Action Park

[lunker 274]

Growing up in North Jersey, this was my favorite place to go in the Summer. My town had Recreation Department trips there and me and my friends would have a blast. Minimal adult supervision. Wild rides. And high speed chases and collisions on the Alpine Slides.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13qzyv_the-most-insane-amusement-park-ever-part-1-of-2_tech

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13qzgb_the-most-insane-amusement-park-ever-part-2-of-2_tech

[ZED 54 1]

People leaving on stretchers all the time lol. Plus that one water slide gave you an enema at the bottom. Good times, good times.

[Donobieus 15]

Man....I remember my Aunt hitting the pavement on Alpine Slides....road rash pretty much everywhere!  I loved that place, so many injured people walking around...and the water was SOOOOO cold when you fell out of that underground waterslide!  I remember i was only like 15 or so and i found $400 bucks on the ground near the cliff jump...one of my most fav days ever!  lol

[ogfarmer 138]

Loved AP, the walking wounded was always the best.

 

I remember many occasion on the ski lift looking down at riders on alpine slide  either crashing in the back of another rider or getting severe road rash.

[Parker 213]

I remember going here with the family on a few company summer picnics. Man, that was a long time ago.

[Mikeythumbs 1]

That place was so awesome we went there a least once a year

[5th4x4 0]

I never went to Action Park growing up (I'm a NYC boy, and Jersey was like a foreign country at the time) but I do remember the radio ads/jingle on 77 Music Radio WABC.

That and Englishtown Raceway. And Mothers ("Listen to your Mothers!"). << That was in Jersey, right? (hmmm.... maybe Long Island?)

Furthest west I recall travelling was to Palisades Amusement Park. That was in Jersey... but barely. And I think that I could probably still remember that jingle word for word if I really tried.

[matty 810]

Yep it started with only the Alpine Slide in 1974 or so, and added things a few at a time. Great place to smoke a metric ton  of weed and drink beer and go on the slide. Nobody cared back then about getting high as a kite and zooming down a concrete track. It helped take the edge off any injuries

[diamondd817 827]

I remember the Canon Ball Slide was never open when I went. Always wanted to try that. I can't count how many times I had the wind knocked out of me on the cliff dive.

[jm1827 284]

I worked there as a kid in high school, we called it -Traction Park.  Lots and lots of bad injuries. 

 

Each year they had to stop selling one shirt one another that said "I survived XYZ".   When someone drowned in the wave pool, had to stop selling the "I survived the wave pool" same with the Alpine slide, then the white water kayaks  (later termed Fry-acks when someone was electrocuted).

 

And that was on top of several very bad skiing injuries and fatalities each year.

 

As a kid, though, it was a great place to work.  Even got a "big" bonus if you stayed to the end of the year, if I remember correctly it worked out to like $200. 

 

One of the slides, the one with the loop in it, never did open.  The test dummy kept coming out in pieces so they figured it probably wasn't safe.

 

Lots of stories and lots of fun growing up!

[RUTGERS95 890]

best place ever, loved the tennis ball guns and tanks

[Barms 98]

I had my first exposure to crime when I went there. You would leave your sneakers or shirt in one of the cubbyholes and go on the ride. I came back and my stuff was gone. I was devastated. Crime!?!? In NJ? Things like that didn't exist to a ten year old kid from Bergen County. So call Action Park my first exposure to the real world.

[Frank Rizzo 59]

Just talking bout this with my buddy last night.  We had mad fun there...  good times. 

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

Scars from abrasions on alpine slide - check

 

Friend had a pair of shoes stolen from cubbies near water complex - check (I think that basically acted as a shoe store for disadvantaged youth...)

 

Joined crowd of pervs at bottom of giant water slide to gawk at women undoing their severe swimsuit wedgies - check

 

Nearly burst an eadrum after landing sideways on water from Tarzan swing - check

 

Anyone else remember when they had the "simulated freefall" ride, which was basically a DC3 aircraft engine/propeller that you stood over on a wire mesh while wearing a baggy jumpsuit?

[lunker 274]

Scars from abrasions on alpine slide - check

 

Friend had a pair of shoes stolen from cubbies near water complex - check (I think that basically acted as a shoe store for disadvantaged youth...)

 

Joined crowd of pervs at bottom of giant water slide to gawk at women undoing their severe swimsuit wedgies - check

 

Nearly burst an eadrum after landing sideways on water from Tarzan swing - check

 

Anyone else remember when they had the "simulated freefall" ride, which was basically a DC3 aircraft engine/propeller that you stood over on a wire mesh while wearing a baggy jumpsuit?

+1 to all of these. And the water in that lake where the tube slide spit you out was always freezing.

[Aleshka 0]

I almost broke my neck on that  "simulated freefall" thing  

[jm1827 284]

I almost broke my neck on that  "simulated freefall" thing  

A good friend of mine actually got to test it out before it went live and dislocated his shoulder when it suddenly went off and he dropped.

[ryan_j 0]

More like Accident Park... I live near there. It's now Mountain Creek I think.

[67gtonut 847]

I was one of the walking wounded from that Alpine Slide.....  went right from there....... bleeding to the Karts..... LOL

[Plinkster5000 0]

Skiing down the alpine slide was fun too!

[Aleshka 0]

A good friend of mine actually got to test it out before it went live and dislocated his shoulder when it suddenly went off and he dropped.

 

Pretty much the same thing happened to me. 

[blizzzarddemon 0]

A lot is still there and in summer can go on and some track from alpine slide is still there

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[10X 3,301]

If you want to stroll down memory lane:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park

 

http://weirdnj.com/stories/action-park/

 

http://io9.com/5904307/behold-the-water-slide-so-dangerous-it-was-shut-down-immediately

 

Dismal safety stats indeed!   At least 6 fatalities, huge numbers of reported fractures and head injuries each year (and multiple citations for underreporting the accidents).   

 

As the articles point out, the place was not just staffed by teenagers, it was largely run by teenagers, and the numerous beer kiosks kept staff and guests pretty well sloshed at all times.

[jm1827 284]

If you want to stroll down memory lane:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park

 

http://weirdnj.com/stories/action-park/

 

http://io9.com/5904307/behold-the-water-slide-so-dangerous-it-was-shut-down-immediately

 

Dismal safety stats indeed!   At least 6 fatalities, huge numbers of reported fractures and head injuries each year (and multiple citations for underreporting the accidents).   

 

As the articles point out, the place was not just staffed by teenagers, it was largely run by teenagers, and the numerous beer kiosks kept staff and guests pretty well sloshed at all times.

I can tell you first hand that this is 100% correct.  Teenagers ran the place, we had friends that would serve us massive amounts of beer, then all we had to do was wear our work shirts inside out and we could go on any of the rides.

 

A friend of mine was the lead mechanic for the Lola cars and we would get the cars that had no governor, and Odessey 250 engines.  Fun times indeed!

[lunker 274]

Anything that was this much fun had to shut down or get sued out of existence.

I remember going to the Trade Winds club in Sea Bright back when I was in college. We would buy beers and jump in the pool and listen to the band. Too much fun. Can't imagine places like that exist in Jersey any more.  Now Trade Winds is the name for big ugly beach McMansions residing where the club used to stand.

[mustang69 505]

I remember the alpine slide - I think the right side was for "fast" and the left for "out of control".  Went one time with a GF, lined up behind her on the left.  She went, the guy regulating the start held me up for a while.  I get down near the bottom, some butthead had moved his sled from the right to the left and ended up between us, rammed her at the bottom, hurt her back.  I got out, beat the crap out of him in front of the kid working the bottom, who did nothing.  We left, she was "grateful" that night.  Last time I was there, sometime in '81 or '82 I think.

 

Good times!

[mipafox 438]

Never been there.

 

But my best high school/military buddy was on the loop rollercoaster at Six Flags when the girl fell out and died during the 80s.

[Johnny 0]

Skiing down the alpine slide was fun too!

Too bad we rarely get big enough snow storms to do things like that there anymore. Still plenty of accidents in the winter as well. I know that atleast three people have died at the bottom of Pipeline in the last two years after crashing into boulders. Some people have no idea what those two black diamonds at the beginning of the trail mean. Best time to ski that run is after they "close" it towards the end of the season. That way you don't have to stop every 20 feet to pick someone up.

[carguy3j 0]

Too bad we rarely get big enough snow storms to do things like that there anymore. Still plenty of accidents in the winter as well. I know that atleast three people have died at the bottom of Pipeline in the last two years after crashing into boulders. Some people have no idea what those two black diamonds at the beginning of the trail mean. Best time to ski that run is after they "close" it towards the end of the season. That way you don't have to stop every 20 feet to pick someone up.

The problem with Pipeline is the lack of snow making guns on it; at least the last time I was there (a long time ago). I think many more people could manage the terrain, at least enough to not die, but a near vertical drop covered in almost nothing but ice is a recipe for disaster. I find it hard to believe that Intrawest, and their insurance company, didn't shut that trail down as soon as they had bought the place. I mean, if they can get rid of the race cars, why not its winter-time death trap equivalent?

 

On that note, now that Mulvihill is the owner again, I wonder if it might eventually start reverting to the Action Park ways, at least to a lesser extant? Maybe they'll bring back the motor world stuff, given the current popularity of Nascar and motorsports in general?

[Johnny 0]

The problem with Pipeline is the lack of snow making guns on it; at least the last time I was there (a long time ago). I think many more people could manage the terrain, at least enough to not die, but a near vertical drop covered in almost nothing but ice is a recipe for disaster. I find it hard to believe that Intrawest, and their insurance company, didn't shut that trail down as soon as they had bought the place. I mean, if they can get rid of the race cars, why not its winter-time death trap equivalent?

 

On that note, now that Mulvihill is the owner again, I wonder if it might eventually start reverting to the Action Park ways, at least to a lesser extant? Maybe they'll bring back the motor world stuff, given the current popularity of Nascar and motorsports in general?

 

Last season they had about 3 feet of snow blown on the trail. Problem was they kept it too narrow. Couple that with idiots that have no business on the trail and you have one accident after the other. Ski Patrol hates that trail with a passion because they don't want to see people get horribly injured or killed. One of them told me it was a daily battle with management. They were told to open it and usually by 12 or 1pm they closed down for the day or maybe even two days. The trail is plenty wide they just can't make enough snow on it to cover the whole thing. I am praying for a few blizzards this year.