For the 1979 season, Six Flags Great Adventure continued to grow and improve. The biggest addition to the park was an entirely new themed area known as Hernando's Hideaway which was a southwestern themed section complete with new games, restaurants and rides. The centerpiece of the new area was Rolling Thunder, the twin racing wooden coaster which was the biggest roller coaster at the park at the time.

Additional new rides were added in the park, replacing some of the older rides. A new version of the Enterprise was added to replace the first portable model ride which was removed in 1977. The park also added a traditional Tilt-A-Whirl ride to help round out the offerings.

Animals were a part of the changes made around the property as well for the 1979 season. A  reopened petting zoo named Pet-a-Pet was reintroduced into the Kiddie Kingdom area. The Safari also added a new Australian area featuring kangaroos and emus on the site of one of the former big cat sections.

With the success of the seasonal Haunted House brought in for the 1978 Halloween period, a brand new Haunted Mansion Across the Moat was introduced. The new attraction, twice the size of its former, featured improved capacity with mirror image mazes doubling the number of guests per hour who could go through and featured a much more elaborate new facade.

There were other changes made around the park for 1979 including new shows and entertainment. The Miniature Marvels area became a miniature golf course which helped increase games revenue. Even the parking lot made changes with a new sponsorship tie-in with the Firestone tire company.