We’ve been season pass holders at Six Flags, Jackson, for a couple of years now as it’s a short 30-40 minute drive from us. It had caught my eye last year that there was an option to do an overnight camp in the safari but kids have to be 5 and my youngest Lauling was only 4 at the time. So this year I decided to book us in to one of the experiences. There were 3 or 4 dates to pick from and the end of August one worked best for us.
The event started with a 5 pm check-in, so we decided to spend the bulk of the day in the theme park. We arrived a bit later than we normally do, around 11.30, but the lines were relatively short and we knocked out Harlequin, Skull mountain and Metropolis before grabbing lunch from Johnny Rockets. After a pirate ship ride we jumped on the skyrider over to the other side of the park and did Runaway mine train, El Toro with my elder Lauling for the first time, log flume and then Houdini.
By that time it was around 4.30 so we headed back to the car and drove around to the check-in point which was at the guest drop off parking lot opposite hurricane harbor. You receive an e-mail a couple of days before the event with the meeting instructions and itinerary. We checked in and got wrist bands and then were instructed to follow in convoy in to the safari. It was really cool getting to drive in through the original car entrance and driving through some of the safari plains. We arrived at the adventura camp which is the stop on the regular safari where you can get off and were directed in to the parking area. As a heads up, it’s a tight space.
entering the Safari area
We were then all assigned an area to pitch our tents; you do need to bring your own tent, mattresses and bedding. We didn’t end up with the best spot- we were on the far right by the first picnic table area, close to where the movie screen was set up. I would have preferred to have been on the left hand side and there are even a few spots the other side of the fence that had great views of the safari plains. That said, we didn’t spend much time looking at the view. The Laulings went off and played in the small play area while we put up the tent and then dinner was served around 6.40. It was pretty ‘meh’ food consisting of burgers and hot dogs and some salad items. Dessert was chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Drinks were aplenty however in a large cooler; water, lemonade, iced tea and sodas. A bar was open after dinner serving beers and canned cocktails but these were an added cost of course.
bar 
dining area 
our tent
At 8 pm, we were directed over to the shop and split in to 4 groups. We had about 20 people in our group, putting the event attendees somewhere in the 80-90 people range. Each group was taken to meet an animal and then the groups were rotated. We were introduced to a snake, skunk, lizard and owl. A staff member talked about each animal and we were able to stroke the snake and the lizard.
meet a snake 
meet an owl
After that kids crafts were set up in the picnic table area. The Laulings made owls from pine cones, caterpillars from mini pom poms and clothes pegs and giant lightening bugs made from water bottles filled with glow sticks. They were super cute ideas. At 8.45 safari bingo was played- basically you made your own bingo card from animal stickers and then the bingo master called out different animals and you had to get 5 in a row. We didn’t take part in this, and this was perhaps the lull point of the evening.
At 9.15 they started the movie; Ice Age. I had bet on Lion King, but then figured getting rights for public viewings of Disney movies was probably expensive or impossible! While the movie was playing, you could make s’mores over at the fire pit and large bags of popcorn were handed out. The Laulings were starting to fade around 10 pm as this was significantly later than their normal bedtime, so we retired to the tent. Ice Age’s running time was meant to be 1 hour and 45 mins, but it went quiet at 10.30, so I can only assume no-one was left!
movie night 
smores
After the movie, the camp was fairly quiet and lights were turned off, but I could hear concert music coming from the park until midnight and it’s very close to a military base and several airplanes went over and literally made the ground shake- it was REALLY loud. So it wasn’t the best night’s sleep for sure but I hadn’t expected it to be, and people started moving around about 6 am the next day.
We were up around 6.15 am and after getting dressed, worked on getting the tent down and packed in to the car. Breakfast was served at around 7.15 and was just bagels, muffins and coffee crumb cake. There was only a Keurig for making coffee, which as you can probably imagine was not very efficient for 50 adults, making a pretty long line. There was also only one 2 slot toaster so that was also similarly frustrating!
After breakfast, we were all invited to feed the giraffes. We went up in our family parties and were given 4 sticks of sweet potato each and the opportunity to take a picture. Only 2 giraffes stuck around for the whole group, but it was enough for everyone to have the experience. At that same time we were able to walk around the other animal enclosures including a sloth, macaws, goats, pigs and a lynx cat.
At 9 we were invited to load on to the safari trucks. There were 3 trucks and we were in the last one. Our guide was entertaining and it did feel special to be the first and only trucks in the park. The highlight was we got to see the elephants being let out of their night time building and into their day time area.
Back at the camp, the store was then open, which houses a few snakes and reptiles, and allows you to buy a keepsake from the event.
At around 10.15, we all got back in our cars and joined a line to either go to the park or exit, which concluded the event.
Overall, it was a unique experience, well organized, and I could definitely see it becoming an annual event for the Laulings.