Sandy's Impact on the Industry

© Julio Cortez, AP

I'm back!  Happy Halloween, by the way.  We usually like to celebrate the spooky holiday to the fullest here at NPN, but this year for some obvious reasons it wasn't much fun in the Northeast.  Still, I just got a treat instead of a trick and got my power back, and I'm quite grateful for that.

I don't usually cover disasters here, but this will be a bit of an exception to the rule - mostly because the images of coaster destruction from New Jersey are so dramatic.  Be sure that our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by Sandy, and that's what really matters: surviving and rebuilding.  Coasters and parks are fun, and what we cover here, but we don't lose sight of what really matters.

Casino Pier, located in Seaside Heights, NJ, was largely destroyed in the storm.  Previous sunny Summer days saw the pier looking like this:

But after Sandy rolled through it looks like this:

© Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

The park's Star Jet roller coaster was left idly sitting in the ocean when the pier beneath it collapsed.  Several others rides and attractions were also sucked into the sea, and generally all the rides are ruined.  More photos of Casino Pier from the air are located here, and a story about the park can be found here.

Funtown Pier, also in Seaside Heights, didn't fair so well either.  The park lost a large portion of its boardwalk foundations, sending several rides into the water and sand below.  One of them is the park's Looping Coaster, which can be seen crumpled on itself in the above photo.  A story on the park can be found here.

Other seaside parks felt the wrath of the storm as well.  Keansburg Amusement Park suffered significant damage, and owners had to search the town's streets to find pieces of their park according to this story.  They've already vowed to rebuild and reopen this Summer.

Coney Island's amusements, mainly Luna Park and the Cyclone roller coaster fared the storm well, all things considered.  It sounds like much of the damage is cosmetic, and there's plenty of sand throughout the park from the storm surge.

Rye Playland also had superficial damage from the storm, which looks like it will be fairly easily cleaned up.  Some of the rides may have had damage done to their operating systems, due to interaction with the salt water, however.

Other parks, such as Morey's Piers and Jenkinson's Boardwalk, were hit, but appear to have avoided major destruction.  That's not to say there's no work to be done, but it wasn't catastrophic.

Hopefully all parks affected will be able to rebuild, some have a much tougher journey ahead of them than others.  Our best wishes go out to all of them.

A Surprise Visit to Jenkinson's Boardwalk

My poor family must get so tired of me finding a park wherever we go, much like a heat seeking missile finds it's target with ease.  Oh well, such is the life of an amusement park blogger, no?

We arrived in sunny Point Pleasant New Jersey for a fun day at the beach.  Naturally on the way there I put two and two together and realized that Jenkinson's Boardwalk also lives there too, and they even had a coaster I haven't been on!  Oh joy!

Jenkinson's Boardwalk was started by Charles Jenkinson - surprised? - way back in 1928 when the area first opened as Jenkinson's Pavilion.  Beaches have always been popular, and it didn't take long for his list of amusements to start growing.  As the area entered into recent history more rides were added, along with large food locations, shops, a fun house, and even an aquarium.

Today the complex includes tons of attractions and games along the boardwalk, with the amusement park on one side and the beach on the other.

The ride selection is actually surprising considering the very tight space in which they are located.  Above is the Pendolo, which is the park's latest thrill ride.  I didn't get to check out the ride too closely, but it looks an awful lot like a Zamperla Midi Discovery.  The pendulum swings as it rotates, quite quickly at that, for a disorienting ride.  Beyond the Pendolo sits a traditional Wave Swinger.

Among the other rides at the park are some bumper cars, a Starship 3000, Tilt-a-Whirl, and plenty of kiddie rides.  They also have one of those wild looking Moby Dick flat rides by Wisdom, and even a Super Himalaya that goes backwards complete with a DJ keeping riders entertained.  High energy throughout the area, for sure.

There's also a large sampling of children's rides, and they even managed to fit a decent sized train ride into the mix, too!

The Fun House is located at the entrance to the amusement area, and sadly I did not get to go in an give it a try.  I know it's quite popular with visitors and takes up quite a lot of space inside that building.  I saw some people exiting the Fun House when they were blasted with air, seemed to give them one heck of a scare.  Excellent.

Roller coasters.  There's actually two of them.  This bad guy is named the Tornado, a small Zamperla powered coaster.  Not technically the same as the very popular Dragon Coasters, it is still very similar.

The park's other coaster, the larger of the two, is the Flitzer.  For the record, I have no idea what Flitzer means, and trying to look it up wasn't much help.  Still, the ride isn't very large, but that makes sense considering its portable nature.

The Flitzer was created by Zierer, and Roller Coaster Database says that there are now only 5 of them operating in a permanent location.  If you would like one that you can move around, it appears as though you can pick one up on Ital for $215,000. 

The ride features several gentle slopes and turns in the first section, followed by a curving downhill where the individual cars pick up some speed.  A couple quick helices and the cars hit the brakes - quick and to the point the Flitzer is.

The cars are neat though, you're able to sit bobsled style.  They also bump into each other in the station which is pretty fun and unusual in our hyper litigious world.  Overall, I'm quite happy to have added this ride to my list.

So there you have it, Jenkinson's Boardwalk!  If you're near Point Pleasant check it out sometime.