Photo TR: Drayton Manor (Page 19)

[disneymoc]

I rode OPA last year and it was Meh! Nothing exciting, but I have ridden those kind of coasters before. I LOVED Zeus and Cyclops. They were Hades level, but still fun. I agree...Pegasus sucks.

[Jojo19799]

I haven't been on Opa yet, but I just thought the comment was funny.

 

It was a great weekend. We need to go up there again. The water park at Mt. O is so worth it.

[deathbydinn]

^ I just wish the raft lines weren't so long. They're good slides, but I don't think they're really worth the waits they get. IMO they should do away with some of the extra hotel parking by the second entrance and add some newer generation slides there.

 

Great report too, it seems like every time I go to Mt. O , I somehow manage to barely take any pictures.

[Mr. Starr]

Awesome report, sounds like I really need to get to Mount Olympus sometime soon!

[blade1]

Cool photos. Cyclops apparently has one of the most intense drops in the very back seat. If you go on ThemeParkCritic, you can see what some of the reviews say about the drop. Also, Hades had no airtime? That's odd because I remember several people saying that the ride had some really great air. Maybe you caught it on a bad day?

 

Cyclops has incredible ejector air from the back. The only airtime Hades has is crashing into the sides of the car or the rider next to you. It's very intense, but also very painful. It's speed is what jumped out at me, not airtime.

 

Awesome report, sounds like I really need to get to Mount Olympus sometime soon!

 

Don't set your expectations too high. The park has horrible operations. No one speaks english. Rides are not very well maintained and the place is poorly staffed by Eastern European young adults who are incompetent and lazy. I have yet to have a great experience here.

[deathbydinn]

First off, Hades is far from painful. Second, how can you say they dont maintain they're rides when both Hades and Zeus had lots of re-tracking which really helped and Hades got lots of work done on the trains? The staff is fine, they may not be the fastest, but they sure aren't the slowest and they all spoke English.

[Jojo19799]

Don't set your expectations too high. The park has horrible operations. No one speaks english. Rides are not very well maintained and the place is poorly staffed by Eastern European young adults who are incompetent and lazy. I have yet to have a great experience here.

 

Our last visit it was absolutely outstanding. We all had fun. Everyone spoke English. Yes the rides have horrible operations, but that's mainly due to running one train on all coasters. Yes there was a wait for the coasters and go karts, but that's to be expected. I didn't think anyone was being incompetent and lazy. In fact, when Griffin and I were purchasing our tickets using our Club TPR cards, we didn't have an issue. The employee knew what to do, and she even said they had a list posted of all the different clubs and discounts!

 

I'm sorry that your experience was bad. But I'm sure if you gave it another chance you'll find that Mt. O has redeemed itself.

[blade1]

First off, Hades is far from painful. Second, how can you say they dont maintain they're rides when both Hades and Zeus had lots of re-tracking which really helped and Hades got lots of work done on the trains? The staff is fine, they may not be the fastest, but they sure aren't the slowest and they all spoke English.

 

You are 13, young enough that no coaster is painful for you. As you get older, you will likely see this change.

 

Our last visit it was absolutely outstanding. We all had fun. Everyone spoke English. Yes the rides have horrible operations, but that's mainly due to running one train on all coasters. Yes there was a wait for the coasters and go karts, but that's to be expected. I didn't think anyone was being incompetent and lazy. In fact, when Griffin and I were purchasing our tickets using our Club TPR cards, we didn't have an issue. The employee knew what to do, and she even said they had a list posted of all the different clubs and discounts!

 

I'm sorry that your experience was bad. But I'm sure if you gave it another chance you'll find that Mt. O has redeemed itself.

 

I'm glad you had a good experience. Every time I've been there has been the same and I end up really disgusted by the end of the day. This place could be like Holiday World if it was in better hands, but they are not even close right now.

[KevinM]

Does Avalanche/Hellcat still have the five-ride limit?

[deathbydinn]

^Yes. Every time you ride they put a check on your wristband. The only way to get more is too buy multiple wristbands or pay for each ride separately which is $6.50.

[Jerrykoala2112]

Let me just start off by saying how much I love Six Flags St. Louis! It is my favorite SF park that I have been to, and this being my fourth visit, it still never gets old! It has a great selection of roller coasters (near perfect in my opinion) and definitely a great atmosphere. There are many places around the park where you can't hear one single ride or screams, which is very relaxing when you want to take a breather. Oh! One thing that really bugged me was how the staff didn't fill up all the seats on the trains and were sending out empty rows. Now the lines weren't long (15 minutes and less) they still could have filled up a couple of the rows... And here are my ride reviews!

 

Evel Knievel - Probably my new favorite GCI! I rode it in 2008 towards the middle, and it wasn't all too great, but I sat in the back this time and WOW. The ride never stops or loses speed, many hops and turns and all the shenanigans. Just a really compact awesome ride.

 

Mr. Freeze - After being closed on my 2001 and 2006 visits, I finally rode it in 2008 and thought it was great, top 10 worthy! This time around, I sat in the front and was a little bit of a let down. I'm glad the shoulder restraints are gone, but my favorite part was the extra boost you get when going up the straight spike.

 

The Boss - Just a reminder, this ride is only good in the front. Every other seat will beat the crap out of ya and just not be worth riding again. The front is very pleasant, lots of laterals and some pops of airtime.

 

River King Mine Train - The one thing that pissed me off was that you needed lo.ckers for this ride. I mean, come on, it's a family ride! Whizzer at SFGAm doesn't have lockers, But the ride, I liked it before in 2008, but this time, it was jerky and fast. Not terrible, but still okay.

 

Ninja - Was a walk on all day. Sit in the 2nd to last row if you want a smooth, headchopping, awesome ride.

 

Time for some pictures?! (And sorry for the lack of pictures of everything, Batman and Tony Hawk I skipped riding, so no pictures of those coasters. And it was 98 degrees, and I didn't feel like whipping out my camera to take pictures)

I was greeted by the Papa John's sponsored Ferris Wheel soon after walking into the park.

Evel Knievel is definitely one of totally awesome coasters here!

The ride takes itself around and around in a very fast paced layout. It's still smooth after 2 years of operation!

Steep drop = lots of airtime in the back!

These are the little tiny racing log flumes. They are actually one of my favorites...

The ferris wheel probably gives you lots of views of the park, but we weren't in the mood to ride it.

Welcome to Mr. Freeze - The "coolest" coaster on the planet!

That's the top hat, this ride is also pretty compact!

Launch, top hat, over bank, spike, and then backwards!

The ride is very forceful and happens in a flash.

I'd just keep in mind that this coaster has lap bars

Even when it was 98 degrees out, the rapids crew really kept the line down to a 5 minute wait!

Last picture of the wheel. It actually looks really good, and is situated at a nice place around the park.

Mr. Freeze is situated on an island. Ripley's Believe It or Not!

I actually like The Boss, but this is my only picture, so it doesn't do any justice... And remember to sit in the front!

The drop tower (Superman TOP) is really popular at Six Flags St. Louis! Guessing because it is still new-ish. (Relocated from Astroworld..) So I skipped it on this visit and my other 2 visits.

Here's a crappy picture of the Screaming Eagle. I've already had the credit, so I didn't feel like waiting 30 minutes for it. It's also one of the rides you don't feel like reriding for being so boring.

One picture of Ninja. It's a walk on most of they day, so might as well ride it

Bye bye Six Flags!

[Mr. Starr]

Wow, I really love this park. Very nice P:TR, it's weird that I've only seen it until now I really love the rapids there, and I really have no idea why except for the fact that they pretty much circle Mr. Freeze I hope the rest of your trip was nice and I'm looking forward to more pictures!

[kumba830]

I keep hearing great thinks about Evel Knievel, it sounds like it's fast and full of airtime. Which makes me really want to get down there and ride it!

 

Maybe even hit up the St.Louis City Museum

Edited August 16, 2010 by kumba830

[deathbydinn]

I can't wait to go to SFTSL, hopefully next year. It really does look like one of the better Six Flags parks. Can't wait to see the pics from the rest of your trip!

[netdvn]

Six Flags really needs to bring back that old school logo for the anniversary. It looks pretty cool! Maybe they should do it for all their parks.

[DOCTOR DOOM!!!]

Imma have to try to ride Evel Knievel in the back. I rode it and thought Boss was a much better woodie!

[jynx242]

I keep hearing great thinks about Evel Knievel, it sounds like it's fast and full of airtime. Which makes me really want to get down there and ride it!

 

Maybe even hit up the St.Louis City Museum

 

City Museum is one of the coolest places I have ever visited. Be sure to bring aspirin and bandages though

 

Six Flags St. Louis was a lot of fun last week with TPR. Freeze is awesome. Boss just plain sucked (we did not ride in the front, and others who did say they enjoyed it.) Son of Beast bad... Excalibur was AWESOME fun and the ride op running it was just hilarious. "...if you feel the need to share your lunch, share it with your riding partner, because sharing is caring and caring is fun!"

 

We had a 117degree heat index, so didn't ride as much as we might usually, but still had a blast.

 

David

[cal1br3tto]

I personally think EK is amazing in the front seat. For me it was one of those "Once you go to the front, you never go back!" rides. However, I also don't think it really has any bad seats. Even the middle is fine. It's just a very fun, rerideable, consistently enjoyable twister.

[Jcoaster95]

I keep hearing great thinks about Evel Knievel, it sounds like it's fast and full of airtime. Which makes me really want to get down there and ride it!

 

Maybe even hit up the St.Louis City Museum

 

It is an awesome park, and Evel is amazing. BTW, Nice title and avatar!

[GriffyTiffy]

Great report Jer!

 

I really liked the Mr. Freeze pictures (I mean come on! Who doesn't love Mr. Freeze?)

 

I can't wait to see more pictures from your adventures!

 

Love

Griffin

[bobbinbop20]

I keep hearing great thinks about Evel Knievel, it sounds like it's fast and full of airtime.

 

All those things you hear are true, that ride is really awesome!

[Rollertoaster]

It's amazing how much the park has changed in the years since I lived in St. Louis. Those log flumes used to seem so big to me! And yes, Colossus (the ferris wheel) gives you excellent views of the park.

[saginawhxc]

I personally don't think Boss is nearly half as bad as people seem to say. It's my third favorite in the park, and my ten year old son's first favorite in the park. We rode multiple times in the back too.

[Jerrykoala2112]

Thanks everyone for the comments, that homepage feature really made my month! But now is the time for a new photo trip report!

 

So I went to Silver Dollar City on August 9th, and had a *super* fantastic time! The park is outstanding, theming and ride wise, and the atmosphere is just so hard for any other parks to beat. Silver Dollar City does have the Marvel Cave, but little did we know that the tours ended at 3:30 (park closed at 6 that day) so we never had a chance to go. I wasn't too mad because I've been to so many other caves... Also, the park maps are just excellent! They are in the form of a newspaper, totally classy, I know. Here are my ride/roller coaster reviews!

 

Fire in the Hole - 30 Minutes - I am not sure if any of you know, but the dalmatian that use to sit in the station passed away last year, which totally made me sad (but didn't ruin my day..) That ride itself, it's great! I was beginning to think that the layout was just gonna remain flat, but we just slowly got higher and higher. The ending really scared me, along with the water and strobe lights! Fantastic.

 

Tom & Hucks River Blast - 50 minutes - What a fantastic Splash Battle! It's definitely better than Buccaneer Battle, although doesn't have such a high capacity. There are so many targets, but the ride is really long and my arm got tired really quick. The layout is unique, and many people on the midway were squirting us. I got soaked on this, which was really nice because it was close to 100 that day. The only let down on the ride was that some of the targets were just stickers, but more than half of them had amazing effects when you squirt them!

 

ThuNderaTion - Walk on - It was running one cart, but it will wasn't a long wait. I first rode it backwards, and it is probably my favorite mine train! I rode it a 2nd time to ride in a forward seat, and it does have a great layout! (I love how the roller coasters are on the side of a giant hill!) I swear the coaster never got 10 feet off the ground! It also has a VERY fast paced layout, even when exiting the station, the lift hill doesn't come until 3/4 way through the ride!

 

Lost River of the Ozarks - 60 minutes - Amazing! Theming, wetness, all just top notch. The line seemed endless, but definitely worth it! I will admit, I didn't get wet until the very end in the tunnel, that's where the big rapids are. Probably one of my favorite river rapids I have been on.

 

Barn Swing - 20 minutes - I love all these S&S Giant Swings! This is one of the smaller ones (like the one at Liseberg) and it was still great! They were only running one arm when I rode, but the line was still moving really fast. The part when it swings over 90 degrees is just the greatest!

 

Wildire - 20 minutes - So I did a little research before coming to the park and found out that the back gives the best airtime. So I got in line for the back and did not regret it! I usually prefer the front, but when a majority of the people say the back is best, I follow. The airtime was insane! The layout was also really fun, short but sweet. Wildfire is also on the side of a hill, which makes me prefer this ride over Kumba. It was only running one cart, but these B&M carts are such people eaters.

 

American Plunge - 10 minutes - I will admit, the ride itself was a bit boring. There is a really long tunnel of nothing, which made me want to get off. The theming on this ride is OK. But that drop, woooh!!! As soon as you hit the water, water just shoots up from all around you! (None if it is jets though, all are from the impact of the log on the water!) I got soaked, but loved that part!

 

Powder Keg - 25 and 10 minutes - Definitely a top 10 coaster *for me at least* !!!! The launch is great, airtime is great, name is great, and overall, just great! The ride is very fast paced (up to the lift hill) and the airtime is awesome! That really long turn leading into the lift hill has got to be the best turn ever. You are just curving down a mountain side with trees around you and you just don't know where you are heading to. I just didn't like the lift hill, it ruined the speed of the ride. The part after the lift hill could have been a little better too, but still a top 10 ride! Just a note, I rode front first, then back, both are worth it, but I loved the front because of the launch and all the wind.

 

Now here are the pictures I took. Please note, that the rides are so well hidden away from the midway paths, that it was nearly impossible to have a tree-free shot.

The Barn Swing has the best theming on any Barn Swing that I have been on! I guess the one coming to Dollywood will be just as good or better.

Huge props for the park for having the queues mostly shaded. Especially for this ride.

Later in the day, they started using both sides, but I never had a chance to ride it again.

Best part of the ride!

Here is my really crappy picture of the Lost River of the Ozarks. Trust me, the ride is so much better than this picture!

I think this was a REALLY well themed water playground for kids. I didn't go in because we didn't have enough time, even though we were there for the whole day.

Wildfire is hot.

They have this neat-o boardwalk that can get you great shots of the ride.

Look at what's behind the coaster!

I think it goes upside down 5 times in a very short amount of time, very awesome!

This would be the cobra roll.

Cobra roll with train.

When the track isn't doing an inversion, it's hugging the ground!

Here is the cart for Powder Keg. I did not take a picture, but what is that bomb looking stuff on the back of the train?

I think this is for roll backs, please correct me if I'm wrong!

I rode it in the back and front, both are super, but front is better!

Very, very, very, very, very, smooth ride! No jerkiness either! Props to S&S for creating such a master piece.

Silver Dollar City has amazing stuff happening all around the park. We stopped in the glass blowing shop for awhile. You can also watch blacksmiths and weavers etc...

This ride is totally invisible from the midway, so this picture will have to do. Like I said, best arrow mine train I have been on! Very fast paced, backwards is also really scary!

The only theming I noticed on the log flume was on the drop.

Those people are about to get all wet. (GOOD!)

The splash is immense! I'd definitely ride it again, but just for the splash.

That was it for my Silver Dollar City photos. But 10 minutes away is Celebration City, which is still standing there, my hotel was right next door to it. Almost made me cry. Hopefully, some park can adopt Ozark Wildcat.

Edited August 21, 2010 by Jerrykoala2112

[Shavethewhales]

The American Plunge used to have so much more - the old tunnel was full of animatronics and scenes that would light up as you floated past. The year that PK was added they needed to move heavy equipment around on top of the tunnel, so they re-built the tunnel to be a simple concrete gutter style tunnel with nothing inside. That was pretty disappointing. I feel like it's days are being numbered now...

 

As for the boxes on the back of PK, they hold the computers for the train's restraints.

 

I'm glad you had a great time at the park!