It was an exciting drive to Vallejo, heading across the Bay Bridge and waving to the poor saps who were stuck in traffic heading into the City. Guess that meant that fewer people were heading in our direction and when it comes to making appointments on time, this comes in handy. The park formerly known as Marine World Africa U.S.A. is one of the latest Six Flags acquisitions and as per usual, the coasters have been sprouting like corn in an Iowa fall. Of all the Six Flags parks, this is the only one that is an animal park as well as a thrill park, giving guests a better-than-average allotment of attractions to choose from. But most folks will be heading towards that lime-green beast of a new coaster, Medusa, the newest addition to a fine line-up of coasters that includes Roar, Kong, Cobra and the well-named Boomerang: Coast-2-Coaster. Medusa's a loopy leviathan that comes courtesy of Bolliger & Mabillard. The Rolls-Royce of coaster designers, these two have nearly perfected the science of scream-making and with every new creation they up the ante' in some amazing way. Their floorless coasters were a stroke of genius, an out-of-control easy chair on crack, cruising smooth as a Lexus around mammoth track elements. Now, they've thrown another firecracker into the fire with Medusa. The boys have created a variation on their infamous cobra roll element - it's called a "Sea Serpent" and it's basically a huge corkscrew on steroids. Whatever you call it, watch for its kick half-way through a whopping 3 minute plus journey into mad coaster heaven. Medusa is a close cousin of Kraken at Sea World Of Florida. Both have a stunning first drop, this one peaks at 150 feet and you feel every flaming bit of it as it sets you up for a 128 foot vertical inversion, the first of seven upside-down moments during the circuit.Then the cars soar up and into a huge camelback inversion that twists the cars down towards the ground in a high-powered nose-dive, generating ticklish negative G-forces. Every turn, every curve, every stretch of track is smooth and vibrant, full of kinetic energy. The customary whoosh of road-wheels sings as the train enters a eye-popping flat-spin that leaves rear-seat jockeys floating at the apex like astronauts. The occasional palm tree skirts by as you fly--though it's a kushy ride, you are most certainly still illegally over the speed limit by some measure. All the better to slingshot you through that new first-of-its-kind Sea Serpent roll. The trains slam into it just like a boomerang, snaking up and then twisting left. But instead of twisting left again and exiting the same way it enters--the trains slink through to the right and plunge downwards, angling for low-level corkscrews of conventional construct. That's where the intensity begins to build up as swooping arcs and speed helixes pin riders to their seats. Medusa doesn't pull any punches. I took my first ride in the the front seat, which is something that only attracts if you've got a nice dangling point-of-view opened up to ya. But generally, when the track is underneath--the back is where I tend to run and on Medusa, it's the exception, I think. By virtue of the flat spin alone, this rear left seat delivers a heart-stopping ride from start to finish. We spent a good portion of the morning at the park and then beat feet for a nearby In N Out since we had managed to skip breakfast. Six Flags Marine World has a ways to go before it's a strapping adventure park like our next and final destination, but it's well on its way.

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