Playland's Castaway Cove, the only remaining amusement park on the Ocean City Boardwalk, has replaced the pirate ship that sat atop its arcade until it was destroyed in a fire four years ago.
The new fiberglass ship — along with a pirate, his parrot and an octopus — is being installed above the park's revamped arcade, which opened April 18. Drone photos of the installation process shared on Instagram show pieces of the new ship being assembled over the past few days. The final touches are expected to be completed Friday afternoon.
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For more than 60 years, the original, wooden ship served as a landmark on the boardwalk between 10th and 11th streets. The entrance to Playland's Castaway Cove went up in flames in January 2021, destroying the ship and the former arcade. Neighboring shops also were damaged by the four-alarm fire, which was caused by electrical problems.
Adam Monacelli/Courier-Post via Imagn Content Services
The remnants of the former arcade at Playland's Castaway Cove are shown above in the weeks after an electrical fire destroyed the building and the wooden pirate ship above it in January 2021.
The fire closed the amusement park for nearly two months before it reopened. Castaway Cove's four roller coasters and other rides were spared in the fire, but visitors had to use an alternate entrance during the reconstruction of the arcade over the past few years. The old ship's design is shown in the Facebook post below.
Playland’s Castaway Cove beachfront amusement park in Ocean City plans to open its 2025 season in the spring with a new,…
Posted by Shore Local Newsmagazine on Thursday, December 12, 2024
Castaway Cove Vice President Brian Hartley told OCNJ Daily he was inundated with questions about when the new pirate ship would arrive.
"Thousands, literally thousands. There were emails, social media comments and phone calls," Hartley told the newspaper.
The old, wooden ship played a Disney-like tune that beckoned guests, but it was susceptible to damage from the salty air and winter weather. The amusement park decided to go with a fiberglass replacement to make the ship more durable.
Castaway Cove's new arcade is more than double the size of the previous building and has more than 75 games, including Skee-Ball and classic racing games. The amusement park also plans to install a new roller coaster in the coming years.
Castaway Cove became the final amusement park on the boardwalk after Gillian's Wonderland Pier, a century-old attraction between Sixth and Seventh streets, closed in October.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian, whose family operated Wonderland for generations, had deemed the park "no longer viable" after the land was sold to developer ICONA resorts in 2021 to cover $8 million in defaulted mortgage loans. ICONA seeks to build a luxury hotel that would preserve Wonderland's legacy by keeping its Ferris wheel and carousel rides.
