Adventureland adds 2 new rides for 2024 season, launches $10M park redevelopment plan 

Two new rides will be added to Adventureland when the park opens on March 23 for the 2024 season — the Moon Chaser and the Jr. Pirate Ship — with one more ride, the Wave Twister, coming next year.

The Moon Chaser and the Wave Twister are part of an anticipated $10 million five-phase plan to redevelop the back area of the Farmingdale park, says Caitlin DiSclafani, park manager. The new Legacy Corner, previously called Pirate's Cove, will have four new rides by its completion, targeted for 2028, she says. The remaining two rides have not yet been disclosed. Concurrent with the Legacy Corner project, the park is making other changes, including the addition of the Jr. Pirate Ship.

“We're expanding our offerings within the footprint of the park,” says Adventureland president Steve Gentile, who held a ground-breaking ceremony at a press conference Tuesday along with other Adventureland and local government officials and park mascot Alfie.

PHASE 1: 2024

Phase one included removing the adult pirate ship ride and the Adventure Falls log flume, preparing the area for the Moon Chaser. The Moon Chaser is a galaxy-themed thrill ride that spins, rocks, dips and even inverts riders, DiSclafani says.

“It’s going to be unlike any other ride we already have because it will be able to go upside down,” she says. Riders are harnessed in two horizontal rows like in a movie theater, with each row holding 14 riders, and are lifted into the air together. “It depends on power rather than momentum or gravity,” DiSclafani says of the ride. “That means the rider will experience instant thrills once the ride starts.” Riders will need to be 55 inches tall, the size of a typical 11-year-old, she says.

“Moon Chaser is high. You get a view up top. There's a lot of suspense; when you're up there you're waiting see what's going to happen,” says manager Jeanine Gentile, who has test-ridden the Moon Chaser.

Adventureland brought in some of its summer employees Tuesday to demonstrate the ride. "There was a lot of spinning and a lot of free-falling," says Hannah Klein, 18, of Dix Hills, a freshman at University of Buffalo. "We were screaming like crazy," adds Alyssa Wallace, 20, of West Babylon, a Hofstra University junior. 

PHASE 2: 2025

The Wave Twister is expected to arrive next year, DiSclafani says; it'll fit into part of the space previously occupied by the log flume, which was removed last month. Picture climbing onto an enormous contact lens case; 10 riders will sit in each side as they ride up and down along a wavelike track.

“It will feel similar to surfing on ocean waves,” DiSclafani says of the new ride. It will not be a water ride, though there may be a water element such as a fountain or mist, she says. “You won’t get splashed as you would have on the log flume. It won’t be like that,” she says.

The Wave Twister is a family ride. While the flume required all riders to be 48 inches to ride, the Wave Twister will allow children 36 inches tall — an average 4-year-old, DiSclafani says — to ride with an adult.

The park is replacing the flume in part because it had a reduced season. “We couldn’t operate the flume when it was too cold,” she says, which cut several months out of the park’s late March to early November season. “The flume took up a lot of room, probably 5% of the park. With that gone it’s really going to look incredibly different.”

Phase Two will also include restrooms and concessions and the removal of the area's Antique Cars ride.

PHASES 3-5: 2026-2028

Later phases of the plan will include a third and fourth Legacy Corner ride in the same area where the log flume was. “It will be the heart of Legacy Corner,” Steve Gentile says. At the press conference Tuesday, Gentile reflected on the area's history, which included Treasure Island mini-golf from 1988 to 2000 and a Pirate Ship and Adventure Falls log flume from 2000 to 2023. Their goal is to create a new legacy for generations to come. 

The target completion date is 2028 if the weather cooperates. “We're not going to release what's going on in those stages yet but we are saying there will be at least another additional two rides in Legacy Corner,” DiSclafani says. “The physical park will be the same size, but we are taking the opportunity to maximize that space.” 

OTHER ADDITIONS THIS SEASON

The Jr. Pirate Ship is a kiddie ride that replaces the Spinning Cars ride outside the arcade area at the entrance to Kiddie Land. It swings up and down in a pendulum-style motion and has a tropical vibe. A temporary version is at the park now and will be replaced later this summer with the actual permanent version, which will be decorated with palm trees, colorful parrots and a smiling, yellow sun, DiSclafani says. Kids must be at least 36 inches tall to ride with a parent and 47 inches tall to ride alone. The park announced the Jr. Pirate Ship addition in January.

 The park is also partnering with Catholic Health, which is sponsoring the Catholic Health Wellness Center. It's a branding change for the City Hall building's first aid center; City Hall also houses guest relations, a space for nursing mothers and the lost and found, DiSclafani says. Catholic Health logos will also be at the park entrance. 

Park admission remains at $49.50 (including fees) plus tax for ages 2 to 24 and $39.50 plus tax for ages 25 and older, Steve Gentile says. The park last invested several million dollars on rides with the addition of the FireBall in 2022 and the Turbulence coaster in 2015, he says.

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.