Family Friendly First Night Ocean County Welcomes New Year In Seaside Heights

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — Looking for a fun way to ring in the New Year with the youngsters that allows you to get home before the evening partiers get on the roads?

First Night Ocean County is offering fireworks and entertainment on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, New Year's Eve and finishing with fireworks at 5 p.m., weather permitting.

There are four sites participating in the afternoon of music, magic shows and more: Lucky Leo's, Coin Castle, Casino Arcade, and Shake Shoppe. Two trackless trains will circulate on the boardwalk among the event locations.

There will be wristbands available, but they are not required to attend the Casino Pier events.

Here are the schedules:

Casino Pier

• 1 p.m.: Frozen Sing-A-Long
• 2 p.m.: Holiday Magic Show
• 3 p.m.: Kids Holiday Concert
• 1 p.m.-3 p.m.: Meet & Greets with Holiday Mr & Mrs Mouse
• 3 p.m.-5 p.m.: Meet & Greets with Australian Pups
• 4 p.m.: Kids Dance Party with a Countdown to Midnight balloon drop at 4:30 p.m.!

Coin Castle Arcade

• 1 p.m.-4 p.m.: Mr & Mrs Mouse, Blue Hedgehog & Coco (character visits will alternate throughout the day)
• 1 p.m.-4 p.m.: Caricaturist

Shake Shoppe Arcade

• 1 p.m.-5 p.m.: Caricaturist
• 1 p.m.-5 p.m.: “Web Man” Character Appearance

Lucky Leo's Arcade

• 1 p.m.-5 p.m.: Caricaturists
• 1 p.m.-4 p.m.: Face Painting & Balloons
• 1:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m.: Rizzo's Wildlife Show
• 2 p.m.-5 p.m.: Appearance by Mario & Peach
• 5 p.m.: Fireworks on the Boardwalk
• 5:30pm: Grand Prize

Lucky Leo's has more fun planned into the evening, with a "Beat the Clock" event where there are discounts on the games including 25 percent off Swiper Games from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. there is the Swiper games discount plus a 50 percent discount on the Wizards of Oz and Willy Wonka games. You must put a minimum of $20 per player on a playing card to play.

There are additional events coming at Lucky Leo's on New Year's Eve, which they said they will announce on their Facebook page.