Wildwood NJ vacation....

[lukenick1]

Can anyone give me the low down on a vacation to Wildwood?? How are the beaches, any good accomodations you can recommend??? Is it run down?

 

[mjkacmom]

I've been going since I was a kid. We've stayed at http://www.elcoronado.com/ the last time, and it was nice - dated, but clean, and right on the beach. I prefer to stay in Wildwood Crest, and drive to the boardwalk. The boardwalk is really fun for the kids, and there is also a waterpark. There are also some nice (expensive) condos at Diamond Beach. Most of the hotels/motels are old, but in a fun, cheesy way.

 

[eliza61]

Love it but one word of warning. Wildwood has the widest beach known to man. It's a mile from the water to the boardwalk. LOL.
I live near the Jersey Shore so can't help with the accomodations part.

Here's another link.

http://www.wildwoods.org/

 

[kacaju]

We stayed at the Lotus Inn last year. It was clean, no frills but the kids had fun!!
The beach is great, as pp said very wide. The boardwalk was fun, the kids loved it.

 

[mom2aredhead]

We go almost every year. I agree - stay in the crest and drive over to the boardwalk. Its quieter and more family friendly. The "hotels" are really older motels - low-rise buildings with outside corridors. Almost all have pools. My #1 recommendation may sound silly, but try to find one where the pool is on the south side of the building...otherwise the building will shade the pool in the afternoon and it will be too cold. Trust me.

I can recommend (based on experience)

The Port Royal (my favorite and nice, but pricey)
The Adventurer (steps to boardwalk)
The Attache (adjacent to playground)
The Fleur de Lis
The Waikiki
Pier 6600 (waaaaaay far down)
The Nassau Inn (nice, but north side pool - brrrr)

And I recommend (also based on experience) that you stay far away from:
The Coliseum
The Yankee Clipper

Some resorts (Owned by Morey's - the people that own the rides) have packages that include ride tickets. Its called a "stay and play" rate. I got an e-mail about it but unfortunately can't find anything on the website. But if you choose one of those resorts, ask about it.

http://www.moreyspiers.com

The beaches are huuuuge...a hike from the hotel to the water's edge. But very clean and family friendly. You can rent chairs/umbrellas from the stands on the beach, but it is very expensive...much better bringing your own. Boardwalk has lots of rides, games, and a few too many junky t-shirt stores.

Restaurants - More often than not find ourselves over in Cape May - mostly at the Lobster House outside on the deck. We also liked The Crab House and Two Mile Landing, but we were not there last year so I'm not sure if they've re-opened after the back deck fell off. Crest Tavern and Little Italy are good too.

HTH - If you decide to go, have a great trip!

 

[mlynn]

Wish you would have ask sooner.Moreys pier had big sale on ride tickets and passes. Keep checking there site for Sales going on.

I live close to so really can't help with Motels. I liked the Royal Canadian(but haven't stayed there in years) so don' t know how it is now.It is a block fromt he boardwalk.
Pointers for the beach.Go onto the beach from one of the ride piers.Easier than walking all teh way in the sand.

 

[JerseyJanice]

The beach is the widest from the center of Wildwood city, going south through most of Wildwood crest. It is narrowest in North Wildwood and Diamond Beach, which is the southern-most part of Wildwood Crest.

I can't give you much advice about motels since so many of them have been demolished and replaced by condos. A motel I stayed around 10 years ago (The Waikiki) was truly one of the dumpiest places we ever stayed in, but I see someone recommended upthread, so maybe it was re-done since then. I hope so! It was a great location and the pool there was very nice, but the room!

Last time we were there (summer of 2007), Neil's Steak and Chowder House was still in business and as wonderful as ever. Sam's Pizza Palace on the boardwalk is a great place for a good, cheap family dinner. We always like Little Italy (go on Tuesday for the prime rib special and bring your own wine) and going to Cape May for the Lobster House.

Wildwood is almost a three hour drive from where we live, so we don't go there for a short weekend. We used to go for a week every summer when DS was a toddler and tried many different motels, but then we got a dog. Now if we go, it's for a long weekend and we stay at Surf 16 because we can bring our canine there.

 

[nmmom95]

We always stayed in North Wildwood. Both North Wildwood and the Crest are nice. I would stay away from hotels in the center. I'm a Mack's Pizza girl, myself. Also, don't miss Curley's fries & lemonade. The beach is enormous, but it is also one on the last ones where you don't need beach tags.

 

[sharig5576]

I grew up going to Wildwood Crest every summer. We started doing that for my boys about 4 years ago. We've been staying at the Fleur de Lis http://www.fleurdelisbeach.com/ for the past 4 years and really like it. It is VERY clean, which I think is the most important. A lot of those motels are very moldy, mildewy, smelly....It is right on the beach. All of the beaches have a longish walk, so we bring a beach cart for our stuff and a wagon to pull the kids. It is only 8 blocks from the start of the boardwalk, so we walk to the boardwalk and restaurants and take the tram car when we get too tired. We usually get a 1 bedroom efficiency, with a kitchen, so we usually have breakfast and lunch in the room and out for dinner. Definately check out Trip Advisor for the hotel reviews on cleanliness.

If you have kids, Wildwood Crest is more family oriented. Wildwood is pretty "wild". I would never stay there with kids, but we usually take the kids to the boardwalk until 10pm or so and never have problems.

 

[cinderellascastle29]

I agree with mom2aredhead about having the pool be on the south side, it was "freezing" come the afternoon. It was funny sitting by the pool one day though how everyone kept inching over to the one corner that still had the sun lol! I stayed at the Nassau Inn last summer and that was my only complaint!

 

[kimmar067]

Can anyone give me the low down on a vacation to Wildwood?? How are the beaches, any good accomodations you can recommend??? Is it run down?

....well, No. Wildwood's beaches GO ON FOREVER (they are very wide!) and 'the Crest' is more family-oriented.....Diamond Beach is awesome but more pricey...

 

[kimmar067]

"....watch the tram car.....please watch the tram car....."

 

[kimmar067]

The beach is the widest from the center of Wildwood city, going south through most of Wildwood crest. It is narrowest in North Wildwood and Diamond Beach, which is the southern-most part of Wildwood Crest.....

...oh pooh-pooh, mon cherie....we stayed at a house on Avenue 14 (I think - it was so long ago!) and we HATED carrying everything to the beach - it was like walking THE SAHARA!

 

[mlynn]

We always stayed in North Wildwood. Both North Wildwood and the Crest are nice. I would stay away from hotels in the center. I'm a Mack's Pizza girl, myself. Also, don't miss Curley's fries & lemonade. The beach is enormous, but it is also one on the last ones where you don't need beach tags.

LOVE MACK's pizza.We drive down sometimes to just have Macks.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I agree with mom2aredhead about having the pool be on the south side, it was "freezing" come the afternoon. It was funny sitting by the pool one day though how everyone kept inching over to the one corner that still had the sun lol! I stayed at the Nassau Inn last summer and that was my only complaint!

LOL - yup - us too!
And don't tell me you weren't jealous of the people across the street at the Fleur De Lis splashing around in their sunny pool while you shivered. Other than that, the Nassau was fine, but unfortunately that was a deal breaker for us.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I just want to add something about the motels...

Most of them cannot be booked on line, so you'll need to make a lot of phone calls. And many do not accept credit cards - you need to mail a check for the deposit and pay in cash or money order on arrival.

 

[cinderellascastle29]

LOL - yup - us too!
And don't tell me you weren't jealous of the people across the street at the Fleur De Lis splashing around in their sunny pool while you shivered. Other than that, the Nassau was fine, but unfortunately that was a deal breaker for us.

Oh I sure was! It was not fair at all! In fact we took a stroll with a piece of paper and pen checking which hotels had the pool on the sunny side and wrote them down for future reference.

 

[EllenFrasier]

We stay at Acacia Beachfront Motel in Wildwood Crest. The rooms were recently done over with new paint, rugs and furniture so now it's even better!
There is another motel right next door called Beau Rivage and they have a coffee shop where you can get breakfast, lunch and snacks, icecream, etc. very convenient.
To go to the boardwalk, we drive down and park on the street across from the Convention Center next to the playground. They have parking meters and it's much cheaper then parking in a parking lot.
We tried Mack's pizza last year and it was gross. The box would have tasted better. The crust was so think you could see through it and it was not crispy. Most of the cheese ended up in the box!
There is another place further down the boardwalk, could be Sam's?, and they have much better food. Better pizza and calzones to die for!
I still have not found a good ice cream place down there - anybody? IceCream in Wildwood? There is that custard place Kohls on the boardwalk, but that is not ice cream.

 

[mlynn]

We stay at Acacia Beachfront Motel in Wildwood Crest. The rooms were recently done over with new paint, rugs and furniture so now it's even better!
There is another motel right next door called Beau Rivage and they have a coffee shop where you can get breakfast, lunch and snacks, icecream, etc. very convenient.
To go to the boardwalk, we drive down and park on the street across from the Convention Center next to the playground. They have parking meters and it's much cheaper then parking in a parking lot.
We tried Mack's pizza last year and it was gross. The box would have tasted better. The crust was so think you could see through it and it was not crispy. Most of the cheese ended up in the box!
There is another place further down the boardwalk, could be Sam's?, and they have much better food. Better pizza and calzones to die for!
I still have not found a good ice cream place down there - anybody? IceCream in Wildwood? There is that custard place Kohls on the boardwalk, but that is not ice cream.

You park on Burk Ave.(Grew up on that street) Sea Shell Ice Cream right on Rio Grade or Duffers on Pacific ave. Both have good ice cream

 

[aprilgail2]

When we go we stay at Montego Bay - its a big yellow hotel down towards the end of the boardwalk- they have an indoor pool and water slide- the rooms overlook the boardwalk and the room we had was a "suite'- I think they all are suite actually....you have a bedroom (or two) living room with pull out couch, kitchen and dinette area. It wasn't really expensive and we really liked it. You walked out the door and you were on the boardwalk, down the stairs and you were on the beach....no better location!