A day at Wild Adventures is a perfect compliment to your trip to Disney World, Universal Studios or the beach.

If you live in greater Atlanta you probably make the drive south to Florida every year or so to visit one of its many theme parks, beaches or another destination. Our family has made this trip annually for years as part of our trip to Captiva Island and numerous other trips to Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, Disney World and cruises. Passing through Valdosta we’d always see billboards for Wild Adventures theme park, Google it, see that it looked pretty cool, but never manage to stop. That changed for us on November 25th when we made our first trip Wild Adventures and we had a simply spectacular day!

Wild Adventures is an amazing combination of rides, animals, water park, kids play areas and natural beauty that is perfect for families. Our 7 year old has seen a lot of theme parks and ridden some big coasters, almost everything in the southwest, and he declared at the end of the day that Wild Adventures was his favorite. Wild Adventures was purchased by Herschend Family Entertainment several years ago, the same company who owns Dollywood, and it’s obvious they’re investing in making this a great place for families. However, don’t think that this place is just for kids, there are some great roller coasters and flat rides for the thrill seekers as well as concerts and the picturesque “Brews & Bites” restaurant along the lake for the adults.

When we walked through the front gate we were greeted by several animals/keepers that immediately captivated us. There are animal exhibits everywhere ranging from meerkats to tigers to birds! Don.’t miss the train ride in the back that serves as a safari to see even more animals. If you’re the ride type, the roller coasters are a great mix with a couple kiddie coasters, an intermediate mouse coaster and the Boomerang or Twisted Typhoon inverted coaster with tons of inversions that will satisfy the thrill seekers. There are a ton of kids rids in the heart of the park as well as some grown-up flat rides for the more daring. Scattered throughout the park are also several kid play areas, mini splash pads, slides, rope bridges and the such. In summer there’s even a water park area that it’s included with a regular ticket which makes the park even more of a crazy good deal.

Wild Adventures is very affordable relative to other theme parks and you can often catch 50% discounts related to special events, food drives and other promotions. If you’re passing through Valdosta getting to the Wild Adventures couldn’t be easier. The park is situated a few miles off the interstate and there are numerous inexpensive hotels nearby. In fact we (and many other families with small children I know) would often stay a night in Valdosta anyway to break up the drive a little. I’m just sad we waited so long and passed the park so many times before visiting. Don’t make the same mistake we did, when scheduling your next Florida trip look to add a day coming or going at Wild Adventures, you’ll be happy you did.