New Wave Twister ride coming to Adventureland for 2025 season 

Adventureland opens for the season March 22, and visitors can look forward to a new ride coming this spring: Wave Twister.

The ride is part of Phase Two of a $10 million, five-phase plan to redevelop the back area of the Farmingdale park called Legacy Corner. Wave Twister riders will climb onto what looks like an enormous contact lens case. Ten riders will be seated in each of the two circles as the car rides along a track that simulates being on ocean waves.

"It’s almost like you’re on a surfboard," park manager Jeanine Gentile says of the sensation.

The ride was built to fit into part of the space once occupied by the log flume, which was removed last year from the area previously known as Pirate’s Cove. Wave Twister is not a water ride that leaves riders splashed. It was custom made by Ride Engineers of Switzerland, the same company that created the park's FireBall ride. "We worked with them on everything from the amount of G force to the color scheme," says Caitlin DiSclafani, park manager. The ride is currently en route from Europe via container ship and should be up and running sometime this spring, DiSclafani says. "The fact that the ride is coming from overseas is making it challenging," she says.

Children 36 inches tall — an average 4-year-old — can ride with an adult, making it an option for a wide range of ages, Gentile says: "While keeping the thrill in mind, we wanted to keep the family in mind. It checked all the boxes."

Phase Two will also include two new games, concessions and restrooms. One game will be called Wave Blaster; it's a water pistol game in which players aim to shoot a stream of water at a target, DiSclafani says. The other game is called Jungle Run, and it will be a racehorse style competition with a jungle theme, she says. The park is also launching a new custom prize collection, DiSclafani says. Five different mini basketballs will be designed. Three will highlight rides — Wave Twister, FireBall and the Rattlesnake Coaster. One will celebrate Adventureland in general and the fifth will be tie-dyed. 

 "Of course, rides are the main attraction to an amusement park, but we’re able to add to that experience," Gentile says.

Park officials hope to have the concession stand — called Legacy Bites and serving items such as pretzels, churros and popcorn — as well as the games ready for opening weekend. "With all the snow it's making it more difficult to get everything done in time," DiSclafani says.

Adventureland will have four new rides in Legacy Corner by time of the completion of the five-phase plan, targeted for 2028. The remaining two rides have not yet been disclosed. "There’s not much of a direction on that yet," Gentile says.

The first addition to Legacy Corner — Moon Chaser — opened last year. It’s a galaxy-themed thrill ride, and it spins, rocks, dips and turns upside down. Riders are harnessed in two horizontal rows of 14 people each and are lifted into the air together. Riders must be 55 inches tall, the size of a typical 11-year-old.

That ride has been a hit with teenagers, Gentile says. "That generation, they’ve never seen an upside-down ride at the park. That upside-down factor of it was a great hit. People came off wanting to go on again," she says.

Later phases of the plan will include a third and fourth Legacy Corner ride in the same area where the log flume was. The park eliminated the flume in part because it couldn’t be used during chilly weather in March and November. The physical park will be the same size when the five-phase plan is complete.

Park admission remains frozen at the same price as last season, $49.50 (including fees) plus tax for ages 2 to 24 and $39.50 plus tax for ages 25 and older.

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.