Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread

[PKI Jizzman]

I also loved The Boss, I know this ride has a bad rep but there was something about that overall out of control feeling was just fantastic.

Boss gains another convert! Haters gonna hate. Boss just shakes it off.

 

I feel like I need to ride this thing. It seems to be having the same impact on people as Mean Streak.

 

I'd ride it again over the GCI down the hill.

[Geauga Dog]

^^At least Boss is more thrilling than Mean Streak. I'm actually one of those who likes The Boss.

[SixFlagsAstroworld]

^^At least Boss is more thrilling than Mean Streak. I'm actually one of those who likes The Boss.

 

Same here

[SFOG1991]

The Boss was a pretty awesome coaster in my opinion. I'm a fan. I usually don't get the hate for a lot of coasters though. I'm also a huge fan of Vortex at Kings Island so...

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I also loved The Boss, I know this ride has a bad rep but there was something about that overall out of control feeling was just fantastic.

Boss gains another convert! Haters gonna hate. Boss just shakes it off.

 

I feel like I need to ride this thing. It seems to be having the same impact on people as Mean Streak.

Yes, you need to ride it. It's as polarizing as Mean Streak is, but it's a much better ride. Only ride it in the front. Do not even consider another seat. It's great in the front.

[ilrider]

The Boss is easily my favorite ride at the park. It is rough in certain seats and has gotten rougher over time, but I love the layout and the intensity of it.

[castaway_kid]

Finally got a ride in on the New Revolution. It's really good, not great though. The headsets really do have zero latency, and it does make for a much better ride than just vanilla Ninja. I think putting this on mid-tier thrill coasters like Ninja is the right play. Too much more exciting and you'd want to see the sights from the top of the hill, too much tamer and the VR experience may not be interesting enough. If you're skeptical of the idea I doubt it'll convert you. Full disclosure, I very much want this nonsense to catch on because I think it is cooler than all get out, so I was primed to at least enjoy it, if not love it.

 

One line of the queue was maybe a 30 minute wait; didn't have a watch on me to time it. The park was at its summer standard of "walk on everything" though, so relatively speaking, it's significant. I don't want to think about what the line will look like when people are actually there, like during Fright Fest.

 

The biggest problem, I think, is that improving throughput is going to be a struggle. Waiting until riders are seated to hand out headsets (which is what happens now) means extra time getting them on, clipping them in, and seeing if they're overheated from prior runs. There could be significant gains in handing headsets to the people on the platform to do that initial stuff, but at that point I think you'd be talking about handing out a lot more equipment, and who knows if they're willing/able to do that. The only other gain I can think of is that in the fall, the headsets probably won't overheat quite as readily.

 

Meanwhile in "its Theme Park Review not Roller Coaster Review" chat, me and the SO went to see the Broadway revue at the Palace Theatre. The show was just short versions of maybe one or two dozen songs from various musicals; what was surprising was the selection. The cuts were pretty deep/borderline inappropriate for a family act. Next to Normal isn't a show many people are familiar with (my SO had to remind me of what the show was when I'm Alive came on). While I certainly don't mind seeing Chicago in any context, All that Jazz isn't exactly a squeakly clean song. Anyway, the theater was clean and air conditioned and the talent was above average high school students (which is almost certainly exactly what we were seeing). A very pleasant value added proposition.

 

Also, the Daffy Duck Dance Off is happening in the plaza in front of...the Empire theatre? Is that what it's called? Whatever, the point is it is some characters dancing in costume in St. Louis summer heat. Not particularly inspiring, but there is literally no way these workers are being paid enough.

The Daffy Ducks Dance Off is inside the Empire Theater, however, it will not be opening for a few more days as they are ironing out all the last minute stuff it takes to open up a new Warner Brothers show, so in the meantime, the characters have been doing dance party/meet and greets on the porch. I think the show is set to open this weekend or maybe a day earlier.

[LiftThrill]

Boss is a very fun coaster. Definitely rough but it has the intensity and layout to match. Also coasterbill, you should totally ride Boss, it's definitely a fun ride.

I personally place it barely fourth in the park. Screamin' Eagle had the extreme floater air, Thunder had the quick pace, and Mr Freeze is just awesome. After those four everything drops off and becomes mine trains and Vekomas.

[RandomSparklez]

^^At least Boss is more thrilling than Mean Streak. I'm actually one of those who likes The Boss.

 

Same here

I am a fan of the boss too

[BDFS]

Count me as yet another Boss fan.

 

As for the roughness of the ride? I just hit The Voyage at Holiday World three weeks ago, and that coaster just turned my spine into dust. I absolutely hated everything about it after the first drop. I can ride The Boss multiple times per visit, and feel nowhere near the pain I experienced on a coaster that most people swear by as one of the best woodies in the world.

[aaronmb]

I could easily ride it multiple times at Fright Fest, but this time of year, after I ride it, I can barely ride anything else after.

[LiftThrill]

I found Voyage very smooth for a woodie. Raven and Legend were both significantly worse imo

 

Boss is easily the roughest coaster I've been on, but it's a great ride nonetheless.

[Vonni]

I wonder when SFSTL will start giving out clues on what will be closing in 2016 in preparation for 2017?

 

 

Hopefully nothing will be closing. I'd like to have at least one season where we get an addition with out a subtraction.

[Mad Hatter]

<----------- HATES The Boss!

[HARLEYGUYJB]

I love The Boss as it is too, BUT I'm ready for a RMC coaster at my homepark!

[SixFlagsAstroworld]

I like the boss a lot, but I am also ready for RMC to take it.

One thing I like about the boss is that you can see the Batmobile from a certain spot.

 

Drifting off topic a little, how's the old Chicken restaurant coming?

[SteveStL]

I like the boss a lot, but I am also ready for RMC to take it.

unfortunately that will never happen... GCI maybe, but not RMC

[Danrarbc]

Man Holiday World really is pushing hard in the StL market.

 

 

Six Flags Corp has to be taking note of this right?

[The Geek Mojo]

I love the Boss. I have heard it said that it would cost too much for SF to RMC The Boss. I wouldn't mind it happening, but I'm fine with the Boss remaining as is. SFSL has three excellent woodies...Leave them alone!

[pixelated85]

* I would personally be all about either GCI or RMC reworking the Boss. Anything is better than nothing. That ride deserves a chance to be an awesome, re-rideable coaster.

 

*I'm also all about HW ramping up their advertising here in town. The locals deserve to know what a great park HW is, as I really think most people in town haven't heard of it until now. Also, if them stepping up their marketing locally means that there's even a small chance that SF will react to retain local market share, let the games begin.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I'm just going to again point out that RMC did retrack the Boss in 2013, with traditional wooden track.

[XtremeLaRonde]

Rush Street Flyer opened yesterday under it's new name and theme : Gravitor.

 

Apparently La Ronde did a lot of work on the ride and got a lot of new mechanical parts. It's the beginning of a second life for this "Falling Star" ride.

 

I went on it today. It looks pretty boring when you look at it, but it's actually a fun ride. I think La Ronde's customers will be glad that the park got it. The park was lacking family rides.

[ZeroGravity55]

*I'm also all about HW ramping up their advertising here in town. The locals deserve to know what a great park HW is, as I really think most people in town haven't heard of it until now. Also, if them stepping up their marketing locally means that there's even a small chance that SF will react to retain local market share, let the games begin.

 

THIS! If SF reacts then it's a win win for all of us. HW won't back down and will probably swing back with an even bigger punch. This could result in great unique world class rides for both parks for all of us to go ride....or SFStL can just get the 4D Free Fly, which looks like a great ride and would be unique to the region. Only problem is that it can easily be topped by a world class attraction that people will travel 3+ hours to ride, which HW has shown the capability of building over and over again.

[Trololzilla]

I've heard some whispers about Tidal Wave (I know, same old, same old). One thing they might be considering is removing TW and actually moving the Moon Cars over to that area at some point.

 

What seems most likely to me is if SFStL continues the 'recent' trend of essentially replacing rides with newer versions (ala Skyscreamer, Tsunami Soaker, and JL:BfM). With a bunch of rides (especially flat rides) really getting up there in age, it would help to spruce up the appearance of the park while continuing to provide essentially the same experience. One in particular that I think could be a candidate is Highland Fling. It'll be 40 next year, and although they had the refurb last year with new (relatively speaking) gondolas, it's probably getting harder to maintain and is down a lot more for maintenance issues this year than it seems like it has been in the past. A good replacement would be a Zamperla Endeavour, like the one they just opened at SFOT. The complete refurb of the Carousel that's been talked about for a while has been pushed back a few times, so that might come in the next few years as well (it is 101 years old, after all).

[Sf-Dad]

I have not posted in a long time but recently caught up on the past year or so of posts.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (just not in that order)

 

The Bad

We had moved back home to STL a few years ago and was really enjoying bring my sons to SFSTL as my parents staring bringing me in 72. We spent most of our time at the water park as my youngest just didn't like the thrills, but my oldest and I had great times getting sick riding all 9 coasters in 1 day a few times. Lol

 

Bought 4 Season Passes and 3 meal plans on sale Labor Day 2014 and then in November my wife lost her job. Unfortunatly she is in a very specialized industry so it meant we would have to move.

 

The Ugly,

All those passes went unused in 2015 as we moved in June to a city with no SF and no amusement park at all. It has a water park but it is just so, so. Never got a chance to check out JL.

So sad.

 

The Good,

We landed in Columbus, Ohio Baby! 1 1/2 hours from KI and 2 1/4 from CP! Just bought 3 Cedar Fair Platinum Passes and 2 meal plans! Went to KI for 1/2 day last week and wil likely go back in the morning. (Weather looks iffy up north). My youngest is finally into coasters and rode The Bat, The Beast, Diamnondback, Stunt Coaster and Banshee on his first trip!

 

These passes cost a lot of coin so probably will not be able to make it back to good ole SFSTL for awhile but have hopefully in the next couple of years.

 

The Really Bad Ugly

Well with all the turmoil and spending six months as a single Dad eating crap food with my boys I really let myself go and am now to fat to ride any of the good stuff. I am on the way back down but there is no hope for this season, but nothing like standing there watching your kids get on awesome coasters for motivation on sticking to the diet plan.

 

HWFan, Prozach, TNT, HarleyJB and all the rest of you regulars are great guys and make sure you let me know if you make it to Ohio and maybe we can meet up and have a beer. Well a Diet Coke for me. .