Can you imagine a summer made memorable by screams? Not likely? Well, it could be if you spend a portion of it at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ, America’s number one seasonal theme park.

Celebrating its 33rd season, Six Flags has enough great adventure to please the most demanding child and the most blasé adult. Best news of all, from Manhattan it’s 90 minutes (70 miles SW, through the Lincoln Tunnel) to the new Bugs Bunny National Park, with Looney Tunes characters galore, Fantasy Forest, Golden Kingdom, Carnival Plaza, Movietown and those scream machines that’ll have you in jaw-dropping twists, spirals, inverted loops, forward/backward acceleration and, well, drops.

Six Flags is loaded with live stunt and music attractions, but it’s famous for its coasters. There’re 14 of ’em, including the awesome, 23-story-tall Nitro, which gives the longest ride – four minutes, soaring you from 0 - 80 mph; Superman - Ultimate Flight, flying you up to 50 mph just like the Man of Steel, Batman and the bottomless Medusa, which rockets you 13 stories high through heart-pounding inversions at over 60 mph.

For the very brave (and not terribly young), there’s the intimidating Kingda Ka, “the tallest (45 stories - 456’), fastest on Earth,” (hydraulically) launching you from 0 - 128 mph in 3.5 seconds, straight up and then straight-down in a corkscrew plunge. No hot dogs or hamburgers before this ride! There’s another challenge this season, the monstrous El Toro, which towers 188 feet. This wooden coaster is a return to the era of classic scream machines, but it has speed (70 mph) and sets the world record for the steepest wooden coaster drop (76 degrees).

For the less daring or younger set, there’s tamer fun in Balin’s Jungleland with rides; a play area with tunnels, slides, cargo nets, etc.; white Bengal tigers in a glass-enclosed compound; and, in a shady, breezy amphitheatre, Spirit of the Tiger, with tigers (in and out of water), dancers and acrobats. Dolphin Discovery is another entertaining option.

Elsewhere there’s Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure Train, a daunting log flume, a parachute jump and indoor simulator rides: SpongeBob SquarePants 3-D and Houdini’s Great Escape.

Throughout the park, super heroes (Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, Batman and Robin) meet and greet for autographs and photo opts. Looney Tunes characters parade every afternoon. There are fireworks on weekends. For a meal in A/C comfort, try the Best of the West or La Cocina (Mexican) restaurants.

Six Flags’ animal safari (included in admission), which many rank better than Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, is the largest drive-through wildlife preserve outside of Africa. Over 1,200 animals (lions, tigers, bears, hippos) roam 350 acres of “natural habitat.” The giraffe, gigantic elephants and baboons get top billing. Bring plenty of film!

For things wet n' wild, there’s Hurricane Harbor (separate admission, with changing rooms and lockers) for “gale-force” thrills in the “million-gallon” wave pool, on towering water slides and an inner tube river ride.

Six Flags Great Adventure is open through Labor Day, September 4, and weekends into October when Fright Fest begins. For pricing, directions, transportation options, shows, Brunch with Bugs reservations, lodging options and Flash Pass pricing (to avoid long lines), visit www.sixflags.com/greatadventure.