Thursday - May 17th, 2012 - Media Day Great Adventure just got a whole lot greater today with the opening of SkyScreamer in the new Adventure Alley section of the park.  The attraction is a must-ride offering fantastic views and  exciting thrills at incredible heights!  Congratulations to the Great Adventure Team for such an entertaining and informative event and a wonderful new ride!  (With four more to come this year... it's Christmas all over again!)
More Cobra parts are arriving!
More than Elvis was in the building as things got (Rock n') rolling!
	Kristin and John proudly present the park's latest additions!
The Flyin' Elvises take to the sky.
		Flyin' Phil does too!
W	O	W!
Over the next few weeks LED lights will be installed on the tower for a dazzling light presentation during evening hours.
Click the images below to view videos!
Flying Elvises Take Flight on the SkyScreamer Ride	On-Ride Video of the new SkyScreamer Ride	Air Jumbo Testing Ride Video
	Once again, Great Adventure is home to a classic Scrambler ride! This circa 1969 machine is a piece of historic beauty but don't let its age fool you.  It is a fast whipping machine!  Vintage goodness! DejaVu (Scrambler) and Air Jumbo (elephants) will both open this weekend for Season Pass holders and to the public on May 23rd.
The Fender Benders will be positioned so that the longer side of the ride parallels the Sky Ride cables.  This will offer guests dining on Granny's patio a better view of the ride.
A new sign with ride information is now feature on the side of the Swashbuckler.
Branches - the human tree is back.		A new entrance to the catering area has been built from within the security check point of the outer mall.
Sunday - May 13th, 2012 Work continued on Adventure Alley over the weekend as opening day for the new area approaches!
The many speakers located around the ride and placed every several feet up the tower can play a soundtrack for the ride. The tower's speakers turn on and off automatically so that the riders and the music travel up and down the tower together.
	CLICK TO VIEW A VIDEO OF A FULL SKYSCREAMER RIDE CYCLE
	Air Jumbo looks like a giant Samba Tower in this photo!
Our new Scrambler hauls!	CLICK TO VIEW A VIDEO OF DEJAVU IN TEST
Operators are being trained for DejaVu.	An Adventure Alley branded basketball game.	All eight chutes were open - BEAUTIFUL!
Thursday - May 10th, 2012 Adventure Alley's grand opening is less than a week away!
The first pieces of the King Cobra slide have arrived!   Site preparation work must have also started as earth moving equipment was seen in the distance at Hurricane Harbor.
Work has started on the SkyScreamer's covered queue line.  The footprint of the ride is the same as the Flying Wave and the ride's queue is just a little larger than the old ride.
Test dummies (non-naked ones!) occupy the SkyScreamer's seats.
There are a large number of speakers lining the queue and built into the ride's tower.  Jersey Boys anyone?
The Royal Elephants, soon to be known as Air Jumbo, looks sparkling new after its refurbishment.
Test dummies have also been installed on DejaVu.  Wooden posts have been placed around the back perimeter of the ride which will probably be used for lights and/or speakers.
Fender Benders' site still sits vacant, but not for long!
Is it me or are the gaming machines getting larger and larger?	In Safari Discoveries, an insert on the map answers the question "where are the tigers?"	During a recent visit to the admin building I noticed that the front has been repainted and a new sign has been added!
Friday- May 4th, 2012 Even though the weather forecast today called for scattered thunderstorms, we ventured out to the park to take in the Safari and check out the latest developments in the theme park!
	New descriptions have been added to the historical photos in the Main Street Emporium.  The hostess in the shop said to me that I should buy the Images of America- Six Flags Great Adventure book if I liked the old photos.  I told her that I was an author of the book.  She looked at me like - yeah, sure!
		The letters on the globe are illuminated!
A temporary operator's booth was set up to test the new SkyScreamer.
	Click below to watch the spinning SkyScreamer testing! Available to our Forum members!
Originally the ride was just going up and down the tower without spinning but later in the day it twirled!
Speakers are mounted up and down the entire tower.		Construction on the operator's booth started today.
The elephants have all been refurbished and look brand new.
	I never realized that the ears on the elephants move!  Each one also has a plug on its underside for power.
"Someone" told me that GreatAdventureHistory.com played a role in inspiring the nostalgic theme of Deja Vu!  How cool is that!
It is cool to think that with everything going on in the park right now that there is still another ride coming that we haven't even seen as well as a one-of-a-kind water slide in Hurricane Harbor!
The Lakefront area is really beautiful this year with all the new paint, fencing, and topiaries.
Bugs Bunny National Park was closed for the day.
	I don't know these people but they can really scream!	The last two parachutes have been installed and were open!  It's great to see that we once again have all eight chutes operating.
	Sale items!
New paint at Looney Tunes Seaport.
Saturday- April 21st, 2012 And now, some quick photos of the the latest happenings at Great Adventure...
The blue no smoking line has been repositioned outside of the new security gates.	Temporary poles and ropes now stand outside of the Bugs Bunny National Park rides.  It will be interesting to see if permanent queue lines for these rides will be added soon.
		A new photo deal debuted today!  Buy a Six Flags memory stick for $29.99 and use it all season long to collect all your on-ride photos for no additional charge and no limit!
Work this week on Adventure Alley primarily concentrated on the planning and installation of the new fencing that will encircle the new rides.  Everything in the area appears to be getting the same style fencing which will match the one outside of the Big Wheel, the high striker, and the rope climb.
		Repairs have started to replace the missing rock work on Skull Mountain.
Saturday- April 14th, 2012 Today's weather was beautiful for a walk in the park!  Here are some of the latest updates in Great Adventure.
The Big Wheel offered some views of Adventure Alley from above.  The SkyScreamer towers over the Big Wheel.
	While on Skull Mountain it appeared that they were doing some work on the pumps and plumbing near the windows after the first lift.  Hopefully we will see the waterfall again.
It looks like there are lights under the seats!
We decided to take the Safari Tour at 4:00 because we didn't have enough time to get out to our car and make it over to the Safari gates.  It was nice to hear all the oohs and aahs from our fellow explorers seeing our Savannah for the first time.
		Hmmm.... we aren't in Jersey anymore!
The new security gates are heaven-sent!	The outer mall planter has been plussed.
Monday- April 9th, 2012 After being on vacation and missing opening day, I finally had a chance to visit Great Adventure as they startup their 2012 season.  It was a windy spring day but the sun was shining and the sky was clear and blue.  Here are some photos of my kick-off to the new season.
The bison were kicking up dirt that would swirl in little whirlwinds across the Safari road.		The new SkyScreamer could easily be seen from the Safari.
The giraffes hid in front of one of the buildings to escape the winds.
Under Funstruction!		Eating on your knees looks painful.
	The elephant once again has his trunk!  Nice!
The positioning of the wires confining the monkeys is now at a different angle.  Maybe they figured out how to work around the old setup last summer.
		Several of the climb pieces from Balin's Jungleland hav been installed at the old Exploration Station.
The park's skyline has a new landmark.
	The new security screening location made entry into the park much more efficient plus seemed to make the entrance area much better defined.
	The park has restocked our book and is selling it at multiple locations.	Watch this store in the weeks and month ahead for some great retro merchandise!
		Mama must be cooking up a new sign.
		The Fender Benders have yet to arrive and will open after the rest of Adventure Alley - sometime in June.
	DejaVu, the park's new Scrambler ride will be music themed and feature artwork/logos from G.A.'s past.
Air Jumbo is being repainted to better fit in with the new Adventure Alley area.
The Swashbuckler sign has yet to be installed.	New fencing borders the Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train coaster.	The new fence uses the pilings of the original one.
	The Buccaneer received a complete paintjob and makeover and looks brand new!
Skull Mountain's sign received some freshening up.
The Bugaboo and Rajas Rickshaws perimeter fences were both repainted.
With a little realignment on the park map, Safari Kids, Looney Tunes Seaport, Nitro, and Congo Rapids are all part of Adventure Seaport.	Pepe has returned to center stage after  being away all last season.	New live shrubs have been planted to spell Congo Rapids.
	In all five photos above the hot dog stands have been removed.  Stange!
	Warner LeRoy would have liked this arcade game!
No more pizza at the HBO Commissary.	Slurpee has invaded Movie Town and several other stands around the park.
The high-striker game was moved to Adventure Alley providing a new smoking area to replace the one lost with the new DejaVu ride.	The Musik Express still stands in the Old Country section although it has seen better days.	On-ride photos at the Dark Knight Coaster are a thing of the past.
	The Main Street Pub has replaced the Main Street Deli.  Gone are the inside tables and glass display counter.
	The entrance to the Cyber Cafe has been relocated and the lounge area and most computers have been removed.
		Caution - Falling Rock
	After rumors of the dolphin stadium closing, it was great to see the facility getting some TLC including newly painted seats!
		I didn't get a chance to check and see if the steam engine was reinstalled.
Paintball is gone - now let's get rid of this building!
A second season pass processing area has opened this year in the red and white Dream Street Tent.
	The Bandstand on the Lake's air conditioning system was upgraded to keep Bugs cool.
		Bugs lost his head!
For some strange reason, staircases have been installed to the catwalks at the top of the Fort.  I am sure this is for some sort of emergency access, but wouldn't it be cool if these areas were opened to the public as observation decks!
	The Best of the West received some new wood and a great cleaning.  It looks refreshed.
Mama Flora now sponsors the Conestoga Wagon.  It appears to be in the process of being repainted and having its harness hitch refurbished.
	It was exciting to see new construction and maintenance throughout the park.  With five new rides and numerous improvement projects in the works, it looks like 2012 will be a fantastic season.