Born & raised in a poor single mom household, at age 7 in 1988 I took my first vacation to wildwood. The first ride I seen & had to go on was the golden nugget! I'll never forget my 1st ride looking out over the beautiful beach at nite. Now I'm a 38, an old man watching this with my 2 girls age 8 +4. There won't ever be a time like this again in today's era. Thing we're so laid back & free back then.

Late 80s and early 90s, Wildwood was a truly magical place for kids and their parents.

7:44 Sade Smooth Operator playing! I was 18 that summer and sure enough went to Wildwood in August. Nothing beat Wildwood in the 80s, IN the eighties!

One of my best rides It's all gone The nugget and the log flume ride Really miss them Like loosing a best friend. and i'm serious about this.

All of these young people are probably in their early to mid 50's by now and all is just a faded memory in time! I loved old hunt's Pier when I use to come here back in the 60&70's .... Great video 👍 I also worked here as a ride operator summer of 79' that guy at the beginning reminded me of a guy by the name of Gus, probably long gone if that was him, really nice guy..

Wow, that whistle-sound when the Golden Nugget car goes around the curve really takes me back to my childhood. You would hear that whistle blowing the whole time you were on Hunt's Pier! I wish they'd get it up and running again.

Wow! What I wouldn't do, just to ride the Gold Nugget one more time! Wildwood was our Disney land in the 80's! Thanks for the memories

Wildwood in the late 80's and early 90's were some of the best times of my life. Thanks so much for posting. I haven't been down there in years now, but I imagine things have changed too much for my liking by now....

Remember the view at night from the top of the golden nugget? The lights, the people, and the smell of the ocean. I’m right back there now.

man i loved the golden nugget. wild wood was so much fun in the 80's and early 90's. when i heard dracula's castle burnt down i was heart broken.

I love this video........Makes me feel like I'm still standing there........ Thanks for the memories...

Wow! Thanks so much for posting this. I grew up in North Wildwood and spent many summers on Hunt's Pier. My Uncle Lou actually worked the Golden Nugget and I was hoping I might get a glimpse of him on your video AND there he is at 3:03! Awesome. Thanks for bring back such great memories. I miss Hunt's.

Hunts Pier was wonderful.

Thanks for sharing that incredible footage. Takes me back to a long time ago in the mid 1980's and the family vacations every August. Such a simple and good time. Yes, I am now in my mid-50's and that golden nugget mine ride was always my favorite. Went on that ride every night we were there. I haven't been to Wildwood in years a decade or more but the last I was down there they were razing most of the Doo-Wop hotels and putting up condos. Such a shame.

I worked on the pier that summer at STANLEY SPORTLAND ARCADE funnest summer and job EVER. I SO DEFINITELY miss wildwood and wish I could get there again

I wish I could go back to the 80's just to ride the Golden Nugget or the Jungleland Cruise again. The Golden Nugget is now at Knoebels Theme Park near Bloomsburg PA and was renamed the Black Coal

I remember riding this when i was a kid.

That 3 screams and a roar recording is burnt into my memory

Your Uncle Lou is the Duke of Cool. The man is ageless - French Louie is a true Wildwood Legend.

the guy in the suit looks so familiar , my brother worked on Hunts pier think 84/85 I was at the airport at SJA off the Island in 1988

Hunts pier was the best!!! thanks for the memories!!!! Howard: Killadelphia, PA

I've visited Wildwoods on So. N.J. coast on 3 occasions:September, 1978-late-June, 1983-Summer, 1998

Louie the Nugget operator just passed away recently. I rode the Nugget between 1980-1983, and June 1996 and 1998 Dino Beach years. Louie was probably running the Nugget those years. He must have stayed on after the pier was sold, first in early 1986, then in the 90's as the pier changed owners and names. But in 1995 the Nugget was closed, as well as the SBNO Hunt's Horror (Whacky Shack through 1988) there is a video on here of a tour through the closed Whacky Shack (Hunt's Horror) in 1995 with Louie and Eric Princz who worked at Brigantine Castle, Castle Dracula, and rehabbed the Nugget for Dino Beach in early 1996, ran Morbid Manor haunt at Sportland Pier 2011-2012, and owns a prop making company in south Jersey, there is also a video recently put up of Louie taking a walk through tour of the Nugget prior to Dino Beach.

I miss all the piers, sportland, hunts and the rest. There were some great rides that are long gone. I still feel Wildwood is a former shadow of itself. There so much more to do than with the current boardwalk. Why they even replaced the wooden benches with metal. I remember it being so much better when I was a child growing up in New Jersey. The piers And the rides are gone and now just faded memories. It is shame, places like the nut hut or magic shop are gone. In addition no movie theaters on the island.

all of the sounds alone make this video great

I did the US J1 visa summer '88. And went from Ireland to Wildwood, and worked the summer in Hunts Pier. I mainly ran the Wacky Shack near end of season.

I wish The Morey Brothers bought that pier too, those were great rides.

THE MOREY BROTHERS SHOULD HAVE PURCHASED THIS PIER TOO! FANTASTIC MEMORIES!

I rode Golden Nugget and didn't think much of it as a teenager in this period. I figured, it would always be there, like most folks think. Like the WTC was always gonna be there. . .

Oh, the memories...

Loved it brought back great memories!!!

We went to Wildwood at least once a year when I was a kid in the early 70s...The Golden Nugget was my favorite ride as a little kid and young teenager. Thanks so much for filming and posting this! Made my morning!!! (along with the sixpack I'm drinking!)

Bill Tracy passed away Aug 1974, and his company was taken over by other men and then Jim Melonic who still has a company today.

On the Castle Dracula facebook page Eric Princz posted blueprints of Whacky Shack track layout, and one showing changes from Devil's Inn to Whacky Shack. But the one blueprint showed the changes/additions to the track layout as longer than the final version was. I saw the vid of Eric and Louie V. walking through the Shack (Hunt's Horror) after it closed, around 1995. Louie was pointing out things what used to be where because all the props were removed. Most were saved, and some are on display in Randy's new arcade location on the boardwalk near Magnolia Av. along with a few ride carts, and Jungleland animals, and more.

Great video! My family used to vacation there in the mid-1970s. I remember the Gold Mine ride. My favorite as a little kid was the Whacky Shack, though. Dang, I miss that ride! Hopefully you can find some onride footage of the Whacky Shack to post. I loved the onride footage of the Gold Mine ride. Brought back a lot of memories! Thanks!!

I miss the Flyer, the train and Keystone Kops most of all. I had my foot stuck on the Golden Nugget so I don’t miss that one a whole lot. I was 10 in 88.

This is GOLD…Nugget :)

Remember the bumper cars and ski ball? On my way in August but remember going since the 50s

I’m younger so I grew up with the rides of wildwood from 2004-2010 and honestly still can enjoy them lol. But that water ride at the end of the video is awesome to see...because you can still see the remnants of it today. Up until maybe 2007 or 08, there were still even some of those old boats left hanging around. I always thought there was an old water ride there, and this just confirms it !

My dad said that he loved this pier when he was a kid

I wish I went on some of these rides while they were still there.

The spook house was probably Whacky Shack. It was a Bill Tracy dark ride built in 1964 from an Allan Herschell trailer darkride Devils Inn. Ironically, Bill Tracy moved his company from North Bergen to Cape May Court House in 1967 (renaming it Amusement Display Associates from Outdoor Dimensional Displays) after he did most of his Wildwood projects.

Great video. Marched in Drum & Bugle Corps in the 70's and 80's and went to Wildwood every year in June and Sept. for the VFW and American Legion contests and parades and rode these rides every year. Those years were Wildwood's heydays!!! Thanks for sharing this video.

I remember the summer of 88 like it was yesterday. I was 15. My family borrowed a friend’s conversion van and my mom, dad great aunt, me, my younger sister, newborn sister, my sister’s friend carrie,and my best friend Bucky all went to wildwood for a vacation in late July. My parents and great aunt stayed at the bal harbor with the baby and us kids got to stay at the conca d’or just steps from the beach. Appetite of destruction and hysteria were topping the billboard and the country was thriving. What I wouldn’t give to be right back there.

They were the good old days

You should try it out as Black Diamond, Knoebels did a great job with the recreation and retheming of this ride. Although I never rode the original it is great to be able to see some video of it!

It still makes me sick what happened to the pier, 1989 must have been a sad year for people as they saw their favorite rides vanish. And Dino Beach closing after 1998 didn't help, either. I wish someone other than Morey's would have bought it in 1999 and restored the Nugget where it was, kept the Log Flume and Rapids, and take the dinosaur theming away and retheme the pier as something else. That option would have been better than what we have now although the mirror maze at the front of the pier looks nice. There were potential buyers like Pat Croce (who planned to keep and restore the Nugget) and the Titus family of Wildwood (who planned to build a waterpark on the rear) but none of those panned out. A single pier can't compete with Morey's 3 piers, though.

Back when Wildwood Was nice

Thanks Dude - I'm glad you enjoy the site.

What I wouldn't give to ride the Golden Nugget again....

I’m curious what these ride operators are up to now.

The Nugget IS being removed next year. Most of the props were saved, though for use in Morey's other dark rides, thanks to Anthony (MrBoardwalk) and Ralph (funchase). I loved the Nugget when it was open, I rode it between 1980-1983 with my father who passed March 8, 1986, and again June 96, and June, 98. I will certainly miss it if I go back to Wildwood but like that they saved most of the props for public viewing in other dark rides. Better to save them now before they rot away and fall apart.

80s dudes with their spiked hair! love it

I alsways used to ride the Keystone Cops ride along with the pirate ship at the back of the pier. Also enjoyed the Busy Bee ride along with the train that ran around the Flyer and the little car ride that was under the Flyer.

I saw a close up of the Whacky Shack entrance with a sign saying Whacky Fun! Stay in car, etc. Shame there's no ride-through video. Does anyone remember what the order of the stunts were, I know there were classic Bill Tracy stunts like sawmill, clock, knit-wit, and crooked mine. I saw it in person outside at night between 1980-1983 but failed to ride it. The Whacky Shack letters slowly turned back and forth and there was a howl sound like a werewolf. The carts would disappear into the unknown.

I still miss this place, the younger people today will never know it the way it was, except through websites. At least the Golden Nugget Mine is still there although it needs work to get it back into service and for it to be safe for the public again. Let's hope Morey's does the right thing with it. I visited Hunt's between 1980-1983 and 1995-1996-1998 when it was half closed in 1995, and then Dinosaur Beach for three years. What I wouldn't give for new versions of the old dark rides to be built

Can you tell me about hunts peir in Wildwood new jersey and how old were you then and are you married. How was it back then.

Great job on getting a complete ride of the Golden Nugget, as we may never be able to ride it again. It's either going to sit there or be razed. Today's kids don't have the same appreciation for this kind of stuff that kids in the 60's, 70's, and 80's did. It would take a MIRACLE to get the Nugget running again. There's a thread about the possible demolition at doo-wop preservation league forum. The granddaughter of Bud Hunt (the former owner until late 1985), huntspier4ever Kristen posts there.

Thanks Carl - I knew you'd enjoy that.

Wow, I am 52, and I can remember every year going down to Wildwood, starting in the 60's, and always checking to see if there was a new LV. Even did it in 1998 last year of the Nugget, I got up there and figured no way, and there it was, LV. Could not believe it. That is a piece of Wildwood history. They should give you that piece of wood.

Pretty sure at 4:49 it said botomless shaft on a sign above you. I was on this in 1986 when I was 9 and will never forget that ride. It scared me when I read that. Keystone capers was cool too. Just got back from wildwood yesterday, I miss all of those old school rides including castle dracula.

I saw Bozo and french Louie. Love It! We worked together. I got pics if interested

Was that Gus Mason at the beginning of the film walking up the ramp to the coaster?

You'll be riding a wood coaster over Hunt's Pier again, in a few years although all you'll see on the pier then will be metal sheds. You will board the coaster at Morey's Pier, though. As for the Nugget, only the track and trains are going to Knoebels which suggests that they're going to build an entirely new ride with them. Perhaps a coal mine ride since they have the mining museum? The props are going into Morey's four dark rides on the three piers.

That's correct, Robert.

idk if this was super late in the season or a slow weekday, or if places just weren’t as populated back then

What? No on-ride video of the Whacky Shack? Or inside the Pirate Ship?

The description says worked for the Hunt organization from 1980 through 1990, I thought the Hunt ownership ended when Bud Hunt sold the pier and theatres in early 1986? The pier continued as Hunt's Pier from 1986 through 1990 under new ownership, and the theatres were sold to the Frank Company. And the pier and theatres were split up in 1986, with separate ownerships.

yes

Sorry to break the bad news, but it seems that the Golden Nugget might be razed this winter. The thing is 48 years old, and it would cost a lot of money to bring it back. It was SBNO for 10 years. Perhaps the Morey's have given up attempting to save it. Who knows. Now I wish someone else other than the Morey's would have gotten the pier in 1999 and kept the Nugget running and maintained. Letting it sit and rot was no way to treat it. Better pray that it's still there in 2009.

7:09 What is the story there? Lol

:( yeah...

Yup! Those are his initials.

I got kicked in the face on the giraffe bounce house on Morey’s Pier at 2:15.

Was uncle Lou LV?

ill pray

I know just how you feel...

3:05

IF they would reopen it, how would they market a simple 1960 era ride to a new young 2000's generation raised on internet and high-tech thrills? It might be nostalgic for the baby boomers (born 1940-1959) and Gen-X (born 1966-1979), though. Anyway, an announcement about what the plans for it is coming Mon. Dec. 8.

Wouldn't that be nice...

So sad they had to close it the morey's brothers should of purchase hunt's at lease they use it for storage better than it left to rot away

THAT WAS A TERRIFIC PIER! TOO BAD MOREYS DID NOT BUY IT!

This woman ruined the word business for the rest of human eternity.