Boardwalk Season

Wildwood Boardwalk
Photo by John Margolies (1978)

The Story Of Castle Dracula

The Story Of Castle Dracula
Dark In The Park (2024)

If I were to make a list of my top ten favorite places in the world, Castle Dracula in Wildwood, NJ would be very close to the top of that list.

A website dedicated to dark rides and attractions called Dark In The Park recently published this excellent short documentary film that is dedicated to the haunted attraction.  I've contributed some photos of the castle to this website quite a few years ago and I was happy to see that they included some of them throughout the video, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw in the last few seconds.

At 26:53 in the video, there's a photograph of a little boy sitting in the boat of the Dungeon Moat Ride with a young man in a blue Rolling Rock t-shirt.  This photo was taken by my grandfather in the summer of 1987.  The man on the right is my dad, and the little boy is me.

Winter In Wildwood

Earlier this week, Wildwood Video Archive shared drone video footage of Morey's Pier and the Wildwood boardwalk covered in snow.

My Old Wildwood Home

Beach Rest Motel
423 East 25th Avenue - North Wildwood, NJ

I found this for a good price on eBay earlier this year and couldn't pass it up.  It's a postcard of the Beach Rest Motel, which is where my family and I would stay when we went on vacation in Wildwood, NJ when I was a kid.

I'm not sure exactly when the photo on this postcard was taken, but I'm guessing that it's from the 1950's or early 1960's.  There's no copyright year and it wasn't mailed so there isn't a postmark, but the motel's address is printed on the back and it doesn't include a zip code.  The US Postal Service introduced them in 1963, so I'm thinking that the postcard has to be older than that.

My grandfather picked up this postcard from the lobby of the Beach Rest Motel when we were on vacation in 1986... specifically August 29th, 1986, which he wrote on the back of the postcard when he filed it away with our vacation photos.  The way that the motel looks in the photos on the postcard is exactly how I remember it.

The photos are taken from slightly different angles, but I think that it's interesting to see the differences in the property over a span of about 30 years.

I swear that I can smell the room just by looking at this picture.  It's difficult to explain, but our room at the Beach Rest Motel in Wildwood had a very distinct smell that has been burned into my memory.  It was a combination of the salty ocean breezes blowing in from the beach with the old air conditioners in the room, and the smell of whatever products the motel used to clean the room.  I know that this description makes it sounds like the room smelled terrible, but it didn't.  It was wonderful, and it smelled exactly the same every year that we were here.  My grandfather would open the door and the smell of the room would just wash over me.  I knew that for the next three days, there would be rides, boardwalk food, mini golf, arcade games, cheesy souvenir shops, and my favorite part of all, Castle Dracula.

This postcard shows that was at the Beach Rest Motel.  It wasn't huge and it wasn't fancy, but it was special to me.  It's the pool where my grandfather taught me how to swim.  It's where we went to cool off on a hot summer day before hitting the Boardwalk.

This little motel meant a lot to me.  It was home base for some of my happiest childhood memories with my family.  Hell, my grandfather taught me how to swim in their swimming pool.  If I could go back and re-live any three days from my childhood, it would be the three days in the summer that we'd spend in Wildwood, where I'd rest my head for the night on the pillows of the Beach Rest Motel and then wake up the next morning and do it all over again.

Like so many parts of the world that I grew up in, the Beach Rest Motel no longer exists.  It was demolished in 2005 and replaced by rows of condominium apartments.  I'm sure they're very nice and probably have much better amenities than the old Beach Rest had to offer, but it'll never be the same.  Even if I hit Powerball and could buy the whole block of them and visit whenever I wanted, it could never be the same.  Time marches on and we march in step with it whether we like it or not.

Have A Horrible Day

Castle Dracula
Wildwood, NJ
I don't remember seeing these when I was a kid, but I can imagine the folks behind Castle Dracula hiding these all over the boardwalk in Wildwood to trick folks into picking up an ad for the attraction.  Pretty clever!  This one belongs to Diane Brozowski Dockter.  She took these photos and shared them on the Castle Dracula Tribute Page.

The Home Of The Future

Futuro House (1968)
Futuro Corporation - Philadelphia, PA
The UFO building that was used in the Star Trek, Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back attraction at Morey's Pier in the late 70's and early 80's was designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen.  The Futuro Corporation created 96 of these beginning in 1968 with approximately 60 still in existence today.

Five years ago, the one that was used in the Wildwood ride was put up for sale on eBay for $29,900.  It was in Berlin, New Jersey at the time.  The seller shared this document with the dimensions of the fiberglass and plastic structure, as well as an original floor plan and publicity photos that show how it can be turned into a living space.

After the sale, the Futuro House was transported to 390 Hancock Harbor Road in Greenwich, NJ.  Five months ago, photographer Jeff Heilman shared a short video of the inside and outside of the structure.  Sadly, it has not been turned into a home, but it's been preserved and remains an attraction in New Jersey.

For more information on the former Wildwood attraction and the remaining structures, check out TheFuturoHouse.com.  They do an excellent job keeping track of the remaining Futuro Houses with photos and videos of each of them that are still known to be in existence.

The Boardwalk Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back: The Ride (1980)
Morey's Pier - Wildwood, NJ
The Star Wars ride was updated after the release of The Empire Strikes Back in the spring of 1980.  The spaceship, which had been white in the days of the Star Trek and Star Wars ride, had been painted like the Millennium Falcon, and the mountain on the right was turned into a massive Darth Vader helmet (photo credit: James Ippoliti).

After the ride closed, the UFO portion was moved to Berlin, New Jersey.  In 2014, it was put up for sale on eBay as a Futuro Home.

Star Wars At The Seashore

Star Wars: The Ride (1978)
Morey's Pier - Wildwood, NJ
This incredible photo (above) was shared by Lack Emeyer whose father recently scanned a collection of slides from the late 70's.  The ride debuted on the Wildwood boardwalk in 1975 and was originally called "Star Trek: Journey To The Planet Of The Apes" and was converted for the summer of 1978 when the world was in the grip of Star Wars fever.

The photo from FredManaha.com shows the mountain on the right of the ride's entrance.  This would later become Darth Vader's mask when the ride was converted for the release of The Empire Strikes Back.

Captain Kirk and Dr. Zaius Go To Wildwood

Star Trek: Journey To The Planet Of The Apes (1975)
Morey's Pier - Wildwood, NJ
In 1975, vacationers to the Wildwood boardwalk were treated to an incredible sci-fi crossover experience.  The ride was created by Fred Mahana with the UFO portion created from a 1968 Futuro prefabricated home.  It was described by Wildwood Video Archive as "a one-of-a-kind attraction which allowed riders to travel through space until their ride was cut short by apes who would attack the crew".

The ride would continue for three years until it was converted into a Star Wars themed attraction for the summer of 1978.

Photo Credit: Wildwood Video Archive

Moonraker Rises On The Boardwalk

The Strand
Boardwalk and Maple Ave - Wildwood, NJ (1979)
This theater was at Boardwalk and Maple Avenue in Wildwood.  It opened in 1947 and remained in operation for over 60 years until its closure in 2012.  It was part of the Hunt's Theaters chain of 17 cinemas which were owned and operated by William Hunt (of Hunt's Pier).  This photo was taken in the summer of 1979 after the release of the eleventh film of the James Bond franchise: Moonraker.

Sea Devils at the Seashore

The Boardwalk (1953)
Atlantic City, NJ
These photos were taken on the Boardwalk near the Steel Pier.  The billboards at the entrance of the pier promoted the High Diving Horse and two feature films: Sea Devils and Port Sinister.

Reflections Of The Past

Reflections Arcade
Wildwood, NJ - August 1986
I took this photo of a billboard on the Wildwood Boardwalk when I was six years old.  I'm sure that this is one of the arcades where I played games when I was a kid, and I have a lot of photos of the inside of various Wildwood arcades, but I don't remember which is which.

There aren't too many mentions of the Reflections Arcade online, but I was able to find this 1987 article from the Philadelphia Inquirer where it was said to have the best selection of games on the Boardwalk.

Luigi In Wildwood

Every year when we went to Wildwood, I had my eye on one of the prizes that you could win at the arcade or from the games on the Boardwalk.  As a nine year old Nintendo fanatic in 1989, I wanted to bring home a giant stuffed Luigi in the worst way.

This photo was taken at the Beach Rest Motel after my grandfather surprised me with one that he had won earlier that day.  They were made by Acme Premium Supply Corp, and I see them pop up on eBay from time to time for around a hundred bucks.  Mine has long since been lost, but I think I can save the cash and just enjoy the photo and the memories.

Summer Of Batman

Movie Posters
Wildwood, NJ (1989)
The Joker poster with Jack Nicholson surrounded by seagulls and holding Smylex cream foam bath (left) was second only to the Batman logo poster (right) in the summer of 1989.  Also, if you look closely, you can see a stuffed Luigi toy as one of the prizes in the top left hand corner of the Batman logo poster photo.

Wildwood Posters

Movie Posters
Wildwood, NJ (1989)
The gift shops and prizes on the Wildwood boardwalk were a snapshot of whatever was culturally relevant over the summer.  If pop culture was an Olympic event, the bronze medal in 1989 would have gone to Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade.  Ghostbusters 2 would have won the silver medal, and the runaway gold medal would have gone to Batman.

Batman was everywhere in 1989.  The movie, the trading cards, the toys, the Prince song that seemed to play on MTV nonstop, and of course, the Wildwood boardwalk which had posters, water bottles, keychains and every other piece of merchandise you could imagine.

This photo is of a gift shop in the boardwalk.  Hanging on the window with the boogie boards is the Michael Keaton Batman poster (left) and the Ghostbusters 2 movie poster (right).

Boardwalk Bootlegs

Muscle Warriors (Tung Sing Toys)
and MX-Space Robots (Acamas)

When I was a kid, the highlight of my year was our family vacation to Wildwood.  I got to spend three days with my dad and my grandparents riding the rides, playing the games, enjoying the ocean and the food and embracing all of the things that were great about childhood.

One of the things I looked forward to every year was going to the arcades on the Boardwalk.  Usually, I would see a dozen or more games for the first time, months before they came to my local Aladdin's Castle.  However, no matter what new game drew my attention, I always had some quarters set aside for Skee-Ball.  I loved playing the game, but I enjoyed saving up the tickets to redeem for prizes even more.

I snapped this photo in the summer of 1986.  Grandpa is holding two of the toys that I redeemed my Skee-Ball tickets for that year.  The action figure on the left is a knockoff He-Man/viking hybrid from a series of action figures called Muscle Warriors.  The toy on the right is one of the MX-Space Robots figures.  These were the bootleg toys that kids really didn't seem to want, but I enjoyed them very much and they got played with right alongside the "real" toys from KayBee Toys.

The irony is that while these toys were cheap prize ticket items that probably sold for a dollar or less in the 80's, the loose figures from these lines frequently sell for over $50 each on eBay, and unopened figures are even more expensive.  At the time of this writing, the "Hulk" toy on the left was included in a lot of others from the series for over $200.  The figure on the right, which is apparently called "Colonel Stan", was available loose, and in poor condition, for $65.  You can learn more about these, and other loved bootleg toys from the past at Knock-off Collector.

Vintage Games and Prizes

Horse Racing Game
Wildwood, NJ - August, 1986
I took this photo when I was six years old.  It's one of those games where players roll balls or something like that to make the horses run.  The player whose horse got to the end of the track won a prize.  The prizes that are in this photo include a stuffed alligator, a stuffed hippopotamus, and framed posters of Hulk Hogan and the Philadelphia 76ers.

One thing I didn't notice about this photo until today is that you can see my Grandpa's reflection in the glass of the game.  If you look at the bottom left hand corner, you can see him looking to the left on the far right hand side of the red rectangle.

Ignore the Cowlick

Beach Rest Motel
Wildwood, NJ - August, 1985
You'd never know it by the look on my face, but Wildwood was my favorite place in the world when I was a kid.  In all likelihood, my grandpa took this photo right after we arrived, after we rode in a hot car for over three hours to get here.

The picture was taken right near the stairs and outside the pool at our motel.  I'm wearing my He-Man t-shirt and ready to take on the world!

More Ghoulish Than Ever

Castle Dracula billboard
Wildwood, NJ

This photo was taken by Mike Vlkovic in the late 80's and shared to a website called Dark In The Park which is dedicated to the greatest haunted house attraction that I have ever experienced.  It once hung on the old carousel building at Cedar and The Boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey.

I took a photo of the same billboard when I was a kid.  I believe that I took this in August 1987 when my family and I were on vacation in Wildwood.  I'm pretty sure that my photo was taken a couple of years earlier than Mike's because the theater referenced on the top billboard shows "Blaker & Shore Twin Theaters" in mine, and "The Shore 4 Theaters" in his.  I think it's pretty cool to be able to see small changes of a single spot over a period of time.

Castle Dracula

Castle Dracula
Midway Pier - Wildwood, NJ
In this side shot of the castle, you can see the I-Scream shop (with the giant pretzel).