Great Adventure Says Its Safari Will Be Ride-Through, Not Drive-Through

By Paul Kurtz

JACKSON, N.J. (CBS) -- Earlier this month, Six Flags Great Adventure announced plans to do away with visitor vehicular traffic through its Wild Safari section (see related story). Now comes word that the theme park will showcase the exotic animals in a new way.

Wild Safari will be rolled into the amusement park to create what company officials say is the largest theme park in the world. Park officials want to put a new face on the safari, which has remained virtually unchanged since its opening in 1974.

Six Flags spokeswoman Kristen Seibeneicher says the new safari attraction will give visitors an interactive experience by going off-road in large, open-air trucks driven by staff members.

"These trucks are very tall, so you're safely above all of the animals -- with the exception of the giraffes," she says. "And they are just these gentle giants that will come right up to the truck. Their noses will literally be nose-to-nose with yours."

Six Flags is trying to breathe new life into the park two years after emerging from bankruptcy protection.

Renovation begins shortly after the Wild Safari closes for good on September 30th.