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Post by wildre on Apr 26, 2006 20:54:33 GMT -5
Growing up I was an Avalon "child", that's were my parents vacationed for 2 weeks every year. I also spent weeks at a time at my Grandmother's house in Margate. We never visited Wildwood, it wasn't my parents thing, so therefore it was never an option. We did Charlie's & Marian's on what Avalon called their boardwalk, or at Ah-Ma's in Margate, the Jitney to AC. Wildwood was always just an exit sign on the GSP on the way to Cape May for me. My Mother had family in Cape May, so we always spent time there. So missed lots of the important stuff in the "hey day" Then I met my husband, who's parents had a home in North Wildwood. Life was never the same after that, something my Mother never understood. I was always in North Wildwood, every weekend. We never spent much time at night in The Wildwoods proper, always opting to head to Cape May to hang out and party with my cousins. After we were married and had children we stayed in The Wildwoods most of the time. My kids loved Hunt's beginning in the late 70's, it was paradise to them. All these years later, like many of you, they remember what a great pier it was and reminisce about the magic it held in the "old days". Their spouses are almost sick of hearing them replay their cherished Hunt's childhood memories, they have nothing to compare it to. It's hard for them to grasp it considering the condition of Hunt's Pier now! They never set foot in NJ till they dated/married my children. My only regret is that we have very few pictures of them having those great times. Those memories are all in our hearts and minds forever! Kristin, I would love to hear your memories of Hunt's as Bud's Grandchild. Would you feel comfortable sharing, I understand if you decline, it may be too personal. You must have many wonderful stories and behind the scenes history that many of us would enjoy. re
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Post by Robert on Apr 27, 2006 0:00:14 GMT -5
Hunt's Pier was one of my favorite places besides the old Dorney Park. My father who passed away in Mar. 1986, took us to Wildwood once a summer between about 1980-1983. I'm not sure if we went to Wildwood in 1985, I know we didn't go in 1984 because we went to Williamsburg, VA that year, to Busch Gardens for the first time. However, I don't recall the Fun Pier fires of 84, or the Nickels roller coaster being gone during my visits with my father, so I don't think we went in 85. I do remember Castle Frankenstein on Fun Pier seeing it lit up at night but didn't go in, we rode the Lost World and walked through the Crazy House. We didn't go in Castle Dracula back then, but I remember seeing the billboard that said Castle Dracula on it and seeing the castle from the boardwalk riding the tram car or walking and thinking it must be scary in there. My first time in the castle was Aug. 1995, and final time June, 1998. I also remember seeing Morey's Haunted House, we rode Dante's, but didn't go in the Haunted House, but it looked so creepy at night. We went to Sportland once when the Hell Hole was in operation, my father went on it while I waited outside with my mom and brother. I could write a whole page about my Hunt's Pier adventures, we rode most of the rides except the Flyer and the Whacky Shack for some reason I missed that one but walked right past it at night it was all lit up and the WHACKY SHACK letters were turning back and forth and making creaking sounds I think and there were other scary sounds eminating from the shack as well. I remember seeing carts going into double doors and into the unknown. Dark in the park has the only known video of Hunt's Pier in operation including shots of the Whacky Shack letters in motion. I was always scared to ride the Golden Nugget back then (in the Hunt's days) for some reason, maybe I was afraid it would go too fast since it looked like a roller coaster with the lift and I always associated coasters with speed. But, I rode it and braved it. I still remember the bat that came at you in the mine and hearing something like thunder at the end. And the first time I rode Jungleland, I was afraid to ride it because I actually thought it was part of the log flume and would go up and down the flume! I was wrong and rode it. Keystone Kops was another of my favorites. I still remember the whacky, goofy scenes inside, and going outside turning around along the edge of the pier and going back in. The Ghost Town Iron Horse RR was another of my favorites, I still remember the fake western town in the back and the skeletons shooting at each other, and the tunnel. The train would go around twice to give you a longer ride. I remember the crossing at the station with the X signals and gates. One time the train was broke at the time of my visit and I was disappointed, I remember looking up toward the tunnel from the crossing and seeing the coaches without the locomotive up the track. The Pirate Ship was another, I still remember having to go through the crooked room on my butt. One year they blocked off the bypass so you had to go through the room. I have a half completed Hunt's Pier in Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, along with the other piers not finished, it's like a complete 3D simulation of Wildwood and you can ride the rides. I was basing it around the 1980 time period.
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Post by FlyinGN on Apr 27, 2006 19:27:39 GMT -5
great post... All true.. and I lived same thing as you did.. All the talk about Hunt's pier really stirred up some memories, and like I mentioned in one of the other posts, to see the various characters just tossed on the scrap heap as shown on the Funchase website really just breaks my heart. I'm sure I don't have nearly as many memories as Kristen, but wow, how they come back after all these years. You folks out there who visited WW as a kid in the late 60's through the 70's will know exactly what I am talking about. I grew up in the Wilkes-Barre area, and in the early years starting in '69, we only went once a year for like 3 nights, and gradually ended up going for a week by the mid 70's, but what an impact it had on me (I was on a tram on the boardwalk in a rainstorm in '74 when we heard the news that Nixon was going to resign -- worst trip that year, it had rained all week). And it wasn't like there were not any parks in my area, there was like 5 within driving distance (Rocky Glen, Angela Park, San Souci, Knobels, Dorney), but there was just nothing to compare to WW, in particular, Hunt's pier. 30+ years later, I can still recall vividly the moving hands in the sand outside of the Skua, and walking over the bridge, and down the slanted galley, and the wooden decking waiting in line for the Log Flume and how you could see the entire boardwalk from the top. And the hot coals tube in Golden Nugget, and how the boat captain would shoot the attacking hippo every time in Jungleland, and the sign "There's wacky fun ahead!" at the beginning of Wacky Shack, and the doors with the weird black light yellow paint. The strange keystone kops and how my dad would have to explain to me what that was all about, since I knew PA was "the keystone state" and figured there was some kind of connection but didn't know what??? And the 3 signposts at the entrance of the pier, probably have 10 pictures (one for every year) at those signs. And I'm sure my kid would have loved it as much as me, even in the high-tech world of 2006. God bless the genius of your grandfather, Kristen, although I never knew him his work touched my life and the lives of many of my friends more than he probably ever knew...
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Post by thelastresort on Apr 27, 2006 21:38:45 GMT -5
great post... All true.. and I lived same thing as you did.. All the talk about Hunt's pier really stirred up some memories, and like I mentioned in one of the other posts, to see the various characters just tossed on the scrap heap as shown on the Funchase website really just breaks my heart. I'm sure I don't have nearly as many memories as Kristen, but wow, how they come back after all these years. You folks out there who visited WW as a kid in the late 60's through the 70's will know exactly what I am talking about. I grew up in PA, and in the early years starting in '69, we only went once a year for like 3 nights, and gradually ended up going for a week by the mid 70's, but what an impact it had on me (I was on a tram on the boardwalk in a rainstorm in '74 when we heard the news that Nixon was going to resign -- worst trip that year, it had rained all week). And it wasn't like there were not any parks in my area, there was like 5 within driving distance (Rocky Glen, Angela Park, San Souci, Knobels, Dorney), but there was just nothing to compare to WW, in particular, Hunt's pier. 30+ years later, I can still recall vividly the moving hands in the sand outside of the Skua, and walking over the bridge, and down the slanted galley, and the wooden decking waiting in line for the Log Flume and how you could see the entire boardwalk from the top. And the hot coals tube in Golden Nugget, and how the boat captain would shoot the attacking hippo every time in Jungleland, and the sign "There's wacky fun ahead!" at the beginning of Wacky Shack, and the doors with the weird black light yellow paint. The strange keystone kops and how my dad would have to explain to me what that was all about, since I knew PA was "the keystone state" and figured there was some kind of connection but didn't know what??? And the 3 signposts at the entrance of the pier, probably have 10 pictures (one for every year) at those signs. And I'm sure my kid would have loved it as much as me, even in the high-tech world of 2006. God bless the genius of your grandfather, Kristen, although I never knew him his work touched my life and the lives of many of my friends more than he probably ever knew... so true, thanks FlyinGN, I actually choked myself up writing it, seriously. Perhaps I just miss the place.... Every year when we go down, it kills me to even pass pier 3 to see what has become of it, hopefully someone can turn it around someday.... (on a much much lighter note, I loved your "double frig the 50's" quote from yesterday, laughed my tail off when I read it)
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Post by FlyinGN on Apr 28, 2006 4:52:00 GMT -5
heh heh. I was just trying to make a point.. and get a laugh out of someone..
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Post by Al Alven on Apr 28, 2006 10:29:28 GMT -5
Well, double and triple "frig" what happened to Hunt's Pier! ;D
I grew up during the 80s, guys, but the Hunt's Pier I experienced and fell in love with as a kid doesn't sound much different than the one you hold so many fond memories of.
Few (if any) places or things can stir up such powerful retrospective emotions for me as merely thinking about Hunt's Pier can.
Thanks to everyone for keeping the magic alive, through threads like this, websites, or any other means!
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Post by thelastresort on Apr 28, 2006 10:54:01 GMT -5
The saddest part of your story Al, is that if you were a kid in the 80's, you saw it's tragic demise unfold right before your eyes. I graduated HS at the very beginning of the 80's and except for a few trips down in college in an alcohol induced state, like I mentioned in another post, I don't think I was in WW between like 85 and 90, and when I started going back in 90 as a "grown up", granted all the motels were still there, but when I made my first trip up the boardwalk, I couldn't believe how things had changed for the worst -- an unspeakable tragedy! In fact, I remember thinking how everything seemed so much in disrepair, and with the piers basically gutted and the businesses seeming to have seen better days, I thought I might not want to go back and start looking for another beach. But then started we started meeting my folks and others on a regular basis every year beginning in like 93 and have been going several times a year ever since. Hopefully, we have all weathered the worst of it. But it would have been nice to show the kids Hunt's pier as the place "where daddy went as a kid" -- well, maybe the Golden Nugget will get resurrected someday...
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Post by Al Alven on Apr 28, 2006 14:32:33 GMT -5
Very introcate retrospective, lastresort.
I do remember watching with great sadness as Hunt's Pier deteriorated right before my eyes. As the classic rides began to disappear, a true sense of... emptiness seemed to prevade over the Wildwoods for me.
It was demoralizing.
I soon came to realize that my love of the island ran far deeper than "just" my love for Hunt's Pier, amusement rides and the Boardwalk in general (and I say that with utmost respect for all of those wonderful icons).
But, it took a while to get over that, and to accept the way things were. Similar now in attempting to cope with a new era of changing times in the Wildwoods.
The difference is that, while my appreciation for the unique motels and other entities that have since disappeared grew over time, I did not and could not fully appreciate them as a kid.
Hunt's Pier, on the other hand, played a HUGE role in my childhood, a place that held such a special place in my heart with it's magical and unique aura. I would dream about being there every day... and sometimes, still do.
My sense of appreciation for Hunt's Pier was rekindled two years ago, with the birth of my son. Actually, it was around that time that my "nostaligic" switch in general was turned on, and I became obsessed with photographing and documenting as much of the "old," disappearing aspects of the Wildwoods that I could.
I'm still hoping that I will one day get a chance to ride the Golden Nugget with my boy... along with my brother and uncle, who (like me) remain kids at heart when we're in the Wildwoods to this day.
... ... ... ... ... whoops, sorry for the long post, guys. I tend to get carried away with topics such as this... but, thanks for stirring all the old memories. I'm so glad that we all have them, in the very, very least...
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