J. Del Conner - Early Artist at Great Adventure

[29yrswithaGApass]

We are proud to share with you a fantastic assortment of artwork from J. Del Conner, an artist who did work for the park during the earliest years of Great Adventure.  Below are some samples but be sure to check out an album we have started featuring Del's designs.

 

 

 

 

[GAcoaster]

These are amazing! Really captures the feeling of Great Adventure in the 1970's. 

[Great Adventurer]

This album is an absolute treasure trove!  Every piece is really neat in its own way, from the early renderings to the polished final products.  That first image has so many nice background details (Super Teepee, Yum-Yum Palace, divers, Frontier, etc.) and everything flows so nicely - I love how the animals look like they're welcoming guests to the park.  I can only imagine the second picture would have turned out much the same way (looking at you, dolphin jumping over the flume) if it had been fleshed out more, but seeing what the rough sketch looked like is just as cool.

 

Seeing the park information page from that era was fascinating too; I'm sure those free pet boarding kennels near the safari must have gotten pretty interesting at times.  One of the things that really got me was the bit about lifting your engine hood if you were having car trouble, which would signal somebody to come and help.  That's some excellent guest service!

 

Thanks so much for sharing this with us.  It's incredible that you were able to get your hands on all these masterpieces!