Rumor SEAS Reportedly Seen at Geauga Lake Site

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CoasterFan2735

Jun 1, 2022
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A good buddy of mine (a precious Dippin’ Dots guy) mentioned that he’s been hearing rumors and seeing some movement from people with SEAS polos near the old Geauga Lake site in Ohio. It’s probably a long shot, but could we finally see a third Busch Gardens park? The GL site could use some love, and I would love to see an Asian-themed BG park. Or even the return of SeaWorld Ohio…

What are the odds of something like this happening/being legit?
 
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Although we'll see...

Cedar Fair owns the property to my knowledge. So even if SEAS wants part of it back (since it was home to SW Ohio at one point), it'd take more than a site visit or two for SEAS to rebuild a park in that location - all appropriate regulatory and locality approvals aside.

Additionally, they'd have to sink in enormous investments to essentially build a ground-up park of any sort. And given that it's within a few hours of major CF and SF competitor parks, it's unlikely they'd be willing to build another BG.

However, one thing they could do relatively cheaply and not have to compete against much else (please correct me if I'm wrong here) is build another Sesame Street park. Although I think they've done whatever was needed for satisfying the existing contract, I'd think such a park would show the commitment.


But overall, I think it's an uphill battle - is there enough of a market for such a park in that location and will there be enough support to continue operations long-term? Something's telling me no.
 
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Jonesta6 said:
Although we'll see...

Cedar Fair owns the property to my knowledge. So even if SEAS wants part of it back (since it was home to SW Ohio at one point), it'd take more than a site visit or two for SEAS to rebuild a park in that location - all appropriate regulatory and locality approvals aside.

Additionally, they'd have to sink in enormous investments to essentially build a ground-up park of any sort. And given that it's within a few hours of major CF and SF competitor parks, it's unlikely they'd be willing to build another BG.

However, one thing they could do relatively cheaply and not have to compete against much else (please correct me if I'm wrong here) is build another Sesame Street park. Although I think they've done whatever was needed for satisfying the existing contract, I'd think such a park would show the commitment.


But overall, I think it's an uphill battle - is there enough of a market for such a park in that location and will there be enough support to continue operations long-term? Something's telling me no.
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I could very easily see some kind of Sesame park using some of the land. And I wouldn’t blame SEAS if they wanted a piece of the Ohio theme park tourism market. But if they were to (re)build SeaWorld Ohio or another BG park on the land, I’m not sure how it would compete with KI or CP. It would take years of theming and development to come up with a park that could even slightly compete. I will say that the animals that SEAS can offer (whether at a SW or BG park) made SWO successful prior to the Six Flags mega park - mainly because it offered something different from other parks nearby. That being said, I could see some kind of a Sesame (second gate) and Busch park going here; with the right theming, animals, and infrastructure, I think it could give CF some good competition in the area.

Think about an Asian Busch Gardens park with animals, shows, music, walkthrough gardens and exhibits, and coasters: a Mack Extreme Spinner, An S&S Axis, a raptor, and a SkyRocket II to start, along with a small flat ride package. Possibly a hotel on-site. There’s potential here to undo the wrongs committed by SF and CF at Geauga Lake.
 
Is this guy like the new CEO of Dippin Dots or something? If not, this wildly unfounded, king-sized rumor is certain worthy of that illustrious promotion.

There's literally next to no chance this is true. The site has been basically entirely cleared, development is well under way for a new community on the land, and Geauga is a seemingly nonsensical location for a new SEAS park.
 
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Zachary said:
Highly doubtful.

Anything is possible–I won't claim the person is lying or something–but it just seems incredibly unlikely based on what's available on the public record.
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I second that. When you hear a rumor like this, the first thing you have to ask yourself is whether it fits with any publicly available information. This does not.

That's before you get to the part where there's no other logic to it. SeaWorld has said it would be interested in acquiring smaller, operational parks that could be turned into new Sesame Place locations. Geauga Lake would essentially be a whole new development at this point so the upfront costs would be much greater.
 
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The chance of this are about as good as SEAS buying Disneyland. New mixed commercial and housing development has already been approved and permitted and demo and clearing is now well underway. A new park at this point would require another rezone and all kinds of public hearing.
 
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CoasterFan2735 said:
I could very easily see some kind of Sesame park using some of the land. And I wouldn’t blame SEAS if they wanted a piece of the Ohio theme park tourism market. But if they were to (re)build SeaWorld Ohio or another BG park on the land, I’m not sure how it would compete with KI or CP. It would take years of theming and development to come up with a park that could even slightly compete. I will say that the animals that SEAS can offer (whether at a SW or BG park) made SWO successful prior to the Six Flags mega park - mainly because it offered something different from other parks nearby. That being said, I could see some kind of a Sesame (second gate) and Busch park going here; with the right theming, animals, and infrastructure, I think it could give CF some good competition in the area.

Think about an Asian Busch Gardens park with animals, shows, music, walkthrough gardens and exhibits, and coasters: a Mack Extreme Spinner, An S&S Axis, a raptor, and a SkyRocket II to start, along with a small flat ride package. Possibly a hotel on-site. There’s potential here to undo the wrongs committed by SF and CF at Geauga Lake.
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You fell for some low quality bait. Next
 
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horsesboy said:
New mixed commercial and housing development has already been approved and permitted and demo and clearing is now well underway.
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The only thing I could think of is if SEAS wanted a new corporate office building. Even that seems unlikely.
 
While this would certainly be cool, I'd prefer SEAS to purchase MarineLand's massive property. With that land, they could build a whole resort. Canada's Wonderland is Cedar Fair's quickest-growing seasonal park. The market is there. Not to mention, if done well, they could take a piece of the Ohio pie.

Alternative take: RMC buys GL and makes it a prototype park lol.
 
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CoasterJuice said:
While this would certainly be cool, I'd prefer SEAS to purchase MarineLand's massive property. With that land, they could build a whole resort. Canada's Wonderland is Cedar Fair's quickest-growing seasonal park. The market is there. Not to mention, if done well, they could take a piece of the Ohio pie.

Alternative take: RMC buys GL and makes it a prototype park lol.
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I agree that a company willing to invest in Marineland would have a great potential market. CW is so overcrowded it’s not a good experience.
 
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