Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread

[HARLEYGUYJB]

-Food had no lines but that was probably because it wasn't crowded at all. Why are dining pass snacks only usable until 7:30 though?

 

 

 

I have NEVER understood this. As I have said before limiting when you can get your food just makes the lines worse. They would be better off if it was spread out. Besides about 9 is when I usually want a funnel cake

 

 

Or nice ice cream cone from First Cone on your way out of the park!

 

Tomorrow is media day for The New Revolution I'll have pictures and video tomorrow evening!

[Vonni]

-Food had no lines but that was probably because it wasn't crowded at all. Why are dining pass snacks only usable until 7:30 though?

 

 

 

I have NEVER understood this. As I have said before limiting when you can get your food just makes the lines worse. They would be better off if it was spread out. Besides about 9 is when I usually want a funnel cake

 

 

Or nice ice cream cone from First Cone on your way out of the park!

 

Tomorrow is media day for The New Revolution I'll have pictures and video tomorrow evening!

 

 

I love the ice cream at First Cone!

[SteveStL]

I think it would be cool if another attraction would be added to Freeze Island. There is still plenty of space for a thrilling flat, or even another coaster with a small foot print. Just keep it themed to Mr. Freeze.

 

That aint a bad idea at all!

[TNT]

I think it would be cool if another attraction would be added to Freeze Island. There is still plenty of space for a thrilling flat, or even another coaster with a small foot print. Just keep it themed to Mr. Freeze.

 

That aint a bad idea at all!

 

The only issue I see with this is another ride would add another obstacle on the island to try and get around with a crane to work on Freeze or Thunder River's pumps.

[Trololzilla]

Any word on the Boomerang accident? Is it still pending investigation?

Not really. They've known what happened for at least two weeks now, and as far as I know also why it happened, but haven't said anything publicly aside from the standard press release they gave immediately following the incident (therefore I won't/can't really say anything either; however, I imagine it'll still be a fair bit of time before Boomerang's up and running again).

[HARLEYGUYJB]

The New Revolution At Six Flags St. Louis Media Day

 

Just got back from media day for The New Revolution At Six Flags St. Louis. This is pretty cool addition to The Ninja!

 

As you depart the station on the roller coaster the action begins right away in your headset. As you are climbing the hill on "The Ninja" you are being raised on an elevator on the aircraft carrier. Once you reach the top of the aircraft carrier you are immediately thrown into the action. You are flying around the city and going through buildings and under bridges chasing your enemy. What you see in your headset is spot on what you are feeling on the rollercoaster. I was very impressed!! This isn't a very long ride at all. It's a fun short ride! It's just something different!

 

Would I do it again? Yes, I would! This won't be for everyone. There is even a separate line for non VR riders.

 

I do have a POV video from today...

Welcome To The New Revolution Virtual Reality Coaster On The Ninja

Lots Of Signage For The New Revolution Virtual Reality Coaster

Only A $1 To Play!!!

There Is The Line Just For The New Revoltuion

Seperate Line For Non VR Riders

Some Work Had To Be Done To The Queue Line To Accomodate Seperate Lines

Read Those Rules!!!

The Instructions To Put On The Headsets

The Stats For The Ninja

Some Winners Of Local Radio & TV Stations Got To Ride The New Revolution Virtual Reality Coaster On Media Day

Six Flags St. Louis Ride Staff Assisting Guests Putting On Their Headsets

Can I Borrow A Charger?

These Guys Were Making Some Adjustments To The Headsets

This Is The Station Where The Headsets Are Cleaned & Wiped With Sanitizer Aftery Every Use.

Here Is The Samsung Galaxy 7 Gear VR Powered By Oculus Headsets

Another Angle Of The Headsets

More Riders Ready To Go. They Are Also Calibrating Their Headsets Before They Check Restraints

The Sensors Out On The Track Scan The Back Of The Cars And Sync It To The Movement On Your Headset

That's alot of Galaxy 7's!!

Plenty Of Staff To Assist Guests With Headsets

Guest Wearing The Headset

Our Host Matt Was Outstanding!!

We Were Treated To A Six Flags MRE Lunch! Don't Worry It Wasn't A Real MRE, It Was A Delicious Roast Beef Sandwich & Chips!

Edited May 25, 2016 by robbalvey

[SixFlagsAstroworld]

I gotta say, That's a clever move making separate queue entrances for VR/Non-VR rider

[kjpotter]

I wonder why you need to be 13 to use the headset?

[HARLEYGUYJB]

I wonder why you need to be 13 to use the headset?

 

I wondered the same thing. I brought my 10 yr old daughter and she couldn't use the VR headset. I was told it was the manufacture of the VR headset recommendation, not Six Flags.

[SFSTLMO]

I wonder why you need to be 13 to use the headset?

 

My guess would be either motion sickness for young riders or the strap not fitting on smaller heads, resulting in the VR helmets falling off the ride.

[SixFlagsAstroworld]

My guess is that it has something to do with vision.

 

The age requirement almost matches the 3D mode age requirement on the 3DS

[Vonni]

That is really cool how the VR really does work with the layout of the track! Looks a lot better than I expected.

 

 

 

I wonder why you need to be 13 to use the headset?

 

My guess would be either motion sickness for young riders or the strap not fitting on smaller heads, resulting in the VR helmets falling off the ride.

 

 

I actually read in an article that this is the reason (I don't remember what the article was)

[Danrarbc]

My guess is that it has something to do with vision.

 

The age requirement almost matches the 3D mode age requirement on the 3DS

Yeah. Best not to mess with young eyes.

[Peeps28]

Did not know this. I just finished and article about these glasses after seeing this post. They are saying it's just like when you were little and was warned not to set to close to the television. Manufacturers will not give a definite answer when asked if there harmful to children. But I can see in six flags case better be safe then sorry later on down the line.

[Baelfael]

There are a couple things happening. First, yes, there are the generic/probably overblown concerns about strain on developing eyes. These aren't really anything new.

 

Head Mounted Displays bring actual measurable problems though. Remember that Gear VR isn't just splitting a phone's screen into two; it uses lenses to help give perspective to the images. I'm pretty sure the lenses on a Gear VR aren't adjustable like they are on higher end HMDs like Rift or Vive. A child's interpupillary distance is going to be much shorter than an adult's, such that they're no longer looking through the part of the lens designed to actually see through (think about looking through the edge of a pair of eyeglasses.) The image will be distorted, and even if kids are generally better about motion sickness, it'll still be a cruddy experience.

 

Question for HarleyGuy - were there enough people there to get any sort of idea what ops are going to look like? I have images of trains that take until the heat death of the universe to dispatch, and I'd love for you to allay my concerns. It looks like there were lots of staff for relatively few riders, though, which would throw things off.

[Mad Hatter]

OUCH was all I could think as I watched your head bash around on that thing. I will do it once just to see what it's about, but that is it!

[Sportsdude360]

Another question:

 

How are dispatch times with the new VR? Here at SFOT the dispatch times have been abysmal with the new VR on Shockwave!

[TrippinBillie]

Trying to wax an old, dull, pile of poo-poo. Sounds about like 6 Flags! Living here in STL, I am shocked they're trying to market this as a new coaster. It's laughable.

[coasterbill]

Another question:

 

How are dispatch times with the new VR? Here at SFOT the dispatch times have been abysmal with the new VR on Shockwave!

 

It was media day so I doubt anyone could accurately judge that.

[TNT]

Trying to wax an old, dull, pile of poo-poo. Sounds about like 6 Flags! Living here in STL, I am shocked they're trying to market this as a new coaster. It's laughable.

 

Its not being marketed as a new coaster. Its being marketed as a virtual reality experience on Ninja and as a modern twist to an old ride.

[HARLEYGUYJB]

 

Question for HarleyGuy - were there enough people there to get any sort of idea what ops are going to look like? I have images of trains that take until the heat death of the universe to dispatch, and I'd love for you to allay my concerns. It looks like there were lots of staff for relatively few riders, though, which would throw things off.

 

 

From what I was told there will be separate staff to assist with the VR gear. I'm sure the first few days when The New Revolution opens it will be a little chaotic. Yesterday was the first real day when several people got to try the ride.

[HARLEYGUYJB]

Another question:

 

How are dispatch times with the new VR? Here at SFOT the dispatch times have been abysmal with the new VR on Shockwave!

 

Too early to tell. Hasn't opened up to public yet for a full train. I will say the 1 full train they did run yesterday, it did take them awhile to get all of the VR headsets on the guests.

[super7]

To me this looks like a typical thing that Six Flags would do. Putting a gimmick on a ride to market it, but in the meantime reducing capacity and actually taking away from the overall guest experience with slow moving lines (added to the fact they have line cutting options).

 

They did the same type of thing with American Eagle last year with the double rides on the one side. It was a gimmick for their anniversary. In reality, what it did was increase wait times on a coaster that usually has minimal waits. What happened was the full train was not riding twice, so seats were being sent out empty. Reducing capacity.

 

This doesn't even look appealing. One thing I personally don't care about at Universal is that too many of their experiences are video-based. These kind of experiences can be obtained in arcades.

[strz]

To me this looks like a typical thing that Six Flags would do. Putting a gimmick on a ride to market it, but in the meantime reducing capacity and actually taking away from the overall guest experience with slow moving lines (added to the fact they have line cutting options).

 

They did the same type of thing with American Eagle last year with the double rides on the one side. It was a gimmick for their anniversary. In reality, what it did was increase wait times on a coaster that usually has minimal waits. What happened was the full train was not riding twice, so seats were being sent out empty. Reducing capacity.

 

This doesn't even look appealing. One thing I personally don't care about at Universal is that too many of their experiences are video-based. These kind of experiences can be obtained in arcades.

 

 

Nailed it! Yes! Yes! Yes! The primary reason for this was to reduce capacity!!!!

[Baelfael]

Oh also, another question for HarleyGuy- was the sound system installed? How'd that work for you? I remember reading somewhere (probably here) that the visuals would be supplemented with speakers placed throughout the track, which seems sorta weird.

 

Also, super7 - on the "typical Six Flags gimmick," isn't Alton Towers at least reasonably well respected? Galactica benefits from having more stylized/abstract visuals, but that wasn't included in your list of complaints.

 

And, look, what you get excited about is obviously subjective. If you don't like video/motion hybrids, that's your business, and I won't tell you that you simply must be excited for this. But why exaggerate? I have no idea what you're talking about when you say you can find an experience similar to a VR coaster - or the better rides at Universal - at an arcade. Hell, I'm amazed you can even find an arcade these days.