What to See in Atlantic City - Top Sights and Attractions

Amusement park in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Steel Pier is a 1,000-foot-long amusement park built on a pier of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. Begun in 1898, it was one of the most popular venues in the United States for the first seven decades of the twentieth century, featuring concerts, exhibits, and an amusement park. It billed itself as the Showplace of the Nation and at its peak measured 2,298 feet.

The pier is owned by the Catanoso Family and operates under the Steel Pier Associates, LLC name. The Catanosos had previously leased the pier to operate the amusement park before they purchased it. The Steel Pier continues to operate as an amusement pier and is one of the most successful family-oriented attractions in the city.^[1]

Amusement park in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. Storybook Land is a 20-acre family amusement park located in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 1955 by John and Esther Fricano, Storybook Land is located on U.S. Route 322, two miles west of exit 37 on the Garden State Parkway. The park is themed after many storybook characters such as Mother Goose, the Three Little Pigs, and many more.

Some of its most prominent attractions are the J&J Railroad Train (which loops around most of the park), the Happy Dragon, and Whirly-Bug the Ferris wheel. The Land of Make Believe (not to be confused with the amusement park of the same name in Hope Township, New Jersey) has many of the standard amusement park rides such as Bubbles the Coaster, a junior sized roller coaster, and the Turtle Twirl, a Tilt-A-Whirl. Storybook Land also has a Santa Claus house where Santa and Mrs. Claus will pose with the children during the Christmas season.^[2]

Grand casino resort with a concert arena. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City is a casino and hotel on the Boardwalk, owned by Hard Rock International, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States.

The casino, originally known as the Trump Taj Mahal, was inaugurated by its then-owner Donald Trump in 1990, and was built at a total cost of nearly US$1 billion. Original restaurants at the Taj Mahal included Hard Rock Cafe, Sultan's Feast, Dynasty, Il Mulino New York, Moon at Dynasty, and Robert's Steakhouse. It was also the home of Scores, the country's first in-casino strip club.

The Taj Mahal came to the brink of closure in 2014 as its parent company went through bankruptcy, but ultimately remained open under the new ownership of Icahn Enterprises. In 2015, the Taj Mahal admitted to having "willfully violated" anti-money-laundering regulations for years and was fined $10 million. It was the highest penalty ever levied by the U.S. federal government against a casino. On August 3, 2016, it was announced that the Trump Taj Mahal would close after Labor Day because it was losing millions of dollars each month. It was closed on October 10, 2016.

On March 1, 2017, the Seminole Tribe of Florida through its Hard Rock International brand, and the Morris and Jingoli families, announced its purchase of the facility and conversion to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino brand. It reopened on June 27, 2018, a day earlier than planned.^[3]

Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlantic City Convention Center in 1997. Boardwalk Hall was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1987 as one of the few surviving buildings from the city's early heyday as a seaside resort. The venue seats 10,500 people for ice hockey, and at maximum capacity can accommodate 14,770 for concerts. Boardwalk Hall is the home of the Miss America Pageant.

Boardwalk Hall contains the world's largest musical instrument, a pipe organ of over 33,000 pipes, eight chambers, its console the world's largest of seven manuals and over 1000 stop keys, and one of two 64-foot (20 m) stops (the other found in the Sydney Town Hall). Also included in this organ are pipes operating on 100 inches of pressure, the Grand Ophicleide being the loudest and also most famous. The Guinness Book of World Records noted "a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume, six times louder than the loudest train whistle." However, these stops are actually well-refined and are not overpowering in Boardwalk Hall due to its huge interior.

In October 2017, the New Jersey Senate approved legislation to dedicate Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall in honor of Senator Jim Whelan, the former mayor and state lawmaker who died earlier in the year.^[4]

Tropicana Atlantic City, also known as The Trop and previously as TropWorld Resort, is a resort, casino hotel located on the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment, and is the third largest hotel in New Jersey, with just under 2,400 guest rooms and the 200,000-square-foot shopping and entertainment complex, The Quarter. It has over 30 restaurants, 30 shops, 20 bars and lounges, 4 pools, the Tropicana Showroom, multiple spas, and an IMAX Theatre. In 2016, Tropicana completed over $200 million in renovations and additions, including a Multimedia Light and Sound Show, the addition of AtlantiCare LifeCenter Fitness, Garces restaurants, renovations to over 900 hotel rooms, and casino floor but Tropicana will continue investing. The Tropicana is the largest resort and casino on the boardwalk, with 2,364 rooms, 3,000 slot machines, 30 restaurants, and 30 shops, along with two 2,500-space parking garages, totaling over 5,000 parking spaces. In 2021-2023 Tropicana is said to complete renovations through these years, the renovations will include renovations to all 604 West Tower Rooms, Modernized Elevators and Escalators, Pool Enhancements, Gaming Space Enhancements, and more undisclosed renovation projects.^[6]

Theatre in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Dante Hall Theater of the Arts is a theatre and cultural center in Atlantic City, New Jersey located in the Ducktown neighbourhood, which has traditionally been the city's Little Italy. It is now part of Stockton University.

Dante Hall Theater was originally built in 1926 by St. Michael's Catholic Church, and primarily served the predominantly Italian-American community as a church hall, school gymnasium, and community theatre. St. Michael’s closed its parish school in the late 1980s, leaving the building dormant. An eighteen-month, $3.5 million renovation, funded solely by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, was completed in October 2003 and renamed Dante Hall Theater of the Arts. In 2011, Stockton University took control of the theatre, which remains the property of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden.^[8]

Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, formerly known as Golden Nugget, Bally's Grand, The Grand, Atlantic City Hilton and ACH, is an abandoned hotel and casino located at the southern end of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, owned and operated by Colony Capital. It was the city's first and only "locals casino". The Atlantic Club permanently closed on January 13, 2014, at 12:01 AM, largely as a result of dwindling casino visitors to Atlantic City due to increased competition in neighboring states. A third of Atlantic City's boardwalk casinos closed the same year, the others being Revel, Trump Plaza, and Showboat. Redevelopment proposals include a water park.

On November 6, 2013, Atlantic Club owner Resorts International Holdings, itself owned by Colony Capital, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and a source revealed to the Wall Street Journal that a bankruptcy sale would occur. On December 23, 2013, Federal Bankruptcy Judge Gloria M. Burns approved the sale of Atlantic Club to Caesars Entertainment Corporation and Tropicana Entertainment. Tropicana acquired the gaming equipment and the data records of customers from Atlantic Club. Caesars acquired the real estate and non-gaming assets. This returned ownership of the property to Caesars Entertainment, which sold it nine years before to Colony Capital as part of its acquisition by Harrah's Entertainment.^[11]

Lighthouse in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Absecon Lighthouse is a coastal lighthouse located in the north end of Atlantic City, New Jersey, overlooking Absecon Inlet. At 171 feet it is the tallest lighthouse in the state of New Jersey and the third-tallest masonry lighthouse in the United States. Construction began in 1854, with the light first lit on January 15, 1857. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1933 and, although the light still shines every night, it is no longer an active navigational aid. The lighthouse is open to public visitation and, for a small donation, one may climb to the watch room and external gallery. A re-creation of the keepers' quarters was opened in 2002 and serves as a museum and gift shop. The original oil house now contains a Fresnel lens exhibit. Along with school and group tours, the Absecon Lighthouse offers an overnight program for Scouts, a winter arts program for children, and a wide variety of special events throughout the year.

The Absecon Lighthouse was designed by George Meade and still retains its original first-order fixed Fresnel lens. The lens is made of lead glass and weighs 12,800 pounds (5,800 kg) As the light was fixed (non-flashing), it does not have a landward segment allowing visitors to look up in the lens where the keepers entered it for maintenance.

Jack E. Boucher conceived and oversaw the preservation of the lighthouse in 1964.

The lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Historic American Buildings Survey, and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places.^[14]