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. 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 first Six Flags attraction, 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, the attraction went back to its historic routes and become a drive-thru 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.
Overview
The former Wild Safari park covered with the main road being long. It contained 11 themed sections, and was a home to 1200 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, after Disney's Animal Kingdom. The park also added an up-charge zip line attraction. Since its renovation, Safari Off Road Adventure retains the themed areas from Wild Safari. Additionally, midway through the tour passengers are able to disembark from the vehicles at an area called Camp Aventura. This section of the park contains much of Great Adventure's bird and reptile collection, while also offering guests an opportunity to feed giraffes. Safari Off Road Adventure is now one of Great Adventure's most popular rides; as a self drive-through attraction there had been little traffic through many hours of the day.
