<p>^^^Oh the deprivation I think there was a generational mindset very different from ours when it came to vacationing with children. My inlaws (who are 12-20 years younger than my parents) did fun Wildwood Crest & Disney vacations with Dh & his sibs, while my parents felt that there was nothing in that kind of vacation for them. </p>
<p>When we lived in Middlesex County, I’d take the kids to the Avon or Belmar beaches for a couple of hours at the drop of a hat. Straight shot down Route 18. You can have a lot of inexpensive fun with a blanket, shovel, pail and cooler of juice boxes. </p>
<p>My mom asks every time we go to Disney: “what do you DO there?” “do you like it?” “why would you spend the money if you don’t enjoy the entire time?” The idea of doing it because I enjoy watching my kids enjoy it, vs. me enjoying it myself is a tough concept. </p>
<p>Garland: was Breezy Point in your NY beach rotation?</p>
<p>I’m not sure it was the time period only, though. My friends all went on vacations and went to the beach and ordered ice cream cones and bowled. etc. We did do some stuff (lots of picnics in parks, for instance–I think we had a season pass to Allaire), just didn’t seem to do a lot of what was the “norm” of the time.</p>
<p>Cape May looks cute as a button, and, oh, the beach! I want to go there!</p>
<p>Nobody has mentioned Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk yet?</p>
<p>In honor of reading this thread, this weekend I’m planning on some good ol’ skee ball, and while I’m there maybe a round or two in the batting cages. Wahoo!</p>
<p>JYM- Knott’s Berry farm is in Buena Park, a neighboring town, not counting traffic probably 20 minutes from Disney. Growing up Knott’s had free admission, a frequent outing with my Dad was an evening at Knotts, feeding the ducks & seals, sitting with the ‘ladies’ on the bench, squashing pennies on the train tracks, etc. </p>
<p>We could see the Disney fireworks from our front porch each night, and yes, pretty much every kid in my neighborhood worked at Disneyland at some point in their teens. It was a great job, everyone there wants to be happy.</p>
<p>I grew up on a tobacco farm so we could only get away for a night or two - usually around July 4 because at that point in the growing season, the tobacco didn’t need as much daily attention. We would go to Virginia Beach for, at the most 2 nights, but my parents never made reservations so most of the time, we never found rooms around the 4th and just drove back home - several hours away. </p>
<p>I took my parents and D to Ocean City NJ several years when D was young because my mom and my D loved the boardwalk. I will never forget that, in 1999, I wouldn’t ride the Wild Wonder because it just looked dangerous to me. The next week a mother and daughter were thrown from it and killed.</p>
<p>Born in 1950 here. The original Six Flags was the one “Over Texas” and opened in 1961 in Arlington, TX. If our parents had known the truth I doubt that we would have been allowed to go. </p>
<p>I later met several of the carpenters/construction people who had done the original work. They reported that no one including them had any real idea how to construct most of the stuff–caves, boulders–all the mock-ups used as part of the rides. The told stories of how many times they had to close down one slide because the slant/angle/grade was so steep kids of less than a certain weight would start to tumble mid ride. It was made “inside a tree” and kids would shoot out the end head over heals.</p>
<p>I remember the “log ride” because you got drenched and this was really appreciated (by the kids) in the mid-Summer Texas heat.</p>
<p>For the old timers of Dallas, do you recall the pony ride at the corner of Northwest Highway and Abrams? I have family photos of sitting on a pony at age 3 with a straw hat on with my Dad at my side as the ride worker held the reins used to lead the pony around the circle. Fast forward. I have great photos of me and my son with him on a pony at age 3 and of he and I on horses at the Sombrero Stables in Grand Lake, Colo. each summer thereafter.</p>
<p>Don’t know anything about Cape May, or the Jersey shore - but every summer of my youth we would go to Myrtle Beach or Ocean Drive in SC, back before the golf courses and the country-and-western shows took over. Back then, there was an amazingly rickety-looking roller coaster at the Myrtle Beach Pavillion. It would give today’s parents nightmares!</p>
<p>Scout - we went to OD in high school and went to Cherry Grove many summers after my D was born. I love the SC beaches - as long as l could go after the NC and SC kids went back to school. I have ridden that roller coaster at Myrtle Beach too. </p>
<p>Also rode the wooden at Dorney Park in the 70’s - another scary one.</p>
<p>Jones Beach! How could I forget Jones beach! I remember weekend trips with the extended family and their kids (my mom had 11 kids in her family). Once we were passing fried chicken (yes…fried chicken) from car to car during the drive, when it started to rain and changed our plans.</p>
<p>RobD-from one Jersey girl to another-Olympic Park??? I haven’t thought of that place in years.I only remember the Wild Mouse ride. As I remember, Olympic Park was kind of sketchy, but much closer and easier to get to than Palisades Park. And yes…we also hung out on the Point Pleasant boardwalk and ate Taylor Pork roll.</p>
<p>I remember Jones Beach, that loong walk from the parking lot to the actual beach…and blankets literally touching each other it was so crowded. easy to get lost on that beach as a kid.</p>
<p>^I know, right? After a lifetime of Jones beach as my “Gold standard”, Santa Monica beach in the late 80’s blew my mind! You could just drive right up, and park for a quarter! And it seemed empty by comparison.</p>
<p>I thought ALL of California was empty. I drove from So Cal to No Cal, and kept stopping to take pictures. I couldn’t figure out why there was so much open space. I kept thinking "what is WRONG with that spot? How come there is nothing ON it? Is it an unstable landfill?</p>
<p>^yes! I live in South Florida now, and the beaches are gorgeous, parking lots steps away from the clean silky sand, clean, clear ocean water…plenty of space to walk, or quietly read a book all day…</p>
<p>(also remember on Jones Beach, everyone had a transistor radio blaring, it was so loud)</p>
<p>Were any of your state fairs/amusement parks segregated in the 1950s and/or 1960s? Texas State Fair had “Negro Achievement Day,” the one day African-Americans could attend the fair.</p>
I think there was a generational mindset very different from ours when it came to vacationing with children. My inlaws (who are 12-20 years younger than my parents) did fun Wildwood Crest & Disney vacations with Dh & his sibs, while my parents felt that there was nothing in that kind of vacation for them. </p>