Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread

[Danrarbc]

On 4/6/2025 at 5:38 PM, bert425 said:

my friend Maddie rode it today. . and she HATED the Titan Track.

she said it was as intense as it always has been, except for the Titan Track portions, which was "awful". . but the rest was really good.

now keep in mind, Maddie does tend to LOVE coasters that many people find really rough.     so to each their own.

The reviews seem to be positive from the non-masochists. But they all say there's not enough Titan Track.

If Cedar Fair was only going to buy X number of feet of it this offseason they should have really just ordered the 400ft Prowler got for The Boss too. Prowler isn't actually rough and I'm pretty sure they've already done ipe retracking on it.

[SixFlagsOMA80]

16 hours ago, prozach626 said:

It's going to cause a lot of frustration and disappointment, but whatever. I guess kids will have to go ride in the front row of Screamin' Eagle instead.

well that too now has a 48in height req. 

[prozach626]

Oh snap. I thought it was 42. Did they just change it, or was it always that way? My apologies. 

[Danrarbc]

IROC standards have different guidelines and margins.

PTC's L bars under IROC warrant a 48 inch height requirement as do most of the Arrow train designs hence the Mine Trains changing to 48 inches as well. Cedar Fair has switched out the Six Flags safety standards with IROC.

The irony is it appears any B&M with vests should be able to recertified at 48 inches instead of 54 now - and this is IROC-compatible.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18n6wEn4R3/

[SixFlagsOMA80]

2 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Oh snap. I thought it was 42. Did they just change it, or was it always that way? My apologies. 

they changed it this year along with the mine train. After 50+ years a little weird to change it IMO 

[SteveStL]

Maybe insurance costs decreased with the taller requirements. ??

[Danrarbc]

1 hour ago, SteveStL said:

Maybe insurance costs decreased with the taller requirements. ??

I'm not sure if IROC changes the rates or not. But I'd be confident in saying that using ONE standard throughout the company is easier and therefore cheaper to maintain and improves employee flexibility.

[teacherkim]

My son, who as you all know is a former ride op, agrees with Danrarbc and also thinks it has more to do with the IROC standards. Apparently SF was one of the only major chains worldwide that did not use IROC training and after the merger all the legacy SF parks have switched to it to align with the legacy CF parks that were already using it. Not claiming he is any sort of expert since he was never trained under IROC but he is aware of some of the differences and knew that SF was vastly in the minority in not using it. I believe it is more about that than insurance issues. 

[CoasterGuy06]

IROC is garbage safety theatre like TSA. 

[teacherkim]

So we were at the park yesterday. Grounds looked pretty good, they've put in some spring flowers but probably won't go whole hog on the landscaping until mid-late May, which I totally understand. Clearly not fully staffed yet which is normal, that should improve in May once college and high school workers start finishing up school for the semester. Boss was on one train ops which is probably staffing and Eagle started with two trains and went down to one.....not sure why. Freeze was operating both sides thought which was nice. Freeze and Batman both had some down time but it was fairly short lived.  Justice League was down and completely shut, no workers, nada all day; same for Spinsanity, Supergirl, and Fireball. No water rides open yet this early in the season. Also, some stores and restaurants not open, but enough were to not be a huge problem. Again they are likely to get all of that going as the staffing builds up over the next month.

Crowds were moderate but not too bad considering some capacity was lost with the closed rides. Characters were out and about. Shows all look to be opening Memorial Day weekend which is par for the course.

Now for titan track on the Boss...................they only replaced one section, but it was probably the roughest most headache inducing section. It's right after the double down as the track turns to the right and goes back up hill. And for that few amazing seconds it was glorious and then right back to normal roughness. I will say though that we rode it first thing when the temps were still in the 50's and the whole thing seemed much smoother. Went back later in the day to get a second ride and with temps about 10 degrees warmer it was definitely rougher than the morning ride. I know purists don't like the idea of titan track but I think if they did a few more sections it would be overall well received.

Joker was open but the funhouse portion of the queue was not. Hopefully, that too will get corrected when they are more staffed up.

There were prominent signs at the entrances to both Eagle and Mine Train notifying guests of the height requirement change. Although I do agree they absolutely should have sent an email to passholders that this was happening and perhaps some basic explanation of why. 

Eagle was running as smooth as ever! I really love that old girl. If anyone from the park sees this......PLEASE give her a paint job and any other sprucing up you can (like maybe new chaser lights) for her 50th birthday next year.

[SteveStL]

6 hours ago, teacherkim said:

Eagle was running as smooth as ever! I really love that old girl. If anyone from the park sees this......PLEASE give her a paint job and any other sprucing up you can (like maybe new chaser lights) for her 50th birthday next year.

I experienced the exact opposite ride Kim.  It lumbered along from the first drop to the 90 degree turn, from there it felt like the train had square wheels.  

I have ridden SE  easily over a 100 x's, my first ride was opening year 1976!  (showing my age here).   Yesterday's ride was the worst experience yet.  

And I agree about the painting, it looks old and sad.  Ugh.

I 100% agree with you about the Boss.... the First Drop is amazing thanks to the new Titan Track.   Titan Track is needed for every Valley in the layout, hope that will happen soon.

[teacherkim]

13 hours ago, SteveStL said:

I experienced the exact opposite ride Kim.  It lumbered along from the first drop to the 90 degree turn, from there it felt like the train had square wheels.  

I have ridden SE  easily over a 100 x's, my first ride was opening year 1976!  (showing my age here).   Yesterday's ride was the worst experience yet.  

And I agree about the painting, it looks old and sad.  Ugh.

I 100% agree with you about the Boss.... the First Drop is amazing thanks to the new Titan Track.   Titan Track is needed for every Valley in the layout, hope that will happen soon.

I'm with you on the age thing. I too rode it opening year, with my Dad who used to slide over and squish me against the side of the car. Yes kids, the buzz bars and no seat dividers were glorious. Sorry about your rough ride.  Were you maybe on a wheel seat? I notice the difference, but maybe it's just a perception issue. I confess a big soft spot for that coaster since it factors into my family history so maybe I am just blind to any roughness. 

Yep, agreed about the Boss. If they would just titan track each valley it would be such a great ride!

I mean, paint would be a pretty cheap and easy "enhancement" to highlight a fairly historic coaster!

[Danrarbc]

With GCI being involved in The Boss' work I do wonder if this would mean they'll bring Gravity Group in to install precut track on Eagle as Cedar Fair has already done on other PTC coasters.

[SteveStL]

It will be long stressful year for the Screamin' Eagle.  A lot of bad reviews, headaches and sore backs.

I do hope it gets the renovation it deserves for its 50th Birthday, entire refurbish, retrack, paint and lighting package.

[SteveStL]

I went to the park Saturday, excellent weather.  A solid attendance, which was a nice to see.

My take-aways:

1. The Boss needs Titan Track on all of the Valleys of the 4 Drops.  1 down, 3 to go.  Don't cheap out Six Flags!!!  

2. The Haunted House structures around American Thunder looks awful from the Train.  Please remove it during the Regular Season as it's just plain trashy.

3. Install a Drop Tower in Excalibur's old footprint.  It would be a perfect addition in that locale.

4. Remove the decrepit Go-Fresh Cafe immediately and replace with Bumper Cars.  Talk about trashy, this structure needs to go now.  Bumper Cars would be a great fit with all the Kiddo rides in that area.

That's really it.  I will not talk about how desperately in need SFSTL needs a Signature Steel coaster or the SBNO Carousel, we all know about that.

The park is in great shape, generally I don't see why it should not be a great season for them.

Steve

[teacherkim]

8 hours ago, SteveStL said:

I went to the park Saturday, excellent weather.  A solid attendance, which was a nice to see.

My take-aways:

1. The Boss needs Titan Track on all of the Valleys of the 4 Drops.  1 down, 3 to go.  Don't cheap out Six Flags!!!  

2. The Haunted House structures around American Thunder looks awful from the Train.  Please remove it during the Regular Season as it's just plain trashy.

3. Install a Drop Tower in Excalibur's old footprint.  It would be a perfect addition in that locale.

4. Remove the decrepit Go-Fresh Cafe immediately and replace with Bumper Cars.  Talk about trashy, this structure needs to go now.  Bumper Cars would be a great fit with all the Kiddo rides in that area.

That's really it.  I will not talk about how desperately in need SFSTL needs a Signature Steel coaster or the SBNO Carousel, we all know about that.

The park is in great shape, generally I don't see why it should not be a great season for them.

Steve

Too bad we didn't know ahead of time we were both there! Anyway, I basically agree with all of this. My son and I specifically noted your # 2 and #3. Didn't talk about putting bumper cars in the GoFresh spot but I could totally get behind that idea. We did talk about how much room would open up if they got rid of Ninja, Tsunami Soakers (which appear to be dead anyway), Slaughterhouse (that could go somewhere else) and the empty building where the old time photos used to be. I mean you would have to take out the gift shop and snack stand but big whoop; with Ninja backing up to the old paint ball field that's a lot of room. Only really important thing in the way is the RR track.

[SteveStL]

Tsunami Soakers will be SBNO all season from what I read.

Agree on your Ninja's comments ... As I have said before, the Ninja's Shelf Life is up, it needs to be replaced.  My vision would be ... Ninja's footprint would make a great place for a new Station and Lift Hill (large steel coaster) going towards the East.  The bulk of the coaster would exist past the train tracks in the empty fields behind Hurricane Harbor.   A Modern Looper, Floorless would be nice.  I can't see a Hyper there, not enough room.

[Danrarbc]

21 hours ago, SteveStL said:

It will be long stressful year for the Screamin' Eagle.  A lot of bad reviews, headaches and sore backs.

I do hope it gets the renovation it deserves for its 50th Birthday, entire refurbish, retrack, paint and lighting package.

Unfortunately if they do get Gravity Group to add precut the most they seem to install in an off season is ~1500ft. Many parks combine that with additional traditional retracking in order to maximize the short term benefit - even knowing that precut will be installed on most of the rest of the layout in future off seasons.

 

 

1 hour ago, SteveStL said:

Tsunami Soakers will be SBNO all season from what I read.

Agree on your Ninja's comments ... As I have said before, the Ninja's Shelf Life is up, it needs to be replaced.  My vision would be ... Ninja's footprint would make a great place for a new Station and Lift Hill (large steel coaster) going towards the East.  The bulk of the coaster would exist past the train tracks in the empty fields behind Hurricane Harbor.   A Modern Looper, Floorless would be nice.  I can't see a Hyper there, not enough room.

I had illustrated before that a U-shaped hyper should work running along the railroad with a turnaround near the front gate.

[SteveStL]

Cool Layout!! seems a bit intrusive into HH to become reality though.   

It's a gut feeling, but I just cannot imagine SFSTL ever getting a Hyper.  Something around 150/175 feet maybe, but not 200 or more.

[Danrarbc]

14 minutes ago, SteveStL said:

Cool Layout!! seems a bit intrusive into HH to become reality though.   

It's a gut feeling, but I just cannot imagine SFSTL ever getting a Hyper.  Something around 150/175 feet maybe, but not 200 or more.

I believe the distances I maintained would fit behind the restrooms and changing rooms. There's a fair bit of space in between Batman and HH.

[prozach626]

23 hours ago, SteveStL said:

t's a gut feeling, but I just cannot imagine SFSTL ever getting a Hyper.

ya

[liltrekkie]

23 hours ago, SteveStL said:

Cool Layout!! seems a bit intrusive into HH to become reality though.   

It's a gut feeling, but I just cannot imagine SFSTL ever getting a Hyper.  Something around 150/175 feet maybe, but not 200 or more.

I think eventually we will get a Hyper. Eventually. Will it happen next year or the year after? Probably not. But I think within 10 years time it could happen. 

 

As much as I would love a hyper, I think filling out the park would be better. There is a ton of unused dead space in the park, and that makes the park seem empty. Like the space around sky screamer, where tidal wave used to be. 

 

I would love to see an expansion of hurricane harbor. There are three basically unused parking lots that are basically weed infested every year that could be used for that. 

[prozach626]

3 hours ago, liltrekkie said:

I think eventually we will get a Hyper. Eventually. Will it happen next year or the year after? Probably not. But I think within 10 years time it could happen. 

Some of us can remember saying that 15+ years ago.

Long live SFSTL.net.

[liltrekkie]

2 minutes ago, prozach626 said:

Some of us can remember saying that 15+ years ago.

Long live SFSTL.net.

I wish I could have experienced that site. Unfortunately I was was still one of those young people at the time. I have only recently become a boomer and can now properly complain about the darn youngins being on my lawn

[prozach626]

lol. (baby) Boomer refers to someone born between 1946 and 1964. May I please borrow your time machine, sir?

(seriously though can I...?)