We recently went to Cypress Gardens and got a season pass which included Wild Adventures in Georgia. We assumed that since we enjoyed Cypress Gardens that we were sure to love Wild Adventures.

Location
The park is very easy to get to. It is located at exit 13 off of I-75 in Georgia just before the Florida’s state line, or after it if you are headed north from Florida.

About the Park
This amusement park has a selection of carnival-style rides for children, teens, and families. There is an attached water park (seasonal) which is included with entry. There are plenty of shows and animals to watch during the heat of the day. Even with incredibly short lines, the park has enough activities that it will require all day to do everything.

Admission
The current ticket prices are $38.95 for adults with a $6 discount for seniors 55 or over. Ticket price for a child ages 3-9 years old is $31.95. Children 2 and under are free. There are usually specials for free next day tickets. The current promotion enables one free re-entry if used within 6 days of ticket purchase (excluding parking).

The park has ample parking for $7 or $9 for R.V’s. We parked and proceeded to the entrance. We went through the metal detector and had our bags checked before proceeding to the ticket counter. We arrived two hours after the park had been open so there wasn’t at wait to get in.

The park has a free dog kennel on site.

Park Rules
Most of the park rules are common sense but there are some dress code items that should be mentioned. Swimwear must be covered at all times unless you’re in the water park. No offensive tattoos, offensive shirts, or gang-related attire such as bandanas and baggy pants.

Employees
There were tons of employees at the park. For the most part park employees were grumpy, nasty, and unfriendly. We left the park feeling like the employees didn’t even care if we stayed or left. We left because we didn’t want to deal with them anymore. There were a few that were nice and friendly.

We were also skeptical of the ride operator’s knowledge of the rides. One lady couldn’t speak one word of English, all she could do is point and smile so I felt really uncomfortable putting my kids on that ride. It was a kiddie ride and we didn’t know if we were allowed on with her or if she was even big enough for the ride. There was another ride in which two kids arrived late and jumped on. The operator nearly started the ride without closing their door. Unlike most theme parks the gates open and there’s a free for all for seating at all of the rides. There was another ride in which we were told to seat ourselves then I got scolded because I didn’t know how to get the release door open while holding a 30 pound kid. But the final straw was when we were yelled at from across the room in front of all the other guests to put down and quit playing with the $40 worth of toys in the gift shop that we had in our hands. We had only been in there for about 2 minutes and had already decided to purchase the toys we were told to put down so the park can keep their darn toys.

Food
There were 28 food booths to choose from. We didn’t eat any meals there but some of the booths smelled really good. We had a huge $2.75 cup of homemade soft-serve ice cream which was very good. It was $3.75 for a cone. We had a $3 cup of coke with ice pellets which was also very refreshing. What I really wanted was some water but I didn’t see any fountains all day. I suppose there were water bottles in the snack shops but there weren’t any water carts easily accessible on the sidewalk like there are at other parks. A lot of visitors chose the spill-proof collector bottles for $7 which had $2 refills. I noticed they had a $4 peanut butter and jelly sandwich, $3 popcorn. Some other things that we saw while walking around were blooming onions, dip-n-dots, funnel cakes, nachos, and cotton candy.

Animals
We were immediately excited by how many rides we could see. One of the first things that we did was go on the train ride to see the animals because we thought that would be exciting for the whole family.

The Safari Train is the only way to see the animals through the African Pridelands. Both the train ride and the animals were horrible. The driver of the train was on the loud speaker telling the riders about the animals however the speakers on the train were terrible and she could hardly be heard. It was obvious that the driver wasn’t properly trained, as she made many mistakes and was heard laughing over the intercom when she messed up and started over.

The setting that the animals were in was absolutely terrible. It looked as if someone dug up their backyard and threw some animals in it. There wasn’t any landscaping or anything that remotely looked like an animal habitat. There were a lot of animals to spot. There were a couple elephants, 2 giraffes, camels, zebras, and impalas. There were antelope in the free-roaming area where we were stopped in the train and there wasn’t a fence separating the animals from the people. The animals were placed right next to several large coasters so not only was it visually distracting, it was noisy.

After the train ride we saw a couple lions and tigers to look at in cages. The cages weren’t designed well for viewing and there wasn’t an area for young children to view from.

There was a wooden boardwalk in the swamp which featured a lot of interesting animals such as a porcupine, sloth, alligators, parrots, and more. It was shaded with trees, had better landscaping, and was more pleasant than the safari adventure.

I felt bad for the animals, they seemed miserable. They lived in a very noisy environment with very little for them to do. The whole area around the animals reeked of manure.

There are one to two Keeper Talks throughout the day for the following animals: marmoset, bird, lion, monkey, and giraffe (feeding). Times are listed on the map.

Shows
There are 12 shows to choose from however we were unable to see a single show due to the showtime hours and our lack of time. Four of the shows were only shown one time during the day and included: Hollywood Bears, Wacky World of Science, Animals of the World, and World of Snakes. Amazing Tigers, and a Bugsville Adventure character show showed twice during the day, and there were 3 or 4 show times for Wild Adventures on Ice, Wild West, and Farmer Man comedy, and Shazzzam illusion show.

Not only did we not have the time to go to the shows we didn’t have any interest in going because there was no information of what the shows were about, how long the shows would take, or if the content would be suitable for children. I would recommend taking a look at the Wild Adventures website at the descriptions and decide which shows you want to see because there aren’t any descriptions about the shows on the map.

Special Events
The park has some special events during the weekend. Each Saturday a performer or famous person visits the park for added entertainment. Some examples include Boys II Men, Pat Benetar, Vince Gill, Clay Aken, Jeff Foxworthy, Hank Williams Jr., and more.

Rides
There are 59 rides at this park so everyone is sure to find something to go on. The biggest problem that we had was that there weren’t many if any family rides. Our family consist of kids ages 2, 5, and 11. Most of the rides had height and medical requirements however they were NOT marked on the map so you just have to walk around to you find one you measure up to which is ridiculous. We went on many rides but unlike the Orlando parks they didn’t have a baby swap or waiting areas other than the uncovered area at the ride exit.

Most of the rides were like permanent carnival rides. Some of them looked down right dangerous due to poor construction and / or untrained operators. Our daughter was on the crazy bus that went up in the air. The safety door on the seat in front of her opened while in the air and the operator let the ride continue even though there was a young child in the seat. We then went on another ride in which our two year old stood up while the ride was moving because the seat belt wasn’t effective.

Not all the rides and activities are free. There were several things in the park which cost an additional few bucks to do. For instance the go carts cost $4-$8 and there was a selection of children’s and adults. The kids went on them and they ran for about 3 minutes. Everyone including the adults were enjoying the go carts but I think they should have been free. If you are going to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World the go-karts are free.

There were other things that cost money like putt-putt. There was a trampoline which cost $5 to jump on or there was a rock to climb. Counting them now, there are 9 activities that require more cash per person to ride.

One of the first rides that I saw was called Boomerang and looked like an awesome ride however was out of order while we were there. It is a steel coaster that backs you up into the air and then drops you 60 mph. It’s a short but effective ride.

I rode on Cheetah which was a stellar ride. I only waited for about 3 cars which was surprising. It is a huge wood roller coaster 2,818 feet in length. The top speed is 52 mph. I wasn't sure if I would survive the first drop.

Hangman is an inverted coaster. This 2 minute ride looks very scary and impressive from the ground. It goes 55mph with a 95 foot drop. I didn’t think my body would be able to handle going over a loop upside down during 5 inversions so I passed on this ride.

Splash Island
The water park is separate from Wild Adventures however entry is free with park admission. Hours vary a little during the summer. The water park is only open Friday – Sunday in September. The water park is closed on for the season in October and won’t reopen until next April.

This water park is strict and has rules that must be followed while in the park. In addition to the usual rules there are some additional rules. Swimwear is required and little youngsters must be in swim diapers. No g-strings or jean shorts are allowed.

There are 6 water rides to choose from and some require a minimum of 48 inches to ride. The water park was by far the busiest area of the park and looked to be the most fun as well.

There are lifeguards on duty. Life preservers are available free of charge for anyone wanting one. I really wanted to go on some of the water park activities but the waters were so crowded I didn’t know how we would keep track of all of our non-swimming kids.

Catchawavebay is a 20,000 sq ft wave pool to wade in. Looks really fun with a tube of course you have to rent those. For 15 minutes the water is still, for 15 minutes there are waves. You can rent a donut tube to play and float on for $4 each.

There is a tube ride that you float down the canal on. There is also a plume ride. There is a play area that has water guns and dumping water buckets, slides, and fountains for the kids to play in.

Overall
This park could have been so much better if they cleaned it up the appearance, hired more personable staff, trained their staff, added music, and developed the overall park theme better.

We have been to dozens of theme parks many times each and this is hands-down the worst one that we’ve ever been to. I’m not sure how it could be so bad with all that they had to do there. The presentation was just terrible. It didn’t look like any of the staff wanted to be there or cared about their jobs. The safety of the rides was questionable to me.

We made the best of the day and did have some fun but we felt the whole day was a waste of money. Even the kids complained a lot and said they never wanted to go back. Six Flags in Georgia was better and all the parks in Florida including Cypress Gardens are better than this park in our opinion.

General Information
Wild Adventures Theme Park
3766 Old Clyattville Road
Valdosta, GA 31601
Hours: http://wildadventures.net/calendar.asp
Pricing and discounts: http://wildadventures.net/pricing.asp
Website: www.wildadventures.net

A special thanks to SurgRN911 for adding my request to the database so quickly!









Recommended: No