Casino Pier Amusement Park Sustains Heavy Damage from Hurricane Sandy
Images surfacing on the Web have shown part of Seaside Heights, New Jersey’s Casino Pier washed away by Hurricane Sandy. The aerial image below shows part of the pier ripped away and the Star Jet roller coaster now sitting in the ocean.
Star Jet was a compact E&F Miler roller coaster that RCDB is already listing as defunct. Some of you may recognize the ride and Casino Pier from MTV’s The Jersey Shore. The show would often include shots of the park’s rides. CoasterImage has more pictures of Casino Pier.
Today, Screamscape also shared that a number of other rides including the park’s haunted house were washed away as well. I’m not that familiar with the park and I’ve never visited. The only seaside amusement park in New Jersey that I’ve visited is Morey’s Piers. According to Screamscape that southern NJ park fared pretty well.
Hurricane Sandy Damaged Funtown Pier
A tweet by ACE shows an image of Seaside Park, New Jersey’s Funtown Pier which was also damaged by Hurricane Sandy. RCDB lists all of that park’s roller coasters as defunct with the statement: “It is presumed all the roller coasters were lost.”
Obviously the loss of human life is the most important tragedy when natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy occur. But, these amusement parks were staples in these communities. The economic and cultural losses will be felt for years to come. I hope and pray that these parks will be able to recover and rebuild.
Have you been to Casino Pier or Funtown Pier? Leave a comment below.