One of the classic games of skill at many amusement parks and theme parks has been the shooting gallery, offering guests a chance to test their shooting skills trying to hit a variety of targets which activate sounds, lights, and actions.
		When Great Adventure opened in 1974, it featured a shooting gallery located in the western section of the park.  Named "Shootout," it proved to be very popular and served as the inspiration for similar games over the next couple of years. When the park expanded in 1975 with the Fun Fair area, many new rides were added with some duplicating existing popular rides in the park. For the 1976 season, a second shooting gallery was added in the Fun Fair area with the addition of the Safari Shootout.  The new shooting gallery was not only popular with the younger guests, but also their parents who would often wait around as their kids challenged the numerous thrill rides in Fun Fair.
	Unlike the Western Shootout that was built from the ground up and themed to match the Western section, the Safari Shootout was a pre-fabricated shooting gallery that had a facade built in front of it to make it look more permanent and substantial.  The extra wide game stand was positioned next to the Super Cat ride and the two attractions together bridged the void left by the removal of the large Jumbo Jet coaster which was disassmebled before the end of 1975. The shooting gallery had a "jungle" theme with some target elements that would be viewed as questionable today.  In general, it was also a strange concept that a park with a Safari would add a Safari themed shooting gallery which included both human and animal targets, albeit with a comic slant. The Safari Shootout shooting gallery was removed at the end of the 1980 season with the addition of a new gangster themed Chicago Shootout coming for the 1981 season.  The plot of land which was home to the Safari Shootout was not utilized again until 1983 when FreeFall was built.
Original Spotlight:  October 23, 2020.  GAH Reference#:  GAME-1976-001