Summer Trip: St. Louis

[rcdude]

This summer, my family has planned a trip to St. Louis. We will be doing a number of activities here, but we will also be visiting two amusement parks: Six Flags St. Louis and Holiday World. The trip will be in late July immediately before the start of the TPR North East trip.

 

I have a few questions about the parks on the trip. The first applies to both, while the rest are only applicable to Six Flags St. Louis.

 

1. What are the crowds like this time of year? We will be visiting Six Flags St. Louis on either a Sunday or Monday and will be visiting Holiday World on a Wednesday.

 

2. We have the option of visiting Six Flags St. Louis from open to close on a Sunday, or from open until 6 P.M. on a Monday. Which is a better option?

 

3. My dad strongly dislikes front of the line passes, so it is highly unlikely that we will be getting a Flash Pass. However, if the lines are likely to be over an hour for major rides, we might consider it. Given that we are interested in doing all the roller coasters (possibly with re-rides on 2-3 of them), the water rides, Skyscreamer, the drop tower, Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters (possibly with re-rides if the line is short), and the unique flat rides, is a Flash Pass necessary? If we purchased one, we would only get the regular level.

 

4. Is the waterpark worth doing at Six Flags St. Louis, and if so approximately how long would it take to do each slide once?

[Airtime&Gravity]

1. What are the crowds like this time of year? We will be visiting Six Flags St. Louis on either a Sunday or Monday and will be visiting Holiday World on a Wednesday.

 

Crowds should be light. The only time crowds haven't been in my experience with the park was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend last year. Even on July 4, the park has been pretty light on crowds.

 

2. We have the option of visiting Six Flags St. Louis from open to close on a Sunday, or from open until 6 P.M. on a Monday. Which is a better option?

 

Either one would be good. Crowds would probably be even lighter on Monday.

 

3. My dad strongly dislikes front of the line passes, so it is highly unlikely that we will be getting a Flash Pass. However, if the lines are likely to be over an hour for major rides, we might consider it. Given that we are interested in doing all the roller coasters (possibly with re-rides on 2-3 of them), the water rides, Skyscreamer, the drop tower, Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters (possibly with re-rides if the line is short), and the unique flat rides, is a Flash Pass necessary? If we purchased one, we would only get the regular level.

 

You probably won't need one anyways. Most of the coasters have maybe a 15min max, and with the only exceptions being Pandemonium, American Thunder(sometimes) and Mr. Freeze. However, the wait should be no longer than 30mins max for those two/three(providing crowds aren't like what I experienced on Labor Day Sunday). The water rides should have waits, but unless it is crowded and hot, the waits should still be fairly short. The only ride that seems to have consistently long rides is the Scooby Doo Ghostblasters. Other than that, the flat rides seem to have little to no wait.

 

4. Is the waterpark worth doing at Six Flags St. Louis, and if so approximately how long would it take to do each slide once?

 

I've never done the water park due to time issues, but from what I've seen of it, it looks very nice. It certainly isn't the largest water park, but it looks like it could be a nice way to spend a couple of hours if it is hot out.

 

 

Have fun at the park. Six Flags St. Louis is my favorite Six Flags park, and providing you visit on an average day, you should have a great time.

[BarryH]

Summer in Missouri in July can also be very hot. Just ask those who went on the Midwest tour. I remember going to Worlds of Fun in July. I remember looking up at a big board that showed the time and temperature. Temperature at 11:00 am was like 108 degrees. Florida was in the mid-90's. I wanted to go back to Florida to cool off.

 

BTW, I went to Worlds of Fun on a weekday. The wait for the roller coasters were like 5 minutes. The water raft ride had an hour wait. I wonder why?

[rcdude]

Thanks for the help. We've decided that we'll go to Six Flags St. Louis on Sunday since we should be able to do everything without a Flash Pass. If it is exceptionally crowded (an hour or more wait for all major rides), we'll buy one, but I'm thinking that won't be the case. I have one more question, which relates to both parks and the best order to do attractions. Here are my current plans.

 

Six Flags St. Louis: American Thunder first, then either A. Pandemonium, Boss, Mr. Freeze, Batman The Ride, Ninja, Screamin' Eagle, River King Mine Train, or B. Mr. Freeze, Batman The Ride, Ninja, Pandemonium, Boss, Screamin' Eagle, River King Mine Train. We would probably do Scooby Doo Ghostblasters at the same time we do Mr. Freeze, but most of the other non-coaster rides would wait until we had done all eight coasters (unless they are known for getting long waits). Which of these plans is better, or is there an even better way to do everything?

 

Holiday World: Voyage first, then Gobbler Getaway. We would then go to the waterpark as soon as it opens and do Wildebeest, Pilgrims Plunge, Zinga, Zoombabwe, Wahtubee, Bakuli, then make our way around to the remaining attractions in no particular order. After we are done in the waterpark, we'll get lunch, then do whatever rides we want by area, beginning at Halloween. Is this plan good, or is there a better way? Voyage must be first, but everything else can change if it would likely work out better.

[Godwyn]

I would start on the left side of the park and work your way around clockwise starting with American Thunder first followed by Mr. Freeze (Scooby Doo while you are there), Pandemonium, then Boss. Then head to the back of the park and ride Screamin' Eagle then work your way up to the front riding Mine Train, Ninja (usually never a line) and then Batman. Most people head to Batman first, so by the time you get over there, the line shouldn't be as bad.

 

As for Holiday World, we were just there for Holiwood Nights and was there all day Friday. This is what we did and it worked out pretty well for us. We got locke.rs for the main park and the water park as soon as we got in the gates. You can get them both up front. We started out with Voyage and then hit Gobblers Getaway. While you are back in that section, you might want to go ahead and hit Pilgrims Plunge. I rode in the front and didn't get totally soaked if thats what you are afraid of and was waiting to get your swim clothes on. During ERT I rode it again 5 more times (2 times in the 3rd row and 3 times in the 2nd) and just my hair and right shoulder got really wet. Water does splash up over the side of the boat and will get whatever foot is closer to that side wet, so that is something you might want to consider. I don't like having my socks wet so I tried shielding my foot with my hand. Did a pretty good job until the fifth ride! We then headed back up and rode Legend, grabbed our stuff out of our locke.r and headed to the water park. We stayed in there, got all the big slides done and floated around the lazy river and left about 2. By then the coasters were pretty much a one or two train wait or walk on.

[rcdude]

I would start on the left side of the park and work your way around clockwise starting with American Thunder first followed by Mr. Freeze (Scooby Doo while you are there), Pandemonium, then Boss. Then head to the back of the park and ride Screamin' Eagle then work your way up to the front riding Mine Train, Ninja (usually never a line) and then Batman. Most people head to Batman first, so by the time you get over there, the line shouldn't be as bad.

 

That actually sounds like a better plan given that Batman is crowded. I keep forgetting that Batman is SFStL's most intense coaster (or at least one of them) and therefore one of the most popular in the park. i'm too used to SFMM where it never has more than a fifteen minute wait unless it is running one train on a crowded day.

 

We got locke.rs for the main park and the water park as soon as we got in the gates. You can get them both up front.

 

I'm assuming that if you rent a lock-er in Splashin' Safari you can't access it until that park opens. Can you also rent them inside the waterpark, or do you have to go back to the front to rent it? We'll only need one in the waterpark, so it might be better for us to wait and rent it there.

 

While you are back in that section, you might want to go ahead and hit Pilgrims Plunge. I rode in the front and didn't get totally soaked if thats what you are afraid of and was waiting to get your swim clothes on. During ERT I rode it again 5 more times (2 times in the 3rd row and 3 times in the 2nd) and just my hair and right shoulder got really wet. Water does splash up over the side of the boat and will get whatever foot is closer to that side wet, so that is something you might want to consider. I don't like having my socks wet so I tried shielding my foot with my hand. Did a pretty good job until the fifth ride!

 

I'm not sure how long it will take to get Voyage and Gobbler Getaway done, but if we have extra time we might do that. I know Pilgrims Plunge has a large drop but isn't really that wet, so I don't mind riding in normal clothes. My main concern is getting on Wildebeest before the line grows to an hour or more, which I've heard can happen in as little as 30 minutes after it opens.

 

Thanks for the help. When I visit parks I've never done before, I always like to get as much information before visiting as I can.

[Godwyn]

Can you also rent them inside the waterpark, or do you have to go back to the front to rent it?

 

You can rent them at both places.

 

My main concern is getting on Wildebeest before the line grows to an hour or more, which I've heard can happen in as little as 30 minutes after it opens.

 

We went into the water park a few minutes after it opened, took our time changing and by the time we got back to Wildebeest, it was about a 20 to 30 minute wait. It wasn't that hot on Friday (Saturday was a whole differnent story), but I would try to get there as soon as you can. Saturday, as water park ERT ended, we were heading back up to our locke.r as the GP was entering, and it was like a herd of wildebeest running to get to the ride. I would have liked to have seen the look on the first person's face as they get to Wildebeest and find out there is already a line!

[mightbeawannabe]

Just an echo on the heat in Missouri-100 is a NORMAL temperature in July-drink lots and lots of water. It's no fun to get heat exhaustion in a park. 108 and gunky humidity levels are nothing outlandish to experience in Missouri...prepare accordingly.

[rcdude]

^I've survived a 110+ day at SFMM before without any problems. Granted, that was minus the humidity, but I should be fine. I'll just get water instead of soda as well as stopping at every convenient drinking fountain, and be sure to take it easy. 11 hours is a long time, and given that there are only about fifteen rides that we want to do (plus possible re-rides), I don't think there is any need to rush.

 

I will certainly be very thankful if we get lucky and it is only in the low 90s.