Six Flags St. Louis 2020 Update

A few weeks I realized that I hadn’t visited Six Flags St. Louis in over 5 years. Before moving away from home, Six Flags St. Louis was the Six Flags. It was the closest and, for many of my friends, the only Six Flags parks they knew.

I had to make the trip. While the park hadn’t added any major roller coaster or groundbreaking attraction, it wasn’t the same Six Flags St. Louis that I visited in 2015 for the Justice League: Battle for Metropolis media day.

Of course, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the theme park going experience for everyone. All Six Flags parks are requiring reservations and are limiting capacity, so the park was noticeably less crowded, especially for a Friday in August.

But despite these changes, I tried to look past that to see what was new at the park.

One of the most noticeable changes is the beautiful new entrance sign just outside the front gate that was installed during the offseason. The Gateway Arch-inspired sign makes for a great photo op.

But to get inside the park, you’ll have to pass through the “temperature tent,” which uses a hi-tech temperature “radar gun” screener to check guests’ temperatures as they pass by. Before you enter the tent, you’ll have the chance to buy a face mask if you forgot yours. They have basic masks for about $1 and “premium” (designer) masks for about $5.

Six Flags is running a “Do The Six” campaign to promote health practices that will reduce the risk of employees and guests sharing any germs.

While I don’t want to dwell on the pandemic (haven’t we heard enough?), I do want to point out some of the changes the park has implemented to help keep guests safe and healthy.

Of the parks I’ve visited this summer, Six Flags St. Louis seemed to have the most readily available (and filled) hand sanitizer dispensers. The hand sanitizer was perhaps the most watery I’ve ever used, but if it’s alcohol-based and meets the defined standards, I don’t mind.

The park also had these portable hand-washing stations scattered throughout the park. I prefer waiting until I go inside a restroom for the traditional soap and water out of a faucet, but these stations work if you don’t have time for a pit stop.

I was surprised by how many mask-free zones the park had set up. Thanks to these signs, they were easy to spot. They weren’t as secluded as many of the ones I’ve seen at other parks, but they were certainly easier to find.

This is purely speculation, but I think the more of these offered, the more likely guests will keep their masks on in other spaces. Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.

I would say face mask compliance at the park was hit-or-miss. Queues were, like at other parks, where I saw the most problems.

Even pre-COVID, Six Flags was planning to offer mobile food ordering. The in-park dining experience has always been one of my biggest grievances with Six Flags park. Often, dining establishments are under-staffed, and the employees working them can be frustratingly slow. So I hope this mobile ordering system helps improve these operations.

Now with “touch-free transactions” being so popular in this pandemic, the park is really advertising it. I wasn’t planning on eating in the park, but I tried to start an order to test out the system — unfortunately, it wouldn’t load.

If you’ve used Six Flags mobile food ordering, let us know how it worked in the comments section below.

There were a few attractions not operating this season due to the virus. One of those was Justice League: Battle for Metropolis — one of my favorite dark rides outside of the Disney and Universal parks.

While unfortunate, I completely understand and support the decision.

The park has added a slew of flat rides since my last visit, including 2016’s Fireball. It replaced Rush Street Flyer, a Chance Rides “Falling Star” attraction.

Spinsanity opened the following year in the Chouteau’s Market area of the park.

Supergirl: Sky Flyer opened last year, replacing the park’s Highland Fling enterprise ride. It seemed to be a hit with both riders and onlookers.

I was excited to see Excalibur operating. While I can’t tolerate spinning rides well, especially those that flip and spin, it’s such a fun ride to watch in action.

Nothing was left of the park’s former Tidal Wave shoot-the-chutes water ride, which was removed last year.

…well, except for this lone turnstile that I believe guests would pass through as they exited the ride.

I’m curious to see what the park has planned for this flat plot of land.

This was my first time riding Boss after its helix finale was removed before the 2018 season. The removal of the helix reduced the track’s length by 420 feet to its new length of 4,631 feet.

The coaster overall is still rough and uncomfortable. Although a pipe dream, I wish the park would hand off the coaster to Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) for the hybrid coaster treatment. The waste of potential is almost criminal.

Not far from Boss, work had already begun for the park’s planned-for-2020 Catwoman Whip swinging arm attraction. But unsurprisingly, COVID-19 has delayed its debut until 2021.

The ride’s would-be entrance is fenced off, but Boss’ queue provides a great look at the construction site.

Catwoman Whip will stand on part of the land once occupied by the Speed O’Drome Go Karts, which closed at the end of the 2019 season. Only a brief stretch of the attraction’s course remains.

The remainder of the land is mostly clear. Hopefully, the park will have plenty of time to complete the ride before opening day next season.

The 164-foot-tall attraction will offer stunning views of the park and surrounding region.

But until then, the park offers two other towering thrill rides that offer breathtaking views, one of which is the 227-foot-tall Superman: Tower of Power. Fun fact: the Intamin drop tower was relocated to the park in 2006 from Six Flags AstroWorld, which closed in 2005.

The other is the slightly taller (236 feet) but less terrifying SkyScreamer.

But if you want the views without the thrills, the 18-story Colossus ferris wheel is for you.

And it’s one of the few “mask free” rides at the park should you need a break.

Ninja is one of those coaster’s that is just…there. It does have an interesting past, being relocated in 1989 from a short stint at the Expo ’86 in Vancouver.

But aside from that, it’s just a mostly forgettable Vekoma coaster.

Mr. Freeze, on the other hand, is still far from forgettable. The Premier launched coaster has operated as “Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast” with reversed trains since 2012. I was afraid I’d miss a ride on the coaster, as I waited until the end of the day to ride, just as it went down for maintenance. Thankfully, I stuck around and was able to get two back-to-back walk-on rides.

Batman: The Ride is still one of my favorite Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) inverted coasters. Though the original at Six Flags Great America will always be my favorite (mostly for nostalgic reasons), I have an affinity for St. Louis’ version due to it being a mirror image of the original. That first drop to the right still throws me for a loop (no pun intended).

I didn’t have the best luck with my second ride on the coaster — it went down just as I was preparing to board. But I decided to stick around. The Bat Cave isn’t the worst place to be stuck. I do miss the late ’80s/early ’90s Batman soundtrack that is piped into Great America’s station.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to ride River King Mine Train on this trip. It was closed when I went to ride it later in the day, and I didn’t want to risk missing out on re-rides on the park’s bigger coasters.

Six Flags St. Louis’ landscaping is very under-appreciated, especially when compared to other Six Flags parks. The park’s hilly terrain allows for some beautiful water features as seen above. The Bugs Bunny National Park in particular is especially well-manicured.

Even though it had virtually no line, I decided to pass on Boomerang, the park’s newest coaster. It was relocated from Six Flags Over Texas in 2013.

Once you’ve ridden one Vekoma boomerang model, you’ve essentially ridden them all. But I did ride this one (for the credit, mostly) during its opening season.

I believe American Thunder is one of Great Coasters International’s (GCI) more underrated creations.

The airtime scattered throughout American Thunder’s course is enough to make me laugh out loud. The front and back rows provide wildly different experiences, which surprises me given the coaster’s relatively small size.

But I can’t forget Screamin’ Eagle, which has received some new track since my last visit in 2015. It’s not the smoothest wooden coaster in the park (see above), but it’s a terrific out-and-back classic.

Like my visits to other parks this summer, this was a very different Six Flags St. Louis experience. I’ve never seen this park very crowded, but the crowds on this day were noticeably lighter.

Six Flags St. Louis has so much potential. I hope Six Flags soon invests more in the park’s attractions. Surely it deserves more than a relocated boomerang coaster and a few flat rides.

I’d love to see the park receive an RMC raptor similar to Wonder Woman at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Time will tell.

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Have you visited Six Flags St. Louis this season? Share your experience in the comments section below.

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