Explore

Working at Morey’s Piers has it share of perks and privileges, not the least of which is season passes for our family.  As of mother of four, this benefit has been especially nice.  Not only do my kids get to enjoy the amusement piers and water parks at their leisure, which is a cool deal for them, but it also has elevated my status in their eyes to something of a superhero, which is a cool deal for me.

Now it’s important to point out here that my husband and I like to keep the kids somewhat grounded.  And so they don’t go down the path to entitlement, as we make sure that our visits to the piers are special occasions, i.e., “don’t expect to go to the piers every single day of the week, and remember your season pass is a privilege – not a right” (those exact words have left my mouth a time or ten over the years.)

So, to make our visits an occasion we’ve started some family traditions.  And since the Jersey Shore is ripe with family traditions (families vacationing at the shore generation after generation, staying in their favorite motel, going to the beach at the familiar street end, and eating ice cream at the parlor on the corner – you know what I mean) we figured it would work for us.  Our children range in age from 17 to 6, and ever since the seventeen year old started kindergarten we’ve been coming to the piers on the last day of school to celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer.  We go on the rides on all three piers and snack on Curley’s Fries or funnel cake (we go for the entire Boardwalk experience.)  One year it rained and the kids were distraught.  We tried to tell them, hey, it’s OK, we’ll just go tomorrow night, but they were still surprisingly upset because it wasn’t THE last day of school – that’s how ingrained this annual pilgrimage to the piers has become for them. (They got over it the next night by the time they finished that first slice of Jumbos’ pizza.)

We come up to Morey’s Piers a few times throughout the summer, usually with cousins and friends in tow, but everyone looks forward to our annual farewell to summer – Labor Day.  Every year we head up to Ocean Oasis for their last operating day which is really more like “locals only” day at the water park.  The weather is nearly always gorgeous (September always is), and the kids have a blast enjoying the slides and pools one last time with their siblings and friends.  This year our six year old managed to work up the nerve to go down the Shot Gun Falls water slide.  He was so proud of himself he declared next year, when he’s seven, he’s going to do it again, and not be even a little bit scared.

Yes, Morey’s Piers has created some wonderful family traditions and memories for my family, and hopefully, we’ve done the same for you and yours.

What are your family traditions at Morey’s Piers?

-Merideth