The End of the Line for the New Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

It appears as though the fate of the new Miracle Strip Amusement Park @ Pier Park has been sealed, as well known used ride seller Rides4U is now holding a silent auction for all of its rides and attractions.

The amusement park closed early for the year at the end of the Summer, and then rumors began of the park's debts - which turned out to be true - and a new operator was even mentioned that wanted to build a large observation wheel.  It would appear that that plan did not work out, and the park operators had eviction actions started against them as well - they didn't own the land the park was on, just leased it.

While a sad end to the short lived park, the silent auction that is currently being held is a bit of a gem.  Miracle Strip @ Pier Park was a collector of classic amusement attractions, and put much time and care into restoring the rides.  The above flyer shows all that is up for auction, but Rides4U also has a full page up with details.  Attractions include several Allen Herschell rides, parts of the classic Starliner wooden roller coaster, an Eli Bridge wheel and an Eyerly Loop-O-Plane and Rock-O-Plane.

Parks such as Knoebels, or smaller ones looking to expand, or heck even Cedar Fair (who is said to be scouting for classic attractions) should take notice of the auction.  It will run through February 22nd, and all rides and attractions must be moved off the site by the 29th.

To look back at the short life of this park, scroll though the stories we've published which include a talk with the owners ahead of the grand opening, and even plans for a recreated Starliner wooden coaster.

Troubling Times for Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

It seems the little park that could might have run out of steam.  Miracle Strip at Pier Park recently ended their 2015 season early, and announced they were in the process of transitioning to new owners.  Now, the park's operators have had legal action taken against them for unpaid rent according to this story, starting an eviction process.

Aerial view of the park © Bing Maps

The amusement park, which is a modern version of the famous Florida amusement park of the same name, had seen tremendous growth in recent years.  This included a move from a small location inside the Pier Park shopping center two years ago, expanding greatly onto 14 acres land adjacent to the mall.  (photo above)

Recently it appeared as though the current owners were planning to sell to a developer who wanted to install a large observation wheel, even going as far as receiving a height waiver for the ride.  But since that news broke things have become very quiet with the park's Facebook deactivated and the main website not even updated to reflect the park's closure.

The park planned to rebuild a new version of the Starliner wooden roller coaster within a few years as part of its move, to be located on the strip of land on the upper left of the park in the aerial above.

Miracle Strip at Pier Park For Sale + New Observation Wheel Plans

Aerial view © Bing

Miracle Strip at Pier Park, an independent amusement park in Panama City Beach, Florida, has closed early for the season and is reported to be for sale - with a new owner said to already be lined up.

The park recently obtained permission to build a 190 foot tall observation wheel at a cost of $7 million, which would attract guests looking for amazing views of the ocean.  It seems that the plan to obtain permission for the wheel was a necessary part of the deal to get the park sold, per this story.

The park moved just a few hundred feet from its former location in 2013, receiving a new home on much more land with plenty of room to grow.  Miracle Strip at Pier Park is home to a wide variety of classic amusement rides and attractions, many of which came from or are very similar to those at the original Miracle Strip park.

A plan has been in place for over a year now to recreate the famous Starliner wooden roller coaster, though this sale may put that ride in jeopardy.  The article states that the observation wheel will cater to a wider audience and then perhaps later the wooden coaster could materialize.  We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park Nearly Ready to Start on Starliner 2.0

© Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

Before too long, Miracle Strip @ Pier Park will being work on the Starliner 2.0, planned to open in 2015.  The new amusement park has already obtained both the land and the financing needed to build the wooden coaster, which will be a modern replication of the original Starliner that ran at Miracle Strip Amusement Park for over 40 years.

A virtual ride on Starliner 2.0 was released earlier this year, but the park has recently released the above look at how the ride will be situated on the property.  In order to make the ride fit on the available land, the lift had to be turned 90 degrees from the bulk of the coaster's track.  The famous dragon tunnel will be recreated on the new coaster, also seen in the render after the turnaround.

Park owners are planning to break ground on the ride in October, and say that engineering on the ride is currently underway.  Famed wood coaster builders Great Coasters, Int. will be working on the ride.  Miracle Strip @ Pier Park already owns the original Starliner parts, though it is unclear how much of that ride will be utilized in the new version.

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park just opened in its new, much larger location in April of this year.  If you missed our feature story on the new park, check it out at this link!

RipTide Roller Coaster Almost Ready at Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

© Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

The all new Miracle Strip @ Pier Park, which officially opened to guests last month, is wrapping up construction of their new RipTide roller coaster.  The coaster is a Galaxi which was originally manufactured by S.D.C.  The park has given the ride a full refurbishment and a bright new coat of paint, which I trust you'll notice in these photos!

© Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

This photo shows off the small amount of track that was left to be placed as of this past week.  Miracle Strip @ Pier Park hopes to have RipTide up and running for the busy Memorial Day Weekend.

RipTide comes to the park from Splash Kingdom Waterpark in California, and before that was at Adventureland in Iowa.  The original Miracle Strip Amusement Park had a very similar coaster as well.

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park: Open For Business!

© Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

While many folks were up in Ohio today testing out a certain new coaster (more on that later), another substantial opening took place as well.  Miracle Strip @ Pier Park announced on their Facebook page that as of 3:32 p.m. they were officially open for business!

The park has completed the move from their old location down the street into their much roomier site.  Along with moving all the rides they previously had, the park added to their collection - doubling their offerings when all was said and done.  We spoke to the park about their plans earlier this year, if you missed that here is a link.

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park was already planning a grand opening celebration for the 18th, but have moved that back to the 19th due to a less than desirable weather forecast.  I know if I lived in the area I'd be making a trip out to see the new park!

Many congratulations to the park on their accomplishment, and we look forward to what is sure to be a bright future, including a new version of the famous Starliner wooden coaster in 2015.

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park Shows Off New Starliner Coaster Animation

Plans continue to move forward in the quest to see the famous Starliner rebuilt at the all-new Miracle Strip @ Pier Park.  The park is opening next month and has already made it clear that they intend to rebuild the Starliner in 2015.  Now with a new animation of the coaster released, we're able to get a much more clear idea of the park's plans.

The first thing that I noticed is that the new Starliner is obviously being designed by Great Coasters International!  The second thing is that in order for the ride to fit in the new park, the lift hill and drop had to be turned 90 degrees from the main section of the ride.

That means the new Starliner (or Starliner 2.0 as the park has called it) will not be an exact replica or 'rebuilt' at Miracle Strip @ Pier Park as it was when it moved to Cypress Gardens.  Purists will also notice that while the ride's track generally follows the same layout, it's been amped up a bit using GCI's trademark moves.  There's also some changes to the size of the air hills on the return run, with one larger one appearing to replace some of the smaller bumps.

With the lift hill turned that also means there's a curving first drop, one of the larger changes that came with the rearrangement. 

I would think the new Starliner would have Millennium Flyer trains

You could really say that the new Starliner will be "inspired" by the original John Allen design, but looks to be a brand new ride from GCI from the ground up.  With the cost of actually using the old structure, trains, etc - I can't say I'm surprised the park just went with a totally new ride.  For comparison, here's a link to a point of view of Starliner when it was at Cypress Gardens.

There's also some similarities between the new Starliner and White Lightning at Fun Spot, another GCI ride in Florida.  I would guarantee changes will be made to the design before it goes up, hopefully as planned in 2015, but this sure is exciting news!

New Coaster Going Up at Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

© Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

RipTide, a new roller coaster at Miracle Strip @ Pier Park, has started to rise toward the sky.  The classic Galaxi style coaster bears a striking red and yellow paint job, helping it stand out among the many rides at the new park.

© Miracle Strip @ Pier  Park

RipTide has operated in both California and Iowa, according to its entry on the Roller Coaster Database.  It stands around 45 feet tall and will use individual cars that encounter the many dips and turns of the layout.  The original Miracle Strip Amusement Park had a roller coaster very similar to this one, as many of these Galaxi style rides were fabricated over the years.

© Miracle Strip @ Pier  Park

While work on Miracle Strip @ Pier Park continues to race toward an April opening, the park has released an early look at the property map.  If you click on the larger image you can get a good idea of what will be offered at opening, and they even have the location of the Starliner wooden coaster listed!

Aerial Update of Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

Check out this fantastic aerial update of the ongoing construction at Miracle Strip @ Pier Park.  So much progress has been made so quickly, and the place is really starting to look like an amusement park!

The aerial perspective really lets us understand the difference between the North and South sides of the park, with a large wooded wetlands area between them.  Many of the park's rides are already in place, with construction of the rest zooming along.  The video's labels help point out the location of the attractions, and even the future location of the Starliner wooden roller coaster.

If you happened to miss our interview with the park about their plans for this year, make sure to check it out via this link!

A Detailed Look at the New Miracle Strip @ Pier Park - Opening April 2014

Each season we have many new rides and attractions to celebrate and look forward to, but it isn't often that a park picks up and moves down the road a couple hundred feet!  Miracle Strip @ Pier Park is doing just that in 2014, and it's all in the name of growth.  We've been covering some news from the park as they've made progress on the expansion here at NPN, excitedly watching as they announced new details.

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park began in 2009 when Jenny and Teddy Meeks purchased the original Carousel that was still sitting at the former site of Miracle Strip Amusement Park and reopened it in Pier Park, a large outdoor shopping center in Panama City Beach.  The popularity of the ride led to the purchase of two others from the shuttered Miracle Strip Amusement Park, which had closed after 40 years of operation in 2004.  Though contained to a small 1.2 acre space, Miracle Strip @ Pier Park thrived and was able to add new "vintage" rides each season.  Before long, and with even more growth potential apparent, Miracle Strip @ Pier Park need to move and stretch its legs, and luckily there was open space just down the road.

The original 1.2 acre site © Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

That, as a brief version, gets us generally to where we are today - Miracle Strip @ Pier Park has closed its doors at the original location, and is fully immersed in the move/build of the new park.  To get some details on the new park I spoke with Jenny Meeks, who along with her husband Teddy own Miracle Strip @ Pier Park and are the driving forces behind the move/expansion.

One of the greatest aspects of moving Miracle Strip @ Pier Park is the addition of space - the new park will open on around 14 acres, almost 12 times larger than the original park.  "At this park we will be offering all of the things that we have been missing due to limitations and out-growing the property we were on for 5 years: great food, fun games, more thrilling rides, a water play area in which to cool down, and beautiful trees to give much needed shade," Mrs. Meeks points out.  "The park will have meandering walkways among beautiful landscaping and flowers, with touches of artwork and decoration here and there amidst the lights, smells, and sounds of a park from yesteryear."

The Tilt-a-Whirl in its new home © Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

The hope is that visitors to Miracle Strip @ Pier Park feel as though they've taken a step back in time, almost as if they were visiting a seaside park of years gone by.  Naturally, and not by coincidence, the direct comparison is to the original Miracle Strip Amusement Park (MSAP).  Mrs. Meeks understands that while honoring the park is important, they are not simply rebuilding it.

"Teddy and I have great respect for the Larks (owners of the original MSAP) and the wonderful park they created and devoted their lives to for 40 years on Panama City Beach. We know we can never replicate or come close to recreating their original park but hope we are successful in creating a special place for families to come and create new memories with new generations that were not able to experience the original MSAP."  It also sounds like the park's move has had a lot of local support, not only by fans but also the government: "Mayor Gayle O'berst of Panama City Beach and City Manager Mario Ginsbert have been instrumental in helping us get this new park built and we have appreciated their dedication to helping Miracle Strip @ Pier Park move to our new, larger location," says Meeks.

The location of the new park - you can see the old one in the upper left.

Scheduled to open in April of 2014, the new park will offer a substantially larger assortment of rides than was able to fit before.  A stream and wetlands divide the new park into North and South halves, with the entrance area being located off of Powell Adams Drive.  Miracle Strip @ Pier Park is building a roughly 130 foot long by 13 foot wide wooden bridge that will cross the wetlands to connect the two halves.

The Southern half of the park will contain the parking area and main entrance gates and ticket booths.  The park's architect, Jim Roberson of JRA Architects, created this view of what will greet guests:

© Jim Roberson / JRA Architects

In addition to the facilities needed for the entrance area the Southern half will also have many of the property's kiddie rides.  These will include the original MSAP Carousel, the 1949 Kiddie Car Ride, 1958 Red Baron, 1959 Boat Ride and some brand new additions as well.  These include a 1937 Caterpillar ride - the park's oldest and seen here being refurbished on the left - a set of Tea Cups from 1970, new 'dry' Boats from 1959 and Swing Planes from 1957.  All the rides continue the tradition of being the same or very similar to ones that operated at the original MSAP.

Via YouTube

It goes without saying that it gets pretty hot in Panama City Beach, so the new water play area, seen above, is going sure to be a big success.  Miracle Strip @ Pier Park purchased it from King Richards Family Fun Park (Naples, Florida) when it closed and now like their other rides it too will have a second shot at life.  The area features several waterfall mushrooms, two small slides, and plenty of other activities all set in a very shallow pool of water.

Service Buildings © Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park is also excited to be able to offer a more robust selection of food items in its new home, and a food court area will be the final item located on the Southern half of the park.  Different vendors will provide quite a selection, including "the best corndogs in Florida, gourmet hamburgers, exotic tacos from Gourmet by the Bay, Fresh Catch Seafood, Gyro King, Candyland Candies, 3 Brothers Pizza, and gourmet French Crepes & Brown Cow Ice Cream."  Like most aspects of Miracle Strip @ Pier Park, the food selection is distinctly unique.

The Riptide being rebuilt off-site for refurbishment © Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

On the other side of the bridge is the Northern half of the park, and this is where most of the larger rides are going to be located.  The biggest is Riptide, a Galaxy roller coaster that is similar to one that was once located at the original MSAP.  The roller coaster, dating to 1974, has been totally refurbished and received a new blue and yellow color scheme.  It will provide a thrilling experience, though not one that will prove too intense for younger riders.

Moving over from the existing rides at Pier Park are the Balloon Race, Tilt-a-Whirl, Scrambler, Sea Dragon and Ferris Wheel - all will be located among the trees in the Northern half of the park.

© Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

Four additional new adult sized rides will also make home in this section as well, all of which are vintage versions of attractions that could once be found at the original MSAP.  The two above are especially fun - on the left is a Rock O Planes, and old-school contraption that lets riders travel like a Ferris wheel, but offers plenty of possible inversions along the way.  On the right is the Bullet, another classic high speed ride that's sure to get the attention of everyone passing by.

© Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

A Trabant, the same style of spinning and undulating flat ride that was located inside Dante's Inferno at the original MSAP, will be new as well.  While it will not be enclosed at Pier Park, it will still bring back plenty of fond memories.

Miracle Strip @ Pier Park was able to find a great set of Bumper Cars up North in Vancouver, and they have already taken up residency on the Northern side of the property.

The Northern half will also have an amphitheater with adjacent stage for performances and other amenities.

In total there will be nine new rides at the expanded park, five for adults and four for children.  When added to the original attractions that are being moved, Miracle Strip @ Pier Park will offer nearly twenty vintage rides - a claim that not many parks can make!

An exciting aspect of Miracle Strip @ Pier Park will be the admission structure, which includes "unlimited riding armbands, individual tickets, and books of tickets for customers that want to ride or play on the water playground."  The park will have free admission, something that makes it a natural gathering place, and a welcome one at that.

Really, the thought behind the park is not simply an amusement park that hearkens back to a time gone by, but also as a place for the community to gather.  Along those lines Mrs. Meeks says "our park will be used by the community as a place to come together and celebrate the local arts of school bands, choruses, art clubs, church choirs, and theater. We want the local charities to use it for 5k run
fundraisers, adopt-a-pet, and walk-a-thons. Our pathways are perfect for parades of all sorts without having to shut down public roads. Because we are locally owned and operated, we can help the local clubs, schools, families, and churches have a family friendly place to have events, get-togethers, field trips, and reunions."  How wonderful is that!

As many are aware Miracle Strip @ Pier Park is planning on resurrecting the famous Starliner wooden coaster, which was moved to Cypress Gardens after the original MSAP closed - but was disassembled when Legoland Florida moved in.  Work on that plan is continuing, with the ride now owned by the park and some aspects already being worked on.

An Original Starliner Car © Miracle Strip @ Pier Park

The park is currently "meeting with wooden Roller Coaster builders to discuss the layout, engineering, and rebuilding of the Starliner.  We hope to have plans finalized and to the state and city for approval and permitting by the end of the summer to break ground by the end of the year."  It sounds like there's great interest in having the ride reopen, as they also report that "Pepsi and Buffalo Rock are National Sponsors of the Starliner and have committed financially to help rebuild it."

Mrs. Meeks continues, "we have already jumped the hurdle of having the Conditional Use Zoning approved for the 2.5 acres for the Starliner location and the approval of height variances to build the coaster to its original height by the city of Panama City Beach."  The current plan is still to have the Starliner up and running again for patrons in 2015.  When complete, it will run along the Western boundary of the new property.

While the addition of the Starliner is exciting, there's so much to look forward to when the park opens this April.  If only we were a bit closer to Panama City Beach we would be sure to visit and take in some vintage amusements - but even if I can't make sure I'm sure that plenty of people will.  Best wishes to Miracle Strip @ Pier Park on their grand reopening, and many thanks to Jenny Meeks for sharing with us here at NPN!

You can follow along with plenty of updates on the new park from Miracle Strip @ Pier Park's Facebook page.