Well, it was a very hot week with the ACE Con followed by Daredevil Daze at Six Flags St. Louis.

Morning ERT was fun, and even started early. I had fun riding and taking photos in the morning light. Then I got my first ever front-seat ride on Mr. Freeze, after taking some cool photos in the station.

The rest of the day was hot, but not as crowded as expected. The "loose articles" policy had been expanded to cover quite a few coasters, so while carrying my backpack around I couldn't ride the mine train, Batman, the Boss, EK, etc. So, I ended up making a few trips to the car, using it as a locker. It was a long day of riding, taking photos, trying to stay hydrated, and a nice walkback of the Boss.

I hung out with various people all day, and after about an hour of trying after the sun went down I finally caught up with a group of -Gers and some of us split off to ride the Eagle.

In the Eagle line, some ~12 yr-old girls tried to get in front of us. Kevin and I were having none of it. Then they started getting rude, disrespectful and even nasty.

The girls' attitude... well... they had big attitudes, and they were like 12, and mean. I pity their future ex-boyfriends, ex-husbands, and parole officers.

After they finally got on the train (after holding us up a train by not getting on and leaving a car empty, little brats), we told the ride ops what had happened and they were a bit shocked.

We then rode the Eagle three times and had a blast. Then we headed to Tony Hawk for two rides, which was lots of fun in the dark. All of this turned out to be the highlight of the evening for me. Then the family headed down the hill and I headed to the nearby Boss entrance.

Now, the morning ERT was great. I'd give it six flags. The day was great, and employees everywhere were asking us how our days were going, and just generally being friendly. Evening ERT... well... didn't go quite as smoothly as hoped....

The park closed to the public at 10:00, and I got to the Boss entrance then. They were "clearing" the ride for us. 15 minutes later it was clear, and we proceeded up to the station where we waited for them to take off a train that was making a strange noise. They had been running it empty, but wanted to take it off the track.

The mechanic didn't seem to know what to do, and I think there was some issue with the transfer track. The supervisor, the person who knew what was going on, told us it would be a while. I think they were trying to figure out a way to get ERT started without any more delay, but couldn't get authorization to do it.

The ride ops were not listening to the supervisor. He was telling them to do things and do them quickly, but they were not obliging on either request. After a long day in 98 degree heat, it was understandable, but not very professional.

However, most in line were not happy. By this time it was 10:30 or so, and I had gotten NO rides in ERT, and there were storms in the forecast.

I started to head down the ramp, only to be told as I reached to other side of the station that they could indeed run it empty. I ran back around to reclaim my seat.

I switched from the line to the front seat to the empty row 2, since they would be running two trains but only loading one, and I was ready to catch some EK rides and then go home.

The ride, though a little rough, was fantastic. The Boss was flying in the dark night. A little rough, but absolutely F#$%ing flying. Adrenalin pumping, I headed down the hill to EK.

A train was dispatched as I got in the station, and I was next in line for the next train. I got in, the lap bar came down.........

........and then they told us there had been a lightning strike in the area and they were down. Bad luck strikes again!

I don't believe that, honestly. The storms were not close enough yet, and there was still clear sky above the park with stars visible. I think someone screwed up, but then again lightning is nothing you want to mess with.

I figured that was it, and headed for my car and left.

Bottom line, I got ONE RIDE IN 50 MINUTES OF EVENING ERT. I'll give that two flags, thanks to the one great Boss ride.

In their credit, the employees all over the park, with the exception of a few in the Boss station who were probably really tired, were fantastic to us, and were constantly asking how our day was going. For that I give the park high marks, but the evening ERT was, in my experience, a bit of a clusterf#$k.

One suggestion for SFStL - TURN ON THE FANS IN YOUR QUEUES AND STATIONS! There was almost no moving air in any line. There are fans and misters all over the place at CP, KI, and quite a few at SDC and WoF, but AC and fans were not working at SFStL. The fans in the Batman brake run were OFF, and it was an OVEN in there when Michael and I finished our ride.

I had fun seeing everyone, but I also had a goal to fill up the memory card in my camera with good shots of people on coasters, a goal that I accomplished. On future trips I'll shoot less and hang out more.

Here are some of my favorite photos from Saturday, including quite a few -G members. -Mike

More photos. Enjoy. -Mike

Awesome shots.

The guy in the back seat of the last Boss photo has a camera in his hand and is taking a self portrait.

Have Fun

Paul

Thanks.

Ah - you mean the guy in the last seat of EK in the last photo (tr14.jpg) of the first post.

Nice catch Paul! He's doing a fine job of concealing it!

I am attaching a portion of the same image at full resolution so people can see it.

Michael and I turned in a guy who took video of the whole EK ride ~2 rows in front of us. He didn't even try to hide it for the on-ride shot (or maybe he was just dumb).

He still was holding it up when we got to the station, but no one seemed to care, ride-ops included. -Mike

tr17 is a great shot.
dude is 2nd row: "I can't believe how much better this ride is than Prowler! I'll never go to Worlds of Fun again!"
girls in 3rd row clearly said something hilarious. the guys in the 4th row thought so, at least.
kid in 5th row having mild stroke from excessive awesomeness.

I saw your other comment about Prowler where you said it wasn't moving very fast.

All I can say is - are you sure you were riding Prowler and not Timberwolf?

I like both Prowler and EK. Both have lots of action and are smooth and reridable. I think Prowler is a somewhat better ride ESPECIALLY at night (my opinion). I never found it to be too slow. Prowler has more surprises and the ending really does feel like a big cat leaping and running through the woods.

However, I will say that EK is definitely both much easier and more fun to photograph from public areas. -Mike

Wonderful pics MIke. You are so talented. I'm jealous.
Brian

dude, i cant even hold a candle to you and your pics!

Nice to see my photo make the TR.