CP v/s 'sister' parks

Anyone been to any other park's coaster events? I went to my first event last year, CoasterMania. I'm interested in Coasterstock at Kings Island. I saw Dorney did Coaster Madness last fall during Columbus Day weekend. Wasn't much to it, but we may be there this fall. Any other parks? Kings Dominion? Carowinds?

The Funway was Cedar Point's original name for the main midway, which back in the 60's was pretty much the only place you could go. I still call it that.
So when Dorney got their new entrance, the new midway that connected the park to the water park, the carousel, etc, it resembled Cedar Points midway a lot... only smaller.

The CPLE railroad station at Celebration Plaza is still called Funway Station.

I'd forgotten about that. The original station, along with Western Cruise, was at the end of the Funway. When it slid back behind the new-for-'70 Million Dollar Midway they just kept the name.

Imagine getting a new, wide midway extension, train track re-configuration with a new depot, a new boat dock and queue building, a new Dodgem, four other spectacular flats, a spruce-up of Frontier Lift, and the new Paddlewheel Cafe for a mere million bucks.
I'm not sure how accurate that figure was, but (as with all things in show business), it was probably inflated at that!

Yes it probably cost less than half that, especially when they were getting quantity discounts from Mickey Hughes on the rides (not counting the snafu on the ordering of the Giant Wheel, resulting in it's arrival two years after originally planned).

I'd love to know where those rides came from. Hughes' association with the deal makes me think Palisades, or temporary installations from worlds fairs, or they may have come directly from Germany. European showmen, I suppose by nature of the business, turn their rides over more frequently than here.
My looky-see research of Palisades shows no real matches. Zugspitze may have come from there. They had one of those rare rides, anyway.

Both Carowinds & Kings Dominion are fun parks worth a visit. Neither had long lines when I have visited. Volcano was about the only roller coaster we waited significantly for and it was only 40 minutes or so.

At Carowinds we rode After Burn 9 straight times, without even getting off!! Since the lines were non-existent they were just allowing people to stay on as long as there was no one waiting for the row you were sitting in! It was great fun! Even after 9 times we could have stayed on (we just kept moving to different open rows each time), but we decided to move onto some other rides.

RCMAC said:

I'd love to know where those rides came from. Hughes' association with the deal makes me think Palisades, or temporary installations from worlds fairs, or they may have come directly from Germany. European showmen, I suppose by nature of the business, turn their rides over more frequently than here.
My looky-see research of Palisades shows no real matches. Zugspitze may have come from there. They had one of those rare rides, anyway.

The rumblings I heard was that they came off the Oktoberfest circuit. While there were few if any of them in this country at that time they were already being replaced with new rides there. Then when George wanted the Giant Wheel, no one wanted to part with theirs, so it had to be built. Two year lead time at Schwarzkopf's. That's the reason it wasn't there for the Centennial.

So, we hit Carowinds 6/2. We made sure we got in area early enough to enjoy 5 hours inside(got to park around 5pm). I love the parking lot format. Our first goal was Fury325. This rides loose article policy was strictly enforced. Even my small cross-body purse, under my shirt no less, wasn't allowed. Apparently, it was visible below my shirt hem, and counted as an infraction to policy. I dished out the $ to rent locker, and literally rode 2x in 1/2 hour. The first was mid train. We were excited to be riding & it was pretty dang good! Second trip we took first row. MUCH more forceful & enjoyable. But I'm sorry, it doesn't rank as my #1, that is still MF. Second coaster was Intimidator....LOVED IT! I felt more airtime, as my daughter felt that award went to Fury(oh well). This is a close second for my #2, because Magnum is classic(to me) and still a strong fun ride. The lines for a Friday were nil to none. We also hit Hurler, not impressed in any way. Oddly enough Ricochet through me for a loop & many laughs followed. We then ate, walked around to explore & got our shirts. We had plenty of time to do more, but it was 90 degrees & we were tired from driving. We left around 8pm. The park itself was clean & friendly. Mostly half the food stands & shops were closed(most likely staffing issues or lack of). My biggest observation was the dis-organized layout! The maps were useless IMO. There were some great rides to be had, but we got tired of weaving in & out of random ares to find them. Be like CP. It's a basic loop & you'll find everything with little to no effort! We opted to not visit again on the return trip to Ohio. Will I go back, sure, if just passing through(with my pass). Would I plan a trip for that only(or add a day to allow for that)? NO. We did however enjoy the music/ performance from their Luminate show! The crowd was 100% participating ! I'm still Ohio strong for our CP though! I know what I like :)

I like Carowinds. Got a friend that lives in Salisbury,half hour north of Charlotte,that I stay at. Fury,Intimidator,Afterburn are great. The kids' Flying Ace Aerial Chase(mini Raptor 2 seat non-looping) is a great ride. Of all the times I've been there,never encountered a crowd. Most of the time it's walk up to the platform and pick your seat. Only time there was a crowd was for 'passholder preview day' for Fury. Being that Charlotte is so far south and HOTTER, I only go in spring or very late summer when predicted cool fronts are scheduled.

As far as MF vs Fury,MF is #1 with Fury at #1.1.

I prefer Fury over Millie.

I really want to hit up at least Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland this summer, but with my daughter currently working two jobs and going to school two nights a week, getting away can be tricky. (My husband is Not A Theme Park Person, he won't even go back to Disney with us.)

I noticed last night they are showing CONSTANT Michigan's Adventure commercials on tv. (I'm in the Detroit market) We've never been, although my daughter went with Girl Scouts about ten years ago and was Not Impressed.

That's odd, considering Cedar Point is about 80 miles closer to Detroit than Michigan's Adventure.

Many southeast Michigan families spend a week in northern Michigan during the summer. Muskegon is not far from where some of those families spend their holidays.

I live in Evergreen Park, a south Chicago suburb, and was surprised to see a Cedar Point commercial on local tv. And then a little embarassed because I totally nerded out about it in front of the other guys in the house.

What Urumqi said. Saugatuck, Grand Haven, Holland, Ludington etc are on or close to Lake Michigan, and the park is a short drive away. And many people own or rent cottages or houses on the lakeshore.

Yeah, if we were going to be up that way I could see stopping in, but I don't know anyone from here who makes a trip up there on purpose. I think they're trying to encourage it, but, uh, no.

Compared to Cedar Point, Michigan's Adventure is a joke for anyone that would post on this forum. We literally drive past it to go to Cedar Point.

That said there are some fun rides there that we still enjoy. Shivering Timbers is an excellent air time wooden coaster. The rest of the coasters aren't very memorable, but fun for a ride or two per trip. The water park is amazing though. The average soccer mom making a day trip somewhere with the kids it would consider it fun.

My thoughts on CP... it's my favorite amusement park ever! Many solid steel coasters. Can't wait to ride RMC Mean Streak and maybe get one more woodie besides Blue Streak. I've always enjoyed the record-breaking rides and the lake at CP.

As for other parks, my home park is Kings Island, the best CP "sister" park I have ever visited. They have the edge on wooden coasters, and they have an indoor coaster (CP really needs a new one). KI and Carowinds also have a great indoor eating place (CP really needs one).

Carowinds is great! I love Intimidator, Afterburn, and Fury, the must-rides. I can't wait to see their next move for a coaster.

Kings Dominion is neat. They have so many TREES unlike any other park I've visited. Great rides like Volcano, Intimidator 305, and Rebel Yell.

The one thing I like about CP's "sister" parks is how they don't try to be the number one greatest park in the world. Sure, there is something good about CP trying to be the best (quality rides), but there's a different feeling at parks that don't try to be number one... they feel more humble. Other parks have an edge on certain kind of rides/things as well (KI has more / better wooden coasters and an indoor eating place).

There are no sister parks.

CP is the momma park ;)

Nah, that's Valley Fair.

Cedar Point is the big daddy ;)