Photos and Story by Robin Postell
VALDOSTA, Ga. – (September 13, 2018) Today at an 11 a.m. press conference a big announcement was made at Wild Adventures. Present were many county and city officials, local luminaries, and a covey of enthusiastic red-cheeked children there to assist in the ceremonial ground-breaking moment that took place following speeches and the unveiling of upcoming expansions to the theme park.
Construction begins at Wild Adventures in October 2018 and will be completed by March 2019. The expansion will include a brand new 3-acre kids’ area featuring alligator attractions. There will also be a free admissions program for children ages 3-5.
The new area will be constructed near the main entrance of the park and will feature six kid-friendly rides – the Okefenokee Express, Flying Gators, Turtle Twist, Swampwater Snake, Hoppin’ Gator and Okefenokee Friends. There will be several opportunities to get up close and personal with dozens of alligators in the new exhibit, Alligator Alley.
Daily zookeeper talk and the all new “Gators!” show will be a main attraction, along with the opportunity to feed alligators.
There will be a Gator Crossing Rope Bridge – a netted bridge suspended directly over the reptile habitat, Alligator Alley.
“With this new area, Wild Adventures is providing an amazing place for families to experience together,” said Molly Deese, Wild Adventures vice president and general manager. “It is really important to us that, as soon as they enter the park, families have an experience that results in memories worth repeating.”
The new kids’ area will lead into the Alapaha Trail, which offers an authentic swamp experience as guests stroll through an actual Georgia swamp, encountering animal exhibits featuring native and exotic species. The Alapaha Trail finishes with a visit to Wild Adventures largest and most famous alligator, Twister.
An added bonus will be a free admission program for children between the ages of 3-5. Beginning September 17, their parents will be able to register their children for a Pre-K Free Kids’ Season Pass online at WildAdventures.com/Pre-K. The free pass can be used for visits for the rest of 2018 and all of the 2019 season. “The Pre-K Free Kids’ Season Pass is another way Wild Adventures provides an incredible value for families,” said Patrick Pearson, marketing director.
While Wild Adventures looks forward to new additions in 2019, the park is celebrating Halloween with Terror in the Wild and Kid-O-Ween beginning Sept. 21 and Wild Adventures Christmas select days throughout December. For more information about special events and operating days, visit WildAdventures.com.
Wild Adventures employs between 800-1000 and has a hefty impact on the local and state economy, bringing thousands both locally, statewide and nationally to the park each year.
Myrna Ballard, introduced as a “great friend of the park,” remarked, “There is not a better corporate citizen than Wild Adventures.”
Lowndes County Commission Chairman and CEO of Waller Heating & Air Bill Slaughter, wiping sweat from his brow in the muggy still-hot September Georgia weather, “The investment that the Wild Adventure family is making is invalable out in the community, in Lowndes County and the cities within Lowndes.”
Wild Adventures Public Relations Manager Adam Floyd reminded everyone that this weekend during the Pecan Harvest Festival, North and South Carolina Hurricane Florence evacuees will have free admission to the park.
