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Morey’s Piers There’s many new things for visitors
On the Jersey shore... Morbid Manor
Kang‘A’Bounce Wipeout
to Morey’s Piers to enjoy this summer in Wildwood, New Jersey. The Giant Wheel at Mariner’s Landing Pier now dazzles with new energy efficient LED lights. With infinite colours and hundreds of patterns, the Wildwood summer skyline is transformed into a spectacular light show each night. On the same pier, the Sea Dragon from Chance has been replaced with a brand new model called Rip Tide. Taking on the appearance of a Wildwood lifeguard boat, it also features LED lighting. On Surfside Pier, Zamperla has supplied two new kiddie rides, a 12-seat Happy Feet swing and the 8-car/16-seat Kang’A’Bounce jumping ride. Morey’s Ocean Oasis and Raging Waters waterparks each have a new attraction for 2012. The latter’s Lazy River has undergone a major overhaul and now appears
as River Adventure including geysers, rock faces, waterfalls, new plants and a grotto to explore. At Ocean Oasis, Wipeout! is a six-lane racer slide from ProSlide.
The newly-lit Giant Wheel at Mariner’s Landing
A 3,700-sq-ft new dark walk-through attraction has opened on Sportland Pier, North Wildwood, New Jersey. From the fertile but twisted mind of Eric Princz, Morbid Manor has 13 rooms and haunted scenes, including the library with a bookshelf that almost topples on guests, a grisly bathroom, a baby room occupied with creepy dolls, and a roach infested hallway.
A dozen actors are employed to
roam through special passageways and scare unwitting guests. One can pop his head through a picture frame, slam a window, or quietly sneak through a door to jump out of what looked like a wall. Morbid Manor is a throwback to the old style haunts where live actors interact with the guests and there is very limited separation between the guest and the displays, providing the feel of actually being in a haunted house. Creepy? Yes, but there is no blood and gore.
It takes visitors between five and 10 minutes to walk through the winding
333ft-long attraction. “We don't rush them,” explains Princz. “I want guests to be able to see as much detail as possible. I think people enjoy Morbid Manor because we send smaller groups through and tailor each show for that group.” ”Another thing we do, well don't do,” Princz continues, “is terrorise small children. If a child wants to go inside but is a bit afraid, it’s possible for a staff member to walk with them with a flashlight so they know monsters aren’t real. My motto is, 'Scare a child oncelose a customer for life’.”
Steel Pier
Currently in the midst of a three-year renovation, the Steel Pier has opened with a new look in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This season’s $21 million in improvements includes new rides, food and beverage outlets, and an amphitheatre. Of the eight new rides added, pier president Tony Catanoso says the Freedom Flyer, an SBF Dance Party, has been the most successful. It is the first swinging pendulum ride in the US to turn through 360º.
Gillian’s Wonderland Pier
New for 2012 at Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, Ocean City, New Jersey, is a Wisdom Gravitron called Alien Abduction (pictured), a Zamperla Disk ’O’ and a Haunted House dark ride built in- house. Classics, such as the existing Scrambler, Bumper Cars and the Log Flume have also been sectioned off into a new “Thrill Zone” alongside the new attractions.
In addition to the above, the park’s 140ft Giant Wheel has been enhanced with over 100,000 LED- lights that displays computer- generated entertainment after dark each evening.
AUGUST 2012
Other new rides added include an Airborne Shot from SBF called Seamour, a 40-metre Fabbri Booster called Mix (the first park model in the US, a Bertazzon Swing Carousel called Water Circus, Sugar Sugar (SBF Tea Cups) and a Zamperla Jump Around and custom mini Rockin’ Tug called Silly Steamer.
Seamour “We’ve
enjoyed an overwhelming response,” adds Catanoso. “Everyone says the changes we made are great, and it looks like a new pier. Next year we will remodel 20,000 square feet with a view of the boardwalk and ocean into a nightclub/restaurant and a bridge into the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel Casino.”
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Freedom Flyer
What’s new at the New Jersey parks? Paul Ruben finds out
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