another venue the size of Aldrich built and a new outdoor amphitheater style venue (like the Waterside Stage at Downtown Disney).

You literally cannot tear anything down in the park without anyone complaing. Then a few years down the road they build something new and people forget about it, and the park is better off 9 times out of 10.

Look, the GTT was by no means an astetically pleasing building and it takes up alot of space. This is a good move for the park and you non believers out there will probably have no complaints about this in a few years.

Also, this whole thing about CP losing "family attractions" is both annoying and false. I have been reading this site since 2005 and people have been saying the same crap over and over again. Yet in that time we have a new planet snoopy, good shows in All Wheels Extreme and various midway celebrations (which are a big improvement), way better astetics/lighting, and a reviatlized midway with two new family rides and a freshened up monster. Not to mention STR which I still consider somewhat of a flop and not a complete family ride, it still counts for something though. I see plenty of families with gradeschool children riding that all the time.

Besides, you really don't think they wont be planning new shows and venues in the comming years to replace GTT? I guess some people just like to complain.

Also, I believe any new hotels and employee housing will be off the penninsula as they have already appeared to have hinted at, but thats just my opinion.

I would like to add that Cedar Fair is a business. They will do what is predicted to be profitable. this means, more people visiting and spending more money. They have proven the family friendly as with the addition of the Gemini midway reno which really improved and added a family atmosphere. Management also promised that each park was evaluated and new attractions will be added accoring to missing links in the parks lineups. I do remember the IMAX movies and enjoyed them from the first year, I was more sad when the movies left than when the decision to raze the building was announced. The potential for that amount of space is mind blowing to think about what CF will do with that area to bring in more revenue. i hope it is in line with the Quimet philosophy and add bigger and better. And the money to renovate the breakers should not be included in the mix as it was money made by selling un-needed property, not park profit re-invested.Can not wait to visit the breakers and enjoy the park in 2015!

Agree completely. People complained about removal of Disaster Transport and Space Spiral, but look how much nicer the entrance plaza is with the additon of Gatekeeper. The new dining area by Gatekeeper is nice and the lookout over the water by the entrance to Gatekeeper is also a plus.

Without knowing exactly what CP has in store for the area around GTT it may be difficult for some to feel secure that whatever goes there will be a positive improvement. I have complete confidence that the park knows what they are doing.

The park has added some great live entertainment with the traveling beach band the frontier folk. The All Wheels Extreme show is always fun and Luminosity is no small undertaking.

Tony said in his blog post that more live entertianment is planned.

I'm gonna be honest, the only show I've seen in GTT was Midnight Syndicate, so it holds no nostalgic value to me. When I first read that it was going to be removed my first thought was "something big is coming" followed by "I hope they find somewhere for Midnight Syndicate to return" just my 2c

I had only seen the Snoopy on Ice show once, a few years prior to my son being born. It was during our only mid summer visit ever. It was blazing hot outside so the show was a nice reprieve from the heat & humidity. The show was enjoyable but by no means spectacular. We haven't been to the park during the show's season since (we visit early season or HalloWeekends), but I'm sure my son would have LOVED the show.

I hope Midnight Syndicate finds a new home in the park as well. I've heard nothing but rave reviews and would like to see if it lives up to the hype.

Having said that, I probably won't even notice the theater being gone. But I do look forward to seeing the future of that area!

My kids and I have gone to the shows there for the last three seasons, they are currently ages 10 and 8. They gasped when I said GTT was going, but even they stopped and both said they thought the place was sort of coming apart. We'll miss it but will easily get over it.

The building is like an old couch with a hugely out of date pattern. It is worn, broken-in at the right places, comfy in a way. But at some point you step back and realize it is dirty, frayed at the edges, smells a little funny, and you would enjoy something new.

Allan Birmantas sr said:

Some that come to CP don't always ride the coasters. This will will probably keep us from getting season passes.

Fortunately, there are something like 70 non-coaster attractions.

Converting an IMAX theater into a stage venue was always absurd. The sight lines and acoustics were completely awful in there. I realize that most people viewing the ice show would never care, and kids loved it, so I'm sure my opinion doesn't matter. All of the performance venues at Cedar Point are pretty terrible, especially for sound. Red Garter has an interesting intimacy to it for a band playing, but it's not ideal either.

A "real" theater would be a welcome addition at the park. Even Kings Island's theater, which was obviously built on the cheap (and I don't know anything about its technical capability) is a step in the right direction.

I just happened to have seen the "new" production of Phantom last night here in Orlando at the amazing new Walt Disney Theater in the Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts, and it's a stunning venue that's also insanely functional. I've got theater on the brain.

I don't think that they have had a "real" theater since they razed the Centennial Theater. I don't recall if that was a remodel of an existing building or if they built that from the ground up. It's been a long time, but I recall that it wasn't an especially large venue, but it had decent sight lines and accoustics.

When was the Centennial Theater ever razed? It's been there since 1970 and is now the Aldrich. Before that it was Hollywood Wax Museum.
Unless you mean the house itself (interior) has undergone extensive remodel, but I don't recall it being any different. I think it's the same building as always.

Cedar Point has quite a few entertainment venues, but Jeff is right. There's no large house like Kings Island or Dollywood has, and that's always surprised me. They say that the Aldrich features "broadway-style revues", but not of any large scale. We watched the show last year and I was underwhelmed not only with the talent but the production values as well.

The good thing about Cedar Point shows is that they are produced in house and feature live music. Over the years I've caught the same show at Kings Island and Six Flags over Georgia, different seasons, but the same show with the same canned music. Apparently shows are shopped out to the large parks. Casting usually involves hiring kids who are primarily dancers, with a couple/three singers for solos. Everyone moves their mouths to a track that sounds like a 50 voice chorus. I had a friend that was stage manager at KI and they had a light-up sign on the back wall that said "SING" in case they lost audio during the show. Cast members hoped and prayed it never happened, as the show would take a real dive from that point on.

And Jeff, if you haven't, you should try Broadway theatre sometime. I'd like to think you're spoiled now with that great new venue in Orlando, as in New York most of the theatres are small, narrow places and it's rather shocking. They still put on great shows though, and the size of the production usually matches the building. Blockbusters and long-runners like Wicked and Phantom play the larger houses, and sometimes shows work their way up and may move once or twice as audiences and demand grows.
I know a couple of our theaters here in Columbus underwent extensive renovation of their backstage areas so they could accommodate the larger bus and truck touring companies. In fact, I think the Ohio was done just so they could get Phantom in. Or Cats. Or something...

Given that my wife is AEA and stage managed off-broadway, you would think I would have by now. And I minored in theater for a year! I don't think I could commit to more than one show on an NYC visit. I suspect we'll get all of the touring shows.

I saw the show in the Aldrich in 2012 or 2013 (not sure which... the year they did the Les Mis stuff), and thought it was exceptional despite the venue and tech.

It had to have been 2013, it was the one I saw last and I remember the Les Mis music now. And we must've seen different rotations... :-)

If you did see a show on Broadway you might be eager to see more than just one. The trouble I have is committing to the ticket prices.

Jeff said:
I just happened to have seen the "new" production of Phantom last night here in Orlando at the amazing new Walt Disney Theater in the Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts, and it's a stunning venue that's also insanely functional. I've got theater on the brain.

Did you ever see a show in Bob Carr? If you haven't, don't bother now that you have been to Dr. Phillips.

I went on opening night and was amazed at how well done the theater is. Even more so how great Phantom was, especially from a technical standpoint. I couldn't believe what I was watching was a touring show with how large the sets were and the amount of automation they used.

RCMAC said:

When was the Centennial Theater ever razed? It's been there since 1970 and is now the Aldrich. Before that it was Hollywood Wax Museum.
Unless you mean the house itself (interior) has undergone extensive remodel, but I don't recall it being any different. I think it's the same building as always.

I was under the impression that when the front of the park was reconfigured (that would have been when the also moved the Midway carousel) that those buildings were razed. I stand corrected. Now I'll admit that I haven't been on property in season since the late 1980's, and off season since the late 1990's. The last time I was there I was being driven through the park on a sub zero January day and was occupied talking to the person driving.

The Broadway review was passable. The Halloweends Show was bad. The house is musty, lighting poor and it comes across like a show in somebody's garage. The shallow slope makes the wheel chair seating a paint to three or more rows of people behind it, especially when mobility scooters are parked there. Ventilation isn't enough to flush humidity out during hot days or wet days. The list of issues goes on.

However the shows are well attended, folks seem to enjoy them and the cast and crew seem motivated. *shrug* Could use some polish I guess.

99er said:
Did you ever see a show in Bob Carr? If you haven't, don't bother now that you have been to Dr. Phillips.

No, but given its reputation, I'm in no hurry.

I went on opening night and was amazed at how well done the theater is. Even more so how great Phantom was, especially from a technical standpoint. I couldn't believe what I was watching was a touring show with how large the sets were and the amount of automation they used.

That show could actually be staged in Bob Carr, believe it or not. It's surprisingly not very dependent on the venue beyond size. (The Carr stage is deeper, but the proscenium is a few feet shorter, and the wing and fly space a bit less.) It helps to have a false floor and fly most of your own lighting. I'm sure it would sound like crap and the viewing would be terrible from the back.

Now if they just would have cast anyone other than Chris Mann as Phantom...

The Broadway show in the Aldrich Theater (with Les Mis) was playing last summer (2014). I thought the show was really good despite the venue. With a 4 year old daughter, grandparents, and a great aunt along for that trip, the day was spend watching most of the shows with time in-between in the kids areas.