My Own Little Midwest Junket!

[bubala]

During the first week of August, I will embarking on my own little mini tour of the American Midwest. I'll be visiting six parks in six days. It's not going to be an easy trip, but I have done this kind of thing before, so I am confident that I will be able to pull it off.

 

I am planning to visit...

 

Six Flags St. Louis - St. Louis, MO

Silver Dollar City - Branson, MO

Magic Springs & Crystal Falls - Rockwell, AR

Frontier City - Oklahoma City, OK

Worlds Of Fun - Kansas City, MO

Adventureland - Altoona, IA

 

If anyone has any suggestions, advice, comments, questions, etc., please post them in a replay here. Also, if anyone wants to meet up at any of these parks, please let me know. I will be traveling by myself, so I will be scared and lonely...

My Midwest Tour!

[Shavethewhales]

Wow, that's a lot to do in six days. I can only really give advice about FC and SDC, and I know at SDC you'll wish you had a second day whereas at FC you can pretty much do everything you'll want to in about 3-4 hours.

 

At SDC, definitely try to be there at park opening and hit up Powderkeg first thing, and then maybe the Giant Swing right after that. That's really my only big advice for the park since Powderkeg is really the only ride that gets big lines during the day. For food I recommend the burgers at the Wagonworks Grille or the Lumbercamp, and of course anything in either of the two bakeries. There is a pretty neat cave underneath the park that you can go on a tour of if it gets too hot. I also recommend the show in the Saloon, but I wouldn't waste time on Luma or the Bubble Show. One last thing - if you walk up to Wildfire and see a line stretching out the building, don't fret, for some reason they often don't have the queue open inside the station, so once you get through the doors you go straight to the loading area. I guess they're worried about vandalism or something.

 

Not much to say about FC... the only line you will have any trouble with is for the Wildcat since it only runs one dinky little three-car train. There's really not much there to afford a visit other than to get the credits, unless you're a big Schwartzkopf fan. It's an OK little park and it's getting a lot better with the new management, but for enthusiasts it gets old pretty fast IMO.

[chadster]

Let's see here

 

I am assuming you are starting at SFSL - Being August, many of the patrons will be in the water park therefore a Flashpass *might* not be needed. You should be able to sit on American Thunder for a bit early in the morning but keep in mind that might bend you over slightly for other attractions that seem to act as a huge magnet for park goers, those being Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast and Batman. You can easily walk in, turn to the left and do everything in clockwise order and be ready to leave. It's an 'OK' Six Flags park that has a ton of Asphalt making it blazing hot. Of course you can always get a fresh made waffle cone with ice cream to cool you off.

 

SDC - On the way there you should think about stopping off at Lambert's just outside Springfield on the way to Branson. If you are in to go-carts they have plenty of those. I hear Andy Williams Moon River grill is good too. Oh, take the train ride

 

Magic Springs - Combined with the water park you could spend 6 hours here, easily. If not, well maybe less time. Arkansas Twister is probably the most memorable ride there but they do have a few decent flats. Little Rock is just up the road but nothing really special there unless you like stained blue dresses on display.

 

FC - Say hi to Michael when you are there, Anton is smooth and like has been mentioned Wildcat can get a long wait, I'd say hit that first. You probably won't be able to get Wild Kitty (sorry, height restricted!) but do try the BBQ there. If you are spending the night, head to Bricktown. Plenty of dining options and nightlife.

 

Wichita - If you are in to credit whoring, there is a place for that. Check out my thread for details Also they have a neat district downtown you might be interested in stopping and checking out.

 

WoF - Aug 11 is Coaster Enthusiasts day if you will be there then, if not Fastlane may or may not be needed, it really depends, however Mamaba seems to get long lines that never seem to move. I would hit up PROWLER to see if it's open(sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't at park opening), skip boomathing and head to Mamba. At that point the kiddie credit should be open and be sure to check out Cyclone Sam's, you'll be glad you did. Patriot may look like it has a huge line but even with a 100% full switchback 45 min max is what you will wait. Spinning Dragons can be a huge problem line wise so another option could be haul ass to it, then pass up Patriot for later as it draws large early morning lines and go over to Mamba. The BBQ is decent but pricey, but in park food I would head to the bar at the front of the park. A/C and overlooks the log flume. KC has some good BBQ in Arthur Bryants, Oklahoma Joes, and Jack Stack(burnt ends, yum) Boulevard Brewery offers tours but they fill up quick, like months in advance! Go to their website for more info. Also in KC is another Presidential Library - Truman. It's about a 90 min max visit unless you like to study stuff.

 

Adventureland - Like SF's I found people went to the water park and lines were non existent, even on a Saturday. Don't let the parking lot scare you, it's a rather large park. Food is reasonable too. If you want a culture lesson, be sure to go DT to the Capitol Complex, the buildings are quite amazing.

[bubala]

Thanks so much for your advice guys! Much appreciated! I will try to post updates from the road, but this is going to be a pretty full trip, so I am not sure if I will have the time.

 

-Jason