TR: Six Flag's St. Louis Opening Weekend

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This was my second time at this park. My first time was in 1998. I did not ride coasters much then and really did not care for theme parks in the way I do now. As such, the only thing I remembered from my previous visit was the vine covered tunnels near the then new Mr. Freeze. The only other Six Flags park I have been to is Kentucky Kingdom. This visit was a refreshingly new experience.

Ninja:

Fun Factor - 1/5
Smoothness - 3/5
Inversions - 4/5
Laterals - 3/5
Airtime - 1/5
Reride-ability - 3/5
Overall - 15/30 OR 50% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of this ride. Being an Arrow coaster, I figured it would be very rough. It had a few moments of roughness, but nothing that was not manageable. The best thing about this ride is the headchopper by the corkscrew. That was really cool. It only had one moment of airtime and it was weak at best. The helix near the end was really nice and had some force to it.

River King Mine Train:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 3/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 4/5
Airtime - 1/5
Reride-ability - 5/5
Overall - 17/25 OR 68% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

I have not ridden many Arrow mine trains. From what I have been told, they always have that little kick before the lifts. That was the only bad thing about this ride. It has some awesome helices. I was disappointed by the bunny hop before the third lift as I expected airtime and it would have delivered, but there is a trim that kills it. The tunnel at the end is really quite nice. This ride had the best crew of the day! They were always smiling and they let us reride three times in a row. They told us to have a nice day and genuinely wanted us to have fun.

Screamin’ Eagle:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 4/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 2/5
Airtime - 4/5
Reride-ability - 5/5
Overall - 20/25 OR 80% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

I could tell that there was a lot of new wood on this track. It was quite smooth. This ride only has three turns and they are all banked and not taken with much speed. The airtime is exceptional and left me giggling like a little girl. Best seat to ride is the first row of the last car on the left hand side. This ride is incredibly rerideable and has a crew to match. They were the second best ride crew of the day. There was one ride where the crew was moving pretty slow, but the rest of the day they were moving steadily and one particular ride op was exceptionally nice.

Mr. Freeze:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 5/5
Inversions - 4/5
Laterals - 0/5
Airtime - 0/5
Reride-ability - 4/5
Overall - 18/30 OR 60% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

The first coaster of the season. I had never been on Freeze before and was impressed by its incredible hang time in the inverted top hat. A ride in the front seat is enormously different than anywhere else in the train. There were no laterals or airtime due to the nature of the ride, but it was thrilling nonetheless.

The Boss:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 4/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 5/5
Airtime - 4/5
Reride-ability - 4/5
Overall - 22/25 OR 88% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

I have heard many things about The Boss, most of which was negative. I do not know how it ran before, but my friend who lives just ten minutes from the park says this is the best it has ever run. There is a lot of new wood on the ride. I went expecting jackhammering and shuffling. It did shuffle some in the helix and there was an acceptable amount of jackhammering. This ride delivered the forces I look for in a ride. That first drop with the double down just blew me away and there is a bunny hop that was taken exceptionally well. The helix and the swooping turn after the MCBR both have great laterals. The only bad thing I can say about this ride is that the crew was horrible. They took a train off when there was a line. Given the length of the ride, it made for a really long wait even though the line was not extremely long. The crew was goofing around with the microphone and not really paying any attention to what they were doing. One time they opened the gates and as people were walking through closed them and did not realize it. My friend was pinned in between the gate and the queue fence. It was one thing for that to happen accidentally, if the console operator was watching, but this was not the case.

Batman:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 5/5
Inversions - 5/5
Laterals - 5/5
Airtime - 0/5
Reride-ability - 3/5
Overall - 23/30 OR 77% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

Batman is an incredibly intense ride. I loved the first drop looking over the midway. The first helix was so intense that I could feel the blood pooling in my legs. There is also a great foot chopper there. The inversions are laid out nicely with great transitions in between. I still do not understand why people do not like this ride or the fact that it is cloned. There is a very good reason why it is cloned. This crew was great as well. They smiled and asked if we enjoyed the ride as we were exiting. They were very professional in checking restraints and dispatching. Often times as the train entered the brake run the other train was headed out of the station which is fairly impressive given the small size of the ride.

Tony Hawk’s Big Spin:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 5/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 3/5
Airtime - 4/5
Reride-ability - 4/5
Overall - 21/25 OR 84% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

This fun little ride spent a lot of time in down time. It was somewhat expected. After all, it is opening weekend and glitches are bound to happen. I have ridden Spinning Dragons at WOF without much spin action. The spinning is a double edged sword. It adds to the fun and thrilling factor, but subtracts from the rerideability as it has the potential to nauseate. The airtime on this ride is really nice and the tight helices are fun.

Overall Park:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Staff - 3/5
Safety - 4/5
Value - 2/5
Cleanliness - 4/5
Food - 3/5
Overall - 23/30 OR 77% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale

This is a very nice park with a good selection of coasters and will become even better when Evel Knievel opens. The employees are ok with a few exceptions on both sides of the spectrum. The park was very clean and even though the crowds were light, I saw many people with brooms throughout the park.

I really did not enjoy the new loose item policy on Tony Hawk, The Boss, and Batman. They will not even let you take a drink into the queue. I feel this is ridiculous especially as it gets warmer. People standing in a hot queue without something to drink can lead to major problems. In addition not being able to take my souvenir cup meant that I went most of the day without a drink.

I took notice of food prices and decided that Panda Express is the best value in the park. I enjoy Chinese food and it was priced a little higher than what you can find in a mall food court. *** Edited 4/8/2008 1:10:30 PM UTC by a_hoffman50***

Only linking to your blog is lame when copying and pasting has been pretty easy for quite a while now.

There you go, it is not as pretty, but it will suffice.

Ninja:

Fun Factor - 1/5
Smoothness - 3/5
Inversions - 4/5
Laterals - 3/5
Airtime - 1/5
Reride-ability - 3/5
Overall - 15/30 OR 50% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of this ride. Being an Arrow coaster, I figured it would be very rough. It had a few moments of roughness, but nothing that was not manageable. The best thing about this ride is the headchopper by the corkscrew. That was really cool. It only had one moment of airtime and it was weak at best. The helix near the end was really nice and had some force to it.

River King Mine Train:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 3/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 4/5
Airtime - 1/5
Reride-ability - 5/5
Overall - 17/25 OR 68% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
I have not ridden many Arrow mine trains. From what I have been told, they always have that little kick before the lifts. That was the only bad thing about this ride. It has some awesome helices. I was disappointed by the bunny hop before the third lift as I expected airtime and it would have delivered, but there is a trim that kills it. The tunnel at the end is really quite nice. This ride had the best crew of the day! They were always smiling and they let us reride three times in a row. They told us to have a nice day and genuinely wanted us to have fun.

Screamin’ Eagle:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 4/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 2/5
Airtime - 4/5
Reride-ability - 5/5
Overall - 20/25 OR 80% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
I could tell that there was a lot of new wood on this track. It was quite smooth. This ride only has three turns and they are all banked and not taken with much speed. The airtime is exceptional and left me giggling like a little girl. Best seat to ride is the first row of the last car on the left hand side. This ride is incredibly rerideable and has a crew to match. They were the second best ride crew of the day. There was one ride where the crew was moving pretty slow, but the rest of the day they were moving steadily and one particular ride op was exceptionally nice.

Mr. Freeze:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 5/5
Inversions - 4/5
Laterals - 0/5
Airtime - 0/5
Reride-ability - 4/5
Overall - 18/30 OR 60% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
The first coaster of the season. I had never been on Freeze before and was impressed by its incredible hang time in the inverted top hat. A ride in the front seat is enormously different than anywhere else in the train. There were no laterals or airtime due to the nature of the ride, but it was thrilling nonetheless.

The Boss:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 4/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 5/5
Airtime - 4/5
Reride-ability - 4/5
Overall - 22/25 OR 88% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
I have heard many things about The Boss, most of which was negative. I do not know how it ran before, but my friend who lives just ten minutes from the park says this is the best it has ever run. There is a lot of new wood on the ride. I went expecting jackhammering and shuffling. It did shuffle some in the helix and there was an acceptable amount of jackhammering. This ride delivered the forces I look for in a ride. That first drop with the double down just blew me away and there is a bunny hop that was taken exceptionally well. The helix and the swooping turn after the MCBR both have great laterals. The only bad thing I can say about this ride is that the crew was horrible. They took a train off when there was a line. Given the length of the ride, it made for a really long wait even though the line was not extremely long. The crew was goofing around with the microphone and not really paying any attention to what they were doing. One time they opened the gates and as people were walking through closed them and did not realize it. My friend was pinned in between the gate and the queue fence. It was one thing for that to happen accidentally, if the console operator was watching, but this was not the case.

Batman:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 5/5
Inversions - 5/5
Laterals - 5/5
Airtime - 0/5
Reride-ability - 3/5
Overall - 23/30 OR 77% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
Batman is an incredibly intense ride. I loved the first drop looking over the midway. The first helix was so intense that I could feel the blood pooling in my legs. There is also a great foot chopper there. The inversions are laid out nicely with great transitions in between. I still do not understand why people do not like this ride or the fact that it is cloned. There is a very good reason why it is cloned. This crew was great as well. They smiled and asked if we enjoyed the ride as we were exiting. They were very professional in checking restraints and dispatching. Often times as the train entered the brake run the other train was headed out of the station which is fairly impressive given the small size of the ride.

Tony Hawk’s Big Spin:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 5/5
Inversions - none
Laterals - 3/5
Airtime - 4/5
Reride-ability - 4/5
Overall - 21/25 OR 84% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
This fun little ride spent a lot of time in down time. It was somewhat expected. After all, it is opening weekend and glitches are bound to happen. I have ridden Spinning Dragons at WOF without much spin action. The spinning is a double edged sword. It adds to the fun and thrilling factor, but subtracts from the rerideability as it has the potential to nauseate. The airtime on this ride is really nice and the tight helices are fun.

Overall Park:

Fun Factor - 5/5
Staff - 3/5
Safety - 4/5
Value - 2/5
Cleanliness - 4/5
Food - 3/5
Overall - 23/30 OR 77% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
This is a very nice park with a good selection of coasters and will become even better when Evel Knievel opens. The employees are ok with a few exceptions on both sides of the spectrum. The park was very clean and even though the crowds were light, I saw many people with brooms throughout the park.
I really did not enjoy the new loose item policy on Tony Hawk, The Boss, and Batman. They will not even let you take a drink into the queue. I feel this is ridiculous especially as it gets warmer. People standing in a hot queue without something to drink can lead to major problems. In addition not being able to take my souvenir cup meant that I went most of the day without a drink.
I took notice of food prices and decided that Panda Express is the best value in the park. I enjoy Chinese food and it was priced a little higher than what you can find in a mall food court.

Please, tell me how you did that.

"quote" & "b" tags

Thanks...

a_hoffman50 said:
Mr. Freeze:
Fun Factor - 5/5
Smoothness - 5/5
Inversions - 4/5
Laterals - 0/5
Airtime - 0/5
Reride-ability - 4/5
Overall - 18/30 OR 60% on the Andy Hoffman Rating Scale
The first coaster of the season. I had never been on Freeze before and was impressed by its incredible hang time in the inverted top hat. A ride in the front seat is enormously different than anywhere else in the train. There were no laterals or airtime due to the nature of the ride, but it was thrilling nonetheless.

You said there was incredible hang time on the inverted top hat. Would that not count as airtime? ;)

Certain victory.

FYI Ninja is (for all intents & purposes) a Vekoma coaster with Arrow trains.

No offense intended here, but what a bizarre rating system. Coasters without inversions get penalized while mediocre coasters that just happen to have a little bit of everything rank better. Seems odd, if you ask me.

I miss Six Flags St Louis...

-Nate

^ Actually, if you notice, he did not count the inversions in the total allowable if the coaster did not have inversions.

Certain victory.

I like a little bit of everything, so yeah that is how I rate them. YMMV. And Kick The Sky is correct. If they don't have inversions, I did not include it in the overall score.

I like the rating system. The only unfair part I think is giving all coasters an airtime rate. Steel loopers of any brand just don't include airtime as part of the design, (with some few exceptions) they're mostly about positave G forces. Arrow megaloopers for example have brilliantly powerful +G's, but no airtime to speak of, you'd have to give it a zero. Maybe change "Airtime" to "G-Forces +/-"

Nice TR, I may have to make the drive from Denver to St. Loius this year, make a whole "bread basket" coaster tour happen.

Pass da' sizzrup, bro!

I thought about that when I was creating it and I tend to favor woodies anyway, so I did not bother thinking about it more. However, I did not think of one for both positive and negative forces. Good suggestion.

I like SFSL and like The Boss as well.

However, NINJA ranks in my top fives of POS coasters.

Chuck

One of the redeeming factors of the Ninja is that awesome headchopper with the chain of the lift. It was not too bad, it just does not have a great layout.

Yeah, that headchopper gets me everytime I have ridden it. Even though I know it's there, and I know my head won't be sliced off from it, I still find myself ducking my head everytime I ride under it.

SFSTl version of Ninja is a heck of alot less painfull then the SFOG Ninja.

Did you snap any pics of Evil Kenevil?

Yes, I did grab a few shots... I will post them on Negative-G once I get the chance. I will post the link here when I do.

The ride looks amazing. There are tons of little bumps and dips which should give lots of airtime. The first drop is very impressive looking. It promises to be a nice addition to the park.

It did shuffle some in the helix and there was an acceptable amount of jackhammering.

Just curious...what is an "acceptable" amount of jackhammering? IMHO any jackhammering is unacceptable.

coasterdude318 said:FYI Ninja is (for all intents & purposes) a Vekoma coaster with Arrow trains.No offense intended here, but what a bizarre rating system. Coasters without inversions get penalized while mediocre coasters that just happen to have a little bit of everything rank better. Seems odd, if you ask me. I miss Six Flags St Louis...-Nate

Lets clarify, its not all Vekoma The Trains are Arrow of course, and from what appears according to http://www.rcdb.com/id124.htm it was started by Arrow but was not completed when they fell into Bankruptcy. It does not state that it was designed by Arrow or Ron Toomer. So I don't know who designed it.

Chris Knight

I did not feel any jackhammering that left me thinking, "They really need to fix that." There were one or two spots that were not retracked, but they were not horribly rough. I do not mind a rough ride as long as it has other redeeming factors. However, this ride was incredibly smooth with a few minor exceptions. From what I have been told, the turns at the bottom of the hills were quite unbearable in years past. This year that is not so.

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