Your coaster rider should love KBF. My DD9 loves it and has since she was small. We only go to KBF during non-peak times and it's like having the park to ourselves. Jan., May, and Sept. are great times to go. We had AP but I let them lapse in May. I'm either going to renew this month or in May again.
A few of the rides are rough. We won't ride Ghost Rider or one of the others (can't remember name right now, I think it's Boomerang.) DD9 can't ride Excelerator yet, but I know she'll love it when she's tall enough. Once she rode Montezuma and Jaguar she loved those both. When she was smaller we would spend most of our time in CS. One day she did 26 rides. She still likes some of the rides there.
And, to me, it still has some of the quaintness-there's the train, stagecoach, log ride (one of the first), and Calico Mine Train. And Ghost Town is stil there inc. most of the cemetary.
Yes, it's not as clean as DL but as long as you go not expecting DL standards you won't be disappointed. Yes, they seem to take a long time to load some rides-especially the ones with only one worker. But if you are there when it's quiet, you'll get to ride all you want.
As for food, KBF is very expensive. And their drinks are out of this world (plus it's a Pepsi park, no Coke!) We bring in water bottles and Crystal lite tubes. You can also get glasses of ice water for free.
We get chicken from the To-go next to Mrs. Knott's. It's cheaper and it's the same chicken. Ask for it hot from the kitchen. A worker gave me this tip!
Better yet, eat at the Claim Jumper, nearby (expensive as well, but huge servings and very good) and there's a Fat Burger not too far away as well as a McDonalds.