Feeling adventurous?
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/31/07
BY FRAIDY REISS
STAFF WRITER
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JACKSON — Cleo has had her weekly bath and has stolen as many pens as she can from unsuspecting park employees.
So now the 2-year-old capuchin monkey, who enjoys painting in her spare time, is ready for the crowds at Six Flags Great Adventure. The theme park's season begins Monday. But not everyone in the park feels as relaxed as Cleo does.
Some 300 landscapers, painters, carpenters, electricians, ride testers and performers bustled about the park Friday in a scene park president Mark A. Kane described as "controlled chaos."
"At 11 (a.m.) Monday we open our gates, and we will be ready to go," Kane said. "Everything's on schedule and on budget."
"Everything" includes a new section of the park called the Wild Safari Exploration Station, which gives visitors a chance to see some smaller animals closer up than they would during a drive through the park's Wild Safari.
The Exploration Station features Cleo, the monkey who excels at painting and picking pockets, and Kumai, a 1-year-old kinkajou who will do just about anything in exchange for a spoonful of peanut butter.
While visitors will not be allowed to touch Cleo and Kumai, they will get to pet Feasler, a 6-month-old female zebu (a miniature cattle); Fever, a baby Italian donkey; and Shelly Lightfoot, a 6-month-old Flemish giant hare. Eventually they also will get the chance to put their hands on Mika, a red-tail boa constrictor, according to Dave Peranteau, supervisor of animal training.
Also opening in Great Adventure for the first time this year is Wiggles World, a section of the park themed after the popular children's entertainment group. Its six rides and attractions are geared toward children ages 2 to 6.
The Wiggles themselves will visit the new section of the park May 27 to sing, dance and try out the rides.
Elsewhere in the park, Kingda Ka looms 456 feet high. It remains the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, said park president Kane.
Kingda Ka closed for two months for repairs soon after it opened 2005. But that is not unusual with a new, high-tech ride, park spokeswoman Angel Aristone said, adding that last year the ride saw "only minor problems."
This year the park plan to close Kingda Ka only when strong winds or rain hit the park, Aristone said.
Near Kingda Ka stands El Toro, a wooden roller coaster that debuted in June. Its 76-degree drop remains the steepest of any wooden rollercoaster in the world, Aristone said.
Great Adventure's 4 1/2-mile auto trail through the Wild Safari also is scheduled to open Monday, featuring the more than 1,200 animals that live at the park all year round.
But once again the 350-acre safari's 104 baboons will be enclosed in a gated area, unlike the days when they were allowed to romp on visitors' cars. The new policy is because of "business liabilities," Kane said.
"It's a shame, but it's a sign of the times," he said. "It's not good business anymore to let baboons climb all over people's cars."
This year's "signature animals" at the safari include King, a 2-year-old African lion, and Georgia the Giraffe. King sleeps 22 hours a day — "because he can," chief veterinarian William Rives said — and Georgia spends much of her time seeking attention from humans.
Also rated as a "signature animal" is Rip, a 39-year-old African bull elephant who weighs 13,500 pounds and refuses to go outside during the rain.
"He can kind of do what he wants, because he's a big boy," Rives said. "He's the biggest, baddest animal around. And he's nice." |
