Ahhh, the Villain. It was a roller coaster of unquestioned roughness but a hell of a ride nonetheless. I only knew it, my steel/wood hybrid friend, for a short time. A summer. Then, it was torn down and laid waste by a bigger source. We'll get to that fact in a moment.

I had only been to Geauga Lake once in my whole life. There were countless commercials for it through the years including ones with "Geauga Dog", the parks fursuited mascot. I went the year they opened a coaster called "Raging Wolf Bobs" and rode it a few times. I hadn't ridden very may coasters at that point, so I didn't know how fun it was. Whenever a wooden roller coaster is new, it's pretty fast because they haven't dumbed it down to make the ride smoother. I went for a company picnic from believe it or not, McDonalds. The previous year it was Sea World which was across the tiny lake Geauga. Only 1/4 the fun. At this party, we had a ton of free food and shhhhhhh...all the beer we could swill. Nobody carding the kids. We took a rented bus there anyway. 

My only opinion of the park was just what I've heard. Rumors were spot on. It seemed like a vomitorium. It was grubby. Landscaping was nice and all, but it seemed like every surface hadn't been cleaned in years. The building where our party was held was the cleanest place in the park.

So, for years after, I only went to Cedar Point in Sandusky. If I was going to spend a day at the park, might as well have a real park and a clean park.  My first "coaster" was a toboggan coaster that was slow as a kids ride. Then I got on the "Corkscrew" and went upside down and I was all in. Then, I fell out of going to thrill parks and lost interest. I didn't want to fly or ride a coaster. More of a chance of getting wiped out driving a car, I know, but ... Heh.

Herbie Bearclaw got me out of my drought. He invited me down to appear on the Sunday Pawpet show. (Every Sunday at 6PM EST on the intrawebs near you. ) My Radiolawn show used to air before it, so I figured I could go on live with video included. While I was down dey, Herbie took me the Busch Gardens in Tampa. Two free beers while I rode roller coasters? Start puking. What was ignited in me was a love for all things coaster. Plus, when I went up on one of the coasters at the back of the park, I could see Yuengling Tampa :) I had to get back for the tour, and oh yes, I'd ride the coasters again. (Herbie is a member of ACE and rides the coasters all over the states. It just so happened I had Cedar Point, Geauga Lake and Kings Island in my state. He'd be back.)

So, when the opening days came to the season, I spent my bucks on a season pass to all the Cedar Fair parks. I could park free and ride all day for one investment. I went to Geauga Lake and bought the pass and told the person who sold it too me that I would be using it mostly at the point. Yes, but since I was getting into coasters, I tried what was left at Geauga Lake.

Geauga Lake had cleaned up it's act when it was sold to Six Flags. It became "Worlds Of Adventure" and they combined what was once Sea World into a massive play place. Since they were the competition with the point, they went on a building spree and soon had some world class roller coasters. I don't know if all that $$$ spent really could keep up with Geauga Lake's soiled reputation and five years later they sold the whole sheebang to..you guessed it, Cedar Fair.

Renaming all the rides to which they didn't have the rights (DC comics), Cedar Fair gave it a go. I'll argue they never had any intention of keeping it running. Cedar Point is where the money was made. Again, it was attendance, Most people come to Ohio to go to Sandusky or Cincinnati. Mmmm, but Geauga Lake had lots of land and fancy roller coasters to pillage. By the time I was there, they had lost two coasters as they were sent to other Cedar Fair parks. I had no lay flat coaster, that was moved to the King and had too much of a wait when I went there with my pass. The other went to some other park, a out-and back spiral inverted launch blah blah blah. There's one at Cedar point with spirals on both ends, the only one in the country to do so. It's one of my favorite rides.

Got a six shooter on my drink glass pardner. Don't move while I swill this whiskey or I'll put a BB in your bonnet. Ahhhh yes, the summer of 2007. You see, Geauga Lake was a hop skip and a jump off the freeway from where I worked. That year, I was working overnights, beginning my shift at 9:30. Geauga Lake would close at 9PM Monday thru Thurday, so it became a regular trip at least one a week, sometimes three times a week, when I would drive to the park, ride roller coasters for a few hours, leave, get food and then go to work. For that summer, I couldn't wait to go to work. If I went an hour earlier, I could get more rides on my favorite coaster, a B&M floorless coaster called the Dominator. I believe I rode that coaster 150+ times or so.

The Villain, was another story, but I rode it every time I was there as it was never very busy. It was rough as hell. The now out of business coaster designer Custom Coasters International would make hybrid coasters, wood track and steel structure. They would be fine for two or three years, but after awhile the trains would chew up the track making them incredibly rough which would then make the coasters less exciting as the park "toned down" the ride to make it less teeth jarring. Sometimes however, they let it fly and it was terribly fun getting banged around. Hence, this is a fading breed..like the Arrow steel coasters (another company that went belly up) they are decreasing in number each year.

Meanwhile, after my summer of good times good times, about 5 visits to the Point and one to the Island, there were rumors that Cedar Fair would close Geauga Lake at the end of the season and keep the water park (former Sea World) open. I did see the CEO of Cedar Fair on the next to the last day Geauga Lake was open, it was Octoberfest and he was walking around with a group of guys in suits, talking to the patrons, it seemed encouraging.

A few days later, it was announced that we all had ridden our last rides ever at the lake. It sucked. I'd still have a yearly Cedar Fair membership if Geauga Lake was still around. No, the CEO's name was Dick. That's what anybody who enjoyed Geauga Lake was after than year. Dicked.

A darker image. A sadder thought. When the water park opened sans the amusement park, I just went to the gift shop that was there. Yes, I did get another season pass, long story (there would be several trips to Cedar Point that year, I couldn't stay away because I had the coaster bug.) At the gift shop, they had a ton of old stuff from the park so I bought a few things and one was this shot glass. There were a few other things including a Charlie Brown and Snoopy fridge magnet overlooking a night time Geauga Lake....when it still had EVERY roller coaster including the two that were removed before the final season. If anything, seeing just the head of Geauga Dog, filthy and on sale for $450....was worth the price of admission.  So, this may be junk, but it's also a memory of a coaster I had the chance to enjoy and then see pictures of it's destruction as it was sold for $2500 for scrap.

Bummer. Junk Blog. -Ric

P.S. Yes this post was pretty much an expanded retelling of:

http://ricochet.boomerthedog.net/blog/junk/2015/08/geauga-bin-pitcher.html

I don't care. I still miss the place.