Got to love Wildwood. Hard not to. I used to go to Seaside Heights often, but the place is terrible now. Or at least in my opinion, as it's family-oriented visitors have turned more into teens, some okay, but most are annoying, as parents let them roam around and do whatever they want. I've been there, as a teen myself, but I always respected other people were there. Some of these kids now are just every disrespectful, shoving, pushing, some even causing disruptions and fights.

But this is about Wildwood, not Seaside.

Coming from New York, it's a little further than most of the other Jersey Shore locations, being almost at the end of Jersey. But if you can avoid some of the traffic by traveling at the right time, it's not so bad.

Beaches tend to be crowded during the peak season, but there's always room if you don't mind sitting for the back. The last 2 years we went at the end of June, and they were busy. Again, it's okay if you don't mind sitting for the back.

During the really busy seasons, it is hard to get into the restaurants without a long wait time. My last visit, end of June of 2024, it was crowded, but not as bad as the prior, which was also the last week of June. While the beaches were somewhat crowded, it was not overbearing, and the restaurants were not that bad with the wait times (my way of judging how busy it is).

Boardwalk is always nice, good view, very long, and if you have kids you have three separate piers with rides. The staff manning the rides are not morons like some of these local pop-up carnivals that pop up here and there, with unsafe rides. I have a handicapped son, and 99% of the workers there where we accommodating when I needed to help get him on a ride, and then get off the ride so you can ride alone or with a friend or with a cousin or with a brother. There's usually one every season that is very strict about stuff, and I get it, he's trying to follow instructions. And I don't turn it into an argument, I just agree, and say "you re the boss".

The piers themselves give you a special pass if you have a handicapped child. This will allow you to bypass the extremely long lines that sometimes our present on these rides. While I get him the band, I don't always use it. I almost feel guilty having the other people on the line watching me go ahead of them. But my 15-year-old son doesn't understand that, you just wants to have fun, and If it was up to him he would wait on the line. Fact is, you just can't wait on the line that long. His handicap is physical, as well as part neurological, so it's hard to stand in line too long. He can probably tolerate about 15 minutes or so. Beyond that, we use the pass they so generously grant.

The water has always generally been good over there. Some rough days, some calm days. Irregardless, you always need to be careful. It only takes seconds to be pulled in by an under tow.

Tickets for rides... If you plan on going on rides on the three piers, you need tickets or a daily pass. The daily pass allows access to all the rides as much as you want on any of the three piers. If you just going for one day, and you plan on riding a lot of rides, it's well worth it. If you plan on spreading it amongst several days, you might be better off buying the largest quantity of tickets. The tickets can be used that week, any day, and has no expiration. And if you plan on returning, or come every year, the tickets I'll probably the better choice, because you can always use the day after. I get the largest amount of tickets, and I carry them over to the next year when I come back. Also helps if I need to get friend or cousin onto the ride with him, and they're going on the ride just to escort my son. While many of the right operators would not charge a ticket to get on as an escort to a handicap child, some do. So I have the extra tickets to use for them as well. With the daily band, you don't get that.

I've been going here for many years, and we'll continue to do so. If you've never been there, definitely a place to consider.