Surf Hill was another ride that survived Action Park into the Mountain Creek era. For the remainder of the park's existence, Cannonball Loop remained visible near the entrance of Waterworld. Swing by Go Apes treetop adventure course behind the Jefferson Memorial Forest Visitor Center. A state official lamented that many water-slide accidents were due to guests who, in blatant violation of an explicitly posted rule, often discarded their mats midway down the slide and waited at a turn for their friends so they could go down together. Action Park was still advertised as the world's largest water park. Kentucky Action Park is located at 3057 Mammoth Cave Road Cave City, KY 42127. This was a standard whitewater rafting ride, and one that the park (when legally forced to) reported a number of injuries. [7] For the summer of 1978, Mulvihill added two water slides and a go-kart track, and named the collection of rides the "Vernon Valley Summer Park". [2] Park officials said this made the injury and death rate statistically insignificant. But the most infamous of the rides at Action Park was the Cannonball Loopan enclosed waterslide with a complete vertical loop. It featured two waterslides and a go-kart track along with the Alpine slide. The Tarzan Swing and the Cannonball ride in this area were operated by spring water. George Larsson Jr. was 19 years old when he was plunged off the Alpine Slide and hit his head on rocks that Mulvihill and Action Park had previously been ordered to remove. Updated: September 8, 2020 | Original: August 29, 2017. The Tarzan Swing was a steel arch hanging from a 20-foot-long (6.1m), Roaring Rapids was a standard raft-based whitewater ride. [49] The resulting slide, called the "Cannonball Loop", was so intimidating that employees have reported they were offered $100 (equivalent to $252 in 2021) to test it. 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 lax government oversight. Length: 3.8 mi Est. The original version of the park's notoriety for its unsafe reputation inspired a film by Jackass creator and star Johnny Knoxville; filming started in March 2017 and wrapped in June 2017. Among interviewees, there seems to be one major consensus: this shit wasn't safe. Unofficially known as Class Action Park, Traction Park and Accident Park, it was Lord of the Flies with a Jersey twist and a higher death . [2] According to state records, in 1984 and 1985, the alpine slide produced 14 fractures and 26 head injuries.[2]. July 24, 1982: George Lopez, a 15-year-old boy, drowned in the Tidal Wave Pool. "[42], A rider also reportedly got stuck at the top of the loop due to insufficient water pressure, and a hatch had to be installed at the bottom of the slope to allow for future extractions. Action Park, the most dangerous amusement park of all time, is the subject of a new documentary. [50] "The Cannonball Loop was not fun", he recalled later. [14][15], In September 1991, GAR petitioned the township committee to put a referendum on the November ballot that if passed would have legalized the operation of games of skill and chance at Action Park. [citation needed], Since it was closer and slightly cheaper than Six Flags Great Adventure, Action Park attracted many visitors from urban enclaves of the New York metropolitan area. The plan was to do it on a track with PVC pipe as its outer rails, and one was built alongside a ski trail. [30] The opening date was pushed back two weeks,[31] and then into mid-July. Gene Mulvihill offered his employees $100 to test out new rides, including the Cannonball Loop, and despite employees winding up with bloody noses and bruises, he opened the ride. . Riders sat sideways in cars built for two people. Let us know in the comments below! Hektoen reported that myocardial infarction was due to thrombi in the coronary arteries already in 1892. Action Park was the topic of the first episode of the Relay FM podcast Ungeniused in June 2016, which explores the legacy of the park, how unsafe it was, and why people continued to visit it. You can treat yourself to a getaway at a campground right on the water at places like Dog Creek, but there's more to do in the area than just camping. Also, people who couldn't swim would frequently make the jump, not necessarily realizing how deep the grotto was, and need lifeguards to save them. At the Main Fork', riders would pass under a drenching waterfall into a dark tunnel with many twists, turns, and jagged rocks. 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 and no written information was made available in that language. Many of them were often from lower-income neighborhoods where they had few, if any, opportunities to swim, much less learn how. George Larsson, 19, was thrown from the ride and died after hitting his head on a rock. It continued through the parking lot, across Route 94, and came to rest in a swamp. The tracks the old slides followed are still visible. The water on the ride and in that swimming area was 5060F (1016C), while other water areas were in the 7080F (2127C) range, more typical of swimming pools. It was also the parks anything goes, choose-your-own-adventure mentality. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. One of the parks most notable attractions was the Tidal Wave Pool, one of the first to open in the United States, which quickly became one of the most dangerous rides at the park. Some had no brakes, which meant there was no slowing down as they would zoom down the concrete slide. This guest was shooting flaming tennis balls in the park attraction. That made for a bad combination with alcohol and general guest aggression. Under state regulations at the time, that meant that the company merely had to keep the water clean and make sure that certified lifeguards were on duty.[2]. Vertigo and Vortex, two adjacent enclosed tube slides, still use the same end splash pool that two of the other old speed slides used. Glacier's camping season varies by location, but is generally in full swing between mid-May and mid-September. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Only one of these slides remains today, and the track was replaced with one that was not as steep. Versions of this slide, and the same splash pool at the bottom, still exist at Mountain Creek today. Larsson was in a coma briefly before succumbing to his injuries and dying at age 19. In June 1984, Stony Point Recreation, a subsidiary of GAR, opened Action Mountain in Pine Hill, New Jersey. The Alpine Slide was considered the most dangerous ride at Action Park. The final stretch of the river consisted of a large downhill portion complete with bumps, and a 1-foot-high (30cm) jump where the rafts would momentarily catch air and then slam back onto the surface. The Alpine Slide was called Action Park's most popular ride in a 1986 New Jersey Herald article--one that a park official declared "the safest ride there is," noting that a 90-year old grandmother and mothers with babies on their laps had taken a ride on it. [27] GAR filed for Chapter 11 protection that following March, but remained optimistic that they could regain their financial footing "within a year. Jan 1986 - Mar 19882 years 3 months. "[28] After closing at the end of the season as usual on Labor Day 1996, it launched a website where visitors could find information about rides, directions to the park, lodging, and enter a lottery for park tickets. In theory, each rider was in charge of their own speed, but the devices were almost always broken. One story in Class Action Park describes a situation where one speedboat launched on top of another, and the lifeguard thought the bottom boat's driver had been decapitated. 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 extra ambulances to keep up with the volume. Upon exiting the tunnel, riders would twist and turn some more until they reached a small rock pool, and slowly floated out. [2], Since many rides routed their lines so that those waiting could see every previous rider, many played to the audience with risque and bawdy behavior when it did finally come to be their turn. Kentucky offers endless opportunities for outdoor fun, but this ride in the mountains may be one of the best. These twin tracks had guests slide down at very steep angles that made for very high speeds; lifeguards at the top had to tell the guests to stay back, or else they'd risk falling off and thus serious injury. This awesome mountain slide in Kentucky has been a family tradition for years and continues to thrill riders today. The cart would then land into a pool of water that was very shallow, with the intent purpose of skipping along the water like stones thrown in a pond. While park officials regularly asserted its safety, the slide was responsible for the bulk of the accidents, injuries, lawsuits, and state citations for safety violations in the early years of the park. The new documentary Class Action Park on HBO Max looks closely at how the infamous theme park ranand these dangerous rides were the biggest draw. [81], In 2010, the whole Mountain Creek ski area and water park complex was sold[82] to a group led by Eugene Mulvihill, the former owner of Great American Recreation and the owner of the adjacent Crystal Springs Resort; however, he died two years later. By then, the park was responsible for six fatalities, including three drownings in the Tidal Wave Pool and the death of a 27-year-old man who was. They weren't on any sort of track, and any slight fall would lead to a serious abrasion; at this point, riders were taken to an infirmary and sprayed with an iodine solution that left a serious, recognizable red mark. He envisioned a theme park with slightly more thrills, one where the riders "controlled" the action. In 1998, resort developer Intrawest announced the purchase of the majority of the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area, including Action Park and other developable real estate lands that GAR owned. Most modern versions of an "Alpine Slide ride" involve a smooth plastic track and carefully monitored spacing between riders. Action Park was officially opened on July 4, 1978. [53][54][55], The Aerodium is a skydiving simulator wind tunnel invented in Germany in 1984. Mulvihill's policy was to never settle suits, and only pay compensation to injured patrons following a judgement against the park and (typically) a determined collection effort on the plaintiff's part.