Six Flags Great Adventure Review
All set? All clear! This Six Flags Great Adventure review began long before we stepped through the gates. We were invited to Content Creator Day to preview the park’s upcoming season, experience Wild Safari, check out construction on Shoreline Pier and the mysterious Project Purple coaster. I also wanted to try to capture on-ride POV footage with my new Meta Ray Bans.
What followed was one of the most interesting visits I’ve had to the park in years. From great coaster rerides and shockingly good food to major construction updates that completely changed my outlook on the park’s future, this trip showed a version of Six Flags Great Adventure that feels more focused, polished, and ambitious than ever before.
If you’re wondering whether Six Flags Great Adventure is worth visiting in 2026, the answer became pretty clear by the end of this trip.
Trip Information
Date: May 15, 2026
Weather: Mid-60s, mostly cloudy with occasional bursts of sun
Crowd Level: High
Hours in Park: 10
Coasters Ridden: 8
Attractions: 1
Total Rides Including Rerides: 18
Average Wait: 10–15 minutes
New Credits: Runaway Mine Train
Fast Pass: Yes
Event: Content Creator Day
About Six Flags Great Adventure
Located in Jackson, New Jersey, Six Flags Great Adventure opened in 1974 with surprisingly ambitious goals. The original vision wasn’t just another regional amusement park, it was meant to be a Disney-style destination complete with themed areas, shopping, and additional entertainment offerings.
Today, the park features 13 coasters and one of the deepest lineups in the region. Heavy hitters like El Toro, Nitro, Jersey Devil Coaster, Superman: Ultimate Flight, and The Flash: Vertical Velocity provide a lot of variety. Add Wild Safari and Hurricane Harbor into the mix and you have a park that offers far more than just thrill rides.
After avoiding the park for over a decade, my recent visits have completely changed my perception of Great Adventure, and after this trip, I came away even more optimistic.
Planning the Day
My dad and I arrived around 8:30 AM with early ride time beginning at 9:00 for content creators. Crowds were already shaping up to be heavy, so the plan was simple. Enjoy our early ride time at the coasters the park graciously opened for us. Then make our way to the lower capacity rides that were not included. Outside of a few minor issues on our part, the plan worked like a charm.
Morning: Meta Glasses Make a Mess of the Morning
Content Creator Day included early entry for a handful of attractions including The Flash: Vertical Velocity, Nitro, Jersey Devil Coaster, and The Joker. My plan was to get a front-row and back-row ride in on the first three coasters to get POV footage. However, we ended up riding The Flash around 5 times in a row as I was having a hard time recording with my glasses. Fortunately, we love The Flash, so multiple rerides weren’t exactly a punishment.
After a few laps on The Flash we hit Nitro three times to wrap up our early ride time. Nitro is such a beast of a hypercoaster and has a great balance of airtime and intensity. The ride operators were having a blast with their dispatches and it made the experience even better.
Then came our only issue of the day. We attempted Jersey Devil Coaster but my backpack quickly became more of a hassle than expected. Rather than fight with it throughout the day we simply walked back to the car and dropped it off. Honestly, it was the right call. Though it put us in a tight spot as we were closing in on the time for our Wild Safari experience.
Afternoon: The Biggest Surprise of the Day (Wild Safari Changed my Mind)
Wild Safari ended up becoming the biggest surprise of the trip and we almost skipped it entirely. We were running behind and thought missing it would be fine. We couldn’t have been more wrong, it ended up being one of our favorite experiences of the day and remember, this is two coaster enthusiasts you are talking about!
First, I’ll say I never had much interest in Wild Safari. I tend to feel bad for animals in zoos and don’t love to support them. I viewed Wild Safari as a really big zoo, thankfully that is far from the case. Beyond simply seeing fascinating animals, what really stood out was how much the staff genuinely cared.
Their enthusiasm was obvious and you could tell they truly loved both the animals and the park. Their passion for conservation of these animals and the good that Six Flags Great Adventure does for them changed my thoughts completely. As an animal lover I can fully support Wild Safari and highly recommend checking it out.
Lunch at Best of the West
After Safari we grabbed my newest coaster credit on Runaway Mine Train before heading over to El Toro and Medusa. Then came lunch at Best of the West where we met Executive Chef Jeremy, who much like the other staff we have met throughout our days there, was an all-around awesome guy. You could immediately tell how much pride he takes in improving food quality throughout the park.
My dad grabbed the sirloin sandwich, while I went with pulled pork. Which I will talk about a little later.
Back to Coasters
After lunch we headed toward Superman where we had our longest wait of the day. We spent most of the day using our VIP access band as a Flash Pass Ultimate instead of going up the exits to get priority rides. Honestly, we just felt sort of bad doing that to people and only did it when we absolutely needed to. One issue with Superman is that Flash Pass isn’t the most helpful with Superman, especially when it is running 1 train.
After Superman we finally returned to Jersey Devil Coaster, but not without issues. We decided to proceed up the exit and take advantage of the VIP band. The employee directing us told us to put our loose articles in a basket, which we gladly did. I appreciate how seriously the park takes safety and will never argue about making rides safe. However, once we both were locked into our restraints he started to tell us we couldn’t leave our stuff where he told us to put it. He asked us to move it, but another employee waved dispatch through and told us not to worry about it as it wasn’t an issue.
That being said, if that is the worst experience you have at a park, you know it was a great day. Again, I will never fault a ride operator for doing what they think is best and safest.
After we got off Jersey Devil Coaster it was just about time for our construction tour. And by that, I mean we nearly missed our construction tour.
Evening: Construction Tour and Dinner
Apparently “cutting it close” became the theme of our day, but thankfully we made it. Shout out to Mike Brandt from New Jersey 101.5 for helping us out. That being said, I do think Ryan and the Great Adventure team would have let us jump in with another group, they are such fantastic hosts. The Shoreline Pier and Project Purple updates completely changed my perspective.
Going in to the day I had a hard time not viewing Project Purple as the replacement for Kingda Ka. After seeing the new construction, it became clear that Shoreline Pier and Project Purple are replacing Green Lantern, which is important context. These additions feel like upgrades over a painful and unspectacular coaster and are bringing a lot of new excitement to the park.
The New Additions
Let me just say that Great Adventure is knocking it out of the park with Shoreline Pier, a Jersey Shore themed area of the park featuring boardwalk style rides like a spinning wild mouse and Hypno Twister a Zamperla NebulaZ which is a great flat ride. Classics like flying scooters, a wave swinger, and a round up ride complete what looks like will be a beautiful crafted and well-themed area of the park.
We also got to get hands on, literally, with the park’s 2027 coaster, currently called Project Purple. Let me just say, this thing is far more impressive than I expected. While details have not yet been confirmed, it is likely this will be a Mack spinning coaster that features a large inverted section before taking riders up a tower that is expected to be well over 350 feet.
The inverted section is over 100 feet tall and features what is likely to be a launch section as well. Most importantly, we also saw a switch track which is crucial for a shuttle coaster, as this is expected to be. That will allow for multiple trains to operate at a time, helping the ride keep the line moving.
Coffee and Finishing Our Day
Afterward we spent around thirty minutes talking with Mike before grabbing Starbucks. The coffee wasn’t great, but the company made up for it. To any park executive reading this, please get better coffee!
We parted ways with Mike and headed to Main Street Pub, as Chef Jeremy recommended it because my dad wanted fish and chips. I grabbed chicken tenders and naturally we both ordered onion rings.
We wrapped up the night with the folks from CJ’s Crazy Coaster Crew, grabbed a ride on El Toro and one final ride on my dad’s favorite coaster in the park, Medusa. We also spent a little time talking with PR Manager Ryan, which is always a pleasure and a great way to end an outstanding day at the park.
Park Experience
The biggest overall improvement this year? The park itself, Great Adventure just keeps getting better. Tree coverage remains one of the park’s most underrated features and provides a surprising amount of shade. Landscaping looked strong and overall upkeep improvements are impossible to ignore. The work being put into the park is noticeable and I hope they keep this momentum going.
Theming remains limited overall, although Metropolis still stands out as the strongest and most cohesive area. I appreciate touches like Medusa’s queue signage and El Toro’s station building.
Operations & Staff
Nitro was running like a well oiled machine all day, the ride ops on this coaster as good as any in the country in my opinion. Aside from The Flash, Superman, and El Toro, operations throughout the park moved crowds extremely well. The staff overall is honestly great, employees are constantly engage with guests by calling people out during dispatch, joking with riders, and creating a positive energy.
We also met Jennifer, the park’s primary recruiter, and after seeing the staff culture firsthand, it’s easy to understand why things feel different lately. The park seems to make a lot of efforts to take good care of their staff.
Food Review
As a huge fan of barbecue I was ecstatic to check out the updated Best of the West, now a smokehouse. Let me just say, it absolutely delivered. My dad’s sirloin sandwich was tender and flavorful, especially paired with horseradish. My pulled pork sandwich had an excellent smoky flavor and came on a surprisingly tasty buttery bun. The tater tots nearly stole the show, as they were super crisp and not overloaded with salt. Absolutely delicious. The corn bread tasted pretty fresh with the right amount of sweetness. The coleslaw was decent too, just could have used a little more dressing in my opinion.
Dinner was good as well, but not quite as exciting as lunch. Main Street Pub is another dining option that Chef Jeremy has put work into to make it more like a traditional pub. My dad’s fish and chips were massive. They claim it is 7 ounces but there is absolutely no chance that’s only seven ounces, it was a great price given the size of the fish and he really enjoyed it. My chicken tenders were good but I definitely wanted more, especially looking at the massive piece of fish my dad got.
Everyone in the park we spoke with recommended the shepherds pie at Main Street, so my bad on not trying that. The onion rings were solid too, a little more like theme park food, but still a decent side. Overall the food quality continues improving and deserves recognition.
Ride Highlights
| Category | Attraction | Thoughts |
| Biggest Surprise | Wild Safari | As I mentioned earlier, we almost missed this and were fine with that. After getting to do the tour we were glad we didn’t. It is such a unique and informative experience. You also get to see how much the staff loves the animals and the park cares for them. |
| Most Painful | Runaway Mine Train | This ride really shows its age and is downright painful to ride. I was glad to get a new credit, but this was one and done for me. Its a shame thought because it has some decent airtime moments. It’s still not as painful as Lil Devil |
| Best Element on a Ride | Superman: Ultimate Flight | The pretzel loop in the back row is one of the most intense elements of any coaster I have ever ridden. It never gets old. |
| Longest Wait | Superman: Ultimate Flight | One train operations with a slow and complex to load ride leads to long lines. |
Top 5 Coasters at Great Adventure
#1 Nitro (Overall Rank: #3) — 8/10
Nitro has become my favorite coaster in the park.
Classic B&M smoothness, strong airtime, a great back-row drop, and endless rerideability. Just a fantastic ride.
#2 El Toro (Overall Rank: #7) — 8/10
El Toro may have the best first drop in the world, it is absurd.
The retracking has helped significantly, but roughness still limits how many rides I can do consecutively.
#3 The Flash: Vertical Velocity (Overall Rank: #13) — 7/10
I know this is a hot take, but I love The Flash.
The inverted stall alone is incredible, but the launches are decently punchy and it’s a smooth and action packed ride. Capacity remains the biggest issue.
#4 Medusa (Overall Rank: #16) — 7/10
Seven inversions and still remarkably smooth despite its age.
Medusa has a great layout and is something you can ride all day without issue.
#5 Jersey Devil Coaster (Overall Rank: #17) — 6/10
Here is another hot take, I think Jersey Devil is slightly overrated.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun ride with good pacing and solid stalls, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of airtime.
Overall Park Ratings
| Category | Rating / Notes |
| Ride Lineup | 7/10 |
| Operations | 9/10 |
| Food | 8/10 |
| Atmosphere | 7/10 |
| Value | 8/10 |
| Overall | 7.8/10 |
Quick Verdict
| Quick Take | Details |
| Best For | Thrill seekers looking for a solid lineup of coasters. Families with kids of various ages, there is quite a few kid rides. Avoid Lil Devil though. |
| Would I Return? | Absolutely |
| Worth Traveling For? | Yes |
| Overall Thoughts | Great Adventure is a park on the rise, the team there is putting in a lot of work to improve the overall guest experience and it shows. |
Final Thoughts
After avoiding Six Flags Great Adventure for more than ten years, I’ve really enjoyed returning over the past few seasons. As I mentioned in my 2025 park preview, I thought the future looked bright. Now, I’m even more convinced.
The park feels cleaner, safer, and more family-focused. Operations continue improving and additions like The Flash: Vertical Velocity, Shoreline Pier, and Project Purple are breathing life into a lineup that needed fresh energy.
While Great Adventure may not have a universally agreed upon world class coaster depending on your feelings toward El Toro, it offers a deep lineup of good coasters. It’s absolutely worth the trip this year and it feels like things are only getting started.
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