Photo of the Week

[Thunderbolt]

I wish Great Adventure still had such vibrant colors and contrast! I never got to see the park this way, as my visits started in the 1980's. It's such a shame Great Adventure also lacks the glowing incandescent lights of years past. Dream Street does not remotely gleam the way it used to. The park was a completely different experience at night.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Thunderbolt

[DANofNJ]

I was in the park last night, Thunderbolt. and the only ride that has some nice lights in the park is the Sky Screamer. Everything is is just so plain and boring. Even Moreys Piers has some great lighting. I wish SFGadv would spend some money on lighting packages. Ka is terrible. absolutely ZERO lights in the que where the switch backs are, And like 5 lights on the tower, So boring

[Thunderbolt]

Dan, I remember when "The Flying Wave", "The Big Wheel", "Round Up", Enterprise II, "Buccaneer", "Calypso", Merry Go Round, "Monster Spin" and "Gingerbread Fancy" all lit up Dream Street. When I was last at Great Adventure in 2008, it was either blackout conditions or awful street / xenon lighting. Long Island's Adventureland is a more pleasing sight at night than Great Adventure.

 

Looking at Harry's pics makes me wish I had seen Great Adventure in its early days.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Year 3 - Photo #9 - September 5, 2014:

 

 

August 1978

 

In 1978, Great Adventure unveiled its first major thrill ride with the introduction of Lightnin' Loops. Comprised of two separate launch
coasters, these electrifying twin shuttle loops were the first addition to Great Adventure as a new member of the Six Flags family of
theme parks.

[Pineracer]

it looks cool, Lightning loops, would of been cool to ride that, even something as basic as this in Chillers area called Superman vs. Bizarro or go back to the action town name and call it demolition derby; dark night cops and robbers; add music express and its name would have to do with dance; another flat could be a motion simulator ride in the theater that exists(not boardwalk, if you thought that, your stupid); a rotor(tamer version of a motion simulator); and a restaurant inside autobahn;(commissary is where rotor goes) finally, lets add an enterprise near where pendulum was...easy repair(batman show in theater, I don't care, might as well have dead mans year round and call the show circus phyco[name of boardwalk, I know, just throwing out ideas] all in all, a dueling shuttle coaster in this configuration would repair movie town. why cops and robbers? city scene needs little change and only letters and vid have to change or removed and interior made to look like police station. Rest is mainly because it was at the park and now its not.

[Yoshi]

That is a great picture with the train in the loop in the background. I wish I had a chance to try the coaster.

[DANofNJ]

Another great picture, Harry. Still waiting for you to find one of the Freefall control panel.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Year 3 - Photo #10 - September 10, 2014:

 

 

August 1978

 

The Big Fury roller coaster was intended to be in the lineup of rides available on opening day, however, due to delays in delivery the ride
did not open until the final weeks of the 1974 season. The leased coaster spent just three full seasons at the park and was removed
after Great Adventure closed in the autumn of 1977. The coaster was replaced by Wild Rider which operated from 1978 to 1980.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Year 3 - Photo #11 - September 18, 2014:

 

 

 

May 1981

 

Roaring Rapids was Great Adventure's largest earth moving project outside of the park's initial construction. Added for 1981, this white water rafting
adventure was the world's second rapids installation. With the closure of AstroWorld in Houston, TX, today Congo Rapids is the oldest operating
ride of its type. While most of the ride relies on natural flow of water traveling down stream, many mechanical components of the ride were needed like
pumps, wave makers, and the raft conveyance system in and out of the station.

[Daved Thomson]

Year 3 - Photo #9 - September 5, 2014:

 

 

August 1978

 

In 1978, Great Adventure unveiled its first major thrill ride with the introduction of Lightnin' Loops. Comprised of two separate launch

coasters, these electrifying twin shuttle loops were the first addition to Great Adventure as a new member of the Six Flags family of

theme parks.

 

A fantastic picture of Lightnin' Loops! If you look very closely at the two riders in the front seat, it appears that they are sitting in front of the safety harnesses rather than underneath them.

[29yrswithaGApass]

If you recall the original black harnesses had yellow painted on them right below the shoulder bends. In this photo the yellow blends in with their shirts so it looks like they are in front of them.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Year 3 - Photo #12 - September 25, 2014:

November 1974

 

All of the flat rides installed at Great Adventure in 1974 featured colorful paint schemes and elaborate lighting packages. The Grand Prix raceway ride was
no exception with its classic roadster and checkered flag theme. The ride which was originally located off the patio of Gingerbread Fancy and later moved to the
current site of Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train retained all its glitziness until its removal at the end of the 1979 station.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Year 3 - Photo #13 - October 2, 2014:

July 1974

 

Rising 150 feet in the air, Great Adventure's Giant Wheel was the park's tallest structure for nine seasons. It was first surpassed

by the addition of Parachuter's Perch in 1983 which reached a height of 250 feet. Kingda Ka, which was added in 2005, stands

456 feet- more than three times the height of the Giant Wheel.

[DANofNJ]

I hope the park will do a LED lighting upgrade to the ferris wheel like skyscreamer has.

[29yrswithaGApass]

I noticed last Saturday that a lot of the lights are out. The ride received a total rehab in 2009 with new LED lighting that was suppose to have extra long life. I guess not long enough.

[scott]

I always find the number of lights out on the Big Wheel disappointing. The wheel still looks spectacular when its all lit up but with the number of lights out it looks run down. My father was an electrician during the parks construction and stayed on for a short time after it was done. I don't know if my memory is as accurate as it could be but i think I remember going to the park and he would tell me that one of his jobs after the park was opened was to change the bulbs on the wheel. Maybe that one of the reasons I'm bothered by the number of burned out lights.

[29yrswithaGApass]

^ I think in the early days the problem wasn't so much burnt out bulbs but instead stolen (removed) bulbs. That was much more dangerous because that created the hazard of guests sticking their fingers in the sockets and yes, people were/are that dumb.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Year 3 - Photo #14 - October 8, 2014:

August 1976

 

David McMillan's Fabulous Flying Tiger Show debuted on May 1st, 1976 at the Great Arena. The nail biting production included twenty Royal Bengal and
Siberian tigers, the largest of which weighed 725 pounds. As if all those tigers weren't enough, McMillan's menagerie also included an African lion, Asian leopard,
North American mountain lion, black panther, North American black bear, and a 200 pound Russian timber wolf.

[29yrswithaGApass]

The Temple of the Tiger show looked risky with just two or three tigers on stage. The Flying Tigers show (above) had to be SO much more dangerous. All it would have taken is one cat in a bad mood or spooked and watch out!

[robertleax]

These type of shows would be great if they came back though.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Year 3 - Photo #15 - October 16, 2014:

September 1981

 

Starting in the late 1970's, one of the most exciting rides at Great Adventure was not found inside the theme park but instead out in the main parking lot.
The oddly configured tram cars provided guests with a very bouncy ride between conveniently located tram stops around the parking lot, at the main entrance
gate, and at the Safari Hospitality Center. The three car trams were pulled by airport-style tractors and featured a single axle located in the center of the
car making speed bumps and potholes very thrilling for its unseatbelted guests..

[Switlik Property]

One of these style tram cars can be found still today at a local you pick blue berry farm in Manchester, NJ. The name and street address escapes me right now, but the next time I drive by I will make a note of it. I don't know for sure if it is one from Great Adventure, but I would imagine it would have to be.

Most of the time it just sits out front of the farm and they still use it to transport people out to the. Blue berries on their busiest days during picking season.

[mayor al]

Lots of bumps and bruises from these trams compared to the one that had rows of front facing bench seats. Guests would dismount before the tram stopped completely. Maybe we can find some of the folks operated the machines who can describe the differences in guest behaviors, I only saw the end results as the Motor Patol Officer who would respond if the bruises or dings were bad enough to call First Aid Assistance to the Parking Lot.

[29yrswithaGApass]

One of these style tram cars can be found still today at a local you pick blue berry farm in Manchester, NJ. The name and street address escapes me right now, but the next time I drive by I will make a note of it. I don't know for sure if it is one from Great Adventure, but I would imagine it would have to be. Most of the time it just sits out front of the farm and they still use it to transport people out to the blue berries on their busiest days during picking season.

 

This is the color scheme it would most likely have today if they didn't repaint it.

 

[Daved Thomson]

Harry are the blue trams shown the paint scheme used in the 90s at GA or is this a photo of SFOG's trams?