Questions about SF St. Louis

Hey I'm going to SF St. Louis this weekend and just wanted to know some things about it before going. Is the park very crowded on weekends? When is the best time to ride the major rides like Excaliber, Boss,etc.? And anything else you guys think I should know.

Try to get to Batman the Ride as fast as possible! There's no other ride quite like it in the world.

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For the sake of yourself, don't take anything I say seriously.

Don't miss Mr Freeze, The Boss, and Screamin' Eagle. DO miss Ninja. Don't worry about Batman. Do expect to walk uphill in some parts of the park. Do take at least one spin on the Highland Fling. (I think that's what it is called... that's it's old name anyhow) Do have fun no matter how long you have to wait in line or how hot/wet it might be. Do be prepared to deal with the weather in MO. Like anywhere else in the world it can change at a moments notice.

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This ain't no book you can close, when the big light hits your eyes. Cropduster-Riot Act-Pearl Jam

Mr. Freeze typically has the longest wait. Mr. Freeze's queue can also be brutally hot. Try to hit it as the gates open. Batman probably has the second longest wait, but it wasn't too bad when I was there. None of the other coasters had long waits.

Based on a Saturday visit I made in early August, I'd say hit Mr. Freeze first, then go right to Batman - its lines become incredibly long quickly. Jump on Ninja, then RKMR (my first coaster ever, by the way, in 1971), then the woodies (it might be smart to walk over to the Boss first, then walk back to Screamin' Eagle). If you are there right at opening, you might be done with that plan by noon. Good luck!

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Projected count for 2003: 29 parks & 102 coasters. Actual as of 9/2/03: 25 parks & 91 coasters.
http://home.earthlink.net/~boyydz/index.html

Only coasters worth riding there are BTR and MrF.

Boss hurts, Screamin' Eagle can hurt you - you'll have to ride aggresively. Ninja is boring, RKMT is ok, other than that - there isn't much there to brag about.
Have fun!
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SWOOSH
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

"You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!"

I must say that from my experience there for the first time earlier this year, I came away impressed with the place. We went on a Sunday, and the park wasn't very crowded, and we were able to do everything we wanted to by around noon. I would think that it wouldn't be too much different when you go this weekend.

We rode Mr. Freeze first, and that was my favorite ride there. I would recommend doing that one first, although the line never got too long the day I was there. At least they opened up the second train later in the day when it started to.

When we rode Boss with our hands up like we usually ride rides, it was VERY rough. However, when we rode it again (both times in the front), we held on to the bars in the front when we weren't going over hills, and leaned forward. Using this strategy, we had a very good, and fast ride, and really enjoyed it.

We also really liked Screamin' Eagle, and it is one of our favorite old woodies. We didn't find it rough at all, but it was packed with airtime! :)

I agree with the others above that Ninja is a waste, and only ride it if you want to up your coaster count. RKMT is actually not a bad mine coaster, but it's not super thrilling or anything.

B:TR did have the longest line of the day when we went, but it still wasn't that bad. What's more, the line queue is far better than the ones at SF:GAm and SF:GAdv, and nicer to wait in. I found the ride itself to be my favorite of the BTR's, although I find that design to be one of the more dull of the inverts. This particular version is a mirror image of the others, and for whatever reason, I just liked it better.

Xcalibur was a cool flat, but it had a pretty long line the day we went. It might be a good idea to hit that early as well, maybe after Mr. Freeze and before The Boss.

I thought it was a very nice looking park as well, and had a great atmosphere! I really enjoyed my visit and hope you do as well!

Take care and God bless! :)

When I went in August, the first thing I did was check for the Q-bot Special of The Day. It was 15.00. Snapped it up. Got to ride Freeze and Scooby at will all day long.

Definitely recommend Freeze in the front R seat.

Namtab is a different experience

Xcalibur's line is deceivingly long...a short ride but a total blast (no q-bot)

Other than that, I agree: Boss hurts, Screamin Eagle is alos very unforgiving, Ninja has a neat layout but offeres 4D headbanging courtesy of the fine folks at Vekoma. RTMK is a neat ride.

Chipster

If you like rides where you shoot at targets i would ride Scooby doo first as that ride had much longer waits than any of the coasters when i went to the park.
As for SF the park isnt bad. The park is landscaped very nice and when i have visited(never been on a saturday) i have found the park not that busy with most coasters haveing a short wait. I would ride Mr Freeze soon as it seems to be the slowest moving lines/ As for BTR and The Boss, even if their is little wait it will take awile because both rides have very long que's so it takes awhile to walk thru them to get to the station.
If you have small kids, the park has a lousy kids area.
As for food, they have a McDonalds, which may not be great but it is a big improvement over the food you usually find at SF parks.

I generally feel bad for this park. If you look at there lineup they only have 2 good coasters (BTR & MrF). The Boss just plain hurts, as well as Screamin'. This park is truly a EXTREMELY NICE PARK. The themeing is great, the cleanliness is to be commended, however they lack RIDES, lets say it again, THEY LACK RIDES!!!!!

This could be a great park, if it wasn't neglected. But, so many of the parks are neglected....

I truly feel bad for all the people in St. Louis, and I hope SF at least gives the park a DECENT coaster in the near future.

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Why?

On my recent visit on July 4th, when the gates opened I headed immediately to The Boss in the very back of the park. No line, no wait, caught the very first train of the day in the back seat. Yes, it's rough, but I'm very glad to have ridden it. Mr. Freeze wasn't open yet so after one more ride on The Boss in the front seat (still not much of a line), I headed to Xcalibur. Fun ride and about a 10 min wait. Finally Freeze was up and running so I headed there. Waited about 15 mins. Tip: take the left queue line that's kind of hidden once you enter the station. Most people don't notice it, and it's shorter. After that, lines were beginning to get longer all around the park. Still Screamin' Eagle was a walk on and remained so all day so I wouldn't worry about that line. The longest line was for BTR and Scooby Doo's Swampy Adventure. I would also recommend a ride in the giant Ferris Wheel near dark. It's great to look down on all the twinkle lights in the park! Also, there is a turkey leg stand by Xcalibur which smelled absolutely scrumptious so if you get hungry you might want to try that. SFStL is a beautiful park!
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Nashville needs a theme park!

I find it hysterical someone said there's no other ride quite like B:TR, no there's only like 11 others

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"To get from one place to another you have to move." Just a beautiful insight from my social studies teacher, and we wonder what has happened to our school system today.

You beat me to it!

Also don't go to B:TR first, go there later in the day. It is right by the entrance and the wait is really long in the morning. Get on The Boss early. Also, Screaming Eagle is the best coaster at the park so make sure not to miss it. Mr. Freeze is fun with lapbars also.

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As Mitch always said, "If you had a freind who was a tightrope walker and he fell down just walking down the street, that would be completely unacceptable."
-Tomas

There will be noone at the park this weekend. I repeart noone will be at the park this weekend. Or for the rest of the month for that matter. And two side notes. The park is closed Sunday due to a buy out I think. And for the first time in (at least) 5 years the park closed early.

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my signature was more than three lines so it got edited by a moderator!

Some people obviously missed the sarcasm in the comment about Batman the Ride. Did you know that "gullible" isn't in the dictionary?
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If someone makes a post and you post-quote it right beneath it, you're wasting bandwidth. Think before you press the button.

Definitely aim for The Boss and Mr. Freeze. Yes, I know the Boss has never been rated to incredibly highly (to my knowledge anyway) but when I rode it, it was running better than Ghostrider.

Mr. Freeze is a lot of fun, but after the TTD launch it feels a bit lackluster. I wonder why that could be...

Batman is a lot of fun, but nothing to special. I always find it a good ride to end my day on. The lines will be long though.

Also Xcalibur looked like a blast. You ought to check that out. Screamin' Eagle sucked the day I was there.

It's true that SFStL is a nice park, but lacking in good coasters. However, they could have 2 more good coasters if they could just get some one who knows how to maintain woodies. Both Boss and Eagle are abused. I think Eagle especially would be a real nice ride with some decent maintenance.

They did some retracking on both the Eagle and the Boss last off-season and they seem to be running better this year. There are also some new footings poured at the bottom of the drop off the MCBR on Boss as if they were going to add some additional bracing, but nothing has been done yet.

I will agree that some better day-to-day maintenance would help these rides a great deal...

Bossstl - thanks for the heads up about the park being closed Sunday.

I'm still surprised at all the dislike for the Screamin' Eagle. When I was there, it was an awesome ride, with tons of airtime and no roughness. At least that's how it was riding in the front seat. My wife especially loved it, and she doesn't like anything very rough. Maybe it's from that retracking kip099 mentioned, I don't know. I just know it was great, and I enjoyed the Boss as well riding it as I decribed earlier.

We had a fantastic time at SFStL, and even managed to get back for an hour or so before flying out....

Screamin' Eagle was running great, even if the board op needed a brain enema....HAD to complain about what that *punk* was doing to the ride, and the riders...

Loved that second ride on Boss, definitely a good idea to get a re-ride.....the first trip was the *evil* Boss I'd heard about, the one from the Dilbert cartoons...;)

Freeze stands alone atop the "premier" shuttle coasters...:)

Great wheel, excellent namtaB, nice train ride (throwing brent a bone), and the best Sally boat ride ever....:)

Of course, the pic I got of RKMT with the Vekoma inverting track, THAT was a pretty neat trick(track)....;)

Oh, forgot to mention, I *finally* got to ride Evolution...hehe.
*** This post was edited by rollergator 9/3/2003 12:31:43 PM ***