Which Cedar Fair parks have the best lineups?

[FUN&ONLY!]

So in this discussion, I want to know which parks in the Cedar Fair chain have the best rollercoaster lineups. I definitely think that Cedar Point has the best one right now, and I think that it would be very hard to disagree with that! But what I really want to know is how do the other park lineups in the chain stack up and compare to one another. After Cedar Point, I think the next two best lineups in the chain are at Kings Island and at Carowinds, but I am interested to hear your opinions!

[silver2005]

Knott's comes to mind for me.  Its a really diverse line up with some decent theming and models you don't see a lot of in the rest of the United States, probably due to their niche in the SoCal market.  

[Honorarius]

Only been to 5, but I would put CP at the top and KI 2nd. Headed to Carowinds this spring for the first time hoping it meets my expectations...

[Benjamin22]

I’ve only been to 4, but if I were to rank them it’d go 1:Cp 2:Ki 3:CW 4:KD, kings dominion was pretty disappointing to be honest but still a fun place to go.

[TombRaiderFTW]

I haven't been to Valleyfair or CGA.

I'd personally put Kings Dominion and Cedar Point towards the top. Especially both of those parks as they were about 9 years ago. Both had (and to a lesser extent still have) a mix of good, unique types of coasters that you couldn't find many other places (Shockwave, Avalanche, Volcano, the best functioning Backlot Stunt Coaster, Disaster Transport, Wildcat, Gemini, Iron Dragon, Top Thrill Dragster, etc.) There was/is a diversity of coaster types that makes those two feel more like an experience than the rest, at least to me.

The rest are all great and have some stand-out rides, but at least a handful of their lineup is a little redundant or forgettable to me. A lot of cloned rides, forceless wooden coasters, wild mice, spinning coasters, and many B&M and Morgan hypers fall into that category for me. I very much like them and would go back anytime, but Worlds of Fun*, Canada's Wonderland, and Michigan's Adventure are probably the biggest offenders. (Okay, maybe I lied about wanting to go back to that last one...)

*Timber Wolf and Prowler are precious cinnamon rolls who must be protected at all costs.

[Turtlepower]

On 3/16/2019 at 8:58 AM, Ben43065 said:

I’ve only been to 4, but if I were to rank them it’d go 1:Cp 2:Ki 3:CW 4:KD, kings dominion was pretty disappointing to be honest but still a fun place to go.

Same here, and I agree with those ranks.

Cedar Point obviously has the most extreme collection of coasters. If you like extreme that's the place to go.

Kings Island is very diverse. Their wood line-up (Racer, Beast, Mystic Timbers) is maybe not the best wooden line-up out there, (Dollywood and Holiday World are probably the top 2) but it ranks among the best. A solidly themed dark-launch coaster in FoF, Banshee, and Diamondback round out the top of the steel coasters. Vortex, Backlot, Bat, and Invertigo are good in the mid ranged steels. A giga next year helps a lot. If your prefer wooden coasters I can see Kings Island being #1.

Carowinds when I went last year had two very high end coasters in Fury and Intimidator. Afterburn and Nighthawk were solid too. After that, there's not a lot unless you're into standing coasters (Vortex). Copperhead Strike looks nice, but not enough to help Carowinds overcome KI's line-up, especially with a giga next year.

Kings Dominion has outstanding landscaping, but the coasters are lacking compared to the other Cedar Fair parks I've been to. Intimidator 305 and Twisted Timbers are both very good. Dominator and FoF are good too. 

[SonofBaconator]

If we're talking coasters- I have a weird way of ranking them between parks. I compare the top 3 coasters and then all the others.

For example I would take KI's top 3 vs Canada's Wonderland's top 3 and see which has the strongest lineup. Then I'd do the same for the rest of the rides not in the top 3 and so on. 

[westcoaster]

Knotts for the best rounded park. Theme, iconic restaurants. Dark rides. 

Cedar Point Coadters n beaches. 

[SonofBaconator]

I'd say Cedar Point still has the best lineup but KI isn't too far behind. Sure you could argue CW and CWS could easily be #2 but take away their top 3 coasters and you wouldn't have much. Carowinds just got relevant with Fury 325 and Copperhead Strike while Canada's Wonderland is finally getting better coasters like Yukon Striker.

With this new coaster, Kings Island will have a top 5 line-up: Banshee, Beast, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, and Project X.

If I were to rank the coaster lineups based off of tiers, it would go like this.

High Tier: CP, KI, CW, CWS

Mid Tier: CGA, KD, WOF

Low Tier: VF, MA, DP

I excluded Knotts because that's a year round park but I would consider it high tier if I had to decide.

[MDMC01]

Out of the 4 Cedar Fair parks I have been to*, it is a toss up between KI and CP. I think KI has the best overall lineup, but Cedar Point has some pretty fantastic coasters that KI does not have (Steel Vengeance, Valravn, Dragster, Rougarou, Maverick, Millennium Force). As for the other two parks, Dorney has a mostly solid lineup, but their Wild Mouse is garbage and Steel Force is really good, but (IMO) not quite at the same level as Hydra, Possessed, Talon and Thunderhawk). It would be nice if they added that rumored GCI, but overall, the lineup is solid.

And finally, we have Michigan’s Adventure. While I remember the coasters being decent, the only standout seems to be Shivering Timbers.

*Not counting KD and Carowinds since I went there during their Paramount days . But if I did include them, Carowinds (as of 2003) would be in third place and KD would probably be 4th or even 5th, only because I didn’t ride much there. The three coasters I did ride (Anaconda, Volcano and Avalanche) were fun though.

[ThrillKingsFitzy]

1. Cedar Point

2. Kings Island (soon the best)

3. Carowinds

4. Kings Dominion

5. Knots Berry Farm

[SonofBaconator]

On 7/26/2019 at 9:51 AM, Fitzcoasts14 said:

1. Cedar Point

2. Kings Island (soon the best)

We'll always be behind as long as Steel Vengeance still stands. Its easily the best coaster built.

[ThrillKingsFitzy]

1 hour ago, SonofBaconator said:

We'll always be behind as long as Steel Vengeance still stands. Its easily the best coaster built.

Who knows? The new giga may be better. I doubt it, though. Just with the possible new area and the better atmosphere, I think KI may be better once the new giga and possible expansion comes.

[SonofBaconator]

On 8/11/2019 at 1:50 PM, ThrillKingsFitzy said:

Who knows? The new giga may be better. I doubt it, though. Just with the possible new area and the better atmosphere, I think KI may be better once the new giga and possible expansion comes.

I still think we have a ways.

Cedar Point is still #1 with coasters like Steel Vengeance and Maverick. I highly doubt Cedar Fair will ever try to out-build Cedar Point with KI anytime soon.

I'm honestly happy being the #2 park, that's where I rank us anyway. Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland have a long way to go to hit the #2 spot.

[King Ding Dong]

I have said many times KI will always remain a tier ll park without a SkyRide.  And in relation to CP, I see the biggest problem as the lack of open Freestyle stands.  CP is lightyears ahead.