Brief SFStL - Sun. 9/15/02

Was in St. Louis for business on Saturday. Being so close, and with a season pass, I couldn't not stop by for a brief visit to my original home park.

My co workers, had no desire to go, so it almost didn't happen. But since it was my birthday on Saturday, I convinced them to drop me off at the park for a few hours, and they went to a local bar and watched the game and had some drinks.

The park wasn't too crowded, but they were running things at low capacity, so there were still some significant waits for some rides. I was there for 3 hours, and only got 4 rides + lunch. Oh well, it will still worth it.

First up, Mr. Freeze. First time without OTSR for me. Wow, it makes a huge difference. This is such a great ride, however, as great as it is, I think it's going to be bumped out of my top 5 steel by Deja Vu, now that they have DV running reliably. With the low capacity, the 2 rides are similar, as far as wait times, and DV just packs a little more punch. Actually, the more I think about it, I guess they are more or less tied...anyway, why am I talking about a ride that's not even in this park !?! Next...

The Boss - Boss was a walk on, but I only rode it once. Why ? Those damn trains. They really, really need to get PTC trains on this ride. The G-Trains just suck, plain and simple. Sure, they look nice, and modern, but they are so uncomfortable. The Boss is still one of my favorite woodies, but putting PTC trains on it would easily make it my #1, and would probably elevate it's status in every poll and award that exists. Everything about this coaster is perfect - except the trains. The trains nearly ruin it. :( Six Flags, are you listening ?

Screamin' Eagle - A classic. They added a 2nd train while I was waiting in line. While this is great for everyone in line after me, it sucked at the time. My wait was probably double because of it. All the same, it's good to know that they care enough to do this, even though attendence was low, and it's the end of the season. A great ride, with great airtime, but as someone else recently mentioned, it is running very rough lately. Much rougher than last year. It definitely needs some TLC. Anyone notice how similar Screamin' Eagle is to Zeus at Big Chiefs ? Both about the same size out & backs, with similar terrain features.

Lunch...the good and the bad. Bad...quality sucked (never eat at Pizza Express, it's horrible). Price...sucked. almost $13 for a large soda, a 8" pizza and 3 breadsticks. The breadsticks were ok, but were lukewarm. Coke, of course is great, and I can deal with the price, since it's a park. The pizza was bland, lukewarm, and well, basicly about as tasty as dog stool. The only good thing - did you know you get a discount on food with a season pass ? I grumbled about the price as I paid, and he asked me if I had a season pass. I said yes, but it was not for SFStL. He said that's OK, and gave me a discount on the food. It wasn't much, but it was a nice touch.

Last ride...I noticed they had a Slingshot upcharge ride. I've never ridden one of these, and I was itching for a big thrill. Only $15. Not bad compared to the price of SFGAm's Sky Coaster. Damn ! The Slingshot is a great ride !!! Definitely worth the $15, at least this one time. If you've never ridden one, do it ! Anyone know how high it launches you ?

Well, that's my trip. It was fun for the most part. Would have been better if I had more time, and if I would have had a friend to hang out with, but it was definitely a nice way to end my visit to St. Louis before our long drive back to Wisconsin.

...darn G-Trains. They certainly do bring down any woodie that's cursed with them. (Legend excluded:))

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Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.

I was at the park on saturday and capacity was horrible. They ran the Screaming Eagle all day with only 1 train. That ride flat out hurts when you are on it. It does need TLC!!!!! I rode Mr. Freeze for the 1st time without OTSR's and it is great!! I was not impressed with the lack of employees needed to run at a greater capacity. This makes me enjoy my yearly excursion to the land of full capacity (CP) even more.

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"To be the man...whoooooo...you have to beat the man!"

I couldn't agree more about the trains on Boss. I was really looking forward to riding this coaster during my August trip. I too only took one lap on it simply for one reason: those trains are terrible. Call PTC soon. I'm sure that my ranking of this ride would increase considerably with new trains.

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Jim Hansen
Number of coasters ridden: 225

Joe Carroll said:
The only good thing - did you know you get a discount on food with a season pass ? I grumbled about the price as I paid, and he asked me if I had a season pass. I said yes, but it was not for SFStL. He said that's OK, and gave me a discount on the food. It wasn't much, but it was a nice touch.

I visited this park twice last summer and both times the food service employees offered the season pass discount. I think that's exceptional customer service. Is the discount available at other SF parks? (if you take the responsibility of asking for it...it hasn't been offered to me at any other park...I never remember to ask)