Our Family’s Experience and Review of this Great New Event

Most theme parks in moderate climates have some sort of holiday event whether that “Smokey Mountain Christmas” at Dollywood or “Holiday in the Park” at Six Flags. New for 2023 at Wild Adventures is their Christmas event “Wild & Bright”. We had a chance to experience Wild & Bright the Saturday after Thanksgiving and absolutely loved the abundant and varied activities throughout the park. This event has so many things happening that it’s ridiculous, much of it geared toward families, kids and the young at heart. We went on a Saturday and there were 45 events (some duplicates) on the schedule! There were literally several Christmas somethings going every hour all day, so much so that we didn’t even come close to seeing everything. Here’s our family’s review and experiences of our spectacular day that really got us into the holiday spirit.

During the daytime events included several Christmas shows that ranged from a fun short musical to an elf training academy. At night there was a puppet show and a nativity show. We made it to everything other than the nativity and these were all really well done and fun for all ages with many of them being interactive getting the kids on stage to be part of the show. There was live music at Brews & Bites during the afternoon too.

There were also so many special activities going on with the Foam Snowstorm Party probably being the highlight for most kids. Just think giant foam party with Christmas music like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and you’ve basically got it, but be sure to bring a change of clothes as if you spend more than a couple minutes in it you’ll probably come out a wet soapy mess. There’s also the chance to meet Santa, take your picture inside an inflatable snow globe, hear Christmas stories from Ms. Claus and do some arts and crafts.

Then there’s the food, the many many choices of food. There were so many unique offerings and I think the Sugar Shack had some of the longest waits in the park. The park had Christmas Tasting cards which got you 5 items for $30 or you could buy them a la carte. Most of the choices slanted toward the sweet side rather than savory, but there were BBQ sliders, mozzarella bread sticks and a few other choices to balance out all the sugar. Some of the more unique items included funnel cake fries, a bunch of specialty beverages like s’mores coffee and even eggnog ice cream. This was all in addition to the regular food offerings at the park too. There’s even the chance to have brunch with Santa most weekend mornings (with reservations) prior to park opening. Speaking of Santa, at night at Santa’s Outpost there is free hot chocolate. I’m going to repeat that, there is FREE hot chocolate! How many times have you seen free anything at a theme park?

After the sun goes down is when the magic really begins. There are lights everywhere, more the 2 million according to the park. The light displays are almost too numerous to describe from the main tree at the center of the park, light shows on the lake every 30 minutes after dark, a tunnel of lights near Boomerang, lights everywhere at Santa’s Outpost and subtle adorable displays everywhere else. The star of the show that can’t be missed is the “Wonder Walk” wooden walkway through 2.5 acres of woods (what’s normally the Alapaha Trail) as it had one of the most spectacular Christmas light displays I’ve ever seen. It starts off as just some beautifully decorated trees in a forest and them morphs into an awe inspiring display of color using fog machines and laser projection. It just has to be seen and experienced to do it any justice.

Even though it’s Christmas season the rest of the park is still in full swing (understandably minus the water park and water rides). Wild & Bright really just adds a ton of new things to do (or eat) on top of all the other great attractions. This means you can still see all the awesome animal displays, get a ride on Boomerang or catch a beer at Water’s Edge Brews & Bites. Wild & Bright really just adds a ton of new things to do on top of all the other great attractions. The park also had so many subtle details that really added to the atmosphere from the dozens of picture spots all around to smaller light displays of things like palm trees scattered about.

Our 7 year old is a tough audience as he’s essentially been to nearly every holiday thing in the Southeast and he simply loved Wild & Bright, declaring it his favorite ever. We were there for almost 9 hours and still didn’t see everything and it wasn’t because of long lines, it was just because there was so much to do. We’ll have to head back to see things like Candy Cane Express train ride, the Live Music Nativity, get our character pictures at the Holly Jolly Junction or roast s’mores in the Gingerbread Village. Wild & Bright runs through December 31st and concludes with a New Year’s Eve Family First Night Celebration and fireworks display! If you’re local or passing through Valdosta, be sure to check out Wild Adventure’s holiday extravaganza that will no doubt leave you in the Christmas spirit!