The Wild Safari Off Road Adventure at Six Flags Great Adventure has been in operation since 1974. This experience was the type you’d see in old footage of monkeys ripping apart cars. Back in the day the monkey area was a rogue spot where you were guaranteed to get more than you bargained for. The safari is a part of the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park which also has an associated water park adjacent to the park. In 2024 Six Flags announced and unveiled a reinvention of the safari.
Through the years
The Wild Safari has seen a couple of different iterations over the years. The safari is not a conventional zoological garden, but rather an experience that guests get transported through.
1974 to 2012
Back in the day, when they opened, they were the quintessential drive through safari. I remember cramming into a station wagon in the 80’s to experience this gem, a trip to Six Flags with my mother, sister, some cousins, and my Aunt Marie. We lost our car later on in the parking lot proper at the end of the day – it was epic – but I digress.
2012 to 2020
At the latter part of 2012, the safari was reimagined into one that’s similar to other theme parks with like attractions. Instead of driving into the Wild West of a safari park in your own vehicle, Six Flags made the attraction one that you’d access from within the park only, and did not offer an opportunity for non-park guests to experience the safari. Guests would board safari trucks down at the Frontier area of Great Adventure.
One of the other features that was added during the 2012 reopening was an outpost. This was a neat area where guests could get off the safari vehicle. At the outpost there was a center with some smaller critters, such as reptiles. One of the highlights was an opportunity to feed giraffes for an added fee.
During this merge of Great Adventure proper and the safari, Six Flags Great Adventure clocked in as the second largest theme park in the world. Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fla. is noted to be 580 acers, while Six Flags Great Adventure is at 510 acres.
2020 to 2024
During the 2020 pandemic, Six Flags, like many companies, had to shift gears to stay afloat and serve customers/communities. They reimagined the safari again, reverting back to a safari that guests would drive through in their own vehicles. This was perfect to allow for social distancing and still be some form of entertainment/outing for those in the Garden State with cabin fever. We did this a couple of times for some edutainment when N.J. was on lock-down.
2024 to present
Earlier this year Six Flags Great Adventure announced the launch of their Savannah Sunset Resort and Spa. The renovations removed the formerly mentioned outpost as well as added to other areas within the safari attraction “20 glamping suites that vary in size, sleeping two to six guests.” Six Flags Great Adventure also did some rebranding and now goes by the name of Six Flags Great Adventure Resort.
The safari was also reinvented again. Six Flags created a scenario that would suit park goers, and non-park goers alike. The new Safari Off Road Adventure was made into a hybrid of sorts.
If you’re a park guest at Six Flags Great Adventure, you can gain access to the safari at the “Frontier Adventures Station.” At the station guests board the safari trucks.
The other option is “Wild Safari Base Camp.” The base camp is accessed from without the park. There’s a separate parking area and guests wait in queue to get loaded into the safari trucks there.
There are restrooms, a gift shop, and an information booth at the base camp.
Our experiences on the reimagined Safari Off Road Adventure
The new safari opened up on March 30, 2024. We ended up getting the chance to hit the safari twice this season so far. Our first trip was on April 6th and our second was April 14th. The actual reason we went twice in such close proximity was that we were unaware that depending on where you board the safari, the Frontier Adventures Station or Wild Safari Base Camp, you’re going to actually get a slightly different tour.
Frontier Adventures Station
Our April 6th trip we hit the safari from the Frontier Adventures Station. We are local and passholders, so bouncing over to Six Flags Great Adventure is not a big commitment. We specifically went to the park that day to check out the reimagined safari.
Location is everything
The station down in the Frontier Adventures area of the park is easy to access. The safari is located not far from the Saw Mill Log Flume, Best of the West restaurant, and Runaway Mine Train.
Easy to access? Yes. A hike from the entrance? Oh yes. Prior to the 2020 reversion back to a drive through safari, I’d get to Six Flags Great Adventure at open and sprint with my little adventurer in a stroller to try and get there while the animals were still active and the lines short. It was a commitment for sure!
Getting situated
When we embarked on our journey to check out the current day safari, we were unaware that you don’t get to see everything if you board the safari from within the park. There are some critters that you don’t get to see. We learned that when we boarded the safari truck.
The queue is a standard one. It has an ominous sign warning guests that the attraction is 30 to 45 minutes long and to use the restroom before getting on the ride. Our wait in the queue on April 6th was not particularly long. We did not walk onto the ride, but only had to wait for maybe two trucks to load prior to us getting on. We were in line around 1:40 p.m. that afternoon.
There’s a “Safari off road adventure around the globe” map in the queue as well. It seems to highlight the most emblematic animals from each continent, however I did not see any giant anteaters – the animal listed for South America.
The loading and unloading zone is a covered area at this station.
Wild Safari Base Camp
As mentioned earlier, the Wild Safari Base Camp is accessed from outside the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park proper. We visited the safari via the base camp on April 14th. We got there around 1 p.m. and we grossly underestimated the popularity of the attraction.
There were some crowds
Having been open just a little over two weeks was not enough to knock the curiosity off the attraction. I imagine the crowds will only worsen as time goes on. The queue does extend from the loading area into a covered area, however the line we stood on left that area and went well past the gift shop. We stood in line for just under two hours, at around an hour and fifty minutes. From what I understand, they were not working to capacity with the number of trucks they have, so maybe it’ll go faster when more seasonal employees come onboard with the company.
While waiting in line, staff members did make themselves available and showcased smaller animals. The staff members would talk about the animals and show them to guests. This was a nice way to break up the rather long wait we had in line.
What are you getting in addition at the base camp?
What do you get with the base camp experience over the station from within the park? You get to see bison and llamas at the beginning of your trek. From the adventures station in the park, you don’t get to see bison and I don’t remember the llamas. At the end of the tour, the base camp safari will also take you past some nilgai and you go through the baboon village, while the safari from within Great Adventure will not.
The loading and unloading zone is an uncovered area at this station.
From start to finish
We ended up having the same guide on both of the safaris we did recently. It took about 47 minutes from load to offload of the safari from the Wild Safari Base Camp. We’ll be looking at the safari from this vantage point, knowing that the bison, nilgai and baboon village were excluded from the frontier adventures station loading zone. Our earlier trip, we did not get to see the elephants because we were told it was too cold out. On both occasions we did not see any giraffes beyond at a distance.
The safari is broken up into 11 different areas. The areas are specific to different continents or regions. Animals from their respective regions or themes are grouped together with some exceptions.
Fallow deer are found in the Americas section, where they’re originally from Eurasian regions. Asian water buffalo are included in the Afrikka section. Our guide pointed out they’re included in Afrikka because that area of the safari had the right amount of water to support the needs of the water buffalo. Peafowls are in the Wild Plains section as well as blackbuck, and they’re from India. In the Tigris Asiana section you’ll find Barbary sheep, which are normally from North Africa. And finally, yaks were inside of Baboon Village, and they’re not from the African countries that the olive baboons are native to, but are originally from Himalayan Mountains of Nepal and Tibet.
The Americas
The Americas is where the tour begins. As noted, you won’t get to see the bison if you’re doing your safari from within the park. Animals included in this section are:
- Bison
- Rhea
- Roosevelt Elk
- Fallow Deer
- Llama
Afrikka
In this section of the safari, you’ll encounter different species from the African continent. In Afrikka you’ll get a chance to view some of those quintessential African animals, two of the “big five.” Animals in Afrikka:
- African Elephants
- White Rhino aka the Square-Lipped Rhinoceros
- Ostrich
- Grant’s Zebra
- Asian Water Buffalo
Wilde Plains
The Wilde Plains is another area dedicated to animals that are mostly from the African continent. Animals in Wilde Plains:
- Blackbuck
- Common Eland
- Ellipsis Waterbuck or “Common” Ellipsen Waterbuck
- Beisa Oryx
- Dama Gazelle
- Peafowl
- Scimitar Horned Oryx
- Reticulated Giraffe
- Red Ankole Cattle aka Ankole-Watusi
- White Bearded Gnu aka Blue Wildebeest
- Red Lechwe
- Greater Kudu
Serengeti Grassland
Serengeti Grassland inhabits more African critters. Six Flags Great Adventure observes on their information page that the Serengeti Grassland has East African animals that are “most well-known for its animal migrations, and gets its name from a Maa word meaning ‘endless plains.’”
- Addax
- White Tailed Gnu aka Black Wildebeest
- Aoudad aka Barbary sheep
Kingsland
The Kingsland section is dedicated to one of the “big five,” the lion. In Kingsland you’ll get a chance to see different lions in habitats. This is not a great area for pictures as the animals are separated from guests via chain linked fences – like many zoological gardens utilize. The entire section of the safari is dedicated to the African lion.
Black Bear Ridge
The American black bear, Ursus americanus, or just black bear, makes its home at Black Bear Ridge. About twenty-five years ago, the black bear started to make a comeback in the Garden State. Once upon a time, going through Black Bear Ridge might have been the only way to see black bears in New Jersey, but now the population has exploded, with bears having been sighted in every county in the state. This is still a cool area and bears are just fun – from afar.
Terra Urus
Terra Urus is dedicated to the European brown bear, aka the Eurasian brown bear. The European brown bear is noted as being one of the medium to smaller sized bears of all the brown bears. The Kodiak bear has been observed as the largest of brown bear subspecies and Cantabrian brown bear as the smallest.
Conservation Area
The conservation area is a location that’s untouched by any caregivers within the park. It’s an area dedicated to the natural landscape of New Jersey. The Six Flags Great Adventure page about the conservation area notes:
Our mission is ‘to inspire future generations to conserve animals and their habitats through entertaining and educational experiences.’ This area is 52 acres of undeveloped land which allows a place for native species such as white-tailed deer, raccoons, red foxes, opossums and even bald eagles. Six Flags is proud to partner with the Wildlife Conservation Network offering collectible “Save an Icon” pins available for purchase. All of the proceeds go directly to saving endangered species in their natural habitats.
Didgeridoo Pass
Two critters endemic to Australia make their home in Didgeridoo Pass, the emu and red kangaroo.
The small mob of kangaroos may have a joey in the pouch of a jill or two if you keep a keen eye.
Tigris Asiana
A number of Asian animals are in the Tigris Asiana section. This is where you’re going to see tigers, go figure. The yak is listed as being part of the Tigris Asiana, however they were present after passing through the gates of Baboon Village. Animals in the Tigris Asiana section include:
- Bengal Tigers
- Siberian Tigers aka Amur Tigers
- Nilgai
- Aoudad aka Barbary Sheep
Baboon Village
The Baboon Village has changed since the outlaw days of the “monkey” section. The days of driving through the – at the time elective – monkey area and having your car ripped to shreds are no more. In the Baboon Village you’ll find the Anubis or olive baboon, one of the “Old World Monkeys.”
The exhibits are set off from the roadway, with the baboons having the opportunity to swing from retired sections of the old Great American Scream Machine roller coaster which have been repurposed.
Entering into the Baboon Village is where we were able to see the yaks, then the road wound past a few areas where you could spy the olive baboons.
Overall experience
The Six Flags Great Adventure Offroad Safari is a great attraction. There’s nothing too new to the safari, when looking at it over the years. However, this new iteration where visitors can come and check it out from within or without the park is a great idea and wonderful reinvention.
The wait time for getting onto a safari truck when we went to the base camp was nearly two hours. In the middle of April, I don’t know if that’s a good sign or a bad sign, but we’ll just have to be hopeful that more trucks will become available during peak visitation times and any kinks get ironed out.
Our guide
Our guide was pretty good. For being one of the youngest staff members, if not the youngest staff member, of the safari group, she did a good job. As time goes on she’ll be an exceptional guide after she finishes cutting her teeth. Oftentimes these types of attractions and experiences rely on both good and entertaining narration. A good guide is a game changer.
Biodiversity
As far as animal diversity, the safari is not bad. There are plenty of different species and they are grouped relatively well based on where they inhabit.
How’s this safari in comparison to others?
How does the Six Flags Great Adventure safari measure up to other safari attractions? I think that Six Flags has done a great job over the years to keep this an entertaining and educational experience. During the pandemic, it was a great place to go to just get out and get some kind of entertainment.
New Jersey is what’s called a “no touch state.” This means that it’s prohibited for the general public to touch any non-domesticated animals. Back when I fed some giraffes during the 2012 to 2020 version of the safari, we were not allowed to touch them. This is not an attraction where you get to touch or feed the animals up close. If that’s the type of experience you’re looking for, shoot across the river…at this time it’s still legal to engage in contact with non-domesticated animals in captivity in Pennsylvania.
Other safari attractions that were designed more recently might be tough competition for this safari. While the Great Adventure safari is a great attraction, areas where there are chain link fences break up the terrain, reminding visitors they’re winding through a park where the animals are cared for. Other parks out there use natural barriers to separate guests from potentially harmful animals such as lions.
In a nutshell
Overall we liked the safari. Will we experience the safari again? It’s very probable since we’re season pass holders.
Would we recommend checking out the Six Flags Great Adventure Wild Safari Off Road Adventure? Absolutely. If you’re not into the thrills of theme park but are in the area because you’re visiting the Jersey Shore or other attractions, just hit the Wild Safari Base Camp. It’s also worth it to shoot down to Jackson, N.J. just to visit the Base Camp version of the safari. Otherwise get a ticket and experience all that Six Flags Great Adventure has to offer in addition to the safari.
2024 is an exciting year for Six Flags too. It’s the 50th anniversary of Great Adventure. So if you’re in the area or going to be visiting, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for any special events being hosted at the park.
Six Flags Great Adventure is located at: 1 Six Flags Blvd, Jackson Township, NJ 08527
