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Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread


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Visited the Park yesterday... very nice weather for Dec 22nd. The park looked very good wearing it's Holiday attire.

I checked out the former Tidal Wave Site and noticed once again Boomerang was not running. ...I have yet to see that coaster function (I don't visit that often). Anyhow it got me wondering, with TW now removed and with an additional removal of Boomerang that would offer a nice plot of land for a Raptor or a nice Grand Entrance and Station for a new Signature Steel Coaster to be built off to the East. Just chewing the fat here Folks.

Boomerang needs off-season work, not sure it would have been open for HITP even if it didn't.

 

a Raptor would fit just fine on the Tidal Wave spot alone.

 

Wonder Woman went where Power Surge was, without taking any additional space (and reused some of the queue layout even).

 

not to say y'all are getting one. . just saying it would easily fit there.

Yep. They're extremely small footprint. The triple out layout measures 75ft x 250ft and the double out is 50ft x 400ft.

 

The triple out literally requires less land than a Giga/Giant Discovery.

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It's a Wednesday but several school districts are on spring break that week. Although I was surprised at that opening date as well, particularly as my son and I are going down to Texas to hit the parks there and won't return until Thursday. Guess he won't be available the first two days, I thought we were safe.

Edited by teacherkim
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Usually if they open on spring break week they still do a Friday. Also, the park should be open full time a little later in August next year. New law in MO won't allow schools to start more than 14 calendar days before Labor Day now, so no schools can start before Aug 24 next year. Which I personally am very happy about as a parent and a teacher.

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Usually if they open on spring break week they still do a Friday. Also, the park should be open full time a little later in August next year. New law in MO won't allow schools to start more than 14 calendar days before Labor Day now, so no schools can start before Aug 24 next year. Which I personally am very happy about as a parent and a teacher.

I'm concerned about what this could mean for education overall in the state though. We're already in the middle of the pack, I would want to slip into the bottom third of states.

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^ You do realize it's still going to be the same number of school days, right?

 

 

Exactly, lol! Actually the law previously stated that there had to be 174 student attendance days, it now goes by hours, although most districts will still have at least 174. But by doing hours instead of days it allows districts in rural communities to have 4 day weeks, longer days but one less in the week.....which saves a ton of money.

 

All the later start date means is that the end of the school year will get pushed back to the first week of June and high school finals will be in mid-January instead of right before winter break. Like it used to be about 20 years ago. Full circle.

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Usually if they open on spring break week they still do a Friday. Also, the park should be open full time a little later in August next year. New law in MO won't allow schools to start more than 14 calendar days before Labor Day now, so no schools can start before Aug 24 next year. Which I personally am very happy about as a parent and a teacher.

I'm concerned about what this could mean for education overall in the state though. We're already in the middle of the pack, I would want to slip into the bottom third of states.

 

 

If you really want to be concerned about education, worry about the intense amount of testing and the soaring suicide rate amongst teens. At my son's well off suburban school this school year they have had one suicide, a 15 year old, and 8 serious attempts by other students. There are some serious issues that need to be addressed although at this point we are way off of the topic of this forum and there are probably better places for this discussion. Like every school board meeting.

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a Raptor would fit just fine on the Tidal Wave spot alone.

 

Wonder Woman went where Power Surge was, without taking any additional space (and reused some of the queue layout even).

 

not to say y'all are getting one. . just saying it would easily fit there.

 

Back in July I said the same thing, a RMC Raptor would fit nicely using RailBlazer's measurements

thumb_jj.png.d7995346c3b4be4ec93f2f2e6ea16f29.png

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We took a really quick trip to the park last night from around 530-8. The park wasn't very crowded, which I think had a lot to do with how cold it was. My brother-in-law was with us so that I could actually ride a couple coasters. We only rode a few rides:

 

1) Justice League: I'm still not a huge fan, but I like it more every time I ride it. It's kind of a necessity, with Emily being pregnant.

2) Batman: My ride was in the back row. It felt really smooth this time around and the transitions didn't beat my ears up. Still a kickass ride.

3) American Thunder: My ride was in the front row. It still rides like brand new. I'm thankful that SFSTL does such a good job at maintaining their wooden coasters. I can't say anything about American Thunder that hasn't been said before.

 

I would have liked to get my first/last ride on Freeze this year, but my brother-in-law had concerns about fitting in the restraints.

 

Other than that, the park looked OK. Emily said the lights seemed up to par, but I felt like there were less of them. Maybe they just don't feel as special to me as they did during the first couple years.

 

The park looked clean and well kept, but behind the actual bar itself at JB's was a total disheveled shithole. On clear display was a disorganized unclean mess of boxes, dissasemebeled beverage dispensers, and bar supplies all brightly lit with UV lights missing their covers. It was less welcoming than going out to my garage to grab a beer. The live news of the fiery death and destruction in Austrailia was the icing on the cake. The Blues game or literally almost anything else would have been a much better choice. Maybe all of this in combination is the SFSTL way of discouraging you from drinking?

 

It also might be time to get rid of the incredibly cheap looking anti-drug advertisements colored by 7 year olds several years ago. Although, I did feel comforted in the confirmation that "Not doing drugs will save you money." Truth. This faded wrikled poster would have fit in perfectly behind the bar at JB's.

 

It should be noted that the fireworks were so much better than I expected. They were really close, very well done, and they lasted quite a while. There were several times after a large barage when I thought they were over, but they kept going. 10/10 for what it is.

 

We tried Poor Richards for the first time. They have a regular special of a pitcher of beer and 50 wings for $38!! I'm a pretty big fan of crispy wings. These were seriously a dead ringer to the Anchor Bar wings we tried in Buffalo, NY this past summer, which claims to be the home of the first buffalo wings.

 

I capped off my night throwing up until 6am, running a fever, and having a splitting headache. It started right after midnight. I had the pleasure of begrudgingly calling off work for tonight and I just woke up. What a year, so far.

 

Cheers.

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a Raptor would fit just fine on the Tidal Wave spot alone.

 

Wonder Woman went where Power Surge was, without taking any additional space (and reused some of the queue layout even).

 

not to say y'all are getting one. . just saying it would easily fit there.

 

Back in July I said the same thing, a RMC Raptor would fit nicely using RailBlazer's measurements

 

 

Nice. I didn't know the measurements worked out so well. Tidal Wave was built partially on a bit of a hill, though; I wonder if 6F would pay to flatten it out. Or at least get custom supports or something.

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Nice. I didn't know the measurements worked out so well. Tidal Wave was built partially on a bit of a hill, though; I wonder if 6F would pay to flatten it out. Or at least get custom supports or something.

 

I believe the land is flat enough to put any ride there without to much work, the only real hill is under the lift and drop which should be leveled anyway to remove Tidal Waves supports, I honestly don't think land clearing would be a problem.

 

I cant wait to see what Six Flags decides to put in Tidal Waves spot, especially since they are also clearing out the land of the former go cart tracks for Cat Woman's Whip; which I would have thought that they would continue there efforts there. Anybody up for another flat for 2021/2022?

 

Other than that, the park looked OK. Emily said the lights seemed up to par, but I felt like there were less of them. Maybe they just don't feel as special to me as they did during the first couple years.

 

I think everyone said that about the 2018's HITP, especially around American Thunder/Shazam. I have only went two times to HITP, back in 2016 and 2018, and your 100% right the magic of the lights didn't feel up to par even though I believe they were still the same light setup.

 

Everybody have a great New Year!

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I was in the park the final night. JB's bar wasn't even an option anymore by 7pm so bleh. On the lights front both you and Emily are correct on them prozach, IMO.

 

There are locations where there were more than ever this year. Palace itself and the area in front had lights installed that never were before. There were trees wrapped near Justice League that weren't lit before. The building Santa moved to was absolutely covered in lights versus the simple lighting in previous seasons, and the small building across from Mine Train received this treatment too. But they also didn't wrap the 'Big Green Tree' by Mine Train this year, just flooded it with stage lights. Some of the railroad bridges were also unlit that have been before.

 

Then there's the area by American Thunder I mentioned before:

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It's near embarrassing how little is here, and the stars that do exist don't all work. Once you get to Log Flume I'm happy with the lighting but this stretch is bad.

 

Here it is in 2017 for reference:

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Yes this is just one area. Buts it's near the front of the park, by one of the best coasters open for the event. This, all by itself, seems to influence our feelings on HITP a lot. Because there ARE plenty of areas that have been improved. And yet some of us come away feeling like it's worse than before.

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It probably didn't help that the only area we pretty much walked was by Justice League, American Thunder, and Batman. We did make one pass from JB's to Batman. We didn't go anywhere near Mine Train. Overall, I was much more impressed/surprised by Fright Fest's decorations.

 

Regrdless, I can't wait until after that baby comes up out of there... Life is pretty boring right now. My Saturday nights consist of having a couple beers, playing PS4, and ordering food. I fear this may have been the biggest mistake of our lives...

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It probably didn't help that the only area we pretty much walked was by Justice League, American Thunder, and Batman. We did make one pass from JB's to Batman. We didn't go anywhere near Mine Train. Overall, I was much more impressed/surprised by Fright Fest's decorations.

 

Regrdless, I can't wait until after that baby comes up out of there... Life is pretty boring right now. My Saturday nights consist of having a couple beers, playing PS4, and ordering food. I fear this may have been the biggest mistake of our lives...

 

 

Well as the parent of a 16 year old I can tell you that your life will definitely change......as to whether or not it's a mistake, I haven't decided yet.

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It probably didn't help that the only area we pretty much walked was by Justice League, American Thunder, and Batman. We did make one pass from JB's to Batman. We didn't go anywhere near Mine Train. Overall, I was much more impressed/surprised by Fright Fest's decorations.

 

Regrdless, I can't wait until after that baby comes up out of there... Life is pretty boring right now. My Saturday nights consist of having a couple beers, playing PS4, and ordering food. I fear this may have been the biggest mistake of our lives...

 

 

Well as the parent of a 16 year old I can tell you that your life will definitely change......as to whether or not it's a mistake, I haven't decided yet.

The good parts will be the best parts of your entire life.

 

Yeah it's work. And the beginning and end of their first 18 years is like living with a live bomb connected to an egg timer. But as long as they aren't shitty people they'll bring you a lot of joy.

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I understand that feeling. It's the scariest thing in the world to have ultimate responsibility for another human. But you'll get more confidence as time goes on. We're 12 years into this now, and it really does get easier as they get older and take on more responsibilities for themselves. Parenting is a job, and like all jobs, you gain experience and get better at it. As long as you take the job seriously, that is, and I know you will. Enjoy it. It's not nearly as scary as it seems right now.

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Delete

I saw that

 

Anyway. It looks like both Over Texas and Fiesta Texas have moved to year-round operations this year. It isn't 365 operations like Magic Mountain but they are open every single weekend in 2020.

 

I wonder if this is something that could expand like HITP did.

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Delete

I saw that

 

Anyway. It looks like both Over Texas and Fiesta Texas have moved to year-round operations this year. It isn't 365 operations like Magic Mountain but they are open every single weekend in 2020.

 

I wonder if this is something that could expand like HITP did.

 

Six Flags as a company is pretty desperate to create quarterly growth and improve membership retention right now and adding operating days seems to be one of their favorite tools to achieve this. There are a lot of markets where this would be a pretty difficult thing to pull off but they recently took Discovery Kingdom, Fiesta and over Texas year-round and I don't think they're done.

 

The seasonal averages in Atlanta are nearly identical to Dallas. I firmly believe that if it goes well there, Georgia is probably next, then Frontier City. After that I feel like they've run this well dry though. St. Louis would (I guess) be the least-insane next option but they'd still have to be feeling particularly insane to attempt that.

 

Could the rides run most days? Sure. But would anyone show up without the Holiday in the Park event drawing them in aisde from some random unseasonably warm days? That's the big question.

Edited by coasterbill
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Just for clarification, this is a question and not an argument:

 

Is Six Flags sustaining enough attendance during slow off-season weekends to keep up with the longevity of their rides? Common sense tells you that rides have limited life spans. When you run them more frequently, they'e running the clock on the shelf-life. For example, when Mr. Freeze finally gets too rough or too costly to maintain, is Six Flags drawing in, or considering, long term financial growth to replace these high dollar attractions? When it finally bites the dust, will they just replace it with a less expensive attraction?

 

By no means do I think Mr. Freeze will be gone within a few years, but it has gotten to the point where my wife, and not myself, considers it too shaky to comfortably ride. She doesn't like it anymore, because it gives her a headache. The worst part is that it's right by that bar and it taunts me. First they reverse blast the coaster and now when I start to warm up to its lesser form (I said it. Eat shit.) my wife doesn't want to ride it. Tragedy.

 

Either way, I'm asking if anyone thinks the park is considering that the more you use the roller coaster, the quicker they will wear. Wooden coasters can be maintained, but steel will fatuge. Everyone turns to the Phantom's Revenge argument, but that ride had other issues to begin with.

 

I've wondered if Cedar Fair considers this, since they limit their attractions during winterfest. From a personal percpective, it doesn't 'seem' like the attendance in cold weather is comparable to June-August, even on the weekends.

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