SF STL. 4/25/09 - day of the music festivals

[monsterfan99]

Hey everyone. After going to my old home town near Springfield to get my car fixed (still cheaper to get it done there then up here even after gas) I decided to go to Six Flags St. Louis on Saturday. The drive was nice and almost no traffic the entire drive there. Once I got to the park, I noticed about 5-10 buses in the parking lot, which at the time concerned me. More of that later.

I got to the gate at around 10:00 am and when through the metal detectors and such. I love the fact they have these before the ticket counters, saves a lot of traffic jams. The park did not let people near the rides until 10:30, so I found a bench and waited. As times went by, I keep noticing more and more kids in matching school shirts. It turns out that that day was the two or three different music festivals going on at once according to a few employees. Around noon, while in line at Thunder River, I talked to a supervisor. According to her, that park was expecting between 15-20k people that day. However, lines were not bad at all. The only wait over 15 minutes was Thunder River, which was about a half hour. Plus my main goal for going was to just ride each coaster once, the water rides, Shazam and take pictures.

My ride reviews in order

Mr. Freeze - Was my first ride of the day. I got the 2nd ride of the day and was a suprise launch due to the siren not being on until the ride after mine. Ride was nice and a fun way to start the day.

Shazam - I knew the ride was redone over the off season, but the ride cars still looked worn. I took that as a sign the ride would run the same. I could not have been more wrong as the ride was running like new with tons of force.

The Boss went from painful in November last yaer to actully nice after the retracking. Not too much shuffling only really ruff part was the last helix. Amazingly, as you rode the ride, sawdust would fly at you at certain points.

Tony Hawk's Big Spin - The ride actually had a line around 10 minutes or so. Later in the day it got worse. This was the first of the problems with people not getting the locker rule and blocking the entrance to argue. During my ride we didn't actually spin much, but still better then your average wild mouse.

Screamin' Eagle - The first thing about the ride is the brick eagle logo they have in the que that is ultra easy to miss, but a nice touch. The problem with this ride is not the ride itself, but the station. People love the front row, but can only line up 4 deep before blocking everyone. Add in the fact there is a people counter right there two and that lead to trains leaving with empty rows. Mind you, during this time, the ride had a 15 minute wait that would have been nearly none if the station problem could be fixed.

Thunder River - The line was around 30 minutes due to only half the boats going. Not a bad ride, but not worth the wait.

At this point it was time for me to take a lunch break and drove down to the Subway on the road in front of the park. Amazing to think that for just that 5-10 minute drive, I get better food for only 7 bucks.

Ninja - Same rough ride as always. Still a fun ride due to the unusual layout but rough.

Batman - The Ride - The cop car was missing from the que line that was there in November. The ride was smoother then the Batman here. Plus I made 77 cents from the ride when the change flew at me as the coaster was doing an inversion.

River King Mine Train - I actually tried to ride this ride before the ride just went down the train before mine. they told us wait an hour so I came back 4 hours later. The ride still sucks and bothers me it has 4 lift hills.

Tommy G. Robinson train - I took 2 full trips around the park for pictures and was a nice way to relax.

Scooby-Doo - This ride is a must do and every park needs a ride of this type, end of story.

Evel Knievel - The ride was running beyond amazing. The ride is now my favorite coaster passing the pre-trim break Montu. The ride is what parks need when it comes to a woody, small foot print, ultra fast feeling and no breaks.

The only down part of the day is Tidal Wave is still down. You can see one of the boats if you look to the left while in the Screamin' Eagle lift.

In the end this park is perfect for the location. The ride selection is nice, the layout allows people to spread out and is out of the way of busy intersections. If you are in the area, make a stop, even if just for Evel Knievel and Mr. Freeze.

[Ilovthevu']

Can you show a picture of what the Shazaam looks like now? To me, that's a stupid theme on a ride. Why, just why?

For Screamin' Eagle, I do agree that rides should have a separate line for the front, but I really think stations should be small. There is no reason for a station to be gigantic, or the exit area. Deja Vu, and Viper's station of the entrance were/are terribly too big!! If you didn't have Flash person for Whizzer, that station is too big also (based on entrance, and not exit).

Demon has a terrible huge area for the exit whereas Batman the Ride isn't that big for either the station, or the exit (It's almost perfect in my opinion) except for the tunnel leading up to the station.

The perfect stations in my opinion are Batman (except tunnel), and Raging Bull. Iron Wolf is like the Screamin' Eagle station because of that Flash Pass (They used to have separate lines.) Why do they need so wide of stairs on V2, or Superman going up?

I'm a person that would rather like to move than stand in the same spot for 10 minutes.

[monsterfan99]

Can you show a picture of what the Shazaam looks like now? To me, that's a stupid theme on a ride. Why, just why?

For Screamin' Eagle, I do agree that rides should have a separate line for the front, but I really think stations should be small. There is no reason for a station to be gigantic, or the exit area. Deja Vu, and Viper's station of the entrance were/are terribly too big!! If you didn't have Flash person for Whizzer, that station is too big also (based on entrance, and not exit).

Demon has a terrible huge area for the exit whereas Batman the Ride isn't that big for either the station, or the exit (It's almost perfect in my opinion) except for the tunnel leading up to the station.

The perfect stations in my opinion are Batman (except tunnel), and Raging Bull. Iron Wolf is like the Screamin' Eagle station because of that Flash Pass (They used to have separate lines.) Why do they need so wide of stairs on V2, or Superman going up?

I'm a person that would rather like to move than stand in the same spot for 10 minutes.

Not sure when I will have pictures up. I just bought a domain name and going to build a coaster site to give me something to do. The ride really has no theme, just a fun name.

The problem with the Eagle and River King is they block everyone in. The River King's could be fixed easily, but not sure what they can do about Eagle's.

[rct2wizard360]

Why do they need so wide of stairs on V2, or Superman going up?

So you're not molesting the small child with your crotch in front of you.
So you make the lines a little skinnier? Does that few feet make you feel THAT much better about your wait time?

Come on now.

[Ilovthevu']

^I like it better when it's one by one by one, and not 3 people on a stair step. I don't understand why lines have to be so wide. Than, you have more cutters in line also. It's easier for people to cut in lines that aren't one by one. For lines though I rather not go in zigzags like V2 has, but rather the line like Deja Vu had (A lot of the time, you were only going through 4 zigzags at most.)