Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread


Recommended Posts

^^I hope it stays in your good graces, it really is a cool layout and not as rough as people claim, and I always ride in back for the drops. And yeah, also love Screamin' Eagle. Rumbling along through the woods in the dark with that floater then the drops after the 2 turns...all of it is so fun. I love our wood collection.

 

^Great description...always glad to hear from those who appreciate The Boss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't be surprised if Boomerang was running the following day, since it was testing at the close of the park. At least maintenance was still doing their best at the end of the night. This was my first visit this year, but I know last year we only saw it running one time. It came back online after a break down and Emily and I jumped in the front car for our one and only ride. After that it broke down again.

 

I'm sure it's running more consistent as TNT says, which is a good thing. We've just never had good luck with it, not that we really ever want to ride again.

 

I will also say that Fireball was up and running by the end of the night. I can't comment if it was up and running during the morning or afternoon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is 'Boomerang' ever open??? What a lemon of a coaster

 

Boomerang has been running exceptionally well this season, outside of only a couple days it has ran everyday this season reasonably reliably.

 

Glad it is running well then, thanks for the Info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what's the reasoning for so many rides being down so often? I go once a summer, and on my previous visit just about every ride was down. Not kidding. My boys, who go all the time, say its always like this.

 

So what's the reasoning? Maintenance? Cost? Maintenance and cost? Apathy? Poor management? Lack of employees? Lack of good employees?

 

It really was a sad situation. I could go on and on about how long it took to get into the park, or how bad the food service was, or the overall look of the park (weeds and poor landscaping, peeling paint, trash) but at the end of the day it comes down to rides. And very few rides were operating. I don't know how this is acceptable at all. The park looks to be in serious decline.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is my guess our park is insignificant compared to the other larger parks in the chain. Six Flags St Louis is an afterthought at the Corporate level. If I am wrong then that's fine but that the way it appears to me. I wish the park was owned locally.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, I've always enjoyed The Boss. I rode in October of 2015 and it was rough as all hell (the only other coaster that comes close is The Raven, and maybe Judge Roy Scream in a wheel seat) but still hilariously fun. This may just be a product of the lack of wooden coasters I've ridden but it's pretty solidly in my top 10 wood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha. Thanks. I hope SFSTL is at least making money from the discount days, but I fear they may be scaring off the well mannered customer.

 

I think things will get better at our park. There will always be off years and this may be one of those. Some of this is just bad luck. SF didn't have much blame, if any, for the new slide being down. Highland Fling was on its last leg and had to be removed. Without a new attraction, what are they supposed to do with the pad? From what I understand, there were quite a few problems with the Larson Loops across the board. I'm assuming Xcalibur had some issues that needed to be addressed.

 

From what I understand our maintenance department is pretty good, but sometimes when multiple unexpected issues arise, there's really nothing you can do about it. Power washing is cheap and so is paint, but time is not cheap or readily available. It takes hours of time just to power wash the concrete around our house and when you do painting right, it's more of the same.

 

Steve's right that our park receives a lot of neglect from corporate. WoF may be just as starving as we are for a new attraction, but at least CF pumps enough money into their budget to make WoF look nice and well kept. However, when you look at their collection of the definition of bland attractions I'll take SFSTL any day... Well... except maybe any non-discount day. Dave seemed to make more effort on attention to detail, where as I was hoping the new guy would bring us a larger attraction. So far, we haven't seen either and it makes me miss Dave.

 

Things seemed drastically different last year, but I have to give SFSTL another chance on a non discounted day. Regardless, I still appreciate the park for what is had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's all very fair. Boss is the best it's been since opening year, but yeah having multiple rides down for a majority of the summer season is not ideal. Understandable for the reasons you've outlined, but definitely not ideal.

 

Still hoping to go on the new slide; the last time we went was the weekend before it opened, so we're hoping to get up there and experience this before summer ends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave seemed to make more effort on attention to detail, where as I was hoping the new guy would bring us a larger attraction. So far, we haven't seen either and it makes me miss Dave.

 

Things seemed drastically different last year, but I have to give SFSTL another chance on a non discounted day. Regardless, I still appreciate the park for what is had.

 

I miss Dave. During his last several years I saw and spoke with him on almost every visit. You could feel his passion. The park was in his blood and I am sure whatever good things happened were strongly influenced by him.

 

Surprised no one has reviewed the new slide (unless I missed it). We went last week on a weekday (never go to the water park on weekends, it's too insane). So someone posted earlier about likely new signage. I was not there before the "accident" so I do not know what was posted before, but there are signs that state there is a 700 lb limit, hold on to the handles, and some of the other things they bark at you when you are taking off. Fun ride. There is an initial tube drop into an open slide which circles around into another tube drop which puts you into the wave wall. Once up and then down into the splash down. It is actually milder than tornado but fun because of the different elements.

 

We got there early so it should have been a walk on, but .... Seems like part of the new protocol is they weigh everyone. There is a carpeted scale in the corner of the platform that they make the whole party stand on to make sure the total weight does not exceed 700 lbs. A ridiculously long exercise. I'm a buck sixty and my two kids each weigh under 100, at 360 we are so clearly under 700 it was pretty stupid. If you have 4 people and a couple are pretty big, sure weigh them, but this resulted in at least doubling the wait times. It was a five minute load instead of less than two like on Tornado. Waited 30 minutes and the waits looked to be well over an hour later in the day. In contrast, we did tornado 3 times in 15 minutes right after. Same loading platform, same weight limit (first time I heard it in the spiel), same rafts, fraction of the load time.

 

We do the waterpark one or twice a summer, only on a weekday so I have to take off work. My 9 and 10 year old boys love it. As a former lifeguard/pool manager they do an excellent job with the water. Clear and blue. I agree with Teacherkim, wave pool, lazy river, Hook's all seemed well staffed as they need to be, but all of the slides seemed to be understaffed.

 

Back over in the main park, I did Mr. Freeze for the first time in several years (9 year old is finally 54"). Still don't like the reverse launch. did it twice, once in the front once in the back for the two different experiences. Fun, but time to turn it back around. (Yo Zach!)

 

Going to Great America this Thursday and Friday. Will be only our second major coaster park (did SFMM seven years ago). Doing two day 4 person Gold FP ($680). Incredible. More than double the cost of SFSTL and more than we paid for four gold season passes with gold season dining passes at our park.

 

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a shame, and a bit embarrassing, that so many rides have been down all summer. Shazam finally had its new ride vehicles put on this past week, so it should be operating as soon as the state inspectors come out. Xcalibur will definitely be down for the rest of the season- and I don't think the park really knows if it will ever reopen. No clue when Colossus is going to reopen- they're waiting on a replacement part. Those three have been down all summer, and while a lot of it is out of the park's hands (and budget), it's even worse when you already have the empty Highland Fling site just sitting there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still don't like the reverse launch. did it twice, once in the front once in the back for the two different experiences. Fun, but time to turn it back around. (Yo Zach!)

I don't dislike the reverse launch anymore, but I don't like it anywhere near as much as I did the traditional launch.

 

If I could go back in time to stop any event in the history of the world I would stop SFSTL from turning Mr. Freeze backward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You and me both, Ed. I've learned to appreciate Mr. Freeze for what it is, but why change a good thing? I guess the general public loves it, so what's good for SFSTL is good for everyone, but it certainly ruined my opinion of the park. It was one of many things that caused me to personally hate SFSTL for at least five years. I didn't even drive the 50 minutes to the park for five years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's funny how so much mention about Dave in the last few posts. I was at the park on Sunday and I was having the same kind of thoughts. Just seemed like we saw Dave almost every other visit and would always have a 5-10 min conversation with him. I couldn't even pick the new guy out of a line up if he was sitting in front of me.

 

Also new cars were on site for Shazam, they had NOT been installed yet.

 

Single rider line-Why do groups of 3-4 get in the line and then get pissed off when getting split up or keep trying to arrange the line so they all get called at once. I hate this!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Prozach - Sorry you hit on such an off day. I think a lot of the trash buildup and drunken behavior was the result of the very end of a busy day in an understaffed park. If you get there at opening you beat a lot of the boorish behavior. I HOPE the peeing girl was extremely drunk; otherwise.....I don't know what to say! Agree with you on the Screaming Eagle, I remember when that ride opened and all the hype at the time, it still delivers. But have to say I don't agree with you on the Boss. I hate the now super exaggerated mcbr and how much they slowed it down for the back half and I miss the helix! I have mixed feelings on Mr Freeze, don't really love the backwards launch but do like looking down on the vertical.

 

 

bbchml - Thanks for the report on the new slide. We may have to try to get out there one more time before the wp closes and give it a go. We just got back from the new Universal wp, Volcano Bay, and they weigh everyone on just about every slide. I'm sure insurance is to blame and that is probably a requirement for the new slide at SFSTl to re-open. I know the Great America tickets are a lot more but you will notice a difference in ride ops and the park as a whole when you get there.

 

Actually, I really try to give SFSTl a break most of the time. As we have all noted it is in a regional market, ignored to some degree by corporate, and has noticeable staffing issues. And I think everyone inevitably gets a bit bored with their home park after years of some of the same rides. However, I will admit, after visiting some stellar parks this year (Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg & Tampa, Seaworld, 2nd time at Cedarpoint and a return trip to Universal which is in a whole nother stratosphere) it is hard not to be a bit jealous and a little bitter about our park. Ironically, of the other parks we visited the only one I was not impressed with was another Six Flags, SFAmerica in Maryland.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave is a special guy, but I’m happy for him. I talked to him today. He’s legitimately happy and enjoying a well deserved retirement. I’m excited because in the next week or two he’s going to bring me a bunch of his old Looney Tunes & DC ties he would wear. He’s just happy that they’ll be used again. Then on Tuesday, I get to visit Six Flags New England, which should be fun.

 

In other news, the first Fright Fest auditions are taking place this weekend, so if you or anyone you know is interested, head on over to www.sixflagsjobs.com. More audition info is available on the regular www.sixflags.com/stlouis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/