Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread

[prozach626]

20 hours ago, DBru said:

Now, why a medium sized modern GCI, one of the most popular rides in the park, would be closed throughout the busiest season of the year... that's a true mystery!

Not as much of a mystery as wooden horses going in a circle taking three years to refurbish.

[teacherkim]

I was at the park on Thurs 6/9. Had to do a favor for a friend that lives close to the park at a specific time and then had an appointment later in the afternoon and therefore had a 2-3 hour window when I was near the park. Been meaning to stop by because I haven't been able to change my email for my membership account and therefore not I'm not getting updates. So this was the perfect opportunity.

 I took care of my business at member services, where I did ask about the status of memberships and she assured me they had heard nothing about them ending for those already holding memberships. No idea if she really didn't know or wasn't saying, I'm not sure SF even has any idea what they are going to do, but at the moment it is status quo. As well as all the perks associated with it, including deluxe dining which is two meals and a snack. 

At this point I had about 2 hours until I had to leave and more than try to run around and ride a bunch of stuff I really wanted to take a deatailed walk around the park and see how things were going so to speak. I was at the park one night for FF and one night at Christmas but other than those two nighttime visits hadn't really been there for a year. Besides I didn't take any motion sickness meds so wasn't going to ride much anyway.

Crowd was light but definitely got heavier in the couple hours I was there. Tsunami Soaker, Excalibur and Dragons Wing were down as well as Am Thunder of course. SuperGirl was initially listed as down but was running by the time I made my way over there. Catwoman did have a long line, no way I could ever ride it, and my son said it is uncomfortable but the GP love it. Heard one guy say it was the best ride in the park and several people waxing poetic about it. I don't think anything else had more than a 15 - 20 min wait. Hopped on Eagle and was surprised to find no line for front row. Got a very smooth ride and guess that lends credence to the stay out of the wheel seat theory, which is why I think Bert and I got hammered so bad on Voyage a couple weeks ago. Also rode JL which was a walk on in single rider (after I explained to the party of 5 in front of me what single rider was when they couldn't figure out why they were passing everyone up. So much for reading signs ) I didn't miss the 3D at all and all the effects seemed to be working; Joker, fire, truck except the rack of barrels almost falling on you. Although they do need to update the pre show now which gives directions on using the glasses.

I know there has been some discussion on food changes so I literally poked my head in most of the dining venues to see what was up. For the most part all the usual things are still on dining plan with the exception of the double burger at JR, wings at JB's which I think are a new addition and for some weird reason funnel cakes. I find it kind of strange that first cone which is fairly good quality ice cream from a local dairy is on the plan but cheap as hell funnel cake batter is not, but whatever. The GoFresh is completely gone, no signage no menus including the shortcut stairs are blocked off, Cold Stone is gone, the Mexican place was closed. I do miss the nice wraps they had at GoFresh. Mooseburger is the only venue doing mobile order now and it is only mobile order, no walk up. They have several new items there so I decided to try their Impossible burger and it was pretty good, nice toppings and mobile order worked perfectly. Perhaps they are using it to work out the kinks? The stories about lack of condiments and napkins are true. Which would be fine if it reduces waste but when I asked for a couple of napkins she gave me 6 and was going to give me like 8 ketchup packets. All of which would have been wasteful, so I think this is a good in theory but not in practice thing. 

Watched some kids sneak in the side door of Fowlball and illegally get soda in the tiny free water cups they had. Gave them my harshest teacher fish eye and they ran away 

Harassed the ride op that lives in my house from the exit of Freeze while he was manning outpost #2 for Thunder River. Which apparently went down close to the end of the day and when they turned the pumps off one of the rafts was sucked into the reservoir. They deal with this by the high tech method of throwing a rope to the riders and pulling them to the dock, lol. I can report though that it was not only up and running today but the employee manned water cannons are once again operational.

In addition to several of the midway games being gone, which I am in favor of because I think they were totally oversaturated on those and the area around the new Eagle entrance is soooo much nicer, the old time photos and the little pay to drive toy cars by the MT exit are gone. All probably outdated things. 

They have a new completed horse on display at the carousel. And yes I am still fine with them taking their time and doing it correctly as I HOPE that is what is happening in the park in general. There are of course lots of areas that they eventually need to deal with like the Old Glory, Tidal wave sight, defunct paintball area etc. But the new area by Eagle being an awesome first step as well as some of the improved infrastructure. Will it pan out, cautiously optimistic but only time will tell.

Was not impressed with the arcades which are mostly claw machines now and the one at the TR exit is janky looking now with the wall still up for the haunted house that was back there. But I have noticed that many parks have gutted their arcades for claw machines. Kings Island use to have a great arcade that is ruined now. Only decent one I've seen in the last couple years is Hersheypark. Can't believe that many people pump money into those stupid things but I guess they must payoff. Also the gardener in my was dying looking at the wilting flowers in front of the Palace that desperately needed water. Landscaping was an eh for me yesterday but I know a lot of people could care less.

No shows listed but Looney Tune characters were out, including Foghorn Leghorn which I have no idea how many kids know who he is anymore, lol.

Didn't go in the water park but several slides were listed as closed including the lazy river. It's a good guess that this is all due to the lifeguard shortage that has been a major news story and also why the water park will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays all summer.

The lack of workers was quite apparent to me BUT they did just bring back some international workers that started this week. That ride op I know could not remember where they were from but I am guessing the one that was training up at Eagle was from Latin America/Caribbean based on his accent. He was struggling just a bit with the loose article, keep your arms and legs in the car speech but hopefully practice will smooth that out. If you run into these workers PLEASE be kind to them. Remember they are young, far from home and living for the summer at crappy motels on the outer road by the highway. Probably getting an experience that falls a bit short of the cultural exchange it is supposed to be but desperately needing the money and the park desperately needs the workers!

So what I saw was a park still working to come out of the effects of the pandemic and dealing with the same worker shortage as lots of other businesses and hopefully they can make a steady climb out of the crap of the last few years, even if it is kind of a slow climb and we will need to be patient.

The one thing I would beg of the park is please for the love of God paint Eagle for her birthday in a few years. Every lady deserves a new outfit for her 50th!

[prozach626]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:12 PM, teacherkim said:

He was struggling just a bit with the loose article, keep your arms and legs in the car speech but hopefully practice will smooth that out.

Just be glad he was using his vocal chords and not trying to text it, like other kids.

[teacherkim]

13 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Just be glad he was using his vocal chords and not trying to text it, like other kids.

Honestly he was really trying his heart out, and in all seriousness the park is actually pretty strict with the employees and their phones. They aren't allowed to have them out unless they are in an employee only area. One of the reasons I was willing to drive my son back and forth for a couple months when he first started working there and only had his permit was the fact that it was a job outside, interacting with people and away from phones/computers.

[SteveStL]

On 6/10/2022 at 11:49 AM, prozach626 said:

Damn Steve. You're old as hell.

I prefer well-seasoned...  55 and still riding coasters.

 

[bert425]

2 hours ago, SteveStL said:

I prefer well-seasoned...  55 and still riding coasters.

 

Same!

[teacherkim]

17 hours ago, SteveStL said:

I prefer well-seasoned...  55 and still riding coasters.

 

Only 1 year behind ya!!! Although when I was there last week and caught the ride on Eagle a little girl (maybe 8 or 9) was in row 2 right behind me with her Mom and asked if I was all by myself. I said yes and she said "that's so sad", lol. I told her it was ok, I'd been on the ride a lot and remembered when it opened, then she just kind of stared at me like I must be 100.

[cpfanatik77]

^ I had a similar experience on Millennium Force a few years ago, Kim. Had eaten lunch and the belt was a little tighter that afternoon. When I got it buckled, I gave a little sigh of relief. The teenager next in line asked if I was nervous and I said no, I had been riding it since the year it opened. He just looked at me and said, "You're old." I could only laugh and agree.

[bert425]

HAHAHAH. .  not at Six Flags, but too good not to share again, since it also happened at CP.


this reminds me of the time in 2017 when @Nrthwnd and I went to Coastermania! at Cedar Point, and we were staying at Breakers, so were hanging outside at the bar/firepits getting our buzz on after a full day at the park.  

and this VERY drunk young man was in hysterics about some girl breaking up with him, crying and shrieking. . . .  and Bill - who had had a number of cocktails himself - took it upon himself to try and go comfort the guy.  

Telling him things like, "you're young, you'll find someone, and it will be the right person". . .etc.     And Bill then attempted to use himself as an example of how he'd experienced being dumped, but had been with his husband for decades now, because when it's right, it's right.

I was watching this across the firepits, very amused, because intoxicated people are loud. . and the guy squinted at Bill, and said "How old ARE you?"

and Bill told him.

and the guy exclaimed at the top of his lungs:   "MY GAWD, YOU'RE OLDER THAN BLUE STREAK"

 

 

(hysterical). . . . .  

[jrkstl]

21 hours ago, bert425 said:

Same!

1 year older, but same here too!

[SteveStL]

...and us Old Folk have gone Gray awaiting that all elusive Hyper Coaster.

Next year is the year, right!     ...maybe not 

[TrippinBillie]

I still don't understand why the park doesn't invest in a modern-day Vekoma.  Everything I see is brilliant from them.  Get that PoS Ninja out of there and replace it with a good Vekoma

[TrippinBillie]

On 6/10/2022 at 8:12 PM, teacherkim said:

I was at the park on Thurs 6/9. Had to do a favor for a friend that lives close to the park at a specific time and then had an appointment later in the afternoon and therefore had a 2-3 hour window when I was near the park. Been meaning to stop by because I haven't been able to change my email for my membership account and therefore not I'm not getting updates. So this was the perfect opportunity.

 I took care of my business at member services, where I did ask about the status of memberships and she assured me they had heard nothing about them ending for those already holding memberships. No idea if she really didn't know or wasn't saying, I'm not sure SF even has any idea what they are going to do, but at the moment it is status quo. As well as all the perks associated with it, including deluxe dining which is two meals and a snack. 

At this point I had about 2 hours until I had to leave and more than try to run around and ride a bunch of stuff I really wanted to take a deatailed walk around the park and see how things were going so to speak. I was at the park one night for FF and one night at Christmas but other than those two nighttime visits hadn't really been there for a year. Besides I didn't take any motion sickness meds so wasn't going to ride much anyway.

Crowd was light but definitely got heavier in the couple hours I was there. Tsunami Soaker, Excalibur and Dragons Wing were down as well as Am Thunder of course. SuperGirl was initially listed as down but was running by the time I made my way over there. Catwoman did have a long line, no way I could ever ride it, and my son said it is uncomfortable but the GP love it. Heard one guy say it was the best ride in the park and several people waxing poetic about it. I don't think anything else had more than a 15 - 20 min wait. Hopped on Eagle and was surprised to find no line for front row. Got a very smooth ride and guess that lends credence to the stay out of the wheel seat theory, which is why I think Bert and I got hammered so bad on Voyage a couple weeks ago. Also rode JL which was a walk on in single rider (after I explained to the party of 5 in front of me what single rider was when they couldn't figure out why they were passing everyone up. So much for reading signs ) I didn't miss the 3D at all and all the effects seemed to be working; Joker, fire, truck except the rack of barrels almost falling on you. Although they do need to update the pre show now which gives directions on using the glasses.

I know there has been some discussion on food changes so I literally poked my head in most of the dining venues to see what was up. For the most part all the usual things are still on dining plan with the exception of the double burger at JR, wings at JB's which I think are a new addition and for some weird reason funnel cakes. I find it kind of strange that first cone which is fairly good quality ice cream from a local dairy is on the plan but cheap as hell funnel cake batter is not, but whatever. The GoFresh is completely gone, no signage no menus including the shortcut stairs are blocked off, Cold Stone is gone, the Mexican place was closed. I do miss the nice wraps they had at GoFresh. Mooseburger is the only venue doing mobile order now and it is only mobile order, no walk up. They have several new items there so I decided to try their Impossible burger and it was pretty good, nice toppings and mobile order worked perfectly. Perhaps they are using it to work out the kinks? The stories about lack of condiments and napkins are true. Which would be fine if it reduces waste but when I asked for a couple of napkins she gave me 6 and was going to give me like 8 ketchup packets. All of which would have been wasteful, so I think this is a good in theory but not in practice thing. 

Watched some kids sneak in the side door of Fowlball and illegally get soda in the tiny free water cups they had. Gave them my harshest teacher fish eye and they ran away 

Harassed the ride op that lives in my house from the exit of Freeze while he was manning outpost #2 for Thunder River. Which apparently went down close to the end of the day and when they turned the pumps off one of the rafts was sucked into the reservoir. They deal with this by the high tech method of throwing a rope to the riders and pulling them to the dock, lol. I can report though that it was not only up and running today but the employee manned water cannons are once again operational.

In addition to several of the midway games being gone, which I am in favor of because I think they were totally oversaturated on those and the area around the new Eagle entrance is soooo much nicer, the old time photos and the little pay to drive toy cars by the MT exit are gone. All probably outdated things. 

They have a new completed horse on display at the carousel. And yes I am still fine with them taking their time and doing it correctly as I HOPE that is what is happening in the park in general. There are of course lots of areas that they eventually need to deal with like the Old Glory, Tidal wave sight, defunct paintball area etc. But the new area by Eagle being an awesome first step as well as some of the improved infrastructure. Will it pan out, cautiously optimistic but only time will tell.

Was not impressed with the arcades which are mostly claw machines now and the one at the TR exit is janky looking now with the wall still up for the haunted house that was back there. But I have noticed that many parks have gutted their arcades for claw machines. Kings Island use to have a great arcade that is ruined now. Only decent one I've seen in the last couple years is Hersheypark. Can't believe that many people pump money into those stupid things but I guess they must payoff. Also the gardener in my was dying looking at the wilting flowers in front of the Palace that desperately needed water. Landscaping was an eh for me yesterday but I know a lot of people could care less.

No shows listed but Looney Tune characters were out, including Foghorn Leghorn which I have no idea how many kids know who he is anymore, lol.

Didn't go in the water park but several slides were listed as closed including the lazy river. It's a good guess that this is all due to the lifeguard shortage that has been a major news story and also why the water park will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays all summer.

The lack of workers was quite apparent to me BUT they did just bring back some international workers that started this week. That ride op I know could not remember where they were from but I am guessing the one that was training up at Eagle was from Latin America/Caribbean based on his accent. He was struggling just a bit with the loose article, keep your arms and legs in the car speech but hopefully practice will smooth that out. If you run into these workers PLEASE be kind to them. Remember they are young, far from home and living for the summer at crappy motels on the outer road by the highway. Probably getting an experience that falls a bit short of the cultural exchange it is supposed to be but desperately needing the money and the park desperately needs the workers!

So what I saw was a park still working to come out of the effects of the pandemic and dealing with the same worker shortage as lots of other businesses and hopefully they can make a steady climb out of the crap of the last few years, even if it is kind of a slow climb and we will need to be patient.

The one thing I would beg of the park is please for the love of God paint Eagle for her birthday in a few years. Every lady deserves a new outfit for her 50th!

AND put the racer lights back up!  At least on that first drop....that was soooooo cool

[SteveStL]

if STL would do that then Magic Mountain would not get their 40th Coaster

[grsupercity]

47 minutes ago, TrippinBillie said:

I still don't understand why the park doesn't invest in a modern-day Vekoma.  Everything I see is brilliant from them.  Get that PoS Ninja out of there and replace it with a good Vekoma

shoot a customer S&S el loco would be a great replacement for Ninja. Even a 4d. Anything is better then ninja. Bluehawk it. something

[boldikus]

This thread is perpetual deja vu. New week, same posts.

[SteveStL]

I'd be happy with a transplant right now.   Scream from Magic Mountain (like anyone would miss it over there) in Tidal Wave's spot would fit the bill nicely.

Midwest would have a Floorless too.

[SteveStL]

Lose the Ninja and Redesign that entire area - new Midway with Flats.  Incorporate all the existing rides, shops with the new Development (Spinsanity, Tsunami, etc)

It would breath life into that walkway up towards the Mine Train.

My 2 cents.

[boldikus]

See? Two consecutive posts from the same person, saying the same things that have been said in here 847 times.

[SteveStL]

And I have prepared my 848 post for next week.

Don't blame us for being hopeful.

 

[boldikus]

[coasterbill]

3 hours ago, SteveStL said:

Scream from Magic Mountain (like anyone would miss it over there)

Great point. Why would a park with a 365 day long operating season and huge attendance numbers need a high capacity floorless coaster?

[SteveStL]

Thanks for the memories, I'm outta here.

[SF3582]

TeacherKim... I am old but I will never forget my first ride on the Eagle- I was lucky enough to ride actual Train # 2 with people on it. Mostly construction workers. It was the most unbelievable ride on  the Eagle ever. I also got the see the look on Mr. Allen and Mr. Cobb's face when the first train came back in the trims and ready block.... some things you never forget. Also, it was not a warm day so... They had "very" light grease in the bearings because of the cold- it really flew around the track. On the original back "dog leg" you felt like the Train was going to fly off the track. The paint on Eagle has held up- but needs a new coat. The original pieces were "dipped" in a paint trough and allowed to dry before being assembled. I believe that it has lasted longer than most and kept the wood in good shape. The summer of the build was awesome. We got to see it being assembled. It was bigger than anyone had ever seen  in 1975. The first 5 or 10 bents  for the drop went up first. Walking up the hill toward the mine train from the USA section you are right in line with those bents. People would stand there for 30 minutes looking at that with mouth agape. Some would ask what it was and the word around the park from employees would be "it's the braces for the world's largest drive-in movie". That was an awesome summer to work in the Park. BTW, Steve Reed - the guy that is refurbing the Horses on the Carousel- started 2 years after I did. I was so surprised to learn that he is still there. The winter we painted the Horses- my winter work was sanding the Horses to get ready to receive paint. Sanding the flowers and intricate work on those Horses was very hard work. You really developed an appreciation for how detailed those pieces of art really are....I also sanded trash cans to be repainted before Park open in April- a different time to be sure.

[JonR]

On 6/13/2022 at 10:07 PM, jrkstl said:

1 year older, but same here too!

Another in the 1966 birth year club.  Don't think I'll ever tire of riding coasters. Worked at the park for 4 summers. Now call America in DC home, so don't have any sympathies for SFStL woes.  You have the best collection of wooden coasters in the chain.  But, I can ride up I95 to Great Adventure for my elite fix. Along with a whole set of other parks. I think the whole chain is kind of lost.  After the total fail in Season pass sales last fall following giving away the gate for one year and now a list of options that confuses the most seasoned park goer.  Coming out of the pandemic last fall they had the opportunity to have a clear strategy and totally re-invent where they wanted to go.  They missed it and now they are trying to figure it out. Can't believe they can't keep the water park open all week in the summer.  That is a huge PR hit and loss of revenue opportunity.  Need a national movement to get all the high school/college students in summer jobs to help bring back the economy. I have so many valuable lessons and stories from working in the park. Oh, well I guess I really am old talking about the good old days! I did ride the Eagle opening year, remember the sky ride and Casa Meramac the original Mexican restaurant.  Time to figure out which park to hit next!