I'm proud to say that the Golden Nugget ride lives on at it's new home here in Pennsylvania at Knoebel's Amusement Resort in Elysburg. It has been renamed The Black Diamond and themed to reflect the coal mining industry that once existed in that area of Pa.
Used to ride this every summer on vacation with the family throughout the 70's and early 80's. Loved Hunt's Pier...Loved Wildwood. Haven't been there in 38 years but I am going up there this year.
I rode this ride many times back in the 60'S and 70's!!! Was my favorite and sad to say theirs not much there that comes even close to the old hunts pier!! Whacky shack, pirate ship and the jungle safari ride!
I never got to ride The Golden Nugget when it was in operation but have ridden The Black Diamond at Knoebels several times. It's become one of my favorite rides at the park.
You've got some awesome stuff in your archives! Well produced, Bill. It's still sad that this is gone, and that Hunt's pier remains barren. Always thought it'd be a perfect "nostalgia" pier, rebuilding some classic rides, with a classic arcade there as well. Alas, it's just storage still, sigh.
@@DarkinthePark As it was mentioned that the Golden Nugget was a piece of the landscape, I always felt the same way about the Pirate Ship. It could have been left as an iconic landmark visible up and down the boardwalk even if it never opened to the public again...
@@82accs We loved the Pirate Ship and would have loved to see it stay on the boardwalk...but it was not being taken care of in its final years. Being made of wood, it would have simply rotted away. Too bad someone didn't take an interest in it to save it.
@@DarkintheParki think I remember hearing that who ever owned hunts pier didn’t want the moneys to own it. if this is true it’s a shame because that would have been its best chance at survival. I’m not sure if this is even true.
Yes...I've heard the same thing. I guess it makes sense since the Morey's already had a monopoly on the boardwalk. In the end, who knows if it would have been a better fate if the Morey's got the pier at that time. @@michaeladamo1188
I Loved that ride.I spent a week.to 2 weeks with my Aunt and Uncle and 2 cousins in room#1 of the Rio Motel every summer between the mid 70's and the 80's.Me and my cousin Michele would ride it everyday and every night that we were there for those couple of weeks.The last time I rode it was in the 90's with my son Justin and my then boyfriend Eddie.I still think about how much fun that ride was.They don't make amusement rides like that anymore.I wish they would! I still miss Draculas Castle and the scream machine along with the wax museum and The Wipe Out and Dino land I think it was called it had a dinosaur dark ride.Wildwood was the greatest! It's still great it's just very different now.
I used to ride the golden nugget in the mid eighties to 2004 . My mom would love riding it and still tells me how much she loved it. I think with as much money as the new owners/ not new to owning piers..morey. should of refurbished this one of a kind ride. F morey.
The Moreys knew when they bought this pier that the Golden Nugget was going away , this was known within their immediate family this guy was lying through his teeth when he said he was going to miss this ride ! If anyone wants more personal information about this family just ask
There are many reasons why Golden Nugget wasn't restored. 1. The Building was made of Asbestos and an extensive restoration would have had to happen with the removal of the original bldg anyway. 2. The ride was not maintained during its operations and parts for the ride were non-existent, rotted or damaged. 3. Knoebels really wanted the ride because Dick Knoebel considered it one of his favorite rides as a child and spent 10 years trying to obtain it, and Knoebels had the experience and tech experience for the restoration. When Dick Knoebel wants something he will spare no expense and when it was determined the original trains were far too rotted, they salvaged what hardware they could and built 5 brand new trains, but used the grab bars, running gear, and door lock mechanisms on the new train. 4. Morey's didn't want to spend the $4,000,000 to restore it, Dick knoebels spent less money but he also didn't have to tear down a building made of asbestos but still have to have each section of track cleaned and sanitized before loading it up and moving it to PA. Knoebels spent just over $2,000,000 relocating and reassembly of Golden Nugget. 5. After retheming to PA Coal Mining and modernization of the ride control systems the Golden Nugget, now Black Diamond has stood at Knoebels for 12 years and continues Knoebels tradition of salvaging and rebuilding classic rollercoasters. 6. Under Knoebels ownership you can pretty guarantee the former Golden Nugget will be in it's final home of Elysburg, PA and will be cared for to the exact same level Knoebel's cares for The Phoenix, Twister and Flying Turns. 7. If you look at how the Morey's maintain other rides within their boardwalk you would have known that Golden Nugget would have never been restored. Their only wooden coaster, Great White is so rough it would need a $10,000,000 retracking to be smooth again, and right now they are zero plans to refurbish Great White, but there is a proposal to tear it down and selling it for scrap... but Dick Knoebel offered to buy it... so it could live on if Morey's ever closes it.
Thanks for the information. Do you work for Knoebels? The Moreys do spend considerable money maintaining their rides though. I see it happening every winter. They rotate which rides get completely torn down and refurbed from top to bottom. Although Knoebels gets those occasional major floods, the Morey's must contend with the ocean air dissolving everything that's made of metal. As for the Great White, they do re-track sections of the coaster every season. I have never felt unsafe on a Morey ride.
The ride could have been restored, but insurance costs to insure the ride in the state of NJ is/was obscene. It's why you see VERY few Dark Rides in the state of New Jersey.
Ha! That's me at 2:08 filming away. I wonder where the footage from that day got to. Waht a great and sad day this was. Also, EXTREMELY cold! Whatever happened to the coaster that they had the model of that day? It was supposed to go from Surfside to Hunt's? The soup was good afterwards, lol!
And I know the second dude they interviewed with the sunglasses and long black hair he is so cool he works at the number one Tavern down in North Wildwood what's up dude🍻
It makes me sad to see Wildwood In 2009 they are just destroying now, trying to make it impossible for locals to live and only for rich ppl it’s losing its magic
When the ghost ship closed in 2020 due to covid and agin 2021 and 2022 due to not enough staff the ghost ship has worn down and broken since then and would be very expensive to fix it up so there's a chance the ghost ship might be gone soon
The Roseland Park Gold Nugget was just a traditional dark ride with a mine theme...it was not a mini gravity coaster like the Wildwood Golden Nugget. Actually, the Roseland Park nugget originally had a different theme and was just converted to a mine theme in 1971 whereas the Golden Nugget was designed as a mine ride. I believe there was only one Golden Nugget built...and that was this one on Hunt's Pier.
Thank you! I can say by watching this video that some parts of the two rides were basically identical, such as the revolving tunnel and the little waterfall. I would like to find an old video of the Gold Nugget ride from within like this one @@DarkinthePark
The stunts of the Golden Nugget were purchased from Bill Tracy, who also provided the same stunts for many dark rides throughout the country. The revolving barrel and skull waterfall were popular Tracy stunts...so they were probably in the ride you remember. @@jeremys7231
how come my generations rides get no respect like this? pirates of wildwood was my favorite ride and they butchered in a few years back, den of the lost thieves was another favorite and now its a stupid photo booth
I remember pirates of wildwood when it was dark river. I don't think the change a few years back was too drastic. Most of the major elements remained...they just moved things around a bit. As for "Den of Lost Thieves"...I rode that once and didn't find it to be that memorable.
Why did they say the ride hasn’t been in operation since 1998? Definitely not true. I rode this ride for the last time in 2005 and have home video of it!
Dinosaur Beach only lasted until 1998, and that's the last time it operated. When the Moreys purchased the pier in 1999, they did not operate the Golden Nugget. You must have gotten the dates on your videos mixed up.
I'm proud to say that the Golden Nugget ride lives on at it's new home here in Pennsylvania at Knoebel's Amusement Resort in Elysburg. It has been renamed The Black Diamond and themed to reflect the coal mining industry that once existed in that area of Pa.
Yay! It's not completely dead!
Used to ride this every summer on vacation with the family throughout the 70's and early 80's. Loved Hunt's Pier...Loved Wildwood. Haven't been there in 38 years but I am going up there this year.
I rode this ride many times back in the 60'S and 70's!!! Was my favorite and sad to say theirs not much there that comes even close to the old hunts pier!! Whacky shack, pirate ship and the jungle safari ride!
Hunt's Pier was the best!
I never got to ride The Golden Nugget when it was in operation but have ridden The Black Diamond at Knoebels several times. It's become one of my favorite rides at the park.
You've got some awesome stuff in your archives! Well produced, Bill. It's still sad that this is gone, and that Hunt's pier remains barren. Always thought it'd be a perfect "nostalgia" pier, rebuilding some classic rides, with a classic arcade there as well. Alas, it's just storage still, sigh.
Thanks Sean. Maybe if the Moreys got it sooner they would have maintained the older rides before they were all removed...but one will never know.
@@DarkinthePark As it was mentioned that the Golden Nugget was a piece of the landscape, I always felt the same way about the Pirate Ship. It could have been left as an iconic landmark visible up and down the boardwalk even if it never opened to the public again...
@@82accs We loved the Pirate Ship and would have loved to see it stay on the boardwalk...but it was not being taken care of in its final years. Being made of wood, it would have simply rotted away. Too bad someone didn't take an interest in it to save it.
@@DarkintheParki think I remember hearing that who ever owned hunts pier didn’t want the moneys to own it. if this is true it’s a shame because that would have been its best chance at survival. I’m not sure if this is even true.
Yes...I've heard the same thing. I guess it makes sense since the Morey's already had a monopoly on the boardwalk. In the end, who knows if it would have been a better fate if the Morey's got the pier at that time. @@michaeladamo1188
Wildwood needs to revamp update the ride and bring it back. Same with Castle Dracula
That will be hard, they sold it to knoebels who refurbished it and rethemed it
My favorite when I was a kid. I'm glad it's been saved
This is the first roller coaster my dad took me on as a kid. It was also my kids' first roller coaster at Knoebles.
I Loved that ride.I spent a week.to 2 weeks with my Aunt and Uncle and 2 cousins in room#1 of the Rio Motel every summer between the mid 70's and the 80's.Me and my cousin Michele would ride it everyday and every night that we were there for those couple of weeks.The last time I rode it was in the 90's with my son Justin and my then boyfriend Eddie.I still think about how much fun that ride was.They don't make amusement rides like that anymore.I wish they would! I still miss Draculas Castle and the scream machine along with the wax museum and The Wipe Out and Dino land I think it was called it had a dinosaur dark ride.Wildwood was the greatest! It's still great it's just very different now.
Be sure to subscribe to our channel...we will be putting up a ride-through of the Golden Nugget when it was part of Dinosaur Beach.
What an awesome ride in Wildwood one of the best
Rode the Nugget many times over. I loved that ride and i hope to ride Black Diamond at Knoebols
My favorite ride of all time
I used to ride the golden nugget in the mid eighties to 2004 . My mom would love riding it and still tells me how much she loved it. I think with as much money as the new owners/ not new to owning piers..morey. should of refurbished this one of a kind ride. F morey.
The Moreys knew when they bought this pier that the Golden Nugget was going away , this was known within their immediate family this guy was lying through his teeth when he said he was going to miss this ride ! If anyone wants more personal information about this family just ask
the golden nugget ride alltime going miss it
That was a great attraction my kids always bug me they needed to go on that ride.
There are many reasons why Golden Nugget wasn't restored.
1. The Building was made of Asbestos and an extensive restoration would have had to happen with the removal of the original bldg anyway.
2. The ride was not maintained during its operations and parts for the ride were non-existent, rotted or damaged.
3. Knoebels really wanted the ride because Dick Knoebel considered it one of his favorite rides as a child and spent 10 years trying to obtain it, and Knoebels had the experience and tech experience for the restoration. When Dick Knoebel wants something he will spare no expense and when it was determined the original trains were far too rotted, they salvaged what hardware they could and built 5 brand new trains, but used the grab bars, running gear, and door lock mechanisms on the new train.
4. Morey's didn't want to spend the $4,000,000 to restore it, Dick knoebels spent less money but he also didn't have to tear down a building made of asbestos but still have to have each section of track cleaned and sanitized before loading it up and moving it to PA. Knoebels spent just over $2,000,000 relocating and reassembly of Golden Nugget.
5. After retheming to PA Coal Mining and modernization of the ride control systems the Golden Nugget, now Black Diamond has stood at Knoebels for 12 years and continues Knoebels tradition of salvaging and rebuilding classic rollercoasters.
6. Under Knoebels ownership you can pretty guarantee the former Golden Nugget will be in it's final home of Elysburg, PA and will be cared for to the exact same level Knoebel's cares for The Phoenix, Twister and Flying Turns.
7. If you look at how the Morey's maintain other rides within their boardwalk you would have known that Golden Nugget would have never been restored. Their only wooden coaster, Great White is so rough it would need a $10,000,000 retracking to be smooth again, and right now they are zero plans to refurbish Great White, but there is a proposal to tear it down and selling it for scrap... but Dick Knoebel offered to buy it... so it could live on if Morey's ever closes it.
Thanks for the information. Do you work for Knoebels? The Moreys do spend considerable money maintaining their rides though. I see it happening every winter. They rotate which rides get completely torn down and refurbed from top to bottom. Although Knoebels gets those occasional major floods, the Morey's must contend with the ocean air dissolving everything that's made of metal. As for the Great White, they do re-track sections of the coaster every season. I have never felt unsafe on a Morey ride.
Used to work for knoebels many moons ago but I stay in touch with management and what is going on.
@@DarkinthePark
I loved old hunt's pier... the Golden Nugget, the Keystone Cops, the Pirate ship, The King Kong Ride
The ride could have been restored, but insurance costs to insure the ride in the state of NJ is/was obscene. It's why you see VERY few Dark Rides in the state of New Jersey.
I was there that day... it was so cold!!
Me too-Possibly the coldest I've ever been in my life! haha!
Ha! That's me at 2:08 filming away. I wonder where the footage from that day got to. Waht a great and sad day this was. Also, EXTREMELY cold! Whatever happened to the coaster that they had the model of that day? It was supposed to go from Surfside to Hunt's? The soup was good afterwards, lol!
They abandoned the roller coaster when it was taking too long to get state approval to go across the beach. And yes, the clam chowder was pretty good!
Can I use this footage for my video about this ride? I'll credit you in the description.
As long as you credit "darkinthepark.com"
It's still living it's still operating it's called The Black diamond at in pa.
Yes, it's at Knoeble's Amusement Park. We've ridden it several times at its new home.
When the Hunt family
Had the pier it was
Much better
The coaster never came cuz it was soon debunked due to no funding…I still have the blueprint for it in one of the old books
And I know the second dude they interviewed with the sunglasses and long black hair he is so cool he works at the number one Tavern down in North Wildwood what's up dude🍻
And he can often be seen getting a slice of Mack's!
RIP Jack morey
I was going to this but I had the flu! I’m still mad about I remember trying to get get ready wasn’t happening 😢
How is it that Knoebels could and DID restore the Golden Nugget but Morey’s couldn’t?
They probably just wanted to spend their money on other projects.
Knoebels did this ride justice
It makes me sad to see Wildwood In 2009 they are just destroying now, trying to make it impossible for locals to live and only for rich ppl it’s losing its magic
Millions in repairs you can’t fix the past .
When the ghost ship closed in 2020 due to covid and agin 2021 and 2022 due to not enough staff the ghost ship has worn down and broken since then and would be very expensive to fix it up so there's a chance the ghost ship might be gone soon
I feel this might be the summer it reopens.
That “proposed custom rollercoaster” never happened.
yeah...some plans happen...some do not.
I think that Roseland Park had a nearly identical mine ride. Does anyone remember this?
The Roseland Park Gold Nugget was just a traditional dark ride with a mine theme...it was not a mini gravity coaster like the Wildwood Golden Nugget. Actually, the Roseland Park nugget originally had a different theme and was just converted to a mine theme in 1971 whereas the Golden Nugget was designed as a mine ride. I believe there was only one Golden Nugget built...and that was this one on Hunt's Pier.
Thank you! I can say by watching this video that some parts of the two rides were basically identical, such as the revolving tunnel and the little waterfall. I would like to find an old video of the Gold Nugget ride from within like this one @@DarkinthePark
The stunts of the Golden Nugget were purchased from Bill Tracy, who also provided the same stunts for many dark rides throughout the country. The revolving barrel and skull waterfall were popular Tracy stunts...so they were probably in the ride you remember. @@jeremys7231
Too bad that coaster never came to be.
how come my generations rides get no respect like this? pirates of wildwood was my favorite ride and they butchered in a few years back, den of the lost thieves was another favorite and now its a stupid photo booth
I remember pirates of wildwood when it was dark river. I don't think the change a few years back was too drastic. Most of the major elements remained...they just moved things around a bit. As for "Den of Lost Thieves"...I rode that once and didn't find it to be that memorable.
Why did they say the ride hasn’t been in operation since 1998? Definitely not true. I rode this ride for the last time in 2005 and have home video of it!
Dinosaur Beach only lasted until 1998, and that's the last time it operated. When the Moreys purchased the pier in 1999, they did not operate the Golden Nugget. You must have gotten the dates on your videos mixed up.