Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread

[ytterbiumanalyst]

You forgot to mention riots.

Yuuuuuup. This is what we're known for now. The first thing that pops into people's heads when they think of St. Louis isn't the art museum. It's Ferguson.

 

Now, we know that isn't fair, but we're not making the decision on whether to vacation in St. Louis. The people who can make such a decision...choose to go somewhere else. It's ok, no one goes to Cleveland or Detroit either. St. Louis is a good city, and not especially dangerous overall, but no matter how much you tell people that, they still say, "Eh, I'd rather go to Chicago, or Branson, or Pigeon Forge." And they can do that, it's their time and money.

 

Always a bunch of whining in this thread when we don't get anything fancy, while Branson and Holiday World build cooler stuff. It's all about where people want to be and where they're willing to spend money.

[teacherkim]

^ It's not ridiculous man. People don't vacation in St. Louis. It's just not a thing. Yes, we have a lot to offer, and a lot of it is free too. IMO only the Smithsonian offers more for free than Forest Park does. But people aren't coming, and listing attractions just doesn't counter that argument.

 

 

Exactly. And most people don't make their travel plans based on the amusement park nearby. They go to the amusement park nearby to where they want to travel. The exception probably being Orlando.

Edited October 11, 2018 by teacherkim

[teacherkim]

I travel a lot and have been asked about Ferguson many times. Sadly, it's become a thing St Louis is known for. An attraction like the Arch tends to be something people stop at as they drive through. Maybe instead of expecting/depending on Six Flags to draw int tourists the city should be engaging in a little more overall self promotion as a place to spend some vacation time. Unfortunately, I think our proximity to Chicago hurts us greatly as people will choose that if given the option.

[SteveStL]

Cincinnati has had their share of PR issues as well. just saying

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_riots_of_2001

[SteveStL]

If You Build It, They Will Come!

...Just ask Holiday World (in the middle of nowhere, Indiana)

 

 

Yeah, but that is a bit of a misnomer. It is actually a day trip from St. Louis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Lexington, Paducah, Nashville and a few other places that I haven't thought of off the top of my head. All relatively small markets but together .......

 

So they Built one of the best Waterpark in the Country (and a few excellent coasters) and the People came.

[teacherkim]

Yeah but again Cincinnati is a day trip to a much larger population than St Louis, we are just a little too far west. Anyway, we could discuss the whys and hows

all day but again the fact remains that St Louis is just not a destination city; even if it should be, no matter how much we wish it were.

[tinaalsgirl]

I would like to point out that Six Flags is also not IN St. Louis. It's at least a half-hour drive from Forest Park to Eureka, and St. Louis doesn't have the excellent mass transit system that, say, Chicago does. I've been to STL, Chicago, Branson... St. Louis is a local destination city; if you live within a 3hr radius, you probably will go there at least once in your life to go see the Arch, etc. And all that is within the heart of STL; Six Flags is a bit of drive away from there. SDC, on the other hand, is maybe a 10-15min drive from Branson, depending on the time of year (SDC traffic can get REALLY bad sometimes). And Chicago... well, everything can be reached without ever driving a car - bus, train, walking...

 

So, yeah, St. Louis may be something interesting to folks who live within a decent drive of it, but outside of there... well, let's just say that some of the FL and CA based Youtubers I follow have made the trip to Branson/SDC but not to STL/SF.

[prozach626]

Bottom line after all of the conversation: We're not getting sh*t but small additions. Learn to appreciate them.

[SteveStL]

Bottom line after all of the conversation: We're not getting sh*t but small additions. Learn to appreciate them.

 

I wasn't thru bitching ... Buzzkill!

[prozach626]

[SixFlagsTimeWarner]

Dining pass hours during fright fest ??

[Danrarbc]

I wonder how many SFSL patrons would be offended by the jokes in GAm's Love at First Fright? Way funnier version though.

 

Also I've noticed something interesting about their HITP setup. We have professional lights with the screw on connections nearly everywhere - but I can see a lot of locations in GAm where they've just installed normal light strands. Even just out of the box mesh lights in the entrance plaza.

[prozach626]

It's their first year, so I'm sure SFGam will have a lot of room for improvement.

 

I think our event is pretty impressive. I hope the Screaming Eagle is open when we go.

[Danrarbc]

It's their first year, so I'm sure SFGam will have a lot of room for improvement.

 

I think our event is pretty impressive. I hope the Screaming Eagle is open when we go.

Actually I'm guessing the variety of light strands is more likely related to the fact that they'll be having the ENTIRE park open for the event. They have more work to do and I'd wager both the park maintenance staff and professional installers have been working on different things. I saw lights in every single area so it'll definitely be open 100%. I hope STL will be going this route this year - the Illinois section isn't big, the biggest worry has probably been clearing snow on the stairs and that hill.

[ChrisGraslie]

Totally random, but does anyone know why Six Flags stopped removing the haunted attraction near the Empire Theater once it became Night Terrors? Is it because they don't have enough time to take it all down in the gap between the two events? I'm only asking because we're less than a month away from HITP already and I hope they don't keep it up again after this year, I feel like it makes Studio Backlot feel more cramped (especially Batman's exit), and they could easily remedy that issue by building permanent sound stage buildings for the haunts, which with a 30 year old event I feel like they should have already.

[castaway_kid]

I was told that it usually took a team of people over a week to tear it down on top of the several weeks it takes to put it up every year. And with FF growing, they simply couldn't waste that much time on a single attraction in an area that gets almost no foot traffic. Also I would assume that by having a haunted attraction in place there, they don't need to spend as much time and money maintaining the old "Skid Row" building facades. After all, run down and dilapidated add to the atmosphere during FF, not so much the rest of the year so it makes sense keeping Night Terrors Up year round. I wouldn't hold my breath for it going anywhere anytime soon.

[Danrarbc]

A couple years ago the park took down that maze. But apparently the public didn't respond that positively to the path being fully open. Not enough for the effort to matter.

[Vonni]

The reason it was taken down a couple of years ago was because they ended its version as Insanity Alley. Since they tweaked it and turned it into Night Terrors, it remains in place year round. Its not really blocking anything anyway. Just a small path that didn't have anything on it except "theming".

[ChrisGraslie]

Also I would assume that by having a haunted attraction in place there, they don't need to spend as much time and money maintaining the old "Skid Row" building facades. After all, run down and dilapidated add to the atmosphere during FF, not so much the rest of the year so it makes sense keeping Night Terrors Up year round.

"Run down and dilapidated" is exactly the point, it's supposed to be a street in Gotham City. They actually fully refurbished the buildings in early 2016 so it makes no sense to me why they couldn't have at least just put lights up on the upper parts of them instead of keeping a bunch of rat props on them when it's supposed to be festive. When I went to HITP for the first time with my family in 2016 it was one of the first things my dad pointed out when we entered Studio Backlot, so it isn't like it's not noticeable. I think people are just used to seeing it now.

[castaway_kid]

Also I would assume that by having a haunted attraction in place there, they don't need to spend as much time and money maintaining the old "Skid Row" building facades. After all, run down and dilapidated add to the atmosphere during FF, not so much the rest of the year so it makes sense keeping Night Terrors Up year round.

"Run down and dilapidated" is exactly the point, it's supposed to be a street in Gotham City. They actually fully refurbished the buildings in early 2016 so it makes no sense to me why they couldn't have at least just put lights up on the upper parts of them instead of keeping a bunch of rat props on them when it's supposed to be festive. When I went to HITP for the first time with my family in 2016 it was one of the first things my dad pointed out when we entered Studio Backlot, so it isn't like it's not noticeable. I think people are just used to seeing it now.

They did not fully refurbish the buildings in 2016, they simply removed the parts of the facade that were becoming safety issues.

[ChrisGraslie]

Also I would assume that by having a haunted attraction in place there, they don't need to spend as much time and money maintaining the old "Skid Row" building facades. After all, run down and dilapidated add to the atmosphere during FF, not so much the rest of the year so it makes sense keeping Night Terrors Up year round.

"Run down and dilapidated" is exactly the point, it's supposed to be a street in Gotham City. They actually fully refurbished the buildings in early 2016 so it makes no sense to me why they couldn't have at least just put lights up on the upper parts of them instead of keeping a bunch of rat props on them when it's supposed to be festive. When I went to HITP for the first time with my family in 2016 it was one of the first things my dad pointed out when we entered Studio Backlot, so it isn't like it's not noticeable. I think people are just used to seeing it now.

They did not fully refurbish the buildings in 2016, they simply removed the parts of the facade that were becoming safety issues.

I didn't even notice that they removed anything from them, makes sense though. I'm probably thinking of something else but I remember someone telling me they replaced some of the structure behind the buildings or something? I don't know, but honestly at this point I'd rather they just replace them with something else if they don't care about keeping them maintained, they are 23 years old now after all, and look what happened to the other ones next to where Spinsanity is now. Maybe give Batman and the surrounding area some kind of modern retheme? Who knows, I feel like that area needs it.

[jrkstl]

Just visited SFFT this weekend, and thought I’d share my thoughts on two (possible, maybe?) future attractions that get discussed as potentials for SFSTL

 

Finally rode my first S & S 4D and LOVED it! Like a good Zipper ride, which is what I hoped it would be like. Just wish that it wasn’t so short, but yes please!

Also, Wonder Woman was really, really great. Again short ride, but WOW. I’m normally a back seat rider and this one didn’t disappoint. Two of the drops even made me see stars in the back. Just amazing.

So, if we were to ever get one of these two, I’d be quite happy.

 

Carry on...

[Kevin Long]

Just visited SFFT this weekend, and thought I’d share my thoughts on two (possible, maybe?) future attractions that get discussed as potentials for SFSTL

 

Finally rode my first S & S 4D and LOVED it! Like a good Zipper ride, which is what I hoped it would be like. Just wish that it wasn’t so short, but yes please!

Also, Wonder Woman was really, really great. Again short ride, but WOW. I’m normally a back seat rider and this one didn’t disappoint. Two of the drops even made me see stars in the back. Just amazing.

So, if we were to ever get one of these two, I’d be quite happy.

 

Carry on...

 

we probably will get one of these at some point.... as soon as they become second hand and they can be shipped in. (Ala boomerang) just give it 6-7 years..

 

my two cents

 

Kevin

[ChrisGraslie]

Finally rode my first S & S 4D and LOVED it! Like a good Zipper ride, which is what I hoped it would be like. Just wish that it wasn’t so short, but yes please!

Also, Wonder Woman was really, really great. Again short ride, but WOW. I’m normally a back seat rider and this one didn’t disappoint. Two of the drops even made me see stars in the back. Just amazing.

So, if we were to ever get one of these two, I’d be quite happy.

 

Carry on...

I think both are still possible, as much as we'd all prefer a new coaster from scratch I also wouldn't be mad if we got either one of those two. A RMC Raptor to replace Ninja would be awesome.

[prozach626]