| Six Flags St. Louis 9/13/08 (ACE Event) |
| Written by Jason | |||
| Saturday, 13 September 2008 00:00 | |||
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We got the park a little before 9am, got our badges and prepared for the run to Evel. Once we got there we found out about the new locker policy. One dollar for a locker isn't bad so my complaint regarding the time that we wasted was pointless. Once on the platform I found a one train wait for the front row. It's always a great way to start the day but the ride left me slightly under whelmed. This also happened last year when we first rode Renegade. I decided to move to the back of the train (my usual preference) and found a much better experience. I got in about 6 rides during the morning session. I liked the drop a lot and the triple bump near the end of the ride. I also scored two morning ERT rides on Mr. Freeze. I'm the only one in the group that enjoyed the Mr. Freeze rides. Ben taught us all a valuable pant lesson. He lost his wallet on Mr. Freeze and his dumb shorts were the reason. Deep cargo pockets with a zipper or high end velcro probably would have prevented this catastrophe. The park was nice enough to shut down the ride for a couple of minute and during that time they found some of the cash from the wallet. Next time you're waiting in line and it shuts down for no apparent reason it's probably something Ben did. After the ERT session we started working our way back towards the rear of the park. Our first stop was Scooby Doo and the wait was less that 5 minutes. We're big fans for the water dark ride especially when you get to shot stuff. I pulled in a score of 52,250, which put me just ahead of Ben (who would have lost even with a higher score since he didn't have a wallet). Collosus was next. Big ferris wheel, no wait. Tony Hawk was right next to that and also had a wait less than 5 minutes. I like this one more than the older versions. The loaded and unloading went much smoother. It also didn't have the axle rattle that some of the older versions have (age probably has something to do with this though). We decided to try Boss even though my previous experiences had been less than enjoyable. This run was totally different though. I really liked it and I was suddenly looking forward to night ERT on it. And Ben lost his phone on it. The skort that he was wearing has been retired from the amusement park wardrobe. He got lucky this time since it fell out in the seat and they found it. He just had a long ass walk back up to the station. It's probably good that he wasn't weighed down by a wallet. Screamin' Eagle was next and like everything else was pretty much a walk-on. We hopped in the front row and off we went. This was my first Eagle run and it's going to rank pretty high among old wood coasters on my list. River King Mine Train was without a line so we rode it and moved on. The ladies took off and left Ben and I to finish off the park. We made our way to Batman, took a ride in the front row (one train wait) and then jumped back in line for a back row ride. This ride continues to impress me and has yet to show any signs of aging. I love it. Before heading out for lunch we took two more quick rides on Evel, still no wait. White Castle was the meal of choice and stomach pain was the afternoon activity. We also had to take the wives shopping, this seems to increase stomach pain along with wallet pain. Ben’s pain was limited to an internal organ battle against the White Castle since he didn’t have a wallet any more.
We returned to the park about 30 minutes before closing and hauled ass over to Evel for some night rides. We took a couple of laps in the back row (still no wait) and fell in love with the ride. The earlier laps were good but the night laps were great. I could go on an on but I’m pretty sure that everyone is in agreement on the night ride issue. Screamin’ Eagle and The Boss were the night ERT selections and we started at Eagle. Once you clear the first air hill you dive into total darkness, which I like a lot. The ride impressed me during the day in the front row but blew me away in the back and in the dark. We took two laps before making our way over to The Boss. I didn’t think that I would be able to do more than one lap on Boss but since we figured out how to ride it we pulled in 2 rides near the back and 1 in the front without taking a break. I really like this ride and just a couple of years ago I totally hated it. I dig the intensity, the speed and that wacky double down. I would consider this a successful trip. I never waited in a line, I ate White Castle, I regretted eating White Castle, I scored 3 credits, I got night rides on 3 wood coasters, I got to ride a Batman, and that’s a good day. The park was impressive and seemed much improved over my last. The bathrooms stood out as being impressive, which isn’t something I usually notice. Ben noticed the music and the high quality speakers that they were playing the music on. The park’s staff was friendly, efficient and enthusiastic. It’s was like a totally different park and now I’m upset that it’s my only visit to a Six Flags park this year.
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This was the first annual Daredevil Daze and I hope that it continues in the future. The addition of Evel Knievel gave the event its name and probably the reason for over 60 people attending. We're big fans of the GCIs and were really looking forward to trying this one out. The weather in the days leading up to the event was worrisome. The weather channel was calling for rain all day. We dodged the bullet though. It didn't rain at all. It was plenty humid though.