St Louis Blues- silver2005's Missouri TR and Planning (and more)

[silver2005]

I actually will enjoy the drive more since my hotel in St Louis is right off I-70 so I can pretty much get there with no directions.   The drive from St Louis to KC is nearly equally as easy.  

Then there's the drive to Branson. 

Also, ironically, the only day I actually need to wake up early is on the way from Branson back to Cincy- tis a 9+ hour drive. 

[silver2005]

So I have a possible fear about SFStL.  I hope I don't wind up liking Boss too much because I finally saw a walk through of the queue on YouTube.

So.  Many.  Stairs. 

[silver2005]

The drive between Indy and St Louis is sooooo boring.

[silver2005]

So I got my work cut out for me in terms of driving around St Louis.  It's way more dense than I anticipated and I'm on the opposite side of town from SFStL.

[RollerColt]

3 hours ago, silver2005 said:

The drive between Indy and St Louis is sooooo boring.

It is indeed very, very boring. I64 to I71 is much more interesting of a drive. You get all the southern Indiana/Northern Kentucky hills. 

[silver2005]

So after reviewing weather and Arch availability, here is the itinerary for St Louis-

Friday- Botanical Gardens (rainiest day but at least no T-storms, plus Arch is sold out)

Saturday- Hoping the rain in the morning scares people away and doing SFStL

Sunday- Arch and City Museum (kind of a good thing as this is the hottest day)

Going for some BBQ tonight. 

[silver2005]

25 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

It is indeed very, very boring. I64 to I71 is much more interesting of a drive. You get all the southern Indiana/Northern Kentucky hills. 

That's the way I'll be coming back to Cincy, which, seems nice since that'll be from Branson. 

[RollerColt]

12 minutes ago, silver2005 said:

That's the way I'll be coming back to Cincy, which, seems nice since that'll be from Branson. 

It’s indeed a much better drive as far as geographic points of interest. Plus, you could make a detour to Holiday World lol…

Enjoy the KC bbq!

[silver2005]

St Louis style pizza is also on the docket.

I'm hesitant on the gooey butter cake.

[silver2005]

I should also mention while my pass did work at MIA, I still brought 2 printed receipts of my pass renewal and FL for use at SFStL and WoF just in case. 

[RollerColt]

1 minute ago, silver2005 said:

I should also mention while my pass did work at MIA, I still brought 2 printed receipts of my pass renewal and FL for use at SFStL and WoF just in case. 

That's probably a good idea. You never know!

[silver2005]

I was going to be spontaneous in KC, but I just found a jazz museum in KC, so I'll probably do that and maybe bits around Union Station. 

Also, on the way in, I'll be going out of my way voicing my displeasure in the direction of Arrowhead Stadium on behalf of Bengals' fans. 

[RollerColt]

32 minutes ago, silver2005 said:

I was going to be spontaneous in KC, but I just found a jazz museum in KC, so I'll probably do that and maybe bits around Union Station. 

Also, on the way in, I'll be going out of my way voicing my displeasure in the direction of Arrowhead Stadium on behalf of Bengals' fans. 

If you’re into history, Cahokia Mound isn’t too far away. It’s the remnants of the largest indigenous ancient city north of Mexico.

[silver2005]

I have one giant bad thing about where I'm staying in St Louis- the area is stroad hell.

[silver2005]

So MBG turned out to be a bit smaller than I thought.  It looks like it and the Tower Grove Park are all one big thing, but alas, they weren't.  Pretty good well kept gardens, a few bits of fountain and waterfall ERT, and the indoor Climatron was really cool, especially given its around 70 years old (sure doesn't look it).   I did end up diving through the park behind it.  Its a nice quaint little area close to downtown.  If you're in the area and want something laid back, I highly recommend.   Just make sure not to eat there.  Kind of a lackluster menu and its pretty expensive. 

I'm glad I started out with that, too. 

 

[silver2005]

I think the pizza place I'm going with does carry the butter cake, but if not, I have plenty of opportunities for it downtown.  

[silver2005]

St Louis style pizza makes NY style look thick in comparison.

Like thinner than cardboard.

[silver2005]

I was wrong to doubt the gooey butter cake.  While the texture isn't my thing, the caramelized crust makes up for it.  Does require milk, its pretty decadent. 

[silver2005]

So the only park ads I've experienced in St Louis so far are for Holiday World.

BTW, the pass worked at SFSTL.

[silver2005]

SFSTL early reviews

BTR- obviously good

Ninja- actually quite fun

Mine Train- a little underrated, quite smooth for its age

Boomerang- you can tell it's relocated, some track deficiencies can be detected 

Screaming Eagle- really solid, reride candidate #1

Boss- one bad section after the 2nd big drop bit intense in a good way, re ride candidate #2

Still waiting for Freeze and the spinner to open.

[silver2005]

Mr Freeze is crazy intense.

I also got a particularly intense ride on Pandemonium due to the car being unbalanced to the nth degree.

[silver2005]

Also in the chance I re ride Boss, they have a portion open between the exit and queue to make the walk way less lengthy. 😎

[silver2005]

As for number milestones- American Thunder was 180 and Boss was 185.

[silver2005]

Six Flags St Louis Trip Report 7/25/26

I have to say, compared to driving downtown from where I am, it was a really relaxing drive to get to Eureka.  The park sits in a pretty wooded area decently close to St Louis.  You start at the bottom of the hill and work your way up, Boss and Screaming Eagle sit at the back on tops of hills.  Its a pretty simple layout, and most of the pathing is quite narrow in most places except for around Batman and somewhat around Mr Freeze.   I was going to stay till close, but it was super hot and not a lot of ways to cool down.  The buildings that had AC that weren't Justice League weren't that adequate, either for a low powered AC or nowhere to sit.  The only water ride open was Log Flume and it got well above an hour.  It is my least favorite of the 3 legacy SIX parks I've been to, but I still rather like the park.  Staff was solid through the park, its clean, and the staff was rather friendly for the most part.  Solid ride line up as well.  They do a rather long staggered opening.  Batman and American Thunder were the only things open at rope drop and the rest really took their jolly time opening.  Mr Freeze didn't open until 2:30.  Food was surprisingly good.  I only had a decent pizza, but I saw other things of interest as well.  Overall, the park hits a nice subtle simple atmosphere and does it well.   Some crews like Batman, Mr Freeze and the 2 big woodies were cranking out cycles, too, in a good way (not in a CP yell at you cranking, more people friendly which I liked a lot).  You could also hear Batman, Freeze and the Larson Loop all through the park. 

The only non coaster I rode was the train.  Its one of the nicer ones for sure.  The park sits in an area away from homes, so the engine has a decent whistle.  The section around the mine train and Ninja actually had a place where the train stopped for a nice show section.   It is a bit annoying if you're using the train souley for transportation, but its a nice distraction, too.  

American Thunder- Pretty standard GCI, wild but not that wild.  Reminds me of Wildcat at HP early in its life.  There are several GCI's I prefer including Timbers, Lightning Racer, and Thunderhead.  I did like it more than Invadr and HP pre-RMC Wildcat.  Pretty good compact course.  

Batman: The Ride- Standard B&M invert fare, but for those who don't know, most Batman clones drop to the left.  This one is mirrored and drops to the right.  Still has that early B&M goodness- intense but not too intense, good forces, smooth.  The theming on this is lacking compared to the 2 I've ridden in SFGAdv and SFGAm though.  Way less props and trees around the twisted section (SFStL's is all gravel after the 0g roll).   I do think the all black color scheme is the best for a Batman themed ride at least.  I wonder how Enchanted will re-theme it.  

Boomerang- This was initially at SFoT.  It feels very much relocated.  There are a few deficiencies in the track, particularly going up the cobra roll, that make it a bit more jarring.  The first lift backwards also felt slower than other normal Boomerangs.  A little flamboyant on the color scheme, too.

Boss- I had a lot of mixed feelings going into it.  I love me some CCI's, but I also have a fear of Gerstlauer trains as the only other one's I've ridden were on Son of Beast post-loop removal.  All those qualms were quickly squashed- this thing is pretty darn good.  The first drop is good, then it has that extra smaller drop after a long straight section that is sooooo good.  A bit of Titan track was on the small hop before the first turn around section.  Despite how high that part was, it has good laterals.  The following drop was the bad section.  From the bottom of that 2nd big drop until you go up to the MCBR has an annoying jack hammer bit.  That's really the only bad part aside from patch work needed as you get to the smaller hills to round out the layout.  Great pacing, good laterals, maybe a bit too much intensity, but I really liked it.  Only wish it were cooler as it and Screaming Eagle were my targets for night rides. 

Mr Freeze- Another intense coaster for sure.  Its not quite a jarring backwards launch, and you reach top speed so early that it kind of lulls you into how intense the rest of the layout it.  Good positive G's, the top hat has great hang time, it hauls through the overbank, and the spike is solid.  The return run is a bit more intense as it requires the LIM's on the spike to actually launch you as you drop, meaning you're falling faster than gravity.  The return run feels way more intense.  Also snazzy in how it loads and uses 2 trains, it is surprisingly efficient. 

Ninja- I had fears about this given my bad experience on Demon.  Totally wrong about it, it's a short but fun smaller Arrow looper.  The transition to the drop after the corkscrews into the final helix was really funky, but really fun.  Good first drop, too and a rather unique entry for the corkscrews, too.  

Pandemonium- So there may be a bit of a weird bias as the car I was on was very unbalanced and spun like crazy.  It did make the ride more insane than what's more on par with a 'normal' ride.  Also quite fun.  I really like the path interaction and the last helix dug into the ground. 

River King Mine Train- I tend not to like Arrow Mine Trains that have a bajillion lifts.  I rode its sister coaster when it was at Dollywood and found it boring.  The bit at St Louis was decent.  Really smooth for a mine train of its age with some decent faster bits that you can't really tell from the POV's.  Really good looking trains, too.

Screaming Eagle- This is my favorite coaster at the park.  John Allen really made some gems late in his career.   Solid air, great use of the terrain to get in some bigger drops later in the layout, probably his best paced coaster he designed aside from Twister.  The far turn around has some really good laterals and the pace doesn't let up until the brakes.  Really wish I could do this at night, too.   I feel they took some ideas from this to make Beast for sure.   Love how its placed in the back of the park at the top of the hill, too.  

 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

2 hours ago, silver2005 said:

I do think the all black color scheme is the best for a Batman themed ride at least.  I wonder how Enchanted will re-theme it. 

It will be interesting to see how the entire park looks after the re-brand and re-theme. The videos I've seen show a ton of SF trademarks in addition to all of the DC/Looney Tunes/general Warner Bros theming, so I hope their sign shop (if they have one) is already busy making new signs and names for everything. I'd hate to see Mid-America by Enchanted Parks have ride names like "Bat Flight: The Ride" or "Super Hero Fighting Force" with flat AI generated signs. That would show that this company is a) creatively bankrupt and b) has no money to actually put into their new parks. What name do they go with for the branded waterparks? WildWater Adventure (from Michigan's Adventure)? Splashwater Kingdom (formerly from Great Escape)? Calypso Cove or Water Safari (from the "original" Enchanted parks)? Their CEO seemed very dead-set on trying to get in on a Warner Bros and/or Peanuts licensing deal, but he now has a few failed promises that he was dead-set on.

I'm most interested to see how fast they will start switching away from the Cedar Fair/Six Flags branding online. It could be very shortly after each park's respective season ends or they might be able to wait until their licensing ends (possibly December 31st depending on what the deal was). 

 

Hopefully I'll be able to make it there sometime this season while my pass still works at the parks that were sold off. I'd really like to also get a piece of Six Flags St. Louis-branded merch, but I think that will depend on how late in the season I go and how much they had in the first place. I really want a magnet too, but Great America let me down in that department.

[silver2005]

Today is going to be a quick visit downtown.  Today might be one of the hottest days of the trip.  The Arch and City Museum are about a mile and a half apart.  Doing the Arch first as I wanted to get down early to avoid Cardinals game day traffic, going to check out the riverfront as I've never really seen the Mississippi River up close before, and then the museum.  

I was going to attempt to see where the Missouri meets the Mississippi, but there's mostly industrial stuff around it and no good place to stop around that.