At one time the Wildwood Boardwalk had two very distinct portable Funhouses. One was located on Morey's 25th street pier... the other on Mariner's Landing. I believe the Funhouse made its first appearance in the mid-eighties and was removed sometime shortly after 2000. Now located in a remote area of South Jersey are what remains of those funhouses. Oddly enough elements of these amusements were discovered in two separate locations spread miles apart from one another. My discovery took place in Cumberland County, while the other in Cape May County by my good friend Bill Campbell. Several years earlier, each of us made our discoveries separately, but only after comparing notes did we realize our findings were related. Dilapidated and rusted, buried in a sea of phragmites... this is where it came to die. It is a very strange sight when approaching a forgotten amusement in such a desolate setting. The sounds of laughter and screams have gone quiet, and the hoards of children who traveled its corridors have been replaced by an unrelenting army of greenhead flies, but a blue sky still hangs above this now crippled attraction and the question still remains as to how it ended up here.

Unfortunately I have only two photographs of the Funhouse on Mariner's Landing. Without close-up photos of the amusements artwork it is difficult to show the comparison, but I can tell you the artwork on the facade of the Mariner's Landing Funhouse is identical to the one that was found.

The photo below comes from the Wildwood Historical Museum and shows the Funhouse in full swing on Mariner's Landing. Probably taken sometime in the mid to late 80's - shortly after it made it's debut.

I took the following photographs at the Cumberland County location. Sections of the Funhouse still remain on the flatbed trailers that carried it there.

The panels below show the artwork that decorated the facade.

The wooden slide shown below once carried children down from the upper level.

Shown above left is the conveyor that would carry you to the second level The photo above right shows the platform exiting the conveyor.

The photos below show sections of the Funhouse at the Cape May County location.

The photo above shows a once rotating barrel.

The colorful railings above could be seen throughout the walkways of the attraction.

Pictured above are the remains of another wooden slide and a second rotating barrel.

I took the photo above from the Giant Wheel in the summer of 94.

Copyright 2006 Ralph Grassi