Action Park
Encyclopedia
Action Park was an amusement park
, open from 1978 to 1996 in Vernon Township
, New Jersey
at the former Vernon Valley / Great Gorge ski area, now known as Mountain Creek
.
It featured three separate attraction areas: an alpine slide
, Motorworld, and Waterworld. The latter was one of the first American waterparks. Many of Action Park's attractions were unique, attracting thrill-seekers from across the New York City
metro area. The park's popularity went hand in hand with a reputation for poorly-designed, unsafe rides; inattentive, underaged employees; intoxicated, unprepared visitors; and the subsequently poor safety record.
At least six people are known to have died as a result of mishaps on rides at the park. It was given nicknames such as "Traction
Park" and "Accident Park", by doctors at nearby hospital
s due to the number of severely injured parkgoers they treated. Little action was taken by state regulators despite a history of repeat violations. In its later years personal-injury
lawsuits forced the closure of more and more rides and finally the park itself in 1996.
Intrawest
purchased the property and in 1998, many of the water attractions were reopened as Mountain Creek Waterpark
. With a vastly increased emphasis on ride safety, the alpine slide and Motorworld areas were eliminated and some new water attractions were added. In 2010, the whole Mountain Creek
ski area and waterpark was sold to a group led by Eugene Mulvihill, the former operator of Great Gorge and Action Park.
s, at the base of the slopes.
They started out with two speed waterslides in the summer of 1978, and then more waterslides and a small deep-water swimming pool the next year. The early 1980s saw more slides along with a huge wavepool. Finally, Motorworld was carved out of the swampy areas the ski area owned across Route 94. Ultimately, the small park consisting of the Alpine Slide and two speed slides evolved to a major destination with 75 rides, including 35 motorized self-controlled rides and 40 waterslides.
GAR promoted its new attraction with television commercials in the New York metropolitan area
, using the jingle
"There's nothing in the world like Action Park!" in several-part harmony (later, "The action never stops ... at Action Park!"). The park soon became a popular summertime weekend destination in and of itself, due to the level of control it offered visitors over their experience compared with most other amusement parks. Some visitors were not even aware that it was part of a ski area.
Action Park's most successful years were the mid-1980s. Most rides were still open, and the park's later reputation for danger had not yet developed. In 1982, the deaths of two visitors within a week of each other and ensuing permanent closure of one ride took place, but that hardly dampened the flow of crowds.
The park's fortunes began to turn with two deaths in summer 1984 and the legal and financial problems that stemmed from the lawsuits. A state investigation of improprieties in the leasing of state land to the resort led to a 110-count grand jury
indictment
against the nine related companies that ran the resort and their executives for operating an unauthorized insurance
company. Many took pretrial intervention to avoid prosecution; head Eugene Mulvihill pled guilty that November to five insurance fraud
-related charges. Still, attendance remained high and the park remained profitable at least on paper. The park entertained over a million visitors a year, with as many as 12,000 coming on some of the busiest weekends.
Park officials said this made the injury and death rate statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, the director of the emergency room at a nearby hospital said they treated from five to ten victims of park accidents on some of the busiest days, and the park eventually bought the township of Vernon extra ambulance
s to keep up with the volume.
A few rides were closed and dismantled due to costly settlements and rising insurance premiums in the 1990s, and at last the park's attendance began to suffer as the recession
early in that decade reduced visitation. GAR was finally forced into bankruptcy
in 1995, and Action Park operated with no insurance policy for its last several years in operation.
Action Park closed at the end of the season as usual on Labor Day
, September 2, 1996. It was assumed that it would reopen on Memorial Day weekend of 1997 as usual. However, the financial state of GAR continued to cast a pall over the operations of both Action Park and the Great Gorge ski resort. Action Park's opening was first pushed back to mid-June 1997, and then 4th of July
weekend. These never came to pass, as GAR announced in July that it was shutting down its operations immediately, including Action Park.
s, resulting in much verbal harassment and sometimes spitting from passengers going up for their turn, who would often be entertained by the accidents they witnessed while at the same time hoping to avoid similar fates.
The tracks themselves were made of concrete
and fiberglass
, which led to numerous serious abrasions on riders who took even mild spills. The tendency of some to ride in bathing suits so they could go on to Waterworld attractions afterwards made this problem worse.
The sled
s themselves were a large factor in the injuries. A stick that was supposed to control speed led, in practice, to just two options on the infrequently maintained vehicles: extremely slow, and a speed described by one former employee as "death awaits."
This slide led to the first fatality at the park, a head injury
suffered in 1980 by an employee whose sled ran off the track; he then fell down a large embankment and hit his head on a rock, which killed him. Hay bales at the curves were meant to cushion the impact of those whose sleds jumped the track (a frequent occurrence), but did not always do so effectively. According to state records, in the years 1984 and 1985 the alpine slide produced 14 fracture
s and 26 head injuries
. While park officials regularly asserted its safety, saying that 90-year-old grandmothers could and did ride it, in the early years of the park the slide was responsible for the bulk of the accidents, injuries, lawsuits and state citations for safety violations.
When Intrawest took over the park and renamed it Mountain Creek in spring 1998, they announced the slide would remain open for one final season. Riders were required to wear helmet
s and kneepads. The last day of the slide's operation was September 6 of that year, the day before the park closed for the season, as that year's Labor Day
was rainy and the slide had to be closed.
The tracks were torn out afterwards, but the route can still be seen from the gondola
that replaced the chairlift.
briefly existed, near the ski area's ski school building, but closed due to poor design after a season. Bowls were separated by pavement
, which in many cases did not meet the edges smoothly. Former park employee Tom Fergus was quoted in the magazine Weird NJ
saying that the "skate park was responsible for so many injuries we covered it up with dirt and pretended it never existed."
was available the same summer the skate park was open. Grass Skiing was on the beginner and intermediate slopes under the Brown chairlift.
housing development, a mini golf
course, a restaurant, and additional parking for the Mountain Creek ski resort. Several types of vehicles were used in this area.
count. Mountain Creek Waterpark still operates some of these attractions. In addition, there was also a Miniature golf course as well as standard pools and rides for children. These were sometimes smaller, safer versions of the park's main attractions.
The one ride that has come to symbolize Action Park and its extreme thrill-seeking was 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 coaster
s. Employees have reported they were offered hundred-dollar bills
to test it. Tom Fergus, "one of the idiots", said "$100 did not buy enough booze to drown out that memory."
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. One worker told a local newspaper
that "there were too many bloody noses and back injuries" from riders, and it was widely rumored, and reported in Weird NJ, that some of the test dummies
sent down before it was opened had been dismembered
. A rider also reportedly got stuck at the top of the loop due to insufficient water pressure, and a hatch
had to be built at the bottom of the slope to allow for future extractions.
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.
For the remainder of the park's existence, it remained visible near the entrance of Waterworld. The slide was dismantled shortly after Action Park closed and has never been rebuilt.
that allowed riders to hover in the air without any type of restraints. Stadium seating encircled the perimeter of the Aerodium, allowing friends and spectators to watch riders fly. Riders wearing a special skydiving suit, helmet, and earplugs would join the bodyflight instructor one by one on a trampoline-like netting directly over the fan. The instructor would grab each rider's wrists and guide the rider to fall forward, allowing the fan to loft the rider skyward. After a few seconds of flight, the attendant operating the fan would cut the power, causing the rider to fall onto the air cushions surrounding the fan. Park guests' flights were limited to a maximum of 6 or 7 feet (2 m) above the ground, approximately a foot or two over the instructor's head.
or engineering
. "They seemed to build rides," one attendee recalls, "not knowing how they would work, and [then let] people on them."
GAR, as its legal troubles would suggest, has been accused of cutting corners to maximize its profits. For example, it was accused of building rides cheaply, sporadically maintaining many of them, and failing to renovate rides to take advantage of later safety improvements to its ideas made by other facilities. These practices may have taken place in a range of its operations, including customer safety (in the park's last year, it kept part of the ski area open despite being unable to obtain liability insurance
).
Most were area residents making minimum wage
or just barely above that, given little training (other than lifeguards) for their jobs, and who consequently often cared little for enforcing park rules and safety requirements. Height
- and weight
-based restrictions were often ignored.
, Action Park attracted many visitors from the urban
areas of the New York metropolitan area, particularly northeastern New Jersey. Many of them were often from lower-income neighborhoods where they had few, if any, opportunities to swim, much less learn how. At the park they greatly overestimated these abilities, and this was a factor in many accidents as well as the drownings, according to park officials. DeSaye faults management's decision to broaden the customer base by advertising in Spanish-language
media as contributing to the accident rate, since few employees spoke Spanish nor was any written information made available in that language.
The staff's indifference to many of the park's own rules led to a similarly lawless culture among riders, who generally liked the high level of control they had over their experience and felt that any accidents were the fault of the victims. A state official lamented that many waterslide accidents were caused by the victims themselves, who, in blatant violation of an explicitly posted rule, would often discard their mats midway down the slide and wait at a turn for their friends so they could go down together.
Since many rides routed their lines so that those waiting could see every previous rider, many played to the audience with risky and bawdy behavior when it did finally come to be their turn. The Tarzan Swing in particular was known for outbursts of foul language
(not always planned) and exhibitionism
as people jumped off the swing in full view of the whole line behind them.
in many kiosk
s on the grounds, with similarly lax enforcement of the drinking age
as with other restrictions in the park. Doctors treating the injured often reported that many of them were intoxicated.
, Sussex County's main daily newspaper, later found that the park was fined only once. It was also unique in that department in that all the other amusement parks were fined for first offenses — except Action Park. It asked if there was some sort of special relationship between GAR and the state.
Some of the state's regulations failed to adequately address the situation, too. After the 1987 drowning, it was reported that the Tidal Wave Pool was considered a pool by the state, not a ride. Under state regulations at the time, that meant that all the company had to do was keep the water clean and make sure that certified lifeguards were on duty, and nothing else.
ers who grew up in North
and Central Jersey
, as well as nearby locales in New York and Connecticut. A popular list of "You Know You're from New Jersey When ..." that circulates in email
begins with, "You've been seriously injured at Action Park."
Some even credit the park for making them learn some difficult lessons. In 2000, one, Matthew Callan, recalled Action Park thus:
Chris Gethard, a writer for Weird NJ
and the associated book series, concurs:
Rock band Shellac
named their 1994 debut album At Action Park
.
On August 1, 1993, MTV's Headbanger's Ball taped an episode at the park. The host, Riki Rachtman
, interviewed and went on the rides with the band Alice In Chains
.
, which bought the ski area in 1998 and decided the next year to reopen them as Mountain Creek Waterpark
. However, it is no longer the state's largest water park nor is it quite the draw it once was. Other waterparks have been built in and around the region
, dividing what was once an exclusive market.
New Jersey toughened its amusement regulations as a result of the Action Park experience. Rides at Mountain Creek, many of them built in Action Park's heyday, now boast large bilingual sign
s advising patrons of just what the ride entails, how deep the water is in metric
and US customary units
, the age it is most appropriate for, and the state regulatory ID numbers. Safety rules are strictly enforced at the new park, although alcohol is still available.
In 2010, Intrawest, which ended up in bankruptcy proceedings itself as a result of a leveraged buyout, sold the park back to its original owners, bringing the park full circle.
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
, open from 1978 to 1996 in Vernon Township
Vernon Township, New Jersey
-Communities and neighborhoods:Communities and neighborhoods in Vernon Township include the following sections:*Vernon Village "Town Center"*Vernon Valley a.k.a...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
at the former Vernon Valley / Great Gorge ski area, now known as Mountain Creek
Mountain Creek
Mountain Creek is the ski resort closest to New York metropolitan area, located in Vernon Township, New Jersey, on Route 94, from the George Washington Bridge. It offers 167 skiable acres on four mountain peaks, 100% night skiing/snowboarding, and the region's highest vertical feet. Mountain Creek...
.
It featured three separate attraction areas: an alpine slide
Alpine slide
An alpine slide is a long chute on the side of a hill, usually built by ski resorts to supplement summer income. A wheeled cart is used to navigate the slide. The ride is similar to a bobsled ride, except that it rolls over a smooth track—generally cement, stainless steel, or fiberglass—rather...
, Motorworld, and Waterworld. The latter was one of the first American waterparks. Many of Action Park's attractions were unique, attracting thrill-seekers from across the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
metro area. The park's popularity went hand in hand with a reputation for poorly-designed, unsafe rides; inattentive, underaged employees; intoxicated, unprepared visitors; and the subsequently poor safety record.
At least six people are known to have died as a result of mishaps on rides at the park. It was given nicknames such as "Traction
Traction (orthopedics)
In orthopedic medicine, traction refers to the set of mechanisms for straightening broken bones or relieving pressure on the spine and skeletal system.There are two types of traction: skin traction and skeletal traction....
Park" and "Accident Park", by doctors at nearby hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s due to the number of severely injured parkgoers they treated. Little action was taken by state regulators despite a history of repeat violations. In its later years personal-injury
Tort
A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
lawsuits forced the closure of more and more rides and finally the park itself in 1996.
Intrawest
Intrawest
Intrawest ULC is a developer and operator of destination resorts and a luxury adventure travel company. The company was founded in 1976 as a privately funded real estate development company...
purchased the property and in 1998, many of the water attractions were reopened as Mountain Creek Waterpark
Mountain Creek Waterpark
Mountain Creek Waterpark is a seasonal water theme park located at Mountain Creek Ski Resort in Vernon Township, New Jersey. The park is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day yearly....
. With a vastly increased emphasis on ride safety, the alpine slide and Motorworld areas were eliminated and some new water attractions were added. In 2010, the whole Mountain Creek
Mountain Creek
Mountain Creek is the ski resort closest to New York metropolitan area, located in Vernon Township, New Jersey, on Route 94, from the George Washington Bridge. It offers 167 skiable acres on four mountain peaks, 100% night skiing/snowboarding, and the region's highest vertical feet. Mountain Creek...
ski area and waterpark was sold to a group led by Eugene Mulvihill, the former operator of Great Gorge and Action Park.
History
The park was born in the mid-1970s when Great American Recreation (GAR), new owners of the recently combined Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area, wanted to do something with the ski area during the off season. They followed the trend of many other ski areas at the time, and in 1977 began offering an alpine slide down very steep ski trails, then gradually put together Waterworld, one of North America's earliest water parkWater park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...
s, at the base of the slopes.
They started out with two speed waterslides in the summer of 1978, and then more waterslides and a small deep-water swimming pool the next year. The early 1980s saw more slides along with a huge wavepool. Finally, Motorworld was carved out of the swampy areas the ski area owned across Route 94. Ultimately, the small park consisting of the Alpine Slide and two speed slides evolved to a major destination with 75 rides, including 35 motorized self-controlled rides and 40 waterslides.
GAR promoted its new attraction with television commercials in the New York metropolitan area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
, using the jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
"There's nothing in the world like Action Park!" in several-part harmony (later, "The action never stops ... at Action Park!"). The park soon became a popular summertime weekend destination in and of itself, due to the level of control it offered visitors over their experience compared with most other amusement parks. Some visitors were not even aware that it was part of a ski area.
Action Park's most successful years were the mid-1980s. Most rides were still open, and the park's later reputation for danger had not yet developed. In 1982, the deaths of two visitors within a week of each other and ensuing permanent closure of one ride took place, but that hardly dampened the flow of crowds.
The park's fortunes began to turn with two deaths in summer 1984 and the legal and financial problems that stemmed from the lawsuits. A state investigation of improprieties in the leasing of state land to the resort led to a 110-count grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
against the nine related companies that ran the resort and their executives for operating an unauthorized insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
company. Many took pretrial intervention to avoid prosecution; head Eugene Mulvihill pled guilty that November to five insurance fraud
Insurance fraud
Insurance fraud is any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain payment from an insurer.Insurance fraud has existed ever since the beginning of insurance as a commercial enterprise. Fraudulent claims account for a significant portion of all claims received by insurers, and cost billions...
-related charges. Still, attendance remained high and the park remained profitable at least on paper. The park entertained over a million visitors a year, with as many as 12,000 coming on some of the busiest weekends.
Park officials said this made the injury and death rate statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, the director of the emergency room at a nearby hospital said they treated from five to ten victims of park accidents on some of the busiest days, and the park eventually bought the township of Vernon extra ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
s to keep up with the volume.
A few rides were closed and dismantled due to costly settlements and rising insurance premiums in the 1990s, and at last the park's attendance began to suffer as the recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
early in that decade reduced visitation. GAR was finally forced into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy in the United States
Bankruptcy in the United States is governed under the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, most recently by adopting the Bankruptcy...
in 1995, and Action Park operated with no insurance policy for its last several years in operation.
Action Park closed at the end of the season as usual on Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
, September 2, 1996. It was assumed that it would reopen on Memorial Day weekend of 1997 as usual. However, the financial state of GAR continued to cast a pall over the operations of both Action Park and the Great Gorge ski resort. Action Park's opening was first pushed back to mid-June 1997, and then 4th of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
weekend. These never came to pass, as GAR announced in July that it was shutting down its operations immediately, including Action Park.
Alpine slide
Action Park's alpine slide descended the mountain roughly below one of the ski area's chairliftChairlift
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs...
s, resulting in much verbal harassment and sometimes spitting from passengers going up for their turn, who would often be entertained by the accidents they witnessed while at the same time hoping to avoid similar fates.
The tracks themselves were made of concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
, which led to numerous serious abrasions on riders who took even mild spills. The tendency of some to ride in bathing suits so they could go on to Waterworld attractions afterwards made this problem worse.
The sled
Sled
A sled, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle with a smooth underside or possessing a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners that travels by sliding across a surface. Most sleds are used on surfaces with low friction, such as snow or ice. In some cases,...
s themselves were a large factor in the injuries. A stick that was supposed to control speed led, in practice, to just two options on the infrequently maintained vehicles: extremely slow, and a speed described by one former employee as "death awaits."
This slide led to the first fatality at the park, a head injury
Head injury
Head injury refers to trauma of the head. This may or may not include injury to the brain. However, the terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in medical literature....
suffered in 1980 by an employee whose sled ran off the track; he then fell down a large embankment and hit his head on a rock, which killed him. Hay bales at the curves were meant to cushion the impact of those whose sleds jumped the track (a frequent occurrence), but did not always do so effectively. According to state records, in the years 1984 and 1985 the alpine slide produced 14 fracture
Bone fracture
A bone fracture is a medical condition in which there is a break in the continuity of the bone...
s and 26 head injuries
Head injury
Head injury refers to trauma of the head. This may or may not include injury to the brain. However, the terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in medical literature....
. While park officials regularly asserted its safety, saying that 90-year-old grandmothers could and did ride it, in the early years of the park the slide was responsible for the bulk of the accidents, injuries, lawsuits and state citations for safety violations.
When Intrawest took over the park and renamed it Mountain Creek in spring 1998, they announced the slide would remain open for one final season. Riders were required to wear helmet
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
s and kneepads. The last day of the slide's operation was September 6 of that year, the day before the park closed for the season, as that year's Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
was rainy and the slide had to be closed.
The tracks were torn out afterwards, but the route can still be seen from the gondola
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
that replaced the chairlift.
Skateboard park
A skateboard parkSkatepark
A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, aggressive inline skating and scooters. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets,...
briefly existed, near the ski area's ski school building, but closed due to poor design after a season. Bowls were separated by pavement
Pavement (material)
Road surface or pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete. Such...
, which in many cases did not meet the edges smoothly. Former park employee Tom Fergus was quoted in the magazine Weird NJ
Weird NJ
Weird NJ is the title of a semi-annual magazine and two paranormal travel guides that chronicle local legends, hauntings, ghost stories, folklore and anything considered "weird" in the U.S. state of New Jersey....
saying that the "skate park was responsible for so many injuries we covered it up with dirt and pretended it never existed."
Grass skiing
Grass skiingGrass skiing
Grass skiing was started in France in 1966 as a method for training for alpine skiing. Short skis that were actually rolling treads, much like those on tanks, or wheels were used. These skis were attached to the skiers boots and a grassy downhill slope was found. Depending on the skill of the...
was available the same summer the skate park was open. Grass Skiing was on the beginner and intermediate slopes under the Brown chairlift.
Motorworld
The park also had a section called Motorworld. It had powered vehicles and boats on the west side of Route 94. These closed with Action Park in 1996. They have been replaced with a condominiumCondominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
housing development, a mini golf
Miniature golf
Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...
course, a restaurant, and additional parking for the Mountain Creek ski resort. Several types of vehicles were used in this area.
Land vehicles
- Super Go Karts: The kartsKart racingKart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
were meant to be driven around a small loop trackRace trackA race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...
at a speed of about 20 mph (32 km/h) set by the governor devicesGovernor (device)A governor, or speed limiter, is a device used to measure and regulate the speed of a machine, such as an engine. A classic example is the centrifugal governor, also known as the Watt or fly-ball governor, which uses a rotating assembly of weights mounted on arms to determine how fast the engine...
on them. But park employees knew how to circumvent the governors by wedging tennis ballTennis ballA tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...
s into them, and were known to do so for parkgoers. As a result, an otherwise standard small-engine car ride became a chance to play bumper cars at 50 mph (80 km/h), and many injuries resulted from head-on collisionHead-on collisionA head-on collision is one where the front ends of two ships, trains, planes or vehicles hit each other, as opposed to a side collision or rear-end collision.-Rail transport:...
s. Also, the engines were poorly maintained, and some riders were overcome by gasolineGasolineGasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
fumes as they drove.
- LOLA cars: These were miniature open-cockpit race carsOpen wheel carOpen-wheel car, formula car, or often single-seater car in British English, describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and, in most cases, one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or fenders...
on a longer track. Extra money was charged to drive them, and they, too, could be adjusted for speed by knowledgeable park employees, with similarly harmful consequences to riders. Fergus said that, after the park management briefly set up a microbreweryMicrobreweryA microbrewery or craft brewer is a brewery which produces a limited amount of beer, and is associated by consumers with innovation and uniqueness....
nearby, employees looking for after-hours fun would break into it, steal the beer, and then ride the cars on Route 94.
- Tank Ride: This was one of the most popular rides at Motorworld, and it was featured prominently in the television ads. In a chainlink fence-enclosed area, small tanks could be driven around, for a fee, for five minutes at a time, with tennis ball cannons that enabled riders to shoot at a sensorSensorA sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...
prominently mounted on each tank. If hit, the tank stopped operating for 15 seconds, while other tankers often took advantage of the delay to pepper the stricken vehicle with more fire. Visitors on the outside could also join in the fun through less costly cannons mounted on the inside of the fence. When workers had to enter the cage to attend to a stuck or crashed tank, which usually happened several times a day, they were often pelted with tennis balls from every direction despite prohibitions against such behavior that could result in expulsion from the park. This gave the tank ride a reputation for being more dangerous for the employees than the patrons, making it the least popular place to work in the park. It is not known if there were any serious injuries from the tank ride. As of 2009, the area has not been redeveloped and only a vacant lot remains.
Watercraft
- Bumper boats: This ride was supposedly safer, but the engineEngineAn engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...
s often leaked gasolineGasolineGasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
, at least once requiring medical attention for one rider when too much got on his skinSkin-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
. As with the Super Speedboats mentioned below, the bumper boats pond was infested with snakes, and the boats themselves were notoriously difficult to maneuver, so much so that the employees who worked there in 1990 were reduced to shouting "Skee-Da-Va", "Squeeze The Wheeze", and other nonsense. It made no difference, because riders could neither understand instructions above the din of the noisy engines nor control the skittering boats in any event.
- Super Speedboats: These were set up in a small pond, known by staff to be heavily infested with snakeSnakeSnakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s. They were supposed to be driven around a small island in the middle at 35-40 mph (56–64 km/h). While, unlike the land vehicles, there was no way to tamper with them and increase their speed, many riders nonetheless used them to play bumper boat, and one seriously inebriated rider had to be rescued by the attendant lifeguardLifeguardA lifeguard supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, or beach. Lifeguards are strong swimmers and trained in first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on...
after his boat capsizeCapsizeCapsizing is an act of tipping over a boat or ship to disable it. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is called righting.If a capsized vessel has sufficient flotation to prevent sinking, it may recover on its own if the stability is such that it is not stable inverted...
d following a collision.
Air rides
- Space Shot: The "space shot" attraction was fairly safe. It was a tower drop up and down ride, common in many amusement parks today. This attraction was open in 1996 and again in 1998 (under Mountain Creek management). It was sold at the end of the 1998 season.
- Bungee Jumping Tower: The bungee jumping tower was a tower where guests would bungee jump as they were strapped to a cord and released to a huge, soft blow-up mat at the end of their ride. This was open from the late 1980s until 1996.
- Sling Shot: A bungee cord ride in which two riders sat in a seat and were strapped in while the ride was shot up in the air and supported by a bungee cord. Riders looped upside down. There are a few similar rides still standing in a handful of major amusement parks, the most common name being the Slingshot found at many Six FlagsSix FlagsSix Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...
parks, but they are upcharge attractions (an additional charge to admission) due to insurance issues. At Action Park, the extra fee was only $5. This particular ride was open from 1993 to 1995. "We often wondered how many whiplashWhiplash (medicine)Whiplash is a non-medical term describing a range of injuries to the neck caused by or related to a sudden distortion of the neck associated with extension. The term "whiplash" is a colloquialism...
cases came out of that ride", one former employee recalled.
Waterworld
Water-based attractions made up half of the park's rides and accounted for the greatest share of its casualtyCasualty (person)
A casualty is a person who is the victim of an accident, injury, or trauma. The word casualties is most often used by the news media to describe deaths and injuries resulting from wars or disasters...
count. Mountain Creek Waterpark still operates some of these attractions. In addition, there was also a Miniature golf course as well as standard pools and rides for children. These were sometimes smaller, safer versions of the park's main attractions.
Looping water slide
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
Loop (roller coaster)
The generic roller coaster vertical loop is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. Specifically, the loop refers to a continuously upward-sloping section of track that eventually results in a complete 360 degree circle. At the top-most piece of the loop, riders are completely inverted.-...
of the kind more commonly associated with roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
s. Employees have reported they were offered hundred-dollar bills
United States one hundred-dollar bill
The United States one hundred-dollar bill is a denomination of United States currency. U.S. statesman, inventor and diplomat Benjamin Franklin is currently featured on the obverse of the bill. On the reverse of the banknote is an image of Independence Hall. The time on the clock according to the...
to test it. Tom Fergus, "one of the idiots", said "$100 did not buy enough booze to drown out that memory."
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. One worker told a local newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
that "there were too many bloody noses and back injuries" from riders, and it was widely rumored, and reported in Weird NJ, that some of the test dummies
Crash test dummy
Crash test dummies are full-scale anthropomorphic test devices that simulate the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the human body, and are usually instrumented to record data about the dynamic behavior of the ATD in simulated vehicle impacts...
sent down before it was opened had been dismembered
Dismemberment
Dismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
. A rider also reportedly got stuck at the top of the loop due to insufficient water pressure, and a hatch
Hatch
Hatch may refer to:* Hatching, also called "cross-hatching", an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects using closely spaced parallel lines* Hatching, the emergence of a young animal from an egg...
had to be built at the bottom of the slope to allow for future extractions.
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
Weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...
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.
For the remainder of the park's existence, it remained visible near the entrance of Waterworld. The slide was dismantled shortly after Action Park closed and has never been rebuilt.
Other notable water attractions
- The Tidal Wave Pool: The first patron death occurred here in 1982; another visitor would drownDrowningDrowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
in this common water-park attraction five years later. It was, however, the number of people the lifeguardLifeguardA lifeguard supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, or beach. Lifeguards are strong swimmers and trained in first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on...
s saved from a similar fate that made this the only Waterworld attraction to gain its own nickname, "The Grave Pool." It was 100 feet (30.5 m) wide by 250 feet (76.2 m) long and could hold 500 to 1,000 people. Waves were generated for 20 minutes at a time with 10-minute intervals between them, and could reach as much as 40 inches (102 cm) in height. It was not always obvious that pool depth increased as one got closer to the far end, and there were patrons who only remembered or realized that they could not swim when they were in over their heads and the waves were going full blast. Even those who could swim well did not realize that the waves, as fresh waterFresh WaterFresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...
, were not as buoyantBuoyancyIn physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
as their oceanOceanAn ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
counterparts, and they sometimes exhausted themselves doing more swimming than they were ready for, causing patrons to crowd the side ladders as the waves began, leading to many accidents. Twelve lifeguards were on duty at all times, and on high-traffic weekends they were known to rescue as many as 30 people, compared to the one or two the average lifeguard might make in a typical season at a poolSwimming poolA swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
or lakeLakeA lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
. Mountain Creek continues to operate this attraction as the "High Tide Wavepool" but made the pool much shallower.
- The Kayak Experience: After the second visitor death in the park's history in 1982 occurred at this ride, it was closed permanently. It was an imitation whitewaterWhitewaterWhitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...
course that used submerged electric fansFan (implement)A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...
to agitate the water above. Frequently the kayakKayakA kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
s got stuck or tipped over, and people had to get out of them to remedy the situation.
- The Tarzan Swing: This was a steel arch hanging from a 20 feet (6.1 m)-long cableCableA cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
over a spring-fed pool. Patrons waited in long lines for the chance to hang from it, swing out over the water, then jump off as the beam reached its height. In early years the area you jumped off from was not over the water but a cushioned area. Some people who let go as soon as they started their swing would land on the cushion and then slide/crash into the water. In the mid 1980s the starting position was shifted so that you started over the water. Some patrons hung on too long and scraped their toes on the concrete at the far side. Others used the ride properly, but then were surprised to find out the water underneath was very cold. It was cold enough, in fact, that the lifeguards sometimes had to rescue people who were so surprised by the sudden chill they could not swim out. In 1984, one man died from a heart attackMyocardial infarctionMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
after experiencing the swing. This ride is still open today.
- Roaring Rapids: This was a standard raft-based whitewater ride. Reports that the park filed with the state in 1984 noted fractured femurFemurThe femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...
s, collar bones and noseHuman noseThe visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils...
s, and dislocatedDislocation (medicine)Joint dislocation, or luxation , occurs when bones in a joint become displaced or misaligned. It is often caused by a sudden impact to the joint. The ligaments always become damaged as a result of a dislocation...
kneeKneeThe knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...
s and shoulderShoulderThe human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle , the scapula , and the humerus as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder make up the shoulder joints. The major joint of the shoulder is the glenohumeral joint, which...
s. This attraction is still open. The left side is known as The Gauley and riders use a single tube. The right side is known as Thunder Run and is a double tube rafting ride.
- Surf Hill: This ride, common to other water parks at the time, allowed patrons to slide down a water-slick sloped surface on mats into small puddles, until they reached a foam barrier after an upslope at the end. Barriers between lanes were minimal, and people frequently collided with each other on the way down, or at the end. The seventh lane was known as the "back breaker," due to its special kicker two-thirds of the way down intended to allow jumps and splashdowns into a larger puddle. Employees at the park used to like eating at a nearby snack barSnack barthumb|A snack bar in AmsterdamA snack bar usually refers to an inexpensive food counter that is part of a permanent structure where snack foods and light meals are sold. A beach snack bar is often a small building situated high on the sand. Besides soft drinks, candies and chewing gum, some snack...
with a good view of the attraction, since it was almost guaranteed that they could see some serious injuries, lost bikiniBikiniThe bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
tops, or both. Mountain Creek kept this attraction open through 2005.
- Super Speed Water Slides: These were two water slides, set slightly apart from the rest of the park, that took advantage of nearly vertical slopes to allow riders to attain higher speeds than usually possible. One started with riders going almost vertically downwards and was covered with screening for the first several feet. As barriers on the side of the slides were very low, lifeguards reminded every user to remain flat on their back with their arms at the side as they descended since there was no way to ride it otherwise and stay on. The fall from both slides had the potential for very serious injury. Those who made it to the bottom found their progress arrested by water, which made a large splash, and then a small pool. The speed at which riders met the end resulted in many getting wedgieWedgieA wedgie occurs when a person's underwear or other garments are wedged between the buttocks. While a wedgie can be created naturally, the term is usually associated with a prank or as a form of bullying...
s and enemaEnemaAn enema is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. The increasing volume of the liquid causes rapid expansion of the lower intestinal tract, often resulting in very uncomfortable bloating, cramping, powerful peristalsis, a feeling of extreme urgency and...
s from the experience. Only one of these slides remains today as H-2-Oh-No.
- Diving cliffs: The area around Roaring Rapids was (and still is) laid out like a kind of grottoGrottoA grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
, with many lower-intensity attractions. One was a pair of diving cliffCliffIn geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s — one 23 feet (7 m), the other 18 feet (5.4 m) — above a 16-foot (5 m) deep pool. However, the pool below was not blocked off from those who might be swimming in or away from other attractions, and nothing at water level gave any indication to swimmers below that they could expect people to dive in right next to them - or right on top of them. The sole lifeguard on duty often had his or her hands full dealing with the results of those collisions. Also, nonswimmers would jump off the cliffs, not fully appreciating how deep the water below was, and have to be rescued. Former employee Tom Fergus says the bottom of the pool was eventually painted white to make it easier to spot any bodies on the bottom. The large pool into which people jumped is no longer used for regular swimming, only to deposit used tubes. Still operating, known as Canyon Cliffs.
- Colorado River Ride: The Colorado River Ride, which still exists, winds its way down a heavily wooded area on the side of the park. It used to feature large, circular raftRaftA raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
s that people had to carry from the splash pool to the start. The "river" is actually a large trough made to look like a natural river bed. The ride started out at a slow pace around a couple of turns, but then become far more challenging. Since the river is on a steady pitch down the hill, the rafts gained speed very quickly. Sudden turns would send the rafts up the walls. Riders who were not holding on would sometimes fall out onto the steep surrounding terrain. A rider recounted to Weird NJWeird NJWeird NJ is the title of a semi-annual magazine and two paranormal travel guides that chronicle local legends, hauntings, ghost stories, folklore and anything considered "weird" in the U.S. state of New Jersey....
how a friend's mother suffered a broken nose when their raft was thrown into a rock wall. At one point the rafts would come to a fork where they could either head into a tunnel, or (less frequently) around a corner into an unknown section of river. The tunnel had many turns and was dark. Inside the tunnel were jagged rocks, which could cause cuts or scrapes if riders placed their hands out. At the exit, rafts commonly struck a curved wall with great force. The raft then floated into a small rock pool and stayed there until it found its way out. The final stretch of the river consisted of a large downhill portion complete with bumps, and a foot-high (30 cm) jump where the rafts would momentarily catch air and then slam back onto the surface.
- Aqua Scoot: The Aqua Scoot was a ride where the patron was placed on a solid plastic sled and pushed down a steep slide made of assembly line rollers. It led into a very shallow pool which was no more than a few inches deep, where the idea was that the sled would allow the rider to skip across the water like a skipping stone. Riders were expected to hold themselves in an upright and centered position while their sled descended; otherwise, the patrons risked injury. The most common injury on the Aqua Scoot was head lacerations, often the result of the riders' not remaining centered on their raft and being flung face-first into the shallow water. Other injuries were caused by riders crashing into each other either on the way down or the way off the ride.
The Aerodium
Waterworld also featured the Aerodium, a vertical wind tunnelVertical wind tunnel
A vertical wind tunnel is a wind tunnel which moves air up in a vertical column. It is a recreational wind tunnel, frequently advertised as "indoor skydiving" or "bodyflight". It is also a popular training tool for skydivers....
that allowed riders to hover in the air without any type of restraints. Stadium seating encircled the perimeter of the Aerodium, allowing friends and spectators to watch riders fly. Riders wearing a special skydiving suit, helmet, and earplugs would join the bodyflight instructor one by one on a trampoline-like netting directly over the fan. The instructor would grab each rider's wrists and guide the rider to fall forward, allowing the fan to loft the rider skyward. After a few seconds of flight, the attendant operating the fan would cut the power, causing the rider to fall onto the air cushions surrounding the fan. Park guests' flights were limited to a maximum of 6 or 7 feet (2 m) above the ground, approximately a foot or two over the instructor's head.
Factors contributing to the park's safety record
A range of factors contributed to accidents at the park, from the design and construction of the rides themselves to the makeup of both visitors and staff, and infamously lax government oversight.Ride design
Action Park and its defenders often pointed out that it was one of the first water parks in the nation and thus pioneered ideas that were later widely copied. This meant that visitors were using rides that had not been tested through practical use for very long. Ride designers may have had insufficient training in physicsPhysics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
or engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. "They seemed to build rides," one attendee recalls, "not knowing how they would work, and [then let] people on them."
GAR, as its legal troubles would suggest, has been accused of cutting corners to maximize its profits. For example, it was accused of building rides cheaply, sporadically maintaining many of them, and failing to renovate rides to take advantage of later safety improvements to its ideas made by other facilities. These practices may have taken place in a range of its operations, including customer safety (in the park's last year, it kept part of the ski area open despite being unable to obtain liability insurance
Liability insurance
Liability insurance is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims. It protects the insured in the event he or she is sued for claims that come within the coverage of the insurance policy...
).
Employees
The vast majority of workers at Action Park, at least the ones regularly seen by visitors, were teenagers. Jim DeSaye, a security director for the park, says he got that job at the age of 21, after having worked at the park for two years. His experience was not uncommon.Most were area residents making minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
or just barely above that, given little training (other than lifeguards) for their jobs, and who consequently often cared little for enforcing park rules and safety requirements. Height
Height
Height is the measurement of vertical distance, but has two meanings in common use. It can either indicate how "tall" something is, or how "high up" it is. For example "The height of the building is 50 m" or "The height of the airplane is 10,000 m"...
- and weight
Weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...
-based restrictions were often ignored.
Visitors
Since it was closer and slightly cheaper than Six Flags Great AdventureSix Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...
, Action Park attracted many visitors from the urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
areas of the New York metropolitan area, particularly northeastern New Jersey. Many of them were often from lower-income neighborhoods where they had few, if any, opportunities to swim, much less learn how. At the park they greatly overestimated these abilities, and this was a factor in many accidents as well as the drownings, according to park officials. DeSaye faults management's decision to broaden the customer base by advertising in Spanish-language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
media as contributing to the accident rate, since few employees spoke Spanish nor was any written information made available in that language.
The staff's indifference to many of the park's own rules led to a similarly lawless culture among riders, who generally liked the high level of control they had over their experience and felt that any accidents were the fault of the victims. A state official lamented that many waterslide accidents were caused by the victims themselves, who, in blatant violation of an explicitly posted rule, would often discard their mats midway down the slide and wait at a turn for their friends so they could go down together.
Since many rides routed their lines so that those waiting could see every previous rider, many played to the audience with risky and bawdy behavior when it did finally come to be their turn. The Tarzan Swing in particular was known for outbursts of foul language
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
(not always planned) and exhibitionism
Exhibitionism
Exhibitionism refers to a desire or compulsion to expose parts of one's body – specifically the genitals or buttocks of a man or woman, or the breasts of a woman – in a public or semi-public circumstance, in crowds or groups of friends or acquaintances, or to strangers...
as people jumped off the swing in full view of the whole line behind them.
Availability of alcohol on grounds
The park also sold beerBeer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
in many kiosk
Kiosk
Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...
s on the grounds, with similarly lax enforcement of the drinking age
Legal drinking age
Laws about the legal drinking age cover a wide range of issues and behaviours, addressing when and where alcohol can be consumed. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different to the age when it can be purchased. These laws vary among different countries and many laws have...
as with other restrictions in the park. Doctors treating the injured often reported that many of them were intoxicated.
Lax regulatory climate
Despite many citations for safety violations between 1979 and 1986, including allowing minors to operate some rides and failing to report accidents, which was unique among New Jersey's amusement parks, an investigation by the New Jersey HeraldNew Jersey Herald
The New Jersey Herald is a newspaper published six days every week. Its headquarters are in Newton, New Jersey. It is the only daily newspaper published in Sussex County, New Jersey and one of the oldest in the state...
, Sussex County's main daily newspaper, later found that the park was fined only once. It was also unique in that department in that all the other amusement parks were fined for first offenses — except Action Park. It asked if there was some sort of special relationship between GAR and the state.
Some of the state's regulations failed to adequately address the situation, too. After the 1987 drowning, it was reported that the Tidal Wave Pool was considered a pool by the state, not a ride. Under state regulations at the time, that meant that all the company had to do was keep the water clean and make sure that certified lifeguards were on duty, and nothing else.
Fatalities
Six people are known to have died directly or indirectly from rides at Action Park:- On July 8, 1980, a 19-year-old park employee was riding the alpine slide when his car jumped the track and his head struck a rock, killing him.
- On July 24, 1982, a 15-year-old boy drowned in the Tidal Wave Pool.
- A week later, on August 1, a 27-year-old man from Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
got out of his tipped kayakKayakA kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
on the Kayak Experience to right it. He was electrocutedElectric shockElectric Shock of a body with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient current through the skin, muscles or hair. Typically, the expression is used to denote an unwanted exposure to electricity, hence the effects are considered undesirable....
when he stepped on a grate that was either in contact with, or came too close to, a section of wiringWireA wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
for the underwater fans that was exposed. Several other members of his family nearby were also injured. He was taken to a hospital in nearby Warwick, New YorkWarwick (village), New YorkWarwick is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 6,412 at the 2000 census. The 2010 census population was 6,731...
where he died later of heart failureCardiac arrestCardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
from the electric shock. The park at first disputed that the electric currentElectric currentElectric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...
caused his death, saying there were no burnsBurn (injury)A burn is a type of injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation or friction. Most burns affect only the skin . Rarely, deeper tissues, such as muscle, bone, and blood vessels can also be injured...
on his body, but the coronerCoronerA coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
responded that burns generally do not occur in a water-based electrocution. The ride was drained and closed for the investigation. Accounts differed as to the extent of the exposed wiring: the park said it was "just a nick," while others said it was closer to 8 inches (20 cm). The state's Labor Department found that the fan was properly maintained and installed and cleared the park of wrongdoing; however it also said the current had the possibility to cause bodily harm under certain circumstances. While the park said it was vindicated, it never reopened the ride, saying people would be afraid to go on it afterwards.
- In 1984, a fatal heart attack suffered by one visitor was unofficially believed to have been triggered by the shock of the cold water in the pool beneath the Tarzan Swing. The water on the Tarzan Swing and in that swimming area was 50-60 °F (10-16 °C) while other water areas were in the 70-80 °F (21-27 °C) range more typical of swimming pools. The Tarzan swing and the cannon ball ride in this area were operated by spring water.
- On August 27 of that year, a 20-year-old from BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
drowned in the Tidal Wave Pool.
- On July 19, 1987, an 18-year-old drowned in the Tidal Wave Pool.
Legacy
Action Park was a cultural touchstone for many Generation XGeneration X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
ers who grew up in North
North Jersey
North Jersey is a colloquial term, with no precise consensus definition, for the northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. A straightforward, noncolloquial term for the region is northern New Jersey.- Two-portion approaches :...
and Central Jersey
Central Jersey
Central Jersey is a common designation for a region of the state of New Jersey in the United States of America. Trenton is considered the boundary between designated "North Jersey" and "South Jersey"...
, as well as nearby locales in New York and Connecticut. A popular list of "You Know You're from New Jersey When ..." that circulates in email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
begins with, "You've been seriously injured at Action Park."
Some even credit the park for making them learn some difficult lessons. In 2000, one, Matthew Callan, recalled Action Park thus:
Action Park made adults of a generation of Tri-State Area kids who strolled through its blood-stained gates, by teaching us the truth about life: it is not safe, you will get hurt a lot, and you'll ride all the way home burnt beyond belief.
Chris Gethard, a writer for Weird NJ
Weird NJ
Weird NJ is the title of a semi-annual magazine and two paranormal travel guides that chronicle local legends, hauntings, ghost stories, folklore and anything considered "weird" in the U.S. state of New Jersey....
and the associated book series, concurs:
Action Park was a true rite of passageRite of passageA rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
for any New Jerseyan of my generation. When I get to talking about it with other Jerseyans, we share stories as if we are veterans who served in combat together. I suspect that many of us may have come closest to death on some of those rides up in Vernon Valley. I consider it a true shame that future generations will never know the terror of proving their grit at New Jersey's most dangerous amusement park.
Rock band Shellac
Shellac (band)
Shellac is an American group composed of Steve Albini , Bob Weston and Todd Trainer...
named their 1994 debut album At Action Park
At Action Park
At Action Park is the first full length record by Shellac, released in 1994. Contrary to popular belief, the title has nothing to do with the infamous New Jersey theme park, Action Park, which closed in 1996 due to numerous fatalities. Drummer, Todd Trainer, came up with the title of the fictional...
.
On August 1, 1993, MTV's Headbanger's Ball taped an episode at the park. The host, Riki Rachtman
Riki Rachtman
Riki Rachtman is an American television and radio personality.-Rock scene:At the age of 16, Rachtman auditioned to sing in the band the Angry Samoans, and the next year he was in a band called the Fairlanes. In the late 1980s, Rachtman was lead vocalist of the L.A. Metal Act "Virgin"...
, interviewed and went on the rides with the band Alice In Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
.
Mountain Creek Waterpark
Many of the water rides still exist, extensively renovated by IntrawestIntrawest
Intrawest ULC is a developer and operator of destination resorts and a luxury adventure travel company. The company was founded in 1976 as a privately funded real estate development company...
, which bought the ski area in 1998 and decided the next year to reopen them as Mountain Creek Waterpark
Mountain Creek Waterpark
Mountain Creek Waterpark is a seasonal water theme park located at Mountain Creek Ski Resort in Vernon Township, New Jersey. The park is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day yearly....
. However, it is no longer the state's largest water park nor is it quite the draw it once was. Other waterparks have been built in and around the region
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
, dividing what was once an exclusive market.
New Jersey toughened its amusement regulations as a result of the Action Park experience. Rides at Mountain Creek, many of them built in Action Park's heyday, now boast large bilingual sign
Bilingual sign
A bilingual sign is the representation on a panel of texts in more than one language...
s advising patrons of just what the ride entails, how deep the water is in metric
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
and US customary units
United States customary units
United States customary units are a system of measurements commonly used in the United States. Many U.S. units are virtually identical to their imperial counterparts, but the U.S. customary system developed from English units used in the British Empire before the system of imperial units was...
, the age it is most appropriate for, and the state regulatory ID numbers. Safety rules are strictly enforced at the new park, although alcohol is still available.
In 2010, Intrawest, which ended up in bankruptcy proceedings itself as a result of a leveraged buyout, sold the park back to its original owners, bringing the park full circle.
External links
- Action Park History, Recollections, News Articles and Photos from Weird NJ
- Pictures of Action Park abandoned at abandonedbutnotforgotten.com, published May 13, 2006
- Narrative description of Action Park
- The Center of the Action, blog by former Action Park employees
- Interview with a former Action Park employee