Six Flags St. Louis

Ignatius, his friend Mark, and I went to Six Flags St. Louis on Saturday. It was sad to see its decline in cleanliness and service. I will try to balance the positive with the negative, if I can. I think, however, we will be going to Six Flags in Gurnee, IL, from this point forward. We usually pick St. Louis as warmer weather can consistently be found there.

Our drive was uneventful. We left in the wee hours of the AM for two soon-to-be sixth graders (7:30) after a delicious McDonalds breakfast. We made it to Six Flags by about 10:30. We waited to get into the parking lot for about a half hour.

When we finally parked, we all had to hit the bathrooms... our first sign of how the day would be. I waited for another 20 minutes in the ladies bathroom. We went to have our bags checked. The person who checked mine didn't even look... just stuck a stick in a couple of times. She was more interested in the woman arguing about her Sharpies being confiscated (that happened to me last year with the little ones on my keyring... a sad day, indeed). The ticket counter was easier. Then to the lockers and off to the rides.

I must say, I felt the benefits of my recent run/walk routines. I had very little trouble at all with the walking. I can't say that for my two comrades, who were both dying trying to walk uphill. We first waited in line for the Screaming Eagle roller coaster... a favorite of mine. That line took about 30 minutes. When we were about to load, the ride closed down because a deer was spotted in a restricted area. The boys were pretty disappointed, but we stayed put, and the ride was back up in about 10 minutes. It was great. Being medicated helped with the uphill climb, which usually turns me into a crazed lunatic. I hate feeling as though I am being pulled up a hill by a thread of twine. I LOVE the downhills, though. It was awesome.

After that, they were famished, so we went to find some food. We stood in line for 45 minutes at the Mooseburger Lodge. The dude that was handing out food was perhaps the slowest fast food worker I have ever witnessed. I mean, I thought maybe we were being Punk'd. It was insane. Everyone else seemed to be working quite hard. When we left, however, the line was winding out the door. I am sure they had much longer than a 45 minute wait.

If you have totaled this up, you realize that the hours were rapidly being eaten away. We went to the train which was just leaving. Next train was in 25 minutes, so we thought we would try the Ferris wheel. It is 180 feet high. Normally, this terrifies me, but I decided to face this phobia. Again, medication was my friend. I was pretty OK in line, which is where I typically freak out. I was NOT OK being stuck at the top, and really had to work through that issue. Since the wheel is huge, you get stopped at or near the top about 2-3 times for the changing of riders. Yeah, God's little practical joke, eh? Believe it or not, we could have ridden the train twice in the amount of time this ride took.

We then decided, as it was a little after 2, to go to Hurricane Harbor waterpark within Six Flags. This used to me my favorite spot to be. However, I was sad, and a little horrified, to see the decline of its cleanliness. The park was packed. The wave pool was jammed with people and rafts and other floating things I don't want to describe. There was a line for the dressing area and the impossible task of finding a seat. The planets finally aligned and the boys were off to play. I went in the wave pool for about 5 minutes, then wandered to the lazy river. That was kind of nice, yet really icky at the place where you have to get in and out. Lots of sand and dirt. I decided to rest my eyes before the drive back. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a crying three year old whose mom kept saying, "No, you can't go in the water. You have a fever and you probably shouldn't even be here." That was the time I realized that I was, indeed, in hell.

We left around 5. I was going to get my regular funnel cake, but even that line was crazy long. Yes, I left with neither cotton candy nor funnel cake...sad, indeed. I bought a lottery ticket at the nearby MotoMart in case God was giving me signs today. Alas, we did not win. The boys were happy to stop at Denny's in Litchfield, where, for the first time all day, there was not a lot of waiting.

We arrived home, too pooped to party, around 9:30. I think we will go up to Gurnee, IL, in the future. The last time we were there it was a LOT cleaner and the workers were a LOT more efficient. We are happy to have gone, though, as well as glad to be back. Ignatius is feeling pretty punky today, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't get walloped by whatever was lurking in that water. {cue Jaws theme song}