Jersey Shore Parks - What is Feasible in One Day?

[Brad]

Hi all,

 

I am planning a trip for the summer and the only area I'm having a hard time with is the seaside pier parks along the New Jersey coast.

 

We have one day devoted to this area, so I wanted to make sure I had realistic expectations on what we could hit during this time. The date is Wednesday, June 3, 2015. I assume no parks have released their hours this far in advance - any insight on what to expect?

 

We will be driving from the SFGAdv area and then staying the night in Wildwood (before taking the ferry to Delaware and continuing on to SFA, KD and BGW).

 

What are the "best" parks to hit along this route?

 

Here's what I had in mind (thinking we could possibly hit 3-4 parks):

-Gillians Wonderland Pier

-Steel Pier

-Morey’s Piers

 

We'd like to hit Seaside Pier as well but I have no clue if that will even be re-built or open after last year's fire.

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

If anyone is curious, here is our "road map" for the park's we'll be hitting (starting w/ SFNE, including Quassy, Knoebels, Hershey, SFGAdv, Jersey Shore, SFA, KD, BGW):

 

Any comments about our route are appreciated as well.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Brad

[shivtim]

It's pretty easy to hit a bunch of the Jersey parks in one day, depending on if you're just trying to get coaster credits or if you want to spend more time at each park. Here are some examples:

Photo TR: Jersey Shore

Skycoastin' Steve's 2011 Season Extravaganza!!

[coasterbill]

We'd like to hit Seaside Pier as well but I have no clue if that will even be re-built or open after last year's fire.

 

Casino Pier wasn't damaged by the fire but thanks to Hurricane Sandy I believe they're down to 2 credits... one is a kiddy coaster and the other is terrible. Funtown Pier no longer exists as it was destroyed during Sandy and the tiny pieces that remained were destroyed by the fire.

 

Hitting all of the parks you mentioned shouldn't be an issue though.

 

A few comments on the route

 

1) You'll be passing right by Lake Compounce on I-84. I'm not sure if you've ridden Boulder Dash but if not you should absolutely stop. Wildcat is running great also which is a huge change as that ride used to be brutal.

 

2) If Iron Cyclone is one of the major reasons for this trip then it's very risky going in early June. It might be open... but this is Six Flags New England we're talking about here and I could easily see this ride opening in late June or maybe even early July.

 

3) If you're a dark ride fan it would be a shame to take the Cape May Lewes Ferry and not visit Rehoboth Beach to ride the Haunted Mansion (it opens at 6:30 PM). It's awesome. Actually if you have any spare time at all on this trip I'd suggest visiting Rehoboth Beach since you're so close to it. It's probably the nicest beach / boardwalk on the east coast (in my extremely biased opinion).

 

4) Assuming you're renting a car, make sure it has an EZ PASS. You'll need it a lot on this trip.

[Brad]

^Thanks for the info!

 

-We have been to Lake Compounce before and will definitely stop by if we have time.

-We know the risk with Wicked Cyclone - we're OK with the fact that it might not be open (plenty of time to get back up to New England).

-For Rehoboth Beach, thanks for the tip - I had never even heard of this but it looks like a nice little stop.

-We'll definitely have the EZ Pass for the tolls (and know it's going to be expensive - coming from a Georgia native that isn't used to tolls at all )

[larrygator]

If you are going to Gillians Wonderland it might be worth your time to take a 15 minutes walk along the boardwalk to Playland's Castaway Cove. Only three non-great coasters but a few really intense flats. And there are good eats along the boardwalk.

 

The Haunted House at Rehoboth Beach is worth the side trip, but as stated earlier it doesn't open until 6:30 PM.

[BlahBlahson]

This summer I did a credit day starting with a 1 pm opening at Gillians pier, followed by Playland castaway cove, then steel pier Atlantic City, then drove fully around the bay and did the rehoboth haunted house, then finally both Jolly Roger parks in ocean city Maryland and Trimpers with a 12am closing. I drove solo and that was a pretty packed afternoon and evening, but I got in all 13 available credits and every dark ride so these shore parks really don't take a lot of time apiece. I would definitely say it's doable to hit Steel Pier, then both ocean city NJ parks, then morey's comfortably in one day, and depending on opening times add seaside heights pier to it at the beginning.

 

And as far as what was really worth doing beyond just the credit whoring, I would say.

 

1. Trimpers Haunted house/Fun house/Zipper/Mirror Maze

2. The Great White at Moreys (and the ghost ship/flats)

3. Rehoboth Haunted House

4. Kohr Bros. Peanut Butter and chocolate soft serve

5. Definitively MACK'S pizza in Wildwood

[Brad]

Cool - thanks for the tips. Your day seems a lot more hectic than what we were planning, so it's good to know that much can be packed in to one day.

 

I appreciate all of the input.

[YoshiFan]

In early June, in past years Castaway Cove and maybe Gillian's too didn't open until later in the day, around 5 or 6. Once they release their 2015 operating calendars I would check them so you don't end up at Ocean City when the parks are closed.

[coasterbill]

4. Kohr Bros. Peanut Butter and chocolate soft serve

 

YES on Kohr Bros... but orange is better.

And if you're in Rehoboth to ride the haunted mansion and eat Kohr Bros try a slice of Grotto pizza too... ignore the locals who are about to show up in this thread and tell you that Nicola is better. It's not... they're wrong.

[bill_s]

Morey's is at least 10x better at night, open 'til midnight or later.