Why is New Jersey the single biggest market for WDW?

[RachaelRol]

A little off topic, but I can't believe the property taxes those in New Jersey put up with--it's insane.

Yup. We pay $5600 and that's low around here!!!

 

[KimAshton]

A little off topic, but I can't believe the property taxes those in New Jersey put up with--it's insane.

I live in a very nice town near NYC and my parents pay $11,000 in taxes a year. Shakes head.

 

[ilovepooh]

A little off topic, but I can't believe the property taxes those in New Jersey put up with--it's insane.

I know, but it's hard to uproot, and move into another state when you've been here your whole life. We live near our parents, family, friends, etc. Just a view from my perspective.

 

[maddhatir]

Just to update the Atlantic City challenged:

Million Dollar Pier closed and then was reborn as The Shops at Ocean One, a fairly low-rent mall that was skinned to look like a ship. It was purchased by Caesars and closed down. It no longer looks like a ship. It's now The Pier at Caesars, avery very upscale mall that has designer shops and gourmet restaurants. It is directly across the boardwalk from Caesars. There's a skybridge over the boardwalk connecting Caesar's casino floor to The Pier.

Rainforest Cafe is about 2 blocks downbeach, in the ground floor of Trump Plaza. Trump Taj Mahal is about a mile or so upbeach.

The Playboy closed and became the Atlantis. The Atlantis closed and was eventually rebranded as Trump World's Fair, a non-casino hotel. It was torn down several years ago.

"The Convention Center" is located about 5 blocks from the boardwalk, next to the Sheraton Hotel. The renamed "Boardwalk Hall" (formerly "Convention Hall") is still there on the boardwalk, and is reborn as a concert venue, actually the highest grossing concert venue of its size in the country.

And just so you know, not that anyone asked, the Sands Casino closed in November 2006. It will be demolished and replaced with a multi-billion dollar casino that fronts the boardwalk. The company that bought the Sands also has possession of the land between the Sands and the boardwalk, which is now a parking lot and some seedy shops on the boardwalk.

The Million Dollar Pier- that was it!- I remember this italian lady used to be in the back selling Zeppoli- italian fried dough dusted with powdered sugar

I saw a few concerts in the 80s at the old convention ceter-- one was OZZY!!!

And I remember before the Sands- wasnt it the Brighton- and wasnt the Claridge there too??

 

[Fitswimmer]

I think it's because we Jersey folks know a good thing when we see it!

We started going to WDW way back in 1971, drove down and stayed in Lake Buena Vista. We loved it so much that we saved to go back again and stay in the Contemporary a 4 years later. We went back as often as we could afford after that.

We used to do the shore thing too. We rented houses at Pt Pleasant when I was really young, then when I got into my teens we started going to Ocean City and we did that until my parents moved to Florida 8 years ago. They chose their retirement location partially because of it's close proximity to WDW!!!

Now, I'm a DVC member and I go at least twice a year. For what we paid for all those shore houses, we could have had TONS of DVC points. If we had only known then what we know now!

 

[CleveRocks]

And I remember before the Sands- wasnt it the Brighton- and wasnt the Claridge there too??

Yes, the Sands was the Brighton Hotel and Hi-Ho Casino. Seriously.

Claridge is still there. A coupla years ago it was bought by Bally's and is part of Bally's now. The tower still stands, but it's no longer a separate entity.