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Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread


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^ I should point out that Rattler at SFFT lost quite a bit of length during it's conversion. But no one seems to be complaining about the result. I think the real reason the park doesn't convert The Boss is down to SF corporate. After all, this is SFSTL we're talking here. It's not as if SF is willing to spend tons of money on a park they consider less important than other parks in the chain. SF could ante up and spend the money needed to make a truly spectacular RMC Boss conversion. But, like I said, this is SFSTL, not SFMM.

The former Rattler and Boss are two very different coasters with very different levels of roughness. While the Boss will never be mistaken for smooth, the Rattler was so rough in shaking left and right it slammed my rib cage pretty much non-stop on the ride. The Boss at least has some pretty good airtime hills, the Rattler was pretty much just a never ending helix. The Rattler desperately needed the Iron Horse conversion and the parts removed, no one misses. The Boss all in all is a very good wooden coaster, if it could be smoother that would be great, but it doesn't need it like the Rattler, Mean Streak, Hurler, and Timber Wolf do which lack airtime or much inspiration to their design. If they do a half effort job on it which is probably all SF corporate would allow, it won't be right. If we need a RMC conversion, I suggest American Thunder.

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Thunder is a great riding and performing coaster with nice trains that's less than 10 years old. That would make zero sense.

 

I think you are correct on your other observations though. Boss is a good coaster with lots of personality...it's just on the rough side. I can get why financially it doesn't make sense for them to RMC it, especially if it would shorten it substantially. Still though, it's easy to see why so many want it done.

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While the Boss will never be mistaken for smooth, the Rattler was so rough in shaking left and right it slammed my rib cage pretty much non-stop on the ride.

Haha. No doubt about that. Rattler was probably the worst coaster experience I've ever had. God, it seemed like that thing never ended. Emily and I couldn't get off of that ride fast enough. It sure did look cool, though. I remember the track seemed to sway several feet as it crested the first hill and came down from the quarry into it's first turnaround.

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I'll also chime in that from my lone trips to SFStL and SFFT (both all the way back in 2003, I believe), my memory of The Boss was that it was rough, but fun, and my memory of Rattler was that it was absolutely one of the worst rollercoasters I had ever ridden. So, there you go!

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Thunder is a great riding and performing coaster with nice trains that's less than 10 years old. That would make zero sense.

 

Note that I said "If", meaning I don't think we need it right now. As of right now, you are 100% correct that this would not make sense. My point is I can see this someday being a possibility because I have ridden many GCI's that haven't aged all that well. I don't see it happening with the Boss as it remains popular, I don't see it happening with the Screaming Eagle because it remains a staple and has aged quite well, but I could see it happen to the American Thunder say 10 years down the road if it has aging issues like many other GCIs. To be honest, it is the one I would prefer to be transformed IF one had to be.

 

The truth is SFSTL has a great line up of wooden coasters as of right now. Is it the best? No, but in my view it is among the better to best range in the wooden coaster department that so far major coaster parks like Cedar Point, Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens, etc. haven't matched let alone many other SF parks in the variety that it offers. It might not have a famous one high on the coaster lists, but it compares better than many other parks as a team. It's weakness is in the steel department, but let's not go there it is not going to happen and there is no point rehashing it for the millionth time.

 

I just hope they decide to start doing upgrades to their current rides to address the criticisms such as using new Vekoma trains for the Ninja with some track work, individual restraints on the Mine Train, adding topper track to the Boss, etc. I agree that while these may not be as marketable as a new attraction (trust me I want a new noteworthy coaster as bad as anyone), but I think if they could at least improve the ride we already have, it can potentially extend the life of these rides, make the park more appealing for the General Public & enthusiast alike in having less painful experiences and more that they can re-ride which will keep them coming back and when they talk to friends they can at least talk about a more positive experience. Remember that in Marketing there are few things more valuable than good word of mouth. Other than this, if they can continue to work on the quality of the food and continue to improve the parks appearance, that would also help them in the long run.

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^ It'd be weird, but there is a precedent since SFDK did it to Roar/Joker.

No. There isn't. Stop comparing Roar to American Thunder because they are GCI's from two different eras and with two entirely different scenarios. Roar opened with PTCs, but American Thunder opened with Millenium Flyers. Roar and its generation of GCI's that opened with PTC's are exceptional cases and should not be viewed as eveidence that GCI's all age poorly or that any GCI could be RMC'ed. Maintenance plays a huge role, and Millennium Flyers reward maintenance's job by tearing the track up less than other train designs do, leading to a smoother coaster for longer.

 

American Thunder is arguably the best maintained wooden coaster in the chain. Just because Apocalyspe went to shit within a couple years doesn't mean American Thunder already has too. This isn't SFMM. This is SFStL, where our maintenance departments actually give a flying f**ck about taking care of their wooden coasters. In the Loop just visited WoF and reported that even Prowler is showing some age, while American Thunder still runs as if were still new based on my rides from last year.

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^ It'd be weird, but there is a precedent since SFDK did it to Roar/Joker.

No. There isn't. Stop comparing Roar to American Thunder because they are GCI's from two different eras and with two entirely different scenarios. Roar opened with PTCs, but American Thunder opened with Millenium Flyers. Roar and its generation of GCI's that opened with PTC's are exceptional cases and should not be viewed as eveidence that GCI's all age poorly or that any GCI could be RMC'ed. Maintenance plays a huge role, and Millennium Flyers reward maintenance's job by tearing the track up less than other train designs do, leading to a smoother coaster for longer.

 

American Thunder is arguably the best maintained wooden coaster in the chain. Just because Apocalyspe went to poo-poo within a couple years doesn't mean American Thunder already has too. This isn't SFMM. This is SFStL, where our maintenance departments actually give a flying f**ck about taking care of their wooden coasters. In the Loop just visited WoF and reported that even Prowler is showing some age, while American Thunder still runs as if were still new based on my rides from last year.

I would have to agree with you. I truly think Six Flags St. Louis has one of the best maintenance teams in the chain. Screaming Eagle is over forty years now and it still rides as if it were 1976 and gives plenty of airtime. The same goes for American Thunder, it rides as if it were 2008. And I've had good rides and I've had bad rides on the Boss. The main problem there is that it is Gerstlauer trains, which I don't think those will be replaced soon since they still have tons of spare parts from the Mega Zeph's trains and also from Twisted Twins old trains. And Roar at Six Flags America isn't even that bad, people say it was the roughest of the two Roar coasters and I thought it was pretty enjoyable! And it even still has the PTC trains.

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Does anyone know why The Boss is temporarily closed right now? I hope its open next Sunday. I will be there.

As you know, rides can go down for any number of reasons, but I haven't heard of any plans for The Boss to be closed next Sunday. Obviously any ride is subject to unforeseen downtime, but other posters aren't wrong when they talk about the dedication of the park's excellent maintenance staff.

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Does anyone know why The Boss is temporarily closed right now? I hope its open next Sunday. I will be there.

 

Maybe the weather? There was a FB post saying that a lot of rides were down and they were closing early.

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For those of you that were talking about how bad the old Chevy Show building looked and were wondering if it would be removed, it just got a new fresh of paint this past week to fit Spinsanity's color scheme. I have no confirmation but I'm assuming it's going to be used as extended queue for the ride, which also probably means Blackout won't be returning for this year's Fright Fest, but I think I speak for all of us when I say good riddance.

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The weather in St. Louis over the weekend was horrendous, with non-stop rain for the better part of 48 hours. It's now very cool out and flooding is running rampant. Most likely Boss was shut down because of something involving that. I was in the area of the park on Saturday and I could not even see it from I-70 due to the hard rain .

 

Very cool to hear that about the building being painted to match Spinsanity. Seeing the ride in person two weeks ago it looks so damn sharp with that bright paint, and that extended queue should really help bring it all together.

 

Any word from you park folk on when it's going to open? I was just kinda figuring at this point they'd do it Memorial Weekend.

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The weather in St. Louis over the weekend was horrendous, with non-stop rain for the better part of 48 hours. It's now very cool out and flooding is running rampant.

Aside from being soaking wet and cold on Friday and Saturday night, it was a good weekend to have to work. I hope everyone has a dry basement. I had a very small amount of water in mine. Here's to hoping this weekend's weather in Mason, OH doesn't suck, as I kick off my coaster season!

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Congrats to TNT on reaching 1000th page on the SFSTL forum

and yes, Spinsanity is looking good.

Over six hundred pages since I joined the forum in 2014!

 

Cheers to all!

 

Mike

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So while looking for a good overhead picture of the Eagle to prove to someone that the park didn't flood, found this little article with some nice throw back pictures.

 

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/the-screamin-eagle-at-six-flags-is-turning/collection_8820376c-a702-53d1-a76c-ad0693df2134.html#8

 

Wow! Those are some very nice photos! Thanks for sharing!

 

Oh and cheers for the 1000th page!

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So while looking for a good overhead picture of the Eagle to prove to someone that the park didn't flood, found this little article with some nice throw back pictures.

 

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/the-screamin-eagle-at-six-flags-is-turning/collection_8820376c-a702-53d1-a76c-ad0693df2134.html#8

 

Wow! Those are some very nice photos! Thanks for sharing!

 

Oh and cheers for the 1000th page!

 

It's crazy we've got here so fast, just around this time two years ago we were only at 500.

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Glad to know the park is ok. I'm heading there on Sunday.

 

 

Watch the news and make sure that Highway 44 is open and the park accessible. The park is not flooded but there is very limited access to it right now with Pacific being flooded, 44 closed, Eureka flooded, and 109 closed (by the weekend 109 to the outer road of 44 might be a possibility) You really have to know your backroads to get it to it from Allenton.

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MODOT announced that WB I-44 will reopen by rush hour today (Thursday), so EB shouldn't be too far behind. It's also interesting that both Fox 2 News & the St. Louis Post Dispatch have both published articles addressing the "fake news" of SFSL being flooded.

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