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Post by crazyaboutwildwood on Jul 27, 2006 8:58:42 GMT -5
The rapids are gone except for some cement walls. There is a kiddie ride stored on the back of the pier. It has been there for at least the last 3 years. Im not sure why its still there?
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Post by choochoochuck on Jul 27, 2006 10:07:21 GMT -5
Hunt's and the old Marine Pier (pier 5). What a shame. Somebody please remove those stupid go-karts, at least turn them into shops or a mall like the pier in AC across from Caesars. Like Todd Rundgren said "Something/Anything?" dont you mean Hunt's and Sportland?
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Post by Rob Ascough on Jul 27, 2006 10:20:09 GMT -5
It's weird... it's been years since I've ridden the Nugget but it feels like it was just yesterday. The sharp zig-zag turns on the roof, the sound of the rotating barrel (and the neon-colored spikes on the outside of it) and the drop in the dark as the bat swoops down from above.
I'm not sure if the Nugget was my favorite Hunt's Pier ride- I loved SKUA, Wacky Shack, Keystone Kops, Jungleland and had a special connection with the Flyer- but it was definitely a top-notch ride and I don't think it's simply a matter of memories making it seem better than it was. The ride was a really good example of a classic darkride and the coaster aspect made it that much more exciting and unique.
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Post by hulk007 on Jul 28, 2006 0:08:41 GMT -5
The flyer is my all time favorite roller coaster. When on it for the first time when I was about 7 and was scared to death but as the years went on a could not get enough. Sometimes I would ride it several times in one night.
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Post by Al Alven on Jul 28, 2006 2:39:57 GMT -5
It's weird... it's been years since I've ridden the Nugget but it feels like it was just yesterday. The sharp zig-zag turns on the roof, the sound of the rotating barrel (and the neon-colored spikes on the outside of it) and the drop in the dark as the bat swoops down from above. I'm not sure if the Nugget was my favorite Hunt's Pier ride- I loved SKUA, Wacky Shack, Keystone Kops, Jungleland and had a special connection with the Flyer- but it was definitely a top-notch ride and I don't think it's simply a matter of memories making it seem better than it was. The ride was a really good example of a classic darkride and the coaster aspect made it that much more exciting and unique. Very well said, Rob. I guess I would have to say that the Nugget is my all-time favorite ride, based on something you touched on -- it's ability to evoke such vivid sensory emotions in me, even to this day. Everything you mentioned, plus that combination musty/track grease smell (or whatever it was) when you made that first left turn and started up the hill, contributed to an overall experience that will stay with me forever.
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Post by Al Alven on Jul 28, 2006 2:43:46 GMT -5
The flyer is my all time favorite roller coaster. When on it for the first time when I was about 7 and was scared to death but as the years went on a could not get enough. Sometimes I would ride it several times in one night. Almost everyone I know who regularly vacationed in the Wildwoods at any point between the early 60s and the mid-80s remembers the Flyer as their first roller coaster experience. That made it a very special attraction alone. The thing I remember most about the ride, though, was the large neon sign that accompanied it. I used to love seeing it from a distance at night, all the way from Cedar Ave.
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Post by thelastresort on Jul 28, 2006 8:12:50 GMT -5
I've been reviewing this thread, and not to sound overly dramatic, but I think looking at the Nugget sitting there wasting away year after year reminds me of the situation where there is a favorite older relative who is just going down hill year after year and you have to just watch it happen (believe me, at my age, I've witnessed alot of this lately, unfortunately). Not trying to compare a ride to a person, but I think at least a touch of that is going through my mind. Like here is this entity that I used to have so much fun with, and now, it's still there, but it's "not there", you know what I mean? very sad.
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Post by Rob Ascough on Jul 28, 2006 10:49:34 GMT -5
I know exactly what you mean, and I don't think it's wrong to compare the Nugget to a person. It's like that old grandparent that steadily goes downhill and you feel bad because you're witness to the demise of one of the last things that connects you to a long-gone era. You can go up to the Nugget, look at it, photograph it and even touch it (if you're willing to reach beyond a fence) but it's like it might as well not be there because you can't enjoy it like you used to.
I kick myself for not appreciating Hunt's Pier when it was alive and well. I mean, I loved the place but it was only years and years later that I discovered just how special it really was. When we were kids, it was a tradition to go there and taking spins on all our favorite rides was something we did and something we always assumed we'd be able to do. Nothing could prepare us for the "surprise" that came in 1989.
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Post by thelastresort on Jul 28, 2006 11:07:06 GMT -5
It appears I've got you age wise by about 15 years, and as I've said before to others like Al in your age group, that would be like the Hunts' demise occurring in like 1974 by my time frame (which is actually when it was at it's heyday). That is tough on a kid. In 1989, I wasn't really even going to WW, and then started in the early 90's again after I got married. By then, Hunt's was pretty much gone, although we did get a few last rides on the Nugget (and managed even to get into Dracula's Castle a few times -- not on Hunt's pier of course but the same genre). Honestly, to an adult, the Castle was a bit cheezy (it was built when I was like 13 and I thought it was cheesy then), but the kids would have loved it!
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Post by Rob Ascough on Jul 28, 2006 12:17:29 GMT -5
It was pretty tough because back then, Morey's seemed to have a lot of adult rides while the Hunt's Pier rides were ones that everyone could go on. Like countless others, the Flyer was my first "major" coaster (and the catalyst for my coaster enthusiasm that has taken my fiancee and I all over the country riding those things while on vacation) and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for that thing. I think what hurt the most is that, in one fell swoop, so much was taken- the Flyer, the Panther cars, the train, SKUA, etc.- maybe it would have been less jarring had changes been made little by little.
As I once wrote in an article for a small coaster publication for which I serve as editor:
My father somehow convinced me to ride the Flyer in 1987, back when I was 9 years old. I must have hated it because I remember making up a ton of excuses to avoid taking a second ride. The year later he managed to get me on again and I ended up loving the thing. All winter long, I thought of going back to Wildwood the next summer and riding the Flyer. When I couldn't stop talking about it on the way down, my father jokingly said, "What if the Flyer isn't there this year?"
That was one of the only times I can remember my father putting his foot in his mouth!
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Post by Robert on Jul 28, 2006 12:51:18 GMT -5
1974 was the year I was born. I was lucky to see all the old amusements before they passed away like Castle Frankenstein, Lost World, Crazy House, Whacky Shack, Haunted House, the Screem Machine by Dracula's, Flyer, Dr. Blood's, Hell Hole. Actually out of all those I only went on the Lost World and Crazy House. Back then I thought all the amusements would still be there in 20 years, I was wrong. Some of the rides perished only a year later after I went (in 1983) such as the Screem Machine, Haunted House, Lost World, Crazy House, Castle Frankenstein. After my father passed in 1986 we stopped going to WW for a while. I actually thought in my mind before we went back that Hunt's Pier would still be there in 1994/1995! I was wrong. When we got there and walked up I saw for the first time the abandoned shell of Hunt's Pier in 1995 and got sick to my stomach. I was glad I got to do Castle Dracula, though, and the Nugget when it reopened briefly for a few years. About the Flyer, the late Vince Kostek helped build that as well as many other rides. It's too bad that it all came down without warning in 1989. Vince himself was sick over it like it says in the Flyer demolition article. I suppose, though that neither Vince or Hunt had any say on what happened to the pier after they sold it, because it was out of their hands, the new owner reserved the right to do whatever he wanted. It happens at other parks, when a longtime owner sells the park then the new owners usually demolish old rides to make way for new ones, or worse demolish the entire park for apartments or a shopping mall. Other parks across the country have been lost for whatver reason. For example, a seaside park in Florida closed forever Sept 2004 after 40 years and the rides were razed except the coaster which was saved and relocated. The end result of parks closing is that they will be forgotten by the general public, how many people today remember Palisades? And that future kids born too soon or born after the parks demise will never experience it.
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Post by huntspier4ever on Jul 28, 2006 12:59:18 GMT -5
I've been reviewing this thread, and not to sound overly dramatic, but I think looking at the Nugget sitting there wasting away year after year reminds me of the situation where there is a favorite older relative who is just going down hill year after year and you have to just watch it happen (believe me, at my age, I've witnessed alot of this lately, unfortunately). Not trying to compare a ride to a person, but I think at least a touch of that is going through my mind. Like here is this entity that I used to have so much fun with, and now, it's still there, but it's "not there", you know what I mean? very sad. I totally agree with you, Last. It was hard for me to put how I am feeling into words and you really hit the nail on the head. The Nugget is the last remaining Hunt's ride and I can't help to think it's the last opportunity to preserve the Hunt's presence on WW boardwalk. If, by some chance, the Nugget is destroyed, it's going to be like losing my grandfather all over again.
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Post by thelastresort on Jul 28, 2006 13:12:37 GMT -5
Thanks, Kristin, it kills me every time I see it, and I had nowhere near the connection to it you did and still do. I can only imagine what you are thinking. I hope something is done soon, before it's too late.
PS, how is your tribute website coming? I can't wait to see it when it is up and running.
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Post by Rob Ascough on Jul 28, 2006 14:46:35 GMT -5
The coaster you speak of in Florida (the Miracle Strip Starliner) is still awaiting it's rebuild. The parts are stacked at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven and the coaster is set to be rebuilt for 2007 (I know the guy that is supervising the rebuild) but so far no work has been done. I'm hoping the coaster will still get rebuilt.
As for the Nugget, I hope that Morey's comes through and actually relocates and refurbishes the ride, although I am beginning to get a little skeptical. You're right, it's the last real connection to Hunt's Pier, unless you count the log flume that was donated to Arnold's Park in Iowa.
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Post by Robert on Jul 28, 2006 20:07:49 GMT -5
Well, there are bits and pieces of Hunt's surviving, besides the Nugget like at the storage lot which is shown on Funchase, the Flyer trains were there. And some Keystone Kops were preserved. But, none of the other rides besides the Nugget and moved Flume survive intact. The Whacky Shack looked like a great dark ride, built by Billl Tracy in 1963 and it was torn apart from what I heard. Around the time right before Dinosaur Beach it was torn down. It was standing but not operating the year before Dino Beach. Rob, are you an ACE member? Doesn't ACE help preserve rare and historic coasters? I heard they were involved with the Nugget preservation effort. And the Starliner, that was a 1964 PTC John Allen coaster, right? I know the old coaster Thunderhawk at my hometown park, Dorney Park is a 1923 Herbert Schmeck PTC coaster. Why do some old woodies get torn down like at Wildwood but others are pereserved? I think there are NO classic wooden coasters in NJ anymore built from the 1900's to the 1960's.
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