DanM64

I'll definitely check it out once the tourist season dies down a bit. The view from the Hancock is a million times better than the Sears Tower anyway. Plus the Hancock has the added bonus of a Cheesecake Factory on the ground floor! The Hancock always had literally NO wait for the Observatory though, despite the better view. I bet it will be super long now. I hope they plan to have some sort of FastPass set up.

Agreed!!! This x 100. I don't go to Six Flags for the theming anyhow. I go there to ride coasters with my super cheap season pass. If Disney or Universal came out with that entrance I'd be disappointed. This is Six Flags we're talking abought though!! At least there aren't any got2b glu signs anywhere to be seen yet! Be careful what you wish for!!

I heard a great one today while in the queue for American Eagle at SFGAm today. The girl behind me asked her friend how old Eahle was. Without hesitating- "Well it's the oldest in the park- no wait. Whizzer is older than Eagle. American Eagle is the oldest standing wooden coaster in the Northern Hemisphere though!"

^Lol!!! That's for sure! I'm going to stop in the park for a few hours this afternoon. Can't wait to see Goliath in person!

^Just for future reference- if you have your parking receipt you can leave the lot and show it again upon re-entry and they'll let you back in without paying again. I can't wait for the lift to be topped off! If I were to bet, I'd say it will open up the 2nd week of June, but we'll see. Still pretty amazong they got as much done as they have considering the brutal weather.

WOW!! I'll definitely be calling in sick when it opens.

The view from work today is pretty awesome now that we finally have nice weather!

The last 2 days it has been 75 degrees and sunny! Of course by the end of this week it will only be in the 50's again

Yep, it is. I think SFGAm just FEELS a lot more crowded because size wise it's a lot smaller. Last year KI's attendance was 3,206,000 (15th busiest in N. America) The busiest Six Flags park was Magic Mountain at 2,808,000 (19th place). SFGAm didn't even crack into the top 20.

I disagree. The biggest reason KI draws so many people as its proximity to CP. Yes, it has a nice collection of coasters, which are what drew people there from CP to begin with, but I don't think KI is special enough that it would bring in the attendance it does if it was in a different location.

I would expect Goliath's line will be pretty similar to Banshee. I remember getting in line for Raging Bull in '99 right at the bathrooms around the corner from Aunt Martha's. I think that was a 3 or 4 hour line, and park attendance (as well as population of the area the park serves) is a lot higher now than it was then. Granted, SFGAm does have lower attendance than KI does.

Sure, Banshee has a 6 hour line today, it just opened!! I'm sure attendance at KI will spike this year, and next year. It was up almost 3% last year, too, though, and they didn't add anything major since Diamondback. Just because Banshee should turn out to be a worthwhile investment for KI does NOT mean SFStL would all of a sudden have the same attendance KI does every year if they build a big steel coaster. Outside of the Florida and California parks, KI is only behind Cedar Point in annual attendance for US parks at 3.25 million visitors a year! It was already a very well established park long before Diamondback or Banshee came around. I'm not saying that StL doesn't need a signature steel coaster (it does), but I don't think that investment alone will make it one of the most attended parks or most profitable in the country. Six Flags is in the business of making money. If they really thought a huge steel coaster in StL would bring them a massive profit the park would have one.

^Maybe the extension will be a Full Throttle esqe station? They'll just throw a tarp over it in mid August!

I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions on Banshee. I'm like the way KI themed it, as well as gave The Bat a re-theme. At the same time, I'm just not really going out of my way to make sure I ride it immediately. I guess I feel that way because I don't feel that it's really unique or groundbreaking. That doesn't mean it's going to be a bad ride, that it won't be fun, or that it was a bad choice for KI. I think that'd why Banshee has gotten some of the comments it has so far. We look at the OMFG WTF IS THAT elements RMC has been building into coasters the last few years and compare it to a large inverted coaster that looks like most other inverts, and it makes Banshee look a little generic. Once again, that's not to say Banshee will be bad or boring (not to say it won't be, either). It's just hard- at least for me- to look at something I never thought would ever be possible with a wood coaster that RMC just built, and not only made it work, but made it work flawlessly, and then look at Banshee and not see it as a little boring.

I'm not sure if the go karts at Mt. Olympus even count as a ride, but if they do, I definitely feel that they are death traps. Other than that, I feel 100% safer on any rides than I do driving to a park.

I agree with that 100%! Having one for Giant Drop would be really nice, too.

Had a fun day in the park yesterday! Boomerang was down all day. No credit for me! Pandemonium went down a few times through the day. When it was up the line was long. No credit for me there, either. Mr. Freeze was only running one side, I think I waited around 45 minutes. Stupid Six Flags. The a/c was off in the station, too. It was plenty warm enough in there. Hot, really. Turn it on!! The ride is AWESOME though!! Screamin' Eagle was only running one train as well. Waited at least 30 minutes for that one. Fun, but not worth waiting on the slow line. Once was enough for me. Batman also had one train operation all day. I rode it right at opening and waited 20 minutes. The line got up to an hour later in the day. Damn Six Flags again! At least the 1 train running ran very well. Why doesn't B&M build them like this anymore? Ninja. Let me put it this way. I actually enjoy Mean Streak and even liked SoB, and I thought Ninja was too rough! That should put it in perspective. It might be the worst steel coaster I've ever ridden. The credit ride was enough for me, though they did have 2 trains running at least. (Why would you go to the trouble to have 2 trains ready for Ninja but only 1 for Batman??) The Boss had 2 of the 3 trains running all day, the longest I waited was 30 minutes. I didn't think it was too rpugh, though you could tell some spots got retracked over the offseason. One rail on the entire helix was new. It's too bad the 2nd half of the ride is so much slower than the first. American Thunder was running 2 trains, and I REALLY love that coaster! It was one of the better coasters I have been on- probably a top 10 wooden coaster for me. I haven't been to a Six Flags park in a few years. Holy crap the food is ridiculously expensive! I go to my home park- SFGAm- a couple times a year, but never stay long enough that I eat in the park. How long has it been this bad!? Overall I had a good visit, definitely glad I made the trip. If this park ever gets a signature (INTAMIN!) large steel coaster it would have a perfect lineup.

American Thunder just before SFStl closed today! It was my first time visiting the park, and that ride was AWESOME!

Lightning Run looks awesome! Thanks for all the pics.

After reading some suggestions on here I am juet going to drive. I should be in the park all day Saturday. Looking forward to my first visit!

You know, lawsuits like this one are EXACTLY why the USA is so stupid! I sure wish people would just claim responsibility for their own actions once in awhile. Unfortunately I'm sure this stupidity will be rewarded in the court system, as it always is.

Having the track laid really makes me realize how ridiculous that overbank is going to be! It doesn't look natural at all. I love it!

^I would have to agree. While I think Great Adventure has better coasters, I feel that Great America is the best overall park. It has a great collection of flats, plenty of family rides, and the water park is great. Great America is very well run. It has probably the best ride ops of any Six Flags. While the Mariott themed areas have slowly disappeared, at least the park has started playing the old themed soundtracks in the different areas again. It will be much better once Goliath is up and running, too.

This is an awesome thread! Thanks for sharing.

Cedar Point by far! I've always liked Kennywood's skyline, too, though.