My friend Alex Sabatka and I trekked out to Missouri for the opening weekend of Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka. As you can tell we are both very excited to be there.
While waiting in line for the park to open we discussed out plan of Running the Bulls, or as security calls it: The calmly walking of the Bulls. Alex wanted American Thunder and I was thinking Justice League. But with our bags, we didn't want to be screwed waiting for the lockers to open. So We decided it would be best to head back towards Screamin Eagle and get our double rides.
There were about six kids in front of us waiting for this awesome wooden coaster to open. Amazingly, they all wanted the first available seat. So Alex and I waited for the second train. I would still count this as getting first ride of the season because nobody publicly rode in the train before we did.
We couldn't pass up Boomerang with no line. I took this picture because there are new bins that obviously look a whole lot more permanent than the previous clear bins one could find at the dollar store.
Afterward we went Screaming into the Sky for the first time in a while on SkyScreamer.
Mr. Freeze was the last coaster that allowed bags on it's platform so we hit it up and then rode the train.
The employees are pretty friendly and other small things can be seen from the SFRR.
The "Mid-Over America" has been painted over since the park became Saint Louis in 1996. Also these clocks were off. Not that I can blame them, I'm no engineer.
The van above brought in eagles for guests to interact with. The clearance store had some Boss T-Shirts, so Alex and I thought Boss might go the way of the Drunken Barrels. (Pictured to the right.) That or I-box and receive the Iron Horse Treatment, especially with the extension of the season in December. (As pictured below)
After sitting at the station for about twenty minutes, the train departed.
We passed up Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast and a Fright Fest Prop that reminded me of Cedar Point.
Justice League had a good 75 minute wait as we went by.
Ninja was climbing up the hill. These next pictures have made me realize how long the pre-drop is.
Batman and The Moon Cars are great rides but not when Batman had one train and the Cars had a longer line than American Thunder.
Speaking of American Thunder, here is one of my favorite parts of the whole ride. This first hill gives quite a pop of air, especially in the front row.
I was surprised to find the Log Flume was open. But I do like it. Riders don't get very wet and there's a speed section.
Mr. Freeze is a great ride and crews were kicking butt. Or I might rather say the lead was. Her name was Anne and was an ACE's dream ride op. She was hustling and helping others, even when they were slacking and actually cared about capacity. Which means getting us on in a fashionably manor.
Boss seemed to receive some new track work as some wood was obviously lighter than others.
Even more so, I was surprised to see an employee riding the Rapids and later opening them.
A panaromicusque picture of Six Flags St. Louis, and The Boss's sign.
Here are some pictures of Mr. Freeze in action.
Tony Hawk Better known as Pandemonium as of 2010.
Superman was lowering it's riders. For those who might not know, the whole point of drop towers are for the car to be released and riders race to the breaks at fast speeds. So this was quite an odd sight. I can only imagine the experience.
Six Flags St. Louis is really lush and has many shrubberies throughout the park. I would even argue to call it one of the prettiest and well kept Six Flags.
It's the subtle things that I enjoy seeing in a park. What usually goes by. Sure I'm all for the huge attractions, but this cart stood out to me when waiting the Train Station. Not only did it remind of of Silver Dollar City, but it's a nice touch.
Just then I heard the train on Boomerang releasing.
With Vekoma Boomerangs, there's twice the fun as riders take its course both forward and backwards.
At this point we had been on the train for about a half hour just taking pictures. Naturally, a lil steam had to be let loose and the Six Flags Rail Road does a great demonstration for this.
It seems as if there used to be some type of a stick-up show here. I could be completely wrong, but it would be weird to have all these buildings just for Train Passengers to see.
One of my personal favorite aspects of riding the train is that all of Batman: The Ride can be seen from it.
I'm not quite sure why but I love these first two shots. The third is included because that's already a rather long line, not to mention that it was running with one train.
Surprisingly enough Tsunami Soakers was still closed with an estimated opening date of Memorial Day Weekend.
While neither Alex or I are huge fans of Larson Loopers being permanently installed in parks, it does look nice in front of Boomerang and standing next to Superman.
Four hours later we find ourselves having Burritos for lunch and have hit everything we want for the whole trip, with the exception of Justice League. The Six Flags Railroad graced us with its presence.
Mr, Freeze was having slower dispatches, so I took some pictures.
Having not done Justice League yet, we got in line and waiting for about 25 minutes before it went down for the rest of the night. The lights came on and Mechanics were pushing the cars around themselves. Obviously not a good sign.
The show-building is well themed and is aesthetically pleasing as well.
Upon exiting, we learned that Mr. Freeze was also down, as well as Colossus.
With Mr. Freeze closed and nothing else in the park really having options without buying a locker, we headed back towards Screamin Eagle and took pictures. I also made a video of all the closed attractions and will be posted soon.
Mr. Freeze never reopened and we saw this Ambulance go through twice.
Alex loves Excalibur and Pandemonium but I nicely denied as most spinny rides make me nauseous.
Just add The Boss to that list of closed attractions.
Six Flags also has a large section of the park dedicated to the little ones.
Screamin Eagle had a full Queue, so we continued on taking pictures. Also here's a Larson Loop Op Booth. XD
Being Right there, we had to take some more pictures of Boomerang.
Screamin Eagle Soars through the Loop.
Alex was quick to note that he liked the Sheet Metal on FireBall's Entrance, but he also realized just as quickly that it's fake. The print is made to resemble actual sheet metal.
One Last nerd shot of Boomerang couldn't hurt.
We dipped into the queue for SkyScreamer near minutes before closing to get one last ride.
I found the letters on This Wheelchair interesting. Alex couldn't explain it, but my thoughts were that it's used to transport the crews water cooler without having to send two people out.
Batman was still giving rides after closing, of course the queue was closed but I can't imagine what time they finally ended with that line and one train operations.
The loop on Batman is astonishing.
Six Flags St. Louis is not our homepark so we don't know how they usually leave the trains, but Ninja's train sitting in the brake run with the restraints up looked odd to say the least.
We went to check out the station and the train in there was the same way. However that isn't so odd.
I might have to try this during my next visit. But from what Alex said it isn't that great. He recently tried it on DareDevil Dive at Six Flags Over Georgia.
It's nice to visit other parks, it gives us a nice reality check. Joker and Batman here are commonly found at Six Flags Great America, but people go crazy for both attractions here. A B&M Invert and Boat ride. Then Mr. Freeze is unique and rarely receives a line. That's weird, if you ask me.
Now I end this trip report with Security in a Scissor Lift, instead of a Control Tower.