Wild Adventures
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2024) |
| Previously known as Liberty Farms | |
 | |
| Location | Valdosta, Georgia, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 30°43′12″N 83°19′24″W / 30.72000°N 83.32333°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opened | 1996 |
| Owner | Herschend Family Entertainment |
| General manager | Jon Vigue |
| Theme | Zoological |
| Slogan | Creating Memories Worth Repeating |
| Operating season | Mid-March through December |
| Area | 166 acres (0.67 km2) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 15 |
| Roller coasters | 6 |
| Water rides | 9 |
| Website | www |
Wild Adventures (formerly known as Liberty Farms) is a zoological theme park located in Clyattville, Georgia, approximately 5 miles (8 km) south of Valdosta, Georgia. The park is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and has been managed by Jon Vigue since October 2020.[1]
History
[edit]Kent Buescher, the founder of Wild Adventures[2], and his wife Dawn established the park on a plot of farmland outside of Valdosta, Georgia. It was established in 1996 for around $10 million. Wild Adventures started as a small petting zoo known as Liberty Farms D&L.[expand acronym] The park hosts six roller coasters and numerous flat rides. The rides were initially added to the park in 1998 and since then have grown rapidly. Splash Island, the park's water park, opened in 2003 as the park's largest expansion including several water slides and attractions.[3]
In 2004, the Adventure Park Group purchased Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida, a company which Buescher privately held. The expansion of the park was slowed down following the purchase of Cypress Gardens.[4] In 2005, Gauntlet was added, which is an S&S Power Screamin' Swing complex. For the park's 10th anniversary in 2006, the park announced its intent to add the Shaka Zulu River Adventure log flume, relocated from the defunct Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City Beach, Florida. The ride was delayed due to engineering problems, and never opened to the public.
In September 2006, Adventure Parks Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On September 25, 2007, due to bankruptcy proceedings, Adventure Parks Group LLC auctioned off Cypress Gardens and Wild Adventures. Despite the Chapter 11 filing, the parks remained open for operation. The initial bids were set at $17.4 million for Cypress Gardens and $38.85 million for Wild Adventures, with a combined starting point of $53.25 million. The group's financial woes, including $25 million in debt, and were destroyed by hurricanes in 2004 (Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne) damaging Cypress Gardens. The Ledger then reported that Herschend Family Entertainment had purchased Wild Adventures for $34.4 million.[5]
Upon Herschend taking over the park, they removed the Gauntlet and stated that they do not plan on opening the Shaka Zulu River Adventure log flume ride. However, Herschend did open The Rattler, on March 21, 2008.[6] It is a Huss Frisbee type flat ride manufactured by Moser Rides of Italy. Also, in 2008, the Tiger Terror roller coaster was sold and moved to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida, and renamed "Tasmanian Tiger". In February 2009, the American post-apocalyptic zombie comedy Zombieland amusement park scenes were filmed at Wild Adventures.
For the 2010 season, the park added several rides including Viking Voyage, Whirling Wildcats, and Falcon Flyers. All three rides were from the now defunct Celebration City in Branson, Missouri. The Attractions, Gold Rush, and Mystery Maze were removed. Bug Out was renamed Go Bananas. The S&S Double Shot was renamed Firecracker. Two new rides, Tailspin, and Wacky Wheels were added before the 2013 season; in 2015 Jungle Rumble, a flat ride, was added.[7]
Before the 2019 season, Fiesta Express was moved out of storage and became Swampwater Snake in a new children-themed area Discovery Outpost, the S&S Doubleshot was renamed Blazer Blast off. After the 2019 season, Viking Voyage moved to Fun Spot Kissimmee. Beginning in the 2020 season, Blackfoot Falls was renovated and renamed Island Falls, and the Pharaoh's Fury was moved to another zone of the park after the closure of surrounding rides. Wild Adventures was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, later reopening in July 2020.[8]
Discovery Outpost
[edit]| Ride | Manufacturer | Year Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crunch's Caboose | Zamperla | 2008 | A children's train ride. |
| Flying Gators | Sellner Manufacturing | 1996 | A tea cup style ride with alligator-shaped cars. |
| Hoppin' Gators | S&S - Sansei Technologies | 1998 | A tame drop tower. |
| Okefenokee Friends | Zamperla | 2002 | A jump-around ride. |
| Swampwater Snake | Zamperla | 2003/2019 | A junior wild mouse-style roller coaster. Formerly known as Fiesta Express from 2003 to 2011. Placed in storage until 2019, added to the Discovery Outpost. |
| Turtle Race | Zamperla | 1999 | A children's spinning ride. |
Oasis Outpost
[edit]| Ride | Manufacturer | Year Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandstorm Chaser | 2023 | Circular ride featuring a 40 degree tilt. | |
| Trail Trackers | 2023 | A children's jeep style ride. |
Former rides
[edit]| Ride | Year Opened | Year closed | Manufacturer | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaos | 1998 | 2009 | Chance Rides | A Chaos flat ride. |
| Cheetah | 2001 | 2020 | Custom Coasters International | A custom, wooden roller coaster with steel supports (except for the figure eight which was rebuilt with wood when the entire coaster was retracked by Great Coasters International in 2010). It was also the largest roller coaster at the park. It last operated in March 2020 and stood idle for the 2020 season; in January 2021 the park confirmed its retirement. |
| Gauntlet | 2005 | 2007 | S&S – Sansei Technologies | A Screamin' Swing with two arms that sat four riders each. Following Herschend's acquisition of the park, the attraction was removed and sold to Fun Spot America. |
| Gold Rush | 1999 | 2009 | Chance Rides | A "Big Dipper" kiddy coaster located near Safari Train. It was removed following the 2009 season and replaced in 2010 with the Whirling Wildcats Scrambler from Celebration City. |
| Mystery Maze | 1999 | 2009 | — | A Maze attraction located near Safari Train. It was dismantled and replaced in 2010 by Viking Voyage from Celebration City. |
| Shaka Zula River Adventure | — | — | Arrow Dynamics or Hopkins Rides | Purchased from the defunct Miracle Strip Amusement Park after it closed in 2004. Wild Adventures touted plans to refurbish and build it for their 10th anniversary in 2006, but it never came to fruition. Following Herschend's acquisition of the park, plans to install the ride were scrapped from the agenda. |
| The Inverter | 1999 | 2009 | Chance Rides | An Inverter flat ride, located near Safari Train. |
| Tiger Terror | 1998 | 2008 | Wisdom Rides | A ride for children with a single helix and a tiger-themed train. The coaster was sold to ZooTampa at Lowry Park, where it received a refurbishment and opened in December 2008. |
| Viking Voyage | 2010 | 2018 | E&F Miler Industries | A steel family coaster that operated at Celebration City from 2003 up until the park's closure in 2008, where it was then sold to Wild Adventures. Following a repaint from red to blue track during the 2016-2017 offseason, the coaster was closed in 2018 and sold to Fun Spot America Theme Parks, where after a brief storage time at their Atlanta location, it was set up and opened at Fun Spot America Kissimmee in December 2019 as Hurricane. |
| Power Surge | — | — | Zamperla | Six fixed arms are connected in an asterisk pattern, with two sets of two seats attached at right angles to the arms. The arm assembly is connected to a main arm. Twenty-four riders at a time can be loaded onto the ride. Riders are restrained by an over-the-shoulder harness, with their legs dangling free for excitement. |
| The Plunge | 1998/1999 | 2006 | WhiteWater West | A pair of dinghy slides situated in the dry park, where the boats were delivered to the top of the starting tower via a conveyor belt. Removed following the 2006 season in order to accommodate the concert venue building. |
| Yo-Yo | 1996 | 2022 | Chance Rides | A swing ride. |
Annual events
[edit]- Boy Scouts Day.
- Girl Scouts Day.
- Great Pumpkin LuniNights and Pumpkin Spice Festival - Halloween themed event with several attractions, Terror in the Wild is currently discontinued and it was replaced by one of the seasonal Fall events such as this one.
- Wild Adventures Christmas - Christmas themed event.
References
[edit]- ^ "Unleash Your Wild Side: Visiting Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia". devinefairytale.com. 2023-08-02. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
- ^ "Kent Buescher to speak at VSU's Harley Langdale, Jr. College ofBusiness Administration Lecture Series". Valdosta State University. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ^ Poling, Dean (2009-03-20). "Splash Island sneak peek". Valdosta Daily Times. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ Taylor, Michelle (2005-12-06). "Holding company made for parks". Valdosta Daily Times. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
- ^ Chambliss, John (September 25, 2007). "Cypress Gardens Has New Owner". The Ledger. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
- ^ Valdosta Daily Times - Riding the Rattler
- ^ "Wild Adventures".
- ^ Freeman, Clayton. "Coronavirus: Wild Adventures plans reopening June 22". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
- ^ "Wild adventures theme park". Archived from the original on 2007-05-20.
External links
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