Great Adventure 1974 Souvenir Book

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This is the Souvenir Book of Great Adventure from the opening year in 1974.

The tiger and balloon logo were the symbol of the park in the early years, symbolizing the two parts of the park, The Safari and The Enchanted Forest.
The welcome pages give an overview of the wonders of Great Adventure presented by the parks designer, Warner LeRoy. 
LeRoy was a flamboyant designer and entrepreneur who also designed Tavern on the Green in NYC. He was a man of big dreams, as you can see in the list of "World's Biggest" things the park offered.  LeRoy was the son of Hollywood producer Mervyn LeRoy, who is most famous for creating the Wizard of Oz.  Coincidentally, Warner was named after Jack Warner, head of the Warner Brothers Studios.		     Interesting to note in the pictures on this page is the Safari entrance hasn't changed since the park opened (except new signage added last year).   The entrance to the Enchanted Forest was located at the end of Dream Street, where the park's airbrush stand is currently located.   The same poles that held the banner were relocated to the current Front Gate several years ago, and currently hold the Season Pass banner.  Also note the onion dome that used to crown the Carousel building.
The pages on the construction of the park highlight the park's designers and builders.  Hardwicke Companies (the financiers) also financed LeRoy's restaurant endeavors in New York.
Butch Dring (the Safari Director) was with the park for many years, and several changes of ownership.   He actually had a house on the park property.  
Great care was taken to preserve as many trees on the property as possible, maintaining the "forest" atmosphere in the park.		     For some reason, the aerial shot of the park was printed backwards.  The picture of the building from the Garden of Marvels shows one of the amazing lost attractions from the park's past.  
The Safari was considered as big a draw as the theme park when Great Adventure first opened.  The Safari had the title "Largest Safari outside of Africa".     Pictures of large groups of animals were not uncommon when the park first opened.   Today the number of animals has been somewhat reduced to eliminate over grazing of the grass lands, and overcrowding.
Tigers and lions were a major symbol for the Safari, and were the biggest draws.  The tiger was part of the parks logo, and the lion was used on the original sign on Route 537.     The lions and tigers used to roam free, with special gates at the ends of the big cats section.   Today they are kept behind fences for safety.   The parks original lion sign is now at the entrance to the Wild Safari.
Dream Street was the heart of the park.   The major attractions of the Carousel and Big Wheel were centered on the street, along with a fountain, which was the "World's tallest water jet".  The four tent buildings were the parks main shops, standing at the entrance and exit gates.  Performers, clowns,  and costumed characters were found throughout the park.     Notice the tents were originally open and beautifully decorated inside.   The yellow and white tent (now NB Tweens) had a giant silver tree in the center, and the red and white tent (now the Recording Studio)  was hung with beautiful banners.
The fanciful restaurants and architecture were an attraction by themselves, and the park prided itself on great food.   The Bandstand was one of the park's main entertainment venues.  Strangely, the Yum Yum Palace was never completed (there were supposed to be matching big sundaes on the back corners).   The frames for them are still on the roof to this day.     The Bandstand originally had a canvas roof, and was very beautifully decorated.  Note that Gingerbread Fancy (now Granny's) was incomplete in the picture, missing the lights and scrollwork over the main arch.  Also, note in the interior picture the elaborate columns which were hung with ferns.  These were removed when the building was retrofit with fire sprinklers.
Strawberry Fair was an area of flat rides, Gingerbread Fancy, and the Big Wheel.  When it opened, Big Wheel was the "World's tallest Ferris Wheel".     While Round-Up (now Fantasy Fling), Flying Wave and Big Wheel are still in the park, the Swiss Bobs, Matterhorn, Grand Prix, and Pretty Monster are all long gone.  An interesting fact is that the Pretty Monster was the first of three "octopus" type rides the park had (none of which lasted very long).
The "Sky & Water Adventures" featured a hot air balloon which was the "World's largest hot air balloon", the high dive show, and the dolphin show (with 10 dolphins!) which was the "World's largest dolphin show".     The hot air balloon was located behind the Garden of Marvels, in the area now occupied by the Go-Karts and Sponge Bob 4-D.  Animal rights activists would have a fit if the park still kept 10 dolphins in the Aqua Stadium!
Rootin' Tootin', Rip Roarin' was the parks "old west" section now known as Frontier Adventures.   It housed a larger than life version of the west, with a giant Teepee, a huge fort, a giant Conestoga Wagon, the park's first roller coaster (the Runaway Train), and the "World's longest log flume".  The Best of the West restaurant was unique with its structure of huge logs.     It's interesting to see the Best of the West didn't originally have the clearstory windows.  Also, the Super Teepee sold western jewelry and much more upscale merchandise than is available today.   The train pictured on Runaway Train is the #4 train.   Train #3 (which was yellow with orange trim) is no longer on the tracks. 
The Great Arena was the most ambitious and spectacular of the entertainments the park had.   With it's original dirt floor, it hosted chariot racing, jousting, western shows, and circuses in its early years.  The acrobats on the 100' high poles were crowd favorites, and the footings for the poles can still be found around the arena.      Today the (now Northern Star) Arena is used for concerts and special events.   The huge dressing room facilities, stables and barns for the animals are still in the backstage areas.
The visions of the Great Adventure of tomorrow never quite got off the ground.  There were big dreams of spectacular water shows, international restaurants, polar bear exhibits, and volcanoes.  Unfortunately, the finances were never there.      The dreams of Warner LeRoy were always spectacular, fanciful, and somewhat impractical.  Great Adventure added more thrills in the following years, after the park was purchased by Six Flags.  
The back cover of the book is the quintessential picture of Great Adventure... wholesome and idealized.  Great Adventure was and escape from reality, where the staff was a part of the "show".      The tastes of the public changed, and the theme park industry (even Disney) has turned into the thrill park industry.   The elements of fantasy and wonder have taken a backseat to commercialism and thrills, but that is the nature of business.  It's still nice to think of the fantasy world that once was...