Philrad71

^^ You nailed it, Michael! I have met the coaster nerd that claims to know everything about coasters like he was Dick Kinzel and Ron Toomer's grandchild. Then the ones that are just socially awkward or are just have nothing nice to say about anything. But to counter that, we have also met many cool people at the TPR events too. ^ Ugggh...hopefully Robb has weeded those people out, although I am sure that he did right after the event.

TPR is the only theme park/coaster enthusiast group that I am a part of. If the people you described above are part of that WNY coaster club, I don't see us joining it any time soon. With regards to stopping coasters for people with cell phones, I have seen them do it on Maverick. The good part is that the ride op walked up the lift stairs where you could hear her scolding this person, confiscated their phone and was met with a round of applause when she came back into the station! Then she proceeded to issue the warning that if anyone is caught using their cell phone on the ride, that it could be cause for ejection from the park with no refund. What sucked was that because of the launched lift, it took them about 10 minutes to get everything reset and bring them back to the initial launch point. We were the next riders up, so I had hoped that others gave this tool a razzing when they pulled back into the station. Have to say that it was nice seeing clearly posted warning signs at Six Flags St. Louis where it mentioned instant ejection, no refund and if you had a season pass, you could stand to be banned for an entire year. Good for them, I say...I hope they enforce it too!

^^ I get where Zach is coming from. While we have met some cool people at coaster events, we have also met several that displayed very awkward and bizarre behavior when it came to their passion for theme parks. Not bizarre in a way to where I ever felt threatened, or these people were breaking park rules, but some enthusiasts appear like it's more of a fetish or a generalized obsession than a hobby...if that makes sense? And I certainly am not making fun of them if they could have a mental illness or anything like that. As long as they are friendly, courteous, and follow all park rules, I am okay with it.

Hey folks - had time for a little update after trying to get my yard up to par and attending family events. Back to SfStL... Unfortunately Colossus was closed during our visit. Was hoping to get Michael on this, but I guess that it's waiting on a new part from the manufacturer. A bit of the rapids ride from the train...looked fun, but I didn't do this one. More rapids ride as well as a shot of the best coaster at the park. Someone photobombing my shot of Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast from the Skycoaster - in an awesome sort of way! Mr. Freeze...what can I say about it, but Holy Shit! From the quirkiest loading platform that I have ever seen to the first reverse launch that I have ever ridden....WOW, this literally took my breath away! I love the part when you are going up the tower backwards and when you think that you are at the top, Mr. Freeze says, "Oh no, I'm not done with you just yet" and then proceeds to pull you up high enough to where you question if your going to come completely off the track - and then it just drops you and you free fall and fly through the course facing forwards. This ride was worth the stop alone. And with absolutely no wait (really?), I got to ride in the front, back and 2nd from back without having to walk back through the queue...yay for no wait re-rides! Also got a spin on Pandemonium - this one had a funky layout that I had not experienced on a spinner - a great family ride and a lot of fun! What have we here? A smokehouse and a bar? Yes please! More parks need places like this that have good draft beer AND a fully stocked bar! I had one of the local IPA's (can't recall the name) and Michael got this funky mixed drink that had like ten kinds of booze in it...both yummy! Of course, it wouldn't be a Six Flags day unless you have some sort of really bizarre customer service, so here goes... Earlier in the day, Michael asks if I could get him a lemonade, so I walked into one of the pizza restaurants to get him his drink. There was a women and her two kids waiting on a pizza where you order the food. The two employees were chatting and just ignoring everyone in line. Clearly the women with the two kids was waiting for their food, but one would think that the employees would have helped the next person in line? Nope. So after trying to capture their attention to see if I could continue to the fountain drink area, I said excuse me to the family waiting for their pizza and went to the woman at the cash register and asked if it was okay if I just ordered and paid for a lemonade. She said okay, hands me a cup to fill and asks me if I am a season pass holder? I said "Nope, what do I owe you, Ma'am?" She says "Nothing Sir, have a great day!" So if I were a season pass holder, she would have charged me? I just walked out shaking my head laughing thinking that was the most bizarre thing to ever have happened in a theme part restaurant. I thought that maybe she saw me in line waiting my turn and she felt bad because her co-workers were ignorant slackers? Dunno, but it was certainly an interesting experience to say the least! LOL And we'll wrap up Six Flags Mid America (Sorry, I do prefer that name) with a shot of the park's flume. While a teeny drop, this flume was loooong and wound its way through the woods. And yes, the entire left side of me got soaked after the drop! While this Six Flags is one of the smaller and less recognized in the chain, it still has some great rides and coasters in a beautiful setting in the woods on a hillside. An RMC, hyper or giga would be great for this park, but it still has enough charm and thrills to stand head to toe with some of the other parks in the chain - we're glad that we visited! Up next - onto Branson and Silver Dollar City...thanks for reading!

I rode Boss when it was VERY rough, and Voyage when it was relatively smooth. I don't know if Boss has been extensively retracked since I rode it, but it jackhammered and jolted all over the place. I was holding onto the grab bar on the train and I got weird hand pain from riding it. It didn't detract for me, but if it's smoother that's not a bad thing either. I must have just ridden in one of those jackhammering/jolty seats (or train?) because that is all this coaster did to me after the first drop into the final re-tracked area. When I think of intense wooden coasters, I think of El Toro, Boulder Dash, The Beast (night/front seat) and Ravine Flyer 2. And while BD was a little rougher the last time that I was there, it was still nothing like beat-down that The Boss put on me. I really wish that I had waited it out the front row now, but they were only running one train and it was one of the longer waits in the park on the day that we visited. Maybe next time! Agree with Canobie Coaster and others that Screamin' Eagle is a great classic coaster - I enjoyed my front seat ride. It reminded me a little bit of Hoosier Hurricane, which I found to be the best coaster at Indiana Beach besides the complete, off the wall weirdness that is Lost Coaster Of Superstition Mountain.

Hehe...I was thinking something similar. It's like a cute mini-version of Steel Vengeance! And that's not meant to be a put-down either. So glad to see RMC'ed coasters everywhere! Also love the grab a beer and run like hell signs...awesome!

TT also ran the back car empty when we were there a couple of weeks ago. Luckily I got the back-est seat that I could get...great ride!

Wowwww...this is really interesting. In addition to coasterbill's speculation, I wonder if they will rebrand Ride Of Steel back to Superman? Heck, I think that you could still see the shadow of the name and his outline on the signage for many years after they sold the park.

I was totally shocked that AT was as smooth as it was. I was preparing for something worse than The Boss or Wildcat and walked away feeling totally impressed with that coaster! As for the new turn, yes that was smooth - that and the first lift/drop were fun, but everything else in between was tortuous. Awww...thank you for asking! Michael rode the train with me, but he watched while I rode the thrill rides. While I know that might initially seem cruel for him to have to wait while I ride, he assured me that he is 110% fine with it. He will grab an an ice cream, cold lemonade, or a cold beer while I ride - and he LOVES to people-watch! When we visited BGT in December, SfStl and SDC on this trip, we kept our day in the park relatively short (about 5-6 hours). I would either push him in his wheelchair (SfStL) or we rented an electric scooter (BGT and SDC) so he could bomb around the park without getting too tired. Not that we didn't love theme parks before, but getting to go to one now gives us a new-found appreciation for just being able to go live life and have fun again - or even just being able to watch others have fun. We agreed that it's therapeutic for both of us because we're doing what we liked to do before he got sick. Michael has accepted not being able to ride and even admitted that several of the bigger, faster thrill rides were too much for him even before he got sick. Given that his surgery to remove the cancer in his bile duct resulted in them doing a Whipple Procedure where they end up taking part of the pancreas in what is a very risky (we didn't know this until after the fact) procedure, we are now very reluctant for him to ride anything that moves too fast (that could potentially jostle open his mended organs). They didn't know until they got him open that the cancer had spread into part of his pancreas and liver, so it was a last second decision that I needed to make during what turned into a 13 hour surgery. After the surgery, he had three bleeds where one was a lanced aortic artery as a result of the Whipple, another bleed happened at one of the ports in his chest and then he had a hepatic (major) aneurysm about three weeks after that. Then at least three clots and A-fib from a heart attack (after they nicked the aortic artery). So as painful as it is, we both understand that he is never going to be able to ride a coaster or high speed thrill ride ever again, unfortunately. Our plan for our Saturday at CP a couple of weeks ago was for him to be able to ride the train, antique cars, ferris wheel and Sky Ride with me, but unfortunately that didn't come to fruition on this trip. We do plan on getting back there this summer, if all goes well. Hopefully we'll get warmer weather, Michael will be feeling much better and we can get the scooter and FL+ to make the day enjoyable for both of us. The best news is that he survived all of the horrific setbacks, kicked cancer's ass and is here to tell the story. Granted he (nor I) are the same person that we used to be, but we do have a new lease on life where it proves that you need to enjoy everything on this earth that you can while you have your health, because what you take for granted can change in a heartbeat! That is why it is disheartening to see people complain about things like the Hangtime event at Knotts. Here you have all the fun that you could handle, ERT, free food...and people came on here to complain about it. While Michael and I are people that rarely complained before (unless it was 110% warranted), we certainly have nothing to complain about now because he is here, versus the alternative. And we're going to enjoy every last second of it.

^ Good to know...thanks!

I think that originally when it was called the Game Time Bar and Grill, they had liquor and then the next time we went, they only had beer and wine. When it turned to Chickie and Petes, it was still just beer and wine. It looks like a full service bar, but when I went to get Michael a mixed drink a couple of years ago, they said that they didn't have hard liquor. Perhaps that has changed?

^ Yes, definitely pre-purchase your Arch tickets online to be safe! In terms of the other two coasters, let's see what I have in the vault here... Wait, I thought we were in St. Louis? Check out the wooden version of the Liberty Bell! "All around a water tank Just a-waiting for a train A thousand miles away from home Just a-waiting for'n the rain I walked up to a break-man Just to give him a line of talk He said, "if you got money I'll see that you don't walk." "I haven't got a nickel; Not a penny for to show." "Get off, get off, you railroad bum!" And he slammed the boxcar door They let me off in Texas A state I dearly love The moon, the stars above me...and what else?" All aboooooard! Here you can see Ninja's drop as well as the mine train. While I didn't ride Ninja as mentioned, I did ride the mine train. Fairly standard Arrow mine ride, but I did like the little surprise at the end of the ride. Here is a better shot of the lift hill A little more of Ninja as well as some train theming. The water park had not opened and the pieces for the new Pro-Slide were still in pieces in the parking lot. Glad to see that they are sinking money into a new slide, because the water park looked a little run-down and in need of some TLC. Batman...or at this time, Namtab. Love how close to the ground this gets. Loop De Loopeeeeee! The train passes right around Batman at the front of the park. Several rides in one shot Now on to those two other wooden coasters... This is American Thunder (aka Evel Knievel). To be honest, this was the SURPRISE hit for me at this park! While I knew Mr. Freeze would be awesome, I am a bit hesitant about knowing what to make of any wooden coaster that isn't named El Toro, or was built by RMC, but this coaster delivered the goods! Surprisingly, I found this coaster to be butter smooth and the 14 crossovers and 16 hills were tons of fun! I ended up riding this later in the day as we were winding down. Had I known how awesome this coaster was, I would have hit it first instead of Batman and taken multiple laps! There was literally no line for this coaster and I got a walk-on in the front seat - I will say that a front seat ride is highly recommended! A twisted mess of track and for a coaster that only boasts an 82' foot drop, this bad boy packs a pretty nice punch of smooth laterals and pops of airtime...loved this coaster! Now for coaster #3 - The Boss. I guess that this is the only photo that I grabbed of it, and maybe that was a premonition before I rode it. Going up the lift I thought that the layout looked really cool and that this might be right up there with Ravine Flyer 2. Wrong. Oh man was I sooooo dead wrong. This was probably one of the roughest coasters that I have ridden outside of Son Of Beast and Hurler. Good God mang, this made the old Mean Streak feel like Steel Vengeance in comparison. The first drop was great and the revamped part at the end was decent, but in between I was holding on for dear life hoping that I didn't rupture my spleen or another major organ. This is one of those "ride it defensively" coasters - so be warned. My recommendation for Canobie Coaster would be to wait it out for the front seat and let us know if it's any better than Satan Seat #3. Ouch. We ended up back at the original station at the Super Loop/Ring of Fire/Rolling Thunder/Diablo/Drunk Puking Hangover...or whatever the f&ck this one is called. Was tempted to ride, but decided to skip it. Thanks for reading...more SFStL soon!

^LMAO!! I had the same issue where I got back to the station and my jacket was pulled halfway up my torso. If that doesn't spell crazy airtime, I don't know what would!

^ You're missing the stars in Starry Nights there, guy! Kidding aside, that would be cool if they build a nicer looking stage than it's predecessor and add another show. Now that Michael can't do coasters & most rides, we look forward to shows more than ever. Fire and Ice sounds like an interesting show to have near the beach. I'll be anxious to see this come to fruition!

Thanks for the nice comments and for posting that link - a very interesting read! We were wondering when the renovation would open as the signs said opening in 2017, which contradicts the article stating that it was set to open in 2015. I figured that they must have hit some red tape with funding or something.

Time for some Six Flags St. Louis!! Who doesn't get excited when they see a view like this unfolding before your eyes? Batman is one of the coasters right at the front of the park. Here is the obligatory 'Six Flags' pic as well. You can't tell from the photo obviously, but they are running Batman as Namtab for the month of May! So this was my first coaster of the day and holy sheet was this insane going through the circuit backwards! I normally don't get disoriented on coasters, but this thing was crazy intense. If you get a chance to do one of the Batman rides backwards - do it for an experience that you won't soon forget! I was going to try Ninja despite everyone saying what a POS it is, but it was down when we walked by it and I never made it back to that side of the park. Andrew said that I definitely didn't miss anything. lol Another ride that I didn't mind passing on. Another ride that I chose to pass on. I normally don't mind boomerangs like some folks do, but the line was fairly long and I was looking more forward to riding the woodie (Screamin' Eagle) in the background there. For some dumb reason, I didn't get any decent photos of this classic icon. Luckily, there was only a two train wait for the front car so I was able to nab that. Screamin' Eagle is a classic out and back woodie that sits pretty secluded on it's own in the woods. While there was a little jack-hammering at the bottom of the hills, it gave some really fun floater air at the tops of the hills. This could be a really interesting ride at night. Maybe not quite on the level of the Beast at night, but I bet that it's still a neat experience. Anyone else note the grammatical error on the rules sign where riders board this coaster? The Shoot the Chutes ride had water flowing, but was not open. Another down ride was the Superman drop tower, which was a shame as that was one that I definitely wanted to do. I love me some Intamin drop towers and I am sure the views from the top would have been stunning- given it's location at the top of the hill. I saw it testing at one point, but never saw riders on it. I see you over there, my pretty - the coaster that I was the most excited to ride!!! Part 2 of SFStl coming soon - thanks for reading!

"A drink or TWO!?!" STARFLYER 360: when one drink is too many and a thousand not enough" (Actually, I'm glad I don't live nearby -- I'd probably feel compelled to give it a try.) Alice LOL - I was thinking the same thing! There aren't enough drinks on earth to get me on that Star Flyer, but I would definitely do Icon. Thanks for the report, Adam - any report that has a guacamole photo is always good!

Let's just say that it's now the best part of the coaster after the first drop.

^^ Thank you! You do some great reports yourself! ^ Thanks Bert! We couldn't get up in the Arch because the website said that you needed to be able to walk 90+ steps and that it wasn't wheelchair accessible. Michael wanted me to go alone and I was tempted, but the line was insanely long just to buy the tickets. Actually the entire area around the arch is not handicap friendly, but it looks like that will change once the new part opens. I was bummed that we couldn't even go into the museum or the gift shop without a ticket, so we didn't get our fridge magnet or Christmas ornament like we always like to get when we visit places. But it was cool to see it close-up and at least walk around it and underneath it...it's a very impressive structure!

^ I would be honored to do a TPR event as well. I can't imagine getting so much for nothing and still complaining about it after the fact. From reading some of Mr. Corn's past posts as well as a couple of his trip reports, I kinda sensed that he was a bit spoiled and immature. After seeing his posts on here as well as those Reddit posts, that definitely sums up what I had wondered. And why would someone think that it would be okay to do an on-ride POV despite the fact that it was with a watch? WTF? Any coaster enthusiast with half a brain knows that it is against any park rules to do any type of POV without their prior consent. Despite the fact that I felt a renewed appreciation with regards to people in general after our vacation to Branson, I read stuff like this and think - nope, still a ton of stupid, self entitled a-holes out there!

Nice report! We had a great time when my Dad and I drove out to meet Michael (before he moved to NY) and his daughter, husband and granddaughters at Lake George many moons ago. We camped in the campground just down the street - we really liked the theme park, water park and the surrounding area. It was a great thrill to ride Comet after hearing about the one at Crystal Beach all my life and never being able to ride it. Glad to hear that they are keeping this running smooth as butter - it really is the star of the park!

^ Not at all - everyone can't like the same thing, otherwise the world would be a dull place! Even though I only got one ride on SV, I didn't notice any thigh pain or bruises. I did however, get a bruise on the thigh from riding Outlaw Run about 7-8 times during our visit to SDC. And that isn't a complaint by any means...I just kept re-riding it because it was awesome and there was no line at all!

Hey everyone! A while back, I asked Michael, "Where do you want to go for a vacation in 2018?" Given that he has a thing for visiting presidential gravesites and homesteads, he immediately said, "Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, Ill...and is there any way that we could tie in Branson?" Lincoln's Tomb was the last of the four assassinated presidents of which Michael had not been to their grave, so I knew that it had been a bucket list place for him for quite some time. So in doing that, we also knew that theme parks were going to also tie into this trip because well...we just love theme parks! So when he said Branson, I perked right up, because we all know what famous park resides there...plus they just happened to have a new one of a kind coaster there named Time Traveler. So hell yeah I wanted to go to Branson! Given that I knew Michael would also want to see a couple of shows while there, I went online and booked tickets to see a Patsy Cline tribute concert as that is his favorite singer of all time. For you young-un's that have no idea who Patsy Cline is, she is a country crooner that blazed a path for female country singers like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton (of course, you know HER! ) and Tammy Wynette. While I am not the biggest fan of country music, I do appreciate her music and she really does have an incredible voice. This impersonator was really good too! Giving in to our "Let's cram six days into five", we also scheduled in a stop at the St. Louis Gateway Arch. After a couple of cocktails at our hotel the night before, I used my Club TPR membership to go online to Tickets At Work and pre-purchased last minute tickets for SfStL for the following day - a park that neither of us had been to. Such a beautiful park and one that is one of the more under-appreciated parks in the chain due to it not having a lot of the record-breaking coasters like other SF parks have. Overall, we thought operations were wonderful, the park was super clean and most of the employees were right up there with CP's, SDC or Dollywood... I shit you not, people - this is a really nice SF park!!! After that, it was off to Branson for three nights. Two days at SDC and one afternoon spent sight-seeing and going to the aforementioned show. After our first day at SDC, we even got to hook up with a fellow TPR member, Andrew (better known as ytterbiumanalyst) for a couple of pints at Branson Landing that evening. Thanks so much for coming down from Springfield, Andrew...it was a real pleasure meeting you!!! We also got to see another show that we booked last minute at the Welk resort (where we were staying) called 'The Million Dollar Quartet' which was much like a documentary of the only time that Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis ever performed together. The show was tight and featured a lot of their top hits. The Johnny Cash impersonator was the highlight of the show for me though - this guy NAILED the look and voice of this musical legend! Once we left Branson, we then headed to Sandusky in hopes of me riding the new hotness. Given the "incident" and one train operations, I knew that it was going to be a super long wait. But despite that and the horrid weather, I did get to ride it Friday night (May 11th)...and I will go on record to say that it absolutely lives up to the hype! All I can really say about Steel Vengeance is to go to CP and ride it for your yourself! It shot up to my new #1, but others may feel differently when having their own experience. Although I can't really imagine someone having a negative or even mediocre feeling about the ride after riding it. The ride is relentless from start to finish, but butter-smooth and just a ton of fun to ride with your hands thrown in the air - don't wait, book your trip to CP now!!! While it did turn out to be a bummer because Michael was basically worn down and the weather was absolute crap, CP went above and beyond in our checking out of the Breakers on Saturday versus Sunday. They refunded the cost of the room, our tickets, our FL+ and even the ECV that I had rented for Michael! We were both blown out of the water as we really had already understood the rules and had accepted that we would lose everything that we had booked. The fact that we never asked for a refund for anything but my FL+ ticket (given that they were refunding them because of the SV incident), just reinforced why CP is my #1 park. The addition of SV is just a bonus for a park that literally has everything that one could want, crammed onto a peninsula outside of a small Ohio city. I can't say enough about the friendly staff at this park - they truly are one of the best (if not, THE best) staffed parks in the world. Truly amazing customer service goes a looooong way in my book! So with that said, let's begin our journey, shall we? Given that we were headed to Springfield, it made perfect sense to spend the first night in Springfield...Ohio! We drove through not one, not two, but four Springfield's on this trip. And we didn't see the Simpsons once! But when we saw this place, we knew where we were having dinner - the rays of light beckon us! Sure, we missed Cinco De Mayo by one day, but it didn't matter because the food was still good and the beer was cold and that's all that matters, right? Fast forward to Saturday afternoon and we made it to our first destination! The street going to Lincoln's home was beautiful. Just imagine carriages going down this street back in the day! Here it is in all it's grandeur - Lincoln's home! The home actually had several remodels and additions done during the Lincoln's tenure there. Inside the home. You were allowed to take pictures, but you got a flogging if you touched the walls (original wallpaper)! This was a replica of the vehicle used to bring Lincoln's body home from Washington. The funeral caravan passed through a small town near where I live - Westfield, NY. And here is the tomb - quite impressive! Inside the tomb. Lincoln is actually buried below in a sealed tomb due to some idiots trying to rob his grave. Yes, there were idiots back then too! Now that is one happy guy right there...another destination checked off the bucket list! Fast forward to Sunday morning and we are in St. Louis at the famous Gateway Arch! I have to admit that handicap accessibility wasn't the greatest here, but they were working on a new entrance plaza that mentioned being more handicap friendly. SfStL coming up...thanks for reading!

Always neat to see the behind the scenes stuff like this...thanks for sharing!

Great report, Adam...so glad that you liked your first trip to the park!