In 1990, Time Warner acquired a 19.5% stake in the Six Flags Corporation, giving them partial ownership of the company and its theme parks. File:Batman- The Ride-3.jpgīatman: The Ride 1978–1981: Penn Central era They were then owned by Penn Central which had large stakes in the Philadelphia and New York City regions. In fall 1977, Great Adventure was purchased by Six Flags. Together, they set out to open the seven parks in stages over a 5-year period.Īfter a 4,500 invitation-only guest opening on June 30, 1974, the Great Adventure entertainment complex opened to the general public on July 1, 1974, at a price tag of $10 million. At the time of the opening, only the Enchanted Forest and Safari parks were operational, with elements from five of the other planned parks being used to create the Enchanted Forest. LeRoy collaborated with Hardwicke Industries, who previously built safari parks in Canada and Europe. The property on County Route 537 had easy access to the newly constructed Interstate 195, which connected central New Jersey to the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) and would eventually (in 1981) connect to the Garden State Parkway. He chose a property then owned by the Switlik family, in an area centrally located between the New York City and Philadelphia regions.

LeRoy wanted his parks to flow naturally through the forest and lakes, capitalizing on the back-to-nature movement of the era. His proposal also included plans for multiple hotels which were connected to the parks and could be reached by boats, buses, a sky ride and/or a monorail, similar to the then-recently opened Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. LeRoy intended for the massive complex to have an amusement park, a safari park, a show park, a floral park, a sports complex, a shopping district, and a campground with a beach/waterpark and stables. In 1972, entrepreneurial businessman Warner LeRoy, grandson of Harry Warner, one of the founders of Warner Bros., developed plans for a seven-park entertainment complex that he called Great Adventure.

Six flags great adventure log flume