This video hurts me so much, and makes me feel good at the same time, weird feeling. We now live in a world of pandemics, and now war. I was there that summer in 83, i miss my family, i miss the joy and hapiness...i can hear the spund of people walking on the boardwalk, the rides...it hurts inside.....thank you for the time machine video..bless you 🙏❤
I was also in Wildwood the summer of 1983 with my Friend Diane. Our friendship ended rather aprubtly that November. I saw her for the for the first time since we stopped speaking back in July 2009. But watching this video brought back memories of another place and time. How did I go from 23 to 53 so fast!!!!!!
Imagine you watching this video, then realize that you see yourself in it!!! Thank you so much for this video ,i was 15 years old again for 28;53min. ahhhh!!!down that memory lane...sublime nostalgia...
In 1983, my brother and I spent the entire summer in Wildwood. We stayed in a room on the 3rd floor at the Beachwood Hotel on Montgomery which is now The Wildwood Inn. We worked on Morey’s Pier on the Skeeter Boats, which were small one seat boats with an outboard motor. The boats circled in a large massive pool. Met lots of ladies and our evenings were spent at the “Martinique” nightclub, where beers were 5 - 7oz beers for $1.00. Tacky place with terrible disco but lots of ladies! What a blast for a guy 21 years of age! Didn’t make much money but what a time we had!
You were lucky to have grandparents or aunts & uncles with a property in the Wildwoods! No hotel charges, a clean, comfortable room you felt right at home in, free showers, and a great meal in when you weren't munching out on the boardwalk. And of course, an endless supply of old times stories! :D
Great Video! I come back to watch every once in a while. First trip to WW was in 1963 at age 21 months, been going all of my life. I forgot how many enclosed eat-in restaurants with a/c there were on the BW.. plus a Roy Rogers and McDonalds. From going there with my parents, to going with my Kids, the memories are all great.
Incredible video. As a skinny college kid with my GF and friends, we spent a couple weeks every summer in WW in the early Eighties. Best memories of my life. Ate at Taylor Pork Roll everyday, rolling of the beach and inhaling a pork roll sandwich , pencil fries and root beer...so great! Barefooted it back to the beach with my GF and friends, tanned some more, then went back to our flophouse on Magnolia Avenue, showered, then went to the clubs and got dazed and confused! Next day, we did it all over again. It was our Disneyworld! Fast forward to today, I own a property on the boardwalk in OC, but nothing ever will top those days of being broke, buzzed and tanned in Wildwood! Thanks for posting!
No cell phones, no internet, you had to actually TALK to the person next to you. Loved the banks of pay phones!! I can smell the sausage sandwiches and heated up creosote from the boardwalk, hear the spinning arms of the games, what a fantastic video.
Right up there at the top of my list of probably the happiest years of my entire life.Thank you,Wildwood will always remain,but at today’s prices,not like this.Not to many films without sound can keep you mesmerized for this long. Peace, Rocky. Thanks again.
this is so cool this is the way i remember it..and the people are totally different too. no long white t-shirts and baggy pants..I miss the times back then.thanks for posting
Well, this was sort of before people started dressing like rap and hip hop artists. Rap wasn't even popular then, it was new wave, rock, country, etc. that ruled the radio in 1983. Michael Jackson was big, and Madonna was just starting out in the music business.
LOVED THIS! Brought back soooo many wonderful childhood memories.... It's nice to see nobody with their eyes glued to their phones. It's just families simply being together and having fun at Wildwood. LOVE.. The 80s music too! Much better music back then, rather than today's crappy music.. I Love the sound of the seagulls, you know, you're at Wildwood, new Jersey when you hear the Seagulls💖
I agree, no one is walking with their eyes on their phones. I was born in 1990 so I do remember the time when no one had cell phones, hate to say it but people were actually nicer back then or at the very least they hid the hatred they had with each other better but now people are more honest with how they feel on the internet.
My Dad would drive us down to Wildwood every summer from the early 70s unit the early 90s from Connecticut. We would spend almost two weeks there. I remember a motel called The Esplanade that wasn't too far from the beach where we stayed. Such great memories! Thanks for posting this!
Thank you very much for posting. As others have said, this is as close to a Delorian time machine to go back over 30 years and relive my summers in wildwood as a kid. I was 7 during this time and visited wildwood 1-2x a year from 1981-1997.
I moved away from Jersey and am on the downhill side of life so doubt I'll ever visit Wildwood again, but thank you for the memories both happy and sad.
@@aikidoboynj Not very amusing. I consider myself on the "down side" of life, but for financial reasons resulting in my own stupid job decisions, in 2011 and prior. Got a job you love? Or one that pays well? Or a job that does both? Hold the F- on to it, and keep saving every year towards that magical week or two every July or August that could only be Wildwoods!
Thank you for posting this.... I grew up in North Wildwood... when this was shot I lived on 18th a half block form the boardwalk..... I practically lived on the boardwalk and crossed that saharalike beach everyday. So many memories... was there last year.... so many things the same... so many things gone. Thank you!
Vincent: I can think of NO other place to be lucky enough to have grown up in than the Wildwoods-Diamond Beach island. Sure, it has winters like here in Connecticut, but a little shorter duration, and by May, it's a totally different picture! If I had a lot of money saved, I'd honestly retire there, maybe down the Crest end, but still close enough to all the activity the island has to offer. No place on Earth combined such a wide diversity of activities, from just lazing at the beach, to tackling the rides, spending half a day out fishing on the Adventurer, the old twin drive-in across the bridge in Rio Grande, and of course, the sunrises and sunsets and the screaming seagulls! Paradise!
My family stayed with my grandparents at the Pink Shell Motel right on 18th and the boardwalk every summer we went to Wildwood in the 80s. Happiest memories of my childhood. I miss the Dracula Castle and Hunt’s Pier.
Awesome footage! I was in Wildwood every summer since 1979. 1983 happens to be my most memorable year. Thank you for posting this footage and letting me stroll down memory lane. Very cool.
I love watching your video over and over again! I was the projectionist at the Strand Theater in 1983. There was such a different breed of people in the Wildwoods those days! Thanks again for posting.
at 27:25 the camera shows me working at the dart game on Sportland Pier. the rides were not open that summer but the games at the front of the pier were .it must be early in the day cause the stuffed animals are not hung up at the" dime pitch game"yet, next to my game.most of the buildings are not there any more but the dart game is still there ,it is a soft pretzel store now. this was a great video to watch. i can't believe it was 30 years ago!
I can shut my eyes, crank up the sound, and I'm a young teen in Wildwood all over again! I open my eyes, and the first thing I notice is... NO ONE IS TEXTING! And if anyone is talking on a phone, it's inside a booth down the boardwalk or on a sidewalk somewhere! I love it! Thanks for this hypnotic trip back to my Wildwood youth. :)
Yes, basically everyone (especially the young people born 1980's and up) texts and has cell phones now. The boardwalk used to have payphones up to the 90's, maybe 2000's. It was a different world in 1983. I was there, August 1983, as well as 1982, I went on Fun Pier, Mariner's Landing, Hunt's Pier, Morey's Pier, and Sportland Pier. I didn't go in Castle Frankenstein, Castle Dracula or Dungeon, Whacky Shack, Haunted House, or Dr. Blood's House of Horror in 1982 or 1983. But I rode Lost World and went in Crazy House on Fun Pier, the showboat fun house, Cinema 180, and Ripley's Believe It or Not! trailer on Mariner's Landing, ghost town train, Keystone Kops, Jungleland, Golden Nugget, and Pirate Ship Skua on Hunt's Pier, and Dante's Inferno on Morey's Pier in 1982 and 1983. I did go through Castle Dracula Aug 1995, June 1996 and 1998, and Dungeon boat ride 1996 and 1998. Two jerks burned it down by accident from the inside Jan 16, 2002. Eric Princz who worked there 1985 and up, saved a bunch of stuff from the fire ruins and sold a bunch of items to collectors recently. All of the attractions I didn't go in are gone now. I did go through the Ghost Ship July 2011 and Eric Princz's Morbid Manor haunted house at Sportland Pier which closed after two years.
Yessir, ALL these attractions gone now, because of changing tastes, and obsessive greed (especially the greed)!! I have spent my whole life here, on the island (57 years), and have watched money grubbing corporations, such as the MOREY'S, suck the charm and lifebreath, out of the Wildwood boardwalk!! NEVER in my life, have I witnessed the boardwalk, with the least attractive rides, in it's history, and lack of interest!! I worked at Castle Dracula, back in the summer of 80-81!! Also at Morbid Manor in 2012, the third (and last) year!! Morbid Manor was there for only 3 years, but was highly original (and was very proud to have the chance, and privilege to work (SCARE), there👻💀!!!
@@stevejoshua9536 Yeah people are so open about their conversations now and it's so annoying. I take public transit and I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to know someone just by listening to their conversations while they spoke and sometimes even yelled on the bus.
The summer I was born. So cool to see Wildwood during that time. I wish I was old enough to experience it in the 70s and early 80s. I do cherish my early memories of wildwood from 1987 on. Amazing to see so many of the stores and other places still standing. I will ALWAYS LOVE WILDWOOD! ❤️
Went here every summer as a kid from 1978 to1983. One of my favorite memories was being so hot from walking the sun but looking forward to passing the shops that had their doors wide open blasting out waves of sounf and icy A/C coupled with all the smells of pizza, sausage, cotton candy, candy apples, salt water taffy. fudge and iron-on t-shirt stands. I hope when I die, Jesus picks me up in a tram car and trams me back to Wildwood circa early 1980's.
Francois Leduc we used to see so many Canadian license plates on the cars parked outside of the motels back then! The Canadian people were always so pleasant and such a pleasure to be around. We rarely see Canadians down Wildwood anymore. I wonder why is that?!
@@natthegreat9356 Yes we look forward to seeing the Canadians and Irish every year. Now I love driving to Montreal and Quebec in the summer! Didn't know it was such a beautiful ride through New York State!
This is great memories for me! I've been going to Wildwood since 1971, I was 12 when this was recorded. I remember all the good times when ALL the piers were full of rides, Hunt's being the favorite!
I was there in 1983, but earlier than the time of this video because I was there the night of the fire of 1983. I was staying two blocks away from the fire with my family at the Maryland Hotel. I'll never forget that night, watching the fire from our hotel room as we were getting ready for bed. That wood burned fast and furious! Lit up the whole nightime sky!
You are correct, that was our 1st day off 7 we were staying at the pan American motel in Wildwood crest and it burned so much and they had everything roped off it was really ashame seeing everything we grew up with completely gone. It was like a flash fire because that old wood went up and spread really fast!😢
I love seeing older videos of Wildwood and this was 7 years before I was born. The only ride in this video I recognize was the enormous slide ride which they took down a few years ago and that looping coaster looks pretty cool. I think that is the location where the Sea Serpent is right now and the wooden rollercoaster looks like a smaller version of the Great White. Amazing how everyone in this video is going about their lives and now they're much older but overall it still looks like the spirit at Wildwood was the same.
I loved WW than and still do today. Family vaca there every summer as a baby all through my teen years. Still, go down for a whole week and wish I was there now. I was down for eight days two weeks ago. Such great memories. Thanks for posting!
Great video, saw the movie Alien at the Strand in 79, have many fond memories of the boardwalk , worked at Neils steak and chowder in 98, White Dolphin in 99, Up the road at Sand Barrrens in 00. We were on the beach this year. Thanks for sharing , it was cool to see all those eighties styles again and to see the past compared to the alleged progression.
Not Neil's steak and chowder, Neil's Steak and 'Oyster', House!! The ignorant thing was, on their match pack, it stated "This is an oyster, we'll steak our name on it". But the match pack showed (and was shaped like), a 'scallop'!! Yes, the good 'ol days, but more backward, also 🙄!!!
AMAZING! hey, where's the giant ferris wheel and Sea Serpent- not up yet. LOL! The memories of that time- some places are still there. Notice how ppl were thinner too, what's that say about us today? ok, I won't go there- thanks for posting mrboardwalk!!!!
great times, thank you so much for posting, my father owned the 2 stores, one called "beach boys", the other "bang bang". at time stamp 12:39 Good memories, I was 3 years old :)
This is a treasure. 9 years old in 1983 and would have been there that summer. And the summer before, and the summer before, and the summer before...Sigh.
Those inflatable cloth rafts definitely brought me back. You get a nice rash from them. I remember the repair kit for when they got holes. I don't remember being allowed to use them in wildwood thou. I used to in Brigantine
Was just to Wildwood for the first time last year and loved it, but love watching what places used to look like! I only wish the stores they had now were a little more diverse like they were in this video. Boardwalk needs less T-Shirt shops! There's like a t-shirt shop every 3rd or 4th stall.
My brother and I went to Wildwood from Ireland in 1986 and worked there for 3 months during our college holidays,,,,,,God it was great in so many ways ,, met loads of lovely people from all over America and we used to have beer in a pub called Henry's,, does anybody remember it,,,,,I worked in Regency Towers in North Wildwood cleaning rooms and in a diner in Cape May cooking crabs and lobsters ,,,,,a long day but we had 2 days off to party ,, lol,,,,,great place and great days,,,,lived on Hudson Avenue for 50 dollars a wk for my room
`83 the year we moved to Wildwood. I was 8 yrs old. It was a great place to grow up but by 2000 it was time to get out(Myrtle Beach bound). I Go back now and it makes me kinda sad!, definitely not the town i grew up in. Cant imagine growing up as a kid there now, we had free reign of that town from September to April, couldn't imagine getting away with the stuff we did nowadays.
great ending-that touched a nerve. "I wanna go back too" even for just one day. Michael Jackson song playing twice- great year for music in the early eighties!
I was only there once and it was the year after this was filmed, 1984. To this day I remember “watch the team car please” and that was almost 40 years ago.
We used to stay it the crest. Dallessandros or those boarding houses . We just graduated high school. Duffers, Genovas,Cresse variety. Greens Liquors.....great times.
How about all the stuff in this video that isn't there anymore? Fun Pier stuff, Hunt's Pier stuff, Castle Dracula, Haunted House on Morey's Pier, Dr. Blood's House of Horror on Sportland Pier which closed sometime in 1983 and the building was razed Jan 2007 but props and cars saved by Randy Senna. And the boardwalk businesses have changed since 1983. Groff's is gone. But, Mack's and Sams are still there, and Snow White. I think 1983 was the last year for the Morey's Pier Star Wars attraction near Haunted House. In 1983 a prototype Gravitron was on Morey's Pier then in 1984 they got a different model that is more like the ones we know and it was put where Star Wars was near Haunted House. I wish there was a vid showing all the motels that aren't there anymore.
I was there in August of 1983 and saw "Private School". Big Phoebe Cates fan. I won a MLB batting helmet at a game where you threw a pitch and you had to duplicate the speed of the next pitch. They had a JUGS gun. I couldn't find that in the video. Anyways great video
People who take for granted the quality of the video we have today on our phones and video recording devices need to watch stuff like this from the 60's, 70's and 80's like this to really appreciate the awesome quality of video we have at our finger tips today. This is a great video, but the quality is just horrible for online viewing. I bet this would look much nicer if you hooked up the video recorder that took this video or a VCR to a Tube TV from back in the day.
Man...this almost brought a tear to my eye..seriously. Was like stepping into a real time machine and actually being there. And what really hit home, is the fact that I seen "Octopussy" during that Summer at the Strand!! So chances are, I may have been there the same day you took this vid! (though I was a pre-teen lol). Thanks for the great memories and will be checking out more of your channel.
It's weird seeing this video. Reminds me that most of my high school class first jobs were on the wildwood boardwalk. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi at the Strand.
My Dad's girlfriend was one of the voices of the tram cars.. apparently, an old boyfriend of hers worked for the tram car company, and when they needed a voice, they used hers. We used to tease her about it 😂
Well I was hoping to see myself as a kid with family we were there that summer in 1983 I was 11 years old Well good memories it brings back thanks for posting b:08/07/1972
I was there in 1983. I loved Hunt's Pier. I remember my dad riding Hell Hole on Sportland Pier, was it closed or open in 1983? Was Dr. Blood's House of Horror ride through on Sportland closed in 1983? What about Castle Frankenstein 2 level walk through on Fun Pier? Was it closed in 1983? I remember it open when I was there at night. I heard it opened 1978 but closed during 1982 due to some incident, then it burned Aug 13, 1984. I rode Lost World and walked through Crazy House. Those burned 11/84
awesome video! it was a few years before my time, but growing up going to wildwood (now as an adult, i work in it), i have recognize some of landmarks that are still today but i've noticed a lot of them are gone.... but i'm wondering, in 12:34 did the boardwalk mall had no roof or was it damage from the fire that happened next to it? it looks kinda odd in the video.
Wildwood in the 80s . How I would trade today to go back to the 80s in a second. Summers in wildwood every year. . Memories!
Did you notice the row of phones 😅 wow what a rare site!
Worked the boardwalk back then during college break, funny thing, I really did get a feelin i was in a sweet spot in time
This video hurts me so much, and makes me feel good at the same time, weird feeling. We now live in a world of pandemics, and now war. I was there that summer in 83, i miss my family, i miss the joy and hapiness...i can hear the spund of people walking on the boardwalk, the rides...it hurts inside.....thank you for the time machine video..bless you 🙏❤
No, God bless you, for speaking for me. Peace, Rocky
Pandemic brought me here. What great memories. How great was it being a kid during those long summers of the 1980s. The best.
I was also in Wildwood the summer of 1983 with my Friend Diane. Our friendship ended rather aprubtly that November. I saw her for the for the first time since we stopped speaking back in July 2009. But watching this video brought back memories of another place and time. How did I go from 23 to 53 so fast!!!!!!
i hear ya time just fly's
Imagine you watching this video, then realize that you see yourself in it!!!
Thank you so much for this video ,i was 15 years old again for 28;53min.
ahhhh!!!down that memory lane...sublime nostalgia...
I keep watching these wondering when I will pop up.
In 1983, my brother and I spent the entire summer in Wildwood. We stayed in a room on the 3rd floor at the Beachwood Hotel on Montgomery which is now The Wildwood Inn. We worked on Morey’s Pier on the Skeeter Boats, which were small one seat boats with an outboard motor. The boats circled in a large massive pool. Met lots of ladies and our evenings were spent at the “Martinique” nightclub, where beers were 5 - 7oz beers for $1.00. Tacky place with terrible disco but lots of ladies! What a blast for a guy 21 years of age! Didn’t make much money but what a time we had!
I loved those skeeter boats! We used to get the day pass for Morey's and Mariner's Landing then spend the whole afternoon on the rides.
i remember dime beers on certain nights. might have been a nickel
I can't tell you how much I appreciate this video. The memories of spending summers at Grandma's and walking to the boardwalk are magical. Thank you!
You were lucky to have grandparents or aunts & uncles with a property in the Wildwoods! No hotel charges, a clean, comfortable room you felt right at home in, free showers, and a great meal in when you weren't munching out on the boardwalk. And of course, an endless supply of old times stories! :D
Great Video! I come back to watch every once in a while. First trip to WW was in 1963 at age 21 months, been going all of my life. I forgot how many enclosed eat-in restaurants with a/c there were on the BW.. plus a Roy Rogers and McDonalds. From going there with my parents, to going with my Kids, the memories are all great.
1983 was my last year in full-time business on the Wildwood boardwalk...... I saw my places at 24th/boardwalk. Thanks for posting.
Hey Nick, Did you have the "knock the bottle down" game?
Incredible video. As a skinny college kid with my GF and friends, we spent a couple weeks every summer in WW in the early Eighties. Best memories of my life. Ate at Taylor Pork Roll everyday, rolling of the beach and inhaling a pork roll sandwich , pencil fries and root beer...so great! Barefooted it back to the beach with my GF and friends, tanned some more, then went back to our flophouse on Magnolia Avenue, showered, then went to the clubs and got dazed and confused! Next day, we did it all over again. It was our Disneyworld! Fast forward to today, I own a property on the boardwalk in OC, but nothing ever will top those days of being broke, buzzed and tanned in Wildwood! Thanks for posting!
No cell phones, no internet, you had to actually TALK to the person next to you. Loved the banks of pay phones!! I can smell the sausage sandwiches and heated up creosote from the boardwalk, hear the spinning arms of the games, what a fantastic video.
Right up there at the top of my list of probably the happiest years of my entire life.Thank you,Wildwood will always remain,but at today’s prices,not like this.Not to many films without sound can keep you mesmerized for this long. Peace, Rocky. Thanks again.
this is so cool this is the way i remember it..and the people are totally different too. no long white t-shirts and baggy pants..I miss the times back then.thanks for posting
Well, this was sort of before people started dressing like rap and hip hop artists. Rap wasn't even popular then, it was new wave, rock, country, etc. that ruled the radio in 1983. Michael Jackson was big, and Madonna was just starting out in the music business.
LOVED THIS! Brought back soooo many wonderful childhood memories.... It's nice to see nobody with their eyes glued to their phones. It's just families simply being together and having fun at Wildwood. LOVE.. The 80s music too! Much better music back then, rather than today's crappy music.. I Love the sound of the seagulls, you know, you're at Wildwood, new Jersey when you hear the Seagulls💖
💯💯💯
I agree, no one is walking with their eyes on their phones. I was born in 1990 so I do remember the time when no one had cell phones, hate to say it but people were actually nicer back then or at the very least they hid the hatred they had with each other better but now people are more honest with how they feel on the internet.
I got 💩 on by those seagulls... twice!
@@chiaralistica haha..that's supposed to bring you good luck they say!
@@amandaitalia5997 I've been lucky so far... maybe it works!
My Dad would drive us down to Wildwood every summer from the early 70s unit the early 90s from Connecticut. We would spend almost two weeks there. I remember a motel called The Esplanade that wasn't too far from the beach where we stayed. Such great memories! Thanks for posting this!
sweet memories, simpler times.
Thank you very much for posting. As others have said, this is as close to a Delorian time machine to go back over 30 years and relive my summers in wildwood as a kid. I was 7 during this time and visited wildwood 1-2x a year from 1981-1997.
I moved away from Jersey and am on the downhill side of life so doubt I'll ever visit Wildwood again, but thank you for the memories both happy and sad.
Are you still alive
@@catdaddy3164 this made our night 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@catdaddy3164 guess not
@@aikidoboynj Not very amusing. I consider myself on the "down side" of life, but for financial reasons resulting in my own stupid job decisions, in 2011 and prior.
Got a job you love? Or one that pays well? Or a job that does both? Hold the F- on to it, and keep saving every year towards that magical week or two every July or August that could only be Wildwoods!
@@Zickcermacity I hear ya I just got back a few days ago myself. Got lucky it was right before the rain started up.
Thank you for posting this.... I grew up in North Wildwood... when this was shot I lived on 18th a half block form the boardwalk..... I practically lived on the boardwalk and crossed that saharalike beach everyday. So many memories... was there last year.... so many things the same... so many things gone. Thank you!
Vincent:
I can think of NO other place to be lucky enough to have grown up in than the Wildwoods-Diamond Beach island.
Sure, it has winters like here in Connecticut, but a little shorter duration, and by May, it's a totally different picture!
If I had a lot of money saved, I'd honestly retire there, maybe down the Crest end, but still close enough to all the activity the island has to offer.
No place on Earth combined such a wide diversity of activities, from just lazing at the beach, to tackling the rides, spending half a day out fishing on the Adventurer, the old twin drive-in across the bridge in Rio Grande, and of course, the sunrises and sunsets and the screaming seagulls! Paradise!
My family stayed with my grandparents at the Pink Shell Motel right on 18th and the boardwalk every summer we went to Wildwood in the 80s. Happiest memories of my childhood. I miss the Dracula Castle and Hunt’s Pier.
Awesome footage! I was in Wildwood every summer since 1979. 1983 happens to be my most memorable year. Thank you for posting this footage and letting me stroll down memory lane. Very cool.
I love watching your video over and over again! I was the projectionist at the Strand Theater in 1983. There was such a different breed of people in the Wildwoods those days! Thanks again for posting.
Clifford Bodine Do you remember the name of the donut place that was somewhere near Wildwood convention hall
They were the good times!!! Things have really changed!! Wow!!😊😊😊
It is amazing how similar to today this looks. So much is frozen in time. Like a time capsule. Thank you for sharing.
Growing up a 80s wildwood kid in the summer man what memories this brings back
I used to be a lifeguard on Roberts Ave in 1978. Thanks for the memories.
at 27:25 the camera shows me working at the dart game on Sportland Pier. the rides were not open that summer but the games at the front of the pier were .it must be early in the day cause the stuffed animals are not hung up at the" dime pitch game"yet, next to my game.most of the buildings are not there any more but the dart game is still there ,it is a soft pretzel store now. this was a great video to watch. i can't believe it was 30 years ago!
that is awesome you can be seen in an old film from '83.
40 years ago now 😅
I can shut my eyes, crank up the sound, and I'm a young teen in Wildwood all over again!
I open my eyes, and the first thing I notice is... NO ONE IS TEXTING! And if anyone is talking on a phone, it's inside a booth down the boardwalk or on a sidewalk somewhere!
I love it! Thanks for this hypnotic trip back to my Wildwood youth. :)
Yes, basically everyone (especially the young people born 1980's and up) texts and has cell phones now. The boardwalk used to have payphones up to the 90's, maybe 2000's. It was a different world in 1983. I was there, August 1983, as well as 1982, I went on Fun Pier, Mariner's Landing, Hunt's Pier, Morey's Pier, and Sportland Pier. I didn't go in Castle Frankenstein, Castle Dracula or Dungeon, Whacky Shack, Haunted House, or Dr. Blood's House of Horror in 1982 or 1983. But I rode Lost World and went in Crazy House on Fun Pier, the showboat fun house, Cinema 180, and Ripley's Believe It or Not! trailer on Mariner's Landing, ghost town train, Keystone Kops, Jungleland, Golden Nugget, and Pirate Ship Skua on Hunt's Pier, and Dante's Inferno on Morey's Pier in 1982 and 1983. I did go through Castle Dracula Aug 1995, June 1996 and 1998, and Dungeon boat ride 1996 and 1998. Two jerks burned it down by accident from the inside Jan 16, 2002. Eric Princz who worked there 1985 and up, saved a bunch of stuff from the fire ruins and sold a bunch of items to collectors recently. All of the attractions I didn't go in are gone now. I did go through the Ghost Ship July 2011 and Eric Princz's Morbid Manor haunted house at Sportland Pier which closed after two years.
Yes ! Back when public conversations over the phone at a phone booth were actually considered to be private, and not a public address announcement.
Yessir, ALL these attractions gone now, because of changing tastes, and obsessive greed (especially the greed)!! I have spent my whole life here, on the island (57 years), and have watched money grubbing corporations, such as the MOREY'S, suck the charm and lifebreath, out of the Wildwood boardwalk!! NEVER in my life, have I witnessed the boardwalk, with the least attractive rides, in it's history, and lack of interest!! I worked at Castle Dracula, back in the summer of 80-81!! Also at Morbid Manor in 2012, the third (and last) year!! Morbid Manor was there for only 3 years, but was highly original (and was very proud to have the chance, and privilege to work (SCARE), there👻💀!!!
@@stevejoshua9536 Yeah people are so open about their conversations now and it's so annoying. I take public transit and I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to know someone just by listening to their conversations while they spoke and sometimes even yelled on the bus.
Me to what time down wildwood as teen b-1972
The summer I was born. So cool to see Wildwood during that time. I wish I was old enough to experience it in the 70s and early 80s. I do cherish my early memories of wildwood from 1987 on. Amazing to see so many of the stores and other places still standing. I will ALWAYS LOVE WILDWOOD! ❤️
it's like it was yesterday...thanks for the great memories!
I miss the old wildwood boardwalk. Thank you for these memories
damn, even 1983 was a much simplier time
Went here every summer as a kid from 1978 to1983. One of my favorite memories was being so hot from walking the sun but looking forward to passing the shops that had their doors wide open blasting out waves of sounf and icy A/C coupled with all the smells of pizza, sausage, cotton candy, candy apples, salt water taffy. fudge and iron-on t-shirt stands. I hope when I die, Jesus picks me up in a tram car and trams me back to Wildwood circa early 1980's.
I want to THANK YOU for sharing this video capturing the boardwalk in Wildwood; Great memories that live on in that timeless place.
Im from Montréal and i've been there every summer from 1978 to 1985.Incredibles memories! Thanks for this vid man!
Francois Leduc we used to see so many Canadian license plates on the cars parked outside of the motels back then! The Canadian people were always so pleasant and such a pleasure to be around. We rarely see Canadians down Wildwood anymore. I wonder why is that?!
@@realmccoy i don't know... probably the Canadian dollar that has dropped so much. Sad...
@@natthegreat9356 Yes we look forward to seeing the Canadians and Irish every year. Now I love driving to Montreal and Quebec in the summer! Didn't know it was such a beautiful ride through New York State!
The good old days i was 20 years old......thank you for this video
This is great memories for me! I've been going to Wildwood since 1971, I was 12 when this was recorded. I remember all the good times when ALL the piers were full of rides, Hunt's being the favorite!
I enjoyed the video brings back good memories
I was there in 1983, but earlier than the time of this video because I was there the night of the fire of 1983. I was staying two blocks away from the fire with my family at the Maryland Hotel. I'll never forget that night, watching the fire from our hotel room as we were getting ready for bed. That wood burned fast and furious! Lit up the whole nightime sky!
You are correct, that was our 1st day off 7 we were staying at the pan American motel in Wildwood crest and it burned so much and they had everything roped off it was really ashame seeing everything we grew up with completely gone. It was like a flash fire because that old wood went up and spread really fast!😢
@@davidhibbs6989 Yes sir!
I love seeing older videos of Wildwood and this was 7 years before I was born. The only ride in this video I recognize was the enormous slide ride which they took down a few years ago and that looping coaster looks pretty cool. I think that is the location where the Sea Serpent is right now and the wooden rollercoaster looks like a smaller version of the Great White. Amazing how everyone in this video is going about their lives and now they're much older but overall it still looks like the spirit at Wildwood was the same.
Awesome video! I was 5 when this filmed..been to Wildwood every summer since I was born.
Seeing Roy Rogers again. thank you for posting!
Wow! Just found this! Way Cool! I was the head doorman at The 50's Club that year! :)
Thax so much for posting this vid. It’s awesome. ❤
I loved WW than and still do today. Family vaca there every summer as a baby all through my teen years. Still, go down for a whole week and wish I was there now. I was down for eight days two weeks ago. Such great memories. Thanks for posting!
Great video, saw the movie Alien at the Strand in 79, have many fond memories of the boardwalk , worked at Neils steak and chowder in 98, White Dolphin in 99, Up the road at Sand Barrrens in 00. We were on the beach this year. Thanks for sharing , it was cool to see all those eighties styles again and to see the past compared to the alleged progression.
Not Neil's steak and chowder, Neil's Steak and 'Oyster', House!! The ignorant thing was, on their match pack, it stated "This is an oyster, we'll steak our name on it". But the match pack showed (and was shaped like), a 'scallop'!! Yes, the good 'ol days, but more backward, also 🙄!!!
3:25 Reflections arcade- You can hear the legendary attract mode for Dragons Lair arcade, which was brand new that year!
thank you for reminding me i had a great life
Good stuff ... The beach ,boards,nightclubs, girls girls girls ....
AMAZING! hey, where's the giant ferris wheel and Sea Serpent- not up yet. LOL! The memories of that time- some places are still there. Notice how ppl were thinner too, what's that say about us today? ok, I won't go there- thanks for posting mrboardwalk!!!!
If I could go back in time, I would.
I remember senior week in 83 and then lived down in WW many summers after that and worked as a lifeguard. Memory lane
Yup Senior week 1983 great times.
great times, thank you so much for posting, my father owned the 2 stores, one called "beach boys", the other "bang bang". at time stamp 12:39 Good memories, I was 3 years old :)
My dad owned those back in the early 80s. Did you have them before or after?
Best Song to start the video! I stayed at the Premier when in Wildwood!
I been goin here since 2006 and it’s been my favorite place forever this was such a cool look into the past, man do I wish I was alive back then
This is a treasure. 9 years old in 1983 and would have been there that summer. And the summer before, and the summer before, and the summer before...Sigh.
Same .... sigh.
Ahhh the sight of the Golden Nugget. Memories of mom and me riding that half a dozen times a day
The Golden Nugget has been moved to Knoebels Amusement Park in Pennsylvania….it’s now call Black Diamond Mine ride:) and has a coal mining theme.
Ahhhh Senior year high school...what a summer!!!
Those inflatable cloth rafts definitely brought me back. You get a nice rash from them. I remember the repair kit for when they got holes. I don't remember being allowed to use them in wildwood thou. I used to in Brigantine
Was just to Wildwood for the first time last year and loved it, but love watching what places used to look like! I only wish the stores they had now were a little more diverse like they were in this video. Boardwalk needs less T-Shirt shops! There's like a t-shirt shop every 3rd or 4th stall.
My brother and I went to Wildwood from Ireland in 1986 and worked there for 3 months during our college holidays,,,,,,God it was great in so many ways ,, met loads of lovely people from all over America and we used to have beer in a pub called Henry's,, does anybody remember it,,,,,I worked in Regency Towers in North Wildwood cleaning rooms and in a diner in Cape May cooking crabs and lobsters ,,,,,a long day but we had 2 days off to party ,, lol,,,,,great place and great days,,,,lived on Hudson Avenue for 50 dollars a wk for my room
Spent summers in Wildwood from 1966 till 1999. Thanks.
Not a lotta beach anymore on 16th street. Thanks for the video.
I love Wildwood. I grew up there. Much love to everyone from South Jersey.
ROY ROGERS!!! Their hamburgers were the BOMB!
`83 the year we moved to Wildwood. I was 8 yrs old. It was a great place to grow up but by 2000 it was time to get out(Myrtle Beach bound). I Go back now and it makes me kinda sad!, definitely not the town i grew up in. Cant imagine growing up as a kid there now, we had free reign of that town from September to April, couldn't imagine getting away with the stuff we did nowadays.
Was there every year between 74 and 94. Best memories of my life. I would love to go with my wife and kid now, but impossible due to my health
great ending-that touched a nerve. "I wanna go back too" even for just one day. Michael Jackson song playing twice- great year for music in the early eighties!
its Eddie Money, not MJ.
Michael jackson 😂
@@wigwam622 yes, Eddie Money sings 'I wanna go back,' but MJ songs can be heard too.
I was only there once and it was the year after this was filmed, 1984. To this day I remember “watch the team car please” and that was almost 40 years ago.
wow I was 13 when this was filmed and I remember all of it!
Jeez, Dragon's Lair blaring from every arcade. Cool.
An interesting trip down memory lane, or in this case, memory boardwalk.
miss the Strand Theatre
I was 5. I miss this Wildwood,
We used to stay it the crest. Dallessandros or those boarding houses . We just graduated high school. Duffers, Genovas,Cresse variety. Greens Liquors.....great times.
How about all the stuff in this video that isn't there anymore? Fun Pier stuff, Hunt's Pier stuff, Castle Dracula, Haunted House on Morey's Pier, Dr. Blood's House of Horror on Sportland Pier which closed sometime in 1983 and the building was razed Jan 2007 but props and cars saved by Randy Senna. And the boardwalk businesses have changed since 1983. Groff's is gone. But, Mack's and Sams are still there, and Snow White. I think 1983 was the last year for the Morey's Pier Star Wars attraction near Haunted House. In 1983 a prototype Gravitron was on Morey's Pier then in 1984 they got a different model that is more like the ones we know and it was put where Star Wars was near Haunted House. I wish there was a vid showing all the motels that aren't there anymore.
I was there in August of 1983 and saw "Private School". Big Phoebe Cates fan. I won a MLB batting helmet at a game where you threw a pitch and you had to duplicate the speed of the next pitch. They had a JUGS gun. I couldn't find that in the video. Anyways great video
People who take for granted the quality of the video we have today on our phones and video recording devices need to watch stuff like this from the 60's, 70's and 80's like this to really appreciate the awesome quality of video we have at our finger tips today. This is a great video, but the quality is just horrible for online viewing. I bet this would look much nicer if you hooked up the video recorder that took this video or a VCR to a Tube TV from back in the day.
Man...this almost brought a tear to my eye..seriously. Was like stepping into a real time machine and actually being there. And what really hit home, is the fact that I seen "Octopussy" during that Summer at the Strand!! So chances are, I may have been there the same day you took this vid! (though I was a pre-teen lol). Thanks for the great memories and will be checking out more of your channel.
What was Octopussy? Also it's amazing at how times have changed since now that name would be considered very inappropriate.
You still on the same device 9 years later 😅
@@reminiscer15 octopussy was a James bond movie made about this era!
@@davidhibbs6989 Oh okay wow!
so many thanks. thank you for posting!!
It's weird seeing this video. Reminds me that most of my high school class first jobs were on the wildwood boardwalk. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi at the Strand.
Right there at 8:39. Reed & Son Sandwich Shop. Worked there the summers of '72, '73, '74.
I didn't start going to Wildwood till 1985. I never went to Senior Week in 1983.
My Dad's girlfriend was one of the voices of the tram cars.. apparently, an old boyfriend of hers worked for the tram car company, and when they needed a voice, they used hers. We used to tease her about it 😂
It's wild that the fishing pier at 18:11 is now totally landlocked.
Lots of family memories of the old Convention Hall, and the VFW Convention every June.
The Rio Motel's Coffee Shop had the best homemade Chili!
Mack's pizza always the best on Wildwood boardwalk 💖 The hot spot always had amazing Philly cheesesteak sandwiches
So nice not to see people attached to cell phones!
Hey, Macks Pizza. Thats where my boy Jesse works. Has for years. I miss Wildwood.
Well I was hoping to see myself as a kid with family we were there that summer in 1983 I was 11 years old Well good memories it brings back thanks for posting b:08/07/1972
thank you
Wow, Frankensteins castle, Tubes of Terror, Payphones.........going back in time.......
Great video!
I was 4 when this vid was made
The hotels everything
i was 6
Watch the tram car, please! 20:15
So much has changed, so many rides gone 😢
Love the sound of the seagulls.
I wish I was born in the 80s tbh. It seems like my kind of decade.
I was there in 1983. I loved Hunt's Pier. I remember my dad riding Hell Hole on Sportland Pier, was it closed or open in 1983? Was Dr. Blood's House of Horror ride through on Sportland closed in 1983? What about Castle Frankenstein 2 level walk through on Fun Pier? Was it closed in 1983? I remember it open when I was there at night. I heard it opened 1978 but closed during 1982 due to some incident, then it burned Aug 13, 1984. I rode Lost World and walked through Crazy House. Those burned 11/84
awesome video! it was a few years before my time, but growing up going to wildwood (now as an adult, i work in it), i have recognize some of landmarks that are still today but i've noticed a lot of them are gone.... but i'm wondering, in 12:34 did the boardwalk mall had no roof or was it damage from the fire that happened next to it? it looks kinda odd in the video.
That was really something special! It was great to see the HUSS Pirat and Frankenstein's Castle on Fun Pier. Those rides were iconic.