Cannonball Loop: The Infamous Action Park Loop Slide Thirty-four-year-old Michael grew up in Vernon and knew tons of people who worked at the park over the years. The ride has been permanently shut down since then but makes customers wonder what else isn't safe there. In 2014, Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City was racing to produce the worlds largest water slide to be featured on the showXtreme Waterparks. THEN & NOW: How Did Mr. Toad's Fantasyland Ride Turn into Pooh? We jumped BMX bikes off of homemade ramps and did flying elbows off of our garages onto a pile of mattresses. It was purchased by a company that took out all those old features and renamed it, Mountain Creek. Since then, there have been six people who had extremely unfortunate experiences there. Like Action Park, we seemed to have very few limits and restrictions. While there have been no major injuries reported at this park, it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong. 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Members, Log I vividly remember the stories and news reports of this place and this is a look back at what can be considered the most dangerous amusement park ever. In the late 1970s, he began looking for a way to make money during the summer months. I began hearing the war stories of kids who had been. Ball bearings were in between the two balls and you would sit in this thing as it rode on a PVC track down a mountain. Even though he refused to appear in court, Mulvihill pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud. Ouch. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk may be a good test subject. Another ride, Roaring Rapids, took a mans life after he stepped out of his kayak and stood on a live wire. I remember some guy yelling, LET GO! So I did. In particular, Disney World in Florida has had some pretty awful things happen, including that very publicized event with the alligator. Nitro is basically a thrill ride which takes its riders on a sharp vertical dive and then immediately after that you'll find yourself 5,400 feet above the ground. Now, the users are rocketing down a hot concrete track wearing nothing but bathing suits. It only took 12 months for the terrifying attraction to cause 14 bone fractures and 26 head injuries. In the documentary, they point out that any cops that showed up were probably given some monetary encouragement to keep ongoing. As for Kimmels own experience: I got pressured into going on the Alpine Slide even though you took a chairlift to get up the mountain, and I was afraid of heights. The leading independent voice for aviation news and insight. If you go to an amusement park, you're taking a risk. Unlike the other rides on this list of dangerous roller coasters, Luna Parks Cyclone has not been shut down. WebLegend City featured a number of popular and memorable attractions such as the Lost Dutchman Mine ride, Cochises Stronghold river ride, Sky Ride, Penny Arcade, Miniature The victim was thrown from the car down an embankment. Heres another one: They took a giant ball with another ball inside. The area was getting popular as Hugh Hefner had opened a Playboy camp in the same area and there were hopes the area could be the next Vegasor at least Atlantic City. 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 count. Action Park, open for 18 years and closed for 24 (apart from a short-lived reboot), became an object of enduring The state of New Jersey was at its wits end and decided to sell him the land. That program lasted a few months before it was canceled., Next, he found himself in the Beer Hut. Action Park simply refused to pay rent or taxes. This isnt to say that the 80s approach was noble, it was just a different time, and Action Park was the personification of all this. Undoubtedly, Americas most dangerous amusement park remains nostalgic for those who spent their summers there as a kid. The simple idea behind this monstrosity is that it hoists people way up high, and then drops them in a freefall, down to a net below. She's based in Portland, OR where the coffee is good and the brunch spots always have lines. Obviously, we immediately abused this privilege. Class Action Park: The World's Most Dangerous Amusement Park. But if you braked too fast, youd go flying off the track too, he recounts. Water rides are fun on a hot, sunny day, but not so fun when the supposed secure boat car for the ride tips over. Though no one was hurt, this accident revealed the rides dangerous flaws and ultimately led to its demise. Once the water pump malfunctioned, these four people were thrown from the raft instantly. Rules arent just being avoidedtheyre not even being enforced. This was an era where you could still get in trouble with teachers and what they said goes. Not only did he have a company to prevent him from paying insurance, but he could also launder money through it. People were driving wherever they wanted. Human beingsspecifically younger onescould actually ride this thing. My balls and groin area were bruised for a week after that., Still, his only regret is that he never got to try the parks (other) infamous Cannonball Slide. Ocean City in New Jersey at Gillian's Wonderland Pier It became notorious There's good reason the park earned the nicknames "Traction Park" and "Class-Action Park," as no fewer than six people have been killed at the park over the years, with causes including everything from drowning and electrocution, to being hit in the head with a giant rock. The one at Six Flags: New England has a particularly sketchy history: in 2001, 22 people were sent to the hospital after a train collision, while in 2004, a man with cerebral palsy was thrown from the ride to his death. Is Disney's Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Failing? Every city had its own small version of Action Park. They decided to add some padding. Courtesy Theme Park Guy Baku's gross ghost train (Azerbaijan) The boardwalk ride on Baku's Caspian seafront gets its screams the lazy way: via pain. While Disneyland is described as the Happiest Place on Earth, Action Park might be considered the most dangerous (in 19841985, the Alpine Slide alone was responsible for 14 fractures and 26 head injuries). Statistically: 10 Most Dangerous Theme Parks In The World (No Family Should Consider), Rye Playland, NY: People Thrown From Rides And Food-Borne Illnesses, Six Flags, Multiple Locations: Roller Coasters Derailing With Passengers, King Island Amusement Park, Ohio:7 Injured On A Water Ride, Schlitterbahn Waterpark, Kansas City: People Thrown From Rafts In Mid-Air, Mt. Some with missing limbs, some missing heads. While most amusement parks discontinue dangerous rides like Thunder River Rapids, its still important to know how to safely take your kids to amusement parks. Still, Disney soon added a new "safe mode" option for the ride, which has drastically cut down on the carnage. Cyclone. Boardwalk theme parks tend not to be as heavily regulated as bigger attractions such as Disneyland, therefore you'd expect them to be the key place where incidents occur. Afterward, the park was evacuated for about 20 minutes. Action Park was started by Eugene Mulvihill, who ran a company called Great American Recreation. Rollercoaster malfunctions and dangerous water attractions are to blame for a few of the dreadful events that occurred at Kings Island in Ohio. I was only eight or so, but I distinctly remembering thinking, What the fuck is happening here? Theme parks are supposed to be harmless and light-hearted, but statistically speaking, some are more dangerous than others. Employees found out how to override the speed governor and the karts could now hit speeds of up to 60mph. Visitors of the park also jumped from the Diving Cliffs, under which was a pool painted white. Still, if you need to get to the Ticket and Transportation Center, here's a tip: take the ferry. Another dangerous attraction needs little explanation as to why injuries occurred in such high numbers. This ride was set up next to the Cannonball, and let you out into the same water, he says. This is one of the reasons why it's been deemed "the most dangerous" theme park "ever." So, what makes it dangerous? Fueled by an afternoon of drinking, visitors could stumble from the beer tents straight next door to the go-kart tracks. We had playground/climbing equipment at our schools that were absolute death traps. A park like this wouldnt last two minutes today, but remember: this was the 80s. Despite its low speed, Disney's Monorail has been responsible for more accidents and injuries than most roller coasters. After suffering some minor road rash on the Alpine Slide, he became cautious about going on the more intimidating rides, especially the Geronimo Slide, a waterslide that was basically a vertical drop with sides so low park guests were warned not to move at all or they risked flying over. Where were the lifeguards during all this, you ask? It's one of the most popular amusement parks in the world, but people might think twice after hearing about dangerous working conditions. A man was struck by a metal plate and never recovered. Across the pond, M&D's Motherwell theme park was fined over a ride crash. And unfortunately, occasionally there were some unfortunate results that occurred where people pushed themselves too far, he said. It was a simple idea: swing out and release into a pool below. Andy, who released a book about Action Park this year, spent his youth working in the park, which consisted of three themed areas. She is a member of the Class of 2021 at Duke University, where she writes for the school newspaper, The Chronicle. This was supposed to be a Lazy River ride, but the owners wanted to create the experience of whitewater rafting. 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Back in the late 1990s a ride broke down and gravely injured a little girl and injured eight others. Three years later, when a woman reported that the roller coaster caused a blood vessel in her brain to rupture, the ride was closed for good. You get one of the most dangerous amusement parks of all time. Most of the details are too colorful to get into here, but all of them have to do with how dangerous their rides are. The Six Flags in New Jersey, as well as in Georgia and Kentucky, have had to be shut down completely due to some unimaginably awful events that took place there. And that's just in Florida the Monorail at Disneyland in California also has one fatality to its name, though that was due to idiocy by a teenager who climbed up on the tracks and got run over. On two separate occasions the trains have malfunctioned, leading to stalls and crashes that injured a total of 46 people. If you go to Lagoon Amusement Park in Utah, you may want to stay off the Puff the Little Fire Dragon ride. People who grew up going to and working at Action Park repeatedly compare it to a real-life 1980s movie., People were just running around drunk, getting sunburned and passing out from exhaustion and near-drowning experiences, Seccia adds. When Action Park first opened, it started with a two-day promotion, including a Dolly Parton look-alike contest, and a tobacco juice spitting competition. I remember spending lots of time trying to see who could throw a frozen burger patty furthest down the mountain and over the wave pool without hitting anyone, he tells me. The Wild Ride of Americas Most Dangerous Theme Park Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Action Park unofficially known as Class Action Park, Traction Park Action Park became equal parts famous and infamous for its wildly unregulated and objectively dangerous rides. Which of the following will provide the largest amount of money? New Jersey's Action Park is often referred to as the world's most dangerous amusement park. By the time the mid-90s rolled around, there was a whole new world of legalities and regulations. Some of the first few who tried it came out the bottom with bloody mouths. A park worker was busy on his cell phone, dropped it, and ran into a moving passenger on one of the train cars. It was a horrible experience for me and my father, my family, when people would drown. The most horrific of these injuries was the last: A ten-year-old boy was thrown from the raft, struck his head against a metal pole, and was gruesomely killed. When Action Park opened in the late 70s, they could get away with anything. In big-time parks, like Disney or Six Flags, its all about creating thrills. Ocean City in New Jersey at Gillian's Wonderland Pier is one of the biggest attractions in the area. Back in 2014, Mount Olympus had permanently closed a ride after a major accident. It turns out many of the carts were broken, so the brakes would do nothing. That was the case with Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey. Thankfully, I didnt get too ripped up from the friction., He found the makeshift pool at the end though, its own kind of death trap. Mulvihill could do whatever he wanted. Stuck in quarantine, these guys built roller-coasters in their backyards, Tickle Me Kaczynski: How the Inventor of the Ultimate Elmo Toy Became a Unabomber Suspect, Real Italians Put Hot Dogs and French Fries on Their Pizza, The Other Drug War: Inside the World of Counterfeit Viagra, The $65 Million Art Heist That Put Oceans Eleven to Shame. One event, in particular, was seriously crazy. The water was so murky from a muddy runoff, human excrement, and open wounds, that it was almost impossible to see the bottom. We are one ofthe worlds largest theme park guide sites, hosting detailed guides to more than 80 theme parks around the globe. How is this real? Anyway, my uncle ultimately smashed the barrier hard enough on his last run to dislocate his shoulder, and we went home., James, a 46-year-old from Trenton, had gone to more traditional amusement parks as a kid, but a cool aunt turned him on to Action Park. While other roller coasters have since eclipsed it in terms of speed and height, few have eclipsed it in terms of danger. Related:17 Weird Things About Coney Island We Didn't Know (8 We Didn't Want To). A place like Action Park was a 1980s utopia. I dont think we had that person., Brian, now 35, grew up in West Milford, the next town over from Action Park. Can It Survive Long-Term? At its highest point, the ride climbed to 218 feet tall, dropped 214 feet, and soared to 78 miles per hour. Large parks such as Disney and Universal are well-known for their safety regulations protecting guests from harm, and although accidents do occasionally still happen, the parks are usually quick to fix the problem. Authorities were baffled by how the accident happened, or even what the accident was. And happen they did a lot. Related:10 Coolest Water Parks In The World. But you may be asking yourself this question: how in the hell was this possible and how could they ever get insurance for a place so dangerous? I laid low as my friends seemed hell-bent on suffering a major head injury by days end. 5 of the Most Dangerous Amusement Park Rides Ever Opened 1 Son of Beast roller coaster. This ride, the crown jewel of the Kings Island amusement park in Ohio, is exactly what you might imagine when you hear the words terrifying 2 Verrckt waterslide. 3 The Catapult. 4 Cyclone. 5 Thunder River Rapids Seven children were among those injured in 2016 when five gondolas plunged 30 feet to the cement floor. 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