HWFan

^ Great pic. It's crazy how many deer there are on park property; they're not shy either. Also, MrFurious, I wanted to say that my above post should in no way dismiss your complaints about your visit. Anyone can sit here and type, "well, [something about how you don't have a real reason to complain, etc]." You made the choice to spend some of your time and money at the park, both of which are very valuable. When you made that choice, you had certain expectations for your day. The fact that you, after 200 pages of lurking, chose to make an account for the first time (with the name being 'MrFurious') just to post about a bad experience at JLBM really shows how much it affected your day. If you didn't stop there while at the park, I would urge you to send in a web comment to Guest Relations (https://www.sixflags.com/stlouis/plan-your-visit/contact-us) and tell them about your experience. At the very least, your comment will go into a system which tracks compliments & complaints and will be viewed by department management and park management all the way up to the park president. The park would appreciate your feedback, and I want to make sure that your experience gets to the right people.

While I don't want to get into this argument regarding JLBM/Boomerang, I do have some factual information to add. In a week or two, JLBM will start to receive upgrades to its ride system from the manufacturer. I also would like to point out that Six Flags used a lot of the same companies that Universal used for rides like Transformers & Spiderman. If Transformers' Oceaneering vehicles are able to operate with such reliability, then certainly there is something unique and more complex about JLBM. Six Flags invested a lot of money into a great new ride, so they want the ride to be 100% reliable more than anyone. Saying that the issues are due to Six Flags not wanting to pay for it is just not true. Obviously this is not an argument that will end up with both sides agreeing, so let's move on. I also remember a saying that applies to a lot of these statements that are lacking foundation: "When we assume things, it just makes an ass out of u & me," or something like that.

I'm hoping to help revive this thread in the next couple months because, as I just announced in the SFSL thread, "Before heading off to work for the day, I wanted to take a quick second to announce that I won't be gone from the park all summer, like I mentioned was possible. Instead, I'll be only gone from around May 7th to June 11th. I am extremely lucky to have the opportunity to spend five weeks down in Alabama working/living with Dan & Pat Koch (from Holiday World fame), as they continue to expand and improve their newest park, Alabama Splash Adventure. While I've been friends with the Koch's for a few years now, they have shown me incredible hospitality in letting me live with them for free. Plus, they created me a position that will have me working in HR, Group Sales, Operations, IT, and Marketing every day/week. I'm really, really looking forward to it, and I'll try to post a ton of pictures to the ASA forum as much as possible, but I still plan on keeping up with what is going on around here too." I, among others, helped to turn the SFSL thread from a very negative and lackluster thread into a pretty active and positive thread with lots of discussion in the past few years since I started at the park in 2013. I've been described as the SFSL thread's version of the HW thread's 'Raven Maven' (aka Paula Werne, PR extraordinaire), and while, as I told Paula, I felt that that was a bit of an insult to her, hopefully I can at least bring plenty of information & pictures to this thread to at least promote some discussion and suggestions from enthusiasts.

Now in order to make this post SFSL-related so that it keeps with this forum's rules.... ^I usually ride The Boss once per year. In 2014, it was so uncomfortable for me (and I can ride the Voyage 3+ times without leaving my seat) that I chose not to ride it in 2015. While the ride isn't overly smooth, it has definitely improved. I'd like to echo TNT when I say that the new track and banking on the first helix seemed to have the train making the turn into the MCBR a lot faster than usual. Part of that could also be because it had just poured down rain for a couple hours, making the ride even faster. Either way, The Boss is much better than it has been, but of course it will all be subjective (and subject to change). Finally, I was thinking about this yesterday: How many wooden coasters run three trains consistently in the country/world. I know that the Voyage was designed to but ended up not having enough time to safely load/unload...partially because of the time it takes people to put their stuff in the lockers. The Boss has insane capacity for a woodie, which is something an 'Iron Boss' could really subtract from, in theory. But anyway, here's the main reason for my post.... Before heading off to work for the day, I wanted to take a quick second to announce that I won't be gone from the park all summer, like I mentioned was possible. Instead, I'll be only gone from around May 7th to June 11th. I am extremely lucky to have the opportunity to spend five weeks down in Alabama working/living with Dan & Pat Koch (from Holiday World fame), as they continue to expand and improve their newest park, Alabama Splash Adventure. While I've been friends with the Koch's for a few years now, they have shown me incredible hospitality in letting me live with them for free. Plus, they created me a position that will have me working in HR, Group Sales, Operations, IT, and Marketing every day/week. I'm really, really looking forward to it, and I'll try to post a ton of pictures to the ASA forum as much as possible, but I still plan on keeping up with what is going on around here too.

Thank you for those fantastic pictures of the area, compared to my "ok I have less than 25 minutes to cover the entire park so I have to hurry" pictures from opening day. I really like the picture that shows Fireball with the train & station in front. Also, some may find it cheesy, but I freakin' love the "Great Balls of Fire" on the sign. But I have a cheesy sense of humor anyway. Oh, and I'm glad to see that the new shade structure over the queue has been painted red! I hope you get a chance to see the park this year. It really looks nice, colorful, and energized. I think that the Screamin' Eagle is the perfect backdrop to this area, because (as we addressed with the Bob Ross jokes), the white really makes the bright colors pop. Dear PhantomPoster32, I'm glad to see that, even though we have fervently disagreed in the past, you are rational and fair too. Let's examine this more in-depth: 1. Old Chance Yo-Yo......Replaced by one of the first SkyScreamers (which I think is an insanely fun & cool ride, nothing near a carnival ride). 2. Bumper Cars......Their age meant that they had to at least be replaced. I'm not even a huge Boomerang fan, but I know that a lot of people really enjoy it. Plus, the way it interacts with the midway makes it one of the best Boomerang installations around. 3. Chance Falling Star......Holiday World had to get rid of their Falling Star (Banshee) a while ago when they added HallowSwings. The rides are a lot of fun but need more and more maintenance as they age. Banshee was sent to a park with a shorter operating season, as was RSF. If RSF had to be replaced, Fireball was the best option IMO. Also, it's around 30 feet taller than the traveling versions of the ride, so at least it's an upgrade. Add the above to the general updates/upgrades that the buildings in the area received in the last few years and the end result is a truly reinvented area of the park that is more "alive" and even unique compared to other parts of the park. Well said. The fact that all of the 'colorful' rides are in one place is nice, isn't it? If there were/is a way to do this without seeming weird or disruptive, you should stand at the exits of the rides and ask the other Guests what they think of the area and rides. Also, the Scrambler & Carousel are both quintessential "carnival rides", but that doesn't make them any less fun. Speaking of kids, Bugs Bunny National Park is a really, really nice kids area I think. Nice (but not too much) national park-type theming and plenty of trees. MisterP: I hope I didn't come off as attacking any of your posts, as adding your opinion to this discussion helps show other points of view, so thank you for at least making the forum more active. I hope you can enjoy some time in the park in the future, and if you see me there, please say hi so we can meet in person. Everyone who posts here does it because they have passionate feelings about the park, the industry, and your posts show that you must care about the park. I do too. Anyway...it's off to work and another day of fun for thousands of Guests. Hopefully a few of you are among them.

^A dialogue regarding people's experience with the park's food service is one thing. However, your over generalization of the food service workers in such a negative way is just uncalled for. They have one of the hardest jobs at the park and a lot of them are some of the hardest workers I've seen. Seriously.

Okay, so I have a few things to say this morning: The Screamin' Eagle I hope it does get the plaque, but for those interested, here are the qualifications from ACE's website: Whether SE meets those qualifications or not, I really hope it gets a plaque. I sometimes forget how groundbreaking of a coaster it really is. Think, our park used to have the tallest, fastest coaster on the planet! When it opened, it was pretty much as big for the park the same as if we had gotten Carrowinds' Fury 325. Either way, it's a very special ride. Even though it isn't truly ADA accessible due to the queue/gates/exit set-up, the park is going to try to get me in there early one morning for my first ride since 2011. I miss it. Finally, here's a cool picture of the ride being built: (Found in the St. Louis Post Dispatch article regarding the ride's 40th Anniversary.) Trip Report from Easter Sunday, 4:30-6:00pm Wow. People have said that I can paint too many rainbows and sunshines regarding things at the park...this is where I would make a Bob Ross joke, but we already covered that a few weeks ago...and they are right sometimes. However, last night was my best solo experience at the park ever. Knowing that I might be working every hour that the park is open for the next 3-5 weekends or so, I was lucky enough to get off at 4:30 and head down into the park. Even before the rain came through from around 2:00-4:15, wait times were awesome yesterday, but after the rain came through, I don’t think that there was enough people in the entire park to fill all of the operating rides’ trains/cars/seats. The midways were so empty that it sometimes felt like being in the park a couple hours before opening. Anyway, here’s what I hit: - I watched the track work on The Boss all off-season, so I couldn’t resist. My last ride on it was in 2014, and that one ride was enough for me. I don’t know what factors made the most difference, but I really enjoyed my ride yesterday. They were running two trains: One train was just packed with sandbags. The other train was to the point where dispatch was sometimes held up by around 30 seconds, just to get more people/weight in the train. In the end, the ride ops were going at it like they had a 60min line so props to them. - Next I went to JLBM. You know that the park is empty when the line only goes back to Cyborg (so less than 5min). It was great. The only effect that wasn’t working on my ride was the fire. I rode with a family of five who had never ridden it, and I probably enjoyed their reactions to each scene of the ride more than the ride itself. While I may work in HR, I still am focused on trying to make the best Guest experience possible, so it was really fulfilling to see them having fun and even buying a picture. - Then I went to Mr. Freeze. First, the building (including the fake snow that Phantom had mentioned earlier) was looking brand new. They were only running one train, and they never even filled one train (most of the riders in each train were re-riding without leaving their seat). I got two laps on my favorite coaster at the park, and thanked the ride ops who were extremely helpful with my wheelchair, as I had nobody with me. - Finally, I went to American Thunder. I enjoyed two laps, both in the very back row. For my first lap, I was the only one in that train (yes, they were running both trains when one would’ve even been more than enough). The only thing that slowed down AT’s operation was waiting for the train to clear the first set of breaks. When I was in the train alone, it took at least a minute for the train to get from the first set of breaks to the transfer track breaks. Without much weight and chilly temps, even full trains would inch along before picking up speed. But yes, AT continues to be a fantastic coaster. I really want to thank all of the ride operators and the operations management team for their hard work yesterday. While I said the park wasn’t too crowded, they were still on their A-game. I enjoy listening to the radio during my shift (although I rarely have to use it), and anytime there was even the smallest issue, operations management was there ASAP, getting the ride back to peak operation extremely quickly. Kudos to them. A Few More Things Welcome! I always like seeing lurkers posting their thoughts and experiences. The more the merrier! I copy and pasted your post into a word document, added a few paragraph breaks, and will deliver it to Pete today. I'm sure he'll be really happy to hear it. He spent a ton of time in the park this past weekend. He's very hands on and likes to personally make sure things are running smoothly. He's a great guy.

I thought those were from electrical work this offseason (I think either HWFan mentioned this or I must have the wrong park..) Yea, that was a really dumb joke.

Trust me, most of my pics were terrible. It was bright, and I was rushing around the park in less than 30 minutes. My thumb even started bleeding from rubbing up against the wheel of my wheelchair. Yes, there are things about the park that could really be fixed up. If anything, I am overly critical of the park, because I know that other people hold it to a high standard too. However, saying that the park is run-down overall is extremely overdramatic. There have been some areas that have bothered me since 2013. Actually, the two biggest ones were both completed fixed/replaced for 2016. Also, the park does a lot to try to at least keep with general themes. For example, the picture of the new food stand: It's in the Studio Backlot section of the park, right across from Johnny Rockets. The new food stand has a very interesting style & color pattern when you look at the pictures. But if you look at the plaza from further back, it perfectly matches & compliments the 1950's style Johnny Rockets. I think that's great, considering they could have gone for a cheaper, plain building.

As I neared the park, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. The large marquee proclaimed 'Six Flags St. Louis', but the run-down, dilapidated park before me looked more like Six Flags New Orleans. At 10:30, I entered what I knew would be similar to some perverse, dystopian future that even Orwell would've thought was shocking. Okay but seriously now....here are some improvements that the park has made for 2016: - The Boss' first helix had the entire track replaced and slightly re-profiled, which should allow it to run better in colder temps - The park has virtually a brand-new power grid. It's almost unbelievable how much utility work was done. - Insanity Alley was temporarily taken down, opening up the midway from Joker Inc up to Batman's exit. - A new food stand has been added in Batman plaza, increasing the park's food service capacity. - Other restaurants had a lot of revamping done to increase aesthetics, efficiency, and capacity. - Plenty of painting and other miscellaneous work. The real painting season is just starting though, so there'll be more soon. - Thunder River is running better than ever with some refurbishments & a new wave-maker (which will let it run more boats). Now just a warning: I'm not in the greatest state of mind right now so the captions below are half statements and half not-even-funny-or-good-at-all satirical jokes. But without further ado, enjoy: Fireball's Exit The flames on top Here's a wide shot of the loading/unloading platform. Operator's spot The queue is being rebuilt with shade & fans. Tidal Wave was feeling left out with Thunder River & Log Flume open. The ride actually looks pretty cool in its spot. This is where Six Flags tries to trick you into thinking you're at SFGAm near Chicago. And here's my home, Southern Illinois, with our corn fields. I wonder who the River Queen is Water Ah, a gun-toting, vertically-challenged, maniac. Screamin' Eagle's break run. I thought this looked cool. But you might not. And that's okay too. I always liked Pandamonium's midway interaction. Highland Fling & the Six Flags knock-off Gateway Arch The Boss is a bit of a diva when it comes to temperatures. Is the boat going to move? Is the ride going to open? Yes! It's moving! Hey Prozach, I thought you would especially appreciate this picture. He looks so happy to be floating down the river......(Jk it's a boat so it doesn't have emotions) New for 2014! The Hannibarrel Benches! There were lots of opening day banners. Some GIANT moles wreaked havoc on the park this off season. Superman running super well Just a shot of some people enjoying reality-reality See! I told you! Giant moles! It's quite horrible how much ground they covered. LOL While this area will be closed up again come Fright Fest, the park took down Insanity Alley in order to help with Guest flow, which will provide a better Guest experience, even if it takes more work. Batman's exit feeling nice and free What is this? Well, to better serve Guests, this new food location will be nice to have when the crowds are large. Finally, just as you saw with Fireball's queue, the park's management has been working hard on plans to make the park more comfortable overall. This is a trend that I think will be very much appreciated.

*bangs head against wall* While my shift starts at 11:15, I'm heading to the park early. I'll spend my 30 minutes taking a quick trip report of all the decaying buildings, streets, rides, and theming.

For those of you visiting on Opening Day and the following Saturday, would any of you be up for a little meet-up sometime Friday morning and/or Saturday afternoon? Friday morning I would have to leave the park at 11:00 for my shift but on Saturday, I get off around 4:30. If you're interested, PM me, and I'll find a way to sort out all of the details by noon on Thursday. I know this is last minute, but I think it would be fun. If everyone takes a few or a lot of pictures, we could compile them into one nice, big SFSL Opening Weekend trip report. Hope to see you there!

With Fright Fest continuing to grow bigger & scarier than ever, they will need some time to take down at least the visible Fright Fest decor that needs to be gone before HITP, as well as then adding HITP decorations.

I wonder what the map would look like if they took the picture for it (which is done by plane, I assume) while the park was open. It'd be full of Guests, which would make it a bit more realistic but harder to read I guess. Just a thought. EDIT: Ignoring my too-stupid-to-be-even-remotely-funny post above. I wanted to remind any Guests who require the ADA Attraction Access pass that they will need to bring a doctor's note their first visit of the season as part of the new plan to stop abuse of the pass. Here's some information on that note, and more information about it can be found here.

I honestly can't believe that the park opens on Friday. It seems like we closed a month ago. It's been really cool to see all of the excited new faces (and returning friends) as they learn their part in running the park. Seeing all of the rides operating the last few weekends has me excited for opening. The park is looking better than ever, and I can't wait for any of you to enjoy it yourself.

I would check Justice League and see if there's a line first or see if it's actually running. If there is a line, I'd do American Thunder first. FYI, if you see people outside the JL line, it's at least 90 minutes. As long as there aren't any delays, the line is 60 minutes once you reach the entrance of the hall of justice.

If my eyes don't deceive me, I believe Fireball has been getting its Mohawk..err...flames on top. Honestly, after watching the Fireball video a few times, I'm actually really, really excited for this ride. It just looks like a lot of fun. The hang-time and seating arrangement will be cool. Even though some people may not be too hyper about riding it, I think that it will be a great addition to the park. Opening day will definitely be a good Friday. I can't believe how close opening day is getting. The park will be bright and beautiful next week. "You can't see it. It's electric!....But you know it's there. Yeah, here there everywhere." <--Anyone else in a dancing mood? EDIT: If anyone is trying to view the HITP information, it seems like the park's website is temporarily down, but they posted a short video for the event on the park's Facebook page.

It's been a month or two since I last posted about this, so I wanted to post a quick reminder that the park is still hiring for lots of positions. If you or someone you know is interested, then go to www.sixflagsjobs.com to apply. It's a lot of fun; I promise!

Yes it does look taller but what a beautiful backdrop it gives to the park from I-44. I think the main thing that makes it a perfect backdrop is its color. The white almost acts like a canvas, in a way, which really makes the bright colors of Boomerang, Tidal Wave, and Fireball (among others) stand out. For some reason this comment made me think of Bob Ross. Lets paint some happy little trees. Oops that ones a little too tall, lets make it a drop tower. Yeah its a drop tower now. Now let's raise our brush to draw a beautiful hyper coaster...oh, oops.....hmm, now we are going to turn that accidental paint splotch into the prettiest boomerang in the bi-state area! Now I'm putting myself in time out for beating the dead hyper-horse. But in all seriousness, I like Boomerang. Not as much to ride, but people seem to really enjoy it and it energized that midway to make it full of energy, kinda like this run-on sentence.

Yes it does look taller but what a beautiful backdrop it gives to the park from I-44. I think the main thing that makes it a perfect backdrop is its color. The white almost acts like a canvas, in a way, which really makes the bright colors of Boomerang, Tidal Wave, and Fireball (among others) stand out.

If we end up with a slide complex for 2017 I will hunt you down. Or, maybe said optimism is because you're going to be employed at a different park with more lofty goals.

I don't have any photos to post. However, it really looks fantastic from I-44. You can see it really well. While driving on 44 this morning, I could see that they were testing the different LED light patterns. Even during the day I could tell that the lights are truly awesome. Even if it wasn't a ride, the lights would be a fantastic addition to the park. I'm really starting to like the Fireball more and more as the park keeps it's flat ride collection refreshed. If any of you remember my optimism at the beginning of last season, this season is even better!

To those worried about VR headsets being used on a full sized, fairly intense coaster....Alton Towers is using them on their B&M flyer for this year. Also, I'll have to go back and read more carefully I guess because I assumed that the "New Revolution" theme was going to be used on the coster called the "New" Revolution at SFMM. Plus, even if I fighter jet theme doesn't necessarily fit with a ride called the ninja, if it's a good experience, does it matter?

*Fireball And it's not exactly a "park the ride" type situation. Fireball is a good amount taller than similar portable rides. Then, once the crane has erected the majority of the ride, there is the utilities hook ups and small things before the ride can actually cycle. Now I know it is this way for non-flat rides, so usually it is more focused on the amount of cycles instead of the amount of hours. Some rides have to cycle each vehicle thousands of times, but I'm not sure if that applies to flats like Fireball.

Headed home and just finished pumping my gas to see this parked next to me: