Wild Adventures (known previously as Liberty Farms) is a zoological theme park in Clyattville, Georgia, which is located south of

Valdosta, Georgia Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2021 had ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. It is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and has been managed by Jon Vigue since January 2019. The park features rides and attractions, including six roller coasters, exotic animals, shows, Splash Island water park and concerts from country, pop, rock, Christian, and oldies superstars. The park is located just off of

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from ...

History

Kent Buescher, the founder of Wild Adventures, started the park with his wife, Dawn, on a plot of farmland outside of

Valdosta Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2021 had ...

, Georgia in 1996 for around $10 million. Wild Adventures started out as a small petting zoo known as Liberty Farms D&L. The park is home to six

roller coasters A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

and numerous flat rides. The rides were initially added to the park in 1998 and it has since rapidly grown. "Splash Island", the park's water park, opened in 2003 as the park's largest expansion which includes several water slides and attractions. In 2004, Adventure Parks Group purchased

Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florid ...

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making ...

. The company was privately held by Buescher. Expansion died down for the park following the Cypress Gardens purchase. 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 their intent to add the Shaka Zula 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. The park operated without interruption during the bankruptcy reorganization. On September 25, 2007, Wild Adventures was sold because of bankruptcy requirements. Adventure Parks Group LLC, announced that Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Winter Haven and Wild Adventures park in Valdosta, Georgia, will be sold to the highest bidder in a private auction starting September 25. The sale fulfilled requirements resulting from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing by Adventure Parks Group a year ago, but did not mean the end of either theme park. The opening minimum bid for a package purchase of the parks is $53.25 million, Sumner said. The opening minimum bid for Cypress Gardens was $17.4 million and the opening minimum bid for Wild Adventures was $38.85 million. In September 2006, Adventure Parks Group filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors seeking payment for $25 million in debts. Much of the company's financial difficulties can be traced to 2004, when three hurricanes (

Hurricane Charley Hurricane Charley was the first of four separate hurricanes to impact or strike Florida during 2004, along with Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, as well as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the United States. It was the third named s ...

Hurricane Frances Hurricane Frances was the second most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic during 2004 and proved to be very destructive in Florida. It was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hur ...

and

Hurricane Jeanne Hurricane Jeanne was a Category 3 hurricane that struck the Caribbean and the Eastern United States in September 2004. It was the deadliest hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Mitch in 1998. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurrica ...

) ravaged East

Polk County, Florida Polk County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 census. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland. Polk County comprises the Lakeland–Winter H ...

and left a trail of destruction at Cypress Gardens. On September 25, 2007,

The Ledger ''The Ledger'' is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida, and the Polk County area. The paper was founded on August 22, 1924, as the ''Lakeland Evening Ledger''. In 1927, it bought its main competitor, the morning ''Lakeland Star-Telegram ...

reported that Herschend Family Entertainment had purchased Wild Adventures for $34.4 million. Upon Herschend taking over the park, they had "Gauntlet" removed and indicated that they do not plan on opening the "Shaka Zula River Adventure" log flume ride. However, Herchend did open The Rattler, the first new ride in three years, on March 21, 2008. It is a Huss

Frisbee A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreationally and competitiv ...

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 ZooTampa at Lowry Park (formerly known as Lowry Park Zoo or Lowry Park Zoological Garden) is a nonprofit zoo located in Tampa, Florida. In 2009, Lowry Park Zoo was voted the #1 Family Friendly Zoo in the US by Parents Magazine, and is recognized ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Co ...

and renamed "Tasmanian Tiger". In February 2009, the American

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

zombie comedy The zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror motifs with slapstick comedy as well as morbid humor. History The earliest roots of the genre can be found in Jean Yarbrough's ''King of th ...

Zombieland ''Zombieland'' is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer in his theatrical debut and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The film follows a geeky college student (Jesse Eisenberg) making his way t ...

'' 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 Celebration City was a theme park located in Branson, Missouri, United States. It was themed after America in the 20th century, with areas based on Route 66, Small-town America in the 1900s, and a beachside boardwalk in the 1920s. As a "sister ...

in Branson, Missouri. Gold Rush and Mystery Maze were removed. "Bug Out" was renamed "Go Bananas". The S&S Doubleshot was renamed "Firecracker". Two new rides, "Tail Spin" and "Wacky Wheels", were added before the 2013 season; in 2015 "Jungle Rumble", a flat ride, was added. 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. In early 2021 it was announced that the park's CCI wooden coaster Cheetah would be retired after closure in the 2020 season, as were the park's

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

s and mini-golf course. For the 2022 season, the "Falcon Flyers" was renamed the "American Flyers" and received a patriotic paint job. "Brews and Bites", a restaurant, started selling alcoholic beverages - also new covered seating and live concert area were added to it.

Sections

In 2019 the park built "Discovery Outpost", a new children's section, with all rides in the area being recycled, and many rides being repainted and renovated to match the theme of the area. It is the only themed section of the park, having a swampland theme to reflect the surroundings of the park, as well to complement the nearby Alapaha Trail. Past themes included Base Camp, Bugsville, Australian Outback, Alapaha Preserve, The Lagoon, African Pridelands, and Wild West.

Attractions

Roller coasters

Thrill rides

Family rides

Water rides

Discovery Outpost

Oasis Outpost

Splash Island water park

Splash Island is a Polynesian themed water park and is free with admission into Wild Adventures. It takes up of the park with seven rides, and five shops. It is frequently the most crowded area of the park. Splash Island first opened in 2003 being Wild Adventures largest expansion since rides were introduced in 1999. When Splash Island was opened it had no theming and more closely resembled a community pool center. In 2008, Wild Adventures announced that Splash Island would undergo a $4 million renovation turning the park into a Polynesian themed paradise. Wild Adventures also announced their intent to build a new ride, the Wahee Cyclone.

Rides

*Bonzai Pipelines :3 Inter-twined slides featuring the tallest slides in Georgia built in 2004 *Catch-a-wave bay :A large wave pool built in 2003 *Hakini Rapids :A 5-Story "Family Sized" water slide with unexpected turns and drops built in 2011 *Kalani Blasters :2 Medium sized inter-twined slides built in 2003 *Kona Cliffs :A giant, "Family Sized" speed slide with three drops built in 2011 *Paradise River :A relaxing "lazy river" through the water park built in 2003 *Polynesian Adventure :A 4-story water fortress built in 2003 *Wahee Cyclone :A 5-story water tornado built in 2009 *Sea Turtle Cove :A small water play area for younger children built in 2006 image:Bonzai Pipelines.JPG, Banzi Pipelines image:Kalani Blasters, Wild Adventures.JPG, Kalani Blasters image:Kona Cliffs and Hakini Rapids, Wild Adventures.JPG, Kona Cliffs and Hakini Rapids image:Paradise River, Wild Adventures.JPG, Paradise River image:Polynesian Adventure, Wild Adventures.JPG, Polynesian Adventure image:Wahee Cyclone, Wild Adventures.JPG, Wahee Cyclone

Former rides

Annual events

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...

Day * Girl Scouts Day * Great Pumpkin LuniNights and Pumpkin Spice Festival -

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...

themed event with several attractions, Terror in the Wild is currently discontinued and it was replaced by one of these seasonal Fall events such as this one. * Wild Adventures Christmas -

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

themed event.

References

External links

* {{HFEC Amusement parks in Georgia (U.S. state) Tourist attractions in Lowndes County, Georgia Buildings and structures in Lowndes County, Georgia Herschend Family Entertainment 1996 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Amusement parks opened in 1996