Moreys Piers Discussion Thread

Nice trip report and pics! Does this place get crowded on weekdays? I'm heading to all 3 piers on thursday. Any tips by frequent park goers?

^^The only helpful tip is to make sure you know what time each coaster opens, the operating times for the piers are staggered to start the day.

My tip: utilize the late night operating hours, to me what the place is all about. Especially on the Noreaster. (This comment may be moot for this year, don't know the schedule.)

I was hoping they would be adding a new coaster. not a fan of the new addition. rode it a few times at other parks. not something I would ride again anytime soon.

I believe you are correct at the location. That's what they were talking about at this years Coastin By the Ocean. Once they mentioned no new coaster, I totally tuned out at the Coaster event, was so disappointed.

Looks like Morey's Pier is getting a set of flyers

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/king-kong-to-make-a-return-to-wildwood-boardwalk/article_c67325d4-65ee-11e4-b2bf-335c1948cc89.html

An old icon at Morey’s Surfside Pier will be reborn this winter.

 

Kong, one of the first original rides on the North Wildwood pier, is set to be reincarnated — with a few new twists, thanks to the input of 6,200 people.

“Some things die and we let them rest in peace, but some things are worthy of reincarnation,” Jack Morey, who owns Morey’s Piers with his brother, Will, said Thursday.

 

The new $1.3 million ride will be unveiled for Memorial Day weekend of the 2015 season, and will feature flying biplanes riders sit in that will navigate around a giant lighthouse. That lighthouse will be climbed by a massive King Kong, who will sport a touristy “I Love WW” T-shirt and clutch one of Wildwood’s infamous tram cars.

While owners Jack and Will Morey and their panel of ride enthusiasts pinned down the overall theme of the ride, they left the details to the masses. Over 6,000 people took an online survey in October to determine how menacing, or cartoonish, the new Kong should appear, as well as what he should hold in his paws or if he should don flip-flops.

 

“They were all over this place, from love to hate,” Jack Morey said of the responses. “That’s what public art is. Some love it, some hate it. Some look at it and don’t understand it. But because it’s in public view, it’s really a big, old public art project.”

 

Tim Samson, a spokesman for Morey’s, said that the company decided to bring in the public’s opinion after its employees couldn’t agree on the new ride’s nuances. At first, the design had featured Kong wearing an “I Love NJ” T-shirt, and he held a miniature Statue of Liberty, but many of the survey takers didn’t get the implied pun (The Statue of Liberty is actually in New Jersey) and some said that the design was too reminiscent of Sept. 11.

 

“We wanted to reincarnate a classic attraction and put a spin on it so that it was updated,” he said, adding that he too was surprised by the passionate responses from Morey’s fans.

 

“We know that people really have a sense of ownership in the Boardwalk, which is great,” Samson said. The new amusement will serve as the centerpiece at Surfside Pier, which has been without one since the old Condor ride was removed in 2011. Since then, a Kang-A-Bounce children’s ride has sat in its place temporarily, but was too small for the empty space.

 

Al Alven, a Philadelphia native and Wildwood ride historian, said that the old Kong ride had once served as Surfside Pier’s icon. It was designed by Fred Mahana, who designed other “dark” rides in Wildwood, like the long gone Castle Dracula, which have developed somewhat of a cult following, Alven said. Mahana had a penchant for old horror movies, and details. The original Kong was first unveiled in 1972, and stood at 75-feet tall and weighed about 3 tons, and even had a blonde “damsel in distress” in his clutches. At first, the old Kong featured a loud, shrieking soundtrack of a lion’s roar played backwards — but North Wildwood residents quickly petitioned to have the caterwaul silenced.

 

“I think it was part of the larger than life experience of Wildwood back in the ‘70s,” Alven said of the old Kong. “It either freaked people out or it captured their imagination.”

 

But, Kong’s reign in Wildwood was short-lived. According to Alven, the planes that amusement-goers could ride around Kong were removed in 1975, and the giant ape was moved to the top of the roof of Bonanza Shooting Gallery at Surfside Pier. There, Kong spent just four seasons. In 1980, when Morey’s Piers went to rehab Kong, the fiberglass structure crumbled when workers tried to remove it.

 

When visitors came back the next year and found Kong was gone, Alven said that myths about its disappearance helped to add to its appeal.

“There’s just something that grabs you about a giant ape,” Alven said.

Any news on the coaster?

I'm glad to see them still investing in other flat rides while still trying to make this coaster come to life. Hopefully it happens sooner than later.

While the Flyers were all but confirmed, glad to see they've finally announced them. I'd sooner take a new coaster but they've been on and off again with it for almost a decade now and this is a solid addition I'm pretty excited about. I love these things and its always nice and windy by the ocean!

Anyone see any progress on bringing back Kong?

^^ Seems like they are installing Kong as the centerpiece of the new flying scooters. I am actually in Wildwood a good bit off season but haven't gotten down yet since the piers closed in September.

No update on the new Flyers but Morey's just posted this photo of Mariners Landing to their page. Wildwood got 8 inches of snow yesterday/today. Cool photo.

I was down for Xmas and popped up on 26th Street (Surfside, where the Flyers are going) to try to check out any construction, but they fence off the piers where they meet the boardwalk and we couldn't see much from there.

I've given up hope that the new woodie will ever be built

^^ All the same, it's a neat winter shot of any pier's midway.

Thanks for sharing it.

Morey's just posted these pics of the new Flyers arriving on their FB page. If you haven't been following along KONG will be the centerpiece (and name) of the ride, and the entire thing is being built on top of a store. Between the themeing, the fact you'll be an additional 20 feet off the ground while riding, and those ocean winds, this has the potential to be one of the best installations of this ride.

I'm so stoked, hoping to get down one weekend in May, though I'm sure they're aiming for a Memorial Day weekend opening.

Sorry for the doublepost, but this photo gives you an idea of how high off the pier these Flyers will be. And consider the pier itself is 20+ feet above the beach. Add in those ocean winds and you've got a big bucket of amazing. So stoked. (photo courtesy of Wildwood365)

Yeah so sorry that I'm the ONLY one posting in this thread but they posted this cool video about the new KONG flyers on their Youtube channel.

Also this screenshot I just took off Morey's FB page is definitely worth sharing. To everyone that has given up all hope of Morey's getting a new coaster... there is hope!

I would love to think that RMC coming onto the scene is the cause of the delay. I mean, a zero g stall over the beach between piers would rule.

^ Its a great idea but I doubt it. I just don't see Morey's going with them. For some reason I'd rather see Great White get RMC'd over a brand new custom RMC (and I say this as a HUGE fan of the Great White but could you imagine!?).

My pipe dream is for them to rip out the Nor'easter since there is practically zero chance of the Sea Serpent coming out simply because it and the Giant Wheel are the "iconic" Morey's structures, and put in a mega-lite or a Eurofighter. Fat chance on either tho because of how the Nor'easter is basically built in and around the water park.

Bottom line they need something new as far as coasters go. Next year it will be 20 years since the Great White went in.

It's crazy to think that it's been 20 years. I remember when the great white was built.

I remember seeing kamikaze (even though that was hunts pier) from the beach being too young to ride. I'm glad I finally got ride it (in sfog) this year and have to say it's better than the nor Easter by far.

My dream would be topper track on great white and custom rmc for the dual pier woodie. The topper track sections on Georgia cyclone were el toro smooth.

I just never really see lines at moreys so I'm sure financially a huge coaster to them is like an average family buying a new car.

I rode Kamikaze a few times when it was on Hunts Pier. That was 25 years ago! (I'm old!)

I always remember it as being a good ride, but I could certainly tolerate a lot more back when I was 13 lol.

I've long defended Nor'easter as being a decent ride, especially with the newer vest restraints. Huge upgrade. But I have to say on my few rides in 2014, the trains had such an insane rattle I legitimately feared for my safety and I'm very leery of going back on.

I thought the new trains helped on the great ne

I rode it in 2013, and I actually liked the Nor'easter. I could tell how miserable it would be without the new restraints.

I was in Wildwood at my folks place all weekend and actually made it up to the piers Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon and had a fantastic time, pretty much my favorite park trip this year (with our Pilgrimage to the Point being the exception of course). I moved to my new house this past April and while packing I discovered a whopping 5 (!!) ticket cards, all with random balances on them. I was able to combine all five of them onto one card and it turned out I had about 250 tickets. Score! I haven't visited the island since the piers have been open this year so needless to say I was ready for riding.

I didn't get down to Wildwood til 7pm on Friday and my bro-in-law and I didn't get up to the piers til 9pm (the piers close at midnight) and had some great night rides. We started on Adventure Pier with The Great White, first trying a back seat ride in the red train, then walking around for the blue train. Last year I felt the red train was running better but our 2nd ride on the blue train Friday that thing was tearing through the course. Obviously after this we had to hit up the Screaming Swing because its right next door and easily the best flat on the three piers. I'm so glad its no longer an upcharge, I want to ride it over and over. After this we headed to Mariners to do the Riptide pirate ship ride and while I still think its a great installation it felt tame after the intensity of the Screaming Swing. Our ride on this was made fun by watching/listening to the woman reluctantly riding with her son in front of us, screaming for dear life. After working up an appetite we stopped for some Macks Pizza because its the best and then we went drinking, off the boardwalk, to close out the night.

Saturday was another lazy day involving the beach, day drinking and a huge family dinner, so we ended up not getting up to the piers til 10pm. Adventure Pier is closest to my folks place so we usually start/end there, so again we started with the Great White. If you haven't been to Wildwood you should know that - similar to Dorney - there are basically never waits longer than 5-15 minutes for any rides. Most of the time everything is a walk on. So it would come as a complete surprise that we walked up to the Great White to find the never used queue completely full and spilling out onto the midway. We said "screw it" and waited which is just such a weird thing in Wildwood, but the line moved and we got on in about 25 minutes. We had another amazing ride on the blue train in the last car. Somehow it felt even wilder than our ride on Friday night. Since the line was so long we gave up hopes for a second lap and headed for the Screaming Swing again - a walk on. We couldn't get enough and since no one was waiting the ride ops let us stay in our seats and just swiped my card while we waited for them to fire it back up. So so so fun.

I was really looking forward to trying the new KONG flyers that Moreys installed this year as they built a store and put the flyers up on top of it. So after our adventures on Adventure Pier we took the loooong stroll all the way down the boardwalk to Surfside Pier to check out the new ride. What a GREAT job they did with this, it looks absolutely fantastic at night. I wish I had remembered to bring my camera but I did not so I have no good photos of it at night. It had a decent line, not surprising for their new ride. We waited about 15 minutes.

The centerpiece is a giant Kong figure hanging off of a lighthouse, wearing an "I <3 WW" t-shirt, and holding a Wildwood tramcar in his fist, and the vehicles are themed to sharks. They have a really nice lighting package on it (including lights under the vehicles), smoke billowing out of Kongs nose, and when the ride starts they pipe in the sound of a propeller plane taking off. During the boarding shpeil they mentioned "intentionally slacking the cables will result in your removal from the ride" lol. They run a pretty good, lengthy cycle and we were able to really get our boats moving, almost snapping the cables a few times and then I got it once really good right before the cycle ended. We had such a great time on this, the added height of the ride placement on top of the store (which, keep in mind, is on the boardwalk 15 feet above the beach) majorly adds to the thrill. The themeing is sooooo Wildwood it fits perfectly, its been so long since I've been this jazzed about a new ride @ Morey's.

Check out this POV and offride that I found on YouTube (hope its cool to post them here) to get a sense of the placement of the ride and the awesome lighting.

After our awesome ride on KONG, we decided the best way to end the night would be to hop on their crazy Larson drop tower, Atmosfear. This thing is only 140 feet but its so incredibly forceful and insane its the only ride on all three piers that makes me a little nervous beforehand. It drops so fast and forcefully and stops on a dime. After a quick stop at Khor Bros around midnight for a chocolate-on-chocolate custard, we slowly wandered back home to get some sleep.

On Sunday we decided to take my just-about-2 year old nephew up to Surfside Pier so he could get a bunch of rides in on the kiddie rides. Myself, my sister, and my bro-in-law all took turns joining him on them lol so not only did I get to ride Happy Feet, a Zamperla 'Happy Swing' ride but I also took my first ride on the Jump Around, also a Zamperla themed to baja buggies, where the entire ride leaned to one side when I climbed into the tiny seat LMAO.

It's amazing to see these piers and rides through my nephews eyes, it gives me a whole new appreciation for it all. We were bummed when we figured out he is just an inch shy of riding the Flitzer and Doo Wopper (wild mouse) coasters w/ an adult. Maybe next year. :/ I'm not 100% sure he is even ready for that yet! But he will be - the kid loves rides, he has this look of simultaneous bewilderment and impending protein spill when he rides anything, but cries when its over and repeats "again, again!" We always say its in his blood.

Tom and I also used this Sunday afternoon trip to get back on the KONG flyers again and all three of us took turns doing that crazyass drop tower Atmosfear again. Good times.

The Great Nor'easter (SLC for the unfamiliar) seemed to be closed all weekend. We *almost* rode it Sunday afternoon but it was shut down completely. I didn't see it run at all over the weekend that I recall. I meant to ask someone what was up but I didn't care that much and totally forgot about it. A new food vendor that I discovered opened recently at the front of Adventure Pier is a Beaver Tail truck. I was so stoked to find this as when planning our Cedar Point trip I had read these were a must-do and we totally skipped them. So I got to try a Beaver Tail! My toppings were chocolate hazelnut, peanut butter and Reeses Pieces because YUM. I will definitely have another. We also stopped at Idaho Potatoes across from the entrance to Mariners Pier because they have the best fries on the planet. Wildwood has so much great boardwalk food!

Overall we had a great time at Morey's this weekend. Ive said it here before but I feel that this park is very underrated in the enthusiast community. If you haven't been and you are looking for a summer getaway, don't hesitate. Their three big coasters may include an SLC and a Boomerang, but their woodie is fantastic, they have a great flat collection, and like Cedar Point, the location on the beach is amazing not to mention the food and atmosphere overall is a huge part of its charm. I might be going back this weekend!

Total weekend ride count:

The Great White 3x

Screaming Swing 3x

Kong 2x

Atmosfear 2x

Riptide 1x

Happy Feet 1x

Jump Around 1x

Unfortunately we didnt take really many photos, but here is a few fun visuals we did manage to catch.

Friday night. Adventure Pier beckons. Left to right: the Great White, Skycoaster, Screaming Swing, and their Sling Shot.

Their Giant Wheel (a Vekoma) is 160 feet tall & provides amazing views of the island you can't get unless you are in a plane, but I can never be bothered to wait in line for it. They do a "Breakfast in the Sky" thing where you can eat a whole meal on it. It always blows my mind that El Toros first drop is bigger than this.

We took zero pictures on Saturday night but here we are back at it on Sunday.

Mariners Landing. I have a fantasy of them ripping out the painful Sea Serpent (boomerang) and putting in a modest Intamin launcher ala Xcelerator. But alas, this ^ is the "iconic" Wildwood boardwalk shot so that will never happen.

Surfside Pier has lots of cool flats. KONG is peaking out from his new home in the middle of the pier.

"IT" (yes, thats what they called the ride) is a KMC Fireball and I really want to ride it but my aversion to spinny things has not allowed that to happen

But I'll ride some kiddie rides!

I still cannot believe they allowed me to climb on this thing.

KONG looks awesome! I tried to get a shot of it running but I got impatient.

The vehicles look great at night with the lights underneath them.

And a quick splash from the flume before we grab some eats and head home. Thanks for reading.

Cool photos. Judging by them (I have never been there) it seems like they would have enough space to build that woodie they have been talking about for the past 5 years or even an RMC.