Trip Report: Geauga Lake

Aurora, Ohio - 07/07/1996

Never go to a picnic park on Sunday. Never.

I got a late start on Sunday, but I did make the 150-mile drive to Geauga Lake. Geauga Lake is in Aurora, Ohio, across the lake from Sea World, more generally right between Cleveland and Akron.

CARTOGRAPHIC WARNING:

Geauga is not the easiest park in the state to get to. It isn't that it is particularly complicated, but while there are at least three Interstate-grade highways in the vicinity, none of them go where you need them to go. All of the major roads in the Cleveland area run parallel. Most important, there is no exit from IR-271N to OH-82E...you have to get off at OH-8N and take OH-8 to OH-82. Rand McNally doesn't show this little problem, and it cost me going about 10 miles out of my way. 8-(

GETTING IN:

Parking is $4, but at least the lot is mostly paved. They took my Wyandot Lake season pass at the Season Pass entrance...very streamlined--no guest-book to sign, or any similar such nonsense. Adult admission is about $20 these days, and includes the waterpark, which I completely skipped. The weather was very hot and very humid.

THE CROWD:

Everyone knows that it is usually a mistake to visit a popular amusement park on a Saturday. And at the big parks like Cedar Point and Kings Island, the crowds are generally noticeably smaller on Sunday. But the story is different for parks that handle a lot of company picnics, because those picnics are often held on Sunday, in an effort to avoid the Saturday crowd. Yesterday, it was the Chrysler Corporation. As usual, the crowd is a bit crude, a little rough around the edges, though not as bad as PKI. Watch where you step (LOTS of spitting!), watch where you lean (gum stuck all over), and be aware that while the park tries hard to keep up, this crowd is really sloppy, leaving trails of garbage throughout the park. Ugh! Also, you're never more than 25 feet from a burning cigarette

Interesting, though...Geauga Lake really is not structured very well to handle a large crowd. The park doesn't look so much like it was laid out as that it just sort of happened. The narrow walkways lead to lots of other narrow walkways, and there are enough indecision points that you get large groups of people who are unsure where they really want to be, trying to get past each other. Of course, the fact that it was a picnic crowd adds another dynamic to it as well...three groups of twenty people meet on a path, and the groups start switching members because they all know each other. It's almost enough to make one feel like a real outsider! 8-)

THE COASTERS:

I'll take these in order by age.

BIG DIPPER - John Miller, 1925

This is a fantastic dogleg out-and-back coaster. Unlike another Northern Ohio coaster, it is still a genuine ACE Coaster Classic. The trains are scratch-built replicas of the original NAD train, with heavily cushioned interiors. Interesting...the sidewalls of the NAD-style train are higher than those on a PTC, and the seat is lower, so the seat-back is really quite high. The single-position lap bar is padded. And it is a good thing, too. I got two rides on this coaster (missed out on a third), in the front seat and in the back seat. In the back, I was actually disappointed with the suprising lack of air-time and with the exceptionally rough ride. In that seat, this coaster suffers from an extreme case of wheel-hop. Closer inspection seems to indicate that the real problem is with excessive motion either in the track, or in the lamination of the first two layers. This coaster could use some track-work. The front-seat ride, on the other hand, provided better air than the back seat, and much less of the wheel-hop, though its effect could still be felt. I expect Seat #3 (back of first car) in the four-car train is probably the best, and that is where I was headed when Mother Nature put an end to my fun.

While it has its problems, Big Dipper is still a fun, and quite suprising, ride. It is also particularly annoying, as the layout of the park makes it virtually impossible to photograph. Did I see recently that there is a shortage of Geauga photos on the FTP site? Well, there's not much you can do with Big Dipper unless you are on-board, where cameras are verboten. Minimum wait with single-train operation (grrrr...there's a beautiful green train sitting in the station...) was about 30 minutes.

DOUBLE LOOP - Arrow Development Corp., 1977

Like the Big Dipper, this coaster has two trains. Also like the Big Dipper, they were only running one. Unlike the Big Dipper, the wait was still fairly short, about 18 minutes. This is one of the smoothest running Arrow loopers I have ridden. It's a 90' drop, then up a shallow ramp into a turnaround carefully banked to avoid lateral forces, then through two vertical loops. This is followed by a helix, also carefully constructed to avoid lateral forces, and a quick rise into the station. The absence of lateral forces means an almost total absence of headbanging on this ride. Quite good, and seemingly overlooked by the teeming throngs. Which is interesting, considering that most of it is built right over the picnic area, making it one of the most accessible coasters around. Very photogenic, even though the track is painted black.

RAGING WOLF BOBS - Summers/Dinn, 1988

This is a much-maligned coaster. It is loosely based on the 1924 Bobs at Riverview Park (Traver/Church/Prior); in fact, the trackplan changes are extremely minor...the approach to the lift is different, and the first crossover is reversed. But photos indicate that the changes in curve banking and radius are significant. So it isn't a reconstruction by any means. Anyway, it is a fairly good ride with a lot of potential, and some big problems. There is some airtime throughout the train, but watch out for those wheel seats (I avoided them)! Like the Big Dipper, this coaster suffers from a rhythmic wheel-hop; I suspect it is a problem with the track lamination...it looks like it's all original track. But those problems are exacerbated by the shuffle caused by the trailered PTC trains, which in turn are probably tearing up the track. Question: Does any other coaster still use the trailered trains? I know Hercules and Thunder Run have both switched over to the articulated trains. It is worth noting that both of Geauga's wood coasters have low-back seats and traditional lap bars; Raging Wolf Bobs has low seat dividers. And while the Riverview Bobs ran three 22-passenger trains, RWB has two 24-passenger trains, but they were only running one. Not that they couldn't run two...the platform operation was very efficient with a 2:40 dispatch interval for a 2:00 ride!

I'd like to see this coaster get some track work, and some train chassis improvements. I wonder if it would be possible to move those rear axles backward about 18"...

MIND ERASER - Vekoma International b.v., 1996

Wow! This is my second Vekoma Boomerang (my first was Kentucky Kingdom's Vampire), and I think my 80th coaster. This is the only coaster at Geauga Lake with platform gates, and when the train comes flying through the station at 50+ mph, that's not a feature to complain about. I sat in the front of the last car for my one ride, and I was pleasantly suprised by how smooth the ride was. This thing was actually fun! Almost no headbanging on the forward run, minimal on the return. This ride is a real winner, and the local crowd loved it.

OTHER STUFF:

Geauga's other new ride this year is Grizzly Run, a rapid river ride. I didn't ride it. It is located where the picnic grove used to be on the path to the Raging Wolf Bobs. I've complained in the past about that long, uphill stretch of midway with nothing on it; it looks like it isn't going to get any better...the one side now sports a (as yet incomplete) gunite wall; the other side is Federally protected wetland. In-park peak-season construction seems to be a trademark for Premier Parks. I noticed it at Geauga and at Wyandot this season, and at Adventure World last year. From a distance, I was suprised to notice that Grizzly Run does not have headrests. In the "shame on you" department, the Traver Rocket Ships are dismantled and sitting behind the Raging Wolf Bobs tri-level helix. Rumor has it that they will be returning next season; I hope that is true. BRING BACK THE ROCKET SHIPS!!! Geauga Lake's collection of other rides includes the following:

Most of the rides are in top shape, running very well. Also of note: For only $1.50, Geauga Lake sells a fantastic Belgian Waffle. Okay, so it looks like a hot-dog bun. It really is a waffle, and it is topped with fresh fruit, soft-serve, and whipped topping. Yum!

Okay, so I've blathered on enough. In spite of the huge crowd and their apparent inability to run more than one train on any coaster, I had a wonderful time at Geauga Lake. It's well worth a visit. Ride a true classic, a classic coaster wannabe, and a pair of really good steel loopers. Go check it out! But check the picnic schedule first.

Next trip: Kennywood
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--Dave Althoff, Jr.