CAROLINA BEACH—After missing out on Memorial Day weekend business due to failed inspections, the Carolina Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park is open for the summer. The reason for that failure was not due to a mechanical issue, but rather, timing.
Full of new and returning rides, the amusement park on the Carolina Beach Boardwalk was scheduled to open on Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, as it has for the previous nine years.
RELATED: Update: Carolina Beach Amusement Park failed inspections, still awaiting approval
On Friday, the Carolina Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park announced it would not open as planned. According to Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce’s director Greg Reynolds said it was the first year out of the park’s 10-year tenure on the island that it did not open in time for Memorial Day.
Dolores Quesenberry, spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Labor, said the delay in opening was a not out of the ordinary.
“It’s not anything out of the ordinary for a few rides to maybe not pass inspection initially,” Quesenberry said. “It’s actually a good thing because the inspection process is set up to protect the public.”
According to Quesenberry, the rides that failed inspection were simply not fully assembled rather than malfunctioning.
“On the day that the inspectors went to inspect the rides, they weren’t ready,” Quesenberry said.
Now, the park is back and running. Open every day from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, the park is located at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk.
Wristbands are $25 and individual tickets are $1.50. On Tuesdays, wristbands are on sale for $20 for Carolina Beach’s “family night.”
Robert Mergele, owner of Carolina Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park, declined to comment.
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