CONNEAUT LAKE PARK — George Deshner, general manager of Conneaut Lake Park, hopes the rest of the summer is as great as the first two days of the 2006 season for the 114-year-old amusement park.

The park was packed both Saturday and Sunday.

“It was beyond my wildest expectations, the crowds, the people, even the parking, the $2 parking,” he said. “The crowds were unbelievable,” he said.

He estimated between 3,000 and 4,000 in attendance on Saturday and between 10,000 and 15,000 on Sunday.

“I set a goal and it’s far surpassed that,” he said. “It was a weekend like Conneaut Lake Park has not seen in a whole lot of years.”

He said he heard tons of compliments all day long about how the place looked and how customers were treated.

There were a few bugs, though, and one major problem. The jet ejectors on the Splash City water slides gave out and the slide itself had to be shut down after Saturday. Parts are on order and he hopes it will be back in full operation by next weekend.

However, the Lazy River and the Kiddie pool are both in operation.

Elizabeth’s Restaurant had to shut down at 7 p.m. instead of the planned closing time of 10 because “we literally ran out of food,” Deshner said. Food orders were for the expected turnout for the three-day holiday, but it didn’t last.

“That’s a good problem to have,” Deshner said, but noted, food was to be purchased last night and the restaurant was to re-open this morning.

“People were coming up wanting to exchange their ride bands for season passes,” Deshner said, citing that as one indicator of how well the crowds received the park so far.

In addition, he said he received “many, many, many requests for brochures to order a brick,” referring to the “Brick by Brick” campaign to get the miniature train back on track.

The traditional Do Wopp event opened the season Friday night with a cruise in and continued with special events Saturday and Sunday.

The rides and midway games opened Saturday to officially begin the season.

It wasn’t just the midway and rides that were busy though. So was Hotel Conneaut.