Six Flags Wild Safari Adventure

History

When Warner LeRoy was proposing the Great Adventure park, his original proposal was to also include a drive-thru safari. The planned drive-thru was to have 10 miles of road with twelve sections, natural elements such as waterfalls, and featured large herds of animals. Though it was never realized, some of the park's animals from the proposal appeared in the park in a slightly different form.

Six Flags Wild Safari was opened to the public on July 4, 1974, along with its theme park neighbor, Great Adventure.

On August 20, 2012, Six Flags announced that the park would be closed to private vehicles from September 30, 2012, and that the animals would remain in the preserve. On August 30, 2012, Six Flags announced that they would open the Safari Off Road Adventure in 2013. Following Wild Safari's closure on September 30, 2012, construction began to renovate it to become the Safari Off Road Adventure. Safari Off Road Adventure opened May 25, 2013. The attraction uses open air safari vehicles that were remodeled from former Army trucks.

In March 2020, Six Flags suspended all operations across all their properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the continuation of the pandemic in May, Six Flags Great Adventure announced that they plan on reopening the Safari Off Road Adventure while keeping the rest of the park closed. This comes after the Governor of New Jersey signed an executive order to allow drive-thru venues to resume operations on May 13. Safari Off Road Adventure reopened on May 30, with the attraction going back to its historic routes and becoming once again a drive-through safari. A month later, Six Flags Great Adventure announced their new opening date for the season on July 3, 2020. Plans were in place for Safari Off Road Adventure to return with the theme park operations, but park officials stated that the safari will continue its own operations, due to the popularity and the ability for guest to continue social distancing while in their own vehicles.

For the 2022 and 2023 season, the Safari Off Road Adventure was repurposed into the Giraffe Encounter Tour, an up-charge VIP experience which retained the ride station, vehicles, and queue.

The Safari Off Road Adventure reopened for the 2024 of the park's 50th anniversary. As part of this offering, a new Safari Base Camp that serves as a new entrance and exit to the attraction outside the park was added. In addition, a resort that features 20 suites was added to the safari in summer 2024.{{cite news |title=Luxurious New Savannah Sunset Resort and Spa to Welcome Guests this Spring

Overview

The Wild Safari park covers 350 acre with the main road being 4.5 mi long. It contains 11 themed sections and is a home to 1,200 animals from six different continents. When the safari attraction was joined with Great Adventure to form one park in 2013, it made Six Flags Great Adventure the second-largest theme park in the world at 475 acre, after Disney's Animal Kingdom.{{cite book |access-date = March 22, 2016

Animals

The Americas

• European fallow deer
• Roosevelt elk
• American bison
• Llama
• Greater rhea

Afrikka

• African bush elephant
• Common ostrich
• Southern white rhinoceros
• Grant's zebra
• Asian water buffalo

Wilde Plains

• Blackbuck
• Common eland
• Ellipsis waterbuck
• Beisa oryx
• Scimitar-horned oryx
• Indian peafowl
• Red Ankole cattle
• Reticulated giraffe
• White-bearded gnu
• Bongo

Serengeti Grasslands

• Addax
• Sable antelope
• White-tailed gnu
• Aoudad

Kingsland

• African lion

Black Bear Ridge

• American black bear

Wilde Plains Lowlands

• Red lechwe
• Greater kudu

Terra Ursus

• European brown bear

Conservation Area

• White-tailed deer
• American red fox
• Northern raccoon
• Virginia opossum
• Eastern box turtle
• Red-eared slider
• Bald eagle

Didgeridoo Pass

• Red kangaroo
• Emu

Tigris Asiana

• Bengal tiger
• Siberian tiger
• Nilgai
• Yak
• Blackbuck
• Aoudad

Baboon Village

• Olive baboon

References

References

1. "Great Adventure Safari Original Concept Proposal & Artwork".
2. Dw. Dunphy. (May 5, 2012). "Relive Your Youth At Great Adventure - Bridgewater, NJ Patch". Bridgewater Patch.
3. Brown, Jennifer. (August 21, 2012). "Six Flags Wild Safari will stop allowing cars at end of season". NJ.com.
4. "Safari Off Road Adventure". Six Flags.
5. Perry, Wayne. (31 August 2012). "Hold on tight! Tourists to zipline over wild animals". Herald Sun.
6. (March 30, 2020). "Coronavirus delays Six Flags Great Adventure 2020 opening. What if you have season passes, tickets?".
7. (May 15, 2020). "Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ reopening drive-thru safari".
8. (May 15, 2020). "Six Flags Great Adventure to reopen drive-thru safari in NJ".
9. (May 20, 2020). "Six Flags Great Adventure Safari to reopen May 30".
10. (June 24, 2020). "Six Flags Great Adventure announces reopening plan for July 4th weekend". NJ Advanced Media.
11. (June 24, 2020). "Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson to open July 3 with masks and half-filled rides". New Jersey Herald.
12. Wall, Karen. (July 1, 2020). "Six Flags Great Adventure Set To Reopen, With Changes, Limits".
13. Knudson, Annalise. (March 2, 2022). "Here's what to expect at Six Flags in 2022: Return of Medusa coaster, new giraffe encounter and more". silive.com.
14. Kudisch, Brianna. (March 7, 2024). "Six Flags Great Adventure reopening with 6 new attractions for big anniversary". NJ Advanced Media.
15. Stilton, Phil. (October 1, 2012). "An End of an Era: A Final Look at the Six Flags Wild Safari as a Self Driven Attraction". Tom River News.