bert425

^ hey, 2lbs is 2lbs. that's great

really good report! I'm not familiar with this park, and would love to check it out someday.

very welcome, and glad you're liking my TR. I've honestly been on rougher coasters and enjoyed them. if it hadn't been for that 1 lateral that caught me in the side, I likely would have ridden it again. but the truth is, there are two better (one, American Thunder), MUCH better coasters right there in the same park. So I would rather ride those more instead. I wish Excalibur had been open, I would have loved to try it out. Oh well.. if we ever get back! LOL. . . no, it was that awful transition from the 2nd loop into the corkscrew! it's burned into my memory, I remember it well.. . LOL

really great report and pics. Lightning Run certainly looks like a ton of fun. Storm Chaser looks so naked tho. . surprised there's not more landscaping around it.

I don't know how much more it could slow it down, but that lateral still slammed me pretty good

My Brother has (mistakenly) joined Team TPR, while trying to donate to my page. . . LOL he's not going to be at the event, and at the end of the day, his $30 donation still goes to this fantastic charity. and since he joined Team TPR - even tho in error -- his donation counts towards the team total: so we're over $1600 ! yay! EDIT: C4K "fixed" my Brother's error, so now Team TPR coasting at Fiesta Texas is accurate. oh, and earlier this evening? we passed $2K in the Team TPR donation for Coasting For Kids at SFFT!

Larry - in case you wanted a closer pic of the Supergirl sign (from our trip to SFStL a few weeks ago) and a couple of things from the Screamin Eagle queue

so glad to see your thread roar back to life! great report, and tho I've been going to Atlanta for over 25 years (Dragon*con), it wasn't until last year that I finally made it to SFOG. This year (Labor Day), I've already arranged with Friends that we are blowing off the Monday/Labor Day of Dragon*con and going to SFOG. Yeah, it will be crowded, but we're doing it! so glad you had a good time, and I think the new paint on Scorcher looks amazing. Especially compared to what it looked like when I was first there last year. 3 hours isn't too far of a drive for Rampage, but not sure I'll be able to squeeze that in on my upcoming visit to Atlanta. noting for future visits tho. great pics, thanks for sharing.

Nice to see this report. . not sure how I missed it in 2017, but glad you updated so it popped back up to the top. the Carousel is lovely at Eldridge Park, and very reasonable too at only $1 a ride. although I totally understand the reasoning for the plaques under the horses - and bravo to those folks who donated for the restorations and therefore got the plaques - it always is a little disappointing to see, as it takes away from the "classic" feel of the ride. (I see in the background, a wall of doners. . surprised they didn't do that instead of putting names by each horse on the Carousel). That's just nit-picking tho, it's absolutely lovely. did you ever find out the answer to your "brass ring" question? In my experience (as a Carousel lover), tho would look to Laura to back me up here . . . . Traditionally: the brass ring would be run closer to what is being done here at Eldridge, although in each cycle there would be two or 3 times the ring will appear to try and grab it. i appreciate greatly what Knoebel's does, which let's so many people get the opportunity to get a ring. But traditionally, it was only offered rarely during the ride, and that's why it was such a big deal to get it

thanks! i don't recall it being FULL STOP. . but it was awfully close to it. Slowed us down to an itsy, bitsy crawl . . .I didn't mind, as that was just after that hellacious lateral, I think. yeah, SO hilly! going towards Ninja, and up to the mine train were the worst of the hills, but going up to Screamin' Eagle was no picnic. that makes sense. thanks yeah, I don't mind a long queue, but as I said, SFStL *really* makes you work for it. That Freeze queue is EASILY double the SFOT one (and that one is mainly indoors). and remember, I bypassed the indoor section because I was using flash pass. we didn't get Night Rides only because it got dark so late there - it still wasn't full dark when we got back to the hotel after 8:45. Nick wont' really let us stay at a park till close anymore - not after we got stuck in the cluster that was getting out of SFOT when we stayed till close, and it took us over 40 minutes just to get out of the lot! Tho if I'm on my own, I tend to stay later, but rarely to close. I'm old, I just can't do it! I'm at SFFT on Sat for Coasting for Kids, and it's gonna be an 8:30am-10Pm park day (for us), and I will be lucky if I make it past 5pm. (keep in mind, I have the 1 1/2 hour drive before/after as well to get back home). I'd love to stay to see the fireworks, but not expecting to . . will just have to see how it goes!

Day 3: Six Flags St. Louis Part 2 After the great time on the flume, we continued up the path to pass by Shazam, which Nick didn't want to ride. I wouldn't have minded riding, since the Scrambler at SFFT has been closed for a long time. But with Nick out, and Kim not doing "spinny" rides (see her explanation a few posts ago ). . . as well as it not being on Flash Pass? I bypassed it, and instead we went over to Mr Freeze: Reverse Blast - which WAS on Flash Pass. Nick and Kim sat on a bench at the restaurant near the entrance, and I booked it and began the long trek up the Flash Pass / exit. Now, it didn't LOOK like this one had a very long line (starting just outside of the building), but it was running only 1 side, so the line was moving slowly. I was very glad to bypass what appeared to be a large chunk of the line that was there, although it still took me over 20 minutes (probably closer to 25 minutes) for what should have been a fairly quick ride. Besides the 1 train operation, what caused delay was 1 train had to stop and someone removed after finally getting the restraints locked, and the train moved out to the launch area, when the overhead operator spotted someone pulling out a phone. So they stopped the ride, brought the train back to the gates, unlocked all the restraints - and then there was an argument about the person not wanting to leave the train because they "had waiting in line and were gonna ride" I don't think security actually showed up, but the threat to call them was made, and the person, and the two others with her left the train and stormed out. also adding time, was an ADA holder who came up the exit while this was going on, and instead of being let into the station to join a seat queue (as I had been directed to do with my Flash Pass, so I went to front row queue), he was let right thru the exit into the emptying train when it arrived back. . . and of course, went directly to the front row. (i had already paired up with a young lady who had been riding alone, but she climbed into the seat next to the ADA guy, so I was a solo rider again and had to wait for the next train). anyways. . . not really complaining, just explaining. The ride was just as fantastic as the one at SFOT is, and I loved it. but even with the FP, no way was I going to make Nick (and Kim) sit and wait for me to ride again, so once I finally got done and walked way back to where they were, was ready to move on. and I'm not exaggerating how slow the line was moving - when I got back and was telling them why it had taken me so long (w/ Flash Pass), two little girls who had been sitting at a the next table came over and were very worried about their parents, who had been in the line for "an hour" and were worried. Now, I'm sure it wasn't an "hour" but Kim did go into Mom-Mode to reassure them and we both directed them to go talk to an employee that was at the main entrance (telling folks about 1 train operations, I think?). We walked off across the plaza towards Justice League both feeling really bad that we couldn't do more to console the girls (who sounded Australian maybe?). But I think we did what we could. Nick wasn't wanting to ride Justice League, as he didn't really remember what it was from our prior time at SFOT - but once we explained to him that it's a dark shooting ride with moving cars, he acquiesced. Besides, it had NO outside line, to which Kim kept saying - I've never seen it with no outside line. But when we got in the queue, and began to pass several folks exiting out of the line, we thought it had broken down. Nope, as we got towards the main doors, we saw the sign that noted "this ride is operating with limited capacity" The line was just inside the doors, but was not moving, or if it WAS moving, it wasn't visibly moving. which explained why folks had been leaving the line. Nick was ready to move on, but I pointed out to him that this ride was on FP, and his ADA was good for a +1, so let's do that to bypass the line. I booked it, and we went out of the queue and thru the exit ADA/flashpass entrance, and thru the giant waste of indoor space (that Kim said was where they used to sell the On-ride photos), and checked in with the employee at the exit gate. she was *super* apologetic, but said she had to fill the next 4 cars before she could get us on since they were operating at such limited capacity (I think she said they were running 5 cars only). Which was perfectly OK with us, and worked out really well, as another group of 3 with ADA pass came in right behind us and since the cars seat 3 + 3, it worked out perfectly that we just went into the next Open car that came. All in all, I think we waited maybe 8 minutes? (against an easy 50 minute line) so yeah, just for Freeze & Justice League (even tho only got 1 ride on each), was TOTALLY worth it for the Flash Pass. after that ride, we headed back to the train for a full lap of the park, since we had only done 1/2 way around earlier. This time I was determined to sit on the other side of the train to get some better pictures of American Thunder. WHEE!!! These were pretty cool - in the Train station, they have some of the old Ride Vehicles from the old Powder Keg (an Intamin Drunken Barrels ride). . which had apparently been SBNO since 1997 until 2013 (really? wow!) but it was cool that 4 of the old ride vehicles were in the train station to sit in - and take "fun" pictures of as well, of course! we hadn't gotten the timing correct this time, so had to wait a little bit for the train, but it was OK as we were sitting, in the shade, and were able to check in for our flight the next day while waiting for the train. Kim also told us a bit more about the history of this area of the park. sitting on the "correct" side of the train, I was able to get a good pic of the hilariously short Arrow Moon Cars. It's cool that it goes under American Thunder - and we learned that there used to be a much longer route, but it had been seriously shortened for the construction of that coaster. the "rest" of the Moon Cars track. really?? that's it? Couldn't get the timing to get an actual train on the course. . . but American Thunder sure is pretty! The what looked to be completely abandoned portion of the flume, as seen from the train. I've since seen (on the SF StL thread) that both sides of the flume have been operating now, but when we were there on 6/9, it really looked like it had been abandoned and not upkept in years. it's a lovely setting tho, I'll bet this side of the flume is just amazing on a super hot day. surprised the park doesn't put a log with mannequins in it, or something, here if the side is not operating. . since that's the flume that's so visible from the train. Thru the trees tho, really does add to the ambiance of the ride. we were there while Thunder River was still drained, so got the sad sight of all the rafts just sitting on concrete. Nice view of the park thru the trees tho, including Screamin Eagle, Freeze, and Excalibur. even the big lagoon for Thunder River was drained, and the universe was conspiring against me during our train ride, so that even tho the Skycoaster, Superman, Pandemonium, and Skyscreamer are in this pic? none of them are in process of running trains when we went by! LOL Looks like they could be filming Walking Dead here tho, doesn't it? Coming around the other side of the drained lagoon, you can get a fantastic pic of Colossus framed by Freeze. even with all that concrete there, I still love this pic. well, lookie there! Pandemonium cycling a car, as we passed by it on the train came out decent with no blur, despite all parts moving (the train, the coaster). . tho I did take about 5, and this is the only one that came out good (hence taking multiples, since you never know what you're gonna get) still on the train, got the only pic I actually of the Mine Train (just the exit - not sure why I didn't take a pic later), while I was taking a pic of Ninja going up it's lift hill. it's a great LOOKING coaster. . just wish it didn't ride so crappy. But yeah, even got a loop in this pic. our Train was gassy! or is that steamy? LOL. . regardless, I took a pic of it! Theming! i think? not sure what this is supposed to be - it's just kind of there. Kim might have told us they use this during Fright Fest? but not sure what it's here for, just a rotting shed hanging out in a field behind Ninja. Speaking of just "hanging out in a field". . .this is the backside of Batman, with Joker Inc (swinging ship) there on the right. for goodness' sakes Six Flags! plant some rose bushes or something back here, so there's something to look at from the train. The other side of the park is so lush, and this is just. . .a parking lot for an outdoor music festival. More Batman, with Colossus (and Freeze - train on the spike) towering over the center of the park. we're not waterpark people, but the waterpark did look rather nice (tho pales in comparison to the one at our home park, SFFT). It wasn't busy in this pic, as it was late in the day, and I think it was about to shut down. But most of the crowd in the park seems to have gone to the waterpark today, so it worked out really well that we aren't waterpark people. as we come back around in front of Batman on the train, finally get to see this coaster in action. LOOP - DE - LOOOOOP !!! the full layout of Ninja from the train. as noted a moment ago, this coaster really does LOOK amazing. That's why it's not going anywhere. .it has "wow" factor, even if it sounds like it's always a walk on. possibly my favorite picture I took at SFStL. not a Disc-O fan, so we didn't ride this, but damn if it doesn't take a good picture. Only could have been more perfect if Ninja were on the lift hill behind - but it IS passing behind on the lower left look how happy we are, 1) to be sitting, 2) to be on a train, 3) to be hanging out with Kim! Coming back around behind Supergirl (with Boss on our left), this is where we got stopped because the kids going around the drop bars from the go-carts and almost getting hit by the train. so while stopped, was able to get some nice pics of Supergirl cycling, and the SkyCoaster operating. wheee. . . . never been on a Skycoaster. One of these days, might try it. Supergirl, really is SO damn good. Great addition to the park. It was time for the Carousel, so after we got off at the train station near Colossus, we walked back down the very nice shaded path, past this kiddie playground area. it seemed oddly placed - just plopped down in the middle of other stuff -- but nicely done, and the kiddos playing on it seemed to be enjoying themselves. as noted earlier, I love that you can walk UNDER Pandemonium on the way to the Carousel/Supergirl/Boss area. Makes for some fun photo opportunities, especially for a Carousel nerd like me. Carousel, Pandemonium track, Supergirl doing it's thing. seriously, just heartbreaking they are operating it this way and the designs, and vehicles are quite nice. This could be GORGEOUS if they took care of it. Please refurb it. and soon. as a Carousel nerd, I'm always gonna take a huge smiling pic on one. but man.. once we got closer to this one, and then actually ON it? it just broke my heart. this Carousel, *could* be beautiful - instead it's in need of massive refurb. This is a PTC Carousel from 1915 - it's apparently the oldest ride in the park, and SHOULD be a crown jewel Seriously, it's in such bad shape, it's not even a case of they can take a few horses off at a time to work on it - they need to close the ride down, and spend several months doing repairs, patches, and repainting. How could they have let it get this bad? I've been on some *awful* Carousels at Six Flags parks - the ghetto one at SFA, and the one at SFOT (that we rode while the speakers played "Getting Jiggy With It"). .but nothing in such poor shape as the horses/vehicles that were on this potentially beautiful Carousel. That's right next to the new ride, Supergirl, so is gonna get a TON of eyeballs - and riders, from those who are too small/too scared for Supergirl. just a shame, and if I had to choose, the biggest disappointment of my day at SFStL (but again, I'm a huge Carousel nerd). a bunch of the lights are out too, as you can see in this pic. Not enough to "ruin" it, but enough that it looks like the park just doesn't care about it. Looks ok from a few steps back, but when you get closer? chipped wood, peeling paint. . . I needed to cheer up a bit after that depressing ride, so we headed across the plaza, where Nick & Kim waited while I got another ride on Supergirl. so, so good. I hope lots of other parks in the chain get these. The two seats per arm at SFOT might be better capacity wise, but I really liked the single seat version that Supergirl is. after a quick stop at the "discount" store - where i picked up a Batgirl & a Supergirl magnet (discounted to $1, tho the lady at the register tried to charge me $4 each and I had to point out to her the giant red $1 stickers on them. . but really, why are they selling Supergirl magnets for a buck . . when the new ride is Supergirl themed ???). . . . regardless, it's fairly rare for me to buy anything at SF parks, so it was a pleasant surprise to find these. Kim had suggested getting Ice Cream, and my ears perked up. It's a vacation, not sticking to my diet plan (and besides, I ended up dropping 3 lbs from all the walking despite the crap I ate), so we followed to the Ice Cream stand near the front of the park. I think maybe it was called "First Cone" ? the place was absolutely slammed - a combo of being near the front gates, but also being a "snack" option on the dining plan. All I know is the Ice Cream was freaking fantastic, so I'm sure that was part of why so crowded too. I had a scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip, over Butterscotch in a waffle cone. NOM NOM NOM Kim got ice cream too: NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM (but Nick was being poopy and didn't want one, tho he had a lick of mine). after we finished our Ice Cream - and I went to the Photo Booth directly across from it, to load the pics from the start of the day Photographer onto my card -- we continued across the main plaza, under the bridge (where I pointed out how long the line for funnel cakes STILL was), and over to Batman/Joker Inc area. It was getting towards the end of a long day, and I was starting to feel it. . kind of begging off Batman, tho considering maybe riding it. For sure wasn't going to ride Joker, Inc as I'm not a fan of swinging ships. For some reason, THOSE seem to make me a little nauseous. and if I was gonna blow my remaining energy, I didn't want it to be on a swinging ship. Tho I did like the way they did the screen in front of it. Nick was already starting to fade, fast. heck, I was proud of how he had done thus far as I had been dragging him all over St. Louis for 3 days at this point. The hill up to Joker / Batman took the wind out of him tho, so Kim suggested that he sit by Chop Six, and that I should go ride Ninja. I wasn't really wanting to, as I'd heard all the horror stories about it. . but she was right: it's a unique coaster, and I'm here, AND it will have no line. So what the hell, I went for it. she was correct, *no* line, I was able to walk right onto the ride and onto the train that was pulling into the station. I can't even remember where I sat, but I think it was front seat of 2nd car? and it really was not *that* bad. .at least not at first. but holy headache Batman, the transition out of the 2nd loop into the corkscrew? BLAM. .. I almost saw stars, and spent the remainder of the ride just wanting it to end. This pic is from before I got on it, showing off the statues at the queue entrance - and lack of line. . .and it's the last pic I took at the park. But I think if I HAD taken a pic after? I would have been green, or green-ish. I made my way back to where they were sitting, went inside ChopSix to get some water, and just sat and tried to recover a little. I even popped another Motrin - much to Nick's chagrin, since I had taken one earlier - post Boomerang- and he was worried it hadn't been long enough. I was more concerned about having to drive back to the hotel with my head after my bell had been rung. after recovering just a little bit, and determining that, as much as I would LIKE to? if I ride Batman, i am *going* to throw up, so no more upside-down, or any, rides for me. I was done. We had about 1/2 hour until I had to return the Flash-Pass, so I think it was close to 8pm at this point. Kim said that i really needed to ride the mine train, as I would like it. . so c'mon, suck it up, and let's let that be the last ride. I really was concerned about puking, but she assured me it's pretty smooth, and would have no line. Besides she was right, we were there, I should try to ride the unique things. Batman? I ride that all the time at SFFT (where it's called Goliath). So after checking that Nick was OK to sit for a while longer, we headed up the steep hill past Tsunami Soaker, and to the Mine Train. . .it's a good thing Nick didn't come with us, he seriously would have had an issue going up that hill, and would have been complaining the whole time that why did I make him walk it! so it's good he didn't come with. As advertised, we got right on the Mine Train, with no line at all. . . although the people who were getting off the train when it came back, asked if they could stay on and were told as long as there was no one waiting. well, someone was waiting for the front row, so the two little kiddos who had been riding in that row (about 8 or 9 maybe), moved into the empty row behind us - and proceeded to SCREAM BLOODY MURDER the entire ride. I mean, it's great that they were having so much fun on a roller coaster, but it *sucked* that with my head pounding, I had 2+ minutes of super loud screaming directly behind me. how was the coaster tho? I really liked it. Super fast, pretty dang smooth, with a fantastic final drop that reminded me very much of the Mine train at SFOT. If I hadn't been feeling so queasy, would have suggested we go around and ride it again. but it was getting late, I was tired (and knew Nick was wiped out), so instead we made our way back to him (stopping to watch Tsunami Soaker run a cycle - and again, not sure why I didn't take a picture??) and we headed towards the front gate. i returned the Flash Pass, and asked the guys there if anyone else had purchased them on this slow day. To my surprise, there were about a dozen tickets on the wall waiting for the watches to be returned, so I wasn't the only one who bought FP that day. we said our goodbyes to Kim - who we really enjoyed spending the day with, easily found the car, and the way back to the freeway. less than 40 minutes later, the 2nd Motrin had really kicked in, and we were parking in the garage and headed back to our room. I had planned to pack tonight, but just wasnt' feeling it after such a full day, so instead we ate our leftovers from the prior night in the fridge, relaxed a little bit and turned in, worried about being kept up all night by a party going on if the Blues won the Stanley Cup. i woke up once around Midnight, and it was quiet, so I knew it had gone to game 7. So happily fell right back asleep, planning to get up in the morning and pack before heading out to Grant's Farm to spend a few hours before heading to the airport. the pic we got from the front gate photographer, with the SFStL wrapping.

the Power Tower East camera is POINTING RIGHT AT IT - and it's running. https://www.cedarpoint.com/explore/live-video

great pics, thanks for sharing!

the pic of you holding the age count pic is GREAT.

dates for 2020 are 3/13-3/22 (1st week is usually Media/Film, 2nd week is Comedy/Music. . . so buffer a couple of days before and after - crowds will be here then). https://www.sxsw.com/news/2019/sxsw-2020-dates-announced-march-13-22/

really good pics, not sure why you're apologizing - they are just fine for iPhone pics. thanks for sharing, and good to read that it's so re-ride-able.

Look at you, Kim.. I'm keeping the "met in real life, so not for online consumption" part of the deal. .and you just go spill all your own secrets! LOL one thing to absolutely keep in mind if you're looking at Spring Break - if it's in mid-late March? Austin is *NUTS* due to SXSW crowds. (so airline flights will shoot up in price, and EVERYTHING all over town gets packed (restaurants, clubs, traffic.. it sucks). Most of us locals stay in during the 2 week festival timeframe.. . ESPECIALLY the music portion. hoping to have the rest of SFStL posted by end of weekend.

weighed myself just now (post exercise, and not having eaten yet today), and I seem to have gotten back on track, dropping ~3 1/2 lbs since last week! very happy to be in the 180's again (!!), and gonna celebrate by all you can eat sushi lunch so: started back on plan on 4/1 at 218 lbs 1st check in was on 4/14 at 211.6 lbs 2nd check in was on 4/22 at 208.2 lbs 3rd check in was on 4/28 at 206.2 lbs 4th check in was on 5/10 at 201.8 lbs. 5th check in was on 5/18: 199.2 lbs. 6th check in was on 5/26: 198 lbs. 7th check in was ~ 6/13: 191.8 lbs 8th check in was 7/5: 192.4 lbs. and today, 7/12: 189.0 lbs so in total? down 29 lbs since going back on my plan post Quad injury. (and only 9 lbs higher than the lowest I've gotten) that's my status, how are y'all doing?

I do too! we usually call it "bench: the ride" time (Kim likely heard me refer to it as that thruout the day when Nick wanted to sit). but I'm gonna start calling it "ass time" now too!

thanks! yeah, I did notice the design at the top of Superman still looks like a Medieval Tower Turret -- and was wondering if it was leftover from when it used to be in the Nottingham Village area of Astroworld. too funny that they didn't bother changing it, but instead just slapped a Superman Logo up there! that's super interesting to find out. I'll bet it looked fantastic as loose gravel, but yeah - I can imagine the nightmare of having to go fix it every week from people damaging it. LOL. . I too thought we got along great! It was lovely to meet you - for sure let me know when you come to Texas! (you can even stay with us and basecamp out of Austin, so we could do day trips to SFFT, SeaWorld, the ZDT woodie, Kemah boardwalk, Pleasure Pier, and SFOT. . can even get you to some "Culture" (the Alamo, Blanton Art Museum, State Capitol. . . drinking on 6th street. . LOL). Thank you. are you a Park Rep? If yes, want to make sure this didn't get buried in my text-filled post above -- SFStL had among the best, if not THE best , interactions we've ever had with Six Flags Employees. not only NO bad experiences, but multiple really GOOD experiences. Folks seemed to enjoy working, and were genuinely happy to talk to us/interact with us. it made for a great visit! Thanks james. not sure the Ferris Wheel would be a draw - as noted, my spouse will NOT get on them. but was certainly eyeing the Aquarium, as we love those. Of course, we've been to multiple *excellent* ones (Vancouver, Maui, and the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta). If the St. Louis one can complete with those, it would certainly solidify a plan to go back to StL next year

great to see it up and running again!

^ I'll PM you!

by the way, I FINALLY got to SFStL in my St. Louis trip report https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=76867&start=80

how about some insight on what's going on with Excalibur then? or how about if the Chute the Chutes ever really will reopen?

^ hm. . weird. they certainly were talking like it was going to be a ride of some sort, but I guess another decent food place IS something to get excited about