SLC.
Just the mention of these three letters can send shivers down the spines of most coaster
enthusiasts.
Vekoma SLCs are notorious for being some of the roughest and most uncomfortable roller
coasters in the world.
Most are steaming piles of poop.
Some are tolerable thanks to updated restraints.
And the newer ones actually have smooth trackwork.
But what if I told you the best Vekoma SLC was one of the earliest ones?
Because that’s the truth.
The Great Nor’Easter at Morey’s Piers is easily the world’s best SLC.
And in this review, I will explain why.
Bolliger and Mabillard debuted the inverted coaster in 1992 with Batman the Ride at Six
Flags Great America.
The model was a smash hit for B&M.
The novel riding position below the track and inversions granted riders the feeling
of flight.
So it’s no surprise other manufacturers looked to copy this coaster model.
In 1994, Vekoma built their first suspended looping coaster or SLC.
Named El Condor, this attraction went to the park now known as Walibi Holland.
Rather than seating riders 4 across like the B&M inverts, the SLCs would seat riders two-across.
The SLC was designed to be a cheaper alternative and the super compact layout was designed
to be cloned.
Vekoma would build 8 more SLCs in 1995 alone and they have built 42 to date.
One of the installations from 1995 was the Great Nor’Easter.
And I have no clue how Morey’s Piers and Vekoma managed to fit this coaster onto Surfside
Pier.
The rollover is portioned mere feet above a water slide and the rest of the layout narrowly
avoids that very slide’s staircase and several other buildings.
If you’ve ever played Roller Coaster Tycoon, I feel like Vekoma took the pre-built SLC
layout and kept changing the elevation and rotating it until all the clearances worked.
The base SLC layout already has some of the best near-misses of any coaster as you narrowly
miss supports, so the bonus near-misses from the surrounding structures elevate the visuals
to an all-new level.
It’s one of the ride’s biggest strengths.
Calling this the base SLC layout is only a half truth.
While everything after the lift hill is the standard layout, there are a few differences.
One, the supports were modified to work around the pre-existing structures.
Two, the station is in a different location.
On most SLCs, you immediately head into the lift when you leave the station.
On Great Nor’Easter, you turn 90 degrees before heading up the lift hill.
Three and related to the prior item, the final brake run is shorter.
Most SLCs have an initial brake run after the final element and then turn 90 degrees
into the holding brake.
But the station is where the holding brake usually is.
So on Great Nor’Easter, the first set of brakes is the only set of brakes.
Yet the final stop is somehow smoother than usual.
Great Nor’Easter originally opened with a red paint scheme and the first generation
Vekoma inverted trains with the bulky over-the-shoulder harnesses.
These restraints combined with the coaster’s poor trackwork and aggressive transitions
were a nightmare.
The ride was downright painful and loaded with headbanging.
After a decade of operation, Morey’s started making changes to their maligned coaster.
In 2006, the coaster received an all-white paint scheme.
Then in 2008, the coaster’s name was awkwardly extended to Fly the Great Nor’Easter and
more importantly, the coaster received two new trains at a cost of $1.2 million.
These would feature vests that eliminate headbanging.
This was a massive upgrade.
While the coaster still tracked poorly and you’d still be jostled around, you at least
wouldn’t get a headache.
The ride experience from 2008 through 2016 was similar to other SLCs that were given
updated vest restraints such as Six Flags New England’s Riddler Revenge.
During the 2016-2017 off-season, Morey’s Piers and Vekoma took an unprecedented step.
They retracked roughly 90% of the Great Nor’Easter’s track at a cost of $4 million.
It’s pretty common to retrack wooden coasters, but it’s extremely rare for a steel coaster
to be retracked, especially all at once.
Vekoma would use their new track bending technology and they promised a ride so smooth that even
your grandmother could ride it.
I was skeptical, as were most enthusiasts.
We had little reason to believe this layout that had caused years of agony could actually
be good.
The coaster reopened in the summer of 2017- with the name shorted back to just the Great
Nor’Easter I might add- and the park was so confident in the ride’s smoothness that
they sent a trainload of grandmothers on the inaugural train.
And the verdict?
The ride was finally smooth.
It’s not butter smooth.
There are still some jerks and shuffling due to the compact transitions, but it was a fairly
comfortable ride experience between most of the ride tracking well and the vest restraints.
The only thing you have to watch out for is being thrown backwards or sideways into the
hard seats.
Before boarding the Great Nor’Easter, you first need to put everything in a locker.
Due to how this coaster travels above both water slides and pathways, nothing can be
in your pockets.
And since this genuinely is in the name of safety, Morey’s offers free complimentary
lockers by the coaster.
You then have to pass through a metal detector to get into the queue line.
And usually this coaster is no more than a 1 or 2 train wait.
Morey’s Piers has fantastic operations.
Great Nor’Easter almost always runs two trains and the crew usually has the next train
ready to go as soon as the prior one hits the brake run.
Morey’s Piers is also an expensive park, which helps keep lines down.
Wristbands cost $70-80 or you can buy an individual ride on Great Nor’Easter for 9 tickets or
roughly $9.
As for which seat to take, I find the forces pretty similar throughout the train, but I
recommend the front for the superior visuals.
You really get to appreciate all the near-misses and leg-choppers up there.
Once dispatched, you turn out of the station and ascend the slightly taller than usual
115 foot or 35 meter tall lift.
The lift takes a very long time, but I don’t mind one bit since you get an amazing view
of the ocean.
I also love how the Vekoma inverts don’t have a catwalk beneath you so you can appreciate
the ride’s height in full.
Once at the top, you navigate the 98 foot or 29 meter tall drop.
This drop twists to the right and it has two awesome foot-choppers.
One with the water slide halfway down and another with a cabana roof on the pullout.
Now this pullout pulls some solid positive Gs, but it is pretty jerky.
It’s probably the jerkiest spot on the ride.
You then navigate the picturesque rollover positioned around the water slide.
The entrance into the element maintains the positive Gs from the prior pullout and if
you’re up front, you get a wicked snap at the top.
The brief lull in between the inversions has an incredible foot-chopper with the start
of the water slide mere feet below you.
Then those in the back get their time to shine on the second inversion when they’re violently
pulled downwards.
This pullout had just as many positive Gs as the first, but this one was a little less
jerky.
You then navigate a large wave turn.
It doesn’t offer any forces, but you do have countless near-misses with both a slide
tower and supports.
The resultant pullout delivers a quick burst of positive Gs before shooting into the snappy
sidewinder.
This is the jerkiest inversion on the ride as the sudden loss of speed at the top will
throw you forwards.
You then zoom around an ok 270 degree turn that leads into the inline twists.
And this is easily the highlight of the ride.
First, you have a terrifying legchopper.
Great Nor’Easter has the usual one with the aforementioned sidewinder as you enter
the inline twist, but it’s more effective on this one since you aren’t dazed from
repeated headbanging.
However, you also have a secondary leg-chopper with the Zoom Phloom log flume above you as
well.
This is one of the best near-misses on any coaster.
Then the back-to-back barrel rolls are super whippy and disorienting because of how fast
you fly through them.
You feel the lateral force pulling you to the side while you rapidly rotate.
And you also feel like your feet will smack the nearby supports.
The finale on Great Nor’Easter isn’t great.
You round a relatively dull turn and then dip down and up into the brake run.
But unlike standard SLCs, these final maneuvers aren’t uncomfortable.
They just feel like filler here.
You then hit the brakes, ending your 2169 foot or 661 meter long adventure.
So what would I rate the Great Nor’Easter?
I would give this Vekoma SLC a 7 out of 10.
This is a genuinely good coaster.
I’ve long said SLCs have action-packed layouts, but their shoddy trackwork usually turns the
blitz of 5 inversions into a torturous experience.
But with all the improvements Morey’s has made to the track and trains of the Great
Nor’Easter, this is a decently smooth ride you can actually enjoy.
The inversions are very disorienting between their snappiness and all the near-misses.
I still can’t believe Vekoma somehow crammed this coaster into this boardwalk park.
This is narrowly the best coaster at Morey’s Piers and easily the world’s best SLC.
So those are my thoughts on the Great Nor’Easter, the genuinely fun SLC at Morey’s Piers.
Have you ridden this coaster?
If so, let me know if you rode it before or after the renovations.
I would love to hear any of your thoughts about this coaster down in the comments.
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