Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom (Tuesday, 7-3-07)

This was my first GL trip of the season.

Weather
The weather was a bit chilly for July (lower 70's) but it certainly was not cold, and was very pleasant being on black asphalt.

Time at Park
3:30p.m. -- 10:00p.m.

Geauga Lake
We began the day on the ride side of the park. It certainly was different not seeing my beloved XF, and SV, but I have to say it really does look better. Head Spin could use brighter paint though now that it is visible.

Crowds seemed to be moderate. The parking lot was probably at 50%, but the midways were quite crowded and the day was already late (4:00p.m.). The log ride had a full queue, as with the ferris wheel. All rides throughout the park were sending mostly full cars/ trains if not completely full.

Thunderhawk
We rode Thunderhawk 3 times. It was a walk-on all three times.

Wow. This is actually a very nice ride. It is fast, intense, and everyone was getting off talking about how enjoyable it is. The head-banging is also quite minimal now days. The paint is holding up great, as with the surrounding area. The videos seemed to be a GREAT idea. They were really attracting attention.

8/10

Dominator
We rode Dominator 2 times. There was a 2 train wait each time.

I'm not really digging the one train op when there is a crowded station, but hopefully this isn't a pattern. I was expecting the worst after extremely rough/ vibratey rides last year, but this year it was surprisingly smooth! It is now a "very good" ride in my book. It is thrilling, fast, and there is [u]lots[/u] of air-time which is nice. The second half of the ride after the block brakes was no longer painfully vibratey, but enjoyable. The ride and the surrounding area still look quite nice.

8/10

Grizzly River Rapids
We rode Grizzly River Rapids once. It was a walk-on.

Usually this ride gets quite a long line, but there wasn't one right when we came up. It was late, however, and a line did develop after we got off. It was a really nice ride. I had 10 people in my boat, so we got soaked. While I still think it could use more landscaping, I think it is a perfect wetness. The log ride gets you slightly wet, this gets you moderately wet, and Shipwreck Falls soaks you. Nice mix in my opinion. Grizzly River Rapids is a very enjoyable ride. You still wait on the lift a bit, but not too bad.

7/10

At about 5:00 we headed over to WWK, passing by the closed RWB, and got a locker. $6 seems a bit steep for lockers being so small, but oh well.

Wildwater Kingdom
We then transitioned over to Wildwater Kingdom. At this point it was raining a bit, but simply sprinkling. It only lasted 15 minutes or so.

Thunder Falls (Body - Green, Aqua)
We rode these body slides once. There was a 5 minute wait.

They really do scratch up your back quite a bit -- has it always done this? It seems worse than in the past -- but they are still fast, intense, and enjoyable body slides. Quite tall!

6.5/10

Thunder Falls (Tube - Orange, Blue)
We rode these tube slides once. There was a 5 minute wait.

These tube slides are really great. They go from mild to intense (blue to orange). It is especially fun to turn yourself around backwards on the blue one (shhhh). They are all quite enjoyable.

8/10

Liquid Lightning
We rode Liquid Lightning 4 times. The wait ranged from 20 minutes - walk-on.

Wow. The best slide here hands down! It really is one of the more enjoyable things to ride at GL. It is truly intense, and the water seems colder here than elsewhere in the water park... :? It really is a great slide, thus we rode it 4 times. The longer section before the funnel, plus the funnel, and all the water in the funnel and at the end, make it one of the better slides out there. Tubes seemed to be in surplus today.

9/10

Riptide Run
We took two laps on Riptide Run. There was no wait for a tube.

Nice lazy river with great scenery and plenty of water falls. The waves were not on. I wish they were, they add a lot. Have they been on at all yet?

7/10

Tidal Wave Bay
We stayed in here for 2 cycles. It was not crowded.

The waves are still doing the odd side to side motion, but that actually makes it more "ocean" like which makes it more exciting. It is intense, and I'm glad the lifeguards are so vigilant because it wouldn't take much at all for someone to drown in here. It was late enough now that some rental tubes were lingering around without an owner within the pool, so I used one for the second cycle. It actually makes the experience cooler and more exciting and relaxing. I wish they were free. :?

8/10

It was about 8:10 at this point and sadly WWK had closed. We proceeded back over to the rides side and ate at Jukebox Cafe. The food was great and moderately priced as amusement park food goes. The restaurant did have an odd rotten egg smell though...

Shipwreck Falls
We rode Shipwreck Falls once. It was a walk-on.

I was surprised that people were still riding this thing at 9:20p.m. It was a nice ride as usual, although I was a bit chilly, well quite a bit so, after getting off. No one else in my group would ride with me... :roll:

6/10

Time Warp
We rode Time Warp once. It was a walk-on.

I hadn't been on this ride for a few years since I remember it being really painful, but it wasn't at all painful today! It was great and definitely better than Texas Twister. Truly an awesome flat. Lots of flipping.

8.5/10

Villain
We rode Villain once. There was a 1 train wait.

If it had not been for the missing trick-track, if no one had of told me work had been done on this, I wouldn't have known. Really pathetic. Still not "rideable" in my books, and by no means enjoyable. It was fun riding it in a group as we could all scream in pain together, but it felt out of control in terms of speed, and that combined with roughness makes for a bad ride. The second hill was only "bumpy", and the trick track was gone, but that was about the extent of the improvement. It could be a fun ride if it were only smooth, but if they can't make it smooth they need some trims. I truly think they need to think about getting rid of this one. I guess it was cool at night though...

4.5/10

Texas Twister
We rode Texas Twister once. It was a walk-on.

We were the last ride of the night! Wooo. Never happened to me before. Nice ride, but not as nice as Time Warp. It was just a bit more dull. The new paint is nice, and the lights are blinding at night. I understand it is the last ride of the night, but the ride-ops were a bit inappropriate. Foul language and constant joking over the loud speaker doesn't really seem appropriate in this atmosphere... If it had of been anywhere else I probably wouldn't even have noticed, nor commented, but it seems a bit out of line with many families still walking around.

7/10

Well that was my day at Geauga Lake. It was a really enjoyable day. So before I get to my "notes" section, let me comment on the whole 2008 expansion topic. So what does GL really need? Water slides. The water park is just way too small, and yet another year with nothing new would be ridiculous. I was willing to let it slide when it was a new park and all, but they desperately need more attractions. On the rides side, the park needs a small Huss flat ride (topple tower or something), or a nice new wooden coaster (perhaps replacing Villain?). A B&M hyper would be nice, but I highly doubt it will be happening.

Notes:
- WWK is way too small, needs more slides
- RWB and Skyscraper closed
- Old water-park doesn't seem to be a priority to me
- They looked to be draining the brown water out of pools at least
- Dominator, Thunderhawk very smooth
- No improvement on Villain
- Crowds seemed heavy (lots of people on rides and midway at 10pm)
- Life guards very good and serious
- Ride ops could use some more seriousness
- One train op on everything

So that's my day. No GL is not CP. It doesn't have enough thrills to please anyone from 10am until 10pm, especially if you don't go to the water park. It is however a nice place to spend time with friends if you
A) Don't want to drive to CP,
B) don't want to pay CP prices or
C) Don't want the CP crowds
It is a nice way to spend the afternoon.

-- Top Thrill 182 / X-Flight 182 --

Top Thrill 182 said:

- Life guards very good and serious
- Ride ops could use some more seriousness

The life guards at this park are among the best in the country. I don't know how they find kids that good, but they do, and it is nice to know that you are in good hands in the water park.

On the ride operations side...

...I'll just agree with you in saying they don't seem to be as serious as the lifeguards in some cases. However, there are some great people running rides there. I was impressed on opening day with one ride-op, who was very attentive, and who I heard later in the day caught a rider doing something unsafe!

I just don't understand why they don't advertise how great their lifeguards are. I would think parents would appreciate that, and maybe consider GL instead of the local pool due to quality of the lifeguards.

Good to see you enjoyed the park. Now if we can only get the word out...

-Sam

*** Edited 7/6/2007 7:39:46 PM UTC by Avalanche Sam***

I'm with you, Avalanche Sam, in saying the Magnum is the best coaster!!! My favorite, too, right along with the Villian.

Speaking of Villian, how could you only give the Villian a 4.5, Top Thrill???? It is such an awesome ride. And yes, I rode it this year. Still my favorite! I don't know why, probably because it's just crazy fast?!? Love it, love it, love it!

Yes, we need to get the word out on GL!!! I sooo love this park.

I have an idea of a new slide they could put at WWK. I rode one called the "Scorpian" at a waterpark called "Wildwater" in Sparks, NV. I really do think this slide would be quite a draw for people, seriously!!! Scarier than crap, but geez, I rode it over and over again. So...who do I make my suggestion to?

http://www.geaugalake.com/contact.cfm

When the general manager is/was a certified lifeguard trainer, you can bet that there's no screwing around in that respect.

It really was amazing watching these lifeguards.

A) They seemed to have been trained a much more elaborate "system" than other lifeguards. They kept moving their heads in an intracite pattern, etc.

B) They seemed to execute what they had been trained better than any other lifeguards. Even the ones at Disney would just pace back and forth gazing idly. And these lifeguards at GL would never even stop what they were doing for one second to have a conversation with someone.

The lifeguards at GLP have ALWAYS been very good at their craft. This isn't something brought in by CF.

This is a case of one area of the park that was least effected by the culture change that happened in '01.