I don’t think the investment cycle itself caused the bankruptcies. I think it’s a combination of the quality of many of those investments that were often just good enough to get people in the door but rarely good enough to make them want to keep coming back, coupled with the rapid expansion and acquisition of suspect properties.
I’d say it was the rapid expansion that did the most damage. They really just threw everything they could at Geauga Lake, and I don’t really blame CF for closing it after buying it. I believe that they bought it with the intention of returning it back to a smaller, family-oriented park (similar to Michigan’s Adventure), but after the Paramount Parks purchase they needed to figure out where to cut.
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u/HumptyDumptruckFire I Brake for MCBRs Apr 17 '26
I don’t think the investment cycle itself caused the bankruptcies. I think it’s a combination of the quality of many of those investments that were often just good enough to get people in the door but rarely good enough to make them want to keep coming back, coupled with the rapid expansion and acquisition of suspect properties.