BEACH HAVEN, N.J. \u2014 Wainwright Family Enterprises (WFE), the company behind a growing portfolio of family attractions on Long Beach Island, including Fantasy Island Amusement Park and Thundering Surf Waterpark, has promoted longtime leader Matt Freed to Chief Operating Officer as the organization continues to expand its operations.<\/p>\n
Freed has been a leader within Wainwright Family Enterprises for the past eight years, first serving as General Manager of Fantasy Island Amusement Park and later as Managing Director of both Fantasy Island and Sand Trap Mini Golf. In his new role as Chief Operating Officer, Freed will oversee operations across all WFE entertainment properties, which include Sand Trap Mini Golf in Ship Bottom, Fantasy Island Amusement Park, Thundering Surf Waterpark, and Thundering Surf Adventure Golf in Beach Haven.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt has been an integral part of the growth of our organization,\u201d said Brian Wainwright, Chief Experience Officer and owner of Wainwright Family Enterprises. \u201cHis leadership, passion for the amusement industry, and relentless drive are at the heart of our success. His hard work speaks for itself, but it\u2019s his genuine care for his team and commitment to their success that truly define his leadership. We are proud to promote him into the role of COO.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since joining Fantasy Island in 2018, Freed has overseen significant growth and enhancements to the park, including major capital improvements, new rides, expanded food venues, and guiding the team through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership, Fantasy Island has continued to elevate the guest experience while earning industry recognition, including the 2024 IAAPA Brass Ring Excellence Award for Best Collective Visual Merchandise Display (Limited Operations). The park was also recognized as a 2025 IAAPA Brass Ring Award finalist in the Food and Beverage Excellence category.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m incredibly grateful for the trust the Wainwright family has placed in me and proud to be part of such a strong organization,\u201d said Matt Freed, Chief Operating Officer. \u201cOur team has accomplished a great deal in a short time, and their dedication continues to drive our success. I\u2019m excited to build on this momentum and further elevate the guest experience across all of our locations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to joining Fantasy Island, Freed held leadership roles at two other New Jersey amusement parks, serving as General Manager of The Funplex Mount Laurel and previously as Director of Operations at iPlay America in Freehold. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Marist College. In 2020, Freed was recognized in the NJBIZ Forty Under 40 program, which honors business professionals under the age of 40 for their notable achievements and leadership throughout the state. Freed is also actively involved in the global attractions industry through the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), where he holds the designation of IAAPA Certified Attractions Executive (ICAE) and serves on the IAAPA Amusement Parks and Attractions Constituency Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we continue to grow and add more properties to our portfolio, I am thrilled to have Matt as such an important part of our leadership team,\u201d said Wainwright. \u201cHe brings immense value to the organization, and I\u2019m excited to see what we accomplish together in this next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEACH HAVEN, N.J. \u2014 Wainwright Family Enterprises (WFE), the company behind a growing portfolio of family attractions on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-315441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}