Six Flags St. Louis April 9,2004

[Galvan]

I am finally back from my trip to Six Flags St. Louis here is the Trip Report:
We left Joliet at 5am on Good Friday, the drive was smooth until we got into the St. Louis area, that is where it got tricky and this kinda forshadowed the day ahead. St. Louis for those of you who havent been there has a speghetti bowl of interstates,local roads and streets around the city. This being the first time ever drving there, i found it hard to navigate,the streets wherent busy since it was Good Friday, however it was difficult none the less. We arrived in Eureka Mo, promptly at 10am and was greeted warmly at the front gate. Six Flags St. Louis Staff was great very warm and inviting through out the whole visit.

Ninja: 5/10 Ninja reminds me alot like Demon, It has i beleive 1 loop and back to back corkscrews similar to Demon, But unlike Demon, Ninja will give a rider Whiplash if not careful, Of the 5 times on this ride, i got banged around everytime.This wouldnt be the last we hear of this. But what you wont beleive is that rerides we got on this ride including 2 Front Row Rerides. Unheard of at Great America. The Ninja has black track with white supports and red Demon type cars with OTSRs. Ninja gets a 5 out of 10 because of the "Worse the Shockwave type head banging...this ride is rough" Number of Rides: 5

Batman the Ride: 6/10 Really nothing new with B:TR very similar to Great America's, however one thing that i will point out is the queue is enourmous. id say double the size of Great America's. Number of Rides 1 (This wasnt because of the line wait either.(Youll read about that later)

Screamin Eagle: 5/10 Lap bar restriants and the "new for 04" seat belts reduce some of the air time on this otherwise "so-so" coaster. The Drop is Similar to Viper, and the speed is decent but thats about it. The Ride is long at about 2:45 but after the initial drop the Coaster lacks in thrills and the seatbelts only make that element a non factor. Combine that with some very hard turns and flip flops, and youll be in pain if your not careful
Number of Rides: 1

The Boss: 7/10 I was looking forward to this Coaster all week, that and Mr. Freeze and i must say i was both impressed and disappointed. The Boss is huge id say at least 1/3 of the park (That and S:Eagle) The Ride was extremely ROUGH and at times i was forced to keep my arms holding on the bar infront of me. THe Speed though was great close to 70 mph. The Boss is similar to The Beast at PKI in terms of appearance and layout
Boss is edge of your seat thrills that minus the extreme roughness would be a worldclass woodie but because of this element Boss only gets a 7 which is really good. But not Best.

Mr. Freeze: 4/10 One of the Biggest Disappointments of the Day. Mr Freeze's Theming is non-existant it pretty much has the parking lot look to it. Also the loading is like your boarding the ride in a Trailer, its very small and theres really not any themeing here. The Ride is also very small seating, infact i was almost not able to ride the ride, because my legs beleive it or not. But i did manage to get in the ride and like i said i was very disappointed. The Ride on paper seems awesome, you are shot at 70 mph up a Series of turns and an inverted top hat... and then you ride up a Towering 200 foot spike near the end of the ride. then you fall back to earth and complete the course again.. Sounds good right? Well its not nearly as great as u might think. THe Lauch compared to V2 is weak. and you bearly make it 1/2 up the Spike, and add that to a ride that lasts (and i timed this) 35 seconds its a major disspointment.
Number of Rides: 1

Excalibur: 10/10 This was the most surprizing ride at St Louis beleive it or not. Its similar to Orbit in the lay out of the ride, and the seating is in Giant Drop style OTSRs and cars. The Ride is 150 feet tall is similar to a Derilium type ride. The Speed is great and it gives you feeling of a sock in the dryer. Number of Rides: 7

Honorable Mentions:
Colossus: 150 foot tall Giant Wheel: 4/10
Joker's Inc. Joker Themed Swinging Ship: 3/10
Shazam: Scrambler Type Ride: 4/10

Final Thoughts/Grade:

Six Flags St. Louis was a major dissapointment, If you dont have a Six Flags Season pass, dont spend the 40 dollars for admission of this Second Rate Six Flags park. its simply not worth the money in gas or addmission.
The park was also built up on a series of very steep hills which is rough on the feet. Ninja,Boss and Freeze promise alot but dont deleiver. S:Eagle doesnt even promise and delievers nothing. The One saving grace for this park is the people, the employees where very very very nice there. The Crowds? what Crowds? Id estimate for there opening day maybe 7,000 people.
Overall Grades:
Cleanliness of Park: 10/10
Ride Selection: 4/10
Ease Around Park: 2/10 (Park maps where nonexistant)
Themeing: 3/10 (There where territories if you could call them that but you couldnt tell really what part you where in)
Prices: 5/10 not as high as you might be used too
Re-rides: 9/10
Over-all: 4/10 Dont make a special trip to St. Louis to go to this park, its not worth the drive or the time.

Click here for Six Flags St. Louis Pictures
Stay Tuned: PKI AND SFKK Trip Reports following my PKI/SFKK Trips COMING SOON!

[CoasterDave316]

Nice Trip Report Mike, sorry to hear you didn't have as great of time as you had hoped to have. But look at it this way, at least you ended your off-season earlier then the rest of us!

Nice pictures too.
Im hoping I have a better experience when I go there this August.

[Aero737]

I guess I would have to disagree with most of your grades, and call this park one of the most underrated parks out there. I think that most of the theming is great but I do agree with the park map issue. I couldn't find my way because I could not find a dang employee with a map. I did finally get one in some store.

I thought Mr. Freeze is much better than you make it seem to be. I feel that the launch is much more powerful (Faster in a shorter distance I believe). I felt that the tophat was awesome (a unique feeling in itself) and the overbanked turn just added to the ride. The 200 ft. spike was one of the best parts. Maybe just because I love freefall. And batman is only around 50 seconds after the first drop so whats your point about time? They can cram a lot into a short time. It leaves you dizzy after riding it (good in my books). TTD is only 12 seconds (or thereabouts).

I can totally agree with what you said about the Boss. VERY rough! My sunglasses got knocked off my head, glasses that have been on Batman, V2, Demon, Viper, AE red and blue, Raging Bull, and Whizzer. What did you think about the end? I thought it to be very boring, and devoid of airtime.

I guess you must have a different opinion about this park, but not all parks compair to Great America.

Oh, and I totally agree with the St. Louis highway system-IT'S NUTS! We had a detour that took us off the highway (they had construction on the 155-44 ramp) that took us through some really bad neighboorhoods (what do you know, Bush Staduim was in it) and took us an extra 20 min. I think we took 244 around the city on the way back to avoid downtown in rush hour.

What did you think of the setting of SF Stl? I though the white limestone cliffs and tall trees around the borders were absoutly beautiful.

[Chitown]

Mike.

Don't know really what to say but WOW.

You really didn't like to much at this park. I myself find the park beautiful with a handfull of decent coasters.

I haven't been on Mr. Freeze yet , but since the lap bar installation, people give it rave reviews.

Oh well

[Galvan]

The setting was quite nice, LimeStone Cliffs make it a very beautiful setting. The park is quite small though. And i felt as though at time i was in an oversized KiddieLand, im serious i really didnt like this park much. But then again having gone to Great America for years i might of had too high of an expectation.

[Iggy ACE]

Galvan316 How did you have a problem driving? If your from Joliet it's I-55 to I-44 that's it.I was there on friday and 3 hours saturday and had a wonderful time. I agree The Boss is rough and not ranked high in my book but the first drop and straight away with the drop and turn to the right was great and the speed through the helix is aslo great. SE was such a fun ride me and the kids hit it about ten times this weekend. Did you try the back? Much better then the front and pretty smooth for a woodie back there. Xcalibur did not really thrill me but was fun but just OK in my book. In my eyes this park could stand to add a few flats.

[Galvan]

oh yeah... I-55 TO I-44 lol, coming home thats how i took, but, going there, Mapquest.com WHICH SUCKS BTW suggested 55 to 270 to 44 which confused me big time.

[Papas]

Being navigator in a recent long trip (I dont drive) mapquests directions confused the hell outta me too in terms of highways, although it was right even though it seemed stupid at the time it was faster.

[Galvan]

Yeah, i agree with that,Brad. I personally dont like mapquest. For those of you who are planning trips. I suggest http://www.randmcnally.com

[w00dland]

Mapquest worked fine with me, only 3 highway changes the entire trip. Basically 3 chunks of 160 miles, 150 miles, and about 60 miles.

[Iggy ACE]

Me I rely on a good old atlas.

[twixmix0303]

MSN Mappoint is good also

[Chitown]

Me I rely on a good old atlas.

Exactly. When it comes to directions, the old method is by far still superior than the digital mapping. Bring the atlas with you and you are golden.

When I took my trips to SFKK, HW, PKI, CP, and SFWoA, I never once did a printout online for directions.

And guess what? I never got lost.

[Iggy ACE]

Chitown I guess these youngin's need to be learned something.

[SFGA Bob]

the night I got my car, my mom gave me her old atlas and told me to put it in my car. I haven't had to use it yet, but I feel better knowing its there.

and for long trips, just call AAA. they make up free, detailed maps for you which includes an overall map, a trip tix (a booklet containing small maps with your route highlighted), and hotel books for all the areas you pass through. pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

[coasterinsane]

i also went.. i had my camara... povs of all the rides including excalibur... uh i will do a great photo update when i have more time