Coaster Community

I made my first visit to Six Flags St. Louis on 5/18, which I affectionately refer to as Advertisement: The Park! It was my first experience with the “new” Six Flags, and there were more ads than rides. I understand making some revenue from empty space, but this was just ridiculous.

Anyway, it was only my second Six Flags park, but all in all, it was nice. The theming was solid but not consistent at all, and it was a really pretty park. Some of the backstage areas need cleaned up, and pretty much all the rides could use a paint job, but all in all it was an pleasant place. Plus, White Castle is just down the street, which is like +1000 points in my book.

The first ride (after discovering the endless line for season pass processing) was Xcalibur. I have no idea what the hell to call this thing, but it was a pretty sweet flat ride. Looking straight ahead at the ground was freaky. Not quite as cool as an S&S swing or Frisbee, but there aren’t many better flats around.

Next up was the coaster next door, Tony Hawk’s Big Spin. And it was pretty boring. I guess I just don’t get the appeal of the Gerstlauer spinners. They are fun and all and for the “family” I suppose, but they are pretty meh to me. I think I like Spinning Dragons at WOF better simply because I’m not bashed over the head with the “OMG TONY HAWK!!!!” aspect of this ride.

Next up was the Boss. I’ve heard nothing but mediocre-to-bad reviews of this thing, but after making the roughly 46 mile trek to the station, I found a pretty decent ride. The layout and setting was cool, and it was fast, intense, and not as rough as I expected. There were some decent pops of air and I liked the out-of-control feeling of it. It reminded me kinda of the Legend, which usually isn’t a bad thing. It’s not one of my favorite woodies, but it was definitely a fun ride.

We hit Screaming Eagle next, and after some technical difficulties delayed the line about 30 minutes, we hopped on toward the back. It was a decent ride with some okay air and was pretty smooth. I’d imagine it’s better toward the front but it was too average to warrant waiting through the line again.

Superman was next, and drop towers are always fun, even if they are the same everywhere. I’m torn on whether I prefer the S&S or Intamin versions more…

River King Mine Train was closed. I wanted the credit, but I don’t think I missed much anyway.

We hiked over to Ninja, and about there’s not a whole lot of good to say about it other than the fact that it wasn’t as bad as I expected. It was rough, slow, and boring, not to mention ugly and rusty. The headchopper was freaky, and the ninja guys at the entrance were fun to make immature poses with, but that’s about it. This ride sucked.

Mirror-image Batman was next, after yet another excursion through the queue line (Is there a Golden Ticket for longest queue lines? This place would win hands down.). Anyway, it was my first of the B:TR clones, and it was everything I expected. A bit rough in spots, but every bit as intense as Raptor, Alpengeist, and all the other top inverts around (sorry, Patriot). Non-stop forces everywhere. Even the rust on it was okay, it fit in with the Gotham theme. An awesome ride, probably my favorite in the park.
   
The last ride we hit was Mr. Freeze, which I expected quite a bit out of. It was a cool (no pun intended) ride, but didn’t quite meet my quasi-lofty expectations. The top hat was freaky cool (any time you look up at the ground is okay in my book), but it didn’t quite “wow” me the way I thought it would. Plus it was a bit shaky; I’d hate to imagine it with the over-the-shoulder restraints instead of the lap bars.

We walked by Evel Knievel and I shed a tiny little tear about it being closed, it looks like an amazing ride. Looks like I’ll have to drag myself back through Misery later this summer to ride it.

In closing, I was relatively impressed by Six Flags St. Louis. It was clean, nice, and as a whole I enjoyed my time there, which is usually my #1 criterion for a good park. The rides just leave a bit to be desired in my opinion. Evel Knievel looks to fill part of that void. All in all, it was a nice park, and definitely one I’m gonna have to hit again when I’m in the area.