Six Flags Marine World - Vallejo, California - theme park and tourist attraction

As of June 2007, Six Flags Marine World changed its name to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, but it continues to deliver the same high quality fun and entertainment that has marked the theme park's entire history. While Six Flags is a branded theme park with numerous thrill rides and amusement park activities, Discovery Kingdom continues to emphasize the animal attractions and new animal attractions each year.

Marine World originally opened in 1968 in Redwood City as a small marine aquarium. Over the years, the original park merged with a land animal park and became Marine World/Africa before moving to its current location in 1986. In 1996, the park defaulted on its debt to the city, which took over ownership and hired Premier Parks, which became Six Flags, to manage and upgrade the park. By 1999, Premier had added numerous amusement rides and children's areas to the marine park and changed its name to Six Flags Marine World. In June 2007, Six Flags renamed the park to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and separated the park into three areas - Land, Sea and Sky. Land incorporates the animal park, sea is the marine park and aquarium and sky is the thrill-ride amusement park area.

Marine World includes many popular animal attractions, many of them interactive. Guests can feed, touch and play with dolphins in the Dolphin Encounter. For a fee, guests can also participate in a one-on-one training session with a dolphin in the Dolphin Discovery. Sting Ray Bay allows guests to touch live sting rays in a touch pool, while guests to Seal Cove can feed Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions.

The Shark Experience lets guests travel through the shark habitat on a moving walkway beneath a glass dome. The Shark Experience was featured in the film 50 First Dates, as was Jocko's Walrus Experience, where guests can get some face time with three walruses.

In addition, there are live animal shows featuring dolphins, seals, sea lions and penguins, and special events that include Sharks in the Dark, an overnight adventure in the shark discovery area, and Sea Lion Celebrations where visitors can collect a smooch from a California Sea Lion.

Discovery Kingdom Marine World also includes access to rides of all kinds from kid-friendly Daffy's Deep Sea Diver to the thrill-a-heartbeat V2-Vertical Velocity. There are rides geared to the youngest members of the family in the Looney Tunes section of Discovery Kingdom, while adult rides are rated from moderate to high on the thrill-o-meter.

Admissions and hours vary widely by season. There are multiple levels of admission prices depending on the features chosen, as well as some rides and attractions that are additional costs to admission. For more information about the hours of operation and admission prices, visit the web site or contact Discovery Kingdom at 707-643-6722.