Two years after his wife, Arlene, passed away in 2016, Mark Kushner was looking through some of her clothes when he found a piece of metal in a pocket.
After closer inspection, Kushner realized it was the proverbial brass ring that Arlene had grabbed while riding the historic carousel at Gillian’s Wonderland Pier on the Ocean City Boardwalk shortly before her death.
“She was so sick that she had to use a walker and a cane. But she ran over to the merry-go-round to get one last ride,” Kushner recalled.
Carrying a cellphone photo of Arlene’s final ride on the carousel, Kushner returned to Wonderland Pier on Sunday for one last ride of his own. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other customers did the same thing.
After a nearly 60-year run, the iconic amusement park overlooking the Boardwalk at Sixth Street closed for good Sunday because of financial difficulties that had plagued Wonderland in recent years.
Video by Max Kelly
Kushner and other Wonderland Pier fans had plenty of time to prepare for the closure – it was first announced in August – but that didn’t make it any easier for the customers who turned out Sunday to say a final goodbye.
“I just feel that it’s the end of an era,” Kushner said while standing in line to ride Wonderland’s landmark 140-foot-tall Ferris wheel.
Kushner, 71, who lives in Cherry Hill and has a summer vacation home in Ocean City, hopes that the Ferris wheel can be saved in some way, despite Wonderland’s closing.
“Whatever happens, they should keep the Ferris wheel in the same way that Margate has Lucy the Elephant as a monument,” he said of the historic tourist attraction in the neighboring shore town.
Mark Kushner shows a cellphone photo of his late wife, Arlene, during her last ride on Wonderland's historic carousel shortly before her death in 2016.Another longtime Wonderland customer, Donna Buehner, 58, of Franklin, Va., expressed her sadness about the amusement park’s demise while standing first in line to get into the park before it officially opened Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Ocean City holds a special place in my memory,” said Buehner, who visited the shore with her parents while growing up in Philadelphia. “I’ve been coming to Wonderland since I was six weeks old in a little baby carriage.”
Buehner was joined by her brother, David Beaty, of Bensalem, Pa., and her friend, Mary Whiteman, of Langhorne, Pa., for a final ride on the Ferris wheel.
Whiteman, who is 69, said she has been visiting Wonderland for 47 years. Her favorite ride was the carousel.
“I cried. I couldn’t believe it,” Whiteman said of her reaction when she first learned Wonderland would close.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian, whose family operated Wonderland since 1965, declined to comment Sunday, but indicated he would be able to talk about the amusement park next week.
“No comments until next week,” Gillian said, without elaborating.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian, in white shirt, whose family operated Wonderland Pier for nearly 60 years, talks with customers on the final day.Gillian’s late grandfather, David Gillian, founded the family’s amusement business in Ocean City 94 years ago. His father, Roy Gillian, who died in August, started what became Wonderland Pier at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk in 1965. Jay Gillian was the third generation to own his family’s amusement business.
Despite Wonderland’s rich history and traditions, the amusement park struggled with financial troubles in recent years. In January 2021, Wonderland Pier was ordered to be put up for a sheriff's auction because Gillian defaulted on $8 million in mortgage debt.
However, Gillian secured the financing needed to prevent an auction through developer Eustace Mita, owner of the Icona luxury resorts in the Cape May County beach communities of Avalon, Cape May and Diamond Beach.
Gillian said the money that Mita invested in Wonderland went toward paying off debts. He noted that Mita gave him three years in 2021 to try to turn Wonderland around. Ultimately, he couldn’t overcome Wonderland’s financial struggles.
“I couldn’t pay the bills,” Gillian said during a community meeting Sept. 14 that focused on Wonderland’s hardships. Ocean City Mayor Explains Why Wonderland Pier Failed - OCNJ Daily
Wonderland's sprawling white facade overlooks the Boardwalk at Sixth Street.Although Gillian operated Wonderland, Mita is the owner of the property now. Mita has told city officials that he needs six months to study the property before coming up with a new plan. In 2023, Mita proposed building a $150 million luxury boutique hotel on the site, but failed to win support for the project from Gillian and other elected officials.
Ocean City preservationists want Wonderland saved in some way. They believe it could remain an amusement park with the help of government funding and possibly historic preservation grants. At the very least, they hope that the iconic Ferris wheel and carousel could remain as Boardwalk landmarks.
Jamie Italiano, a Wonderland customer from Folsom, recalled how she rode the Ferris wheel as a child when her family visited the amusement park. She brought her 6-year-old son, Lorenzo, to Wonderland on Sunday for their final trip.
Asked how he felt about Wonderland’s closing, Lorenzo bluntly said, “I hate it.”
A few minutes later, Lorenzo jumped on the park’s Fun Slide with his friends, Joey DeLaurentis, 9, and his 6-year-old brother, Nicholas.
Lorenzo Italiano, left, is joined by friends Joey and Nicholas DeLaurentis for a ride on the Fun Slide.Victoria DeLaurentis, Joey and Nicholas’ mother, pointed out that Wonderland has been a key part of her family’s visits to the shore for years.
“It’s sad. It’s the end of a very long era for me. This is it,” she said.
DeLaurentis, a Folsom resident, expressed hope that something could be done to save Wonderland for the children. With Wonderland closing, she fears that too much of Ocean City’s family-friendly history has disappeared.
“I think the island has been losing some of its nostalgia. This is something that my family had shared with me and what I wanted to share with my kids,” she said, referring to Wonderland.
Gillian's Wonderland Pier marks its last day of operation after a nearly 60-year run on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
