Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast is the signature launch coaster at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri – a Premier Rides LIM shuttle coaster that fires riders backwards from a dead stop to 70 mph in under four seconds. It’s been the park’s most talked-about ride since its 2012 reversal, and it remains one of only two Mr. Freeze installations in the world.
This guide covers everything people search for about the ride: exactly how fast and tall it is, the height requirement, whether it’s actually scary, where to find it in the park, what makes the St. Louis version different from its Texas twin, and what changes for the ride as Six Flags St. Louis transitions to new ownership.
Quick Answer
Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast is a Premier Rides LIM shuttle coaster at Six Flags St. Louis that launches riders backwards from 0 to 70 mph in 3.8 seconds, through a top hat inversion and up a 218-foot tower, before repeating the entire course forward. It’s located in the park’s DC Comics Plaza and requires riders to be at least 54 inches tall.
Where to Find Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast in the Park
Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast sits in Six Flags St. Louis’s DC Comics Plaza, the section of the park themed around Batman villains and DC characters. The queue is themed as ‘Snowy’s Ice Cream Factory,’ playing on the ride’s original Batman & Robin backstory – Mr. Freeze’s hideout disguised as an abandoned ice cream plant – before funneling riders to the launch platform.
Because it’s a shuttle coaster with only two trains running back-to-back, lines can move faster than the ride’s tall, imposing tower suggests, especially compared to circuit coasters with longer dispatch cycles. Mr. Freeze also participates in the park’s Fast Lane skip-the-line program, worth considering on busy summer weekends when the queue backs up toward the plaza entrance.
Stats at a Glance
Park: Six Flags St. Louis, Eureka, Missouri. Manufacturer: Premier Rides. Designer: Werner Stengel (Ing.-Buro Stengel GmbH). Opened: April 10, 1998. Reverse Blast conversion: 2012. Height: 218 ft (66 m). Top speed: 70 mph (110 km/h). Acceleration: 0-70 mph in 3.8 seconds via 116 linear induction motors. Length: 1,300 ft (400 m). Inversions: 1 top hat, traversed twice – once backward, once forward. Height requirement: 54 inches (137 cm).
The course itself breaks down into three main elements: a roughly 150-foot inverted top hat that flips riders fully upside down, an overbanked curve that carries them through about 140 degrees of rotation, and the 218-foot vertical spike where the train briefly hangs before dropping back through the whole layout forward.
Height Requirement and Restraints
Riders must be at least 54 inches (137 cm) tall to ride Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast – there’s no maximum height limit, but the individual ratcheting lap bars are sized for a fairly wide range of body types. The ride originally used over-the-shoulder restraints, but Premier Rides replaced them with individual ratcheting lap bars in 2002 at both Mr. Freeze installations, which is still the restraint system in use today.
Each train holds 20 riders across five two-across cars. Because the lap bars ratchet down snugly rather than clamping over the shoulders, the top hat’s hang time registers more sharply than on shoulder-harness coasters of similar size.
The Ride Experience
Seated backwards, riders brace as the LIM array unleashes its full force in under four seconds. The train rockets out of the launch tunnel, crests the top hat, sweeps through the overbanked curve, and climbs the vertical spike. A fleeting moment of weightlessness hangs at the 218-foot summit before the train drops back and charges forward through every element at full speed.
The shuttle format means each feature is experienced twice – once in reverse and once forward – giving the ride a relentless, back-to-back punch that far exceeds what its compact 1,300-foot layout might suggest.
Is Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast Scary?
By coaster-intensity standards, Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast is more disorienting than it is rough. There’s no drop to brace for and only one inversion, but the combination of a violent backward launch, riding the entire course blind (you can’t see where you’re headed until the train reverses), and a full-body inversion at speed makes it feel more extreme than its stats alone suggest.
First-time riders consistently describe the backward launch as the scariest part – not knowing when the LIM motors will fire, or what’s coming next, tends to spike anxiety more than the forward repeat does, since by then you already know the layout. If you’re coaster-averse but curious, riding once forward-facing isn’t an option here – Reverse Blast only runs the full backward-then-forward cycle, so there’s no way to skip the backward half.
Mr. Freeze St. Louis vs. Six Flags Over Texas: What’s Different
Premier Rides built twin versions of the coaster – one at Six Flags St. Louis and one at Six Flags Over Texas – both intended for a 1997 debut timed to the Batman & Robin film, whose villain Mr. Freeze inspired the ride’s theme. Overheating problems with the LIM launch motors pushed both openings to spring 1998; St. Louis’s version opened April 10, 1998, as a near-mirror image of the Texas layout.
In 2012, Six Flags reversed the train orientation at both parks and renamed the ride ‘Reverse Blast.’ The two installations have since diverged: Six Flags Over Texas moved away from a pure backward launch and, since 2023, runs one train forward and one backward each cycle. Six Flags St. Louis has kept the full Reverse Blast experience on both trains continuously since 2012 – meaning it’s currently the only place to experience the complete backward-then-forward Mr. Freeze course.
History and Origins
St. Louis reopened under the Reverse Blast name on May 5, 2012, with help from former St. Louis Cardinals infielder David Freese at the reopening ceremony. The ride’s tunnel got an LED lighting refresh in 2021, sharpening the launch sequence’s visual effect without altering the layout.
Six Flags St. Louis in 2026 and Beyond
In spring 2026, Six Flags sold St. Louis and several other US parks to EPR Properties, which brought in operator Enchanted Parks to run them. The park kept the Six Flags St. Louis name through the 2026 season, but the transition is already visible online: the official site now runs on Enchanted Parks’ domain and describes the park as ‘part of the Enchanted Parks family,’ even while on-park signage still reads Six Flags St. Louis. The full rebrand to ‘Mid-America by Enchanted Parks’ – a nod to the park’s original 1971 name, Six Flags Over Mid-America – is planned for 2027.
As of now, there’s no announced plan to rename or rethink Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast itself – it’s continuing to operate as usual while the park’s branding changes around it.
Planning Your Visit
Six Flags St. Louis runs a seasonal schedule, typically open weekends in spring and fall and daily through the summer, with hours that shift throughout the season – so it’s worth checking the calendar before you go rather than assuming standard hours. Tickets are sold as single-day admission, multi-visit passes, and season memberships, each unlocking different perks like parking, dining add-ons, or Fast Lane access for rides like Mr. Freeze.
For current hours, ticket prices, and any operational updates tied to the park’s ownership transition, check the official Six Flags St. Louis site before your visit.
Mr. Freeze Reverse Blast FAQs
How fast does Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast go?
It launches from 0 to 70 mph in about 3.8 seconds using a bank of 116 linear induction motors, then repeats the entire course again in the opposite direction.
How tall do you have to be to ride Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast?
Riders must be at least 54 inches (137 cm) tall. The ride uses individual ratcheting lap bars rather than over-the-shoulder restraints.
Where is Mr. Freeze located at Six Flags St. Louis?
It’s in DC Comics Plaza, with a queue themed as ‘Snowy’s Ice Cream Factory.’
Is Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast scary?
It’s more disorienting than rough – a violent backward launch, one full inversion, and not being able to see what’s coming next make it feel more intense than its single-inversion layout suggests. There’s no forward-only option; every ride runs the full backward-then-forward cycle.
How is the St. Louis Mr. Freeze different from the one at Six Flags Over Texas?
Both opened in 1998 as near-mirror layouts and were converted to backward launches in 2012. Since 2023, Six Flags Over Texas alternates one forward and one backward train per cycle, while Six Flags St. Louis has run the full backward-then-forward Reverse Blast experience on both trains continuously since 2012.
Will Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast change when Six Flags St. Louis becomes Mid-America by Enchanted Parks?
There’s no announced plan to rename, re-theme, or remove the ride. It’s continuing to operate as usual through the park’s ownership and branding transition, which is scheduled to bring the full ‘Mid-America by Enchanted Parks’ name in 2027.
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