drbyq9

I don't really find one to be better than the other, just different. I greatly enjoy both parks and each has great things going for it. I think both are moving in a good direction as well. Cedar Point spent a long time with the focus being mostly on what new ride they were going to build next. In the last few years they have worked hard on some of the other things that make for a more complete experience. They have completely replaced some of the dining buildings and filled out the available food options with large scale offerings with Italian food and barbecue, along with the frontier festival. Is it the best food in the world? Of course not. But there has been a focus on better quality and high volume to help with some of the lines they've had in the past. The replacing of the front gate, marina gate, and resort gate, along with parking entry plaza all improve the aesthetic and guest experience. Much work has been done to the resort offerings, with all new and renovated rooms at Breakers and Express, new premium RV spots at Lighthouse Point, and the purchase of Sawmill Creek. They've added the Forbidden Frontier to provide a new interactive experience. Replacing the splash pad with brick pavers is an improvement, and is something I imagine we might see more of, considering they did the Valravn area with pavers as well. Kings Island is doing many projects of the same nature. The installation of pavers along International Street is a great improvement in apperance and perceived quality. The parking entrance looks fresh and clean. The Area 72 redo looks fantastic with updated theming and sprucing up of the area around Orion. Bringing back the antique cars with a beautiful new installation was a slam dunk. Including the similar high volume barbecue restaurant that CF is adding at various parks was a no brainer. With Cedar Fair already redoing entrance plazas at some of the parks, I think it's just a matter of time before KI gets that treatment as well. Whether it's a refresh, or a replacement it will be a LARGE project. Both of these parks (and Cedar Fair as a whole) have been focusing on the overall guest experience lately, and I think it has been a fantastic strategy. There is just so much more of Cedar Point to address. It's been around for so long and has some great challenges as far as these types of improvement go. The traffic patterns are more restrictive and with the volume of guests, almost have to have the "concrete jungle" aspect to an extent, just to accommodate the crowds certain times of the year. KI has the benefit of an initial plan more recently, on more of a blank slate. This sounds like an apology letter for CP, but it's really just something I notice when I'm at these parks. They are 2 entirely different animals. I love them both though, and they are my most frequently visited parks in the last 5 years or so, along with Worlds of Fun. I made the drive from St. Louis to each park twice this year. And I can't say that I really enjoy one more than the other. If anything, KI has pulled up close to CP for me. And I think it's more because it offers something a little different, and its probably just as much me getting a little older and appreciating the differences and not just looking entirely at the coaster lineup(both of which are top notch, with CP taking the cake). Its a long day, but I can drive to KI, have a great day, and make it back home in one shot. At CP, it's obviously more of a 2 or 3 day thing. I love both experiences; it really just matters which one you want.

Vortex 1987, if you're looking for a piece, this is your chance. I just happened to be reading this thread and switched over to facebook and saw the post. The price is a little steep, but I might have to make the trip to get one myself! EDIT: Well I'm late to the party!

As a native St. Louisan who has been to KI numerous times over the years, and plan to come late in the season and get some a few night rides, I would agree. The Boss and Screamin Eagle, and surprisingly (especially during Fright Fest) Batman provide very good night rides. But the quantity of very good night rides is much better at KI. KI having available wooded land all around the perimeter for the secluded rides is an IDEAL setup. SFSTL used to have much more land than they currently do, and I was hopeful at one point years ago that we would see some expansion in a similar manner to what KI is like now. SF sold of a large portion of that available land maybe 10 years ago, and it's now a subdivision unfortunately. The other difference is that KI is basically on "platform" of land, with the edges of the park falling off in elevation towards the river. SFSTL is in the reverse situation, with the front of the park at the level of the highway, and the further back in all directions from the front entrance you go, the higher the elevation is. I think this bowl shape has limited what the park has been able to do, while the topography around KI has encouraged the kind of ride layouts that head off into the woods and allow them to use the setting to their advantage. I do enjoy our night rides at SFSTL, don't get me wrong, but it's not on the same level, both for night rides and on the whole.

I think most people would agree with all of these changes. I also think the unfortunate reality of the situation is that these things are here to stay to keep insurance costs down. Cedar Fair seems pretty conservative in that regard. It would be great to roll many coasters out there back to these kind of train setups, but we've gotten too litigious and the companies are protecting themselves at the cost of ride experience and operations.

With some careful scaling the 2 parts of the leaked image do seem to match up well. I think it was just poorly done in the first place. I didn't try to put it onto a google maps image though.