Ferris Wheel - Our Lady of Peace Country Fair 2014The local fair at Our Lady of Peace Parish in New Providence, NJ has come and gone. It’s a bit strange saying that as for as long as I can remember, the fair has been in mid-May instead of this year’s  May 7th to 10th dates.

Blue Sky Amusements did the event once again, a show that has been doing the spot for nine years now; coincidently that is also how many years worth of trip reports I now have of the OLP fair! I would have more but those old, old trip reports are long gone. Anyways, the fair was a tad smaller than last year with a couple of rides swapped out. The fair had…

… Trip Report: 2014 Our Lady of Peace Country Fair

Trip Report: 2014 Middlesex Fireman’s Carnival

Posted by on April 30, 2014 | No comments for you

Ring of FireThe first carnival of the 2014 season for me, as is that case pretty much every year, was the Middlesex, NJ Fireman’s Carnival. I headed over on Thursday, April 24th to check out what was going on.  The event was done by Campy’s Blue Star Amusements and had…

  • Ring of Fire
  • Scat
  • Octopus
  • Tilt-a-Whirl
  • Gravitron
  • Scooter
  • Scrambler
  • Ferris Wheel
  • Super Slide
  • Berry go Round
  • A number of kiddie rides
  • A selection of greasy treats
  • An assortment of games

… Trip Report: 2014 Middlesex Fireman’s Carnival

Dinosaur Beach Wildwood

Logo purloined from their 1997 website.

There’s been a lot of piers down in Wildwood, NJ over the years. Today, Morey’s Piers has all but dominated the amusement landscape but at one point there were up to seven different amusement piers competing against each other. One of the more notable piers was Hunt’s Pier which featured a number of custom designed dark rides that led some to refer to the park as a mini Disneyland. Rides such as Golden Nugget Mine Ride, Keystone Kops, and Skua grazed the pier along with the Flyer wooden coaster, Log Flume, Rapids ride and others.

Hunt’s Pier was sold in 1985 and went as The New Hunt’s Pier until 1988. It was then bought by Conklin Shows and renamed Conko’s Party Pier, adding in the five looping Kamikaze roller coaster at the back of the pier. The pier closed around 1992 and sat defunct until it was bought in 1995 by Family Kingdom Inc, owners of Steel Pier in Atlantic City. The pier was reopened in 1996 as Dinosaur Beach Pier.

… Remembering Wildwood’s Dinosaur Beach

86’d Rides vol 2: Hell Hole

Posted by on March 19, 2014 | 20 comments

Back in the 50’s, Rotor rides were the end all thrill ride. Up until that point, there was nothing like it. The concept was simple but ingenious: riders stand in a large barrel and it spins, pinning them to the walls. The floor would then drop out leaving riders stuck to the wall thanks to centrifugal force. The ride was so unique for the time that not only did people pay to ride it, but paid to simply watch people ride it! Rotor was more than just a ride…it was a spectacle.

Eventually, the novelty of Rotor wore off. Newer thrills and smaller counterparts (Chance Rotor, Gravitron) made the older models obsolete. Many were scrapped while others were re-themed to attract a new generation of riders. Several of these Rotors dropped the novel ‘Rotor’ name in favor of a darker, more edgy theme. These Rotor rides were known as Hell Hole.

… 86’d Rides vol 2: Hell Hole

map2Continued from Part 1.

I exited Wildwood using the Wildwood/Stone Harbor bridge. This is one of several, independently operated toll bridges that connect the barrier islands of New Jersey along a 50 mile road known as Ocean Drive. I rustled up $1.50 in stray quarters hanging around my car’s center console to pay the toll only to find that the toll booth was closed. I’m not complaining.

Stone Harbor and Avalon are the towns located on the barrier island just north of the Wildwoods. There aren’t any amusement parks and little in terms of year round establishments here. I thought Wildwood Crest was desolate, but this place seemed practically devoid of movement. The odd street would have a dumpster and some trucks parked around a house, but I literally saw four cars driving around the whole time there. This is what I love about the shore in the off season. Growing up in northern NJ where congestion is abundant and where the population density is among the highest in the nation, it’s a welcome change to be in place that’s so desolate yet not really in the middle of nowhere.

… February 2014 Jersey Shore Trip Pt.2: Ocean Drive

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