Action Park is an amusement and water park located in Vernon, New Jersey, on the ski resort grounds of the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge. The park consists mainly of water-based attractions and was initially opened to the public in 1978 under the ownership of Great American Recreation (GAR).
Action Park features three separate attractions: Alpine Center, Motorworld and Waterworld. The latter is one of America's first modern water parks. Its many unique attractions, attracting sensational seekers from all of New York's metropolitan area. The popularity of Action Park goes hand in hand with the reputation for poorly designed rides, poorly trained staff, underage, drunk guests and staff, and consequently a poor safety record. At least six people are known to have died from accidents on park rides, and were given names such as "Traction Park", "Accident Park", and "Class Action Park". Little effort is made by state regulators despite the history of repeated violations. In the following years, personal injury lawsuits led to the closure of more and more trips, and finally the entire park in 1996.
On February 9, 1998, Intrawest resort developers announced the purchase of the majority of the Vernon/Great Gorge ski areas, including the Action Park and other developed real estate land owned by GAR. After massive improvements, including the revamping and removal of attractions that are considered unsafe or incompatible with Intrawest's vision of the park, the water park reopened as the River Water Garden of the Mountains.
Video Action Park
Histori
The idea for the park began in 1976 when Eugene Mulvihill and his company Great American Recreation (GAR), owner of the recently combined Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area, wanted to find a way to generate revenue over the summer. That year they followed the trend of many other ski areas and opened a 2,700-foot (820 m) avalanche alpine on one of the steepest ski lanes. For the summer of 1978, Mulvihill added two water slides and a go-kart track, and named the "Vernon Valley Summer Gardens" rides collection. The following year, more waterslides and small deep water pools, as well as tennis courts and softball fields, were added to a place known as the Waterworld section of "The Garden of Action". In 1980, Motorworld had been carved from swampy land in a ski area owned along Route 94. Combined, these areas formed one of the earliest modern water parks in North America.
In the end, a small garden consisting of alpine slide and two water slides evolved to the main destination with 75 rides (35 motor rides, self-controllers and 40 water slides).
The most successful years in Action Park were the early and mid-1980s. Most of the rides are still operating, and the park's dangerous reputation is undeveloped. In 1982, two guests died in the park within a week of each other, leading to a permanent closure of one journey. Nonetheless, people keep coming in large numbers. The fate of the park began to change with two deaths in the summer of 1984, and the legal and financial issues stemming from subsequent lawsuits. State investigations of errors in leasing state land to the Park of Action led to a 110-count jury indictment of nine related companies that manage parks and their executives to operate unauthorized insurance companies. Many take pretrial intervention to avoid prosecution; CEO Eugene Mulvihill pleaded guilty to November up to five allegations related to insurance fraud. However, attendance remains high and the park remains profitable, at least on paper.
The park entertained more than one million visitors per year during the 1980s, with as many as 12,000 people coming on some of the hectic weekends. Park officials said this made the injury and mortality statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, the director of the emergency room at a nearby hospital said they treated five to ten park accident victims on some of the busiest days, and the park finally bought an additional ambulance Vernon township to follow the volume. In September 1989, GAR negotiated an agreement with the International Broadcasting Corporation that would generate sales of the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge, and Action Park, for $ 50 million. The IBC, however, backed out of the deal, felt the site was not appropriate for their needs after further inspection of the property.
In the 1990s, Action Park was advertised as the largest water park in the world. In addition, the park launches a website where visitors can find information about rides, directions to the park, and lodging, and even enter the lottery to get a chance to win park tickets. In September 1991, the Great American Recreation attempted to petition the Vernon Municipal Committee to make a referendum on the November ballot which, if adopted, would legalize the skill game and opportunity operations at Action Park. On September 23, the application was rejected by the committee because only 643 of the 937 signatures of petitions came from registered voters.
Several rides were closed and dismantled due to expensive settlements and rising insurance premiums in the 1990s, and the park's presence began to suffer as the recession earlier in the decade reduced the number of visitors. In early 1995, GAR operated Vernon Valley/Great Gorge and Action Park without liability insurance. New Jersey does not oblige it, and GAR feels more economical to go to court than to buy liability insurance, because they rely on their own insurance. However, they eventually purchased liability insurance from Evanston Insurance Company in May of that year to shut down Action Park and ski facilities. As 1995 progresses, GAR's financial woes continue to accumulate. First Fidelity Bank, which lends $ 19 million to GAR and about 15 other connected companies, filed a lawsuit against them in an effort to begin the process of foreclosure of their debt. The law firm owed money for services provided between 1991 and 1993 also began filing a lawsuit. As it approaches November, GAR negotiates a deal with Noramco Capital Corp. and Dana First Adedium CS First Boston, where they will buy debt to First Fidelity, temporarily fending off foreclosures to come.
In February 1996, creditors who had taken a GAR loan petitioned to force GAR into a bankruptcy of $ 14 million owed by struggling companies. GAR filed for Chapter 11 protection after March, but remains optimistic that they can regain their financial footing "within a year."
Action Park closed at the end of the season as usual on Labor Day, September 2, 1996. As the summer season approaches in 1997, GAR remains optimistic that the Action Park will open as expected on June 14, despite massive dismissals taking place at the end of the season skiing before. The opening date is pushed back to June 28, then mid-July. On June 25, 1997, GAR announced the suspension of all operations, including Action Park.
Following the death of GAR in 1997, the Praedium Recovery Fund purchased the Vernon/Great Gorge Valley resort, including the Action Park, for $ 10 million. The investment group puts Angel Projects in charge of managing the resort, and aims to spend $ 20 million to upgrade the resort's ski equipment and tracks and to remodel the water park. The Canadian resort developer Intrawest, however, purchased the park and surrounding ski areas in February 1998. The company changed the Waterworld section of the Action Park and reopened for the 1998 season as the Mountain Creek Waterpark, while parts of Motorworld and Alpine Center were destroyed.
Maps Action Park
Alpine Center
Action Park Gladiator Challenge
The Gladiator Challenge attraction, which is loosely based on the American Gladiators television series, was opened in 1992. It allows guests to compete with other guests in the hurdles, and against the "Gladiators" employed in the park in battle games. Former bodybuilder Michael and Vince Mancuso designed the appeal, and the employees whose guests will compete in matches studded with matches were discovered by the local sportsman. For a day, there were 3 shows, with the guests running the fastest obstacle course on the previous show brought back to compete with each other in the future. In 1995, the attraction was removed and replaced with a beach volleyball court.
Alpine slide
The 2,700 foot (820 m) alpine slide Action Park descends the mountain beneath one of the suspension chairs in the ski area, giving guests access to the top of the slide. The rider sits on a small sleigh that only has a brake control rod, and climbs down an avalanche in a long launch built on the slope. Travel, and more specifically sled, became famous for causing injuries. The wand that should control the sleigh rate in practice offers only two choices on a vehicle that is rarely maintained: very slowly, and the speed described by one former employee as "death awaits". The in-built sleigh launcher is made of concrete, fiberglass, and asbestos, which causes a serious blister to the driver who even falls lightly. The tendency of guests to ride a bathing suit makes the problem worse. The road under the chairlift produces verbal abuse and spits from passengers riding for their turn.
The slide caused the first death in the park, a head injury suffered in 1980 by an employee whose sled ran out of the way; he then fell onto a large embankment and hit his head on a rock, killing him. The straw bales in the curves were laid out in an effort to dampen the impact of guests whose sled jumped over the track, often occurring. Although park officials regularly assert their safety, in the early years of the park, avalanche was responsible for most accidents, injuries, lawsuits, and state censorship for breaches of salvation. According to state records, in 1984 and 1985 alpine slides resulted in 14 fractures and 26 head injuries.
When Intrawest reopened the water park as Mountain Creek in the spring of 1998, they announced that the avalanche would remain open for the last season. However, motorists are required to wear helmets and kneepads. The last day of the launch operation was September 6 of that year, the day before the park closed for this season, because the Labor Day that year was raining and the slides had to be closed.
The launch was canceled after that, but the route could still be seen from the gondola that replaced the chairlift. The resort mountain bike route runs along the site, and traverses several wooden bridges that give access to the alpine skating. Mountain Creek recently introduced an alpine coaster, which incorporates elements of alpine and roller coaster slides.
Snapper Snapper Snapper Whipper Snapper
Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper Snapper SnapperIn 1991, Action Park opened a twenty-foot bungee jumping tower (21 m) near the alpine slide. The following summer, the tower was upgraded to four jumping stations. However, guests can not go too far, and are tethered to a load that prevents them from bouncing back to the top of the tower. The attraction closed with the park in 1996.
Skateboard park
A skate park briefly existed near the ski school building in the ski area, but closed after a season due to poor design. The bowl is separated by a sidewalk, which in most cases does not meet the edges smoothly. Former park employee Tom Fergus was quoted in Weird NJ magazine saying that "the skate park is responsible for so many injuries we cover with the ground and pretending it never existed".
Transmuler
The Transmobile is a monorail that takes riders from the Alpine Center on Route 94 to the Cobblestone Village shopping complex and Motorworld section in the park. The driver will sit sideways in a car built for two people. Each stop has two stations, one for guests to Alpine Center, and another for guests to Motorworld. The rides are one way, and the riders are not allowed to stay on the journey and travel back and forth without going down at either end. This restriction sometimes causes conflicts between park staff, and riders who either do not understand --- or do not want to follow the rules.
Most of the Transmobiles were dismantled when Intrawest took over the park in 1998. However, Cobblestone Village station remains in place, as does the road right through the village mini golf course.
Motorworld
Water-based attractions make up half of park rides and account for the lion's share of casualties. Mountain Creek Waterpark and Action Park which are currently revived still operate some of these attractions. In addition, there is also a miniature golf course as well as a standard swimming pool and rides for children. This is sometimes a smaller, safer version of the park's main attractions.
Loop Cannonball
In the mid-1980s GAR built a seawater, not unusual at the time; In fact, the park already has several slides like that. However, this one, they decided to build a complete vertical loop at the end, similar to a roller coaster. The resulting slide, called Cannonball Loop , is intimidating, that employees have reported that they were offered a hundred dollars to test it. Fergus, who describes himself as "one of the idiots" who accepted the offer, said, "$ 100 does not buy enough liquor to dampen that memory."
The slide was opened only for a month in the summer of 1985 before it was closed on the orders of the State Advisory Board at the Entertainment Carnival, most of which moved at that time. A worker told a local newspaper that "there were too many bloody noses and back injuries" from the rider, and it was widely rumored, and reported in Weird NJ that some dummies were down before that. opened has been cut into pieces and decapitated. A rider is also reported to be trapped at the top of the circle due to inadequate water pressure, and the hold should be installed at the bottom of the slope to allow for subsequent extraction.
The trip should have reopened several times over the years. In the summer of 1995 and 1996, it was opened for several days before further injury forced its permanent halt.
Those who drive the Cannonball Loop say that more security measures are taken than is common in parks. Riders weighed, doused with cold water, ordered to remove jewelry, and then carefully instructed how they should position their bodies to complete the journey. For the rest of the park, Cannonball Loop is still visible near the Waterworld entrance. It was dismantled shortly after the park closed.
Aerodium is a skydiving skydiving wind tunnel found in Germany in 1984. In 1987, Action Park built and unlocked their own Aerodium at the Waterworld section of the park, becoming the first American amusement park to unlock Aerodium. This attraction is operated by Aerodium Inc., which will act as a concession holder for this park until 1997. The seats in the stadium surround the perimeter of Aerodium, allowing friends and spectators to watch the rider fly. Riders who wear special skydiving suits, helmets, and earplugs will join the bodyflight instructor one by one on the net like a trampoline directly over the fan. The instructor will take the wrists of each rider and guide the rider to fall forward, allowing the fan to lift the rider up. After a few seconds of flight, the officer who operates the fan will cut off the power, causing the rider to fall into the air cushion that surrounds the fan. Park guests' flights are limited to a maximum of 6 or 7 feet (2 m) above the ground, approximately one or two feet above the instructor's head. The Aerodium also causes severe injuries, for example, when a rider instinctively tries to break his downfall by stretching out his arm, causing a dislocated shoulder, a broken nerve, and an almost permanent arm paralysis.
Factors that contribute to the safety record of the park
Various factors contribute to accidents in the park, from the design and construction of the rides themselves to the makeup of visitors and staff, and the lack of government oversight.
Driving design
Action Park and human rights defenders often show that it is one of the first water parks in the country and thus pioneered ideas that were later copied. This means that visitors use rides that have not been tested through practical use for a long time. Horse designers may not have adequate training in physics or engineering. "They seem to build the rides," one participant recalled, "not knowing how they will work, and [then letting] the people on them."
GAR, as its legal issue would suggest, is accused of cutting corners to maximize its profits. For example, accused of building cheap rides, sporadically retaining many of them, and failing to renovate the rides to take advantage of the safety improvements and then the ideas made by other facilities. These practices may occur in various operations, including customer security. (In the park last year, it made part of the ski area open although can not get liability insurance).
Employee
Most of the workers in the Garden of Action, at least often seen by visitors, are teenagers. Jim DeSaye, a security director for the park, said he got the job at the age of 21, after working in the park for two years. His experience is unusual.
Most are under age, weak, often under the influence and lacking care to enforce park rules and safety requirements. High and weight-based restrictions are often ignored.
Visitors
Because it is closer and slightly cheaper than Six Flags Great Adventure, Action Park attracts many visitors from urban areas in the New York metropolitan area. Many of them often come from low-income neighborhoods where they have few, if any, opportunities to swim, let alone learn how. The park is overwhelming this ability, and this is a factor in many accidents as well as drownings, according to park officials. DeSaye errors management decision to expand the customer base with advertising in Spanish-language media as contributing to the accident rate, as some employees speak Spanish and no written information is available in that language.
The staff's indifference to many of the park's rules themselves leads to the same lawless culture among visitors, who generally like the high level of control they have over their experience. Accidents are usually considered by park employees to be a rider's fault. A state official regrets that many water-slide accidents are caused by guests who, in a flashy breach of explicitly posted rules, often throw their mats in the middle of the slide and wait their turn for their friends so they can get down together.
Because of the many rides that direct their paths so that those who wait can see each rider beforehand, many are playing to the audience with a somewhat obscene and obscene behavior when it finally turns their turn. The Tarzan Swing is especially known for the explosion of dirty language (not always planned) and exhibitionism when people jump off the swings in full view of the entire line behind them.
Alcohol availability under the reason
The park also sells beer at many kiosks on the grounds, with the same relaxed upkeep of drinking age as with other restrictions in the park. Doctors who treat the wounded often report that many of them are drunk.
Lax regulatory climate
Despite numerous citations for security breaches between 1979 and 1986, including allowing minors to operate multiple rides and failing to report accidents (unique among New Jersey amusement parks), investigations by the New Jersey Herald, Sussex The county's main daily newspaper, later discovered that the park was fined only once. It was also unique in that department because all other amusement parks were fined for the first offense - except Action Park. He asks if there is any special relationship between GAR and country.
Some state regulations failed to cope with the situation. After 1987 drowned, it was reported that the Tidal Waves Pond was considered a swimming pool by the state, not a lift. Under state regulations at the time, it meant that the company only had to keep the water clean and ensure that the certified coast guard was on duty.
Fatalitas
Six people are known to have died directly or indirectly from rides in the Park of Action:
- July 8, 1980: A 19-year-old garden worker is climbing the Alpine Slide as his car jumps over the track and heads into a rock, killing him.
- July 24, 1982: A 15-year-old boy drowned in the Tidal Waves Pond.
- August 1, 1982: A 27-year-old man from Long Island out of kayak tipped into the Kayak Experience to fix it. While doing so, he stepped on a scar that came into contact with, or was too close to, part of a live cable for an underwater fan who somehow became exposed and he suffered a severe electric shock, which sent him to a heart attack. Several other family members nearby were also wounded. She was taken to a hospital near Warwick, New York where she died later of a shock-induced heart attack. The park initially denied that an electric current caused his death, saying there were no burns on his body, but the coroner responded that burns generally do not occur in a water-based flow. The ride is dried and closed for investigation. Accounts are different due to the extent of open cables: the park says it's "just a nick", while others think it's closer to 8 inches (20 cm). The state Department of Labor found that the fan was properly maintained and installed and cleaned the park's faults; However, it also says that currently has the possibility to cause physical damage in certain circumstances. The park claims to have been proven, though never reopened the journey, saying that people will be afraid to go afterwards.
- 1984 (Date Unknown): A fatal heart attack inflicted by an unofficial visitor is believed to have been triggered by a cold water shock in a swimming pool beneath Tarzan Swing. Water on the journey and in the swimming area is 50-60 ° F (10-16 ° C) while other water areas are in the range 70-80 ° F (21-27 ° C) more common than swimming pools. The Tarzan Swing and Cannonball ride in this area are operated by springs.
- August 27, 1984: A 20-year-old boy from Brooklyn sank in the Tidal Waves Pond.
- July 19, 1987: An 18 year old boy drowned in the Tidal Waves Pond.
Legacy
Action Park is a cultural stone for many Generation X-ers grown in North and Central Jersey, as well as nearby locales in New York and Connecticut. The popular "You Know You 'from New Jersey When..." list that circulates in emails starts with, "You have been badly hurt in Action Park."
Some even praise the park for making them learn some difficult lessons. In 2000, a Matthew Callan withdraw Action Park as follows:
Chris Gethard, a writer for Weird NJ and related book series, agreed:
On August 1, 1993, MTV's
Action Park is the first episode topic of the Ungeniused FM Relay FM podcast in June 2016, which explores the park's legacy, how unsafe it is, and why people keep visiting it.
The original version of park fame due to its unsafe reputation inspired a movie by Jackass star Johnny Knoxville; filming began in March 2017 and wrapped in June 2017. The film was released under the title Action Point by Paramount Pictures on June 1, 2018.
Revival 2014
In 2010, the entire Mountain Creek ski area and water park were sold to a group led by Eugene Mulvihill, former owner of Great American Recreation and owner of the adjacent Crystal Springs Resort. It was under new ownership that the water park name was changed back to Action Park, starting with the 2014 season. In 2016, the name Mountain Creek Waterpark was restored to the park, thus stopping the name of the Action Park again.
spinoff location
Pocono Action Park and Motorworld
On April 14, 1980, Pocono Action Park Inc. formed by Great American Recreation, which later opened Pocono Action Park and Motorworld. Located in the town of Tannersville, Pennsylvania, it has a Waterworld section with slides and rides, as well as a Motorworld section featuring many of the same racing-themed attractions - including LOLA and go-kart racing cars - as Vernon parks. In late 1991, the park was closed. The rides were torn down gradually, and The Crossings Premium Outlets were built on location. Even after the park closed, however, Pocono Action Park Inc. continues to exist, and is listed as active business.
Mount of Action
In June 1984, Stony Point Recreation, a subsidiary of GAR, opened Action Mountain in Pine Hill, NJ. The park offers alpine slides, go karts, LOLA racing cars, bumper boats, speed slides, tube slides, swimming pools, as well as diving platforms. In 1986, Stony Point Recreation has collected about $ 398,697 in back taxes paid to the town of Pine Hill, and in an effort to alleviate the debt sold in the park. In 1999, the site was redeveloped to Pine Hill Golf Course.
References
External links
- Action Park web site
- Historical Garden of Action, Recollection, News, and Photos from Bizarre NJ
- Description of the Action Park narrative
- Action Center, blog by former Action Park employee
- Interview with former Action Park employee
- Action Live Action 80 and Cannonball Action Park circle
- "There's Nothing in the World Like Action Park." Sometimes Interesting . 07 Feb 2014
Source of the article : Wikipedia