I love this. Found via Metafilter: There was an amusement park in New Jersey called Action Park that was (allegedly) so notorious for being dangerous that it was dubbed "Traction Park."
The Wikipedia article is hilarious, but its "neutrality" is being disputed, so read it now before they edit all the fun (and probable truth, again, allegedly) out of it. The entry seems so obviously written by someone who worked there once upon a time, and as a result, it's super engaging to read.
How can you pass up an entry that includes such headings as "Fatalities," "Availability of alcohol on grounds," and "Lax regulatory climate"?
Perhaps this park inspired that new "Adventureland" movie. If not, it should have.
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12 comments:
I agree completely! The one and only time I went to Action Park, my right arm was cut open from wrist to elbow. I was in a water slide that was like a long tunnel that dropped you several feet into very cold water at the bottom. When I got to the end part, the fiberglass or whatever that the slide was made out of, was broken/ripped/cracked and sliced my arm open as I slid by.
My sister did a full face plant into the water from the "Tarzan Swing" and was dizzy and nauseaus the rest of the day.
They did have these really cool Alpine slides, I think they were called, that was a concrete track that took you straight down a hill. That place is just as bad as they say.
Never went there...I do remember the commercial jingle, though.
The Tarzan swing was *terrifying*. The alpine slides were a lot of fun, but even back then, we were all, really? This is safe?
An article from a survivor:
http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.php?id=235
Found an ad for the place on Youtube--that Alpine slide does look awfully dangerous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SxhNai4Zhs
Growing up on Long Island, I used to see commercials for Action Park all the time. The place looked like it was a deathtrap.
That's one of the best Wikipedia articles I've ever read. I saved it to PDF so that I can still read it after the Wiki-nazis make it all boring.
Aside from the DEATHS, I had a chuckle at "ememas"
My husband is from Sayreville, NJ, and used to go to Action Park when he was a little kid. He said the Alpine Slide was awesome, but he thought it was a little dangerous because it was so fast. When he moved from NJ to CA in the early-to-mid 80's, he was disappointed there were no rides like that. He wasn't surprised when I told him someone died on that ride.
it's all true! they had this thing called the alpine slide. you sat on this little cart thing and flew down a steep track. except there was absolutely NO saftey measures taken. i can't even tell you how much skin i burned off as a kid. i still have scars! my husband was a lifeguard at the wave pool.
I was there in the late 80's. I don't remember the alpine slide but I jammed my neck on one of the waterslides. The puddles that were supposed to slow you didn't and I went straight through to the wall. But I do have to say the tank thing was the best. We'd pound money into the guns shooting at them. I don't think I ever actually went in a tank though, price wise it was more fun just to shoot them. ~deb
The waterslides and stuff are still there, and it's called "Mountain Creek" now. It's actually pretty cool, if you don't die walking up the hills to the tops of some of the slides. The Tarzan swing is still there for the weak-of-upper-body, and there is at least one set of slides that are dark, twisty tunnels that get you all confused before you hit the VERY COLD water!
The Alpine Slide, sadly, is no more, but if you take the ski lift up you can see the tracks of it, overgrown with weeds. My husband left quite a bit of skin and blood on that thing as a kid, and even though he still has scars, he misses the Alpine Slide dearly.
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