bert425

if I had to place a bet? y'all are getting a coaster of some type. either a raptor (possible, the space back there by the closed water ride and beyond certainly has space for a raptor coaster), or S&S Free Spin (way more likely).

me too. . I THINK they will continue the art work down onto the "base" of the ride too (at least the one at SFOG does. see pic below). I DO prefer the design at SFFT more tho. . . as the villain logos instead of the names is way nicer in my view. Gotham City Crime Wave at SFOG

looks amazing!

I really like it. . it's so weird, it fits the Joker. . LOL

had a great day at Fiesta yesterday, and will get a TR up in my thread "soon-ish" (I have to finish St. Louis first). but a few brief things and some pics: -- Joker is looking fantastic. (no other signage other than "the Joker". . so wonder if they are just going with THAT name instead of "Carnival of Chaos" ?) *They were testing lighting package yesterday afternoon. . some really nice red,yellow,green lights. *It changes the skyline of the park and is visible from Loop 1604 (now I understand why they put the logo on both sides of the top - it's gonna be visible at night from the freeway/loop). *the funhouse queue? the front is along the lines of what SFA did for Joker's Jinx. . really well done thus far, can't wait to see what's inside (and tho hard to see in the pic? the traditional version of "Joker" is on the wall just inside the mouth). *water dummies were on the ride pad (if not on the ride itself), so they are close to starting testing. *looks like other than testing, the only other things still needed is concrete pours in the queue. Was told they are targeting "early July" opening. . . I'll bet they are trying for in 2 weeks - 4th of July weekend. -- Whirlygig re-theme is about 2/3rds done, and they even have the new ride sign up (DC Supervillain Swing). *not GREAT name, I do wish they had just gone with "Crime Wave" as SFOG did. . . but it looks great thus far -- Several Rides having issues * Wave Runner (Scrambler) is still down. no movement, still just a sign in front of it * Spinsanity (next gen tilt a whirl) down. Someone was standing by the ride when I walked by both times, so might just be a mechanical issue that was just for yesterda *Pandemonium is back to only running 4 cars (or maybe they just had 4 on yesterday) *Wonder Woman is running one train. Ride Techs were working on a 2nd train in the storage area, but the 3rd train appeared to be in pieces and in the middle of major refurb. (wonder if that's the train that had 3 seats roped off on my last visit). They have a sign out front noting, but 8 seats / 1 train? made for longest line in the park. . skipped it this trip. *Bug's Whitewater Rapids queue is hot (A/C is out?) and most all of the show scenes now don't even have the lights on anymore! The only two scenes even lit were the Bugs jack in the box in the opening room (near a posted sign noting "pardon our dust, improvements are happening"), and the sleeping dragon - which was lit *and* still had the audio of it snoring. The TVs in the queue (the ones that were on) are no longer showing the "Singing Sword" cartoon and were just showing DC Superhero trivia. The "Spitting Dragon" on the ride itself? no longer working, tho it was running just the other day. (Course, if it's connected to whatever electrical issues are going on with the A/C in the queue?. . maybe that's why?) Wonder if there's a retheme about to happen here? Did Six Flags decide to stop using the Looney Tunes characters? (figures nowhere to be seen on Roadrunner anymore. . and 2nd visit where I didn't see any costumed characters out). *Pirates of Deep Sea many of the fantastic "guns" on the ride, are already gone - and replaced with the old Scooby Doo Ghostblasters guns. I asked about it, as it totally ruins what they were trying to do with the theme. and was told that guests keep breaking the guns, and they needed guns that works, so that's what they had to put in *Poltergeist was only running 1 train (again). Tho to be honest, the restraints on this one are so weird, that if they were running 2, they'd be stacking and leaving folks sitting out in the sun on the brake run. so maybe that's why only 1 train? but, really not complaining - just informing. Still had a great day. Superman & Goliath were hauling butt. Iron Rattler is running fantastic - tho I did notice the back car has developed a slight "rattle". . .it was weird riding an RMC that's not completely smooth - but in this case? it's really slight, and didn't bother me at all. and it works with the theme of the ride. They've started the nightly fireworks / canyon projection show, and it looks great! the heat kept most people in the waterpark - and made for short waits on the dry areas of the park. Gully Washer refurb was great, and they had the waterfall on - made for a soaking good ride. got my favorite picture so far this year, on Bugs'. I noticed when downloading, that if I take the frame off, the camera actually caught Screaming Eagle Zipline in the background of the picture. Love it. will have my full pics/reports up. . . in the next week or so. framed pic unframed pic hello Screaming Eagle Zipline

from Six Flags Fiesta Texas today: there doesn't seem to be any actual "Signage" up at the Joker - the "Joker" logo is up at the top - on both sides, but the posters around the park seem to be referring to it as simply "the Joker" now. wonder if they have dropped the Carnival of Chaos naming? the funhouse queue looks amazing tho, and other than pouring some concrete, it does look almost ready to go (was told when asking a Tech Operator - who I asked because he was wearing a Joker themed uniform -- they are hoping to have it open in early July (so I think that translates as July 4th weekend - 2 weeks from now). They were testing the LED package while I was there, and tho it was so bright out today? looked great with lots of reds, yellows, and greens. they DO have the sign up for DC Supervillain Swing (the Whirlygig retheme) tho, and that's coming along well too, but still has some work needed to finish sprucing up the ride. anyways.. here are some pics:

amazingly, Six Flags found my missing photos from American Thunder (from our ride ~2 weeks ago), and uploaded them to my photocard account. Without telling me, of course, but they were there after I downloaded my pics today from Fiesta Texas. wish they emailed me, so I could thank them via response! Kim, I'll email you the ones of us, but this one just cracks me the hell up, and I had to share. No, I have NO idea what the lady is doing in front of me - they were on their first ever ride too, using a "Front of line" pass, and asked me if they could take the front row (I was using Flash Pass). I didn't mind, 2nd row was fine. . so she wasn't posing for the camera.

^ thanks. They were actually playing game Six in town on Sunday the 9th - that's why all the media was there in our Hotel So there were TONS of people downtown. Not that we were "happy" they lost the game, but it did make for a quiet evening and let us get some sleep! (and the Blues ended up winning game 7, and the Cup, on the following Wed in Boston)! re: the whispering spot in the Courthouse. Yep, we saw the ranger demonstrating that with someone on the 2nd floor from the center of the Rotunda. It was kinda neat to see, even if we didn't hear the full story behind it. Only that the person on the 2nd floor could hear him when he was talking quietly. yeah,t he guard rails are super low. . LOL. . . thanks for reading and glad you're enjoying!

thanks! I really appreciate the feedback, and glad that you're enjoying. soon! It likely will be Saturday before I'm able to get to the next segment (the Arch). . but will try to get it up before weekend is over! Goal is to get to City Museum by Tuesday. . then have a few days to work on Six Flags. it's shocking how many pics I took at Grant's Farm. . .LOL. . . guess I love animals

well, I hope his treatment goes well.

^ yeah. . you mentioned that (a lot) in your video. but as part of your membership, you still are paying for it. . . so that's why I said you might as well use it.

SFFT tomorrow afternoon. then SFOG on Labor Day (I know. . but in Atlanta for Dragon*con, and on Labor Day everyone is in "recovery" mode and doesn't do much "con" stuff anyways, so I suggested going to SFOG, and a few friends want to go). Expect it to be packed.

^ yeah.. the brown water (even as high as it was) wasn't super interesting to look at the Courthouse was interesting to go into, tho not sure if it would be worth a trip back to the Gateway Arch National Park just for that. even though the tour intrigues me as a history buff. the "artifacts" on display on the 1st floor, were not as interesting as the Historical Native American stuff I had seen the day before at the Art Museum. . was a bit disappointed at what they had on display - tho not as disappointed as I was in the museum they had across the street at the Arch (more on that in next installment) I think if we make it back, it would be for Zoo/Six Flags only, but maybe with a stop at City Museum - and if so, might be worth the $2 trolley ride back to the courthouse to do the tour. . .

as I'm sure you know, I love zoos, and zoos with carousel (even small,unimpressive looking ones?). . SOLD! tho I really wanna go to ride that skyride. what was admission to the zoo? you noted the 'rides' were extra ($2-3, which seems reasonable), do you recall how much it was overall to visit?

on a day like yesterday? I wouldn't have used Flash Pass at all, simply because in several rides you miss all of the theming in the queue. (in particular JLA you miss Cyborg, and you missed all the theming in Freeze & the Batman queue). but hey, you paid for it, so might as well enjoy it.

Day 2: part 1 the Old Courthouse So after a really good night’s sleep - seriously, the bed at the Marriott was so damn comfortable that I actually meant to look it up and see the mattress brand - we were up and ready to go by 9 am. no need for showers (since we had done that before going to sleep) but since our tickets to the Documentary film in the Arch Museum weren’t until 12:10, we had quite a bit of time. We had originally planned to do the Documentary, the Museum, the Ride to the top, and the Riverboat Cruise - but Nature conspired against us, and so the Riverboats were closed (they had called me to tell me they were going to credit us back, and we moved the film/ride to the top times to earlier in the day since no need to hang around for a late afternoon Riverboat now). I had been interested in going to the Old Courthouse – which is famous/infamous because that is where the Dread Scott case was first heard. And my research showed that the interior dome of the Courthouse was very impressive to see. And since it is on the Downtown Trolley route (and really, just across the street from the Gateway Arch), and I didn’t want to just hang out in the room? I suggested we head downstairs to grab breakfast and we head out to catch the trolley by 10 which would give us plenty of time to still make the film. so we headed downstairs to check out the Breakfast Buffet at “Zenia” in the lobby. We didn’t even bother looking at the menu, since the buffet had everything we wanted: cold cereals/hot oatmeal, pastries, biscuts/gravy, eggs, several types of sausage, fresh fruit, waffles, bagels (with lox, onions, and capers!) as well as an Omelet station. It was super reasonable for a downtown hotel breakfast too. I know I “helped” by choosing what to put into my omelet, but the chef working the station was very good and it made for a fantastic fresh breakfast. The coffee was really good too (wonder if they got it from the Starbucks across the lobby?) we took our time eating (and made sure we were full, since weren’t going to be eating again until much later), but were still done and headed out to the trolley stop out front by 9:45. It was Saturday now, so the Trolleys were supposed to be coming every 15-20 minutes, but I don’t think we even waited 10. We were the only riders, but the driver gave us our all day passes – giving Nick a $1 discount since he’s over 55 (so only $3 to have off/on privileges all day! What a deal) and we were on our way. We told her we were going to the Gateway Arch National Park, but had hoped to go to the Old Courthouse 1st to see the dome. She had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, which surprised me, as that’s a tourist thing. . and we were riding the downtown trolley that I’d assume many tourists ride? But regardless, she was super nice, and told us which stop we needed to get off of for both the Arch & the Courthouse. She even told us where the Trolley Stop was to get back to our Hotel (the Arch stop is in front of the Hyatt). She wished us a good day, and told us to enjoy the Natinoal park and stay away from the dock area since the water was still so high. out at the Trolley stop, looking at the Courtyard Marriott across the street. I really like how they "faked" the classic architecture on the side of the old building. We saw several buildings in downtown St. Louis that were similarly painted. a street level view of the Convention Center and Visitor Center after just leaving the Downtown Trolley at our stop. So it picked us up right in front of our hotel, and this was the stop we wanted to exit (that's the old Courthouse on the left). we're here, so have to take a selfie. the overcast skies would burn off and would be a beautiful day in an hour or so. uh oh. . "2nd floor accessible by stairs only" Nick was using the cane, so he ended up only doing the paintings and the galleries with history exhibits on the 1st floor, while I went up and looked at the 2nd floor Courtrooms, as well as the 4th floor balustrade to get a fantastic closer look at the art up in the dome. our timing was a bit off, and tho we would have enjoyed the tour from the Park Rangers on site, it would have meant not looking at the upper levels and still have time to get to the Arch (since Nick was moving slowly). coming up to the Old Courthouse entrance Perky enough to squat, since had such a good night's sleep, and a great breakfast. loved this rug. .think they sell them in the gift shop? (didn't see any in there. . and yes, the Old Courthouse *does* have a gift shop. . LOL). STUNNING. unexpected, and so damn beautiful. Standing in the Central Hall of the Old Courthouse, and looking up at the dome covered by paintings on all levels, tho visitors only have access to 1st, 2nd, and 5th floor area. there was a display of Kites ringing the dome between the 1st and 2nd floor, so that's what you're seeing in some of the pics. like this giant kite here. Beautiful (and steep) metal steps in this wing of the Courthouse, going up to the 2nd floor. other areas - including the staircase that went up to the 4th - were closer to winding spirals. .but were just as beautiful. these steps were a stunner tho, and these are also the steps that caused Nick to decide to just wait for me on the 1st floor looking at the art there, while I explored the 2nd floor. Great View out the Courthouse window looking at the Gateway Arch across the street. I'm sure I'm one of only 10s of thousands who have posed for this particular picture Now on the 2nd floor, looking into the rotunda. . can see more of the kites now. and get a closer look at the interior of the dome. one of the other staircases - that I took to go up to 4th floor in a little while. the *leather* doors to the restored East Courtroom. I was the only one here on the 2nd floor, so had the place to myself. It was very warm in here, but still was interesting to look around the room and read the information signs. here. you can read it too! Crossing over to the West side of the Courthouse, pausing in the rotunda to look up and snap another picture. Now at the opposite side, at the leather doors of the restored West Courtroom. I loved the floor in this room, and preferred it over the courtroom on the opposite side of the Courthouse info about the courtroom on this side Climbing up to the 4th floor, on the 3rd floor there's a cutout (right behind the super steep stairs that lead to the balustrade), that lets overhead light into the hallway outside the East Courtroom. makes for a cool picture. Luckily there was one other person up there on the balustrade, so I could get a nice picture in the Old Courthouse dome. I leaned over the railing to try to get Nick's attention so I could get him to take a picture of me from the ground level (and I could get a picture of him from up here), but he wasn't looking up, and he wasn't responding to texts, or phone call. it turned out he had turned his phone to silent and had it in his pocket. yes, knowing that I was going off alone, and might need to contact him to update him on something I saw or was doing. . he turned his phone off. whee. .. Marriage. so I got my steps in, because yep, I went all the way back downstairs to find out why he wasn't responding to texts, and to tell him I was annoyed i couldn't get hold of him, then climbed all the way back up so we could take the pics of each other. as I said. . . whee! the info about the paintings in the very top of the dome that was up there on the balustrade after my climb down, then back up. . there's nick (a bit to the left of the center) on the floor looking up at me. and his pic of me waving from the 4th floor down to him. This was kind of neat that we passed on our way out. Some original bricks & Plaster from the late 1800's that were exposed during a renovation of the firehose box. stepping out onto the East Entrance steps, about to head across the street to Gateway Arch National Park. was really cool to see it in person, and I recommend a trip. Even tho we didn't spend too much time at the top (it reminded me very much of the Statue of Liberty's Crown up there), it was still well worth the trip, and worth it to see in person. Statue of Dred & Harriet Scott in front of the Courthouse, positioned to be looking at the Gateway Arch across the street. Closeup of the Plaque on the statue. and one last shot of Nick, after I made him pose by the "official" sign on this side of the museum. we then took the crosswalk across the street, and entered into Gateway Arch National Park, proper, for our next stop of the day.

I'll be at Fiesta on Friday, if they have anything up and ready on Joker (or on the rethemed Whirlygig, which is in process of transforming to a Villain theme), I'll be sure to snap some pics for the index.

Until I get a chance to get up day 2 (hopefully tomorrow). . here's the swag from the zoo. would have gotten a magnet or shirt from the Museum, but didn't see anything I really liked "carved" into stone. (about the size of 2 quarters) it's a "bear hug" on a "geode" . . of course I had to get this magnet too. the shirt I loved! (and have already worn to work) the shirt that was OK, for only $6 more

Getting my pride on, Vancouver style, at Elysium 80's night here in Austin (shirt courtesy of my friend Marcella who lives in New Westminster, Vancouver. Socks courtesy of Bill (Nrthwnd) who sent me a pair of PNE pride socks last year)

of your 20 posts, at least 16 of them are on this topic, or close to it. you don't have your age or location listed, but maybe you should consider a move to Florida or California, and then you'll have lots of Theme Park options (including Disney, Cedar Fair parks, and Universal)

^ yeah, the area around it was pretty cool with the cobblestone streets and restaurants. (tho we avoided it mainly due to the uneven walkways for Nick). my only real issue at the Casino was the amount of smoke in the gaming areas. I know they always have a lot of smoke, but maybe the air filters weren't working at 100% the night we were there, as there were wafting clouds of smoke everywhere. we really DID need to shower when we got back as we reeked of cigars & cigarettes. but it was a nice ending to a busy 1st day.

^ yep. .what Bill said. suitcase in trunk, and enjoy the day at the park. . but make sure you leave well before posted closing, or you'll get stuck in the traffic exiting the park. SFOT isn't too far from the DFW airport, as long as you aren't doing Love Field (that's in Dallas area proper)

Day 1: part 3 – capping off a long day I will start out this last segment of day 1 with a notation if you’ve never been to St. Louis and want to experience the “sites” downtown, and want to stay there? I *highly* recommend the Marriott St. Louis Grand, or the Courtyard Marriott – they are across the street from each other on Washington, right across from the convention center, as well as the St Louis Visitor Center. They do not have a view of the Arch (as they are in the center of downtown, in renovated old buildings), but that keeps the room rates down – especially if you are in town on a weekend where there is no Cardinals game, or Convention going on. If I had to choose again, I probably would go for the Courtyard Marriott over the Marriott Grand, only because Courtyard still has a Swimming Pool/Spa, and it would have been nice to relax in a hot tub at the end of our long days. Marriott Grand, just underwent renovations and as part of that, they filled in the indoor pool they had, and put in a very nice/large workout center/gym (based on Millennial’s feedback, I was told when asked why they had no pool). the Grand did have a pretty amazing restaurant on property (“Zenia” – and we ate there twice, including the buffet breakfast one morning – very reasonable for a downtown “upscale” hotel), and I will say that they had a roasted spiced Cauliflower over tomato chutney appetizer that was the best thing I ate all weekend . . and we had some good food at some points over the weekend). Highly recommended just for the restaurant, tho you can get to that even if staying at the Courtyard across the street. The Grand also has a Starbucks on site (can be entered from outside hotel entrance or thru lobby), and a sundries store as well. Both Marriott and Courtyard share a self parking garage, that’s back behind the Grand on 9th street ($30 a day, which I cringed at, but since we needed the car for Six Flags, and Grant’s Farm had to do it . . even tho the car sat for 2 days not moving). . . if we didn’t need the car? Could have used the Metro Train, as there’s a station just up the street, and we could have gotten there from the airport area, from what I understand). Why didn’t we move the car for 2 days? As noted, the Grand (and Courtyard) sit on Washington Street – full of clubs and bars. . . and right outside the main entrance? Downtown Trolley stops (on either side of the street). The Downtown Trolley does a big loop around the “tourist” areas, and on its route includes stops at the Old Courthouse, the Gateway Arch National Park, the City Museum, and stops that are easy walking distance to Union Station, the Baseball Stadium, the Hockey Stadium, and many other sites. Oh, and it’s only $2 (or less for over 60), for an *all day* pass that gives you on/off privileges from 7am until Midnight of day purchased. So yeah, we made great use of it, and I highly recommend this hotel location just for the added benefits of location of trolley stops in both directions out front. Ok, so I wanted to start with that recommendation so no one is turned off by our less than stellar initial experience at check in – LOL We made great time getting to downtown – easy/peasy from the zoo, and since every “unloading” area spot was full, we went directly to the parking garage and self parked the car. the short walk to hotel (really just across 9th street) gave us a fantastic view of the building, and the classic Orpheum theater next door. The theater looked abandoned (or maybe just closed for ongoing renovation?), but since I love architecture, I really loved that it was right there and I got to see all the intricate stonework on it. we got to the check in after a short wait, the gentleman was pleasant enough and told us to toss the self parking ticket, and gave us a QE code we could use for “in/out” (which again, we didn’t really need, but oh well), and confirmed – without showing me his screen or telling me what he was looking at – our reservation. I asked him if the room is going to be as booked, a corner room, since I had actually paid the premium for the more spacious room, and he said “yes” and gave us room keys for a room on the 5th floor. Before leaving the counter I also asked him about the downtown trolley, and he told me that it had closed . . . but I could book online and metro would come pick us up. That sounded ‘wrong’ but figured I get free wifi with my Marriott Bonvoy perks, so would just look it up in the room. now, by this time, Nick WAS using the cane, we took it out of the suitcase the moment we got to the car at the zoo. So it was slightly annoying when the room he gave us was completely on the opposite side of the building from the elevators. I went beyond slightly annoyed into “angry” when we opened up the door to the room (which wasn’t at the back corner, but was the 3rd door in the hall) and it was a pretty small, and dark room, with a view of: the parking garage where we had just parked the car. Oh, there was also a charge on the credit card (we got an alert that the charge had come thru) that was for $199 over what the room rate had been guaranteed for when I booked via the Marriott Bonvoy site. I told Nick to stay in the room and not touch anything, and headed back down to the front desk. The gentleman who had checked us in was tied up with other customers, so I went to the cheerful lady who waved me over as next. I told her we had just checked in and that I was concerned about this almost $200 extra on our card. She said that’s the standard ~150 they put on the card to cover “incidentals” at check in, and when we check out if we haven’t used it, they will simply credit us. Plus the 1st two days parking. Ok.. not thrilled about the extra $$ since it’s not noted anywhere in the check in information they handed me, but Ok. So I tackled the next issue: the crappy room. First she told me that because we were checking in later, we got what was available. I responded that we checked in at what time I was told to check in: after 4pm, and that it was a “guaranteed” room. She came back with an implication that I had booked thru a travel site so they only guarantee a room, not a certain type of room. I responded that I had not booked thru a 3rd party site, but that I booked thru Marriott, and was promised a Guaranteed Corner room, as that is what I had booked. And in addition to not being a corner room, the view we *did* have was terrible, and I expect better as a Marriott customer. She responded that “this hotel doesn’t really have “corner rooms” – with windows on both sides, as I was expecting. What they had put us in, is what this hotel calls a “corner room” but she could move us to a higher floor if I wanted? I was polite, but getting frustrated (not to the point of asking for a Manager, but close – we were staying there for 3 nights!), and pointed out to her that this is a square building, is it not? Therefore there are rooms in each corner of the building, and I have stayed in “square” downtown Marriott and all had rooms as I was expecting (L shaped entry, with hallway that has window on one side, opening into larger area with windows on other wall). . and pointed out that if the hotel does not have true Corner rooms, they should not allow booking of rooms as “corner rooms.” At this point, a wonderful Counter Agent (not sure if he is a manager, or not) who had been standing at the next check in terminal, got involved and told her: I just put them in 817. She was a bit confused by it, but the gentleman – his name is Jason – turned to me and said, “I think this is more along the lines of what you are expecting. Please let me know if you have any other issues and we’ll get right on it to see what we can do to make your stay pleasant” I had the keys to the 5th floor room in my hand, and told her I had left Nick in the room, so I could get back in to get our stuff, and she gave me the new keys to 817. I thanked Jason again, and went to the 5th floor to collect Nick and the suitcases, and we made the long walk back to the elevators, went up 3 floors, and got out on the 8th. the room was only a few doors down from the Elevator, in the corner, and – you’re not going to believe this – the room was EXACTLY the type of room that the lady at the desk had told me doesn’t exist in this hotel: L shaped entry way, long hallways, and windows on two walls. It also had the biggest bathroom area I’ve seen in a hotel in some time (with included phone in bathroom). Shocking, right? yeah. After being in St. Louis for 2 days, and realizing that Sunday night was playoff Game 6 for the Stanley Cup (that the Blues could have won). . and discovering that our hotel was the “base camp” hotel for all the news media coverage? What I totally suspect/expect happened: they tried to put us into a sub-par room, because *we* were staying thru Monday - they then could turn around and charge the heck out of someone staying in the better room we had ended up in on the Sunday night game night – when every hotel in downtown near the stadium way upped the rates. the theater directly across from the Marriott self parking garage. beaufiul facade on the side of the theater, about to enter into the Hotel side entrance (behind me in this pic) Entrance to the room type that "doesn't exist in this Hotel" on the right is a closet with a safe, ironing board, extra pillows and lots of hanging storage space the hallway down the side of the building into the main room. (curtains on the right is the North view, and on the left is bathroom door) looking into the main room from end of hallway, and behind the couch are the West facing windows. really nice room, nice and large enough to get around (I think the sofa might be a hide-a-bed too, but we didn't look). Fridge in the cabinet under the mounted TV. No microwave, but I'm sure we could have brought anything we wanted heated up to the sundries store in the lobby, where there were two microwaves available. the view out of the North facing window. on the Right, behind the big building is the Gateway Arch the view out of the West facing window (overlooking the convention center and St Louis Visitor's Center) really big bathroom. nice and spacious bathroom. anyways, the room was everything I had been expecting when booking at the Marriott St. Louis Grand, so made sure to go back down to the front desk and thank/tip Jason again (and ask him for his card, so I could write a nice note about him and the great experience he had provided to Marriott – something I did, as well as name checking him in the survey they sent me when asked if anyone had gone out of their way to make our stay more pleasant). Up in the room, we kicked off our shoes to relax for about an hour, and I got online to look up the Trolley. Seems that the St. Louis Metro site talked about the trolley as if it still existed, and it talked about the $2 all day ride privileges – so I really didn’t know what the heck the 1st counter guy had been talking about. we hadn’t really eaten anything since lunch, so had decided that my tentative plan (which really had been a backup plan in case of nasty weather) to go to the close-by “Lumiere” Casino – which is right by the Arch National Park – was the way to go: we could sit and play slots, and they had several restaurants on site. Including a buffet called “the Kitchen” It wasn’t too far, but it was a bit too much for Nick to walk, so we headed back to the lobby, found Jason and asked him about the downtown trolley. The trolley not only was running, but Jason took us outside and showed us where the trolley stops are just outside the Hotel. Apparently the 1st guy thought we were talking about “downtown trolley tours” where you book online and they take you around to see the areas of the city. .. tho why he wouldn’t know the downtown trolley that stops right outside the hotel he works at is beyond me? Unless he just didn’t care? Who knows? It was beside the point anyways, since the Downtown Trolley stop by the Arch would put us just as far away from the Casino as it would be if we just walked It from the hotel. but Nick was on his cane already, so I asked what our best option was. The answer was Uber, but since neither of us have that app on our phones (hey, we’re OLD, LOL), I just went to the line of cabs and asked the 1st driver: “I know it’s really close, and I’m sorry to ask you to lose your place in the taxi line. . . but if we give you $10, will you drive us to Lumiere Casino?” he immediately agreed (guess it was a great rate for something that would have been $2 probably), and we were on our way. We’ve been to enough casinos to know that the 1st thing one does is sign up for the loyalty card. So we hunted down the booth and signed up, which got us $5 free play (each, tho we could have won up to $30 free play each. . just bad luck), and a discount on the restaurants or buffet. we took one look at the buffet, and knew we were in – as we LOVE cheap casino buffets. Yeah, the food isn’t gonna be the healthiest, but at least a lot of choices and the people watching is usually spectacular. As far as Price goes, this one wasn’t really “cheap” (I think it was $22 with our loyalty card), but that’s a very reasonable price. It was PACKED too – so they must comp the buffet like crazy to the casino members – and it seemed everyone was carrying around little remote control drones (which turned out when I asked were a prize if you hit a certain level of points on your card). as it was Friday, there was a lot of fish on the buffet (at least 4 different types). . but for the most part, it was about Las Vegas Flamingo Buffet level food, and Golden Corral level clientele. Then they ran out of Cheesecake on the desert station, and said it would be an hour for more to defrost, and they ran out of Spoons at the Soup station. So I laughed and said to Nick, ok, now it’s Circus Circus level buffet. And THEN they replaced the empty spoon holders with plastic disposable spoons, and a little old lady took every single drumstick from the fresh fried chicken (a TINY little lady, with a line of 6 or 7 people behind her – including me, who had been waiting for the really good fried chicken – picked thru the bin and took at least a dozen drumsticks, leaving none). Our waitress actually went back to the cook line and asked them to set aside some drumsticks for me from the next batch – tho by the time they came out we were done eating and I “gifted” them to the table next to us who also were disappointed they hadn’t gotten any chicken). . and we laughed and laughed, and I said to Nick: ok, it’s Stardust, last week of operations Buffet level now! (and we did eat at Stardust Buffet the last week it was open, and it was just as entertaining). ^ it sounds like I’m complaining, and I’m not. Like I said, we *love* cheap casino buffets. We had a great time at the Lumiere buffet, and tipped our waitress very well. We enjoyed talking to her, and the tables around us, and just for the fried chicken, it’s worth a stop in, as really it was quite good. We stayed at the Casino for a few hours playing slots, and not winning of course But we got a lot of entertainment out of our $$ and got to sit while playing, so that was nice. We then asked a taxi driver at the Lumiere stand if he’d take us back to the Marriott for $10 and he also immediately said yes. So we were back in the room, showered (getting rid of all the cigarette and Cigar smoke from the casino floor), and relaxing and ready for bed by 11pm. It had been a long day, so we conked out quickly. Sorry not many pictures this update – we left phones in the room charging while we went to the Casino.

I'm in love with these pictures. Tokyo Disney/DisneySea. . . OMG. . . .such beautiful parks.