The 1978 season brought the biggest changes to Great Adventure as it became a member of the Six Flags family. Six Flags had built three successful theme parks from the ground up and acquired a fourth two years before acquiring Great Adventure. The new owners used their proven formula for success to turn Great Adventure into a similar triumph blending thrills and entertainment.

The thrills came with more exciting new rides including the first of its kind Lightning Loops roller coaster. The looping coaster was still very much a novelty in 1978.  Six Flags introduced it to the park in a big way with twin interlocking loops, doubling the thrills as well as creating the capacity that the park needed. Other rides added were updated versions of the existing attractions offering more thrills and better reliability.

Additional new attractions included a brand new indoor show venue, the Americana Music Hall. The new facility presented what had become a staple for all of the Six Flags theme parks, the "Broadway-style Music Revue" in an air conditioned theater that offered a break in the day from the heat as well as a new form of entertainment.

Later in the season, the park introduced a new walk through Haunted House added as part of the park's new Halloween festivities called Halloweeekends . The temporary new attraction featured prefabricated scenery and live scare actors roaming the halls.  It proved to be so successful that a larger version was planned for the following season.

This new mix of well received additions drew big crowds, but even more was in store for 1979 as Six Flags learned from its freshman season at Great Adventure.