Wildwood, New Jersey - August, 1964
I found two fun vintage slides from one of the boardwalk amusement parks in Wildwood, New Jersey that make me wish I could have seen these places in their heyday - it all looks like a ton of fun. In the distance is a magnificent galleon, which I learned (from a postcard) was the Man o' War attraction, whatever that was. To the left we can see a sign for "Jungleland". The rocky bluffs were part of the Golden Nugget dark ride, described as a combination Roller Coaster/Dark Ride located on Hunt's Pier - I'm not sure if the giant skull was also a part of that.
Here's a YouTube video of the Golden Nugget ride in its last year of operation:
Vintage postcard time!
Next is this impressive façade for the HELL HOLE. This ain't Disneyland! There's also a sporty little car ride of some kind, and as the sign says in the distance - SCOOTERS.
Apparently the façade of the Hell Hole ride was repainted often (that salt air probably did its damage), when researching it, almost no two images looked the same. Here's a vintage photo scrounged from the Interwebs:
And another:
I confess to being a little disappointed that the Hell Hole was merely a "Rotor"-type ride, it would spin and guests would stick to the wall due to nuclear energy or something. Still, you can see that these folks are having plenty o' fun.
9 comments:
Major-
"Wild days at Wildwood". Been there... done that. Great memories.
Thanks, Major.
"Watch Or Ride Same Price." Did they really charge people just to watch the riders from above? Who do they think they are....Disney?
That pirate ship looks more than just a little bit like Disneyland's pirate ship!
This looks like a really fun park!
Thanks for sharing, Major!
The giant skull was the entrance to that pirate ship, although I can't remember what the pirate ship was about. Someone at Shyguy's World (a theme park sim game site which no longer exists) made a re-creation of (I think only the exterior) of the pirate ship, with the skull and hand using RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. He also made a re-creation of the Golden Nugget dark ride, which was pretty accurate.
That's an awfully big, and elaborate, facade for a Rotor flat ride. It appears to be yer typical Rotor ride; the epitome of a "spin and puke" flat ride. I rode one, twice I think, back in the day. And yes, I was getting a little queasy by the time the ride was over. I kept my cookies down though, and after a half hour or so I was ready for the next spin-and-puke ride. Great fun! It actually was an interesting sensation.
Tokyo!, people could flick chili beans down on the Rotor riders. WORTH THE PRICE!
It's always great to see vintage amusement parks, Major. Thanks.
Tokyo!, people could flick chili beans down on the Rotor riders. WORTH THE PRICE!
JB, COOL BEANS!!!
The first photo is of Hunt's Pier. Pictured are the Pirate Ship "Skua" walkthrough with skull entrance, the "Golden Nugget Mine" dark ride and the Kasper Klaus "Satellite Jet" ride. The Jungleland boat ride was a pale imitation of Disneyland's Jungle Cruise.
The Hell Hole photos are from Sportland Pier. All from Wildwood, New Jersey.
Thanks for these fun photos, Major.
WATCH OR RIDE SAME PRICE! Ok...not bad for the world's greatest sensation..and I will leave the Hell Hole right there. It seems they missed the mark on it being a devil-dark-ride-scary-attraction...and I'd admit that it's what I'd expect looking at this facade...but I do like these kinds of rides, and the (used to) make me giggle...when I used to giggle. I went down a bit of a bunny hole with Wildwood's...and found that it's many places in one place in Cape May county in NJ. Very much "Down the Shore"...and you can't get much more down than Cape May in NJ. New Jersey gets a bad rap: but it's a lovely state: The Garden State...I was there yesterday for work: and some places: even those near NY are quite lovely...The Wildwoods website has many webcams to get a live view of what's going on today: the beach is quite expansive...and it seems that the 200+ motels may be where Anaheim "Vegas" is still intact. They have coined it "Doo-Wop". Bill Haley and the Comets first sang "Rock Around the Clock" in Wildwoods 60 Years ago, and Chubby Checker introduced "The Twist". Bobby Rydell...of Rydell High...had a hit song about Wildwood... Not sure I'd ever make it down there, but as a kid I would be gooning on all the Knott's/Disneyland mash up rides...Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Buena Park all right next to each other: with the offshoot of delightful Autopia Cars and a Motor Boat Cruise! I would have liked it here, in one of the Doo-Wop hotels, with the little bars of soap that I would collect as a kid. I still collect the "nice" ones now: you never know when you'll get into a hotel that doesn't have soap: and yes...it happens all the time unfortunately. You would think soap would be kind of basic....Wildwood looks like a fun place: and based on the 8am Webcam: it looks like the season has started and is a Sunny Day in Jersey. Thanks Major.
Wow, look at this place! Pirate Ship, Mine Train, Giant Skull, Jungle Land, Skyway, Monorail, Rocket Jets, Autopia, a Helicopter ride, and THE H*LLHOLE! All with that tacky Boardwalk goodness.
Makes Disneyland look downright derivative, who needs it? Well, Disneyland is closer to my home I guess.
Thanks Major, I had no idea this place existed. Thanks everyone for the bits of knowledge about these places.
JG
Nanook, lucky you!
TokyoMagic!, I thought the same thing! Who would pay good money just to watch people on a spinny ride? I wonder if somebody actually used pictures of Disneyland’s pirate ship for the Man o’ War ship? It’s possible.
JB, there was a brief time when certain people tried to replicate extinct attractions using 3D computer software, I loved it. Even with the crude graphics, it was still a neat exercise. I was imagining the coolest, scariest dark ride when I saw that “Hell Hole” facade, and was very disappointed to find that it was your standard Rotor attraction. And yet… I’ll bet that facade got a LOT more people to pay money! I think the last time I was on a ride like that was Hershey Park (this was before it was Hersheypark), about one million years ago.
TokyoMagic!, maybe I need to invest in chili bean futures?
K. Martinez, yes, I mention Hunt’s Pier, but did forget to mention Sportland Pier for the Hell Hole, so thank you for the clarification. I wish I had more than just these two photos from Wildwood!
Bu, I think almost everybody (except for the faint-of-heart) likes a spooky ride with ghosts, monsters, skeletons, and demons. Did Wildwood have anything like that? Even cheesy effects work OK in the dark and with blacklights. Years ago I met a girl from New Jersey, and she was very defensive about her State; “It’s not like you see on TV!”. OK, OK, I didn’t say anything, don’t hit me. Actually she was a sweetheart. They might still have lots of fun motels near the Jersey shore, but that’s too far away for me to appreciate. I’m going to build my own theme park, Motel Land. Kidney-shaped pools! Air conditioning! Color TVs! Invest now, get in on the ground floor. My mom used to save all the little bars of soap, thinking that she would melt them down in a saucepan and pour them into a muffin mold (or something), but they would just accumulate. Even now she has 30 slivers of Irish Spring bars in her cabinet. I would have loved to see Wildwood NJ in its heyday!
JG, some of those classic seaside amusement parks did look pretty great, and the slightly-seedy “non-Disney” atmosphere would have been part of the draw. Do you ever go to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk? In California it’s the last of that kind of place.
I don't mind being a resident of "America's official joke state." I spend a week in the area every summer, but I haven't spent much time at the boardwalk in years. The beaches are surprisingly nice, though this part of the coast is not much for surfing if that's your interest.
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