User blog:RCTFan2002/What If? Episode 9: What if Six Flags didn't sell Worlds of Adventure?

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my "What If?" series. Not gonna lie, this is probably gonna be my last episode in this series FOR NOW, due to me starting up my second semester at college in just a few days and, unlike last semester, all my classes are now in-person. So...yeah. If I can, I will still update both of my blog series, but don't hold your breaths.

Last week, I went over what would happen if Six Flags Ohio and Seaworld Ohio continued operating separately from one another, as the second of 4 scenarios I came up with concerning the now defunct Geauga Lake theme park in Aurora, Ohio. Well, this week, I will be discussing something similar - what would Six Flags Worlds of Adventure look like today if Six Flags never sold the park? And before you ask, yes, this idea was directly inspired by Theme Park Predictions' video where they went over this exact scenario themselves, which you can see for yourselves right here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whMpDegXkwM&list=PLl0AF0LVThS8k6wrBCMrrvMOd8SRldABR&index=3). That being said, let's dive into this!

Introduction
Geauga Lake opened as a local recreational area in 1887, gaining it's first ride, a carousel, in 1889. It didn't add it's first coaster, "The Big Dipper", until 1925, nearly four decades later. The park continued to run independently for a couple more decades, until 1969, when it was bought by Funtime Parks. They continued to run the park for the next 25 years, along with their other parks, "Darien Lake" and "Wyandot Lake", until Premier Parks, later on Six Flags, bought the Funtime parks in 1995. In 2000, when all of Premier Parks' properties got the "Six Flags treatment", Geauga Lake saw a massive expansion with FOUR new coasters and got it's name changed to "Six Flags Ohio". However, just a year later, Six Flags also bought the "Seaworld Ohio" park that opened right across the lake from the park in 1970, integrating it into their own park and creating "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure", the world's largest theme park. Sadly, due to Six Flags' financial issues, they sold the park after the 2003 season to Cedar Fair, who did...questionable things with the park aftewards. Not only did they tear down the "Seaworld Ohio" side of the park and replace everything with a new waterpark, but also removed two popular coasters and eventually shut down the park as it was seen as redundant and less popular than Cedar Point and Kings Island. The waterpark was shut down after 2016 and to this day the entire park is just an empty, overgrown lot.

But what if something...different happened in 2003? What if instead of selling the park to Cedar Fair, Six Flags somehow managed to miraculously keep Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and continue to expand and add new rides to it? How would the park look like today? What rides and coasters could we see being added or removed from the park? Well, you're in luck, because this is what this blog post is about!

Year-by-year predictions
(NOTE: Since Six Flags never sold Six Flags Worlds of Adventure to Cedar Fair in this scenario, all areas and attractions will still retain the same names and themes that they had during the Six Flags era of the park; "Batman Knight Flight", "Hurricane Harbor", "Roadrunner Express", etc.)

2004 - Park improvements: You may remember how in my previous two "What If?" episodes concerning Six Flags keeping "Six Flags Holland" and "Six Flags Belgium" that if they HAD kept the two parks, 2004 wouldn't see anything new other than some park improvements. Well this time I'm going to repeat myself AGAIN and say that "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" wouldn't see any new rides or attractions for the 2004 season, because the park being sold to Cedar Fair didn't happen until Spring of 2004, so if Six Flags had any plans for the park for that year, they would've already announced it near the end of the 2003 season and some construction would've probably been spotted on site. Since neither of these things happened, I'm just going to assume that Six Flags intended 2004 to be an off-season for the park, focusing solely on general park improvements for that season instead. Besides, this is probably the best path for the park to go right now, so the company can save up more money to build next year's new addition...

2005 - B&M hypercoaster: Yep, it's finally here! The long rumored hypercoaster that many "Geauga Lake" fans speculated Six Flags was going to add to the park, yet never did. Since 2004 was an off-year and speculation about Six Flags adding this coaster has been around for at least the last two years by now, I predict that now would be the perfect time for Six Flags to finally keep their promise and add this new coaster. And before you ask, yes I know Theme Park Predictions' video did the exact same thing here, but the main difference here is that while his prediction for the park was an Intamin hypercoaster, "Cedar Point" is so close-by to "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" and since I don't want to make the new hypothetical coaster look like a smaller rip-off of "Millennium Force", my prediction is that we would probably see a B&M hypercoaster open at the park instead. For the ride itself, I predict that the station, queue and exit would be located near the "Wildlife" side of the park, near the "Happy Harbor" area. After leaving the station, the coaster would do a 180-degree turn to the left a la "Nitro" at "Six Flags Great Adventure", feature a 215-ft lift hill with a 210-ft first drop followed by a slight turn to the left over what I assume is a service road behind the park. After a few airtime hills, the ride will go into an elevated helix for a couple additional thrills, then drop and rise into a mid-brake run section. Then the coaster drops again and goes into another slight turn to the right, along with several more airtime hills and bunny hills, before finally entering the brake run and entering the station. And yes, regarding the "Wildlife" section's apparent height restriction, I like to believe that due to Six Flags now owning the "Seaworld Ohio" park, that means they now own and operate both parks, meaning the height restriction for SFWoA would also have to apply to the new "Wildlife" section of the park, so...yeah. This new coaster would give the park it's first major thrill ride in 4 years and finally give the park the hypercoaster it deserves.

(KEY NOTE: In my last blog post concerning this park, the additions on the SF side of the park, as well as the locations they were put in, were decided based on the fact that the Seaworld side of the park was still being run by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment in that scenario, providing "Six Flags Ohio" with a next-door friendly rival park to attract more guests as well as giving them a serious lack of space for their own rides. Since Six Flags owns both parks in this AU, it's safe to say that some things will be different, such as ride locations and ride removals)

2006 - New Park Resort, Intamin Gyro Drop Tower, Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall and Time Warp removed: It is unbelievable how at this point in time, "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" was the WORLD'S LARGEST THEME PARK, yet it had NO hotels or any other places for people to stay nearby. There are shopping centers, restaurants, etc. all around the park, but absolutely NO hotels, resorts, lodges, etc. For a theme park trying so hard to compete with the nearby and equally popular "Cedar Point", as well as advertising itself as the world's largest theme park, it's done absolutely no effort whatsoever to try and add a hotel/resort of some sort nearby to make itself seem more popular with the people of Aurora. Since this year, Six Flags added "The Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark" to their theme park in Queensbury, NY, and it seems to be an incredible hit for the park as well as it's guests, I believe that this would also be the perfect type for addition for the world's largest theme park, as it would not only increase traffic into the park, but also allow guests to stay at the park overnight, increasing the overall amount of guests entering the park each day as well as the park's overall revenue. I predict a multi-floor hotel being built on the vacant spot of land located in-between the road entrance to the park and the nearby Depot Rd, featuring a Johnny Rockets restaurant and even a couple waterslides and other water attractions ("Great Escape" features the indoor waterpark as well as the outdoor "Splashwater Kingdom" waterpark, so why not SFWoA?). You can see for yourself what it's meant to look like here ( https://www.scribblemaps.com/api/maps/images/450/450/Usp2xc84ET.png ). I also predict that this year a new flat ride, like an intamin gyro drop tower, could finally replace the long empty and abandoned spot of "Silver Bullet", which was removed in 2003. Sadly, now that the park has an all-new, modern drop tower, this means that "Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall" is automatically redundant as a result and therefore will be removed at the end of the season, as well as the Time Warp ride right next to the kiddie area.

2007 - Kids Area Expansion/Rebranding (Wiggles World) added: Even though "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" had a Looney Tunes kiddie area, it seems to be pretty...lackluster, especially compared to the rest of the enormous theme park around it. That's why, for the 2007 season, I predict that Six Flags will finally revitalize their park's kiddie area a bit, and since this is the year Six Flags happened to purchase lots of licenses for their parks, like "The Wiggles" and "Thomas & Friends", this would be the perfect year to do so, considering they added new kiddie areas to their parks like "Thomas Town" and "Wiggles World" starting this year. I don't know why, but I could see a "Wiggles World" kiddie area coming to "Six Flags Worlds of Adventure" instead of "Thomas Town". I just think it fits better. This new expanded kids area could be placed right next to the Looney Tunes one, built over the old spot of the "Time Warp" ride. This would help make the park look more appealing to families and little kids.

2008 - Thrill ride investment (Zamperla Disk'O?) Neptune Falls removed: It's been over a year since "Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall" was removed and at this point, the land it's sitting on is still empty and therefore, FULL of potential for future new additions. That's why this year I predict that Six Flags would decide on an all-new thrill ride investment built over the former spot of "Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall". As for what type of ride it would be, I could see the park possibly adding a Zamperla Disk'O, as this type of ride is usually very well received with park fans and as Six Flags would later on be adding a lot of this type of ride to their other parks, I think it's safe to say that this park could just as well receive one, albeit earlier than expected. Also, I predict that "Neptune Falls", one of the waterpark's original waterslide complexes, would be removed at the end of the season as it is very old at this point and therefore becoming increasingly redundant with the waterpark's other attractions. (Concerning the incident that happened on "Raging Wolf Bobs" in 2007, IDK if that still would've happened under Six Flags' ownership but JIC it did, I predict the coaster could see a massive rehab by GCI as a result, as it's too early at this point for RMC)

2009 - ProSlide Tornado, Happy Harbor area closes, Pirates 4D removed: Yeah, pretty much what you expected right? Considering it's been 6 years at this point since "Hurricane Harbor" last saw a new attraction, I predict that this year would see the waterpark finally getting some much needed love in the form of a new water ride. As for the type of ride, I believe that one of the most obvious options in this case is a ProSlide Tornado, just like what all the other Six Flags waterparks have gotten at this point. This would give the waterpark a type of ride that would be rather obvious under Six Flags' control, yet still be very appealing and attract a lot more guests to the waterpark as a result, especially during the hot summers. However, this year I'm also going to make a bold decision for the park - the "Happy Harbor" area of the park closing for good, with the rides in that area (Bounty, Typhoon, Pirate's Flight, Thriller Bees, June Bug Jump, The Tea Party, Wave Skippers, and Yo-Yos) all either being relocated throughout the park (likely closer to "Raging Wolf Bobs"), being put into storage or scrapped (I can unfortunately see "Black Squid" getting this treatment as it is one of the older rides in the park, as well as the "Happy Harbor" play area). I know this seems likes a VERY nonsensical move to make, but as this area is located near the "Wildlife" section of the park, I just don't think this area location makes any sense at all and is just a massive waste of potential for future expansion of that section. That's why I'm getting rid of it here. Also, I believe the "Pirates 4D" ride could be removed as well as a result of the "Happy Harbor" area being shut down (it was officially part of the area on park maps). The nearby "Shark Encounter" and "Mission: Bermuda Triangle" attractions could still stay though, as well as everything east of the aforementioned rides getting removed. This will all tie in into 2010's addition...

2010 - Safari Kids area, New Wildife Section area, Family Spinning Coaster: I predict that this year, "Happy Harbor" as well as the entire west side of the park's "Wildlife" section (west of "Dolphin Harbor" and the lakeside stadium to be specific), would undergo a MASSIVE renovation/refurbishment to better fit it's location on the "Wildlife" side of the park. The entire lakeside portion of that area, where the majority of the relocated rides previously sat, would be converted into a new "Safari Kids" children's area, just like what "Six Flags Great Adventure" would get just the following year. This opportunity is just far too amazing to pass up, seeing as the location of the area, right next to the "Wildlife" section of the park, is just the perfect place to put this type of new area. The new kiddie area could feature some possible kiddie rides like the one at SFGAdv, and possibly even a new updated playground and/or water playground (like the "Tigerland Treehouse" and "Splash Water Oasis" play areas both previously located at SFGAdv) to replace the old "Happy Harbor" one. As for the rest of the "Happy Harbor" area, including the dolphin and tigers exhibits, the lakeside stadium, "Starcastle Voyage", and the "Shark Encounter" and "Mission: Bermuda Triangle" attractions just up ahead, I predict that they would ALL become part of an all-new "Wildlife" section area - hell, maybe they could pull another SFGAdv by converting it into a "Golden Kingdom"-style area, making it truly fit in into the animal section of the park as a result. And since the park hasn't seen a new coaster in the past 4 years at this point, I predict that at this point they might as well just throw in a new coaster with the all-new area as well - though given the "Wildlife" section's space restrictions with the nearby service road and parking lot, I predict that the new coaster would be a rather small type, built over where the "Pirates 4D" building was. My prediction is most likely a spinning coaster, either a Zamperla (like what "Six Flags Discovery Kingdom" would later do with "Sidewinder Safari") or, more likely, a compact Gerstlauer. This type of ride would be perfect as it would be exciting enough to appeal to thrillseekers, but also not too intense so it can also attract families and kids. It would also be the first spinning coaster in Ohio, therefore putting the SF park at an advantage over "Cedar Point" and "Kings Island".

2011 - Minor Improvements, New Wildlife Exhibit, New Live Entertainment, Wiggles World area rebranded/renamed, Skyscraper removed: Yep, for this year I predict that Six Flags would most likely keep riding off of the success of their all-new "Golden Kingdom"-style area by continuing to fix up the new area. That includes some minor park improvements, fixing up the new area so that it fits the standards of SF's other park areas, adding some new live entertainment in the general "Wildlife" area (either a new parade or a new animal show would do, since it's in the "Wildlife" section after all), and finally, a new wildlife exhibit of some sort, most likely being placed on top of the old "Happy Harbor" playground, since that area is still vacant (and we're really pressed for space here). These new additions would greatly benefit the new area as a result, making it live up to the standards of the other areas in the park as well as providing more attractions and things to do for park guests. Also, this year would see the end of the "Wiggles World" area, as SF lost the "Wiggles" license in their parks starting this year, so I predict that the area would end up becoming "Kidzopolis" this year as a result of losing the license. I also pewdict that this year the park would remove it's famous "Skyscraper" ride, as the ride is getting very old at this point and has quickly become redundant with all the other new rides and attractions coming to the park lately.

2012 - SkyScreamer, Raging Wolf Bobs/Villain closes: Coming back to the "Rides" side of the park for a bit, I predict that for 2012, "SkyScreamer", an all-new 220-ft tall Funtime StarFlyer, would open on the former spot of the "Skyscraper" ride. This type of ride would be the perfect replacement for the old observation tower, as they are both tower rides that take up a small footprint, so the "SkyScreamer" could very easily fit into Skyscraper's old ride pad. This ride would be a great new addition for the park, considering that this is the period Six Flags was adding this type of ride to the majority of their parks, and it would be a very appealing ride to both adrenaline junkies and families alike, given how this ride is not too intense. It could also potentially attract more guests to the nearby "Hurricane Harbor", as the location of this ride would be literally right next to the waterpark's entrance. Also, I predict that this year, either the "Villain" or "Raging Wolf Bobs" coasters would close at the end of the season, for a rather obvious reason I think you should all know...