Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey is one of the largest amusement parks in the
world. The theme park itself spans 160 acres and then you have the 350 acre Wild Safari animal park
plus a separate Hurricane Harbor water park. This is one of my pseudo home parks,
as the 4 hour drive is just on the fringe of what I consider a day trip.
And one thing is for certain, no matter the weather, rides will be
running. Great Adventure runs their coasters in conditions no other park would dare to.
Find out everything you need to know about this theme park in this review.
Great Adventure originally opened in 1974 as a much different park. The original entrance was
over by Runaway Mine Train and it’s really bizarre to think that was once the front of the park.
Back then, the park had a greater emphasis on themed areas than thrill rides.
In 1977, the park was purchased by Six Flags and renamed Six Flags Great Adventure.
The park started growing like wildfire, adding several thrill coasters throughout the 1980s.
But park attendance plummeted after 2 devastating accidents and the park almost closed. The first
was the Haunted Castle fire in 1984 that killed 8 teenagers. This horrific accident led to new
fire safety laws for fun house and dark rides. The second was in 1987 when a girl fell off
Lightning Loops, an Arrow shuttle loop. The girl accidentally sat on top of the restraint
and this led to improved safety standards for coasters across the chain and country.
The park’s fortunes changed over the next 2 decades as Six Flags invested heavily in coasters.
And that’s still the bread and butter of the park today. Great Adventure has
14 different roller coasters. The lineup is heavy on the thrill coasters, featuring
the world’s tallest in Kingda Ka, a contender for the world’s best wood coaster in El Toro,
a brand new RMC in Jersey Devil, and 5 different B&Ms.
Now Great Adventure is the second highest attended Six Flags park in the chain
one of the top 5 highest attended seasonal theme parks in North America. One of the biggest factors
is this park’s location. It’s in one of the most densely populated areas. It’s easily accessible
for any city in New Jersey and just one hour from both New York City and Philadelphia.
However, the immediate area around Great Adventure isn’t as developed as you may expect.
There aren’t many restaurants outside of a few fast food joints,
although there is a new development being built just down the road. Even more surprising is that
the closest hotel is roughly 20-30 minutes away. You’d think overnight accommodations would want
to be closer to this park since Great Adventure can easily be a multi-day park.
While it’s possible to ride all the coasters in one day, you need some luck and to also visit on
the right day. This park can get absolutely slammed. My favorite times to visit are the
weekends before Memorial Day, the non-Fright Fest fall days, and Holiday in the Park.
All three of these times have low crowds. The spring and fall dates have most rides operational,
but one or two coasters may be closed due to staffing. Holiday in the Park has the shortest
wait times, crowds heavier on families, and beautiful light displays, but you have some major
rides closed, most notably El Toro, Kingda Ka, and Medusa. I strongly recommend Holiday in the
Park if you’re within driving distance of Great Adventure, but it’s hard to recommend the event
for those who rarely visit Great Adventure given how the Intamins are guaranteed to be closed.
I also strongly recommend the Power Hour events introduced in 2021.
These are separate ticketed events that are basically ERT sessions on all the major coasters.
This is the best way to marathon this park’s coasters and accumulate a ton of night rides.
And this park has several notable night rides given their placement away from the midway.
The number one time to avoid Great Adventure is Fright Fest.
It’s the busiest time of year. Lines are horrifically long. The crowds can get quite
rowdy as the evening progresses. And I don’t think the haunts are particularly strong.
Summer days are a mixed bag. Weekends are usually busy, but you can get lucky on weekdays.
If the park is packed, you can pay nearly $100 for a Flash Pass skip-the-line system.
I think Gold is the most cost-effective level if you go this route.
Moving onto operations, they’re a mixed bag. Some rides have super efficient operations.
The poster child for this is Nitro. That crew can routinely run three trains without stacking.
Seeing that crew in motion is a work of art. El Toro’s crew also moves fast…as long as there
aren’t larger guests trying to ride. That is one of the least accommodating rides in the industry.
Three that tend to have slower operations are Medusa, Green Lantern,
and Superman Ultimate Flight. The latter two can get lengthy lines and are the two coasters
I recommend a first-timer start with if they’re trying to ride every coaster in a single day.
Medusa will often stack three trains, but it’s secluded location means it’s less likely to have
a bad wait unless it’s a super busy day. If you want an El Toro marathon,
heading there first is a good idea. It’s almost always a walk-on for the first hour of the day
and I’ve routinely been able to stay on the train. Just know that they sometimes need to front-load
the train at the start of a cooler day, but after a few cycles you can typically sit anywhere.
The two rides I don’t recommend starting with are Kingda Ka and Jersey Devil.
I rarely see these two rides ready to go at park open.
The most polarizing thing about this park’s operations is the loose article policy. Several
rides don’t allow bags on the ride platform. So you need to purchase a $1 locker valid for up to
two hours. This policy is seen on the major rides at multiple Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks.
What’s unique with Great Adventure is that several rides don’t allow anything in your pockets. This
includes El Toro, Kingda Ka, Zumanjaro, Joker, and Jersey Devil. You must put everything in a locker,
essentially turning these rides into upcharge attractions. There aren’t metal detectors,
but there is a security guard stationed at each entrance who will interrogate
you if you have anything in your pockets. And they often will have you pat down each pocket as proof.
And it’s not worth sneaking something in line. Along with violating park rules, you are kicked
out of line if you are spotted with something. The best part about this park’s operations is the
weather policy. Most parks have minimum operating temperatures. Great Adventure scoffs at those.
As long as a ride is physically able to run, they will try to run it. Now rides may run slow in
these conditions. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have the record for the most valleys. El Toro has
stalled multiple times during morning testing. And they’ve also valleyed Nitro and Jersey Devil. But
remember, most other parks exercise caution in bad weather. Great Adventure dispatches and prays.
Pretty much all the B&Ms run in sub-freezing temperatures. It’s one of the most comical
parts about Holiday in the Park. Even these super reliable rides get cranky in those conditions,
but they run more often than they don’t. But it’s not just the cold.
It’s also the wind. There was a day in 2021 with 50 mph wind gusts. Nitro nearly valleyed,
but they still opened their hyper coaster. Kingda Ka is the one that will definitely close
in high winds. Then Joker and Jersey Devil can also close if it’s both super cold and windy.
Rain is trickier. On one hand, most rides will run and lines will be minimal. On the other hand,
the park will sometimes use rain as an excuse to close the park early. Again, the one ride
that will likely close in the rain is Kingda Ka, which is the policy with any Intamin accelerator.
Now let’s talk about the general appearance of the park. I think it looks decent.
I like the pond on the back border of the park and several sections of the park are nicely wooded.
Each section of the park is advertised as a themed area, but the theming is super light.
It’s about on par with the other Six Flags parks. My favorite area is the Golden Kingdom.
It’s shocking this area used to be a parking lot since you really feel teleported into the jungle.
Navigating this park can be annoying. Not only is it massive, but it has some dead ends. The park
layout basically forms a giant T. You have dead ends by Nitro and Kingda Ka. It’s particularly
frustrating when the Wild Walkway connecting Golden Kingdom and Plaza del Carnaval is closed.
It’s 50-50 if this pathway is open. Moving onto the ride lineup,
the roller coasters are the star, especially if you love thrilling ones.
El Toro is the most popular coaster amongst enthusiasts and what I consider to be the best
ride in the park. This rare Intamin pre-fabricated wood coaster features some of the best sustained
ejector airtime of any coaster. The super steep first drop, first two camelbacks,
and Rolling Thunder hill all catapult you from your seat for a few seconds at a time.
I don’t rate this coaster as high as some for reasons I talk about in its own review.
While those aforementioned 4 moments are as good as any on any coaster,
the middle section and finale are just ok to me.
And definitely ride this one in the back. It’s a crime to deprive yourself of that first drop.
Jersey Devil Coaster is the newest coaster. The world’s tallest, fastest, and longest single
rail coaster is very seat dependent. I think it’s the weakest RMC if you’re in the front or middle,
but if you get the back, you get some very strong ejector airtime particularly on the first drop and
camelback. The inversions are excellent in any row though, offering great hangtime. The finale
doesn’t have the same punch as the first half, but ever since the mid-course trim was disabled
it has given decent airtime if you’re on the ends of the train. Seating requests on this one
are hard to accommodate since it’s a moving load platform, but you can try and position
yourself accordingly for the row you want. I have an entire review on this ride as well.
Kingda Ka towers over the parking lot. This ride opened in 2005 as the world’s tallest
and fastest coaster. While Formula Rossa at Ferrari World stole the speed record,
Ka still has the height record. The ride is an
absolute adrenaline rush. You accelerate from 0 to 128 mph or 206 kph in just 3.5 seconds.
It’s one of the world’s most intense launches. You then spiral up and down the 456 foot
or 139 meter tall tower. The views at the top and laterals on the descent are world-class. Make
sure to ride up front to feel the speed to the fullest, which I talk about in its own review.
Two notes about experiencing Ka. First, Kingda Ka needs to have almost every seat
filled to dispatch, so it can be tricky to wait for this seat on quieter days.
Second, this ride is prone to downtime. Not only does it have the aforementioned weather issues,
but it is prone to mechanical issues. Nitro is one of Bolliger & Mabillard’s earliest
hyper coasters, but it’s still a very good ride. The ride loses speed over each camelback,
but the hills still deliver decent and sustained floater airtime. Then you also
have that isolated setting in the woods. This is another ride where I have its own review.
Batman the Ride was the park’s first B&M and while this is a cloned layout,
it’s still a strong attraction. This invert packs a major punch with the snappy inversions.
Bizarro is being rethemed back to Medusa for the 2022 season.
This was the original floorless coaster and it’s still a solid attraction with the seven
large inversions and reasonably smooth ride. Superman Ultimate Flight was one of the earliest
B&M flyers. The ride is more about grace and visuals, but the pretzel loop is one
of the most intense elements on any coaster. The sustained positive Gs are unbelievable.
Green Lantern is the most polarizing B&M coaster. This
ride is super forceful and it will make your legs feel like jelly. I like this ride’s display of
power. But it can be uncomfortable if you don’t have the bike seat and restraint low enough.
Failure to do so can result in crotch pain and/or headbanging, which can kill the experience.
Joker is one of many S&S free spins in the Six Flags chain.
These are short rides that do feel more like flat rides, but I like the mayhem of the flips.
The park also has a few family coasters. Two of them are indoors, which make them great options
during inclement weather or if you need a break from the cold. Skull Mountain is a weird Intamin
creation. Make sure to ride this one in the back. The first drop delivers some surprising
airtime in that car. The rest of the ride slowly meanders through the darkness to metal music,
which is mildly interesting. Then Dark Knight is your standard Mack wild mouse,
but this one has some Batman theming along the route and minimal braking,
making it one of the best of the genre. Then there are two outdoor family coasters.
Runaway Mine Train is a decent Arrow mine train. Most of the layout is scenic, but you
have this shocking bunny hill at the end that delivers a very abrupt pop of ejector airtime.
It feels completely out-of-place, but as a thrill seeker I enjoy it.
Harley Quinn Crazy Coaster is one of those Zierer Tivoli coasters with an obnoxiously long train,
so if you ride in the back car, you’ll get some decent whip on the first two drops.
Then for kids, you have the recently rebuilt and relocated Lil Devil coaster, which is an
off-the-shelf Zamperla kiddie coaster. Great Adventure has two main kid’s areas.
You have Safari Kids and Bugs Bunny National Park. I think both areas are in dire need of a refresh.
While they have a decent mix of rides for younger guests, the areas look dated.
For adult flat rides, Great Adventure has an underrated lineup.
The spinning rides are fine. You have a cluster towards the center of the park
plus a few others. But the newer thrill rides are the ones worth experiencing.
Zumanjaro Drop of Doom is the most notable since it’s the world’s tallest drop tower.
Fixed to the side of Kingda Ka, this Intamin drop tower features a breathtaking view of the park.
The drop may not have the power you may expect for an Intamin drop tower, but the sheer length
and speed of the plummet makes it memorable. Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth is a Zamperla giga
discovery that has the title as the world’s tallest frisbee. This ride has great speed,
positives, and airtime on the max swings. Plus it has a long cycle. Just know that this
is another ride that can get a lengthy wait due to its lower capacity and popularity.
Cyborg Cyber Spin is a ride that I seem to like more than most.
It’s usually closed, but I’ve gotten rides chalk full of hangtime-inducing flips.
One of the biggest tips seems to be to ride this with a less-than-full gondola.
Otherwise, you can get stuck in rocking purgatory and have a far tamer ride experience.
Twister is the last Huss top spin in America. This one doesn’t have the craziest cycle, but you still
have an intense cluster of flips at the start. SkyScreamer is a familiar Funtime swing ride.
This one spins you faster than most and it’s particularly cool during Holiday in the Park
when you swing high above the park’s lights. Lastly, you have a rare parachute tower. It’s not
super thrilling, but it’s worth experiencing if it has a short wait due to its rarity.
For dark rides, you have two. Justice League: Battle for Metropolis is a fun interactive
shooting dark ride. The targets are screen-based, but the ride uses the DC Comics IP well.
The ride is responsive and I like the physical cutscenes in between the screens.
Then Houdini is a rare Vekoma madhouse with a super convincing inverting effect and some
solid theming during the ride and preshow. The water rides at Great Adventure aren’t
the strongest in my opinion. Congo Rapids has a pretty simple layout for a river rapids ride
and there’s only one or two rapids that can actually soak you. Then the Saw Mill Log Flume,
while long, is just ok in the drop department and it rattles quite a bit down the trough.
If you want something more, you have the nearby Hurricane Harbor water park. It’s a separate
ticket. I’ve never been, but it looks to have a decent mix of slides, but nothing truly unique.
Finally, you have the Safari. For many years, it was a separate ticketed drive-thru attraction
before being added as a tram tour inside the theme park. But after the pandemic,
the attraction returned to the drive-thru version. I prefer this approach since you can take your
time through the exhibits. The animal collection is incredible and I know people who visit Great
Adventure just for the safari. This attraction can easily take 1-2 hours if you take your time.
There are still a few animal encounters inside the park over by the Wild Walkway though,
but their presence is definitely limited inside the main park.
I strongly recommend a season pass to any Six Flags park, but that’s especially true with Great
Adventure because of how the amusement park, water park, and safari are all separate gates.
Plus you get parking included, which is a $30 expense on its own. Six Flags did recently change
their season pass model for the 2022 season, so the lowest tier isn’t valid chainwide anymore.
It’s also worth noting that Six Flags Great Adventure promised
some operational improvements in 2022 as well, including more single rider lines so
I’m interested to see how effective these are. Lastly, let’s talk about the food. Great Adventure
has a lot of options in this department. Quite a few stands now take mobile ordering, which is
a major time-saver. But the best restaurant in the park is Mama Flora’s in Movietown.
The cheesesteaks here are incredible. This will probably anger some Pennsylvanians,
but their cheesesteaks are better than any from Pat’s and Gino’s!
So do I recommend Six Flags Great Adventure? I absolutely recommend the amusement park for thrill
seekers. Few parks have a better coaster lineup. Just be careful when you visit to avoid the heavy
crowds. For animal lovers, I strongly recommend the safari. It’s the best attraction of its kind
in the region. For families, I most recommend visiting during Holiday in the Park because
of the quieter crowds and colorful lights. So those are my thoughts on Six Flags Great
Adventure, one of the best amusement parks in the northeast. What are your thoughts on this
New Jersey amusement park? Do you agree it has one of the best coaster lineups in the world?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it
if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller
coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!