teacherkim

So my son and I were also at the ACE event and agree Six Flags really did do a great job. The buffet in the water park during private ride time there was unique and fun. And the exit ticket on the last day was a nice touch, (although I realize that was at no cost to them) but they did feed us well and Pete Carmichael was very present throughout. FWIW - I talked to several of the attendees who had never been to SFSTL before and they mostly seemed to have a favorable impression of the park. Several of them raved about the airtime on Eagle.....course these are mostly die hard coaster people. The only real consistent complaint I heard was how strict the bag policy on the rides was and the fact that most of them had no place to leave them at the station. In other words they knew SF was just pushing the dollar locker rentals. On another note we ate lunch at the new Fowl Ball restaurant that used to be Calico's chicken (for one of the only meals they did not provide for us in the picnic grove) and I say...meh. Was really hoping they would revive fried chicken but they just had chicken strips, nachos, and foot longs which are all offered at other locations in the park. And now off to HW for the last day and a half of the coaster con.

Great that they are bringing back a fried chicken place, they can definitely prepare it already since they have served fried chicken at ACE events we have attended. My son and I will be at the ACE CoasterCon starting on Sunday and lasting most of the week at SFSL and HW. Then we are leaving a few days later for our family summer vacation and will stop at CP on the way to New York; and at the end of the vacation will hit SFGAdv. That's a lot of roller coaster riding in a short time but I know it means everything to our son. You've all heard of soccer moms......well I consider myself an amusement park mom

-Food had no lines but that was probably because it wasn't crowded at all. Why are dining pass snacks only usable until 7:30 though? I have NEVER understood this. As I have said before limiting when you can get your food just makes the lines worse. They would be better off if it was spread out. Besides about 9 is when I usually want a funnel cake

I'm reasonably certain there is A/C in that station, just not turned on yet. It's just one of those weird weekends where it was almost hot enough for a lot of things. Rode Tsunami Soaker for the first time, and I'll just go ahead and say it - if you don't like this ride, you hate fun. Exceptions made for anyone that just doesn't like water rides (but I question your sanity in St. Louis summers). Also, history question - what was on the little island before Mr. Freeze was installed? It's such a weird size. Nothing, if I'm not mistaken. I know there was some jungle cruise knock off in the days before Thunder river, so maybe they had some themeing along the banks, but as far as I remember it was always unused and overgrown. It was Mississippi River Adventure instead of the Jungle Cruise but yes same concept and a definite knock-off. Although when I was 5 I thought it was awesome

Also on the Go Fresh cafe (the healthier option stand) the wraps are pretty good, agree they should definitely have one in HH. But again shooting themselves in the foot by putting it in an out of the way spot in corner of kiddle rides

The best days to go are generally Tuesdays-Thursdays. This avoids the crowds on the weekends and anyone that has a three day weekend. Also any days that have rain in the forecast are good to go. The crowds will be minimal and SFSTL doesn't close most ride because of rain or wind (there are of course some exceptions to that). You probably wouldn't need to spend any money other than food and parking if you don't have a gold pass. No need for a flash pass unless its a very very busy day. Agree 100%. Rainy Tuesdays are the best

Been following for a while mostly to pass on info to my 12 year old son who is an ACE member and avid coaster fan. He will be allowed on when he turns 13. I grew up here, 48 yrs old, mom and teacher, remember the days when the mine train was the only coaster and there was a petting zoo at the park! Vividly remember SE opening and so will probably feel old when they place the plaque at the ACE con and I think about 40 years gone by but.....anyway The food issue has been the bulk of what I have talked about in every survey they have sent me in the last 5 years. Yes, having more/bigger capacity stands with more workers would alleviate some of the issues. Not sure I agree that more dining passes is the culprit, theoretically that should speed each transaction up. After all scanning a card is much faster than a cash or credit card transaction, which should offset to some extent more people overall buying food. I think the restrictive hours are a huge part of the problem and even discussed it with one of the corporate execs who contacted me after an end of the year advisory panel survey in which I criticised the situation. Restricting when people can eat their meals and snacks is just shooting themselves in the foot and creating more of a glut. I have been to many theme parks with kids and it's always an off food day. Meaning you not only don't eat the healthiest but you tend to eat at odd times and that's ok once in a while. I really believe if they lifted the time restrictions people would spread out when they eat. After all 9 hours is kind of a short time to fit in 2 meals and a snack if you think about. This was particularly bad at Frightfest (this was mostly what I talked to the exec about) Everyone knows that the haunted houses are going to start gearing up about 6:30 or so but you couldn't eat dinner until 6 so everyone in the park was trying to eat right at 6; making huge lines, bad quality food, and grumpy workers. Stupid. If they had just let people eat whenever OR had lots of seasonal snacks available that people could maybe trade in meals for and walk around with (think cups of chili, hot dog stand, etc) there wouldn't have been this HUGE glut right at 6 when dinner opened for the pass holders. As far as leaving the park to eat. Yes, it's cheaper but it's also a huge hassle if you have a large group and or several kids. We often have guests that are coming with us on the bring a friend discount days, they cannot afford to go on a more regular basis and going off property to eat takes a lot of time out of the parks. After all sometimes mom is willing to stand in line for food while kids go ride stuff and get in as much riding time as possible. Just my 2 cents since I have been going to the park roughly since it's opening