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Playland's Castaway Cove Discussion Thread


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  • 1 month later...
Awesome! One of my top anticipated rides for '16

 

I think it's probably mine. So many great looking coasters opening in 2016 I likely will not ride due to location, but not this one. The closer it gets to opening the more hyped up I am getting to climb into this thing.

 

Between this and Totemay (no I will not stop) S&S is dominating Jersey this year LOL

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^ But just because there haven't been photos of vertical construction doesn't mean it hasn't taken place. They broke ground two months ago and began pouring footers. With all the freak warm temps I would think they'd have gotten a good bit done by now, might not be ready to show it off yet? The photos I posted of the trains were from weeks ago, I just missed them until this morning (along with everyone else apparently).

 

If there was another reason for me to travel the 1.5 hours to Ocean City I'd go check it out for myself and get some photos but for now I'll continue harassing the park to post some more via their FB page.

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  • 3 weeks later...

^

 

Track and supports have arrived. Caught this photo a member of the Great Adv FB group nabbed from a cam of some sort - trying to find out if there is a construction cam we can use to check as it should start going vertical any day now.

 

edit: we DO have a cam on the parks double shot. You can check it out here.

castaway.jpg.3225737cb2df61c21eb5e3cbce1f45f4.jpg

Sure is gonna be a tight squeeze, I can't imagine how they are going to fit two other coasters in there but it'll be fun to watch them do it.

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^ Yep!

 

Screenshots from the parks Facebook page attached. Apparently the other two are kiddie coasters but I read somewhere that I cannot find now that one of them is going *around* Gale Force. So good news for Jersey credit whores: with ToteMay @ GreatAdv you are getting 4 new ones this year lol.

 

They are having a contest to name one of the other two coasters (yes, I entered) and winner gets all kinds of tickets and whatnot. Details on their page.

playlandddd1.jpg.3dd394d9785f0bfedd4387c69ecbfa3a.jpg

Name that ride!

playyy.jpg.2a9fd71f782e1d3ac66c08efb082ffce.jpg

Note the "3 new coasters" bit

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My Mom is getting some major flooding in Wildwood - she sent me pics and it looks like the Titanic with flooded streets and giant chunks of ice in them. She's right by the back bay so they flood all the time, and it was expected. So naturally, I checked Playland's webcam to see if the construction site was flooded. Looks OK so far. More track on site. And the 24 hour recap (if you scroll down) shows the snow moving in. Pretty cool.

 

> Look <

 

Over here in Philly we woke up to a foot of snow.

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Looking at the webcam today, we have a few more footers. Also saw this: http://www.shorenewstoday.com/ocean_city/construction-progressing-on-new-ocean-city-coasters/article_8a0bf9c8-c9bf-11e5-86d2-d7c9ecbf14dc.html?mode=jqm

 

OCEAN CITY — Ocean City’s newest roller coasters have taken another step toward their targeted May opening, which Playland Castaway Cove vice president Brian Hartley said could put his amusement park on the East Coast map.

 

One of the planned attractions is expected to tower over the surrounding buildings, at 125 feet.

 

A contractor at the park began installing columns last week for the coasters on 10th Street and the boardwalk. Blue coaster tracks have also been sitting on the site for weeks.

 

He said delays with weather and equipment shipping have slowed the process, but the project will begin to take shape now that the columns have been delivered to the site.

 

Hartley said the company had hoped to open the coaster at the start of May before the delays, but that the project is still on target to open before Memorial Day weekend.

 

“It would be nice to have it (before that weekend) for local people, so they could be the first to get on it,” Hartley said.

 

The site, Hartley said Friday, will feature two coasters that differ widely in intensity. One of them, Hartley said, is a “family-styled,” up-and-down coaster with valleys as opposed to loops. It’s intended for those with children or people not seeking a thrill – just a good time.

 

The site’s other coaster, well, is something else. A 125-foot-tall triple-launch thriller featuring a 90-degree drop, top speeds of 64 miles per hour and seven “thrilling” elements, GaleForce, as it’s called, is expected to be a ride never seen before in Ocean City, Hartley said.

 

It’s expected to be about 220 feet long by 40 feet wide, with the second coaster wrapping around it. The site offers space of about 230 feet long by 70 feet wide, Hartley said.

 

“By far, it blows away anything we’ve had here with any ride. This is going to be huge,” he said. “It’s a whole ‘nother animal for us and we’re excited for it.”

 

The company announced in early August 2015 that it was constructing two coasters to replace the park’s then-current coasters, looping Python and Flitzer. A YouTube video, posted at the same time of the announcement, offers a virtual take of what a spin on GaleForce would look like. The video has since garnered more than 16,600 views.

 

“We got to the point where we had them here for quite some time,” Hartley said. “There was nothing wrong, but this is something (Playland owner Scott Simpson) wanted to do. For the last five years, we started traveling to some places and gathering ideas.”

 

Due to the site’s limited space, Hartley said, when the new coasters were still in the idea stage, company executives scouted similar types of rides to what they had in mind at other parks across the country.

 

One of them, a 160-foot-tall giant named Full Throttle at a Six Flags park in San Francisco, served as one of Hartley’s primary inspirations leading to GaleForce’s design. He said another coaster at Kennywood, a park located outside Pittsburgh, also impacted the company’s vision.

 

“The triple-launch utilizes its own track,” Hartley said. “For us, that was huge as far as our small space. When you go to Six Flags or other (rural-area) parks, land is more available to them whereas in Ocean City, that’s not the case. Trying to take some features they had to use in our concept was really the key.”

 

For safety, Hartley said, the coaster will use what he called a three-point harness system, in which a shoulder harness comes down from overtop and two smaller harnesses protect either side of the body.

 

Hartley said the plan has been met with some pushback since it was announced, but “not a lot.”

 

He said some residents were concerned the ride was too intense for the city and that it would draw a different type of crowd.

 

“We don’t see that happening,” Hartley said. “We think it’ll enhance Ocean City … I don’t see it bring in a different clientele because of one ride.”

 

Hartley declined to share specifics on the project’s cost.

 

GaleForce was designed by S&S Power out of Logan, Utah, while E&F Miler Industries, a company based in Portland, Ore., designed the second coaster.

 

Hartley said Playland held a contest on Facebook in which people submitted name ideas for the second coaster. Hartley said the company narrowed them down to five potential names this week – RumRunner, SurfRider, The RedRaider, WaveRunner and WildWaves.

 

Andrew Parent can be reached at aparent@catamaranmedia.com or 609-365-6173.

 

I guess my none of my names were chosen.

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