News Lakemont Park: All Rides SBNO

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Zachary

Zachary

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Sep 23, 2009
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Brutal news out of Lakemont park. All of the park's attractions are set to sit dormant for the entirely of the 2024 season. The park has also cancelled its Fourth of July firework show. Very bad signs all around—and it doesn't sound like there's much the county can do. The lease only requires that the management company keeps Leap the Dips from collapsing—there's no requirement to actually keep the coaster operational. And then, of course, things are even worse for Skyliner. 😔

Slim Pickings: Lakemont Park eliminates rides for 2024 season

Lakemont Park Timeline Compiled by the Blair County Historical Society 1754-2022 (1) The company that runs Lakemont Park under a long-term lease from Blair County won’t operate any rides there this season because it has become financially unsustainable, according to Lakemont Partnership...
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I regret trying to make this park work the last few years. Quite a few trips we’ve done never lined up with Lakemonts operating calendar. I somehow feel “guilty” for not spending money here recently.
 
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harry580 said:
I like to see Lakemont park gets sold to the guys who saved Indiana beach
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Indiana Beach was a full amusement park with little regional competition at the point of its sale. Lakemont is essentially an FEC with two large, antique, expensive-to-maintain coasters in one of the most park-dense areas of the country.

Simply switching out the owners wouldn't be a silver bullet here. Not saying it's not savable, but it doesn't seem like it would be easy—and the situation is far from comparable with Indiana Beach.
 
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For all Gene has done for IB, it’s also hard to ignore that Clementon Park is still a dump and Niagara seems to be an afterthought. Clementon is at least getting 208 track for Hellcat, but having grown up 30 mins away from it, it’s going to take a hell of a lot more to make that park worth visiting.

Gene also doesn’t tend to have a plan laid out, which is exactly what Lakemont needs.
 
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GASM said:
For all Gene has done for IB, it’s also hard to ignore that Clementon Park is still a dump and Niagara seems to be an afterthought. Clementon is at least getting 208 track for Hellcat, but having grown up 30 mins away from it, it’s going to take a hell of a lot more to make that park worth visiting.

Gene also doesn’t tend to have a plan laid out, which is exactly what Lakemont needs.
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As a guy who lives near Fantasy Island/Niagara, and loved taking my then young daughter to FI/Niagara when she was too young for our local Six Flags? Couldn't agree more.

Niagara is clean. It's open. It's not saved. This year, it appears he's dumping some cash into the park, but we also decided to not renew our season tickets (we bought 3y in a row to help support the park, but it's been tough to see little progress, other than a few carnival flats, some "new" SBNO rides, and things stored in the parking lot.)

We may go once, just to check it out, but there was little to do for an 53" tall 8yo, let alone an adult there...

Hoping Gene makes some major strides at Niagara/FI, it needs it.
 
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While I don’t think Laser Loop/Cascabel ever actually reopens, if it does it’s a damn shame he moved it from Niagara to IB.

Clean is more than can be said for Clementon, though. Gross, run down, shadow of its former self, and granted, that started long before Gene bought it, but I temporarily moved back to NJ right when the park had reopened under his management and I had absolutely zero interest in visiting. Don’t know what I expect out of a park that allowed an 83 year old PTC to rot away in front of it for 5 years before they tore it down, but it’s in an area that could really benefit from a small well kept park.

I always forget Gene also purchased Sahara Sam’s, which adds up considering that was also run down and gross lol.
 
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GASM said:
While I don’t think Laser Loop/Cascabel ever actually reopens, if it does it’s a damn shame he moved it from Niagara to IB.

Clean is more than can be said for Clementon, though. Gross, run down, shadow of its former self, and granted, that started long before Gene bought it, but I temporarily moved back to NJ right when the park had reopened under his management and I had absolutely zero interest in visiting. Don’t know what I expect out of a park that allowed an 83 year old PTC to rot away in front of it for 5 years before they tore it down, but it’s in an area that could really benefit from a small well kept park.

I always forget Gene also purchased Sahara Sam’s, which adds up considering that was also run down and gross lol.
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I'm wondering if he moved Cascabel back because we have another Schwarzkopf looper thirty miles down the road at Darien Lake. Or he's hedging his bets at Niagara.

Anyone know if the Condor is still in the lot? The one where all the control and safety wires were cut at disassembly?

Who knows.

I'm just there for the Silver Comet coaster once or twice a year... Punches way above it's weight for a tiny kid's park.
 
andybflo said:
I'm wondering if he moved Cascabel back because we have another Schwarzkopf looper thirty miles down the road at Darien Lake. Or he's hedging his bets at Niagara.
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I think you confused Schwazkopf for Arrow there LOL. DL has no Schwarzkopf rides, let alone a coaster. Back in the 90s they had an indoor (non-inverting) Jet Star, but that is definitely not the same.
 
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Once-popular Lakemont Park ‘falling into disrepair’

Editor’s note: The following article featuring Blair County Commissioners’ Chairman Dave Kessling on a walk-through of Lakemont Park was completed earlier this week, before the lawsuit was filed against the commissioners by the Lakemont Partnership. Lakemont Park Timeline Compiled by the Blair...
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“The Leap the Dips is unlikely to operate again, he said. The same is probably true of the Skyliner roller coaster, he said. ‘I don’t know that any of these rides here will ever run again because I don’t think there’s any interest for them to run,’ he said.“

Yikes.
 
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