Cedar Fair paid $145M for Geauga Lake and killed the amusement park three years later

Geauga Lake, in northeast Ohio, had operated as an amusement park since 1887. Rebranded Six Flags Ohio in 2000, then Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in 2001, it drew an estimated 2.7 million visitors that year. Cedar Fair bought the park from Six Flags in March 2004 for $145 million.

Attendance collapsed: down 21% to 2.15 million in 2002, down another 7% to 2 million in 2003, then to just over 700,000 in 2004 — where it stuck. Cedar Fair spent about $25 million over three seasons developing the water park, Wildwater Kingdom, opened in 2005; it became the property's highest-rated feature, with guests spending their time in the water park and skipping the rides.

On 21 September 2007 Cedar Fair announced the permanent closure of the 119-year-old amusement park; its last day had been 16 September. The rides were auctioned on 17 June 2008, the water park limped on until 2016, and the land was sold for housing — PulteGroup paid $2 million for 245 acres in August 2020.