Boat Tag Moving Update
Those who are walking down the boardwalk near Adventure Pier will notice a sense of quiet in the skies. The sounds of balls flying out of cannons have now been withdrawn from the boardwalk soundscape when Morey’s Piers removed the iconic Boat Tag attraction.
For those who don’t know, Morey’s Adventure Pier is going through a massive renovation. (To watch an update on the progress of the renovation, check out the video at the bottom of this article)
Boat Tag Moving Update
The project, which began in late 2022, focuses on the entrance of the park, with upgrades to existing facilities and the creation of a new dining and entertainment district.
This dining district will continue the Art-Box theme of using shipping containers to create spaces.
To create the dining district, 14 additional containers up to 20 feet and 11 additional containers up to 40 feet will be added to the pier.
Inside those containers will be a mix of different food establishments which will include Morey’s world-famous Curley’s Fries.
In order to make room for the project, Morey’s had to remove a few different buildings and attractions including the Kohr’s Brothers building and the Boat Tag attraction.
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Boat Tag made its debut in 1986 at Morey’s Pier, and was a highly popular attraction. It allowed visitors to take a seat inside a boat and shoot yellow balls at other patrons, who could then return fire with the same yellow balls. If a target was hit, a massive spray of water would shoot up into the air.
The ride quickly became a fan favorite which made fans upset to see the attraction put up for sale.
Prior to its sale, the new owners reached out to us to confirm that it wouldn’t be going too far.
It would be a month later that Malacari’s Produce & Deli announced on Facebook that they have purchased the attraction and that it was moving to Pennsylvania.
Located at 156-160 Mundy Street, Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania, Malacari’s have become a staple of the area providing some of the freshest foods.
Their Facebook message went on to say;
“The Malacari family is happy and excited to announce that we have purchased the famous BOAT TAG game from Morey’s Adventure Pier located on the Wildwood Beach boardwalk! We will be moving the game to our Mountain Top location next to the mini golf course.”
Fast forward three months since that announcement and people have been wondering what is the update.
The Malacari family had promised to have Boat Tag up and running sometime in late Spring. The biggest thing they had to do was transport the massive pool, boats, and equipment from the Wildwoods.
To get ready for its new home, Malacari’s had to clear some space behind its main building and build a platform.
While Malacari’s is a bit of a drive for us to check out, reader, and life-long Wildwood lover, Robert Orbin, sent us some amazing photos.
In the photos, you can see that the exterior frame of Boat Tag has already started taking shape. The fencing, targets, and helicopters and now hanging in place from the rafters of the ride.
One may not know this but those helicopters used to be part of a ride on Adventure pier. That ride allowed children to use a joystick to fly their own helicopter up and down.
After it was retired Morey’s Piers used them as part of the theming for Boat Tag.
From the looks of things, crews at Malacari’s are still several weeks away until the water can be pumped in and the balls can start flying.
We wish Malacari’s the best of luck with their new attraction!
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