Park Review
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Valejo, CA August 17, 2001 I have been to numerous Six Flags parks around the nation. Two of these parks are ones that Six Flags only recently acquired. It is these same parks, Elitch Gardens and Marine World, that make me wonder about Six Flags' logic in acquiring these properties. Why? Simply stated, these properties are starved for space, thus making it very difficult to develop into a reasonably sized thrill park packed with coasters, something that Six Flags is known for. I also question the appropriateness of Six Flags operating a marine life park, such as they did at Marine World and Worlds of Adventure. I guess if a beer company can do it, so can Premier Parks! My first visit to Marine World, in June 1999, was horrible. The park was packed and thus the lines were long. Back then, they had two less coasters than they do now and it showed in the lines. I also remember being disgusted at the fact that they charge 75 cents for "garnish" when you buy a hamburger. Garnish at Marine World consists of lettuce and a slice of tomato. Pathetic! Anyways, after complaining to customer service on the way out (complaining that the park far from met the standards I held for a Six Flags park), I vowed never to return there again. Well, that all changed after SF installed Medusa there in 2000. Medusa is, at present, my favorite steel coaster of them all (perhaps to be unseated next week by Millennium Force?). It was Medusa that was one of two reasons why I decided to visit Marine World next week and it was Medusa that I chose to ride first that day. I took seat 1, my favorite seat on Medusa after waiting an awesome less than 15 minutes for the front row! (The park was empty for the entire time I was there.) Medusa did a great job of waking me up that morning. I don't love this coaster so much for its "floorless" nature as much as I am love with the incredibly unique track design that B&M created for this coaster. The inversions and drops are superb. If hyper - and giga - inverted coasters are ever made, I'd love to see what B&M could do for their track design. After Medusa, I next headed over to my other primary reason for visiting Marine World, Vertical Velocity (V2). This Intamin impulse coaster was an excellent and smart choice, IMHO, by Six Flags to install in this coaster and space starved park. The compact, LIM launched design of this shuttle coaster allowed Six Flags to improve their coaster lineup at Marine World without taking out more of the parking lot out front. This ride, ridden from seat one, was a blast (literally!). One unique feature of this ride is that each cycle includes three forward movements and two backwards ones. The LIMs actually engage during the first two forward movements. Thus, you actually go higher the second time up. This is kind of like riding a pirate ship. Another unique aspect of this ride is the "corkscrew" at the top of the forward end of the track. The corkscrew definitely adds a cool, slightly disorienting effect. While I do like shuttle coasters, I have, at times, become frustrated with their lack of throughput. I have to hand it to Intamin for their excellent train design in this compact ride. They managed to fit 14 cars, two more than I would have expected, providing a capacity of 28 riders per cycle. I next went on Roar, a wooden coaster installed in 1999, which is right next to V2. The one time I rode Roar in 1999 (the line was way too long to ride it again back then), I was less than impressed with the ride. My friend and I had wound up taking seats somewhere in the middle of the train. Last year, I discovered a whole new ride experience on Roar by taking seat one instead. It was much improved. So, that's where I chose to ride last week as well. While hardly my favorite wooden coaster (that honor goes to Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farms), Roar is a great ride in the front. It is a pretty intense ride from start to finish and with an approximately two minute ride, dispatch-to-dispatch, it is not too short either. After Roar, I went back to ride V2, this tide riding in seat 14. Once again, superb. I think I like the back a little better. I then went back to Roar and rode in seat 12. I found this to pale in comparison with seat one but still was better than the middle of the train. I then felt obligated to head back to Medusa, this time riding in seat eight. While I prefer seat one, seat eight is great as well. Actually, any seat on Medusa is a great one. B&M definitely deserves awards for this ride. I concluded my day at Marine World (I only stayed there about a half day) by riding my favorite flat ride at the park, Tasmanian Devil. Tasmanian Devil is one of these new "pendulum"-type rides that have the entire pendulum spinning while it swings back and forth. I love the feeling I get on this ride. Well, that concludes this trip report. After leaving Marine World, I headed back down to San Jose where I visited the Winchester Mystery House. For any of you history buffs/horror fans, I recommend you check it out. I then flew back to San Diego where I am resting/preparing for my Ohio trip next week. I can't wait...I get to ride world class coasters I have never been on plus eat fresh White Castles for the first time in over a year. Life just doesn't get much better! Andrew
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