ECZenith

Monday - July 17, 2006 Morey's Piers – Wildwood, NJ Every year, around this time in the summer, my parents, brother, and usually my girlfriend Ali make the trip down to SFGADV and the Jersey Shore. Unfortunately, Ali was not able to make the trip, but the rest of us went as planned. We left Rhode Island about 4:00 am and successfully avoided New York traffic, arriving in Wildwood, NJ at 11:00. For those of you unfamiliar with Wildwood, it is a long boardwalk stretching down to Cape May, featuring six blocks of public beaches and three awesome amusement piers. We didn't waste any time-after checking into our hotel in Wildwood Crest, my brother Cory and I threw the sunblock on and hit the beaches. After about half an hour swimming in the Atlantic, it was time for rides-and Morey's Piers have LOTS of them. As mentioned before there are three piers, I will list them from North to South. Surfside Pier We paid the $40 each for the multipark wristband and started with Surfside Pier. (Morey's rides use tickets but bands are available) I noticed a lot of changes to this pier, (I hadn't been to Wildwood in about 2 years) some I had known about and some I did not. New for 2005 was the AtmosFEAR Drop Tower. I believe it is a Zamperla Z-Force but I could be wrong. The ride is near the end of the pier, overlooking the adjacent waterpark and offers a great view of the Atlantic Ocean. One cool thing about Wildwood's rides is that they are basically all intertwined into eachother, and some even go below the boardwalk and very close to other rides' areas. So is the same for the Zoom Phloom, which is definitely my favorite log ride ever. The flume features two huge drops and a very long elevated course over the waterpark and amusement pier and seems to come WAY to close to the Vekoma SLC. After the first big drop, the logs enter a tunnel labeled “under the boardwalk” and that's what they do... There is a small dark-rideish section in which the song is playing and there are some scenes that show what might happen under there... This ride is very unique, one of the best on the pier. You don't get completely soaked but the water was nice in the unusual heat. Renovated very recently (and I was a bit skeptical about this) was Dante's Inferno. (a ride-thru ghost house) It is now known as Dante's Dungeon and has been completely rebuilt, with a new facade, actual props and tricks that work, and most importantly a live actor or two... All I can say is WOW, what a difference in quality. The facade features new artwork and a demon that spews fog/smoke down onto the pier below. The three-headed dragons are still there, about the only thing I recognize from the older ride. Dante is a two-level haunted house that sends the little carts outside a few times for a quick turnaround before crashing back through the building. It reaches the bottom floor via a long outside ramp, which is where the actor scared the hell out of me just out of the non-rider's view. GREAT new props, can't believe they went and fixed this gem up. Well done Morey's! If you're a dark ride fan, check this one out. Besides having some kiddies and flat rides like a Condor, Gravitron, a giant slide, fun house, etc. Surfside has a few coasters as well. One of the little changes was the windstorm-like coaster was replaced by a coaster from a neighboring pier-The Doo Wopper, a 50's themed wild mouse coaster that oddly enough sells an onride video from wireless cameras. I was surprised they put the cameras on such a minor coaster. This ride is fun, and like everything else that day, had no lines due to the extreme heat. The coaster opened a few years ago, and used to be located on Adventure Pier and was moved here recently. At the front of the pier is a Flitzer coaster which is just an 'ok' ride, a zippy little fairground coaster. The most noticeable ride, perhaps in the whole area is the Great Nor Easter, a Vekoma SLC. It was painted this year to a bright white color so a lightshow can be displayed on it after dark. It looks pretty good too, with this and Atmos Fear making a pretty impressive appearance. It seems this coaster has been taken care of better than any of the many SLCs I've been on over the years. The coaster is slightly modified to have the station on the left side, and it's unbelievable how they intertwine the twisted layout around waterslide towers and walkways, the Zoom Phloom and other surrounding areas. The climb up the lift offers a view right out onto the ocean, ride is definitely a good example of what an SLC should be, all about location. So now we're walking south down the boardwalk to the next pier. If you plan on visiting Wildwood, either plan on doing a lot of walking back and forth between the ride piers, or ride the infamous tram cars that travel down the yellow paths on the boardwalk. Every time one approaches, the extremely repetitive but delightfully cheesy “watch the tramcar, please” spiel is heard. It's funny watching the crowded boardwalk open up just enough to let the trams through. The tram costs two dollars each way, since we'd been eating Jumbo's pizza (which is the best I've ever had) we decided it would be better to walk off those calories and save the few bucks for upcharge rides. Speaking of which... there are two haunted houses and many “extreme” rides that require an extra fee. The two haunted houses that require an extra fee are “Zombie World” and “Den of Lost Thieves” and they are both located on the boardwalk between Surfside Pier and Mariners Landing. We had ridden both before but decided to give Zombie World another try. Den of Lost Thieves is a Sally shooting dark ride themed to pirates. It's decent, I forget exactly how much it cost but it wasn't too outrageous. Zombie World is the better of the two, you can't miss the huge animatronic monster in front of the building luring guests to drop the $5 (w/coupon) for this unique shooting ride. You board a wide caged car that creeps through a good-sized track in which you shoot zombies and monsters that jump out in front of the cage. No cardboard cutouts here, all lifelike stuff so I found it to be worth the money, I suppose. You can also re-ride immediately for only a dollar more, making it only $3 a ride. Good stuff, check it out if you're in the area. Mariners Landing We did the two north piers first as Adventure Pier didn't open until 4pm that day. Mariner's Landing also has a nice waterpark on the pier (Raging Waters, the other is Ocean Oasis on Surfside Pier) Onto the rides: Mariners has two coasters: The Sea Serpent, a Vekoma Boomerang in great shape, and Rollie's Coaster, a surprisingly smooth, well maintained Pinfari Z40 model. The pier has a suspended monorail that runs parallel with pedal carts around the back half of the ride park and waterpark. They also have what I think is the best flat ride in Wildwood-The Maelstrom which is a KMG Spinout. Mariners Landing has a giant wheel built right over the waterpark, and has most of the kid's rides of all the piers. Newly refurbished and given new life, is “Pirates Of Wildwood” which is the park's old “Dark River” haunted boat ride. Upon entering your boat, you're given a pair of 3D glasses. Believe it or not, the 3D effects actually work, but are mostly just ultraviolet paintings. There are some actual moving props and some good effects on this short dark boat ride. I found it to be much better than the old Dark River version. Adventure Pier The last of the three piers is my least favorite, but has the best coaster of all three parks the Great White. Great White is a CCI out and back with some unique elements and like all of the other rides at Morey's offers a beautiful view of the Atlantic. The steel supported wooden coaster begins with a dive under the boardwalk and then turns to climb the lift hill. Airtime is plentiful on this coaster and as long as you hit it before it gets dark, you can basically reride as many times as you want. My brother and I had the train to ourselves for a couple of rides. Great White is definitely something special and is worth the trip to Wildwood alone. Adventure Pier has some classic boardwalk stuff like a skyride, gokarts, a retro “snake slide”, maze, etc. but also has modern favorites like the S&S Screamin' Swing, Skycoaster, Spring Shot, and Chance Inverter. It's a fun park, but flooded with upcharge rides so there's not much you can do with your wristband here. Jersey Junkyard is a pretty dull haunted house and the only one that didn't get any love over the last couple years. AP also has the area's only walkthrough haunted house “Curse Of The Mummy 3D” which is pretty unexciting, and has the painted on 3D effects, but hey, it's a walkthrough and they're becoming pretty rare these days. That's day one of my trip, please enjoy the following photos. While my brother and I were just randomly posing near the Great White, SharkTums bursted through the boardwalk and was like "YeaaaaahhhhH!!!" Who says White coasters can't jump? This thing has some serious airtime issues! I love this photo... Jersey Junkyard, the name says it all. Chance ride of death, the inverter, located at the entrance to the Great White. A must if you like "extreme" rides. The Great White, and the rest of Adventure Pier. Sean and Cory taking a breather before the next long hike to Adventure Pier. I suppose the will be today's "signature shot"... The Sea Serpent with the giant wheel in the background. And what? Pirates of Wildwood. It was actually pretty neat. Check out the awesome new facade! At the entrance to ML, is Jumbo's Pizza, the best pizza I've had. Ever. They have these funny signs all around the outdoor eating area, about 6 different ones, all pretty funny. Mariners Landing from afar. Also between the two piers is the Golden Nugget, This ride is just bizzare, and it's been abandoned for years since Dinosaur Beach closed. It combines a wooden coaster with a dark ride. Morey's is attempting to relocate the ride. Grawrrrrr!! I'm evil zombie creature, gimme $5.99! The entrance to Zombie World. The building looks small from the outside, I have to wonder where the hell the ride is! On your way to Mariners Landing you will find this, one of two shooting dark rides-Den of Lost Thieves. I wish I had taken some photos of TGNE at night with the awesome lighting. Talk about foot-choppers! The Great Nor' Easter looking sharp in its new bright white paint. Dante's Dungeon, the best haunted house in Wildwood was a huge surprise, right on level with some major park's haunted houses. Don't let the outside of the ride fool you! When we met up with mom later, we actually convinced her to try it out. That's her in the front of the log. The Zoom Phloom, easily one of the best log flume rides out there. Such a long ride, and just a lot of fun. Well, I was having fun until Shark Tums came along... The leg was later amputated.

Here are the construction photos. I'm sorry but there are only two, I only had a couple shots left on the camera. The brand new "pirate ships" have just recently arrived and will serve as the coaster's individual cars. This should be a neat little ride. Here is the show building with about half the track installed. As you can see, the coaster will have a few bunny hops on the top level just like Wizard's Cavern. Just out of view is the "big drop" which is on the right side. It was only about half done

Very cool, the numbers sound good.

That's madness! I always thought the proslide tornado would be good for that sort of thing. ^^About the conveyor belts, if you fell off of the raft, I don't think you would be hurt. The belts move pretty quick, but I not really so fast where they would skin you alive. You'd probably just be brought to the top of the slide.

Wow, so it's like you're being sponsored. Are you going to spraypaint the structure the pine color when you're done building it? That would definately add to the realism.

Great photos, I still can't get over the fact that they have the EuroStar, Achterbahn, Log Flume, Rapids Rides, etc. and they move them from place to place on a regular basis! And I agree... the Airwolf looks awesome and I'm surprised one hasn't shown up at a US park or fair circuit. If we're able to transport Top Scans from fair to fair why not an airwolf? Again, awesome pictures, thanks for the report!

Here's the entire list of places this exact ride appeared. I'll have construction photos of Pirate's Hideaway within the hour, btw. Fun Forest Amusement Park as Broadway Trip (Built in 1962) Cedar Point as Broadway Trip Palisades Amusement Park as Broadway Trip Palisades Amusement Park as Love Bugs Canadian National Exhibition as Love Bugs Casino Pier as Wizard's Cavern (Demolished 2003) This info is from RCDB.com

You know who else wants rocks? Tyrone Biggums

No, they just kind of zip the rafts uphill at several points. Not incredibly fast, but definately the same if not more than a master blaster type slide.

pkdcoaster, I can confirm that Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall was in fact the "Free Fall" from Rocky Point Park. It was sold at the auction when the park closed and they built it at the then SFWOA, gave it a new color scheme and name. I've ridden it in both it's locations, Rocky Point was the only park in RI besides the little kids' Enchanted Forest.

I have a new favorite waterslide after I finally got ro ride it last week. SFNE's Typhoon which uses high speed conveyor belts instead of "master blasters". It was a really interesting machine, just as fun to watch as it was to ride. We have a really nice waterpark here, better than most I have to pay extra for. http://www.sfne.com/index.php?cat=gallery&gallery=hh&p=3

SFNE should be good on a Monday, I go about twice a month on a weekday and the lines move pretty fast. I wouldn't worry about needing multiple days for El Toro to be running, but 2 days during the week should definately be enough to see the whole park. Today, Wednesday, it took me an hour and 45 minutes to get on Kingda Ka and I got there at opening. It went down 3 times while I waited in line, than El Toro finally opened and I got two rides waited half an hour each. Unfortunately, Superman, Nitro, and Batman all had hour plus waits .I reccomend you get a qbot to avoid the potentially busy summer crowd. I regretted not getting one today as I was only able to do the two big Intamins... but I mean, they were worth it.

Great to see vertical construction has started. I can't believe this thread is almost at 100 pages and they've just now put supports up. Oy...

I was at the park today and the ride did not open until 1:00 pm. When it did open, it ran reliably all day and the line never reached longer than 30 minutes. I would say it's worth the risk. I believe the ride was down 2 seperate days at the beginning of the season all day, but I would hope these issues have been worked out. Out of 250+ coasters El Toro is my #2 only behind Superman Ride Of Steel. Get over to the states and ride it!

Hey all, I just got back from a 3 day trip down the Jersey Shore and SFNJ and while at Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, I noticed a new coaster was under construction on the left side of the pier. "Pirate's Hideaway" will open later this summer. So far half of the show building is up, and about half the trackwork, but there is still a ways to go as far as theming/etc. There was a sign posted in front of the site showing concept art and it looked pretty impressive! Some of you may remember the "Wizard's Cavern" which was an unusual dark ride/coaster hybrid that started with a spiral lift hill and featured indoor and outdoor sections, with track elements including small bunny hops and a couple of decent sized drops. PH will be located on the former site of this ride. According to RCDB.com, Wizard's Cavern openined in 1988 as "love Bugs" and was relocated many times before that before falling victim to the wrecking ball in 2003. I actually mangaed to get POV video of this strange coaster the year before it was wrecked, and once I get it set up, I'll post it here. Why is this important? This new ride is VERY similar in layout to the aforementioned WC, and that old ride was special to me for some reason. I took only a couple of photos as I was limited on memory in the camera, and I'll post them here later, just wanted to get the news out. I spoke with a Casino Pier employee who took me to the area where the pirate ship themed coaster cars are kept. (Got a photo of those too) He told me the ride should be ready in a couple of months and all parts were on site. Great news if you liked that old bizzare coaster... So good to see a remake. Photos will be posted soon. "Pirate's Hideaway" is a remake of the old "Wizard's Cavern" which was lost in 2003. Photo credit Erik Sakowski - RCDB.com

Yeah, that's why I want to give it a try even though there's one right over at SFNE, I just have this feeling it will run a good program, and I haven't been disappointed by a huss ride in recent memory.

I was a couple days away from asking about the progress of this ride. I'm going to head over there as soon as they open it, haven't been to Canobie since Starblaster was new. (SHAME!) Thanks for the update! Keep us posted. You can never have enough Huss frisbees...

I would suggest NOT going in October if you want to hit all of the rides (if youre trying to avoid the event) just in case they utilize existing attractions for haunted houses/scare zones. For example, last year Poseidon's Fury was closed and used for the 'Terror Mines' haunted house. There will be some props set up in the daytime that may distract from the original theming, but no big deal... You'll have a great time regardless.

I haven't been to either but if given the choice, I would go with SFFT. Krypton coaster is on my must-ride list-love the location!

I think I'm just going to take the risk and head right to El Toro at opening, I'm hoping it won't be too crowded on Thursday, I know anything could change, but are the lines really 3 hrs + on a weekday?? Also, how has the line for Superman been this year? I'd imagine the wait times have been cut shorter due to the new ride... I really like that ride for some reason, but it's no Tatsu.

^ That picture inspires me to drink...

I've e-stopped on SFNE's Mind Eraser and SFGADV's Nitro. I hate not having a floor under the lift on the SLCs for some reason.

I'm sorry is that $70 for 3 people? That's not too bad if I'm able to get a couple rides on El Toro and Kingda Ka, and some of the other rides that get awful lines like Superman. I only have one day to see it all so I may have to risk it. If there's a huge line for q-bots, I'm obviously not going to try it, but hopefully I can get on Toro on a Thursday without it if I'm not able to get one...

I don't know... but I got a laugh out of it. So bored at work...

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but how much would a q-bot cost at SFGADV? I know SFNE's was $45 for 3 people but I'd imagine NJ's would cost more considering they have like 3 times more rides.