SFStl Trip Tips

Our family of 5 is visiting St Louis for 4-5 days including 2-3 days at SFStl.

I was wondering if the parking gate is unmanned at the end of the operating day. If so, does anyone know what the best guess would be as to when they stop charging for parking?

Also, any highly recommended rides? I can guess The Boss, Mr Freeze and perhaps Excalibur?

Best food values (if there are any)? Should I bring my Sport bottle from SFGAm (S:UF) - do you think they will offer me discounted refils there?

Our kids are 4, 7 & 8, any shows we should make sure to see?

Any touring recommendations? We will be in town Sun 27th - Wed 30th. IE. which days might possibly be better to visit (I think Monday is going to be very busy because of some event). Is the park traffic lower early in the morning so should we plan to arrive early and leave early... or is it better to arrive late and leave late because of lighter nighttime crowds?

Also, off topic here, but I'll ask anyways, anyone here familiar with the Riverboat tours by the gateway? They seem rather inexpesive ($10 per adult & $4 per child)are they worth the trip?

And any other input about SFStl or St Louis in general would be appreciated.

Well as I do work at SFSTL and have lived in St. Louis all my life I can give you my best advice I have for this stuff.

My first thing to say is that if you are planning on going to the park for more than one full day you will defnitley cover everything there. Theres really nothing I would not ride coaster wise- there is only 8 coasters in the park. All the flat rides at SFSTL I think are pretty cool, Xcalibur is neat but not as neat as it looks. A must ride is defnitley Scooby Doo especially for your kids. (I work there by the way stop by and say hi, My Name is Matt)

If you are going on a weekday the park is usually not very crowded. There of course is the morning crowd at the gates, get there at like 11 or so and its fine though. Parking is $8 and there is really no way to get around paying that unless you have coupons. Food and everything else, like any other park, is very expensive. There really is no best value anywhere, it just depends on what you want to eat. I would recommend Screen Stars Diner though- it is simple burgers, fries and chicken for a relativley cheap price. There is also McDonalds too.

SFSTL is definitley a great family park and you guys should have fun, but I think anymore than 2 days and you will get bored. Shows are great too though Im not sure when or what they will have those days sorry. As for nighttime crowds- lol what crowds. I would stay till close and get any rides in you want because lines start to dwindle down at around 8:30 (closes at 9pm excpet for Saturday). The only ride that always no matter what time of day has a line is Scooby Doo. Ride it!

As for STL in general, definitley go see the Gateway Arch and the riverfront.

I hope all this helps a little. Go to Sixgflags.com and they have info there as well.

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Yeah, Boz covered pretty much all of it! :-) I also live near St. Louis, so I'm very familiar with the park. I would definitely try to check out all of the rides there...they each have their own personality...and try riding some rides at different times of the day. The Boss and Screamin' Eagle are both built partly in a wooded area behind the park, so night ride on those are always fun. Or, since it may not be dark yet when you are there, even late-evening rides are different on them I'm sure. lol...But anyways, I hope you enjoy St. Louis! I love it here! But, as with any large metropolitan area, be careful where you go. St. Louis has quite a high crime rate. But the area where Six Flags is located is a really really nice area. And I would recommend riding the MetroLink light rail system, if you are going to downtown. MetroLink doesn't go out to Six Flags, but it's a really good way to get around the downtown area without having to fight traffic, which can be a nightmare in St. Louis. lol! No, it's not that bad. But anyways, I hope this helps! Let us know how your trip goes!

> Aaron <

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They pretty much covered everything except a couple of things. If you have time you should checkout the St. Louis Zoo and the Science Center. They are both free to get into and have great exhibits, especially the Zoo. BTW, when you come out to the park, swing by our beautiful steam train and say hello. Just ask for Buddha and they should send you right to me if I'm there.

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Another St. Louis spot that you should visit if you have kids is the City Museum. A great place for kids and not bad for adults.

I agree on the zoo, and you might want to include the Muny if you like Broadway plays. The Muny is a huge outdoor theatre. There are even free seats in the back, but you'll need binoculars from the back.

Of course, there's always the arch if it's open after the fire this week.

If you have the time you might want to check out the City Museum as well. You can easily spend half a day there. It's at 15th and Washington and is a total blast. Your kids will love it!

http://www.citymuseum.org/
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Jeff-Jeff

Definately hit the zoo, which has been mentioned, but I'll stress it even more. There are only 3 free zoos in the country to my knowledge and St. Louis has one of them. And for being free it's much larger than several other zoos that I have been to and had to pay upwards of $10 to enter. There is one area of the zoo that does charge an admission and it is the children's zoo. It's not that much money and they have the areas where you can get up close and touch some animals and they have people giving informative shows on animals. There is also a mini RR that goes around the zoo that they charge for, I always take one ride all the way around the park.

Another thing to do if you are so inclined and if they are in town is to check out a Cardinals game.

Upon entering the park, make a beeline straight to the back of the park to The Boss. I did this on July 4th and caught the very first ride of the day. No line at all. It was a complete walk-on since most guests hadn't reached that area of the park yet. Then I rode it again before the line got too long. Next I went to Xcalibur figuring if it's going to break down during the day, I want to ride it before it does. Great ride! It didn't break down once all day either. Next I think I headed to Mr. Freeze. Ride tip: Once inside the loading building doorway, look immediately to your left and there is a semi-hidden entrance queue to board the coaster. Most people don't notice this side of the queue, and it's a much shorter wait than the right side. Scooby Doo's Swampy Adventure was next. This is a great ride for kids. They should love it! From there I can't remember what I did next except work my way around the park to all the coasters. There's a very nice water park (Hurricane Harbor) included with admission. It's located just inside the main gate to the right by the drop on Batman: The Ride. There is also a whole section devoted to children which has rides. I left the park to eat dinner at the Taco Bell just down the street from the park. Save the giant Ferris wheel for night as the park looks magical looking down on all the twinkle lights. Hope that helps. Have a great trip!

So Buddha if I goto the train ask for you would they show me the way ;).

Any ways deffinatly goto the city musium. Also theres a little known module railroading club that is jsut off 109 in Eureka. There a group that buy old minature steam trains and cars like the one at holiday world and build miles of track into the woods of Eureka. You can ride on Sundays for about 2$ a person its very cool your children would love it.

Also goto Forest Park period, and see the Zoo the musiums and the Boat house. The park was the site of the 1904's world fair and is pretty nice.

As far as the park goes it wont be busy more then likly. Goto SE right at 11 it has had larger lines then Boss latly. Also as far as cheap food, I recommend Villains cafe. If you got two Nachos Supremes could feed your whole family for 10$. And bring your cup the stands should fill it, for 1.07$.

Also hows SFGAM, I am going the same week you are goign to SFSTL and any info would help. Thanks.

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It would be best to start your own topic on SFGAm cuz a lot of people would be able to help. (including me)

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Will do.

Thanks everone for all of the ideas and input. In addition to all the park tips I have absorbed, I think we'll plan to hit Forest Park, The City Museum and The Gateway Riverboats.

I still am wondering about late night parking at SFStl. When I visited SFWOA earlier this year and called the main number they said that I would be able to park free one hour before park closing. I arrived at 8:15 (1 hr 45 mins before park closing) and the gate was unmanned and I was able to park for free! On top of that it was like no wait on anything. And they made up the parking fees because I spent at least $10 in the park that night and I would not have visited if I could not park for free.

I don't expect empty que lines at SFStl because of the time of year, but a night without paying for parking would be nice. I just called guest services and they said that they charge right up until closing. I guess I could park in the Ramada parking lot and take the tram there and back! Just kidding - I would not condone that nor teach my kids that. I stayed there a couple of years back and so I am familiar with the Ramada.

I think I may purchase a parking pass for $20.00 - and resell it on Ebay after LOL!

Yes, we have parked for free at a couple SF parks (SFNE, SFStL this year) when arriving with an hour or so of closing....a lot of times they stop manning the parking gates when the cost of leaving someone out there exceeds the revenues...
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