Eventually the old Playland section became known as Marine Pier West (soon to get a new make over). In 1976 the Cedar Schellenger Corporation and President Helen Coombs Kelly decided to relinquish their investment and split the pier into two parcels selling the East section to the Morey Organization and the West section to the Nickel's family. The following year Marine Pier opened as Mariner's Landing and Marine West would soon become Nickel's Midway Pier. Many changes were made during this time including the disappearance of Rhoad's Merry-Go-Round. The old carousel house contained a wax museum for the next several years. The Jack Rabbit roller coaster was renamed the Scream Machine and ultimately became Dracula's Screem Machine. The name change was significant to its partnership with Nickel's new attraction Castle Dracula which was constructed overtop of the old mill ride transforming the tunnel of love into a tunnel of terror. The various photos and advertisements shown below reflect the period of change in the late 70's and early 80's.

A helicopter assists in the assembly of the Music Express ride by lowering support beams onto the pier. Photo was taken in March of 1979. Also pictured is an ad from 1983 and a flyer advertising a Halloween costume contest in 1978.

One thing I miss most when driving north up Ocean Avenue is the image of the Jack Rabbit Roller Coaster with its white crown standing proudly at Schellenger Avenue. The photo to the right shows the Boardwalk at Schellenger looking North.

The short-lived "Tubes of Terror"

In September of 1984 the Jack Rabbit Rollercoaster had its final run and in October of that year it was demolished.

A new wooden deck was constructed where the Jack Rabbit once stood and an assortment of Kiddy rides were added as were several steel coasters including a Katapult (pictured above), the Dragon and later the Python. With the demolition of the Jack Rabbit the days of old Playland had all but vanished. Over the next decade fire would claim what was left of Playland's past including the carousel building in December of 1992. Photos of the devastation can be seen on the following page.

In the winter of 99' the deck that bordered the castle was removed as was the skull that served as the entrance to the dungeon boat ride. This area was cleared to make way for the Splash Zone water park which occupies this space today.

	Pictured left is the dungeon entrance just before its removal. Far right is one of the ghoulish props that was pulled from the dungeon during reconstruction.

In January of 2002 the Castle was consumed by a fast moving fire causing it to collapse into a pit of flames. Within a matter of minutes we lost the last surviving haunted castle in New Jersey along with the oldest existing ride on the Wildwood Boardwalk... the Old Mill which was located beneath the castle structure. For the baby boomers of the 40's, 50's and 60's the magic this pier offered had ended with the demolition of the Jack Rabbit and for the younger generation it went up in smoke with the castle. Whichever age bracket you fall into we were fortunate to have been a part of a very special time on the Wildwood Boardwalk.

More photos can be viewed on the following page.

Copyright 2006 Ralph Grassi