HWFan

One of, if not the, main motivator behind sticking with the black as opposed to yellow is the fact that the black paint stays black much longer than the more colorful paints, which fade and deteriorate much quicker.

Do they count Colossus as 2 coasters now? No, they count it as one. I hope they go for the world longest coaster record, and join the two dies together. Just as long as they profile the two sides differently, I think that could be really cool. Is there any chance they only have RMC do one of the sides? They could leave one side as a classic, and they could butcher the other filling it up with extreme overbanking, extra steep drops, and inversions. I think it'd be cool to have both options.Then they could count them as two separate coasters giving them 20.

I would be split. A lot of parks reuse coaster stations, so I might just reuse Ninjas. It would definitely depend on the actual structure of the old mine train station to see how much work would need to be done to make it structurally suitable to act as a station again. In terms of the haunted house, the Slaughter House is one of our top attractions every year, so it would also depend on finding a new location for it and the storage that is in the station the rest of the year.

^First off, it's never a bad idea to double check something because things do change. We would rather guests check in with us before, than run into problems later. Second, I think he meant that it was not a problem before because SFGAm used to do days where you could go process your pass before the park was open, which would allow him to process his pass in Gurnee and go to St. Louis before SFGAm was open. They must not be doing that this year. And honestly, fielding questions is one of my favorite parts of my job. While this thread is awesome for discussing all kinds of park information about our rides and attractions, I think that having employees on here should be taken advantage by anyone who has a question, even if it sounds stupid to someone else.

Now although there are a couple of changes this year with processing, here is a general idea of how we would handle this situation and your options: First, in the past, we have had the ability to change the park on passes. However, keep in mind that if it is a gold pass processed in St. Louis, the coupons and some of the options that come with it will be for St. Louis only. You will still get to park at Gurnee for free, but I can't promise what other benefits you'll get. I will run this by our Admissions full-time and get back to you if there is anything else. EDIT: If you call the park sometime Monday through Friday from 9:00-5:00, just tell them that you have a question about your season pass and need to speak to a Guest Relations Supervisor. Given the details of your situation, they can explain your options if you to visit us before SFGAm opens. Thanks!

^ Because they can't just spend $20 million at once to expand, I think they just had to get started with Hyena Falls, the small food stand, and the bathroom. Five to ten years down the road, I have no doubt that it will feel just as much part of the water park as the other side of the Voyage does.

I was thinking that too. Firechaser Express (Dollywood) looks like a blast (is that a Eurofighter? maybe not... prob the Mystery Mine). Maybe that could bring back some nostalgia when we had the twin mine trains running together. A mine train themed EuroFighter in the sold-off mine train's station? I've never thought of that, but that is literally one of the coolest ideas I've heard about a new coaster to replace the Ninja! (And Mystery Mine is the Eurofighter, while Firechaser Express is the family coaster.) When I was asking Dave about it, by his answers, I don't think that it will happen anytime soon, but he mention the fact that it could go over the train tracks. I thought a new B&M mini-Dive machine taking a tunnel under the tracks and straight into an immelman to cross above the tracks again would be cool. On the subject, when talking about water park expansion over time, he said that it would most likely expand up towards Ninja, which I added would be perfect to add a second entrance in that area as well. To give you an idea of how much room there is including the old mine train station. It's a good amount of land, but it's in a weird shape.

Looks like a great event. I love when parks use their resources to support charities. My home park, SFSTL supports St. Louis Children's Hospital raising over $500,000 annually. Hopefully Susan G. Komen can use their ever-increasing prevalence to realign back to research and finding a cure instead of some other things they've been up to.

^ Exactly! Whatever you all think about corporate, I know I probably can't change your views. However, when it comes to our particular park's upper management, we are right up there with Holiday World, and I am very close to the Holiday World management as well. Dave and I spent a while in the front mall just looking at a couple of discrepancies in the facades. He actually fixed them. There are so many examples of this. It was a lower level seasonal employee that suggested keeping some of the Hannibarrels to turn into benches. Another thing that I don't think people fully know about is how charitable the park is. Every year, the park puts on an event for St. Louis Children's Hospital that raises over $500,000, and this year we're working on some kind of system in terms of donating super hero capes to St. Louis Children's Hospital. So if you don't agree with me about corporate, that's fine, but it would be horrible not to give credit where credit is due to the park's management.

^ I remember hearing back around 2006 when they built the Gobbler Getaway hearing some kind of interview or something where Will said that Gobbler Getaway wouldn't be the last dark ride you'll see that Holiday World, so that implies that they were at least including another one in their long term plan. I think that Halloween would be the most logical location for it.

HWFan, I want to start off with thanking you for sharing this information. It is neat to have more of the inside scope. One thing I perhaps do not understand is why they see this strategy as a failure. Looking at the attendance numbers from this time, it would appear to me that this period had higher attendance which is the desired outcome for a business such as this. Why do they see the other direction as being more successful when they are ending up with less attendance. Also, with respect, could you explain why Dave or Premier sees their other direction "towards thrills" as being what they were delivering to the consumer attractions that were not breaking new records for the park or the local region as what they were doing during the Time Warner area. In my view, this was stepping away from theming and thrills changing their direction to averageness which in my perspective has hurt them and let their competition catch up and in some cases surpassing them. Could you explain things from their perspective? Now I am not an expert, but here is my best answer for you: Disney/Universal are both in HUGE tourism centers and charge a ton of money for admissions compared to Six Flags St. Louis. Most of the guests that come to our park are all people who live around the park in the St. Louis area. In order to invest money to get the theming to be comparable to a Disney/Universal park, we would have to charge a lot more per ticket. If we did that, we would have less locals coming over and over again and without a large amount of tourists coming into the St. Louis area, we just wouldn't be able to support the park. It all has to do with location. Dave has been at the park for decades. He started in the mail room as just a job to pay the bills before working his way up to President. He has nothing but love for the park, and he is working towards its best interests. The best interests are to keep the park looking nice, while slowly growing each year with new attractions. He is doing extremely well at this as our park, looks better and better each year. IMO, our park is heading in the best possible direction because of this strategy. In terms of the company as a whole, after the massive park sell off/shut down in the chain, getting back up on the horse caused some unfortunate circumstances where the parks had to slow down a bit to right their path. Let's not forget that the current Six Flags stock has been on the NYSE for less than four years. With Jim Reid-Anderson now at the helm as our new CEO, I think that the chain in preforming as good as anyone could expect. He has taken the company from less than $10 a share to over $35 a share in three years. I own stock in the company because I see that. Even higher up, the company is rated extremely high in terms of company executives buying the stock, which speaks highly of how they feel about the future of the company. By focusing on just creating quality theme parks that just look and feel nice, they will continue to grow. Although parks like Disney or Universal may have their main focus in theming, the way Six Flags has risen out of bankruptcy is pretty optimistic. I had teachers in school that would say KISS or Keep It Simple, Stupid. I feel that that could be the parks' motto right now. Just make visually attractive parks that focus on bringing in rides of every genre to cater to the whole family, and they are doing that slowly but surely in order to not put themselves into another stage where they are being crushed by crippling debt. Just enjoy the ride.

The turnstiles are being replaced with new ones that will work with the new admission system. The new system will use a finger print instead of a picture to verify identity. This in theory will cut back on stolen passes and prevent people from using other peoples passes So since I already have my season pass, I assume that I will have to get finger printed when I go out there? Will I still have to present my pass when I get there? The current plan is that already made passes will just scan as usual with no finger print being necessary. All passes will be processed at the front gate, so we won't have printers. While your pass is a printed card. The new passes will just be recognized from a fingerprint. Also, I think it is important to mention that there will be no turnstiles, so all gates will be stroller/wheelchair accessible.

Whenever someone would throw up on the ride, he would have to clean it up while the ride was still operating. He said that on busy days, to keep up capacity, he would have to clean while all of the other barrels were full of guests. He also said that he would have to stop the barrels manually if guests kept spinning after the ride stopped. One of the girls didn't listen, and as he stopped the barrel, and she kept spinning, her tank top shirt completely ripped down the middle. Also, I found a couple of vintage videos from the park, which include operating video from the Hannibarrels and Skyway.

^ I was told they were shut down in 1997. One of my coworkers was actually a ride operator on them in high school. He has some funny stories about it. In terms of the ticket seller booths, the majority of our guests already have their tickets purchased or have season passes when they get to the park. If anything. They will start demolishing the booths one at a time to open the entry way up. Maybe eventually move them completely to the side.

The metal detectors are staying as an essential part of our security. Trust me on this, they may be an inconvenience, but you definitely want them there. The admissions changes are all about the entrance using fingerprints for passes, etc.

^ I always like sharing with everyone because it gives us more stuff to talk about. I actually only made it to the park as a guest twice this season, so it doesn't bother me too much. I'll make it someday. I don't know what kind of work experience you have, but working in admissions is probably my favorite thing to do in the world. We're on the front lines helping guests, and I love seeing the little kids as I open the gates in the morning. The looks on their faces are priceless. I couldn't think of anything more rewarding for me to do. If your job is your passion, you'll never work a day in your life.

Inside Info: Part 2 -2015! It is also the year that the carousel turns 100. I had brought that up in the past that Dave had expressed the want to renovate it and move it into the garden area right next to the train station between the station and the theater. It would bring some great kinetic energy to that dead space. I believe that rumor made it to Screamscape as well. Although Dave didn't give me a time frame, he smiled when I brought up that 2015 was the 100th Anniversary. -To address the topic of removing coasters. Dave has told me specifically that now that they have branded themselves as the Coaster Capitol of Missouri, no coasters will be removed unless there is a better coaster to replace it. -In terms of the Tsunami Soaker theme: Dave said that they are going to try to kind of make it into a "warf" themed area immediately around the ride. The ride itself will be standard like in La Ronde, but the surrounding area will be interesting to see. -With the admissions changes, I will take some pictures as soon as I get into the park for re-training. I am told that the front gate is completely torn out at this time. As soon as I know more, I'll post it. As a lead in admissions, I am looking forward to the upgrades that will help enhance the guest experience for our season pass holders especially.

Ok, I hopefully have some more "Inside" info for you guys to clear some things up. This is responding to posts in the last couple of weeks: -Waterpark expansion is not a top priority for the SFSTL management. Dave said that they much rather prefer building rides in the dry park just for the fact that the dry park is open more days of the year and more hours of the day. -You're right about the Screaming Eagle in terms of ADA compliant access. I am in a wheelchair and have been told multiple times that I wouldn't be able to ride without being able to walk. It's one of my favorites, so that's a bummer. -Here is the story Dave gave me about theming, especially when it comes to Batman & Mr. Freeze: When Time Warner owned Six Flags, their goal was to turn it into their version of Disney/Universal with the same level of theming. However, based on geography and other factors, it didn't really work out, so when they sold the company to Premier Parks, they went another direction towards thrills and basically the amusement park vs. a theme park. -When I originally read the Negative-G post about Daredevil Days, he mentioned taking the photos, but Dave said not to share them. Then while talking to Dave earlier this month, he said that he wouldn't mind them being shared online, so I emailed Mr. Drabek telling him what Dave said. I thought they were fascinating!

She's actually so picky that my aunt's boyfriend said that she calls every day asking all kinds of detailed questions. He always has to plan ahead given the time zone difference, but she cares extremely deeply, as you probably have heard, about the park. She's loving it.

Every time I read a TR for Holiday World or Six Flags St. Louis, I feel like I'm on the edge of my seat scared to see what they think. I was extremely happy that you found Holiday World's coasters like I do, especially the Legend. When it comes to SFStl, as an employee at the park, I genuinely care how coaster enthusiasts feel about it including hating when they dislike it. We may not be the biggest and best park in the chain, but I hear a lot of people really enjoying the "small park feel" with the smaller paths twisting and turning around the park. I also agreed with you about American Thunder. It is just an amazing ride in my opinion, and it's location fits perfectly into that park of the park. Early morning or late night after/before all of the guests are in the park, it's just a cool coaster to look at.

They are cleaning up the queue. I'm not sure how much, though. One thing that Dave did mention was building a shortcut for days when the line is shorter. However, they are going to find a way that an employee will actually have to lock it so that mischievous guests can't use it to line jump.

When it comes to Batman, they are going to stick with black. It looks dark and cool, and it's the paint color that lasts the longest from a practical standpoint. With the new Tsunami Soaker area, they are trying to turn it into kind of a mini Warf themed area. They even saved six Hannibarrels to turn into benches in that area. Your passes will just scan as usual. This system is really gonna speed things up enormously in the long run. The old processing building itself will still be part of admissions. I'm not sure exactly, but it will probably still be used in a small capacity to possibly sell dining passes or upgrades.

Some great news from Dave today: -Batman is being painted this off season. -They are doing work on the parking lot. We'll see how much it does. -The facades by Hannibarrels have been completely torn down. The Ninja really dominates the landscape. I saw some pictures on Dave's phone, and it looks great! -The Season Pass Processing Center is being shut down. All processing will take place at the front gate where all the turnstiles have been torn out. Passes will no longer have pictures, just the biometrics. While the season pass processing center is very near and dear to my heart, this year will be extremely interesting from an admissions aspect.

For everyone that doesn't follow the park on Facebook or Twitter, this past year they have be participating in #ThrowbackThursday, which is a trend where you share old pictures on Thursday. While the park is covered in snow today, I thought it would be fun to share them with you all if you haven't seen them. Enjoy. "Do you know what world records this classic coaster held for 2 years when it opened in 1976? #throwbackthursday" "#ThrowbackThursday Who remembers this "monster" ride? Do you know what ride took it's place in the park?" "#ThrowbackThursday One of the rides at the park when it opened in 1971 was the Mule-Go-Round. Do you know where the Mule-Go-Round was located?" "#ThrowbackThursday Do you know what ride currently sits in the old Mississippi Adventure location?" This one was actually shared by the soon-to-be-constructed Adventure Pointe park in Texas, but I think it's a great shot of the train and skyway. Notice how small the trees are. "#throwbackthursday When this looping coaster opened it was located where BATMAN The Ride currently sits, do you know the name of this coaster and the year it opened?" "#ThrowbackThursday Who remembers this former attraction? Do you know where it was located?"

His name is Dave Roemer, and he is the park president. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. (He's the one in my picture to the left.) We talked a lot about the park over lunch this past season, and that's where he talked a lot about the different things he would like to do. Unfortunately most of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt because things change constantly even at the last minute. It's basically things that he would like to do. He mentioned moving the Go Karts to the parking lot because where they are now is a great area in terms of terrain. I could see a kiddie coaster taking their place partly because it can get pretty steep, and I'm not sure what the maximum grade for the Moon Cars are. It could cause problems, although that is just complete speculation. He and I had a whole conversation of having one single kiddie area as opposed to spreading some of the rides out a little bit to help cater to multi-aged families. If you ever see Dave out in the park, he tries to spend 3-4 per day I believe, don't hesitate to stop him and say hi. He loves to talk about the park past and future, and he loves meeting coaster enthusiasts.