originally posted on 7/11/2021
Photo: Bret Ulozas. View full-sized image.
On June 12, it was as if nothing had changed. With the mere warming of the sands and changing of the calendar, summer came back. ACE New Jersey celebrated the occasion with its annual-with-one-exception summer kickoff event, Seaside Screams at Casino Pier (Seaside Heights).
ACE members were eager to return the familiarity of seaside fun.
Photo: Matt Kaiser. View full-sized image.
It seemed not to matter that the roller coaster offerings were fewer than in the recent past. Casino Pier was in the midst of constructing its fourth coaster, Xolo Loca. The spinning/tumbling family coaster from SBF-Visa will have a circuitous footprint that surrounds Hot Tamales, the L&T kids’ coaster that’s popular with all ages and was temporarily inaccessible. Both coasters were expected to open soon, but meanwhile only Hydrus, Pirates’ Hideaway and Centrifuge were up for an early ERT hour. Casino Pier’s operations manager, Debbie Karu, longtime friend of ACE New Jersey, also took time at the event’s opening to deliver a construction progress report on Xolo Loca and other upcoming pier projects. Regional Rep Bret Ulozas once again showed great efficiency with a perfect group photo captured in seconds in the forecourt of Hydrus. Then it was off to the races.
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Xolo Loca could be seen under construction.
Photos: Matt Kaiser. View full-sized image.
Once noon arrived, along with the Saturday crowds, the pier and boardwalk came alive with all rides open for everyone. Passes to Go-Karts, the up-charge Skyscraper, Smugglers’ Quay Adventure Golf and the Boardwalk Sky Ride were included in the event package, which gets more and more generous with the extras every year. Once again Spicy Cantina, a favorite boardwalk watering hole, offered 20 percent off all food and drink for attendees, while Casino Pier’s own Waves Bar and Froggy’s upped the ante with a 25 percent discount.
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Hydrus was the big ride during ERT.
Photos: Matt Kaiser. View full-sized image.
With a near-record turnout of 77 ACE members and friends, the day signaled a return to the way things were after our “lost year,” and it seemed everyone in town, on the beach, in the restaurants and on the rides agreed. It had been too long. It’s time to get out and live again.
— Mark Davidson, ACE New Jersey Assistant Regional Representative
Photo: Matt Kaiser. View full-sized image.
@#$%&!
#ACENews