Six Flags St. Louis (SFStL) Discussion Thread

[Kumba2013]

I think the boss needs topper track and also add a barrel roll on the final hill right before the helix.

[Zcev5454]

I think the boss needs topper track and also add a barrel roll on the final hill right before the helix.

What about after the helix, in place of the double up?

[imagineerz]

Even after visiting last week, I still can't get over how nice of a park it is. Honestly, if you took all of the Six Flags branding away, you would never know it was a Six Flags park. The operations were incredible, we never waited in a line that was longer than 15 minutes. I'm not sure if the whole mandatory-high-five thing is the best idea, just because it seemed so forced on some employees, almost painful. That said, I never saw a stacked train (except first thing in the morning, see below), even Pandemonium.

 

But every rose has its thorn. And it's a thorn that really makes the park a Six Flags park: That damn no-loose-articles-whatsoever-but-only-on-some-rides policy in combination with the lockers. I understand that it's supposed to speed up dispatch times, but sometimes slowed them down, because the person holding the loose article was arguing with the ride op about the whole thing, increasing dispatch times up to three minutes. A) It would be easier if everything was consistent, and not "some loose articles on this major coaster, but not on this one." And B) If they choose not to allow loose articles at all on any major ride, then they need to implement a system similar to Lagoon's lockers (free for 30 minutes, pay after that), and not $1 per open.

 

With that out of the way, here are my two cents about the rides:

 

American Thunder: Really fun, airtime filled. Just the right length to keep the speed up while still seeming like a long ride.

 

Log Flume: It may be short, but again, a very fun ride.

 

Mr. Freeze: Holy crap on a crostini this ride is good. As the ride op put it: AINT NO PARTY LIKE A MR. FREEZE PARTY CUZ A MR. FREEZE PARTY DON'T STOP. Seriously, this ride op totally made the ride so much better. She was singing, interacting with guests, everyone was laughing and having fun. Sensing a theme?

 

The Boss: Eh. Needs some TLC. Fast, but I had to ride really defensively.

 

Screamin' Eagle: It seems really unassuming, but WOW this ride is just insanely fast. Every corner it seems like the train is actually going to fly off of the track, and then in gets faster in the next corner.

 

River King Mine Train: A nice mine train, albeit vertically short. The helix coming up to the second lift was surprisingly intense.

 

Pandemonium: It spins, it's intense. It's a Gerstlauer.

 

Sky Screamer: TERRIFYING

 

Ninja and Boomerang: Ew.

 

Batman: Not sure why, but I definitely prefer having it mirrored.

 

Scooby Doo Ghost Blasters: Was not expecting a floating dark ride, it was different, well themed, but the shooting aspect was distracting from the rest of the ride.

 

TL;DR A nice park with really good employees that doesn't seem like a Six Flags. Main problem is an inconsistent loose article policy. Overall 7/10, would visit again.

[ernierocker]

The park was busy today as well. I was very impressed with the park which came as a surprise after the first two Six Flags experiences we had on the Texas/Midwest trip. All the staff from the managers to the ride-ops were awesome. An Iron Boss could really do this park wonders.

 

Would you be ok with shortening the Boss in order to feed costs down? Or would you keep it the same instead? What about a barrel roll or two and no I-beam track or whatever it's called?

 

That's what Dave Roemer asked me when I suggested Iron Boss.

 

Sure, why not. They shortened Rattler significantly in the transformation.

[ZeroGravity55]

Would you be ok with shortening the Boss in order to feed costs down? Or would you keep it the same instead? What about a barrel roll or two and no I-beam track or whatever it's called?

 

That's what Dave Roemer asked me when I suggested Iron Boss.

 

Here's my opinion about the Boss. Go with the I-Box, who cares if it's wooden or not as long as the ride is fun. If RMC significantly shortened Rattler, but made it 10x better, I bet that can do the same for the Boss. To me the, the mid-course break run and the Helix are pointless, so get rid of them. Add some height, and make the drop beyond 80 degrees. Then spice up the double-down a bit, and make that first CCI swooping turn into a overbanked turn beyond 90 degrees. Then try and turn that second CCI swooping turn into huge a corkscrew, and keep the air-time hills on the way back to the station. Have the turn that would have started the helix, but then have it go into a barrel-roll straight into the break run to complete the ride, kinda like Outlaw Run. This would take place of the double-up.

 

Lol I know that was kinda lengthy, but that's how I imagine the Boss after any kind of RMC make-over. A lot of structure and track would have to be removed and some structure would have to be added, but the ride would be 10 times better. As I said before, shorten the ride and have RMC do some awesome stuff with it. It will definitely be better than the original Boss.

[Vonni]

Even after visiting last week, I still can't get over how nice of a park it is. Honestly, if you took all of the Six Flags branding away, you would never know it was a Six Flags park. The operations were incredible, we never waited in a line that was longer than 15 minutes. I'm not sure if the whole mandatory-high-five thing is the best idea, just because it seemed so forced on some employees, almost painful. That said, I never saw a stacked train (except first thing in the morning, see below), even Pandemonium.

 

But every rose has its thorn. And it's a thorn that really makes the park a Six Flags park: That damn no-loose-articles-whatsoever-but-only-on-some-rides policy in combination with the fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo. I understand that it's supposed to speed up dispatch times, but sometimes slowed them down, because the person holding the loose article was arguing with the ride op about the whole thing, increasing dispatch times up to three minutes. A) It would be easier if everything was consistent, and not "some loose articles on this major coaster, but not on this one." And B) If they choose not to allow loose articles at all on any major ride, then they need to implement a system similar to Lagoon's fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo (free for 30 minutes, pay after that), and not $1 per open.

 

With that out of the way, here are my two cents about the rides:

 

American Thunder: Really fun, airtime filled. Just the right length to keep the speed up while still seeming like a long ride.

 

Log Flume: It may be short, but again, a very fun ride.

 

Mr. Freeze: Holy crap on a crostini this ride is good. As the ride op put it: AINT NO PARTY LIKE A MR. FREEZE PARTY CUZ A MR. FREEZE PARTY DON'T STOP. Seriously, this ride op totally made the ride so much better. She was singing, interacting with guests, everyone was laughing and having fun. Sensing a theme?

 

The Boss: Eh. Needs some TLC. Fast, but I had to ride really defensively.

 

Screamin' Eagle: It seems really unassuming, but WOW this ride is just insanely fast. Every corner it seems like the train is actually going to fly off of the track, and then in gets faster in the next corner.

 

River King Mine Train: A nice mine train, albeit vertically short. The helix coming up to the second lift was surprisingly intense.

 

Pandemonium: It spins, it's intense. It's a Gerstlauer.

 

Sky Screamer: TERRIFYING

 

Ninja and Boomerang: Ew.

 

Batman: Not sure why, but I definitely prefer having it mirrored.

 

Scooby Doo Ghost Blasters: Was not expecting a floating dark ride, it was different, well themed, but the shooting aspect was distracting from the rest of the ride.

 

TL;DR A nice park with really good employees that doesn't seem like a Six Flags. Main problem is an inconsistent loose article policy. Overall 7/10, would visit again.

 

 

I'm really glad you enjoyed our park! I know SFStL gets a lot of crap talk, but honestly it is one of my fave of the SF chain. yes, we need more flats, and a signature steel (which I'm still confident we WILL get) but all in all it really is an awesome park. SFGAm is my fave of the chain and SFStL is my second fave. I really want more people to come around and see what our park has to offer. I have SOOOO many great memories there!

[The Westate]

Not sure why anyone would dislike the park, I really enjoyed it.

 

It's pretty much neck and neck for me with SFOG. SFGadv being my #1.

[prozach626]

It's pretty much neck and neck for me with SFOG. SFGadv being my #1.

 

I'm not trying to be overly argumentative, but how so?! What do we have to compete with Golioth? They also have a B&M flyer, a Euro fighter, one of the smoothest and most forceful B&M standups, and a classic terrain schwarzkopf. They also have a great drop tower and even their crap head banger is better than ours (ninja vs ninja). As far as I can tell, the only thing we have on them is wood.

 

I feel like SFoG has similar atmosphere, as far as more shade/less concrete goes, but it offers much more.

 

I'll take CF over SF any day of the week, but I feel like the only SF park that I couldn't stand was Magic Mountain. When my wife and I went last year, it was a colossal dump. We couldn't wait to leave. It's a shame, since it has a lot of decent rides.

 

Our park has a nice setting and I also feel like Iron Boss will give me a reason to go back. I agree, I-Beam or bust. Less is more. Shorten the ride and pack it with more punches. I like the over bank idea.Take out the helix and the station fly by. Run the queue in that area, to make our current queue less awkward. It looks terrible.

[The Westate]

While all that is true, my experience with SFSt was that the employees were nicer, the operations was WAY better and that goes a long way in my book.

 

While the coasters there maybe aren't quite as stellar as SFOG, operations goes a long way in my book.

 

The wooden coasters are a whole heck of a lot better than SFOG, that's for sure!

[11slataus]

I don't understand the hate for Boss's helix. To me, it's incredibly forceful, relatively smooth, and a great finale to the ride. An inversion would be sort of cool, but to me the Boss is already a balls-out awesome woodie. Why mess with something already good?

[StLCPfan]

I think you are in the minority of riders. Most of us don't find The Boss "good". I rode The Boss a few times that it was AMAZING, a few times that it was good, and MANY, MANY times that it beat the crap out of me. Iron Horse transformation please.

[prozach626]

I don't understand the hate for Boss's helix. To me, it's incredibly forceful, relatively smooth, and a great finale to the ride. An inversion would be sort of cool, but to me the Boss is already a balls-out awesome woodie. Why mess with something already good?

 

I don't think people dislike the helix, but I think most people are saying they would be OK with losing it as a compromise for the iron horse treatment.

[Vonni]

I'm part of the minority too. I love The Boss, and I dont think its overly rough at all. I've always loved it. Now with that being said, I'm still for the RMC renovation. I can picture so many possiblities!

[ernierocker]

Just rode The Boss for the first time yesterday and it was super rough. In fact, the majority of the trip participants we encountered agreed with how horribly shaky it was. Don't know what is leading to some of you thinking it is a smooth ride, but whatever those elements are, they certainly weren't happening yesterday.

[ZeroGravity55]

Let me put it like this. If hacking the helix is what it takes to get RMC in there, then get rid of it. Seriously though, while some of you think the Boss is a good ride, why wouldn't you want a awesome RMC creation? It could quite possibly give the park the signature coaster everybody says they lack.

[ilrider]

I really like The Boss but agree it is quite rough. I wasn't even comfortable holding my hands up on it last year, when normally I do the whole ride on wooden coasters. Two years ago, I was able to keep them up.

[GrapesLie]

Just rode The Boss for the first time yesterday and it was super rough. In fact, the majority of the trip participants we encountered agreed with how horribly shaky it was. Don't know what is leading to some of you thinking it is a smooth ride, but whatever those elements are, they certainly weren't happening yesterday.

 

THANK YOU! The ride is rough and boring! The forces it does have aren't fun! I hate The Boss! Fire it and go to RMC! We can Call it IRON FIST! Lame name sure but so is The Boss! Actually I take that back. If they RMC it they should call it IRON FIST because that is just epic!

[Woodie Warrior]

Here is the thing:

Iron Medusa at Six Flags Mexico is pretty much 100% going to happen.

Iron Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain is a strong rumor at this point.

 

Isn't Iron Boss just an idea SFSTL's fans want to happen? If the park manager says he doesn't know if the Boss is the proper length to get the Iron Horse treatment, doesn't that mean there is no possibility at this point that management is planning on creating Iron Boss?

 

Also, if every Six Flags park ends up getting an Iron Horse coaster, would it still be a signature coaster? (That's not saying I don't definitely want Iron Boss to happen)

[ernierocker]

^Do you think Six Flags St. Louis planned to get a Boomerang last year? If Six Flags Corporate wants it, the park will get it.

 

And the rumor isn't just on a local level...

[Woodie Warrior]

It took them a year and an off season to do New Texas Giant, why couldn't they do the same for the Boss?

[ernierocker]

^Huh? I am not sure what you are asking.

[BigBomer]

It took them a year and an off season to do New Texas Giant, why couldn't they do the same for the Boss?

Because they can do it in 8 months. Texas Giant only took that long because it was a prototype. Plus more time that the coaster is open, whether it be Boss or Iron Boss, means more money.

[ernierocker]

^Yeah, exactly. I am assuming Woodie Warrior meant they would of closed the ride before now if it was going to get the RMC makeover. Iron Rattler shows it can be closed at the end of the summer season and open by late spring.

[Woodie Warrior]

^Huh? I am not sure what you are asking.

I was replying to a post that seems to have disappeared. It said something about Boss would have to be shortened or it would take a year and a half to finish, and I pointed out that NTAG took that long, so why couldn't they do the same to Boss?

[ZeroGravity55]

I was replying to a post that seems to have disappeared. It said something about Boss would have to be shortened or it would take a year and a half to finish, and I pointed out that NTAG took that long, so why couldn't they do the same to Boss?

 

That was my post, and I have no idea what happened to it. I think someone already answered it, but the longer the ride is closed, the less money the park makes. The reason Texas Giant took so long was because they didn't cut any significant length off of what was there and as someone said, it was a prototype. When they did Iron Rattler, they cut out those two huge helix's and completely rebuilt one section of the ride, which cut a significant amount of time off the rehab.