Anyone have stories or remember the former "Beautiful"Mt Airy Lodge of the Poconos?

[o'malleyalleycat]

Growing up as a kid in the Northeast NY area........watching afternoon cartoons on WPIX 11 or Channel 5............Tom and Jerry? More fun when they show a Droopy Dog.........Woody Woodpecker......hope that one with niagra falls is on.........Magiila Gorilla with Richochet Rabbit........wonder if it'll be Breezly and Sneezely or Yippe , Yappee and Yahooey as the third cartoon
in the mix?...........OHHHH that darn TVPIX again.........nope, nope, not watchin Magic Garden..........................COMMERCIAL TIME...........ohno......
...................here it comes.....AGAIN........"ALL YOU NEED TO BRING IS
YOUR LOVE OF EVERYTHING, BEAUTIFUL MT AIRY LODGE"

and thus the seed was planted for the most "memorable" commercial jingle of that time in history for tv viewers in the surrounding Pocono's advertising
market......not five past the hour......not ten past the hour.....not fifteen
past the hour.......not even the half hour mark of a one hour show............no.
EVERY SINGLE COMMERCIAL BREAK. THERE IT WAS....AGAIN........................
"ALL YOU NEED TO BRING IS YOUR LOVE OF EVERYTHING,BEAUTIFUL MT
AIRY LODGE"...................................................................
To further inspire you this would almost always be followed by a promo commercial for its sister lodge The Pocono Gardens Lodge..........................
sung in a manner by a lilting chorus that could easily cure and put to sleep the most stubborn insomniac............they would "sing" to you...............
"226-0841 The Pocono Gardens Lodge" within the 30sec to 60sec time frame
that number was drummed ever so ez listening style into your head, 4 or 5 times.

The Poconos Gardens Lodge commercial had the neat trick of having the number posted on the back of the horse carriage that was being shot for the commercial as it went to and fro through what appears to be endless pathways through unimaginative shrubbery. Almost as if to say "Beautiful Mt Airy Lodge is where the action is.........but, if you're ever interested in
being BORED OUT OF YOUR SKULL?!?!?!?!!?????.............Then just dial 226-
0841 The Poconos Garden Lodge"

As for the Beautiful Mt Airy Lodge commercial......here was a commercial that even a kid could pick up on, not necessarily put into words but something awkward about the commercial....and yes there was.

Looking back on it now one can see THIS COMMERCIAL SCREAMED AT YOU.
SCREAMED AT YOU with the message, "OH YES WE ARE CHEESY, WERE BEHIND THE TIMES, WE ARE SO LOW BUDGET ITS PITIFUL,NO REPAIRS DONE FOR 15 YEARS,BUT C'MON YOU'LL LOVE IT ANYWAY, THROW AWAY YOUR TASTE, YOU'VE GOT MONEY YOU CAN WASTE, AT BEAUTIFUL MT AIRY LODGE"

Hmmmmmmmm.......but were we being fair to Mt Airy Lodge? After All what's in a commercial? It's just to catch your interest, and they must do well to
afford ALL that advertising?

We might picture a ping pong table with chipped ends, dented balls ,rackets broken or stripped of rubber coating. Possibly the ski rentals haven't even been upgraded from wooden skis, the baseball/softball equipment sitting in a shed during the winter where the snow and ice can stiil get in and weather the equipment beyond use. Lucky if 2 out the 10 arrows for archery purposes aren't broken ,as well as 2 out the ten bows. The bullseye target practically worn away against the bale of hay it's tied to for target practice.

We might picture rust along the interior walls, carpeting that has worn away spots for no other reason than repeated walking and how long would it take to wear out carpet from that ? Years?
Cigarette stains on carpet as well as ANY OTHER place you could think of.
Bugs and Bubble gum Stains? That might be going to far .
Stains left in the heartshaped tubs, .......STAINS IN THE TUBS?????............
to far indeed.

No. There is no way Beautiful Mt Airy Lodge could be as bad as the
impression their commercials gave you........................................

My dear fellow Disers, not only was it that bad, but after some investigating
through the internet of past posted reviews of the place?

ALL OF THE CHILDHOOD SUSPICIONS WERE CONFIRMED AND THEN SOME!!!!!!!

I've read reviews of the ceiling of a rooms bathroom caving in, beds falling apart, rugs that haven't been maintained in who knows how long, bugs ,bubblegum, yep stains in the 'ol heart tubs, cigarette stains here and there, dilapedated being an all encompassing descriptive word, rust and leak stains all round, to swim in the pool you were brave or nuts,etc,.

Stories of the last owner of the place instructing the operators to tell people it is 50 degrees and sunny when there's two feet of snow.
People buying package deals and then finding there are extra fees for.......using the pool table and as such???? Extra fees for things, in fact that they were TOLD would be covered in their package.

Sadly the owner did himself in right on the property in a house that appeared to be the majesty of the property. Some remarks found about him suggest possible psychotic and/or insane tendencies.

They ended up closing officially I believe 2001- 48 MILLION IN DEBT.
Would not be suprised to learn if that was due to unpaid advertising bills.

Let us not forget Entertainment so low budget, even many a Wedding or Bar Mitzvah must have rejected.

When " AND THEY SAID IT WOULDN'T LAST" is the funniest and wittiest line your comedian can come up with, it's time to call it a night.

Now to be fair to those who have gone to Mt Airy Lodge and had a good time with memories to cherish ,good for you. Nothing to be ashamed of,I imagine in its heyday when it first opened up it was quite the place. It WAS KNOWN
for a while as even being A Celebrity hangout of the NorthEast.

Unfortunately by the mid to late 70's it had become a parody of itself leading to a nightmare of an ending by 2001.

So, any stories to share? Anyone else remember the commercials?...............

Then let's sing it together, ready? 'ALL YOU NEED TO BRING IS YOUR LOVE OF EVERYTHING, BEAUTIFUL MT AIRY LODGE"

 

[HappyCamperToo]

I can still hear the "beautiful mt. airy lodge" lilt. And can hear the "226-0841, the poconos garden lodge", too! of course, I can also recite Conjunction Junction and I'm Just a Bill. Schoolhouse Rock was a great idea--these things just get memorized with repetition.

 

[o'malleyalleycat]

Bump. Figured I'd give this one 'nother go round. There's got to be some of you out there who remember "Beautiful Mt Airy Lodge" in addition to us two?

 

[Krisu]

Grew up in CT watching all those cartoons and seeing that commercial!!! Never had the desire to go to "Beautiful Mt. Airy Lodge" Off topic..were you a Sandy Becker fan???

 

[Mkaz]

Thanx! Now I have that lovely little jingle stuck in my head.

BTW. I can't believe anybody remembers the Magic Garden. Anyone (besides my sister) that I have mentioned that show to looks at me like I have six eyes! I can still remember the twins with the long hair swinging on the swings. So long, see ya, hope you had a good good time.

Just had to add, do you remember the chuckle patch?

 

[FergieTCat]

Why do I hear --

YOUR HOST IN THE POCONOS
WITH THE MOST IN THE POCONOS
BE-YEAU-TI-FUL MOUNT AIRY LODGE!!

 

[JVL1018]

Thanx! Now I have that lovely little jingle stuck in my head.

BTW. I can't believe anybody remembers the Magic Garden. Anyone (besides my sister) that I have mentioned that show to looks at me like I have six eyes! I can still remember the twins with the long hair swinging on the swings. So long, see ya, hope you had a good good time.

Just had to add, do you remember the chuckle patch?

Magic Garden was my favorite show!!!! I loved it and still think about it fondly. LOL Ahh, Paula and Carole! Sherlock, the Chuckle Patch, StoryBox..

BTW yes, I do remember "beautiful Mount Airy Lodge!"

 

[lUVTOGO]

Yes, I do remember this commercial when growing up......and the Palisades Park commercial also. I always hoped that we were going to visit these two places.........don't know why, but the commercial made them sound like the best place to go!! I guess it was the stick in your head jingle!

 

[Mkaz]

Magic Garden was my favorite show!!!! I loved it and still think about it fondly. LOL Ahh, Paula and Carole! Sherlock, the Chuckle Patch, StoryBox..

BTW yes, I do remember "beautiful Mount Airy Lodge!"

It was mine too!

 

[salmoneous]

One of the many great ideas I had back when planning our wedding was to go to Mt Airy Lodge for our honeymoon. Or, better yet, one of the Caesars resorts (with champagne-glass shaped hot tubs!) Sadly, this got vetoed. But as compensation, we decided to stop in for a night as part of a cross country trip we did for our first anniversary.

We didn't actually stay at the Lodge, but one of the many resorts nearby owned by the same company (this was in 1993 btw). It was everything you would imagine. Tacky as heck. Recreational equipment from the 70's. Etc.

But for a reasonable price (it was off-season) we got a 3 floor luv-shack in the woods, complete with fireplace and in room hot tub. The food wasn't bad. And we had a blast (for a night.)

 

[Blondie]

I grew up in Philly and the surrounding surburbs, but I don't remember that commercial!

I do remember the billing of "the honeymoon capital of the world" or some such nonsense!

Anyone remember the Fernwood Motel in the Poconos?

Neither do I, but I found this online!

The Shuffleboard Tournament is a Weekly Event, with a Beautiful Trophy Going to the Winner. So the card says, and we’ve no reason to doubt them.

The rest of the card is written in classic Winchell style: “Bushkill Drive - route 209 - Bushkill, Penna. A Modern Vacation Resort - Lodge Accommodations - Orchestra and Entertainment Nightly - Motion Pictures - Cocktail Lounge - Private Lake - Solarium.”

All that, yet they show a picture of shuffleboard.

 

[Patty3]

Oh, I remember the commercial well. Moving away from the area back in 82, I have not thought of that place until now. I did not know that it was closed.

 

[diznygirl]

I loved Magic Garden! And I remember those commercials.... friends from college actually honeymooned in the Poconos. I cringed when they told me - but it got worse when they shared pics of themself in the champagne glass tub!

 

[L107ANGEL]

Who remembers "Hatchy Milatchy" with Miss Judy?????

 

[Mkaz]

Who remembers "Hatchy Milatchy" with Miss Judy?????

 

[o'malleyalleycat]

HAHA!!! I KNEW you were out there! Good thing I bumped, that commercial ran too long for there not to be a significant amount of people who would
remember it.

Krisu- Sandy Becker fan? He was right before my time. I grew up on Bob
McAlister as the Host of Wonderama.

Mkaz - chuckle patch? SURE ,I remember that. How about the storybox whose
lid would go up and down when it was time for a story?
From a child's point of view it was all in good fun because a child can innocently imagine such things as giving personality to an inanimate object.
I'm sure you've heard over the years the speculation that The Magic Garden
was also trying to tongue in cheek imply that what you were witnessing is actually an adult's drug induced hallucinagenic"trip" watered down to a kid's show. HEY LOOK ! FLOWERS THAT GIGGLE, TEE HEE HEE!!!! PERFECTLY
NORMAL!
and Mkaz? One more time for good measure whatdaya say? "ALL YOU NEED
TO BRING IS YOUR LOVE OF EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL MT AIRY LODGE"

FergieTCat- you keep hearing it because the advertising and marketing
depts of 'ol Mt Airy Lodge spent hours, weeks, devising not only a
memorable jingle but also one which could brainwash as well.

Salmoneous -Tacky as heck.Recreational Equipment from the 70's.
LOVE IT!!!!!

Blondie- OF COURSE SHUFFLE BOARD. BOREDOM is the no 1 priorty at such establishments. IMPORTANT -These were NOT the ultra lounge hip style of Dean Martin, NO, here you were entering into the elevator end of the ez listening world Ray Coniff,Mantovanni, Arthur Fiedler, here is where you
could have a convention for those who TRULY LOVED the Reader's
Digest Album collections,THAT sums it up perfectly.

Diznygrl- Speaking of the champagne tubs , have a cousin who because of sitting directly on the intake/outake valves of the tub ,developed a rash on
his behind, and for a while thought he was coming down with something until
wife reminded him of sitting in tub all night.

 

[Blondy876]

My dh and I stayed there just before they closed. We had a great time. Yes, it was cheesy but that was the fun of it. We had 2 fireplaces, a big round bed (where do you buy sheets for that), a heart shaped jacuzzi, a sauna and a pool all right in our room. It was great.

"At the beautiful Mt. Airy lodge, all you have to bring.....is your love of everything." I can still hear it.

 

[battricia]

I had my junior prom at mount airy lodge.

tricia.

 

[Mkaz]

OH MY! I forgot about Wonderama! Kids are people too.. Wacka doo wacka doo.

Our brownie troop went to see Bob McAlister. I got so jealous of my friend because he brought her up on stage. I was sitting right next to her, darn it! She even got his famous tootsie rolls!

 

[hentob]

http://wnep.com/Global/SearchResults.asp?qu=hatchy

Here you go Hatchy Malatchy fans

I loved Miss Judy!

And Paula and Carol and the Chuckle Patch!

And Joya's Fun House or was it Fun School (was on Fridays instead of Magic Garden).

Wonderama--Wow, BLAST from the past!

Ahh--The Northeast was a wonderful place to grow up