Coasters & Lamps

Wow! I would have to say you wrote the most critical X2 review I have ever seen! Though you're not alone as I've seen many others complain about it's roughness. And I've ridden enough Arrows that I'm certainly not surprised. I am a fan of Arrow coasters and my 40 y/o bones can usually ride them with minimal to no pain, so I may be okay. At least I hope. :LOL And I generally try to bypass a coaster if it I see "Zamperla" or "Pinfari. LOL

Wow! I would have to say you wrote the most critical X2 review I have ever seen! Though you're not alone as I've seen many others complain about it's roughness. And I've ridden enough Arrows that I'm certainly not surprised. I am a fan of Arrow coasters and my 40 y/o bones can usually ride them with minimal to no pain, so I may be okay. At least I hope. :LOL And I generally try to bypass a coaster if it I see "Zamperla" or "Pinfari. LOL

I'm not a good person to ask about X2 because I absolutely hate that ride. I rode it back in it's opening year and it beat the living hell out of me. The first drop is amazing but everything after that felt like being in the middle of a 30 car pileup on the freeway. About ten years later I decided to ride it again since I assumed the X2 conversion helped things but it was still the same horrific, painful piece of garbage I had remembered. Both times I was assigned the back row and got the outside seat which I've been told might be the reason I hated it so much but regardless I have complete disdain for X2. I know a lot of people love it and if the restraints agree with you I can see why because it's a really unique ride with a killer first drop but I hate, hate, hate that ride and consider it one of the worst coasters I've ever ridden anywhere period. I'd rather ride a Zamperla Volare 10 times in a row than ride that thing once. Wow! I would have to say you wrote the most critical X2 review I have ever seen! Though you're not alone as I've seen many others complain about it's roughness. And I've ridden enough Arrows that I'm certainly not surprised. I am a fan of Arrow coasters and my 40 y/o bones can usually ride them with minimal to no pain, so I may be okay. At least I hope. :LOL And I generally try to bypass a coaster if it I see "Zamperla" or "Pinfari. LOL

Did you like them better than X2 at MM? I take it you've ridden them both types? It just seems like the original 4D types (X2) would be better because of the added speed and length. If all goes well, I'll be able to try out both types next year.

Did you like them better than X2 at MM? I take it you've ridden them both types? If all goes well, I'll be able to try out both types next year.

I like your explanation much better than the one I tried to give. I was pressed for time and I got into a bit of a hurry, babbling as a result. I was purely speculating at best and I don't pretend to know the reasons why. My Ausperger's brain sees things differently than most people. I was able to memorize the majority of the parks and coasters that are out there from studying the RCDB and Ultimaterollercoaster databases. I remember populations of metro areas, as well as individual cities. But my knowledge on the economies of those cities is rather limited, which leads me to a question below. I can understand why Cedar Point has such a high attendance record. They are a destination park on Lake Erie with lake front hotel complexes. But what makes King's Island draw so many visitors? Is it because of their size and offerings? I've seen it posted where SFGA could never draw any more than 3 million, regardless of what they build. If that is true, than why doesn't it work in the Chicago metro, which is way bigger than Cincinnati? It has been said that St. Louis area was too depressed to support any growth at SFSTL. I was under the impression that while the city itself has shrunk, there was still plenty of affluence in their suburbs. And I was under the impression that the economy in Cincinnati and it's suburbs were similar to that of St. Louis, though Cincinnati is even smaller. They have to be attracting many from beyond Cincinnati, but where exactly? I have speculated where they may all be coming from, but I'm not sure. And I'm sure KI draws plenty from Columbus, Dayton and Indianapolis. But to get their numbers, I would almost suspect they draw from all over the country, more than what SFSTL or SFGAM would. I'm sure the combo ticket (which we usually get) helps. CF parks seem to be be bigger than SF parks, averaging 50-100 more acres per park. And they seem to offer more, especially in the coaster department. That can be gleaned simply by looking up stats on Wikipedia. I've read where KD draws the same amount of annual attendance as SFSTL. If this is true, look at the difference between both parks! I know SF has been coming back after bankruptcy, but CF also carries a heavy debt. They both have a budget that must be managed. People have posted about SF's cheap seasons passes being part of the problem. But SF's admission tickets and food prices seem to make up for it. Of course, we tend to limit our theme park meals to one per visit.

May I please suggest east coast Carowinds (Fury & Afterburn), King's Dominion (I305 & Volcano), and Busch Gardens Williamsburg (Beer & Awesomeness) over west coast Steam Punk Yololand? Knotts would be the only basis for a debate in my experience. Thanks for the sugestion, and all of these parks you mentioned are on my list. My grandmother was born and raised in Forrest City, North Carolina, which is only an hour west of Charlotte, so I've been meaning to go there and look through a couple cemeteries for genealogy purposes. And I know somebody who now lives in Kinston, who has been trying to get me to visit. Between these 2 places, one passes very close to Carowinds if we take the Charlotte route. So Carowinds would be definite must once I make it to N.C.! I can also see the mountains and the coastline while I'm done there. Than we could possibly loop around and catch SFOG and/or Dollywood on our way back to Illinois. We may even keep driving eastward into Pennsylvania to explore one or more of their amusement parks like Hershey Park, Kennywood, Knoebels or Lakemont, before turning south. Pennsylvania has the most coasters of any state, and many are historic. Even the oldest operating coaster is there. We could even head further east and hit SFGA and SFA on our way to Virginia if we have our Six Flags Passes. One of them really wants to ride Kingda Ka badly. If they vote to turn northward into New York and New England, the choices would be Lake Compounce, SFNE, Darien Lake, and/or Great Escape. And I'd love to take a ride on the Coney Island Cyclone. Of course, there's several other theme parks in that area, but they're rather tiny. If we go west, it would be SFMM, Knott's, CGA, SFDK, or possibly the Disney, Universal and/or Sea World parks. And perhaps Adventureland in Iowa, Elitch Gardens or Lagoon on the way there. Where we go and how many parks we hit depends on our budget and the amount of time we will have.

SFGAm is a great park, fairly balanced between coasters, flat rides, and water rides, from a family perspective. But for being in our country's third largest metro, with no nearby competition from another Amusement Park, could be MUCH better. I do understand this and I do wish they could have fully tapped their potential. They don't seem to challenge the height limit very much, but I don't think they feel comfortable to push it either. I've seen the complains by the villagers when they tried to add a 150' coaster, don't get me started on those villagers. LOL Great America is jam packed full of rides to the point it has a lack of scenery. It would be nice if they had more land in the first place. King's Island and Cedar Point are beautiful with plenty of scenery. Given SFGAm's location, the park is almost always packed full of people. Combine this with the fact they don't always have the most efficient ride loading, dispatching, an unloading process, leads to ridiculous weight times. People tend to hate their food, but I've been okay with what I've eaten there, though I can say it was a tad overpriced. But in speaking specifically from a coaster standpoint, SFGAm, with 14 coasters, is in the top 5 in terms of coaster count, which doesn't mean much. I believe they Six Flags would have made them their Magic Mountain if it wasn't for the height restriction. But another thing to consider is Magic Mountain is all coasters and few rides. Great for coaster enthusiasts like myself, but not so great for a family park. This all being said, SFGAm coastersThey are a little on the short and small side, but the track layout on a few of their coasters really makes up for their size. Goliath, though short, had an innovative and insane layout. Viper has a lot of air time for what it is. Demon is still kept smooth for an Arrow. Some people preferred their X-Flight to Gatekeeper because of all of it's tight turns, though I, myself, prefer Gatekeeper. It stretches across the park and adds speed. I could feel the added g-forces of X-Flight, but it just felt a little sluggish to me. I like SFGAm, and even SFSTL, which no longer shows up on the radar of world's greatest, and I will continue to visit them. But make no mistake, I like KI better and Cedar Point is above the rest. BTW, the theme parks I've visited thus far are SFGAm, SFSTL, KI, CP, Mt. Olympus Theme Park at Wisconsin Dells & Lakeside amusement park in Denver, CO. But I do know the stats of almost every other park. My group & I are planning on hitting either the east coast or west coast next year. If we hit the west coast, Magic Mountain will surely be first on our list. I agree with you concerning Mean Streak. I would not be surprised if it shattered every RMC record and contained every RMC element either. 40th Anniversary is not a marquee milestone, like 25, 50th, 75th, 100, 150. Btw, what did GAm get for their 25th? They got V2 and Deja Vu. Calling GAm "one of the world's best parks" is pure hyperbolic nonsense. On Mean Streak, I expect some kind of record, CP loves to set records. Biggest hybrid drop and fastest are what I expect. On the time frame I'm going by the logic.."under promise and over deliver". They maybe aren't sure they can get it done by opening 2017 so don't announce it till you get a progress report late december. Then people won't be lambasting them if it's late.

I must say too that I Banshee became my favorite inverted roller coasters. Inverted Roller coasters can sometimes leave me feeling slightly queasy. I've felt slight queasiness on SF's Batman the Ride Clones with CP's Raptor being even worse. So I was a little worried about Banshee, being that same style, but having more inversions. And feeling slightly off from lack of food, sleep & rest before getting onto Banshee, I was really sweating it. But it didn't add to my "off" feeling at all. In fact, we rushed right back and rode it a second time. The inversions are gradual and gentle. You will feel the blood rushing to your feed with all the swoops, but that's no big deal at all. Banshee is also one of my favorite coasters in KI, behind the Beat & Diamondback.

I don't know why they haven't added a giga to KI, other than business sense? It could potentially steal the thunder from their other coasters, which would not be a good thing. Also, I do believe CF may be worried that a KI giga would cut into nearby CP attendance. I believe CF gave KD "Intimator" only as a way to try and bolster their image, which has been struggling, as well as in competition against Busch Gardens. Otherwise, KD hasn't received anything major in recent years, and their "Hurler" looks like it may be closed through next year. I believe Carowinds received one because they are 5 Hours from the next nearest CF park. They are also the CF location nearest to Georgia & Florida. I'm willing to bet their placement of Fury 325 was done, in part, in hopes of drawing some of the populous Georgia and Florida crowd. Canada's Wonderland addition of "Leviathan" made the most sense of all, and it gives Cedar Fair bragging rights for bringing the first giga to Canada. But I don't think that Knott's Berry Farm, CF's most attended park, has a giga either, unless it happened in the last 2 years. Do you know if Mason, Ohio has a building height limit? Guernee's building height limit, as well as no room to expand, are what have really kept Six Flags Great America from becoming Cedar Point. Surprised by Mystic Timbers. KI is the only top CP parks without a Giga, thought that would be their next coaster. They have plenty of space. They are on about 3 to 5 year schedule about..2009 Diamondback, 2014 Banshee. 2017 Mystic Timbers, Giga..2021?

In these forums, there's mixed reviews as to the quality of the SFSTL's Fright Fest haunts. My only such event thus far was at SFGAm in 2014, which also gets mixed reviews (as just about every park's Halloween operations do), but I still liked it. I'm certainly hoping to get down there to check out their Fright Fest for myself. If I don't make it down this month, than perhaps I can see Holiday in the Park, which would be my first ever attended amusement park related to Christmas.

I know a lot of people have complained about the S&S coaster next year, but I'm glad to see it. It may be short and slow, and it certainly is no X2, but it is something I've never tried before. While the flipping may make me a little queasy, I'll have to try it at least once, it may not even make me dizzy at all. I know there are many others who love this ride. The park is too pressed for space to build much with a large foot print. They are already busy enough that we don't always get to cover every coaster during our visits. So SFGA has my support on this decision. BTW, SFGAm's coaster count is back up to 14, which it briefly held 4 years ago, and keeps the park within the world's top five in terms of coaster count. I would love to get up there (or even SFSTL) for Fright Fest, but I may not be able to. Fright Fest at SFGAm in 2014 became my first Halloween experience at an amusement park. It was packed, but I still liked what they were doing. I haven't had a chance to check out another one. It seems every park's Halloween operations are met with mixed reviews. Not having been to Halloween festivities anywhere else, I have nothing to compare it SFGAm Freight Fest to. I'm the type of person who is easily pleased.

I'm definitely looking forward to riding Mystic Timbers. I know many have been complaining about it because of it's small statue. Yes, it may be the slowest of KI's 3 full-sized woodies, but the twisted layouts of these GCI air time machines that pack a lot of punch for their size and speed. Thus far, the only one I've ridden is SFSTL's American Thunder, which I found to be awesome, and many people rate it as one of the the best at that park. And this one is going to be bigger and faster. GCI is not RMC, but they are still solid. I visited KI & CP in August and I couldn't help but overhear some people telling ride ops to RMC the Beast. While that would be totally awesome, I think it would destroy a big part of what the beast is all about. I also find the Racer to be too classic for RMC treatment. King's Island is one of the few parks where NONE of the woodies, in my opinion, need to be changed. I would not be opposed to a future addition of an RMC coaster, just as long as they leave their existing woodies the way they are. BTW, during our August visit, we rode every major roller coaster twice. We rode the Beast 3 times. And as storms threatened, we relocated to "Flight of Fear" and rode it 7 more times before gates closed, and we were about the last people left in the park!

It will be interesting to see exactly what Cedar Point does for their 150th. And yes, it is a major milestone anniversary, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will be getting anything major that year. The whole concept of amusement park anniversaries didn't cross my mind until Six Flags Great America, another amusement park, celebrated their 40th this year. And they didn't get anything major. But next year, they will be getting coaster #14, an S&S free spin. Six Flags Great America is one of the world's best parks, with one of the best assortment of roller coasters. However, Cedar Point makes them look like a local carnival. Goliath, Superman, Viper, are about the only coasters that don't loose their luster after hitting Cedar Point. It will also be interesting to see if the Mean Streak RMC re-track is complete, and up and running by 2017 or 2018. Twisted Collossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain began construction about the same time. I believe it was RMC's biggest project to date? Anyway, Colossus closed in August of 2014 and it was close to June 2015 before it opened, and this construction took place in the mild California climate. Mean Streak is also going to be a big project, but the difference in climate means more potential "snow days" depending upon the severity of this coming winter. If the great lakes region has a horrible winter, it may not be ready until next August, in which case, they may not even bother to open it until 2018. But RMC is becoming more and more experienced at building these too, so IDK. When Six Flags Great America built Goliath, their RMC masterpiece, the winter was severe and led to opening delays. Construction started in September and it wasn't completed until June, and it is only 3,100 feet of track, though the entire structure was build new. I'm wondering if and/or how much will shorten the length of Mean Streak, as RMC usually does. But at the same time, RMC has also been known to make a ride taller or a drop longer. Mean Streak has enough girth for RMC to potentially turn it into their best work. If they were to add 35' to the highest point, they would have the world's only official wooden hyper coaster ( I'm KI's SOB was, but no longer stands and Dollywood's Lightening Rod's height is disputed), which would also push the all-time speed record for wooden roller coasters. Or they could split the difference of 25' between the top and bottom of the first drop (dig a tunnel) to exceed The 180', drop, which is the wooden coaster record currently held by SFGAm's Goliath. It all depends on whether or not they can stay within wood's physical limits. If they kept the entire mile of track, they could easily have 4 inversions and some 0 gravity stalls. There's certainly a lot of potential to dream about.

McBride & Son home bought all of it, they started clearing it last November and are building 4 neighborhoods, a park, and an elementary school. Apparently there is a clause for home buyers that they can not complain about any noises coming from the park. This is upsets me slightly because now we know there is no room for major expansions without removing something. ): oh well at least we got a good flat this year! Edit: Six Flags is having a disappointing year, to bad after all those years with unqiue rides. ): According to Wikipedia, SFSTL is currently using only 283 of it's remaining 323 acres. That being said, they have another 40 acres to expand. To put this in perspective, the Beast, the world's longest roller coaster, fits inside a 35 acre spot at King's Island. Much can be done with 40 acres. The question is, how easily can this land be developed (is it way to hilly?)? And will they want to hold onto it for a sound buffer?

They're seem to be in no hurry to bring out the teasers this year, which is not a good sign. Six Flags Magic Mountain: 19 coasters / 44 total rides Six Flags Great America: 13 coasters / 52 total rides Six Flags Great Adventure: 13 coasters / 50 total rides Six Flags over Texas: 12 coasters / 44 total rides Six Flags New England: 11 coasters / 60+ total rides (ride champ) Six Flags over Georgia: 11 coasters / 40+ total rides La Ronde: 10 coasters / 40 total rides Six Flags America / 9 coasters / 54 total rides Six Flags St. Louis: 9 coasters / 40 total rides Six Flags Fiesta Texas: 9 coasters / total rides unknown Six Flags Mexico: 8 coasters / 48 total rides Six Flags Discovery Kingdom: 8 coasters / 38 total rides Six Flags Great Escape: 6 coasters / 35 total rides Wikipedia is correct with coaster counts, but don't think they're up to date with total ride counts. But according to these stats, right or wrong, Great America ranks second or third among the Six Flags chain. For coaster count, they tie for second place. But when comparing Six Flags parks to Cedar Fair parks, it seems Cedar Fair is the bigger spender. They have 3 parks, Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland & King's Island, with more coasters than SFGAm. And they have another couple of parks, King's Dominion & Carowinds, who tie with SFGam for coaster count. Wikipedia also has their total ride count a little higher than comparable six flags parks. Cedar Fair parks average a little bigger too, which would explain why they have space to pack a ton of rides and thoroughly theme things out. King's Island has a huge royal fountain and a 1/3 sized replica of the Eiffel tower at their entrance in addition to plenty of rides and room to expand. SFGAm seems like it is all just packed in and cluttered. I had always wished Gurnee would drop the building height limit and that SFGAm could buy an additional 65-100 acres of land for expansion, but I stand a better chance of getting struck by lightening. I also think it would have been awesome if they had originally built on a plot along the shore of Lake Michigan. But I'm sure that much lakefront property would have came at an astronomical price.

LOL I can't believe I wrote that much. My apologies for that. There was just so much to cover. It is painful to see Six Flags St. Louis in their present state. Especially since they were in a vibrant and ever-expanding state prior to 2008. And Suddenly, Six Flags seems to cut off Six Flags St. Louis. Like I said, we have been spoiled by the expansion projects of the past. But I'm with you in saying the Boss needs some work. I'd be perfectly happy with RMC. I almost feel like I'd prefer GCI restructuring to preserve the classic wooden feel. I don't know if I ever recall the lines being long. So from a business standpoint, they certainly should be doing something to improve it. Even if it is just simple and no frills re-tracking. I rode the Boomerang in 2003. It was my first ordinary boomerang. It was fun, but nothing to write home about. It strangely had the longest line of all coasters in the park, for being one of my least favorite coasters there. Boomerangs are clone coasters that seem to be everywhere. I would only rate King's Island's Invertigo as slightly better . The giant boomerangs such as SFGAm's old Deja Vu, are the best Vekoma boomerang rides. If only one of those would have came to SFSTL. I may visit SFSTL for Holiday in the Park this year. It's funny how both SFSTL and SFA, both neglected parks, trying Holiday in the Park this year. Also, CGAm, one of Cedar Fair's neglected parks, is starting Winterfest this year as well. I'm wondering if they are extending the season as a last-ditch attempt to try and bring in more revenue? If so, I hope it works for them. And perhaps that would spark the start of a turnaround for these parks. Okay, enough writing from me today. haha

I've been aware of Adventureland for a few years now, but it had never really caught my eye until now, with the addition of the Monster. So now, I've been pushing to get over there, and after having seen a video of the Monster's lighting in motion, my itch is even greater. But I haven't yet and time is running out. It was their first roller coaster in 20 years, though people beat up on SFSTL for not having a new coaster in 9 years. LOL Adventureland seems like a pretty nice little park and it's fairly easy to get to from Galesburg IL. And I don't remember ever riding a roller coaster with the view of a nearby cornfield. The 2 wooden roller coasters look interesting and I'd probably even enjoy the Dragon. I'll post an update if I'm able to go. The park intrigues me. And now that there's an Infinity coaster just 3 hours away, I have to get there somehow.

I'm excited over the possibility of SFGAm getting an S&S free spin. Though their specs are nothing compared to the original Arrow 4D coasters like X2, I would very much like to try a coaster with a pivoting seat that flips. Though it could make me nauseous, I'm excited to try one. I know they're popular among other rides. This will also bring SFGAm back up to a count of 14 roller coasters, a number they briefly peaked at few years back. It will also keep them in 5ifth place worldwide for most roller coasters in one park. Otherwise, they would slide to 6th as King's Island will have 15 next year. I never rode Orbiter because I feared it would nauseate me as most flat rides do. But I can certainly see that there are many who hate to see it go. Six Flags Great America is balanced almost perfectly as a family & thrill park. As I mentioned in another thread. If it wasn't for the Villiage height limit and little room for expansion, SFGAm, being close to our country's third largest metro, and without any real nearby competition (not as much competition as what surrounds parks in New York & L.A.), would easily be able to rival Cedar Point or Magic Mountain as a coaster capital. But for what they have to work with, it is still a wonderful park. So many people prefer X-Flight as their favorite winged coaster with it's sharp turns, though it is the slowest and shortest winged rider ever built to my knowledge. And Goliath debuted some track elements previously unseen. You can still come and enjoy Goliath after riding every coaster at Cedar Point. Since they are restricted from being a Cedar Point or Magic Mountain, they do have to maintain the perfect balance. Hopefully getting rid of the Orbiter won't upset that. But than again, the park seems to have top attendance no matter what.

Sunday, I will be making my second visit to King's Island. I last visited in 2011 and had a great time. During my first visit, I read up on all the specs and I so badly wanted to ride the SOB, which was still SBNO at the time. Than I read about the Beast, who's specs seemed to pale in comparison. I could not believe the size of the massive wood structure that stood over almost everything in the park. So I gave the Beast a try and I loved it, right from the first drop. It virtually tied with the Boss at Six Flags St. Louis as my favorite wooden coasters at the time. Both were unseated only last year when I rode Hades 360 at Mt. Olympus Theme Park. I also like Goliath at SFGAM just as much has Hades 360, but I'm not counting it as it doesn't have the real wood feel. These rides make SFGAM's American Eagle feel more unremarkable like CP's Mean Streak. I'm excited about trying out Mystic Timbers. It is a strange choice for them, but perhaps Cedar Fair is trying to make King's Island the King of wooden coasters track. The type of coaster is similar to SFSTL's American Thunder, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But this Mystic Timbers is significantly taller and a little faster than American Thunder, which is why I think it will still be a great ride. This will mark King's Island's first time as a park with 15 coasters, which will put them in 4th place behind SFMM, CP & CW. They certainly have the land and the crowd attendance to support it, as well as the acreage. As for those who would like to see King's Island become more like Cedar Point or Magic Mountain, With Cedar Point being so nearby, I think it is in their best interest to remain balanced as a family-oriented park, like Six Flags Great America. Us coaster enthusiasts will prefer Cedar Point, but several others, especially families with children, seem to prefer King's Island. Both parks have an attendance that is almost equal. I'm looking forward to visiting both Cedar Point & King's Island this weekend. Hopefully the driver doesn't loose their keys on the Diamondback this time around. LOL I didn't get to ride the Bat, Flight of Fear, Backlot Stunt Coaster or Adventure Express last time, so I must ride those this time. I purposely skipped Woodstock Express thinking it was a junior coaster, but may ride it this time if my group wants to. I'm also looking forward to Banshee, which may actually make me a little dizzy.

Count me among those who are hoping Mean Streak gets an RMC makeover. I rode it last year. And count me in as one of those few who didn't find it overly rough. And actually enjoyed it though, but found it to be my least favorite of almost any wooden roller coaster I've ridden. It didn't seem to go 65MPH and the big hills looked good from the distance, but disappointed with little air time. As for Blue Streak, we saw it was 50 years old, only 70' tall and went no faster than 40 MPH. So we basically deemed it a kid's ride and moved it to the end of the priority list. But since we got to cover all the other coasters that day, we ended up giving it a try. Were we ever surprised! It was much rougher and felt much faster than we had anticipated at 40MPH. It also had a surprising amount of air time. We laughed hysterically toward the end of the ride, and we learned why Cedar Point still has it. It was easily one of our favorites. Than in less than a month, I turned around and rode Pegasus at Mt. Olympus. It's specs were similar to Blue Streak and it's roughness matched, with more lateral banging. Blue Streak was, by far, the better ride of the 2. Pegasus lacked airtime and felt a little more sluggish. We were able to cover 14 coasters during that visit, deliberately skipping Woodstock Express and Wilderness Run, which we dismissed as junior coasters. Though I would not be opposed to riding those someday if I can, just to say I've done them. I know of adults who like the Big Dipper at Six Flags Great America, and that is like Woodstock Express. The roughest coasters I've ridden thus far are the Boss at Six Flags St. Louis and Zuess at Mt. Olympus theme park. They can be a little painful if you don't know how to ride them, but I can tolerate the roughness. I'm one of the few who loves the Boss, which I rank right up there with the Beast at KI. I didn't find Mean Streak to be quite as rough as any those.

About the employees at Six Flags St. Louis, I have found most of them to be rather friendly with the exception of a couple during my 1994 visit. In fact, during my 2013 visit, I encountered my favorite ride ops of all time. Until a couple of years ago, everybody thought I looked like Ben Stiller, everybody! And so did the 4 ops who were running "American Thunder". I got handshakes from a couple of them, and they announced that Ben Stiller was on the train. We engaged in conversation and banter. If only I would have thought to get my picture taken with them. I probably could have became Facebook friends with them and sent them a copy of said pictures. It would have been like an autograph for them. LOL They were the "superstars" that people in this forum are searching for. Though other employees have been friendly and interactive, these 4 were the best I've encountered. When it comes to Amusement Parks, I'm all about Roller Coasters. I have no complaints about the quality of the food, though I try to save money by limiting how much I get. Shows are okay when we're taking a food & drink break. Otherwise, I like to spend the day trying to get as many coaster rides in as possible. If it was just me, I'd probably be spending the entire 10~14 hours dashing from coaster to coaster. I can no longer do most flat rides or non-coaster rides because they make me nauseous. I'm all for the biggest, fastest & newest coasters, but I still respect the fact that many parks, such as Great America, want to remain balanced for the family as opposed to being coaster-heavy like Six Flags Magic Mountain. And I also have an appreciation for vintage coasters. And I can still have fun at any park, regardless of how ran down it is. All this being said, it does appear that Six Flags St. Louis has gone downhill since my last visit. The fact they haven't received a brand new coaster since 2008 leave me just as disappointed as the next guy. And I find it especially unfortunate that many of their rides are SBNO. And one would not think it was cost much extra to control the weeds. But here's my theory. Why the Roller coaster Wars of the 1980's and 1990's led to a theme park revival, they have to end sometime. A coaster can only pack so many g's before it becomes dangerous. Also, many parks are land-locked and have no room for expansion. As much as I like to see a new ride, I usually hate to see what rides have to be demolished to make space for it. And lastly, before the coaster wars, just about every regional park seemed fairly equal to the other other. In 1990, SFGA and SFSTL were still comparable with with KI and CP. But once the wars started, I believe that some parks grew bigger than their market could support them. CP and MM, the 2 coaster capitols of the world, are pretty much maxed out with little room to expand, and financially. Six Flags Great America had the potential to outdo them, but they are plagued with Gurney's building height restrictions which caused them to loose any chance of keeping up with Cedar Point and Magic Mountain with world's tallest coasters. So in their best interest, they have decided to remain fairly balanced and they stay extremely busy. Their coasters are still very good for their size. The tight turns and elements in some of their coaster tracks make up for the height restrictions. Some people actually list X-Flight as their favorite winged coaster, though it is the shortest winged coaster ever built. And Goliath, though short, was very unique for track layout. So we have Cedar Point and Magic Mountain, than we have King's Island & Great America. Though King's Island is one of the most beautiful parks, I rank it as slightly better than Great America in ride selection. These are still among the best parks in the world. Than we have these seemingly-neglected parks such as Michgan's Adventure and SFSTL. Keep in mind their markets pale in comparison to Great America and Magic Mountain. And Cedar Point is a unique travel destination which takes advantage of it's lake setting and attracts people from all over the U.S., as well as from Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, etc, which are several Metros that are comparable in size to the St. Louis Metro. And King's Island also draws many people from those same areas, and well as Louisville Kentucky, etc. Not to mention, it's about as beautiful as an amusement park can get. What does St. Louis have to offer that will attract very many people beyond St. Louis? It used to be that SFSTL was mentioned more than SFGA here in Peoria. For one thing, SFSTL came first as one of the only major parks in the region. Before SFGA, they attracted a lot of the Chicago Crowd as well. But now, there's nothing in Six Flags St. Louis, aside from Mr. Freeze & the Boss, to really attract Chicago and other visitors to SFSTL. And I am not for Six Flags putting the same rides in both locations. In my opinion, Batman the Ride should not have been installed at 2 adjacent parks. And I believe adding Justice League to SFGA really gave Chicago less of a reason to head to SFSTL. I'd love to revisit SFSTL, but everybody around here wants to go to SFGA. I'm not complaining though, I'm just saying their don't draw as much distant crowd as they used to. Six Flags St. Louis has 9 coasters. I doubt ANY amusement park had 9 coasters back in 1990. Perhaps Six Flags St. Louis has become too big for it's market? It's very possible. Six Flags used to invest heavily in almost every park, than they went bankrupt. It was about this time when I started to notice St. Louis being neglected. I do wish them luck though. If they can get the park cleaned up again, than perhaps they will build momentum and grow once again. The roughness of the Boss doesn't bother me. Mr. Freeze is always excellent. And the Screamin' Eagle remains a classic. I enjoy all of their coasters. A Pandora's box was opened with the coaster wars. Though it did lead to the revival of the amusement park industry, it has ultimately resulted in an inequality between parks in the largest markets and smaller market parks. It may no longer be feasible for the smaller parks to rapidly expand again. But it would be nice if they can find a way to keep clean and properly care for all their existing rides. SFSTL is definitely do for a new coaster and I hope they get one soon. But I won't complain if they don't get one for a while. It looks like Cedar Fair gave nothing to Michigan's Adventure last year, and they don't appear to be getting much of anything this year either. Though that park may be cleaner than SFSTL. I also thought SFSTL's operations to be superior to Mt. Olympus Theme Park's operations. And don't get me wrong, I loved my visit to Lakeside Amusement Park. There's a lot of history there. But given the choice between super small parks like Lakeside and Elitch Gardens, SFSTL and MA look like Cedar Point. I bet the Denver Crowd who visit SFSTL are blown away. I had always thought Elitch Gardens should have been re-located to a lot that was no smaller than 200 acres with 300-400 acres being ideal. As for Lakeside, I think It should remain the nostalgic jewel it is. It is like a rare time capsule. And in contrast to what I've read online, it was very clean when we were there. I have an aunt, who lives in Arvada, who had refused to go there for all her 17 years in Colorado, based on what people had said. But even she was impressed with how clean it was. I didn't notice any rides down either except for a Ferris wheel that appears to have been sitting there forever. They apparently have started picking it up in recent years? The "Cyclone" sparkled with what looked like a new coast of white paint. But for a s small as it was, SFSTL has a lot more to offer. But keep in mind that no park can be CP or MM, or even KI or SFGA.

Hello everybody! I'm new to this thread. Though I've been following this for years, only yesterday did I decide to create an account. And as for the name, don't try to make sense of it. I was looking for something as random and unique as possible. Comments regarding the neglected state of SFSTL are primarily what led to my decision to sign up. I will get to that in my next post. Back in August of 1994, SFSTL became my first visit to a dedicated amusement park. I was only 17 and I went originally for the sole purpose of mingling with my youth group. Up until that day, I was determined NEVER to get on a roller coaster that was any bigger than the portable ones that are common at traveling carnivals. I used to think those tiny coasters packed so much punch that a 100' tall coaster would be too much. And inverted roller coasters were especially out of the question. This all changed when we got in line for the Ninja. Of course, I had no intentions of riding it. But when I saw a group of old ladies getting out of the train, I started thinking "if they can do it, I can do it". Seriously though, I believe a couple of these ladies were in their 80's. They also looked rather frail. So I decided to go for it. I still remember the first sensation of point of no return following the locking of the restraints. The second sensation of point of no return came once the train started. My anxiety built as I was headed up the lift hill. But once I fell, I was here, there & everywhere, and I loved it! My cousin, and her cousin, who were in the row behind me, had a similar dilemma, and it was those same old ladies who led to their decision to ride. They loved it too. We immediately headed over to Screamin' Eagle and loved it. The River King Mine Train was the third coaster we rode that day. Not as spectacular as the others, but It is still fun. I would later gain an appreciation for Arrow Mine Trains. I revisited in 2004, 2010 & 2013. It was my 2004 visit and rides such as Mr. Freeze and the Boss which made me realize I was a true roller coaster enthusiast. In 1998, my second visit to an amusement park was my first visit to Six Flags Great America, which turned out to be awesome. The Shock wave, believe it or not, was one of my favorites there. I re-visited in 2002, 2006, twice in 2014, once in 2015 & opening day 2016. I went to King's Island in 2011, which broadened my scope of theme parks. And I was blown away by last year's visit to Cedar Point. We got to ride all 14 of the adult coasters in one day! I will be revisiting both CP & KI this Friday and Saturday! And finally, I went to Mt. Olympus Theme Park last year. And in May, I went to Lakeside Amusement Park in Denver. So needless to say, I'm building some serious experience as my amusement park trips have really picked up since 2013.