Photo: Matt Kaiser. View full-sized image.
Various challenges have shown one more time that a great event will maintain its own greatness. Seaside Screams at Casino Pier, ACE New Jersey’s longest-running annual event, was held on June 14 — a Sunday — but not as a result of a weather postponement like last year’s drippy June weekend. This time the late date was owed to maintenance projects on the pier and an abundance of events in neighboring regions (both being “problems” every ACE region should be lucky enough to have).
At age nine years, it was time for Hydrus, the 2017 Gerstlauer triple-flipping Eurofighter, to have an extensive refurb and paint job this past off-season. However, even at the latest possible date for the event, a few loose ends were still untied, and the star coaster stood silent while all else screamed around it. Still, a strong RSVP list was helped along by the Centrifuge DJ raffle, now a popular staple of ACE’s Casino Pier events. Four winners had the privilege of programming music and running the light show for a Centrifuge ride (that’s the pier’s indoor scrambler). In total, 44 ACE members and friends came to the party, a pretty strong showing for a Hydrus-less Sunday.
Hot Tamales and Xolo Loca.
Photo: Mark Davidson. View full-sized image.
Casino Pier keeps it simple, and that’s how ACE likes it: step up to the window, buy your wristband and start having fun. A final check from Operations Manager Adam Lupton, good friend and reliable champion for ACE events at Casino Pier, said all was good to go for the morning ERT. After a warm welcome from Regional Representative Matt Kaiser, a group photo was staged before the famously quirky Pirates’ Hideaway. Then the energy scattered for the ERT hour: to the concentric Hot Tamales and Xolo Loca coasters and to the Centrifuge building, which stood quietly as if there were some wild soiree happening inside (there was).
Zero Gravity.
Photo: Mark Davidson. View full-sized image.
Fun Factory.
Photo: Mark Davidson. View full-sized image.
As the rest of Casino Pier came to life for the day, the fun spread out farther to the most popular spots, notably the breathtaking Ferris wheel and anything that makes music (Wave Swinger, Disk’O, Musik Express, bumper cars — more thrilling rides and sweet sounds than can be recalled). There’s also Zero Gravity, installed on the pier in 2024, well before this latest-gen “rotor” ride from SBF was the hit of that year’s International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions trade show. (In Jersey Shore parlance, it might best be described as a see-through Hell Hole.) The new-for-’25 Fun Factory, which just missed the group at last year’s Seaside Screams, was more than ready this time with its three levels of illusions and silliness.
As always, the event wristband included the full menu of pier-peripherals: a Go-Kart race, a round of Smugglers’ Quay golf, a spin on the Skyscraper, a flight on the Boardwalk Skyride and a generous 25% discount at all Casino Pier food and beverage outlets. Even with a bit of wind off the ocean, it was a great day for a stroll along the Boardwalk’s full 18-block stretch. To the north, the beautifully restored Floyd L. Moreland Carousel now stands in its own roundhouse, surrounded by treasures from its historic past. To the south, the former Funtown area is now focused on entertainment and refreshments, yet generates visions of what the future could bring to this once-dynamic amusement zone. These Seaside days with ACE — never enough of them — are as appreciated as the good people who make them happen every time. Lupton and pier Manager Debbie Karu are devoted to welcoming ACE year after year (every summer since 2007), and the next Casino Pier gathering for Seaside Summer Hangover is set for September 19, which will again seal this great friendship. Keep screaming!
— Mark Davidson, ACE New Jersey Assistant Regional Representative
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