Dead Man's Party is a musical theatrical production at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. It is hands down the best yearly attraction act the park which draws crowds of hundreds of people several times daily during the annual Six Flags Fright Fest. The cast and crew do a great job and the performance is entertaining and consistently well done.

  In 2007, they dropped the song "Bring Me To Life" aka "Wake me up Inside".   The cast this year brings back three members from the 2005 team and one from 2006.  The pyrotechnic show is also different, as it seems they have abandoned the flame bursts for fog and spinning sparklers.  If you visit Great Adventure for Fright Fest, we definitely recommend seeing the Dead Man's Party show in front the huge Ferris Wheel.

We have compiled video clips from our last visit to Six Flags.

Parents have been voting since December in our Best of New Jersey Awards.   Here are this year's winners!  We received votes from the nearly 1,000 registered forum members during the period starting December 1st, 2006 and ending March 1st, 2007. The final results are in, and here's what GoKids NJ readers voted for as the "2006 New Jersey Best for Family Awards"

Best New Jersey Minor League Sports Teams

1. Trenton Thunder (47%)
2. Somerset Patriots (35%)
3. Newark Bears (10%)

Best Children's Themed Restaurants in New Jersey

1. Rainforest Cafe (50%)
2. The Showplace Ice Cream Parlor (21%)
3. CB Huntington's (14%)

Best Children's Entertainer in New Jersey

1. Music By Yosi (42%)
2. Mr. Scott The Music Man (14%)
3. Fun Bus (14%)
4. Cesar the Magician (14%)

Best Children and Family Theater in New Jersey

1. Papermill Playhouse (77%)
2. The Surflight Theater (12%)

Favorite New Jersey Family Beach Resort Destination

1. Point Pleasant (25%)
2. Wildwood (16%)
3. Ocean City (16%)

Favorite Family Boardwalk in New Jersey

1. Point Pleasant (33%)
2. Wildwood (20%)
3. Cape May (20%)

Best Zoo in New Jersey

1. Cape May County Zoo and Park (40%)
2. Turtle Back Zoo (40%)
3. Six Flags Wild Safari (10%)
4. Space Farms Zoo and Museum (10%)

Best Aquarium in New Jersey

1. Adventure Aquarium (55%)
2. Jenkinsons Aquarium (22%)
3. Atlantic City Aquarium (10%)

Best Family Water Park in New Jersey

1. Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (25%)
2. Morey's Raging Waters (25%)

Best New Jersey Family Amusement Park

1. Six Flags Great Adventure (61%)
2. Storybook Land, Casino Pier, Morey's Piers, The Land of Make Believe and Jenkinson's Boardwalk each tied for (7%)

Best Family Events of 2006

1. Six Flags Fright Fest (40%)
2. New Jersey State Fair (20%)
3. New Jersey State Fair at the Meadowlands (20%)

Best Place to Play Paintball in New Jersey

1. Top Gun Paintball Games (60%)
2. Cousins Paintball (40%)

It's a Bam Bam Diddly good CD that both parents and children can listen to and enjoy!  Summer might be over, but It's a Bam Bam Diddly by Father Goose  is full of cheerful and warm Caribbean jams for the whole family.

Being a huge fan of Reggae since I was a teenager, I found this to be one of the most refreshing children's releases in quite some time.   My daughter can only put up with the likes of Toots and The Maytals, Eek-A-Mouse and Yellowman (some of my favorites) for so long before she yells to put the Laurie, Yosi or Dan Zanes (island in the sun) CD back in.

This CD is sure to please all of us and the addition of the wonderful singing voices of Cheryl Crow  (flying machine) and Sister Carol (sly mongoose) just make it even more special for the little girl in the back seat. 

Sly Mongoose is by far my favorite song on this CD because I've always been a huge Sister Carol fan. 

Dan Zanes and Father Goose have outdone themselves this time and hopefully this release will expose young kids to the wonderful world and culture that is Jamaica, even if only for a moment, taking them out of the High School Musical and Hannah Montana world.  This release comes just in time for my 14 day caribbean cruise and you can bet this CD will be in the suitcase!  Buy it Now From GoKidsNJ

Father Goose: It's a Bam Bam Diddly! Tracks
1bam bam
2flying machine
3long time gal
4sly mongoose
5come down the line
6jane and louisa
7jig jog gee
8panama
9gypsy in the moonlight
10by and by
11music man
12chi chi buddo
14island in the sun
15nah eat no fish
16mary ann
17reminisce

It's a Bam Bam Diddly! by Father Goose Buy it!

Amazon Review

There is no shortage of love among parents and 4-year-olds for Dan Zanes, and rightfully so. On the strength of five brilliant family albums, he and his ragtag posse got the multitudes in on an intergenerational groove so powerful it jolted kids' music out of a long and boring slumber--if anybody deserves credit for redefining the parameters of a genre doomed to rot in dullsville, he's the guy.

But as gifted a musician as Zanes is--songs like "Firefly," off 2002's Nighttime, prove it so mightily you wish somebody would get around to naming him the Godfather of Meaningful Kids' Music--those who've been along for the ride since the first CD, Rocketship Beach, know it's often not Zanes' solo tracks but the ones he hands over to friends that end up on repeat. Regulars like Barbara Brousal, Cynthia Hopkins, and, yes, Father Goose, aka Rankin' Don, have made some of the best and most memorable Zanes tracks--no small thing when you consider that Bob Weir, Deborah Harry, Suzanne Vega, and other luminaries have also been guests.

In a world better attuned to the greatness of the Zanes gang, then It's a Bam Bam Diddly would have come out a long time ago; Father Goose does his dancehall thing to exhilarating effect (try listening to "Chi Chi Buddo" and "Come Down the Line" without spontaneously twirling and swaying--pretty hard), and he steps out of the hall long enough to re-route his nonstop energy into soul ("By and By," with the masterful Cherise King), spunky throwback pop ("Flying Machine" with Zanes and Sheryl Crow), and traditional Caribbean folk ("Long Time Gal" and "Nah Eat No Fish" with Judith Murray and Aggie). Front and center, Papa Goose gives up the gruff stuff skillfully as ever. This is a disc destined to stay lodged in the station wagon CD player for months to come, and one of the finest in the Zanes & friends treasury.

About the CD

Produced by dan zanes with his longtime pal and collaborator rob friedman along with father goose. this wild and unique caribbean party cd features special guests sheryl crow, sister carol, coolie ranx, ansel meditation, screechy dan, and wayne smith.

The Naked Brothers Band by The Naked Brothers Band Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $2.00 Usually ships in 24 hours

Customer Reviews

A Sorry Excuse for Music!
The Naked Brothers Band new TV soundtrack is terrible. The music lacks with vocals and song writing. The show just lacks itself. If you are really looking for good music [related to this] is "High School Musical 2," "Jonas Brothers," now that's good kids music!

The real thing
Despite the unbeliever's review posted earlier, these kids really do compose their own songs. Yes, their dad (jazz pianist Michael Wolff) does help craft the final *arrangements* for the show, but all of the compositions themselves are the work of Nat and Alex. Having met and interviewed the boys and their dad recently, I was extremely impressed by the level of their talent. These kids are the real thing, and the future looks exceptionally bright for the Wolff brothers. This CD is a wonderful documentation of early talent in bloom, and just the tip of the iceberg in what we can expect from them.

Great, Well-Produced Album with Strong Adult Influence
Nat and Alex Wolff are pre-teen Nickelodeon stars who have a great first album. Songs are catchy, ranging from the goofy (Banana Smoothie) to the insightful (I Indeed Can See). The cheaper, short-form version of this CD is kid-friendly and a great album that will remind parents of 70s rock groups.

However, the CD notes claim that Nat wrote all but two of the songs and Alex wrote the other two--some of these songs have too much depth for these little kids to have merely written the songs themselves. The great sound probably comes from their producer father who arranged the songs (their famous actress mom also has directed their TV show)--so really this album is not just little kids singing simple tunes. It's kids with famous parents who have taken the raw material from the kids and turned it into something professional. There's nothing wrong with that--it's just that they need to be honest. Some of these songs are way beyond the composing ability of the two young children and show strong adult influence.

Do not buy the more expensive album that includes two extra cuts and a free ringtone. One of the extra cuts has an adult word in it that will make some parents cringe. Otherwise the rest of the songs are safe.

And one more problem--not all of the Wolff Brothers' songs from their TV show are on this CD!?! They are missing Rosalina and Hardcore Wrestlers--so fans of the show may be disappointed that not all the songs from the TV show are on the disc. Otherwise the songs that are on the shorter, 15-song version of the CD are great.

Jill has returned from culinary school only to find her beloved grandparents' bakery closed down. Business has taken a drastic downturn because a new Mega-Mart store opened in the neighborhood. Help Jill upgrade her kitchen with state-of-the-art baking tools so she can ultimately earn enough money to re-open her grandparents' shop!

Based on the hit online game from Sandlot Games, Cake Mania for the Nintendo DS translates this fast-paced culinary crisis into the perfect Touch Screen experience. Wait for customer requests, bake their cakes, ice and decorate them, then hand them out and collect your cash. Serve up seasonal confectionary delights to a variety of customers and see if you have what it takes to save the Evans' Bakery!

 

Cake Mania Nintendo DS Cake Mania Deluxe PC Cake Mania 2  PC

An addicting slice of fun!
I have played this game online and really liked it. When I found out that it was available for the DS, I bought it straight away. I have beaten the game several times in the 3 months I have had it, yet something keeps bringing me back! Cake Mania lends itself well to the DS touch screen, and frankly, it is very addicting! Even my husband, who has a short attentions span when it comes to video games, and prefers the shoot-em-up variety anyways, has had a blast with this one. Wonderful for kids and adults alike. The graphics are not especially pristine - it is a simple game after all, but the replay-ability definitely makes it worthwhile. Enjoy!

Cake Mania
Think your'e organized? Well, Cake mania puts you through the paces of a bakery store owner and I take the CAKE! This is such a fun challenging game, might I even admit somewhat addicting? Cake Mania is by far the most fun and challenging game I have ever played. I would highly recommend this game to anyone, especially those who can take the heat...if not get out of the kitchen!

Superly Duperly Fun and Kinda Hard
I really like it, but it's kinda hard. It might just be my screen, but sometimes when I press something, it dosen't work. And some times I just get frustrated with it.

Find out the best places to go rollerskating in New Jersey.  NJ is home to many indoor roller skating parks that offer lessons, public skating, inline skating and birthday parties.