With the park opening on April 2, less than a week away, I want to highlight one of my favorite destinations in the New Jersey area: Six Flags Great Adventure! If you have a need for speed and are chill for thrills, there is no better place to visit. Located in Jackson, it is a bit of a drive (about 90 minutes) from Teaneck, but with proper planning, it can be a fun-filled day, making it well worth your time.
Six Flags originally opened as a privately owned theme park called “Great Adventure” in 1974, with 19 rides. Less than three years later, the Six Flags franchise acquired the rights to the park and added the words “Six Flags” in front of the title. The park has since been built up to feature 65 rides, including 13 roller coasters. At 510 acres in size, Six Flags is the second-largest theme park in the world after Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
One of my favorite parts of a day at Six Flags takes place before I even enter the park. As I drive up to the parking lot, the first sight I see looming in the distance behind the trees is the tallest roller coaster on planet Earth, Kingda Ka. Just its sight always sends shivers down my spine. It is so tall that sometimes the roller coaster cart fails to reach the 456-foot summit. Don’t worry though, there is a fail-safe plan in case lest that happens: The cart will roll back and the ride will automatically relaunch you.
Once you enter the park, an excellent photo opportunity is available in front of Six Flags’ iconic water fountain with the new “The Joker” roller coaster in the background. From there, you can choose from one of several paths leading to different sections of the park to head towards. The park is divided up into 12 sections in total. Tip: If you are unfamiliar with the park’s layout, be sure to get a park map as the park is very large.
Numerous rides at Six Flags presently hold or have held various world records. Last year, the Jersey Devil Coaster opened and claimed the title as the world’s tallest, fastest and longest single-rail roller coaster. (Typical roller coasters are on two rails.) Standing at 170 feet, Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth is the tallest pendulum ride in the world. Right inside the arch of Kingda Ka, Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom stands as the world’s tallest drop tower at 415 feet. It is so high that riders can see Philadelphia, which is over 40 miles away, from the top. The aforementioned Kingda Ka is the tallest and formerly fastest (current third fastest) roller coaster in the world, launching riders from 0 to 128 mph in just 3.5 seconds. The Big Wheel once held the record as the world’s tallest ferris wheel at 150 feet. El Toro held the record at one point for the world’s steepest drop for a wooden coaster and remains the third-fastest wooden coaster, reaching speeds of 70mph.
Extreme rides aside, Six Flags is also a wonderful place to hang out and have a good time with the family. There are nearly 50 non-coaster rides, great kosher food locations (including a Chickies stand) and picturesque park scenery. I love walking around the park, enjoying the music and fresh air, and staring at the lake, which has a fountain spurting water all day. For those who enjoy games, Six Flags offers dozens of carnival games with prizes at the Boardwalk section. Even when I was a kid and too short to do most of the coasters, I still had a great time doing the kiddie rides, arcade games and the less-intense enclosed roller coaster Skull Mountain.
I have found the park service to be great, too. Most of the employees are friendly and eager to help, and even came to my rescue when I was visiting the park while a student in middle school. While riding the roller coaster Nitro, disaster struck! On the big 230-foot drop down, my old Samsung Intensity phone flew out of my pocket, and I desperately watched it sail away into the abyss underneath the ride. Using my friend’s phone, I called my mom to explain my predicament and find out what to do. Following her advice, I ran to guest relations, explaining what had happened. Accustomed to this kind of accident, they promised to be on alert. True to their word, just a few days later, my mom got a call from Six Flags that my phone had been found. Only two days later, it arrived, miraculously in working condition. This was company service at its best.
Six Flags also offers a lot of special events. The Halloween holiday spirit imbues the park during Fright Fest, which runs from September through October, when cobwebs, goblins and employees dressed in monster costumes love scaring visitors. In November, my wife and I were dazzled by the glistening snowflake decor and twinkling colored lights in celebration of the winter holidays. During Chol Hamoed Pesach, several stands offer Kosher-for-Pesach food, and there is usually a concert performance by a Jewish celebrity singer, most recently Mordechai Shapiro.
Recommendation: I am a big fan of Six Flags and would rate it an 8.5 out of 10. I have been to Six Flags more than a dozen times and always have a blast. The rides are awesome, and I love meeting the characters, especially Scooby-Doo and Bugs Bunny. The price cannot be beaten. In addition to my season pass allowing me to its Six Flags theme park, I also gain access to its adjacent water park, Hurricane Harbor, as well as to the Wild Safari Drive-Thru Adventure. I bought two season passes in November 2019 to challenge myself to get a girlfriend to bring with me for the summer. Thankfully, I met my wife in March 2020, and we enjoyed visiting Six Flags many times together. Six Flags even renewed my pass for free in 2021 due to COVID and the fact that the 2020 season had a delayed opening. I recently renewed our passes for $58 each, compared to the normal rate of around $150, which includes parking.
I hate to end on a down note, but I do have two complaints about Six Flags. First is the $1 fee that you need to pay per ride to store your bag in its lockers. As such, I suggest bringing a fanny pack to try to avoid this fee. Second, due to its low-cost ticket value, Six Flags can get crowded and the lines very long. For that reason, I recommend attending on a weekday when it is less crowded or consider buying THE FLASH pass to avoid the lines. Alternatively, make sure to play games such as Heads Up!, Psych or Wordle to keep you busy while waiting in lines. That said, I have had many trips where the lines were surprisingly short and I was able to do every ride. I try to go to Six Flags a few times a summer, and I can’t wait for the park to open so I can go again soon!
Price: Daily rates as low as $39.99 a person. Keep your eye out for good deals i.e. from NCSY or special promotions offered by Six Flags.
Location: Jackson Township
Unique Feature: Tallest rollercoaster in the world.
Zachary Greenberg is a health and benefits consultant analyst at Mercer as well as the TABC track coach. In 2016, he directed the TABC senior video which can be found on his YouTube channel. Zachary recently finished the TV show “Daredevil” on Disney+.
