Wildwood - In 1995, Morey's Piers wanted to expand their theme park with a roller coaster, they wanted the first inverted coaster in the North East region. Later, in 1995, the Great Nor' Easter was installed. The Great Nor' Easter is 2,100 feet of twisted steel, that takes riders high over Raging Waters water park, through rollovers, sidewinders, and double spins, at speeds in excess of fifty miles per hour (55 m.p.h.). The Great Nor' Easter is a Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC). This type of steel inverted roller coaster is installed in at least 39 locations around the world. The first suspended looping roller coaster installation was El Condor at Walibi, Holland, in the Netherlands. SLC's were intended to run with ten cars in each train. Troublingly high maintenance costs with this configuration led to the trains being shortened to a seven or eight car layout.
Of the several different track layouts of SLCs, most feature a similar pattern. The ride starts by taking riders up a 33.3-metre (109 ft.) chain hill. In 2006, the track and support were painted white. Previously, they had been painted in a pinkish-red. For 2008, the coaster received some upgrades. According to Wikipedia, newer-styled "Freedom Seats" cars were installed. These new trains, with new-styled seats, featured an ergnomically designed seat that makes the ride smoother, while also providing a view of all directions, as well as complete arm freedom. The design utilizes a lap bar and new innovative vest of large rubberized plastic pads, they maximize safety and comfort. Add to that a redesigned station, and a new color scheme for the starting station ( in this case red, white, and blue), gives a brand new ride experience.
The theme of "Fly-the Great Nor' Easter" is a major East Coast storm, and was given to the roller coaster to help add thrills. Despite the limited space designers had to work with, the compact layout of the SLC was able to fit into Morey's Piers at Wildwood, New Jersey. See also, www.moreyspiers.com.
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