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the wording is interesting. . .I'm wondering/guessing that the Kingda Ka tower will remain, and become part of the multi launch new coaster.. . thereby keeping the Zumanjaro Drop Ride intact - as that's not mentioned anywhere as leaving, correct?

The sum of the specific items they announced between those and the 2025 items that are known still isn’t close to $1B. There’s a bunch of unannounced stuff not listed.

Personally second-hand responses like that don't hold much weight with me - much more likely that if they DID get a response from someone, that person was also misinformed. All of this is definitely just wait and see, though, agreed.

Not so sure now...ElToroRyan got a clarification email from someone at the park saying Kingda Ka and Zumanjaro will also be removed. But like...why not say that in the initial press release? They clearly marked Lantern, Twister, Parachutes, and Skyway as "removed" and Kingda Ka as "retired" and didn't mention Zumanjaro at all. The communication from this park about...well...everything is atrocious. But if what they said to Ryan is true then that's 6 ride removals in 1 year which is...not optimal. I don't care what you are replacing them with, 6 removals including the tallest coaster and tallest drop ride in the world is too much. And considering they were actively telling people last week that Kingda Ka isn't getting removed, it's just awful communication.

The full release mentions Green Lantern officially being retired as well

Oakwood was where my #100 coaster happened (Clown Coaster, lol). And (I believe) SPEED had just opened (2006) and I think I rode it nearly 10 times, only finally stopping because I was getting a small headache. And it double helixed in what I called the "Toilet Bowl"element of it. And HYDRO was a truly wet/scary ride. The water splashing in/on the face/body was drenching the whole boat, before we even went down the drop! Great visit Bert, for an awesome park.

Day 4: a visit to Oakwood. . . home of some interesting rides, areas, and the classic: Megafobia! on the bus early, and headed to the home of a classic coaster (and some other rides), I had only read about in books. it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by greenery & hills. . . but also a huge housing/apartment complex building up behind the far side. It was hard to tell exactly how "big" the park is from the lot, but it seemed to stretch on for quite a bit. . . and they DO have an awful lot of space to expand if they so choose to. . tho not sure the location means they ever get HUGE crowds. (we were there on a day where there were several school groups, but it never really felt too crowded) a pic of the park map. . . it looks like there is a lot to do, and there are a ton of things if you're interested in a "THEME Park" rather than a "thrill park". . as there are only a handful of "thrill" rides. but I quite enjoyed the day here, even with a couple of the rides not operating. the map also makes it look way more compact than it is. . .the park is pretty spread out, so did a LOT of walking. the first thing you see when entering the park from the parking lot is the looming "Drenched" (aka: Hydro) - which is known really for two things - it being the last "Mega Splash" model from Intamin still operating, and from an accident where someone fell out on the drop ~20 years ago. sadly this was not open today. . although it did look like Maintenance was working on it. And as we were heading out, the water was flowing in the flume (it had not been when we came in and I snapped this pic). . so it probably did open shortly after our visit. oh well.. . a reason to go back (as if Megafobia isn't enough reason ) there is a train that can bring folks from the parking lot to the main entrance, but as we were there before park open for some ERT, it wasn't operating when we passed it. I'm not sure if it ever did operate, but I didn't ride it if it did. Vertigo (a Skycoaster) looms over the front entrance. . . and many in the TPR group did ride it - including Robb who got Jack Crouse to finally ride with him for his 1st Skycoaster experience. walking thru the park to get to Speed, you can get a sense just how big (and hilly) it is here. this whole area is a kids/family area called "Neverland". . .it's JUST Peter-Pan-y enough to get the idea across, while not *reaaaaaly* violating any copyrights from other companies, I'd say. there are at least 6-7 rides back here, but only a couple are true "kiddie only" rides. the entrance gate to this section. across the great lawn, I get my first glimpse of Megafobia thru the trees a water slide, that several folks on this trip rode - you ride on a little "tray" - and most of them got wet. that's Speed - where we're headed - in the back on the left over there. also further down hill is Bounce (a shot/drop combo tower), a complex of slides, a swinging ship (which I don't think was open today), and a lake with paddleboats. here's where we were headed first: it's a Gerstlauer Euro Fighter, and I believe was the 1st one in Europe? yeah. . I'm not a big fan of Eurofighters, but I did ride it at least once. and then went and took pictures. from the station (Pic courtesy of Elissa I believe). . thumbs up before we leave. . . but the onride photo gives away my true feelings. . . LOL after our ERT, we were cut loose for the day in the park and several of us headed back over to something we passed while walking back to Speed: the Bobsleigh - a toboggan slide that opened with the park and is the last original attraction remaining from when it first opened. it was a sorta TPR takover, that many of us ended up in the line. NOTED (no tracks, no rails.. .just a toboggan and a chute to navigate down) and you ride the think up as it pulls you. . .think "Mountain coaster' but with no track. . . it was actually quite fun. and yeah. . NEVER in America. LOL but it was really fun. I think I rode this a few times. checking out the Megafobia gift shop, I was quite amused that the park sells old ride parts, and even ride signs! ("Plane Crazy" is what they used to call the flying scooters before retheming it for Neverland area) I think we didn't go to Megafobia right away because it was full of some of the schoolgroups (and besides, we had ERT on it later this afternoon). . so instead we headed over to "Spooky Street" sheesh. .can someone buy a vowel - no wonder I can't understand anyone in Wales! I was told this used to be a tracked dark ride, but they had removed the interior and had just been using it as a Haunt during the spooky season. seemed to be a waste. . but there were some other things over here in this area (not much tho) this is a Pinfari coaster, called "the Creepy Crawler" sadly this one too was not operating today . . . but the theming on it is great. you can see why it's not operating. . LOL they were waiting for some replacement track, and that's why it was shut down, but I was told that it WAS going to be opening back up once they repair it.. . so the park should have another operating coaster in 2025. the worker i chatted with told me that this area used to be based on Roald Dahl, and hence the giant pumkin walkthru that I loved to enter the ride? Used to be a giant Peach. really nice job by the park to retheme and reuse, as it fits the "spooky" area theme very well now. the two ladies back there were the operators on the only real "ride" that was operating over here in this section, hence them looking a bit bored. they were thrilled to talk to me tho and to have someone come to this section. the only other thing over here - which actually was open, but I didn't want to take my boots off - was this self play, trampoline area. here's the ride the ladies were operating. . a. kiddie teacups but we were invited to ride, so we did. TPR takeover! it actually spun a LOT, and was more intense than it looked like it would be. and the ops were happy to pose for a pic after our ride cycle. if you headed out of the Spooky Street area towards the parking lot, you pass by the Skycoaster, and the entrance line to Drenched. that they had a maintenance guy heading back there was a good sign that the ride *might* open today - so I snapped this pic to send to Daniel, who loves flumes and really wanted to ride this Mega Splash. still no water at this time tho you can see how steep that drop is! awwwww. . something over here just randomly to sit on/hump? don't mind if I do! Stacy and I split off to go explore the "Neverland" section this was really the only ride that was truly a "kiddie" ride - a miniature version of the boat. . .but I think there was a space that looked like it SHOULD have had a carousel on it (and the park clearly needs one). . so maybe there was that as well, but not at the moment. but we DID find a T.A.R.D.I.S.. . . . so of course, I immediately loved this area. one of two tracked rides over in this area. . . "the Sights of London" was a fun little thing where you just sit in a taxi, and a kid can "drive" you, or it just drives itself for you. having started the trip in London, of course I wanted to do it. we had a nice chat with the gentleman operating it, and he was surprised when I knew that the big building in the middle of the ride was the Tower of London. He said I'd be shocked how many people think it's the Taj Mahal (on a ride called "the sights of London" ????? LOL) whee! there's also a roller coaster back here - the Crocodile Coaster - a powered Kiddie. I usually don't bother with kiddie coasters, but this one was adorable, so when Stacy wanted the credit I went ahead and joined her. we had the whole train to ourselves. there's also a log flume, with a small indoor section (that was all kinds of weird). . . the best part of this? they only had 3 logs. So when several TPR folks showed up back here, we created a line but it was fun. . .whee! the flying scooters that have been renamed to "Tink's Flying School". . . with Tinkerbell on the flyers, and a figure in the middle. well.. .. SORTA Tinkerbell. More maintenance guys over here doing some planting/fixing as well. you can see how much space the park has here. Neverland Chase is the other tracked ride over here. . .this one clearly was a retheme from something prior, but no idea what. Maybe a Flinstones ride? but I'm always up for a tracked ride.. . my motto usually is: "the sillier and slower moving it is, the more I'll love it" even got Stacy on it. tho we did our own "trucks" rather than squeeze in together hmmm. . . I don't remember Neverland being this phallic? but hey, they tried to get some theming in the station, but having (what I think) are quotes from the Peter Pan book. . . still in the Neverland section, there's a little park/walkthru play area outside (there's also a really large indoor play area with soft pads/monkeybar climbthru over by the flume) but this outdoor one has things to climb on, and to slide down. D'awwwwwww you can't climb on this tho! but for some reason, you can sit in these. . .LOL and that's the skycoaster way back there on the left. yeah, as noted, the park is bigger than it appears. very spread out. oh my. . multiple sizes to choose from! headed back towards the Neverland entrance to go back out into the main park. (we still had one coaster to hit) sadly, tho I totally would have bought some stuff in this section? everything in this area was kiddie sized only it worked out ok, as I got a nice Megafobia shirt later. the design on the giftshop door in the Neverland area is very well done tho. we hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we stopped to grab a burger (the lunch rush from the school kids was dying down, so it was a good time to eat) and the Seagulls knew it too. Speed from our table while eating lunch. we went the long way around (down and then back up) for the final coaster. . . stopping to ride "Bounce" first it was a fun, and exciting ride, with a long cycle first shoot up. . then slow lift and drop. . then repeat in reverse. luckily we got on it, as there was some sort of incident a few days after our visit, and the ride was shut down for a long while. so I'm glad we got to ride it. and then to the only other coaster (besides Megafobia) we hadn't ridden yet: the Treetops Coaster it's just a Zierer that's got a wonderful location buried among the trees. . .lots of Helixes. but it was a nice, Family, coaster. I think I recall this had tire lift, rather than it being a powered coaster. with a really long train, that was themed to Logs! i felt very much reminded of being back in Japan riding "log" coasters. many of the school kids were headed out, so we went back over to the Bobsleigh, and rode that, and then finally after so much waiting/teasing, we got in the short line for Megafobia. another dream coaster I never thought I'd ever get a chance to ride. I'm not sure why it has the 2023 on the front - we were there in 2024 and it wasn't any kind of anniversary the year before - so it was odd. . . but I liked the looks of the trains (PTC?) it was great in the front. . and so good, we went back around and immediately got back in line for a back row ride freaking FANTASTIC. after our ride, it was close enough to ERT time, that while several TPR folks went over to Vertigo to ride the Skycoaster, I snapped some pics in the area, rode the Bobsleigh, and got some very good icecream, even tho I recall it being a little bit chilly. Megafobia from the entrance line. eventually it was time for our ERT after park close, and you can easily tell how much I loved this coaster in that I believe I did every ride during ERT.. here's just some proof (and thanks to Elissa & Robb for snagging these pics while we were riding. . and for arranging this wonderful treat. such a fantastic coaster) Group shot in front of the coaster before we head out (pic courtesy of Robb) and then just to break Daniel's heart? Drenched had water running in the flume now. no boats were testing, but it looked like it could open up any minute - tho it never did - and so we headed back to the bus and continued the drive. hope you enjoyed this update. I really liked Oakwood. . . sure, it woudn't be a full day park for someone who just wants thrill rides. But for those that enjoy walking around and the atmosphere? I recommend it. and Megafobia is worth the trip alone!

I'm wondering if Green Lantern gets scrapped or if it gets relocated. I rode it Sunday and honestly it still runs fine. The people who say it hurts and it sucks blow it way out of proportion. Sure stand-ups are kind of uncomfortable by design but Lantern really wasn't that rough and it had a fantastic and intense layout. If it gets scrapped it would be the 2nd B&M to ever be scrapped yet Firebird is still allowed to live on and is total trash (and by all accounts, so is Vortex). I think this would be a great ride to put in a park like Valleyfair or Michigans Adventure where it actually has a chance to shine instead of being overshadowed like it was at Great Adventure.

I've said that Oz is lucky that the sentient being made of metal that lacks a heart didn't decide to go all Terminator on the Emerald City. So, in honor of Wicked part 1 coming out next week: Spoilers for part/act 2.

I think I'd prefer Gravity Group prefab track over Titan Track.

I feel like both arguments are in play here, obviously building a show stopping investment, it will drive up attendance people will come. But to a degree they aren’t going to put that investment in a park that can’t prove it will be worthwhile. We do need to earn it. In my opinion, we did. I hate when people insist “Corporate hates our park” when they really don’t. We have received two flat rides, a coaster and a water park addition all within the past three years. We haven’t actually had an open plot to put a large coaster until tidal wave closed not that long ago. And since then the only small park to receive a half decent roller coaster is Bobcat at Great Escape, which waited much longer than us. Corporate doesn’t hate our park, they just invest in what they see fit. Of course we all would love our park to receive a big coaster, we just need to show up and give feedback. But I do agree that it’s long overdue. We were supposed to revive RMC Boss in 2021, as far as my understanding, the huge layout cut wouldn’t have made it the top coaster it should’ve been. We should get that investment in the next couple of years hopefully, and Six flags is already planning large attractions for 2026, with a coaster already planned for Magic Mountain, and the ride removals at Over Texas and Great Adventure. I hope we don’t see any removals but If we see any, I’d consider it confirmation of a 2026 attraction.

Ahhh, back to the decades old "They (SFSTL) needs to earn it first vs If they build it, they will come" argument. For the record I am in the "If they build it, They will come" camp. This is the very reason why I drive to Cincinnati and Sundusky, Ohio.

I mean look at the face on this thing. High as a kite! Kills me every time

There's so much to do in Saint Louis that I think Six Flags gets overshadowed just about year round. Fright Fest is the exception. It's thrilling. As much as I enjoy family attractions, they're everywhere now. Not to mention, things like Grant's Farm and the Zoo are free. If people want to fork out money, they can go to a Cardinals game or Blues game during the winter. Even soccer has gotten big, since STL is a huge sports town with great fans. You can't forget about City Museum, too. It's hard to compete with the craft brew and bourbon market for adults, since our area is saturated with popular microbreweries and great culinary options. Winterfest gets lost in the mix of the lights at the Zoo, Garden Glow, Union Station/Polar Express etc. Being on the outskirts doesn't help. The Japanese Festival and the Zoo's events absolutely crush Six Flags' quality. We went to some kind of light up balloon fest at the zoo and it was elbow to elbow. You can construct as many future neglected planters as you'd like. Spruce up the shitters. Add some more mediocre restaurants. None of that has been drastically increasing attendance, as far as I know. We need a big ride. Something to bring people to bring thrill seekers to a park that has always been focused on thrill seekers. Joker is a start, but it's a far cry from what needs to happen. KI really started to turn the page after Diamondback and Banshee. It's been a madhouse since Mystic Timbers and Orion. They brought in the crowds first, and then worked on beautification. "Corporate doesn't hate us." There's just not as much potential at our park. It makes money. Consider it the conservative investment that isn't worth fucking with.

I dunno Christmas by the pool seems ok to me The point though is to experiment with new ideas to draw people in and see what is popular and what isn't. They need things that can be enjoyed by all ages to tempt more families to come in together, even if the kids go off to ride stuff that Mom/Dad/Grandma/Grandpa don't want to do. If there are events that include special food, drink, shows, etc. etc. that entices the people with the money in the family (which are not the kids) to stay and spend. There are a whole host of ideas they could try out; back to school foam or beach party the last week of 7 day operation, craft beer festival (and I don't even like beer but it is popular), shark week in June, specialty food festivals like Epcot but on a much smaller more local scale. Or intertwine things like craft beer and whiskey tastings with the festivals. Just some examples, there are numerous possibilities. Some will be better than others but then they can get feedback. If they are putting a focus on entertainment maybe they are already thinking this way. Also, maybe offer some VIP tours with behind the scenes and/or lift hill climbs and/or first ride of the day on something. I think the one at Holiday World has been pretty popular and most gp don't get to do those things. We are just used to it because of thoosie events. Got a behind the scenes inside the volcano once, it was cool, people will pay for it. BUT whatever they do they have to get better at messaging it to the whole area. Talked to a neighbor one day who didn't have any idea that HITP had gone away, which is the exact problem. People weren't attending in droves and as a person that doesn't seek that info out she had no idea. Advertising pays off.

agreed- i don't even want to hear the words Christmas when it is summer. That's the last thing I want to think about.

I bet Green Lantern would fit on the plot of land where Grizzly Run sits. I would love to see it at SFDL