adriahna
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 9/20/2005 4:18:20 PM
Hey, kids -
This email just arrived in my inbox, from the fine folks at Weird NJ. Seems their upcoming issue has a nice feature on Jersey's most notorious water park... that's right, the fabled ACTION PARK. Here's a snippet from the email:
Blood Sport At Action Park
Most kids growing up know of at least one person who died in a car accident. But, if you
grew up where I did, you know of at least one person who was seriously injured at Action Park.
There is a quaint little ski resort in northern New Jersey called Mountain Creek. When I was
growing up, it was known as Vernon Valley/Great Gorge. Every winter, our parents would take
us to this "luxurious" ski resort for hours of fun on a small New Jersey mountain covered with
man-made snow. And, every spring, the snow would melt and Vernon Valley would reveal its
wondrous summer alias, Action Park.
Action Park was THE water park of northern New Jersey. It was also a haven for injury,
death, and blood – not because of some haunted power, but because it was built by idiots
with no regard for safety. Now, we all had water parks growing up – Wild Water Kingdom
at Dorney Park, for example, or Wet N'Wild, or Six Flags' sister water parks. They were
gleaming summer magical lands, with wave pools, new cement walkways, gift shops, and
a lingering smell of chlorine.
Imagine, if you will, one of those parks. Then, imagine that it was blown up by a small
explosion leaving behind nothing but dirt, some poison ivy, and several broken parts of
water slides. Throw in a "staff" of 16-year-old-stoners, a few water slides with names
like "Kamikaze," and a mass of unknowing patrons who think that surely SOME safety board
must have approved this place, and there's your Action Park. Isn't it beautiful?
Action Park was literally a water park built on a mountain. There was no need for slide
structures, as the natural slope of the mountain provided more than enough momentum
for thrill seekers.
When you entered Action Park, there were three things that immediately got your attention.
The first was the Alpine slide, one of the only non-water rides in the park. You'd get on a low
plastic seat with wheels and a bar for "steering." Then, they'd put you on a long, cracked,
downhill race track and send you on your way. No helmets. No brakes (none that worked
anyway). No warnings about the fact that a misplaced hand could result in a chopped-off
finger. No stopping the crazy kid behind you from smacking into the back of your head.
What fun! They actually had the audacity to have a "slow" lane and a "fast" lane. They should
have been called "injured" lane and "dead" lane.
The second thing that would catch your eye was the abandoned slide. At one point, some
ingenious water park slide designer (who I'm sure went to some prestigious university to
study this art) decided it would be a GREAT idea to make a water slide that resembled a
toy race car track. So, Action Park built an enclosed water slide (like a tube) that followed
all sorts of twists and turns, and then, just for fun, did a complete loop....like, a ROLLER
COASTER loop. Upside down! Let me remind you that riders of this would not be in a car,
not on a train, not on anything but water...water that would, with the help of gravity and
magic, supposedly propel them through a narrow tube that loops completely upside down.
Needless to say, it wasn't long before some woman got caught in the top of the loop. The
ride was closed, and, just as a morbid reminder, the loop was left in tact and on display for
all to see.
There was, however, a physics-defying ride that the park chose to keep open, one that I
proudly experienced first hand. It was a cluster of four or five short, fast water slides that
ended by shooting you out into a lake. Various kids would fly out at various times, landing
on each other or on some misplaced sharp rock. One of these vigorous "shoots" was part-
icularly intriguing, as
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adriahna
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Skooter Junkie
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 9/20/2005 4:22:26 PM
Sorry to post in response to my own initial post, but somehow, my sig is totally appropriate underneath that article...
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Hercules
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9/20/2005 4:25:55 PM
That totally paints a perfect picture of how that place was. I hope to see the entire article because I was really into reading that, and it really brought back some great memories. It wasn't a normal day at Action Park without blood. No blood, no fun.
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larrygator
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9/20/2005 5:07:02 PM
Except for the fact the the looping slide never opened, yes it was there but never used by a patron. Exactly I'm not even sure if they even tested it with people.
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Hercules
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9/20/2005 5:52:39 PM
Nah, I'm pretty sure they only tested it with dummies. However, sometimes when I came out of those things I felt like I had just come out of a loop. 
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adriahna
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Skooter Junkie
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9/20/2005 6:16:47 PM
I'm just pissed that I missed out on Class Action Park...
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Scott
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9/20/2005 6:24:51 PM
Hmmm... interesting article. out here in colorado we have a ton of those alpine slide things. I don't think their dangerous at all...
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larrygator
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9/20/2005 8:43:52 PM
Quote:
Scott said:
Hmmm... interesting article. out here in colorado we have a ton of those alpine slide things. I don't think their dangerous at all... |
I've never seen the ones in Colorado but I can assure you with 100% certainty that they are better policed than Action Park. At Action Park you were not supposed to release your sled until after the one ahead of you passed a flag. However after that point the whole ride was out of the sightlines to the next rider and the ride ops. Insane crashes and road rashes at high speeds. It was ugly! A group of inner city kids, jersey hicks, and rule ignoring NYC suburb kids is not a good mix.
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Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house".
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larrygator
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9/20/2005 8:45:07 PM
hey my first double post in a long time, sorry
Message updated 9/20/2005 8:46:11 PM by larrygator
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Horizons12
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9/22/2005 3:58:35 PM
That article IS Action Park. Actually, I don't know any person who got hurt there...any person except for ME that is! It's probably better that way because now you all know a person that got hurt there, although not seriously luckily for myself!
I was on the Cannonball waterslide which are these two black tubes that went down a tiny drop, did a turn, and then mysteriously sped up riders without any significant drop that I noticed. The end of the slide was simply a short straight section which abruptly ended with a 10 (or more) foot drop into one of the two icey cold, oddly natural looking, 30 foot deep death pools in the woods. As I got shot out of the tube I must have turned a bit because I landed on my right arm. Falling 10 feet, arm first, into the water doesn't exactly feel great and left a nice bruise for a day or so.
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Chet
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9/22/2005 9:31:31 PM
does anyone have pictures of action park? i'd love to see them
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bumprnugit
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9/22/2005 10:16:48 PM
I remember taking pictures around '87 with one of those crappy Kodak Disc cameras...god knows where those photos are now.
When I was there the looping slide was there but it looked physically impossible that anyone could survive it; it was a pipe that appeared to have a drop at a 45 degree angle and the loop seemed to be only about 6 feet tall. At the time, it appeared as if it was still under construction, or being dismantled..there was a healthy amount of brush growing around it and there was no catch basin for the victims-uh, riders, so I figured that after they got most of that monstrosity assembled, they thought better of it.
A few memories: The alpine slide had bales of hay strategically placed at curves in a feeble nod at safety. I saw at least two people that day (one was with my party) who misjudged their speed and hobbled away with some vicious road rash.
I remember the cannonball slide just as Horizons12 described it, and on the right side of the mountain there was something like a lazy river, except it swept you down the mountain at sometimes startling (yet fun)speeds. You had to walk up the moutain along side the ride's path and at one of the curves, a kid lost his inner tube and was standing off to the the side when the next person down slammed into him and was knocked off their tube. However, unfortunate #1 acted quickly and took the tube and left the other rider stranded in his spot, I assume to do the same thing to the next rider. This ride concluded in a big toilet bowl-shaped pool that sucked you into a tube to end the journey.
Across the street there were motor boats, go carts and mud buggys (and the park was gratious enough to keep the experience authentic by keeping the track nice and soggy.) I left the park that day unscathed, but looking back I was pretty lucky.
Message updated 9/22/2005 10:25:48 PM by bumprnugit
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larrygator
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9/22/2005 11:17:41 PM
my favorite was the cliff dives. You were free to jump off the side of the hill from about 20 feet above the water. Let's just say you shouldn't try anything fancy if you aren't an experienced diver. I landed flat on my back and thought I was dead. It didn't help that others were jumping into the water all around me like Japanese kamikaze pilots.
Message updated 9/22/2005 11:19:33 PM by larrygator
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Horizons12
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9/25/2005 12:04:34 AM
The Cannonball Loop
Could anyone imagine the G-force going into that loop?!
--------------------
"if it is just us, it seems like an awful waste of space." -Contact
Visit my website
The Domain of Death
Air America Radio
Message updated 9/25/2005 12:05:37 AM by Horizons12
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adriahna
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Skooter Junkie
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9/26/2005 11:52:02 PM
Sweeeeet - thanks, Horizons - I was looking around for that pic. Cannonball Loop - what were they on?
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Horizons12
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9/27/2005 6:28:34 PM
I could see that being somewhat viable today but back in the 70 or 80s, no. I would think if you wanted that to work than it should be lined with that slippery foam that some small waterpark slides are made of; then have water flow down the hill and filter out the bottom, and finally have misters to constantly keep the foam lining inside the loop wet. It would still be a death trap but it would work better than what Action Park had!
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Alfungus
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10/11/2005 10:46:26 AM
Action park isn't gone it's just called Mountain Creek now.
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larrygator
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10/11/2005 4:28:30 PM
yes, some of it remains. However,for those who survived it, Action Park is Gone
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Alfungus
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10/11/2005 7:16:06 PM
haha you can still see that long slide the article was talking about. They have one thats still running at Camelback
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Waitj786
Posts: 499
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 10/11/2005 10:17:32 PM
HAHAHAHAHA! YES!!!! im 10 minutes from Vernon! Action Park (now called mountain creek) is so funny! i miss the mountain slide!!! people would cut their knees up on that mofo! hahaha nice post though
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Alfungus
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10/12/2005 2:43:34 AM
Quote:
Waitj786 said:
HAHAHAHAHA! YES!!!! im 10 minutes from Vernon! Action Park (now called mountain creek) is so funny! i miss the mountain slide!!! people would cut their knees up on that mofo! hahaha nice post though |
Yo are you serious? I live in Newton if you know where that is.
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Waitj786
Posts: 499
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10/12/2005 10:15:40 PM
Quote:
Alfungus said:
Yo are you serious? I live in Newton if you know where that is. |
ohhh?? i actually live in new york, RIGHT on the border of NJ. i live in Warwick, have u herd of it? i have herd of newton but im not to sure how far it is from me.
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Horizons12
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10/17/2005 12:08:46 PM
I'm like 1 hour from MC in New Providence. It's a heck of a trek though.
Message updated 10/17/2005 12:10:39 PM by Horizons12
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Scott
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6/21/2007 11:37:24 PM
Hello. Wikipedia reports that the looping slide did in fact open...
"The one ride that has come to symbolize Action Park and its extreme thrill-seeking was, paradoxically, almost never used.
In the mid-1980s GAR built an enclosed water slide, not unusual for that time, and indeed the park already had several. But for this one they decided to build, at the end, a complete vertical loop of the kind more commonly associated with roller coasters.[15] Employees have reported they were offered hundred-dollar bills to test it. "It didn't buy enough booze to drown out the memory", said Fergus.[11]
It was opened for one month in summer 1985 before it was closed at the order of the state's Advisory Board on Carnival Amusement Ride Safety, a highly unusual move at the time.[13] One worker told a local newspaper that "there were too many bloody noses and back injuries" from riders, and it was widely rumored that some of the test dummies sent down before it was opened had been dismembered.[13] A rider also reportedly got stuck at the top of the loop due to insufficient water pressure, and a hatch had to be built there to allow for future extrications.[13]
The ride supposedly reopened a few more times over the years. In summer 1995 it opened for several days before a few more injuries forced another shutdown.
Those who did ride it have said that more safety measures were taken than was otherwise common at the park. Riders were weighed and hosed down with cold water, required to remove jewelry, and then carefully instructed in how they had to position their bodies to complete the ride.[16]
For the remainder of the park's existence, it remained visible near the entrance of Waterworld, tempting visitors with the possibility of the thrilling ride it might have offered yet tempering it with the high potential for injury that was just as obvious from looking at it."
Message updated 6/21/2007 11:39:29 PM by Scott
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nyeboy9
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6/22/2007 11:42:02 AM
A loop on a water slide. I just can't even imagine how it would be.
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adriahna
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6/22/2007 6:21:16 PM
Quote:
Scott said:
Riders were weighed and hosed down with cold water, required to remove jewelry, and then carefully instructed in how they had to position their bodies to complete the ride. |
I would have figured that they just lined the damned thing with Crisco.
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"I'm pulverized by this latest thing!"
- Edie Beale; "Grey Gardens"
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nyeboy9
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6/22/2007 10:29:50 PM
^They might have saved money on water.
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Horizons12
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6/25/2007 1:28:10 PM
Someone actually sent me an e-mail back in March maybe about how the Cannonball Loop did in fact operate to the public. I have the e-mail on my Action Park page if you want to check it out.
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Hercules
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6/25/2007 3:01:44 PM
I had a feeling I had been on it 
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nyeboy9
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6/25/2007 10:18:28 PM
The Wikipedia article Scott posted said it was opened for a month before the Advisory Board shut it down.
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