Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure offers a full day of entertainment for any individual or family in different sections: Movie Town (featuring movie-themed rides and displays), Frontier Land (appropriately positioned on the park’s west side) and other areas such as Wiggle Town for kids.

For roller coaster fans, Six Flags Great Adventure includes Batman: The Ride, Superman: Ultimate Flight, Dark Knight and Nitro. While the Dark Knight ride is not incredibly intense, it does provide an immersive experience to visitors with a video introduction. Like the park’s Skull Mountain, Dark Knight takes place primarily in the dark once the guests enter the ride.

Six Flags features multiple air-conditioned restaurants and buildings. The Houdini ride is in one such building and provides an engaging experience for visitors. Guests are not just guests of the park—but of one Harry Houdini, in his actual home. After receiving some background information about the magician, guests are escorted into a formal room. They then sit in pews—and the room starts to spin around them (or are they spinning around the room?) This optical illusion is one of the park’s more successful rides.

Six Flags also includes several traditional rides such as a carousel, the teacup ride, a ferris wheel and a swinging ship. Casual visitors may enjoy the parachute drop and sky ride, offering sky-high views of the park, water park and safari below.

For those preferring more extreme adventures, park guests can dive from the air after being hoisted. Participants swing head first over a fence and a crowd below. This is one of the most entertaining things to observe as well.

On hot days, most visitors prefer water rides. Great Adventure includes a water park (separate admission) and two water rides in the general park: Log Flange and the Congo Rapids. Some of the park’s outdoor stands also include mist machines. These machines spray guests lightly with water to help them cool down. Full-size mist machines are also available in several locations throughout the park.

If it’s raining or cold, park guests may hop in the body dryer for $3.00. Two or more people can usually fit into the machine. It also serves as decent shelter in the event of rain.

Safety at the park is paramount. Most rides include personnel ensuring safety at multiple checkpoints. They look to make sure passengers are secured and comfortable. When lightning approaches, Six Flags temporarily suspends service on most rides.

Visitors can obtain a buy one get one free summer deal by purchasing Coke products in cans. To redeem the offer, bring an empty Coke or Sprite can with the offer listed to the park. During summer weekdays, adults can receive a buy one get one free admission; on weekends, the second visitor receives a discount on admission.

Most of the shows, concerts and special events (such as fireworks) occur during the weekend. Visitors not especially enthusiastic about roller coasters may benefit more by visiting during the weekend.

Food and games at the park are not included in ticket price. Guests spending the entire day at the park will likely eat at least one meal there, but it’s prudent to eat before and after visiting to save money. The park prohibits guests from bringing their own food and also disallows admission if guests exhibit offensive behavior or wear offensive clothing.

HelloMetro Tip: Parking is an additional expense. Guests should bring cash for various events within the park; the ATM surcharge in the park is $3.50.

- by Tara M. Clapper, Philadelphia Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Tara M. Clapper

Tara M. Clapper is a full-time freelance writer residing just outside of Philadelphia. Tara enjoys exploring traditional and historical locations in the city as well as quirky and innovative restaurants and attractions. Tara utilizes her background in academic, service-based and traditional publishing to create insider-perspective articles. Her topics of interest include travel, weddings, Irish American culture, and geek subculture.