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Well, not quite, but on Saturday, March 5th, Morey’s Piers was in the Pittsburgh Area joining Kennywood Park, Idlewild Park, Waldameer Park and Conneaut Lake Park presenting a 2010 recap, winter projects, and a sneak peak into the 2011 season.

Coasterbash XXII, hosted by the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Coaster Enthusiasts, is held yearly and also grows in size. It’s now the largest ‘enthusiast’ gathering in the Northeast and, believe it or not, it’s held at a local banquet center, not at a local amusement park.

I first attended this event in 1990 and there were about 30 people, a small slide show, some discussions about meeting over the summer at the nearby parks and a delivery of pizza. I volunteered to buy the ice for the soda. I again attended in 1996, my first spring as a Morey’s Piers employee, and sitting next to me was one of Kennywood Park’s owners. About 80 people joined us at the event which came complete with a basic catered meal.

This past Saturday, 5 parks made 25 minute presentations. Several vendors were selling amusement park related retail items. More speakers brought videos and slide shows of past industry happenings, and a summer trip to Scandinavia was discussed. Maybe Jack Morey will give me 2 weeks off in July to join them. The 9 hour event included open bar and social time, and a well planned catered buffet to feed the 170 plus in attendance.

The crowd was very receptive of the Ghost Ship video from the May 2010 opening night. After my announcement that we needed votes to win the Readers Choice “Best New Attraction in 2010” on About.Com, the Ghost Ship broke a deadlocked contest. Go figure!

I am already planning next years speech.