SFMW: Tava's Jungleland Media Day 2006

[Sean Menefee]

So I was invited to SFMW's 2006 Media Day and I came away with a ton of really fun photographs of the event. A large majority of them were PR type reaction shots but the other set was a more general look at the new area of the park, (the set that's now on SM2.) The whole update can be found on my site by clicking the link below:

 

Click Here:

Tava's Jungleland Media Day

http://www.sm2designs.com/thumbnails.php?album=21

 

Now some teaser photos:

 

The star and namesake of the new area at SFMW, Tava the elephant.

 

The Looney Toon's crew was on hand to start the media event off.

 

Bill Davis gave an opening speech about the history of Six Flags Marine World, and then passed the show to Tava the elephant to officially open the new area of the park.

 

Tava works at pulling the tarp off the new entrance sign for Tava's Jungleland.

 

Batman "survived" the tree top slide, and looked tough doing it!

 

Congo Queen taking her first public riders. It's a cool little flat ride with the word "relaxing" coming to mind as I type this. You can check out a small video I put together below:

 

 

Random sky shots of Tava's Jungleland.

 

Mark Shapiro and family attended the media day.

 

The support structures for the entrance sign of Tava's Jungleland are two giant birdcages.

 

Close Up....

 

To end the update: Here is one of SFMW's newest arrivals "Taini" kicking back in the vet building after a long nap.

 

Some final thoughts on the new area:

 

Tava's Jungleland is going to be great for the small kids. The place feels a bit thin theme wise, (themed benches, cans, scenery, art, etc,) but Ocean Discovery was greatly improved as the year went on so I have a good feeling it will get better with time. Jungleland's landscaping will look very cool as it's given a chance to grow in, for now it still looks a bit brown but I can't believe how far along it's come since my last visit a few weeks back. The kids all seemed to like the new play structure, and the water fountains added are a very welcomed addition to the warm/dry summers we get here in California. For the thrill seekers, Tava’s will not be your boat this year, but it does really help round out the back portion of the park that really needed to be revitalized. Be sure to check it out if you get the up North, and if you have little ones it will be an added bonus for the whole family.

 

Thanks goes out to the whole staff at SFMW for the event. It was a great day of sun, photos, and great friends.

 

Thanks for reading, and if you would like the full size/hi-res PR shots of the day send me a PM and I'll post a link for you.

 

Sean "The" Menefee

 

BTW, did I mention crews are on site now at SFMW tearing down Zonga for the next few weeks?

[coastered]

BTW, did I mention crews are on site now at SFMW tearing down Zonga for the next few weeks?

Yes you did right there. Do you want to upload the pics of the tearing down of Zonga?

 

By the way. Your media day pictures are great. I think this will be a great edition to the park.

 

I think the next questions will be a little off topic. After Zonga is removed were is it going to? Is the coaster going back to Germany or another US themepark?

Will SFMW have a new big coaster in the next couple of years?

[Sean Menefee]

I'll be at the park on Sunday to snag some shots, till then I'll post a gallery of all the pictures I have taken of Zonga since 2003, while it was operating (and not) at SFMW. I'll have a link up later on this evening.

[Sean Menefee]

Here are a few more photos to finish up this update. The pictures below are of the Gentle Jungle/Animal Adventure part of SFMW. When Tava's was announced this was the section of the park that was taken out and remodeled to its current form you see today.

 

These pictures were taken the last operating day in November of the 2005 season.

 

SFMW Gentle Jungle Area:

 

The Shoreline Express was retired from service the weekend before this photo was taken to make room for Tava's Jungleland.

 

More Shoreline Express.

 

Gentle Jungle signage.

 

Random cages around the Gentle Jungle with nothing in it. The place was really looking like a ghost town at this point and you can now see why that happened.

 

What's a TPR photo update without an evicted donkey?

 

Poor evicted donkey!

 

Last I heard he was still looking for job and looking to ask Robb and Elissa if they needed someone to lick packages for them.

 

More random photos of the weathered Gentle Jungle right before demolition.

 

 

I'm on a roll, rodents and a donkey in the same update! The prairie dog crawl has been around since the Marine World Africa USA days and was a favorite of the kiddies, (if their parents could find it!)

 

Mr. Prairie Dog's last stand!

 

I'll leave you guys with a shot of the Animal Adventure sign that was torn down over the off season. It was replaced with the Tava's Jungleland birdcages and entrance signage.

 

The Gentle Jungle section of the park will be missed, but it was looking very old and weathered as the years went on. This new addition should help bring people to the back part of the park to really enjoy what Marine World was always about in the first place, the animal & show experience.

[SLUSHIE]

The only time I went under that Animal Adventures sign was to go down the walkway that leads to Voodoo and Jambo. I probably wont spend much time myself in that section of the park, but now atleast there is a reason for some people to.

[speedracer]

Thanks for the update Sean, nice pix and the POV video was very cool! The motion of Congo Queen reminds me of mild Taz for the kiddies, still look forward to checking it out. I also hope they add more landscaping, doesn't really look too much like a "Jungleland", way too open, needs way more trees and shade. Did they end up including the Lorikeet Encounter in the new area? Hope so, was a great interactive family attraction that should've been included.

 

And great to hear they're finally removing Zonga, will be interesting to see where in the world it'll end up since it was up for sale to anyone. Now they just need to rip out Kong to clear space for the bottom out of the first drop that'll plunge down from the above hillside, zoom over/around Medusa, and use Zonga's old space for the helix turnaround before bunny hopping back and up to the hilltop station.

[PhishyBrewer]

So that's why you didn't call me back and I sat at Sac Brew all by myself.

[stormrider]

Omg, ther prarie dog thing is gone and are the lorikeets gone as well? I loved those and after getting sick on the rides and my brother (who doesn't like rides that much) would spend a dollar to feed the lorikeets and watch the prarie dogs. It was very relaxing to cool down (after getting sick) in that area. RIP Gentle Jungle.

 

BTW PhishyBrewer, do you go to those trivia nights at the Sac Brewery? Because I have a teacher named Mr. Lewis, Mr. Taylor, and my bro has Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Freund who go to those trivia nights. If so, then, it must be a small world then.

[PhishyBrewer]

 

BTW PhishyBrewer, do you go to those trivia nights at the Sac Brewery? Because I have a teacher named Mr. Lewis, Mr. Taylor, and my bro has Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Freund who go to those trivia nights. If so, then, it must be a small world then.

 

I'm usually at Sac Brew on Friday's during lunch and sometimes during the weekend. Early though. always lunch, never dinner.

 

On another note... Karen, Gavin and I went to SFMW today and had an awesome time. I got a POV of Tava's Treehouse I'll post later. As soon as I figure out how to use iMovieHD on my new Mac... which I don't know how to use.