jjb297

I was there the morning it broke down and was incredibly surprised how much the mechanic/someone working on the ride told me. Explained the counterweight and how they were testing in the morning. If that happened when people were up there that would be awful. There is a little ladder climbing up the side, but that would be TERRIBLE getting everyone down. It was crazy hot that day too.

So I did buy the flashpass- Platinum actually, and using the flashpass, I was able to ride every coaster they offered on it, plus the log flume, Giant Drop. I did not ride the Rapid ride, King Chaos, bumper cars and Revolution with the flashpass (it was a walk on- I rode without FP), the only other rides offered. The park was packed, especially the water park. Every coaster had a significant wait (Superman looked especially bad), and the only reason I was able to ride Ragin' Cajun was because of the single rider line. With the Platinum pass, basically everything was a 5 minute wait to reserve exce.pt Superman (10 max), so by the time you rode your rode, the next ride was already ready. Short synopsis of coasters in order of riding. Whizzer: really fun 8/10 Raging Bull: very fun, I definitely liked Nitro (at night) better though. 8/10 Viper: unexpected extreme airtime, especially since bars don't close tightly. The turns were a bit jerky, but if you brace yourself using the back of the seat in front of you, this is a great ride. Surprise of day. 8/10 Demon: lame, but at least their was some attempt at theme. I opted not to ride twice. 5/10 Iron Wolf: cool layout w/trees, another ride that was better than I expected, but there was some headbanging. 6/10 V2 short, but fun 8/10 Batman: The ride : the terrain is much better than SFSTL Batman, and it felt different, but I was not up for the intensity at the time and only rode once 8/10 Ragin Cajun: Incredibly painful, but I enjoyed the single rider line. 4/10 The Dark Knight: Nice change after Cajun, I think a lot more could have been done. I didn't see any preshow video or anything, I don't know if they changed it. 6/10 Superman: First flying coaster, getting seated and rotating to the position, pretzel loop were highlights. 8/10 The park, specifically Southwest Territory had theming that I had not seen at any SF park I had been to previously (SFSTL, SFKK, SFGADV). Fun day. Thanks for the advice ^ Airtime&Gravity

Thanks. Question about FP: I called and they said if I reserved at night they would hold until I get there. Is this not true? I figured I would reserve within the next hour (based on responses) and pick up at 2. I have never used flashpasses before so I'm not sure how the pickup works. Ty.

My first time at Six Flags tomorrow. I have a season pass to SFSTL and am stopping at this SF for maybe 6 hours from 2pm to maybe 8. I want to ride Vertical Velocity, Superman, Raging Bull and some other stuff. The waterpark seems fun but I assume it will be crowded. What do you suggest? Is it crowded/has it been recently? I am willing to buy a Platinum Pass, but would a Gold Pass be good enough? Also, do any rides have single rider lines which could help ease the lines. Honestly though, from the pics and stat, SFGAM looks a bit lackluster, what hidden gems should I not miss out on. Superman, Raging Bull are musts for me, but I don't know much else I should definitely dedicate time to. I would appreciate any responses- thanks.

Possibly. Not sure what hidden awesomeness consists of though in a busy mall.

I was expecting an entertainment complex- something new and different. For all the talk Mall of America gets, I did not feel it lived up to its billing. Look at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_shopping_malls_in_the_world Mall of America is sizable- but definitely does not stand alone. I live nearby a mall with about 1/2 the retail space as Mall of America- "many Yankee stadiums full" - but it generates little press. The amusement park is nice, yes, thats why I I was wondering why it got so much press among the general public- especially when the amusement park was faltering just years ago.

Nice report! The city pictures were great. Quick Q: The model cities include New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco... other places/monuments?

I stopped at MOA and I have to say the mall truly disappointed me. What's the difference between Mall of America and a bunch of upscale malls put together? I imagined it to be more like the Mills Mall in St. Louis, with attractions sprawling throughout the mall -not the case at MOA. The theme park itself was nice, and the benches/scenery made it feel like an outdoor park. We arrived at maybe 2 and went to Aces Flight Simulator and got to the theme park at maybe 3:30. From 3:30 to 5:00 I was able to ride 6 rides (once each) before heading to Rainforest Cafe (not recommended) and then heading home. So other than the coaster crazed... why is MOA a tourist destination again... I should have gone to my first IKEA. Attractions: Spongebob- I liked it. The lift hill might be the best part. Avatar- efficient use of space Fairly Odd Coaster- good ride, should be better incorporated with scenery/add theming Orange Streak- nice for what it is- though it clearly limits park space everywhere. Log Flume- I was very impressed- the animatrons were really cool. They should try to put more emphasis on this ride. It was empty when I went while Spongebob/Avatar/Odd Coasters had 15 minute waits. Ghost shooter- not as good as Scooby in STL but still a nice ride. Notes- -nice short que lines -ride operators need to be more cognisant of filling empty seats, especially on Avatar/Odd Coaster +Aces Flight Simulator- - incredibly difficult if you are not familiar with flight simulators -unless you are really into planes I would not recommend it

Thanks guys hahahahah. Well I didn't think it would be THAT crowded since the park is big and their yearly attendance is not all that high. It looks like I will see if we can go Friday night, if not then next time. Maybe we can hit some boardwalk or something.

I am going to LA for my first time for a weekend (family event) over Memorial Day and I have a Six Flags season pass. The day where I would have the best chance to go would be Saturday (approxametely from 12-5). In the past, is it usually crowded on weekends in late May/early June at SFMM? Or if anyone has been there over Memorial Day weekend, was it packed? I am not sure if its worth going if it is real crowded, since we could spend the day with family. And hey this sculpture sort of looks like a coaster:

Cool pictures. One question- did they make you get off and walk around to the entrance each time to ride? You said one time they forgot to release the gates, so I assume you had to walk around? Must have been alot of walking.

Kumba was a bit of a let down based on some reviews (ie. the coaster critic). I didn't see much of the lush tropical jungle it went through. It was still a fun ride nonetheless, but I was expecting it to be a big step up from Kraken, which I thought it was not.

Thats too bad, I only saw people holding and feeding the birds, which was somewhat entertaining. Now I know for next time (if there is one) that I should be go to sites at the "Meet the Keepers" time they give on the map.

To be honest the only show that seemed to really apply to Africa was KaTonga, but we did not really fit into our plans. Once I saw the size of the theater, I sort of wished we had though. Jungala- we saw the tigers but did not go into the Jungle Flyers, Wild Surge and Treetop Trails Area Edge of Africa- walked through it, it was identicle to the zoo Myombe Reserve- didnt go through, just saw the alligators near the entrance Jambo Junction/rest of Nairobi- didn't walk through Bird Gardens- went through, interesting how the birds would just jump to someones finger Like I said, it really felt like the Saint Louis Zoo, and with lines so tempting and short at a park I had never been to, my friend and I mostly skimmed the animal sections. And I would really reccomend the Saint Louis Zoo to you, it is free of charge, and has all the animals plus a carousel. When you say interact with animals, I assume you mean watch them, correct?

I was a guest in Florida with another family, who are not the most enthusiastic about big coasters, but enjoy the animals and smaller rides. Therefore-I was surprised when they chose to visit BGA and came with a different mentality. From all I have heard about the theming and the quality of the BG parks, I have to saw I was a bit dissapointed by BGA. I still had a very good time at BGA, especially since I was not planning on going to the park. There food seems a little more reasonably priced than other parks, and they have great customer service, so I do reccomend the park. From St. Louis, we have a great zoo, so I have to sayI was not all that impressed by the animal exibits. Without seeing out zoo before, I am sure there exibis would have amazed me though. Therefore I can see how some really enjoy the park. What the park needs is more flats that bridge the "excitement" difference between walking and looking at animals and riding coasters. Currently, I would say they have two attractions (not water oriented) that fit the bill: Rhino Rally and the skyride. The river rapids and the tidal wave were both very good, but especially in the winter, these rides are not of those which you could ride multiple times. I was really looking forward to the Pirates 4D, this would definetly seem like a show which could help bridge the gap-it was closed, which was a big disapointment. Here is my ridelist: Gwazi-Lion (2)- middle and back row Shiekra (2)- second row right outside, front row third from right-husky seat Kumba (1)-middle row Montu (1)-middle row Scorpion (1)- middle row Wild Mouse (1) In order to convince my friend to go on these rides, we were not sitting anywhere near the front row. He stood and watched on Shiekra. Flats: River Rapid, Flume, Tidal Wave (1 each) Skyride (2) Rhino Rally (1) Bumper Cars (1) The big attractions we missed were the Phoenix and the Train. It might seem like we didn't do too much in a day (11 30-6 30) but we did alot of walking around and trying to find others in our party, as well as getting to know the park (in some cases it is required to walk quite a distance to get to something just over the fence). Theming: The only areas I was really impressed with theming were Montu, the Tidal Wave ride, and Timbuktu. The theming was noticable everywhere but these were the only places I would say it stood out. All the ride entrances (Montu, Shiekra, Kumba, Gwazi) were very well done though. Ride Notes: Shiekra: For my second ride, I was alone, and a seat was open in the front row. I didn't realize it was the two seat-belt seat/seat for larger people. I am not so small, but I still had plenty of extra room between my thighs and the armsrests. On other rides and my first on Shiekra, the armbar had safely protected my pocket and kept it nice and closed. This time, since I was in the big seat, when we hung on the drop and inversion, I was very much leaning against the restraint. What do you know? My phone popped out. Good thing it was a crappy phone. The funny thing is I just got a phone call from them that they found my phone. And this means that not only did they find it, its working/they have a SIM card reader. I assume it must be working, which is incredible. It is a very hardy phone, and they called today just now, so I still hold the belief that I lost in on the ride-not in the que, as I would have noticed it drop. Good customer service at BGA Short ride, but the front row is pretty incredible, as is the view from the top of the ride. It is so much fun to ride, watch and ride again that it gets a:9/10 Kumba: Not sure how someone could say its better than Kraken. I like the straight/not curved drops better, and other than that, the coasters seem about the same. I liked the tunnel, but Kraken had better elements coming out/underground. 8/10 Montu: Great ride, even though I didn't ride in the front row, it delivered. I was intense, long and used the terrain well. Bests Patriot and Batman both by a good margin. I couldn't tell if I blacked out for a second on this ride or if my eyes fluttered. 9/10 Scorpion: The ride itself was smooth, fast, and fun. The cars looked uncomfortable for tall people, as there was little foot room. It was also just placed in a vacant spot, but what do you expect of such a small coaster. 7/10 Gwazi: I rode the one with the station farther from the ride entrance. Was it lion? I think it was. The other side was not open. The first time I rode it I was in the middle, and it was fine, bumpy as expected, but fun. The second time I was at the back, the ride ran faster, I got more air, but it was way too bumpy. I do not think this was just from the sitting in the back however since others on the ride looked sick afterwards, even if they were sitting in the front. It would have been alot more entertaining if it raced. 6/10 Cheetah Chase: 5/10 Rhino Rally: Though it is somewhat hard to find, this is a great ride and the only animal interaction attraction I was thouroughly impressed by. If you try to block out the guides jokes (I assume every guide tells lame jokes), you will have missed half the fun. The fact that they at one point came up with a corny joke for every 10 feet of the ride is impressive. The water adventure is really something too. Again, the animals did not seem so cool since we were like 100 feet from the path at all times, but the adventure itself was great. I think this was better than the safari ride at AK even if the animal interaction was not as good. 8/10 The tidal wave was good, but if they incorporated a full storyline, it could be very good. The flume was mediocre. The rapids were very good though, one of the top ones I have ever been on. The skyride was also enjoyable. There were way too many bumper cars for the size of the attraction, so that was only ok. They also went slow, which I understand because of the little kids and so many cars, but they were very easy to manuever was was good. If I go again, I think I will try the water park and more animal activities-Rhino Rally again. Good park, I guess I was just expecting more based on how people rave about BGE.

Looks like I might hold this story for another time. Thanks

As an extracurricular, I write for the our high school newspaper, the CHS globe. We publish monthly, and each student is responsible for (at least) one story each month. Our high school is about 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis, and maybe 1500 people read, or at least glance at, the paper. Here is the website for the paper: http://www.chsglobe.com/ (I dont know how the URL button works) For the March Issue, I was thinking of writing a relatively short (700 word) story about a preview for the 2010 Coaster Season. Six Flags St. Louis opens in early April, so the March Issue would be the latest I could really preview the year (not only talk about Six Flags, but also about Harry Potter's World at IOA and other new stuff). I don't think I know enough about coasters to do a column, so I felt a simple newstory might run better. Then again, if I cannot find any quotes, I will just have to come up with some other lame story idea for March and hold a coaster story for next year. If anyone is interested (specifically a coaster expert like Robb or Elissa) in providing a quote for the story, please let me know. Then I could email you a few questions, or I guess chat in the chatroom or have a phone interview. I was thinking that I could maybe get 2 people willing to give me 10 minutes of their time, and if any others wanted to contribute, it would be a bonus. Thanks so much- Jake

Pretty much as you said. Nice ride, but does not fit in to the Boomers place at all. No lines. My family wanted to hurry so I only rode once. I probably could have rode twice but it would have cost 12 dollars-as much as riding all day. I rode in the back as the front was taken. The bar leaves plenty of room, and at first I questioned the attendant if it was too much. I expected it to be pretty rough but it doesn't come close to the roughness of Timber Wolf or that sort. I rode at night, and the lights looked nice. It would be cool if they slowed the train on the lift so people can see the surroundings. Good airtime, and it has some very nice drops. The double down was fun, and it would be great if it was a bit steeper. It's not stellar because it is a a bit rough, short and lacks one incredible moment. Overall, a quality coaster.

I had a pretty extensive trip report where I had alot on this topic. I too, concluded that I liked SFSTL better. Here is the link: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52452&highlight=

Is it worth the 1 hour stop at Boomers to get a ride on Dania Beach Hurricane? I have a packed trip (no other parks), but would be able to go on a Sunday over this Holiday break for maybe an hour. I am not so much of a coaster-credit freak, but if it is a good coaster, I would be willing to stop. 12 for an all day pass is not awful compared to Roller Coaster in Las Vegas, but still not cheap. If I do go, should I expect lines on a Sunday over Christmas Break? Thanks-

#50 was Nitro if I don't count any small coasters which I am not sure if I have ridden. If I did ride Toronto Island Monster @ Centerville Amusement Park (which I should remember, so I probably did not ride it), then #50 would be Bizzaro. Neither Nitro nor Bizzaro would be bad milestone coasters.

An old topic, but I feel that Patriot has the best color scheme. I love the white lining on the coaster. The white lining with the red looks fantastic.

Why do parks continue to look into the region? I am from STL, so I think its great, but our market already has a park, two more parks only three hours away (Beech Bend and Holiday World) and three parks four hours away (SFKK, WOF, SDC). I understand the only other parks that really draw from the area are HW and SDC, but its still surprising parks keep looking to build a park in places like Pinckneyville, IL (nowheresville). I don't think these parks will be built and will get any farther than opening discussions.

^Thanks for all the help Yoshifan, its too bad I didn't put it too good use I rode everything after 7 30 and Nitro at about 7 59, so they may have taken the other trains off when it started to rain harder at 7 10. El Toro possibly could have been running two coasters, but I don't think so. When I got to Bizarro and Nitro, they definitely running one each.

Trip Overview: The idea was that I was planning to go to SFGADV on Friday, October 16 for the majority of the 6 hours they were open (5-11). This plan was changed by spending 1.5 hours at the new Wegman’s in Collegeville (awesome) and a few other errands. All told, we got to the park by 7 30. I assumed it was not to be too crowded since there was off-and-on rains, it was pretty cold (upper thirties probably), and it was a Friday night. The weather report I saw said the rain would stay very light all night, so I did not whatsoever expect the park to close. And least important, it was going to be my first real Photo TR, but this did not happen. We called the park at 7 15 to see which/if any rides were closed (I assumed Kingda Ka) and they informed us the park was closing at 8 00. I was planning on calling earlier, but I forgot. In some ways I am happy we did not call earlier, since we may not have gone to the park (as we probably could not have made it out any earlier). They told us they were closing for weather and attendance at 8 00, and at 7 00 it was not even raining, so I was suspicious it was just for attendance reasons. Needless to say, I was a little upset, as I am from St. Louis and this was to be my first time at the park. We get to the park, ran in and headed to the left to El Toro. Someone said Kingda Ka was running, but I was not sure what to believe as others said it was closed, I did not see/hear it running and I did not think it ran in the rain. After asking multiple people, we found El Toro. Then we heard Kingda Ka was closed, so we headed on the walk to Bizarro. All these treks between/to rides were long. Then, we had 13 minutes left until 8 00, and I was not sure whether to head to S:UF or Nitro. Since I saw that Nitro was on the other side of the park, and did not know how far this was, I was a little nervous in risking a last ride. We decided to run/walk to Nitro anyway, and after again asking people for directions and following a group of people, made it with 3 minutes until 8:00 for the last train of the night. Since we had 30 minutes, and all coasters were running 1 train, there was no way I was going to wait for a certain seat. Coaster Reviews: El Toro: I rode this while the rain was still coming down pretty hard, and we sat in the third row to the back. It was so intense, even the lift hill. That first drop was crazy, it just kept going. The speed of the ride was incredible, but in my opinion, the airtime in great, but the first drop is definitely the best part of the ride. I don’t think any coaster has achieved perfection (El Toro has no scenery or theme), but I give this the highest rating of any coaster so far. 9.5/10 Bizarro: Before Bizarro, I had ridden two B&M sit down looping coasters, Kraken and Wildfire. I was not expecting a lot of this ride, but was very surprised. I thoroughly enjoyed the theme on Bizarro, the sound could have been improved, but I think it enhanced the ride. The flame throwers were cool, as were the shields, mist and the buildings. The ride itself ran well, with the Zero-G roll being the best part. The only real negative was that there was a little shaky section was on the Cobra Roll (not so bad). I think the non-curving drops on B&M loopers are more intense, but the drop was still very fun. I would not classify the ride as that intense, which in some ways is a good thing, as it caters to a lot of people. My dad really enjoyed the ride. 9/10 Nitro: I can in with high expectations for my first B&M hyper, and for the most part, I was not disappointed. If I sound harsh, it is because I am talking of the places where I was disappointed, but I enjoyed the ride very much. I sat in the 3rd to last row, as the first two and back two rows were filled. The ride was a good night ride as it leaves the main area of the park, which El Toro does not really do. I also enjoyed the seats as the rider feels very open. The first drop was great, as was the trip until the turnaround, which I think could be made more interesting. The way back provided some good floater air, up until the helix. The helix added some variety to the hills, and was pretty intense. The little hills up until the helix and after did not do too much for me. And, honestly, what’s the point of a MCBR with like 90 percent of the ride done (I understand the need of brakes, but why so late)? Compared to the other hypercoaster I have ridden, Mamba, it is a much better ride since it does not quit on its “ride home.” However, Mamba felt faster but I assume this was since I rode Mamba in the very front. Nitro and El Toro seem like very similar coaster (yes, I know they are of different construction wood/steel), with El Toro being the more intense. 9/10 (better than Bizarro) Comments: It’s not bad I did not have a coaster shirt on (I don’t have one), since with so few people there, and with me hitting the big rides that were open, I very well could have run into other forum members or park enthusiasts. I was also told by a person riding Bizarro that the Ride Op earlier told him that the park closed by 8 00 if they did not have the required 2,000 visitors. Is this true? I know it was empty, as even the big coasters were walk-ons with a one train operation. I will add pictures and possibly some more comments later this week…