Conneaut Lake Park Resort — Attraction in Summit Township

I was there for the first more than 60 years ago. I continued coming there over the years first as a teenager then bringing my own children and grandchildren. Yesterday we were there with our three youngest grandchildren, ages 5, 6 and 8. It was a delight to watch them make new memories while I told them tales about my own old memories. They were tickled to know that they were riding rides that had been ridden by their Father, Gramma, Great Grampa and Great great Granddad. They loved the carousel, I lost track of how many times they rode it. The oldest rode his first roller coaster and he rode it alone. He rode the Blue Streak in the front seat , middle seat. Backseat and every seat in between. He rode it in the daylight and again after dark. He rode all the Kiddie land rides with the same pleasure. All three loved the carousel, riding it so many times that I lost count. Those three wristbands were the best $30 that I've spent in a long time. We didn't have time to go down the midway however, the staff we met were all great, going out of their way to make sure that the kids had a great time. The little curly haired blonde girl running the carousel was awesome. She was having so much fun that you couldn't help but have a good time. Was it the park of the 50's, 60's or even 80's -- no it's not. Was it a great day for great memories---look me up on Facebook and watch the smiles and screams from the short videos I put on. What I really missed, along with a couple rides from back in the day, was the smell of popcorn, french waffles, cotton candy, candy apples, french fries with vinegar. I also missed the crowds that were there in the 60's and 70's. I would have loved to hear calliope music on the big carousel. But those are little things. My own thoughts for improvement, the exteriors of some rides ( Witches stew), could use a good old fashioned scrub down. Not necessarily painting, just to may it glow. It was sad to see the water slide sitting idle. My first thought was, it would generate some fast cash unless there's something not visibly wrong. Will we be back again---Heck yeah. Will we bring others with us---as many as we can. The next time we will bring a picnuc lunch and reminise about "when". We've been to every other park in Ohio, now and defunct. We've rode most of the roller coasters. You can't compare this park with them, that's not what it was intended to be. We are strongly rooting for the people trying to save this grand old lady and return her to the splendor of the past. On that thought, it would be kind of neat to see all the staff in period costumes. Good luck we're ...

I enjoyed this little place and hope to go back again and spend more of a full day there. I don't remember going as a kid, I must've been quite young so I didn't have anything to compare it to but I was with family that knew it from childhood and were enjoying comparing from past memories. This park is small. I'd say there is much more for ages 6 and under to do than older kids but lines weren't to terribly long and so the older kids I had with me just kept going back to favorites. The lazy river and big slide is so nice if it's a very hot and humid day-- you can take a break, head in and cool down and then come back out for more fun. I do wish they had more picnic tables with umbrellas in the actual pool area though for family to sit and wait on their kids and other family members if they are not able to get in to the water areas. Food that we had was good and I didn't feel like anything was crazily prices like it would be at a big amusement park. Where we didn't really have time was to go out the south end and explore the beach and boardwalk and take pictures of the hotel which I'd really like to do in the future because the scenery up there is just beautiful. Heads up, you don't buy tickets at the front anymore, you actually walk in to the middle of the park where they have the ticket booth set up and purchase wristbands there (this can be confusing if you've never been there) the other slightly offensive thing was the entire place especially the little store smell very musty, if you have sensitive allergies better take lots of meds ahead of time. I'm sure if it has to do with the park being abandoned for so long as well as everything being right beside the water and constantly getting barraged with moisture. The park was very clean otherwise though, garbage was constantly being taken care of and they have renovated items to appear clean. Last comment, extra benches in the shade would be nice. My aunt and uncle went with us and due to medical issues could not ride any rides, unfortunately I had a horrible time finding them a bench let alone a bench not in full sunshine to try and keep them cool and protected from the sun. I'm so happy that enough people were there that benches were occupied but for medically "fragile" visitors it was difficult. Go check this little park out! With more sales and funding, who knows what they can do...

I opted to take my family here instead of Waldameer while on vacation because they had a Groupon that offered 4 admissions for $30. Bottom line, we regretted not going to Waldameer. The park is very run down. Almost everything needs to be repainted because of chipped or non existing paint, and that is no exaggeration. The small waterpark was in much better shape than the rest of the park though. The first ride we went on was the train. 3/4 of the way through and the train couldn't make it up the last hill. So the conductor turns it off and we start flying backwards down the hill all the while I'm worried I might have to toss my kid off in case we derail around a corner. We eventually came to a stop after the ground leveled out. Everyone aboard had to walk the rest of the way back to the loading platform. Not a great start to our visit. After, we made our way past the $5 per try carnival games. What a joke. The rides are all very worn and don't exactly give you a feeling of being safe. There are dilapidated buildings and pavilions everywhere throughout Conneaut Lake Park. The most appalling has to be the pavilions where you would have a picnic. They truly look as though they could collapse at any moment. In the one bathroom I went into I found everything very worn down from the stalls to the toilets themselves. I saw only one security guard the whole time we were at the park. There really didn't seem to be any security measures in place at all. Food was reasonably priced for an amusement park. To be honest, the low price of things (other than games) has to be the only thing this park has going for it which is probably the only reason it's still open. I honestly want this place to succeed. There is a lot of history there and it has a so much potential. A lot of the mess and old broken down things strewn throughout the park need removed. Buy some freaking paint. If you cant afford the necessities to make this a decent place that you can take pride in then you have no business keeping it open. Unless a lot of money is thrown into fixing up the park soon I can't see it lasting much longer. Until then we...