SFZIP

I don't know the current attendance for the middle or lower level SF parks (I do know SFSL's), in the past you could get the estimated (fairly accurate) information from Amusement Business magazine, when it was in business (I found a lot of back issues from various library database searches that are available on the internet, you can also do various searches for old newspaper articles that had attendance data in the past, when it was more easily available, using library searches as well).

I don't believe for a second that anybody in SFSL management went to SF corporate requesting that a 24 year old Boomerang could be moved to this park (nor would SFA request Apocalypse last year, etc.), this addition was directly from Six Flags corporate (it has already sort of been a tough sell for the park, which is why the park is pushing the coaster capital marketing along with the ride). Also, the part about the Carousel is that SF current and previous corporate management will never give the park the proper budget to rehab the Carousel to the point where local management has basically given up (corporate has to care about the condition of their parks and there a lot of "holes" in several SF parks that continually seem to go unnoticed/not really cared about and as I said before if corporate doesn't say that the park can fix the problems, then there will continue to be quality problems in the SF parks).

People can continually complain about the additions that the park receives and hope for better in the future, but the actual problem is that SF corporate in the past and currently does not really care that much about SFSL (and a few other of the mid-to smaller parks). SF is has been managed badly corporately for a number of years, from Premier to Shapiro to today's management team (several of them having no theme park experience) yet somehow running a theme park company (people/investors can think that everything is great today, but SF is currently micro managed like they have never been before). The parks have very little control over what is done and what is not done. Six Flags currently has no COO (Weber retired last year and has never been replaced), you can read reports from every park about poor/cheap operations and there are numerous reasons why (a lot of it has to do with spending/hiring the proper amount of people and properly training them). I'm a little tired of everybody complaining about their local park and how they are treated, the parks are basically corporate puppets now a days that can only do what is directed from corporate, most of the people working at your local Six Flags park have a lot of theme park experience and probably would like to do thing differently but aren't allowed to (SF is just a cheap company that wants to spend as little as possible). In the past Six Flags St. Louis has been poorly developed at different times throughout it's history. During the 70's/early 80's this park got several major additions (Screamin' Eagle, Sky Chuter) that were record breaking additions and the park was very popular at that time. In the late 80's and early 90's the park got cheaper/used additions several years (Colossus was used, Ninja was used), the park got Tidal Wave several years after the other Six Flags parks did, it didn't get anything in 93 or 94 - it was the only SF park not to get a Batman Stunt Show that was introduced at this time. The park did get major additions from the mid to late 90's (Batman, Freeze, HH and The Boss), attendance at this time was close to 20% higher than it is today. Since 2001 the park has added - Scooby (modified ride), Xcalibur (used), Superman (used), remodeled kids area, Pandemonium (same as WOF), American Thunder, Sky Screamer, Boomerang (used/same as WOF), 3 water rides in that time frame and 3 years of nothing new. Attendance during the summer is basically like a 50/50 split or maybe a 60/40 (theme park to water park), so whenever people want to say that there are a lot of people in the water park that is true, but the park always had much higher attendance during the 90's (without the water park). The park is not really conveniently located when compared to where most people live in the St. Louis area, so a lot of people today may need a reason to drive "out to the park" and there really hasn't been a major reason in a long time. The park's Carousel is going to turn 100 in a few years and in the condition that it's currently in is pathetic for a major theme park (you will always hear the money excuse), but why is it that every other theme park has a carousel that probably looks better than this one. How many major theme parks allow a ride (Hannibarrels) to sit SBNO for 15+ years? How many major theme parks don't have a small kids coaster (the park did in the past but removed it and didn't replace it)? The problem that all of these issues with the park all come back to one major thing and that is Six Flags corporate doesn't want to spend the proper amount of money to make their parks look like they could/should and until that philosophy changes you will basically continue to see what you see today.

I don't think that the Boomerang train is even on the ride yet (unless it was put on in the last couple days), so you can't test a ride if the train isn't on the ride (the train was painted bright yellow, how bad is it going to clash with the bright orange and green?), it still won't open for another 5 weeks no matter if it's ready before than or not.

Six Flags St. Louis will not be running the Charter wrapped train that Flashback was running whenever the ride closed in Texas, but will be using the black/red stripped train that also came with the ride (which had the Flashback logo on the nose). I don't know if this is the original train that the ride had whenever it opened or not (the ride was originally painted red and black track when it opened in 1989), the trains colors would have matched the ride, what color is the train that has the wrap on it? I don't think that there is any difference between the two trains at all, so why would they go back to the original train (if that is what it is), instead of the one that SFOT was running (that might be newer), wouldn't it have just been easier to buy a new one.

The loop was actually put up a few days ago (I said it on the last page), the pictures just went up today. Anyway, the way that the back supports were shortened is interesting, there is a black band not very far up from where they are attached to the footers (you can sort of see it in the last photo taken from the Eagles' lift hill). It looks like that the supports were painted completely in Texas (full size) and then they were cut here in St. Louis and then welded back together (which is what the black band around the supports is), I find it a bit odd that that they cut the bottom of the supports out and not the top part of the supports. The whole way the ride was put into the park is a bit weird, from the two different levels that the ride was built on, to the massive cobra roll footers that make the ride look a lot taller than it really is, it still wasn't the greatest thing that the park could have got, but it is a unique Boomerang now.

The loop on Boomerang was put up today, so all track work appears to be done (except for the evac. platform stairs), still have no idea which of the two trains the park has received will be running on the ride. Since I doubt that the Sound Stage theater will ever be used again, I would like to see new bumper cars replace it, along with some kind of a circular family flat ride to replace the Hannibarrels next door. There are no rides anywhere on the path from Ninja all the way up to Mine Train which is a long distance and the middle of the park is one of the deadest areas in the park. The park needs to get a kiddie roller coaster (either new or move it from another SF park, SFMM has 3 of them), which could go somewhere in the middle "dead section" as well, maybe where the Caboose/old rock wall was located, across from Mooseburger. I don't know if Xcalibur is dead for good or not, it didn't run from sometime last summer through the end of the season and hasn't opened yet. Eventually the park may need a replacement for Xcalibur, the Rush Street Flyer is also becoming more difficult to keep running and since there are only two Enterprises left running at SF parks, the Highland Fling may not last much longer either.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas is the Six Flags park that is most similar to Six Flags St. Louis is terms of market size and likely attendance (it was in the past, don't know SFFT current attendance). It is the reason that both parks received Scooby-Doo rides the same year (2002), got Tornado the same year (2006), got Tony Hawk's the same year (2007), got Sky Screamer rides the year after each other (2011/2012). The issue with comparing the two parks is that Six Flags St. Louis is 20 years older and is not the "complete park" that Six Flags Fiesta Texas is whenever you compare the two. When people bring up the excuse that corporate won't spend money on parks that don't bring in the numbers, I'll state the fact again that in the history of Six Flags St. Louis, when something really major was built attendance sky rocketed for that season (but the attendance would usually fall back the next year), which is a problem. Six Flags St. Louis has one the highest percentage of season pass holders in the Six Flags system (not very many people travel to SFSL as a destination) and to continue to spend only a couple million a year (which is what has been spent from 2009-2013) on improving the park doesn't send a really good message and in today's world you cannot hide the fact the Boomerang is a 24 year old outdated ride.

You can get paintball information here, it looks like it will be using all of the dump/boneyard area of the park (4 courses). Apparently it will be open for group/private events year around, you can sign up to play at Axis arcade when the park is open (how much to play, I don't know), it is being treated as a lessee/sponsorship attraction and is not being run by Six Flags.

The two large footers at the end of the cobra roll are right against the wooden fencing that was already there, you can't go around the ride at all, only under the cobra roll on your way up the hill towards Superman/Screamin' Eagle. Both of the trains the park received are the two Flashback trains that were at SFOT, at sometime they must have replaced the original train (probably the black/red trim one) with another one of the same trains from another park, which would be the wrapped ad train it was running (I'm still going to guess one of trains is the old Vampire train from SFKK), whichever train the park will be running, is going to need quite a bit of work done to make it look good.

You can use the Google street view http://goo.gl/maps/59Ot5, to look at the area before (they didn't go up the hill past the bumper cars, so you can't move that way), the tall footers at the SkyScreamer side of the cobra roll really stand out (they may be 5 or 6 ft. high, since the ground the ride was built on is not really very level at all). Shortly after the ride was announced, there were markings in front of the break a plate game and around the lift turnaroud of Tidal Wave, which I thought meant that would be where the cobra roll was going to go, but maybe because of all the rock that had to blasted out they may have changed the placement of the ride (maybe the ground wasn't steady enough if the ride was turned more towards Tidal Wave, but I don't really know).

The only part of Boomerang left to be put up is the loop, the cobra roll appears to be done. Superman is being repainted with the same yellow, blue and red colors but the way the ride is being painted appears to be changing since the second piece down from the top which was red is now bright yellow. Since Superman is I think six pieces and then the top piece, it was painted in a 3-2-1 paint scheme going up, so maybe they are just doing a 2-2-2. The new paintball course will likely not be open to the public, but sounds like it will be sort of a private event you can add to a corporate picnics or some other group event that you could maybe add on while at the park, it may be an upcharge attraction for Fright Fest, but doesn't appear to be one for the regular operating season.

Actually the black train with the red stripe on it matches the old Ninja train at SFOG perfectly, so it probably came from there and not the spare Flashback train that SFOT had in their boneyard.

The park received another train that is black with a red stripe on it, along with the trains that Flashback was running in Texas (ones that are in the parking lot). Whenever the ride opened in 1989 it had a black and red paint job and sometime in the late 90's it was repainted to the blue and pink paint it had until it closed, so I would think that the black train is probably the original train the ride ran in 1989. I think that the other train may be from the Vampire from Kentucky Kingdom, whenever the ride was moved to SFNE in 2000 it got new trains in New England, so the old train was probably sent to Texas for parts, but I don't really know. I believe that Six Flags St. Louis has 5 80's model Arrow trains at the park right now for use on Ninja, Boomerang and for parts.

Both of the lift hills are up and so is the station track, I would think that the loop will go up next (maybe by the end of the week) and then the cobra roll last. The ride is about as tall as the two bottom sections of Superman, you can see it from outside the park now, they removed several trees that were next to Rush Street (so you can see the ride from the area in front of the Mine Train), when the trees that are left have leaves on them, the ride may blend into the area more, but it's very noticeable right now.

Vertical construction on Boomerang has started, there are several orange supports up and lots of the pieces have been moved from the parking lot, so the ride will probably be built pretty quickly now (the opening date for the ride has not changed and it won't change from June 1). Apparently the park is going to get a new attraction for 2013, in the form of an actual paintball course, that will go in the field behind the family raft slides in Hurricane Harbor and behind the exploding shack that is along the railroad tracks (near Batman), how much it will cost and how it will be incorporated into the park, I have no idea and how people won't get hurt playing paintball at the park is something I don't know either.

Ninja has a 3rd train that is already a parts donor and I believe that the Boomerang train is identical to Ninja's, so parts could come from that 3rd train for both rides. I think somebody said that SFOT has an extra Arrow train as well (I think it came from Flashback at SFNE whenever it was moved from SFKK, since that ride got a new train when it was moved), so it could also be used for parts for Boomerang (which is probably why it's in Texas in the first place). In some other park news, Superman: Tower Of Power will be repainted soon and should be done before opening day. Six Flags could have already marketed the park as the "Coaster Capitol of Missouri" if they wanted to, SFSL has had more roller coasters than WOF for quite a while, and has always had more than SDC.

There are several pieces of bright green track at the park (showed up late last week and are coming in daily), along with a lot of orange supports, all being stored in the preferred parking area of the parking lot. The ride will not open until June 1st, because that is what Six Flags corporate wants, the ride will likely be done long before that and based on where the pieces are being stored they will either have to be moved somewhere else before opening day or most of the ride would have to be done by then (because I don't think they can stay where they are and have the park open, since they are basically right outside the front gate area).

There not done yet, but none of the supports that are where the bumper cars were located are nearly high enough to make up the difference between the two "levels" that the ride appears to being built on (it not a slope, appears to be just a sheer drop off from the back support footers down to the loop/station area), so what's exactly going to happen I don't know.

A few updates on Boomerang, orange supports have arrived at the park and most of the footers have been poured (the back supports for the two spikes are right next to the Eagle's first drop on the same level the Screamin' Eagle is at, the rest of the ride is basically down "a level" on the same ground level the Bumper Cars were). In other words the site for the ride is not completely level like every other Boomerang I've ever seen, so I would guess that the back supports will be modified (shortened maybe? or possibly more added since the spikes should be over the Screamin' Eagle when the ride is done). The ride will not open until June 1st. I know that the size is off, but this is basically how the ride should look when it's done in the park (you should be able to walk under the cobra roll) on your way up to Rush Street, Superman, etc.).

^ I think that it got hacked and since nobody was really running it, it's likely done for good. While fixing The Boss (cutting down maintenance costs) is a possibility, what point would there be when SDC is already getting the same thing this year?, it would make about as much sense as adding the same roller coasters that WOF already has (which this park has done twice recently).

I'm talking about Six Flags current management (2011, 2012 and 2013 additions), not the former management of Shapiro who wanted the new additions to be open on opening day. I'm not going to look them all up, but how many SF new additions opened before Memorial Day weekend in 2011 or 2012 (the answer is not very many) and some didn't even open until June, things won't change this year so don't go on opening day and expect to find the new ride open.

Flashback won't be shipped to St. Louis until early February and the ride (along with almost all of Six Flags new 2013 additions) will not open until at least Memorial day weekend, this is sort of a Six Flags corporate policy to generate more interest about the rides and to force season pass holders to make an extra trip if they want to ride the new rides. All this debate about weather or not this park deserves a large ride or not does not make a lot of since if you look into the past. SFSL has only got 2 million in attendance three times in the parks history (all were when large additions were added) - Screamin' Eagle (1976), Batman (1995) and Hurricane Harbor (1999). Currently, if you live in the middle of Illinois what reason would you choose to go to SFSL over driving to Holiday World or even to SFGAm. and if you live in the middle of Missouri why wouldn't you go to Silver Dollar City or Worlds Of Fun? I'm not convinced that the park necessarily needs a super huge ride, the park really could use about 3 flat rides, a kids only roller coaster is needed (it's the only Six Flags park without one), building anything unique to the area would likely generate more interest the the Boomerang will or already has. I believe that this is the only one of the 10 Six Flags branded U.S. parks that doesn't have at least one roller coaster that cost at least $15 million to install (the highest ever spent on one addition was Hurricane Harbor at $20 million). Back in the 90's this was the only park to not get a Batman Stunt Show (I know Astroworld only got a water stunt show), but instead this park got the much cheaper Robin Hood Stunt Show. I think that the Boomerang will be the oldest ride ever moved within the Six Flags system in the 50+ years it's been around (the only ride I can find that was older was when Greezed Lightnin' when it was moved to SFKK, but the ride was in pieces for 3 years between it's move from SFGAm. to SFOG and for a year between it's move from SFOG to SFKK), so i guess you can debate if it's older or not. This park has now basically now fallen to a level that is basically even with Six Flags America (it shows in the amount that has been spent on new capital in the three years since the new management has taken over). I like to group Six Flags into a 3-2-3-2-3 class of parks. The big three are SFGAm., SFGAdv. & SFMM; then - SFOT & SFOG; then - SFNE, SFFT & SFDK; then - SFSL & SFA; then the "others" - SFM, La Ronde and The Great Escape.

The video was probably taken late last month, there is footer work going on but no track, supports or the train has ever showed up in St. Louis yet. The back spikes are going to be at top of the hill (right next to the Screamin' Eagle 1st drop) and the cobra roll is going basically where the bumper cars building was, the ride is not angled towards Tidal Wave like I had previously thought. If you watch the video part of the bumper cars building shell (towards Superman) is still standing which I would assume will be part of the que area, the back spikes are going to be really close if not over part of the Screamin' Eagle (the area blown up in the video would have to be where most of the ride would be located, station, loop, etc.).

Six Flags never stated that the ride would be ready opening day, very few if any new Six Flags additions are ready for opening day anymore (corporate doesn't think it's really necessary). As has already been stated the ride is still laying in Texas basically all painted by now, it likely won't ship until the new year, so no major construction will happen in St. Louis until then. In St. Louis the Bumper Cars building is completely gone along with most of trees behind it, the area is just dirt. Since there was never anything really released on the exact location of the ride, see the street view of the park of the location here, from this view you will be looking directly at the boomerang part of the ride (it's basically behind the break a plate game, which may still be removed), with the lift hills up behind the pizza place next to Superman, the ride is at basically at a 45 angle when compared to the bumper car building, station/line is across from the Rush Street Flyer.