{"id":114100,"date":"2024-10-14T17:02:49","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T10:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=114100"},"modified":"2024-10-14T17:02:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T10:02:49","slug":"historic-jersey-shore-amusement-park-closes-after-generations-of-family-thrills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=114100","title":{"rendered":"Historic Jersey Shore amusement park closes after generations of family thrills"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC\"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB\">OCEAN CITY, N.J. &#8212; <\/span>For generations of vacationers heading to Ocean City, the towering \u201cGiant Wheel\u201d was the first thing they saw from miles away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">The sight of the 140-foot-tall (42-meter) ride let them know they were getting close to the Jersey Shore town that calls itself \u201cAmerica&#8217;s Greatest Family Resort,\u201d with its promise of kid-friendly beaches, seagulls and sea shells, and a bustling boardwalk full of pizza, ice cream and cotton candy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\"> And in the heart of it was Gillian\u2019s Wonderland Pier, an amusement park that was the latest in nearly a century-long line of family-friendly amusement attractions operated by the family of Ocean City\u2019s mayor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">But the rides were to fall silent and still Sunday night, as the park run by Ocean City\u2019s mayor and nurtured by generations of his ancestors, closed down, the victim of financial woes made worse by the lingering aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Superstorm Sandy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Gillian and his family have operated amusement rides and attractions on the Ocean City Boardwalk for 94 years. The latest iteration of the park, Wonderland, opened in 1965.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">\u201cI tried my best to sustain Wonderland for as long as possible, through increasingly difficult challenges each year,\u201d Mayor Jay Gillian wrote in August when he announced the park would close. \u201cIt&#8217;s been my life, my legacy and my family. But it&#8217;s no longer a viable business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Gillian did not respond to numerous requests for comment over the past week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Sheryl Gross was at the park for its final day with her two children and five grandchildren, enjoying it one last time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">\u201cI&#8217;ve been coming here forever,\u201d she said. \u201cMy daughter is 43 and I&#8217;ve been coming here since she was 2 years old in a stroller. Now I&#8217;m here with my grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">She remembers decades of bringing her family from Gloucester Township in the southern New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia to create happy family memories at Wonderland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">\u201cJust the excitement on their faces when they get on the rides,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really made it feel family-friendly. A lot of that is going to be lost now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">There were long lines Sunday for the Giant Wheel, the log flume and other popular rides as people used the last of ride tickets many had bought earlier in the year, thinking Wonderland would go on forever.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">A local non-profit group, Friends of OCNJ History and Culture, is raising money to try and save the amusement park, possibly under a new owner who might be more amenable to buying it with some financial assistance. Bill Merritt, one of the non-profit&#8217;s leaders, said the group has raised over $1 million to help meet what could be a $20-million price tag for the property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">\u201cOcean City will be fundamentally different without this attraction,\u201d he said. \u201cThis town relies on being family-friendly. The park has rides targeted at kids; it&#8217;s called \u2018Wonderland\u2019 for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">The property&#8217;s current owner, Icona Resorts, previously proposed a $150-million, 325-room luxury hotel elsewhere on Ocean City&#8217;s boardwalk, but the city rejected those plans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">The company&#8217;s CEO, Eustace Mita, said earlier this year he would take at least until the end of the year to propose a use for the amusement park property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">He bought it in 2021 after Gillian&#8217;s family was in danger of defaulting on bank loans for the property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">At a community meeting last month, Gillian said Wonderland could not bounce back from Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the pandemic in 2020 and an increase in New Jersey\u2019s minimum wage that doubled his payroll costs, leaving him $4 million in debt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Mita put up funds to stave off a sheriff&#8217;s sale of the property, and gave the mayor three years to turn the business around. That deadline expired this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Mita did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Merritt said he and others can&#8217;t imagine Ocean City without Wonderland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">\u201cYou look at it with your heart, and you say \u2018You\u2019re losing all the cherished memories and all the history; how can you let that go?&#8217;\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then you look at it with your head and you say, \u2018They are the reason this town is profitable; how can you let that go?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN\">Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com\/WayneParryAC <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/wireStory\/historic-jersey-shore-amusement-park-closes-after-generations-114765617\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OCEAN CITY, N.J. &#8212; For generations of vacationers heading to Ocean City, the towering \u201cGiant Wheel\u201d was the first thing they saw from miles away. The sight of the 140-foot-tall &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=114100\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}