At the close of 2005, Six Flags corporate management went through a change, with the former Premier Parks management team being replaced by a new team after a stockholder vote. The new team was headed by Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins. Snyder brought in Mark Shapiro, former head of ESPN Networks to run the company and implement system wide changes. New initiatives to make all the parks more “Family oriented” were rolled out, including additional street characters, daily parades, and smoking being limited to designated areas in the parks.

In addition, at Great Adventure park level management went through several changes with Rick McCurley departing the company before the season began, Ron Sevart stepping in from Six Flags Great America for the first part of the season, Chuck Hendrix, former GM of Astroworld appointed to run the park through the summer, and finally Mark Kane who started his career with Great Adventure when the park first opened moving from the GM position at Six Flags New England to run the largest and most challenging park in the chain. The combination of lack of time and proper budget to implement the necessary changes to park operations along with the changes in park-level management led to a season of inconsistency.

The new focus on families led to better training for park employees, with an emphasis on courtesy. Throughout the season it was more common than not to hear an employee say “Have a Happy 45th Anniversary at Six Flags”, and generally employees were friendly and helpful. The park was cleaner than it has been in years, with increased numbers of grounds crews sweeping walkways and keeping bathrooms fresh and clean. Landscaping continued to be a highlight of the park, with beautiful flowers for each season.

Ride operations offered the most promise at the beginning of the season with the park’s PR reps promising “all rides running, everyday”, but the park’s budget just never allowed this to happen. Between cost overruns for the new rides and sections and so much of the budget having been previously spent by the old management team, rides that broke down would take much longer to fix than they would have in the past, and staffing which has always been difficult become even more of a challenge. As a result, many days rides would open late, and one ride (Spin Meister) never made it back into service.

Another disappointing ride was The Chiller. After a delayed opening of the Robin side and a one-week return to service of the Batman side (after being closed all of the previous season) the entire ride was shut down after an incident with the Robin train. Fortunately there were no serious injuries, but the incident resulted in the Chiller's closure for the remainder of the season.

The new Bugs Bunny National Park section opened with the park, and offered 6 new attractions for the youngest of park guests in a nicely planned and executed setting, bringing new life to an otherwise dead section of the park. The area offers a nice kid-friendly environment with some classic kids rides, a restaurant, and a show facility along the beautiful lakefront.

Plaza del Carnaval and its signature ride, El Toro opened 2 months into the season after construction lagged behind and ran over budget. Most guests would agree it was worth the wait, with the new tropical area offering the sights, sounds and even the smells of tropical Mexico. The area, which had been part of Frontier Adventures, received a facelift which included a revamp of the existing La Cantina, to become La Coccina, offering delicious Mexican style food. A new flat ride called Tango was added, offering a mild thrill for those not yet brave enough to ride El Toro. The existing buildings and Rolling Thunder were given some cosmetic improvements to make them a cohesive part of the section, along with new lighting and landscaping. Originally plans called for the old Medusa bridge to remain closed creating two dead ends in the park, but responding to guests input, then GM Ron Sevart changed those plans and the walkway was re-opened just after El Toro opened.

Most park-goers would agree the real highlight of the season was the introduction of El Toro. The second INTAMIN coaster added to the park in two years delivered on all of its promises of speed, air time, and all out fun becoming arguably “the greatest wooden roller coaster in the world” just as advertised! El Toro suffered more than its fair share of technical difficulties throughout the season as the bugs were worked out, and due to the extreme negative G-Forces required extra attention (and time) for securing riders which slowed dispatch times, but what a ride! Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro even singled it out as his favorite ride in the chain.

For the Entertainment Department the season started off with great promise, with more street characters and shows than ever in the park’s history. The Justice League characters were introduced and were an instant hit with crowds. Daily parades through the park celebrating the 45th anniversary of Six Flags founding proved popular with families, prompting the addition of a second parade each night at the peak of the season. Shows filled most of the park’s venues until August when the chain wide declines in attendance forced the cancellation of some of the smaller shows and a paring down of the park’s entertainment offerings, including cancellation of Fireworks, the Welcome to the 60’s Show, Runaway Country, and night parades. The park’s ever-popular dolphin show got off to a very late start, with the animals arriving later in the season than usual, and being new to the facility the acclimation period was longer than normal running into mid-summer. The highlight show was Industrial Movement, a high-energy dance/percussion show in the Showcase theatre which most guests agree was one of the best shows produced in the history of the park.

Through the month of August things began to look bleak, with shortages in staffing, ride closures due to maintenance and budget issues, and lack of enforcement of park policies. With the introduction of Mark Kane as new GM, things began to change as rides which had been listed on the park’s own website as “closed for the season” re-opened. The park’s Fright Fest seemed like it would be a shadow of its former self between budget cutting and the new “family” emphasis, but turned out to be a decent event, on a par with previous years, and drew large crowds throughout October, but without the incidents of past years.

As the season drew to a close, hints about the parks future have emerged with plans approved by the Jackson Planning Board for much needed improvements to the parking lot, a new Safari Education Center, and a revamp of the park’s Looney Tunes Seaport area. In addition, the park has already announced special season pass holder benefits like “Rise and Scream” and “Dream Nite” along with special discounts and offers. Additionally, chain-wide a new “Code of Conduct” is being put in place to make the park a more family friendly environment all the time.