Missing some of Ohio's old Parks

[Ohiogirl81]

Loved Geauga Lake -- [radio jingle] "Double loop and corkscrew, too ... Only at Geauga Lake!"[/radio jingle] -- but what I'm really sick about is the deterioration of the Screechin' Eagle at LeSourdsville Lake/Americana outside of Middletown.

Screechin' Eagle (LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park)

The park was featured in the History Channel's series "Life After People," and they used computer animation to depict how the elements would bring down the coaster. I almost cried.

[strudel42]

I kind of can't believe I've never heard of Americana/Lesourdesville Lake. Yeah, I'm from the other side of the state, but still...

Thank you for that link. The Screechin' Eagle looks sooooooo awesome! Too bad it's abandoned. Gotta love the wooden coasters.

[Droolrockworm]

I took my family to Waldermeer (sp?) last summer. It's in Western PA but it has that Geauga Lake feel (smaller though) and it does also have a waterpark. I saw some of my ex-students there as well so I wasn't the only NE Ohioan that made the trip.

[CortlandGirl79]

^You a teacher, Drooling Rock Worm???

[Ohiogirl81]

Waldemeer in Erie seems like a bit of an anomaly, doesn't it? I haven't been there for a couple of years, even though my mom lives across town, but the park has grown and added new rides to attract new customers who may not want to go to Kennywood or Cedar Point, etc. There's no admission to just walk around -- you can either buy an all-inclusive pass (when we were kids, it was called Ride-o-Rama), or buy individual tickets and pay per ride. It's great for when we take my niece and nephew; Grandma can go along and doesn't have to pay to not ride.

The best rides are the huge ferris wheel with a killer view of the lake and Presque Isle, and the new wooden coaster that travels across the road leading down to the lake. There's a smaller coaster and some older rides, as well as the water park.

The water park, alas, was financed by the piece-by-piece sale of a beautiful antique carousel. There's a cheesy plastic one in its place. A lot of people in town were sick over it, but it allowed the park to survive.

[marence]

Check out the site Standing But Not Operating, Standing But Not Operating. This guy has collections of photos of old amusement parks, mostly in Ohio. I found the site while looking at old pics of Chippewa Lake Park, one of my old favorite places from my school days.