What's around the bend?

& lt;a href=mailto:shilling@vindy.com & gt;By DON SHILLING & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
THE BIGGEST CHANGES AT Geauga Lake this year are new signs and colors.
Next year, who knows?
Even the spokeswoman for the Aurora amusement park isn't sure what will happen now that Cedar Fair of Sandusky owns the park.
"There could be an indoor water park, new coasters. With Cedar Fair, you never know," Lexi Robinson said.
Cedar Fair, which operates Cedar Point and other amusement parks, bought Geauga Lake from Oklahoma City-based Six Flags in March for $145 million.
The first change announced was changing the park's name back to Geauga Lake, a name that dates to the 1800s. The park had been called Six Flags Worlds of Adventure since it added the adjacent SeaWorld park in 2001.
All of the animals from the former SeaWorld area were removed last week, however. Six Flags retained ownership of them and relocated them to other parks.
Robinson said Cedar Fair doesn't have any experience in running an animal park and prefers to stick to what it knows.
Cedar Fair knows thrill rides and has invested heavily in Cedar Point, which Amusement Today magazine has rated as the world's best amusement park six years in a row.
In the past four years, Cedar Point has added two $25 million rides -- Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster. This year, Cedar Point is spending $22 million to create an indoor water park at its Radisson Hotel.
New rides?
John Hildebrandt, vice president of marketing for Cedar Point, said it's too early to say whether thrill rides will be added to the former animal park at Geauga Lake, but company officials are reviewing rides and other options for that area.
"We're just starting to study it. We needed to get the park open first," he said.
Cedar Fair said last month that one option would be to sell that section of the park, but Hildebrandt said that isn't high on the list of possibilities.
For now, Happy Harbor, a children's area, and a water ski show will be open on that side of the park. A gate will prevent people from going past the water ski stadium, where a show called Water Ski Evolution will be held.
The park opens on weekends starting Saturday and then begins its summer operating season during Memorial Day weekend.
Robinson said all roller coasters will open Saturday except Raging Wolf Bobs, which is slated to open at the end of the month. The park's water area also is to open during Memorial Day weekend.
Work crews have been busy since the park was sold.
"We're giving the entire park a paint job, starting at the front gate and working through to the back," Robinson said.
Most of the roller coasters have been given new names because the names were property of Six Flags or were based on DC Comics or Warner Bros., which had an affiliation with Six Flags.
Price drop
One-day admission prices are dropping from $39.99 to $34.95.
Geauga Lake says anyone with a 2004 season pass from Six Flags can exchange it or receive a refund, but refund requests must be made by May 31. Students who received tickets from the Six Flags Read To Succeed program may use the tickets at other Six Flags parks but not Geauga Lake.
Hildebrandt said a combination ticket package for Geauga Lake and Cedar Point will be created but probably not for this year. In areas such as Chicago, which is a growing market for Cedar Point, the company will develop a package that includes visits to both parks and overnight stays, he said.
Complementing each other
Hildebrandt said he doesn't think promoting Geauga Lake will hurt Cedar Point's business.
"We think the two parks are going to be complementary, rather than competitive," he said.
Cedar Point offers a more resort experience, with four hotels, a campground and two marinas, he said. It attracts people from a wide area, including Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky.
Six Flags tried to make the Aurora a destination attraction as well by adding the animal park, but Cedar Fair sees Geauga Lake as a regional attraction, Hildebrandt said. Company officials think they can operate the park profitably by attracting customers mostly from nearby areas such as Youngstown, Akron and Pittsburgh, he said.
One of Geauga Lake's best features is that it is like two parks in one, with a water park and roller coasters, he said.
& lt;a href=mailto:shilling@vindy.com & gt;shilling@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;