This is how I remember it. I was born in '79 and spent my summers along the Jersey seaboard. We stayed in a trailer park 5 min. from Sea Isle City. I combed the beach and found nice shells and sold them to shops for ride & game money. That's all I did for 3 months, play games, get on rides, and go to the beach. Every day was the best of my life, until the next. Videos like this are what make KZread so great. Thanks for the nostalgia.

I guess this was one of the last years for great One of a Kind attractions in Wildwood...it's still cool and fun, but much of the uniqueness is gone with the loss of classics like the Whacky Shack, Keystone Cops, Jungleland etc. Thanks for this great look at the past!

thanks, the history of wildwood is an interesting one... hunt's pier was bought after dinosuar beach closed in 2005 by Morey... now the tramcars park there, with eventually new rides.

that's the hunts pier i remember :/ sadly it will never be like this again

I used to ride on that mini train as a kid between 1980 and 1983. I remember in 1983 or so it was broke down, coaches without loco stored back toward tunnel and I was disappointed. The train ride always went around twice per ride when I rode it. I liked the ghost town in the back with the shooting skeletons and the dark tunnel. After the tunnel, it went behind the Whacky Shack and then to the station. It still sickens me that all those custom rides are gone and much of it was thrown away.

Boy, do I miss that place! The pirate ship, Keystone Cops and the Jungleland ride. The mine ride (gold Nugget) is now at Knobels in Elysburg, PA. At least they kept that.

1988, the last great year of Hunt’s Pier. My favorite pier as a little kid.

I remember all of it!

The Whacky Shack has been gone since early 1996 when Dino Beach people removed it. It was retitled Hunt's Horror in 1989. The colored swaying Whacky Shack letters were removed from the facade after 1988. The Shack was built in 1963 by Bill Tracy from Cape May County, he also had a manufacturing facility in North Bergen, NJ. Most of the Hunt's dark rides involved the work of Bill Tracy. Too bad several of his rides closed in recent years. The Nugget is being removed 2009, but props saved.

Well the Golden Nugget is gone, too. It was rebuilt at Knoebel's with a new theme. Knoebel's is a good park, and even has a classic haunted house ride. But, Hunt's Pier in Wildwood had so many unique custom rides which couldn't be found anywhere else, but some of the names like Jungleland and Whacky Shack were reused for other rides across the US built by the late Bill Tracy who was from NJ. He had shops in Secaucus, NJ and Cape May Court House, NJ. He passed away August, 1974 but his company continued on and is now JMM Studios by Jim Melonic. Jim did the theming for Black Diamond at Knoebel's. The only operating Bill Tracy ride left called Whacky Shack is at Waldameer Park, Erie, PA and it's a two level ride built 1970. It's missing alot of the props the Hunt's version had, though as by the late 60's Tracy's rides shifted from gory scenes to more psychedelic scenes like glow in the dark patterns, etc. There was an older 1963 Tracy ride in nearby Ohio called Fright Zone (Haunted House from Westview, Pittsburgh) with some of those gory scenes but the park closed and the innards of the ride are now in storage at Conneaut Lake Park, PA. It was supposed to be rebuilt but nothing happened yet. The 1964 Haunted House ride and 1971 Pirate's Cove walk-through are still in operation in Ocean City, MD, both Bill Tracy attractions. Haunted House has had numerous changes and additions/expansions over the years, but still has most of it's original Tracy stunts. I experienced Hunt's Pier between 1980-1983. It was a great place. Dorney Park by me also had a bunch of Tracy dark rides like pretzel ride (burned Sept. 1983), old mill chute (torn down fall 1992), and walk-through gold mine (closed 1985) as well as a walk-through Whacky Shack burned Dec 1972 before I was born (Jan 14, 1974).

Sometimes change isn't always for the better. So many piers are no longer on the Wildwood boardwalk that it is a bit sad. There was one game on I think Sportland Pier called twin spin and many others that are no longer a part of the attraction to walk the boards.

I visited Hunt's between 1980-1983. I have memories of my father there, he passed away in Mar. 1986, car hit him near home. Vincent Kostek, former pier manager between 1957-1985 passed away last June. He helped build the Flyer and other rides. William "Bud" Hunt former owner until fall 1985 passed away 1991. Most of the Hunt's former properties are now either abandoned or gone including the movie theaters.

My childhood vacation land. Sadly, Hunt's pier is no more. It was so awesome in the 1960s

Dinosaur Beach opened up in 1996 & closed in 1998. The Moreys bought Hunt's Pier in 1999 & thats the way it's been ever since.

many a memory from there cuz

It's a shame the WHACKY SHACK wasn't saved. It was still on the pier in 1995, although closed and blocked off with a wall across the pier. The Nugget was closed that year, too as well as the Log Flume which was taken down 2001 and is now at Arnold's Park in Iowa. I rode the flume for the first and last time in 1998. I was too scared to ride it back in the early 80's but I rode the Nugget and other rides back then. I rode the GN for the first time since 1983 in 1996 when it reopened.

Hunt's is gone because Bud Hunt chose to sell the pier in fall 1985, and the new owner David Kami decided to raze half the rides on the left after 1988, and in the 90's it fell into disrepair, and Dino Beach only saved the Nugget, Flume, and Rapids. The Whacky Shack was razed early 1996. Not sure if the props were saved, but I heard that they might be in storage. It was built by the late Bill Tracy from Cape May Co. in 1963. He built dark rides, remodeled them, and the company closed 1979.

Whaccky Shack became Hunt's Horror in 1989 and was removed from the pier early 1996 after SBNO 1995. In 1996 it became Dinosaur Beach with a reopened Golden Nugget and a new dark ride on the left side called Escape from Dinosaur Beach, but it closed 9/1998. Morey's kept the Nugget to explore their options on what to do with it, but in the end it proved too costly to reopen and to comply with strict NJ state laws. The props are going to Morey's other dark rides. The track and trains were sold.

Oh, the pier was run by William C. Hunt from 1957 through July, 12 1970 when he passed away, brothers Guy and Bud Hunt until mid 1970's, and Bud Hunt alone through 1985 because Guy passed away after surgery in 1975 or so. Bud sold the pier to David Kami, Ted Snyder (owner of Sportland Pier since 1984) and another guy in Feb 1986. Those owners would have been running the pier in 1988 while Bud Hunt and Vince Kostek (manager of the pier between 1957-1985) were enjoying retirement.

Dont be sad its all gone .. be happy you got to live it ..

Looked about the same in the 60'S and 70's

Short vid, but so many memories.

Wow...! ❤❤

I believe that may be my mom and dad at the beginning of the video.

When I said 1988, I ment the last year it ran as the Original "Hunt's Pier." That winter the Flyer, Train Ride, Hot Rods, & Jugleland were all rasised to make way for new rides. Starting in 1989, it ran under 2 different titles like Conko's Party Pier & The New Hunt's Pier. From 96 to 98 it was known as Dinosaur Beach in which most of the rides had a Dinosaur Theme. The pier closed in 1998 & has been sitting idle since 99. The pier only has the Golden Nugget left but hasn't ran for 10 years now.

You will find most of the Nugget props in Morey's 4 dark rides this summer.

There isn't really another park around like Hunt's Pier, but as for Bill Tracy dark rides like the Whacky Shack, there's a larger model at Waldameer, Erie, PA and a Pirate's Cove walkthrough. Joyland Wichita has the first Whacky Shack built but the park is closed this year. Trimper's in Ocean City, MD has the Haunted House and Pirate's Cove but that park is in danger now, too. It's like what's happening in Wildwood and elsewhere with old motels coming down for million dollar condos.

Ahh the Good Old Days.

Graet Vid- I remeber

gold nugget's gone now-they were going to restore until they found out the shell contained asbestos, so being the weenies they are, the owners destroyed it. @dizco80 i was sad when i learned skua was gone also. those old rides were every summer of my childhood.

was there a floom ride on this pier? idk i was little when i was on this pier only one time and i remember like.. some floomy thing with a dinosaur tail or something sticking out

The Nugget track and trains are going to Knoebels. Perhaps they are going to use them to build a new dark ride with. But, nothing will be done this year with them at Knoebels, maybe next year.

no but I know the Skyline Golf sign has been up since the pier opened and well over a decade since it closed

Does any one remember whether the Himalayas were on Hunt's Pier? Around 1965?

i thought it closed like a couple year before that

Did the Nugget originally shut down because it fell out of compliance with updated safety laws? I've wondered for a while what the last year it ran was, and why it stopped running.

Can you tell me what was it like the year 1988 till now.i need feed back