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 This was the 2nd park that we visited during our honeymoon and it was our favorite of the two in the San Francisco area. Six Flags Marine World has a nice collection of coasters and also offers a wide variety of animal exhibits. Janessa is a huge giraffe fan and SFMW allows guest to feed them from a platform. She was about as stoked as I’ve seen her and we got some pictures that she’ll cherish for a long time. I am actually a huge elephant fan and guess what, I got to ride one. This is another one of those situations were I’m the one adult mixed in with a bunch of kids so I looked out of place but I never turn down an opportunity to ride these beasts. We also ran into a camel that was being walked by it’s keepers and they took it right in front of 3 young lions that were licking their chops. We saw more action in 1 hour at SFMW than we see at most zoo’s in an entire day.
The park was extremely clean, even the animal area. The landscaping was lush but the park lacked a real theme and I don’t usually care about theming as much as most enthusiasts but if a park starts a theme then I expect it to fit throughout the park. SFMW didn’t seem to have a theme started so the lack of theming was fine with me. We didn’t actually eat at the park since we chowed down on In-N-Out Burger prior to getting there. The staff was great and the keepers were willing to answer questions about their animals.
We got the park late in the day thinking that we could make quick work of it and we were wrong. We wanted to ride everything several times (including the elephant) and 3 hours wasn’t even close to being enough time. We visited the park on a Friday and the crowds were really thin so lines weren’t an issue. We were just having a great time and then the park closed on us and we’ve regretted our poor time management ever since.
Coaster Reviews Medusa: 7 out of 10
Medusa is a floorless coaster, which leaves riders feeling like they’re running along the track. This is best experienced in the front row. Medusa is in my opinion on of the best floorless coasters around. I love a straight first drop and Medusa’s delivers a major thrill. I think that we ride this one 4 or 5 times and my only complaint is the rides placement right over a parking lot.
Roar: 7 out of 10
This is currently at the top of my wooden coaster ratings. It’s the perfect size, perfect speed and it’s smooth. There’s a lot of lateral g-forces as well as negative g-forces and the ride remains intense and exciting throughout it’s course. We were about to get back in line for the 3rd ride when the park closed. I have found that Roar closely resembles the quality of ride that you get on Wildcat at Celebration City in Branson.
V2: Vertical Velocity: 6 out of 10
I thought that we were going to be riding your run of the mill inverted impulse coaster so I was thoroughly surprised when I found out that V2 has an interesting twist. The rear tower fits the usual profile on an impulse sending you straight up 90 degrees into a holding break but the front tower only has a 45 degree incline to it and features an inline twist. If you’re in one of the middle rows you’ll be lucky enough to stall in the upside down position as the train hits it’s peak on the front tower. This is another great ride at SFMW and we ride it 4 times experiencing the front, middle and back rows.
Kong: 4 out of 10
If you’ve been on one Vekoma SLC you’ve been on them all. This is another inverted coaster but it lacks the smoothness that you normally get from the B&M inverts. The elements/inversions are interesting but nothing to really get me back on for a 2nd ride.
Zonga: 3 out of 10
This is a great looking ride with an interesting paint job that contains 5 different colors. The ride itself doesn’t leave much of an impression, it’s a little rough and the cars aren’t very comfortable. It’s a classic ride with a lot of history behind it and this was it’s first year operating at SFMW after it was moved from Astroworld in Houston. It was also a very popular ride when we were there as it had the longest lines in the park.
Boomerang: 3 out of 10
These boomerang coasters probably grow on trees somewhere. It’s too bad that going backwards through loops makes me want to empty my stomach contents or I would probably have some nice things to say about this one. The general public loves these things, so if your stomach can take it then you should probably get in line.
All of the non-coaster rides (rating system is based on every other non-coaster ride out there)
Elephant: 10 out 10
It’s not exactly smooth and not exactly what someone might consider fast but it’s hella fun. Try to avoid the back seat because you’re going to have a large vertebra going right up your kiester. The front seat is the best since you get to pet the giant animal while you ride it.
Tasmanian Devil: 6 out of 10
It’s similar to the revolution rides out there except that there’s a floor so your feet don’t dangle and for some reason I like it when my feet dangle. Riders are situated in a circular formation that dangles like a large pendulum and swings to a point where everyone is just about upside down. It also turns at a leisurely pace during the swinging. If my feet dangled this one might have been a 7.
Wave Swinger: 6 out of 10
If you read any of my other review (4 out of 5 intelligent people do) you’ll know that I love these swing rides. You’re basically in a lawn chair and then you’re swung around in a circle several feet off the ground.
Voodoo: 4 out of 10
This is a top spin ride that sits riders in two rows of 20. The rest is hard to describe but I can tell you that there’s a lot of intense flipping. It’s fun but nothing compared to the elephant. Join us in our forums for more information.
http://coastercommunity.com/smf_forum/index.php
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