Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - Review

Formerly known as Marine World (or Marine World Africa), the park took the Six Flags name in 1998, but it is not fully owned by Six Flags. Since the park was not originally a theme park, theming is lacking. Landscaping is quite nice at the back of the park, and includes a lake, and lots of palm trees, resulting in plenty of shady areas, but the front of the park is quite plain.

The park has a nice mix of rides, shows, and animal exhibits, including several roller coasters, and a variety of flat rides, there is also a decent kiddie section. However, the park only has two water rides, and is without a drop ride. I was also disappointed by their simulator ride, which had Dinosaur theming outside, but the show was actually about Aliens - obviously they forgot to rename and retheme the attraction!

I have visited the park several times over the span of a few years, and on most visits the park has been very busy. Once during Labor Day weekend, there were over 25,000 people in the park and it was seriously overcrowded, up to the point where you could not move on some of the smaller midways that the park has. It does not help when the park does not run maximum trains on all of their coasters when it is busy. For example, during a busy weekend, the second train was not added to Kong until the afternoon, and on my last visit Kong ran one train all day despite the line being over an hour.

I was lucky enough to experience the park once when it was quiet during a bonus weekend that was added to the end of the park season. Having walk-on rides allowed me to enjoy the park much more, but there was still something lacking from the overall atmosphere of the park, this may have something to do with the fact that it is not really a theme park or a traditional amusement park, and tends to be somewhere in the middle.

The staff have been reasonably friendly on each visit, but their efficiency seems to vary, with some ride ops quickly dispatching trains, to others being very slow. I was also not amused how a one ride operator continued to allow people to jump line, even after it was pointed out to him that people were cutting line.

Overall, Six Flags Marine World is a good park suitable for all the family. There are plenty of shows and animal exhibits as well as eating places for the family to enjoy, as well as a good selection of roller coasters for thrill seekers. It is certainly a park that I would visit again, but not one that I would crave for.