Wildwood’s iconic ‘Great White’ roller coaster to get a revamp

It doesn’t go upside down. There’s no neon, no blaring soundtrack to drown out the screams. Wildwood’s Great White roller coaster is a pure and simple thrill ride, a wood and steel throwback rattling the bones above the beach.

As the iconic coaster at Morey’s Piers approaches 30, it’s getting a revamp that might help rattle the bones a bit less, including new coaster trains that amusement companies say will result in “an even smoother ride.”

According to Morey’s, the new trains will be made by Great Coasters International, based out of Sunbury, in Northumberland County, Pa.

The Great White opened in Wildwood in the summer of 1996 for $5.5 million. The coast has a 150-foot drop and reaches speeds of up to 50 mph. In 2023 the Inquirer joined a team of inspectors that painstakingly examined the coaster’s track, inch by inch, every day it’s open, looking for loose bolts, signs of wear and marks left behind by the trains.

“We could be out here six to eight hours, depending on what we found,” one inspector told the Inquirer.

According to Morey’s, the new trains will be supported by a single axle that will adapt to the track’s curves, reducing the lateral “shuffling” associated with the ride.