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81-505: The highest slides in the park are Twister, Sky Screamer, and Cyclone, which are all 83 ft (25.3 m) high. The park has undergone many changes over the years having gained slides, lost slides, replaced slides, and added completely new attractions. In 2020, World Waterpark temporarily closed for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada . While some parts did temporarily close,

162-462: A blower . The water slide is attached to a water hose in order to generate the supply of water. There are small-sized inflatable water slides for private house uses or larger inflatable water slides for school, picnic, corporate, or carnival style use. Action Park Action Park was an amusement and water park located in Vernon Township, New Jersey , United States, on the grounds of

243-567: A condominium development, a restaurant, and additional parking for the Mountain Creek ski resort. Water-based attractions made up half of the park's rides and accounted for the greatest share of its casualty count. Mountain Creek Waterpark and its currently revived Action Park still operate some of these attractions. It also had a miniature golf course and standard pools and rides for children. These were sometimes smaller, safer versions of

324-405: A flume , water chute , or hydroslide ) is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at swimming pools or water parks . Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides require riders to sit directly on the slide, or on a raft or tube designed to be used with the slide. A typical water slide uses a pump system to pump water to the top which

405-480: A 2 or 4 seater round tube. Riders drop from inside a tunnel out into the ride's main element shaped like a funnel on its side. Riders oscillate from one side to the other until they exit through the back of the funnel and into a splash pool. The most common type of funnel is the ProSlide Tornado which is installed at almost 60 locations around the world dating back to 2003. In 2010, WhiteWater West began developing

486-452: A SkyBox, WhiteWater West refers to it as an AquaDrop. A river slide, also commonly referred to as "crazy river", resembles a brook (small stream) , and may feature buffer pools throughout the way down. Its mass sliding ability, meaning multiple people can safely slide simultaneously, clears its queue area at a faster rate. Inflatable water slides are typically made of a thick strong PVC or vinyl and nylon , and are inflated using

567-570: A body slide. Family rafting water slides have the largest capacity of all the different types of tubing water slides averaging between 4 and 6 riders per dispatch. Riders hop in a circular raft and travel down long, twisted 4.5-metre (15 ft) channels to the ground. This type of water slide is manufactured by Australian Waterslides and Leisure, ProSlide, Waterfun Products and WhiteWater West. All of these companies manufacture open-air slides while ProSlide also manufactures an enclosed version. A funnel water slide requires riders to sit in

648-532: A bullet-like capsule for a 90-foot (27 m) vertical drop and a 30-foot (9.1 m) loop, at 50 mph (80 km/h) and 6 Gs. The Aerodium is a skydiving simulator wind tunnel invented in Germany in 1984. In 1987, Action Park built and opened its own Aerodium in the Waterworld section of the park, becoming the first American amusement park to open one. The attraction was operated by Aerodium Inc., which acted as

729-443: A cable car system and ride down the slide for approximately 4 minutes whilst navigating through 1,111 metres (3,645 ft) of scenic jungle. The first known existence of a looping water slide was at Action Park in Vernon Township, New Jersey in the mid-1980s, named Cannonball Loop. This slide featured a vertical loop but was repeatedly closed due to safety concerns. In the late 2000s, Austrian manufacturer Aquarena developed

810-460: A competing product known as the Abyss, utilizing a raft that holds up to six riders. Similar to a funnel, a half-pipe features a slide in which riders oscillate back and forth. However, this style of ride doesn't feature any enclosed sections. On a Waterfun Product Sidewinder or Sidewinder Mini, riders oscillate several times before coming to a rest at the base of the slide. Riders then need to walk off

891-461: A concessionaire for the park through 1997. Stadium seating encircled the perimeter of the Aerodium, allowing friends and spectators to watch riders fly. Riders wearing a special skydiving suit, helmet, and earplugs would join the bodyflight instructor one-by-one on a trampoline-like netting directly over the fan. The instructor would grab each rider's wrists and guide the rider to fall forward, allowing

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972-502: A deal with Noramco Capital Corp. and the Praedium Fund of CS First Boston , in which they would purchase the debt owed to First Fidelity, temporarily fending off an impending foreclosure. In February 1996, the creditors who had taken on GAR's $ 14 million debt petitioned to force it into bankruptcy . GAR filed for Chapter 11 protection that following March, but remained optimistic that they could regain their financial footing "within

1053-409: A guest who felt the gladiator he contended against had been too rough, striking him frequently on the head with the padded end of his pugil stick , returned to the attraction with some of his friends in an effort to exact retribution. The gladiator called in support of his own, and eventually a brawl involving several dozen people broke out. The Vernon police had to be called in to restore order. Over

1134-499: A length of 650 metres (2,130 ft), of which 550 metres (1,800 ft) functioned properly. Its creators claimed the previous record holder had a length of ~350 metres (1,150 ft). The slide is being moved to Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey . The "Waterslide" at Buena Vista Lodge in Costa Rica is a 400 metres (1,300 ft) long water slide where the rider sits directly on

1215-435: A million visitors per year during the 1980s, with as many as 12,000 coming on some of the busiest weekends. Park officials said this made the injury and death rate statistically insignificant. 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

1296-400: A result of those tests. It consisted of a large steel sphere in which a rider could be secured, and then rolled downward. The plan was to do it on a track with PVC pipe as its outer rails, and one was built alongside a ski trail. The designers neglected to take into account the tendency of PVC pipe to expand in heat. During the first test, with a state inspector present on a hot summer day,

1377-406: A rider instinctively tried to break his fall by extending his arm, which caused shoulder dislocation, severed nerves, and near-permanent paralysis of the arm. 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. Action Park and its defenders often pointed out that it

1458-470: A round bowl. Under the effects of centrifugal force , the riders circle the outer area of the bowl before exiting down through the middle, often into a pool underneath but sometimes into an additional slide section. This style of water slide comes in various styles and is manufactured by ProSlide, WhiteWater West and Waterfun Products. The different variations can be ridden on a 4-person cloverleaf tube, 2 person inline tube, single person tube or as

1539-430: A softball field, were added to what became known as the Waterworld section of Action Park. By 1980, Motorworld had been carved out of swamplands the ski area owned across State Route 94 . Combined, the park's 250 acres (100 ha) formed one of North America's earliest modern water parks. It evolved into a major destination with 75 rides (35 motorized, self-controlled rides and 40 water slides). "Gene didn't want to do

1620-481: A wave to flip them over. This air horn also sounds when the park opens or closes. Most evenings, after regular park business hours, the Blue Thunder wave pool is used by clubs for surfing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. For these activities, the waves are often programmed for increased intensity and continuous operation. In September 2018, the water park underwent a $ 2.5 million renovation including repainting

1701-421: A year." 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. As the 1997 summer season approached, GAR remained optimistic that Action Park would open as expected on June 14, in spite of massive layoffs at the end of the prior ski season. The opening date

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1782-635: Is Mammoth , at Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus , Indiana . This technology has been adapted to other ProSlide products, and is collectively known as the ProSlide HydroMAGNETIC. In 2010, ProSlide announced that they would be combining the family rafting and water coaster technologies to create a Hydromagnetic Mammoth. The first installation of this variation is aptly titled Mammoth , which premiered in 2012 at Splashin' Safari in Indiana. It replaced

1863-609: Is a type of body slide where riders are sent down steep, free-fall plunges to the ground. Almost all water slide manufacturers offer a variation of this type of slide. ProSlide & WhiteWater West both offer a speed slide with a trap door, the same trap door found on the AquaLoop. A water coaster is a water slide that emulates a roller coaster by providing not only descents, but also ascents. There are three different ways water coasters operate: water jets , conveyor belts , and linear induction motors . High-powered water jets power

1944-499: Is at Wild Wadi Water Park in Dubai , where 9 of the park's 16 water slides utilize this technology, propelling riders to the top of a mountain. In 2021, WhiteWater West opened their tallest Master Blaster, and tallest water coaster in the world, Tsunami Surge at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Chicago . The first conveyor belt was installed at Kalahari Resort in Sandusky , Ohio . Known as

2025-472: Is then allowed to freely flow down its surface. The water reduces friction so sliders travel down the slide very quickly. Water slides run into a swimming pool (often called a plunge pool) or a long run-out chute. Body slides feature no mat or tube, instead having riders sit or lie directly on the surface of the slide. The simplest resemble wet playground slides . There are a variety of types of body slides including flumes , speed slides, bowls and AquaLoops;

2106-517: The New York metropolitan area . While extremely popular, Action Park had a reputation for poorly designed rides, undertrained and underaged staff, intoxicated guests and staff, and a consequently poor safety record. At least six people are known to have died as a result of mishaps on rides at the park. Healthcare workers and local residents had nicknamed the place " Traction Park", "Accident Park", " Class Action Park" and "Friction Park". Little effort

2187-563: The Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski resort . The park consisted primarily of water-based attractions and originally opened to the public in 1978, under the ownership of Great American Recreation (GAR). Action Park featured three separate attraction areas: the Alpine Center, Motorworld, and Waterworld. The latter was one of the first modern American water parks. Many of its attractions were unique, attracting thrill-seekers from across

2268-498: The Zip Coaster , the ride carries guests quickly uphill and over steep slides using high-speed conveyor belts. The third incarnation of the water coaster utilizes linear induction motors (LIM technology) and specially-designed rafts. The first installation to use LIM technology was Deluge, opening in 2006 at what was (at the time) Splash Kingdom at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom . The longest water coaster utilizing this magnetic system

2349-460: The gondola that replaced the chairlift. The resort's mountain-bike route travels down the site and crosses over a few wooden footbridges that provided access over the alpine slide. In 2012, Mountain Creek introduced an alpine coaster , which combines elements of an alpine slide and a roller coaster. The Bailey Ball was an Alpine Center attraction developed and tested, but never opened to the public, as

2430-407: The 1980s. Waves are generated (in 10 minutes on, 5 minutes off sessions) of approximately 1.2 to 1.5 m (3.9 to 4.9 ft), utilizing only the 8 active wave panels. It is arguably the most popular attraction in the park, as many swimmers (most with inner tubes ) can be found bobbing in the water. The start of every session is marked with a loud air horn blast, warning swimmers to be ready for

2511-422: The 2020 documentary Class Action Park , Larsson's mother and brother said that was incorrect, accusing park management of using the story of Larsson being an employee previously to get out of having to report the death. Had state inspectors looked at the site, employees said years later, they would have seen that rocks there, which they had told the park to remove on an earlier visit, remained. Hay bales at

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2592-512: The Cannonball Loop have said that more safety measures were taken than was otherwise common at the park. Riders were weighed, hosed down with cold water, instructed to remove jewelry, and then carefully instructed in how they had to position their bodies to complete the ride. The ride reopened a few more times over the years. In the summers of 1995 and 1996, it was opened for several days before further injuries forced its permanent shutdown. For

2673-472: The November ballot that if passed would have legalized the operation of games of skill and chance at Action Park. The effort failed because only 643 of the 937 signatures on the petition came from registered voters. A few rides were closed and dismantled due to costly settlements and rising insurance premiums in the 1990s, and the park's attendance began to suffer as a recession early in that decade reduced

2754-438: The age of 21, after having worked at the park for two years. His experience was not uncommon. Training sessions were held, but often not taken seriously by staff. In Class Action Park , one former employee recalls that sessions practicing the rescue of drowning victims were often pretexts for hazing . New hires often had to play the drowning victim, and after the training was over, or instead of training, were often abandoned in

2835-419: The alpine slide. During news media coverage of the ride's opening, Andy Mulvihill pushed a television reporter who refused to make the jump off the platform, at the direction of his older sister, then head of public relations for the park. The next summer, the tower was upgraded to four jumping stations. Guests could not drop very far, and were tethered to a weight that prevented them from bouncing back up to

2916-454: The ball, with a man inside testing it, went off the track as a result of the pipe expanding and bounded down the adjacent ski slope. It continued through the parking lot, across Route 94, and came to rest in a swamp. After it came to a natural stop at the bottom, the inspector left without saying anything and park management abandoned the project. In 1991, Action Park opened up a 70-foot-tall (21 m), two-station bungee jumping tower near

2997-429: The course of a day, three shows were put on, and the guests who ran the fastest obstacle course times in the earlier shows were brought back to compete against each other later in the day. By 1995, the attraction was removed and replaced with a beach volleyball court. Action Park's 2,700-foot-long (820 m) alpine slide descended the mountain beneath one of the ski area's chairlifts , which provided guests access to

3078-469: The curves were put in place in an attempt to cushion the impact of guests whose sleds jumped the track, a frequent occurrence. 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. According to state records, in 1984 and 1985, the alpine slide produced 14 fractures and 26 head injuries . When Intrawest reopened

3159-416: The early and mid-1980s. Most rides were still operating, and the park's dangerous reputation had not yet developed. In 1982, two guests died at the park within a week of each other, leading to the permanent closure of one ride. Despite this, people continued to come in massive numbers. The park's fortunes began to turn with two deaths in the summer of 1984, and the legal and financial problems that stemmed from

3240-436: The ensuing lawsuits. A state investigation of misconduct in the leasing of state land to Action Park led to a 110-count grand jury indictment against the nine related companies that ran the park and their executives for operating an unauthorized insurance company. Many took pretrial intervention to avoid prosecution; Gene pleaded guilty that November to five insurance fraud -related charges. Action Park entertained over

3321-501: The entire park closed in 1996. 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. The park received a massive overhaul, which included extensively renovating and repairing attractions, especially those deemed either outright unsafe or inappropriate relative to Intrawest's vision of

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3402-412: The fan to lift the rider skyward. After a few seconds of flight, the attendant operating the fan would cut the power, causing the rider to fall onto the air cushions surrounding the fan. Park guests' flights were limited to a maximum of 6 or 7 feet (1.8 or 2.1 m) above the ground, about 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 cm) over the instructor's head. The Aerodium also caused severe injuries, for example, when

3483-706: The first type of water coaster, generically known as “Master Blasters”. Originally manufactured by New Braunfels General Store (NBGS), the rights were sold in December 2006 to WhiteWater West of Canada. The first installations of this type of ride were Dragon Blaster and Family Blaster, installed in 1994, at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas . The following month, a third Master Blaster opened at Adventure Bay in Houston, Texas . This type of ride features over 70 installations worldwide. The largest collection of Master Blasters

3564-582: The high level of control they had over their experience; as an interviewee in Class Action Park put it, "In a world filled with no, Action Park became the land of yes." Those injured were often happy to accept complimentary passes for future visits as compensation. Accidents were usually deemed by park employees to be the fault of the riders. 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

3645-520: The latter three are explained below. Some slides are designed to be ridden with a tube which typically seats either 2 or 3 riders inline. Similar to a traditional body slide, these slides include many twists and turns and come in a variety of types including bowls, funnels and half-pipes. The world's longest water slide was a temporary installation in Waimauku , New Zealand, in February 2013. Constructed with

3726-536: The number of visitors. Action Park was still advertised as the world's largest water park. In early 1995, GAR operated Vernon Valley/Great Gorge and Action Park with no liability insurance. New Jersey did not require it, and GAR found it more economical to go to court than purchase liability insurance, since they relied on their own self-insurance. However, they ultimately purchased liability insurance from Evanston Insurance Company in May of that year to cover Action Park and

3807-430: The offer, said, "$ 100 did not buy enough booze to drown out that memory." The slide was open for only a month in 1985 before it was closed at the order of the state's Advisory Board on Carnival Amusement Ride Safety, a highly unusual move at the time. One worker told a local newspaper that "there were too many bloody noses and back injuries" from riders. Some early riders came back with lacerations to their bodies; when

3888-410: The park's Wildebeest as the longest water coaster in the world. A drop-launch capsule is a device that is placed at the start of a body slide. Riders step into a capsule, usually with a clear front. Once the capsule is closed, a hatch opens underneath the riders dropping them into a near-vertical portion of the slide. The feature is known by different names from various manufacturers. ProSlide calls it

3969-413: The park's main attractions. In 1983, GAR built an enclosed water slide called the Cannonball Loop with a complete vertical loop at the end, similar to that of a roller coaster. The resulting slide, called the "Cannonball Loop", was so intimidating that employees have reported they were offered $ 100 (equivalent to $ 283 in 2023) to test it. Fergus, who described himself as "one of the idiots" who took

4050-405: The park's restaurants often indulged in corner-cutting practices common in that industry, such as steaming hot dog buns stale enough to have hardened and dried so they would moisten and soften enough to appear fresh. The vast majority of workers at Action Park, at least the ones regularly seen by visitors, were teenagers . Jim DeSaye, a security director for the park, said that he got that job at

4131-503: The park, with some being removed entirely. Afterward, the park reopened as Mountain Creek Waterpark . In 1976, Eugene Mulvihill and his company, Great American Recreation (GAR), the owners of the recently combined Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area in Vernon Township, New Jersey, wanted to make money during the summer off-season. Following the example of other ski areas, they opened a 2,700-foot (820 m) alpine slide down one of

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4212-425: The remainder of the park's existence, Cannonball Loop remained visible near the entrance of Waterworld. It was dismantled shortly after the park closed. In 2014, video footage that appeared to show riders going down the Cannonball Loop was unearthed and published online. In 2015, Action Park planned to debut another water slide, the "Sky Caliber" developed by Sky Turtle Technologies, which would encase riders inside

4293-540: The ride was closed to determine what had caused them, teeth that had fallen out were found lodged in the interior walls. A former Navy physician found that riders were experiencing as much as nine Gs of acceleration as they went through the loop. A story widely rumored and reported in Weird NJ was that some of the test dummies sent down before it opened had been dismembered and decapitated . Gene Mulvihill's son Andy confirmed that to The New York Times in 2019. He

4374-597: The rules. Much of the Transmobile was dismantled when Intrawest took over the park in 1998. However, the Cobblestone Village station remains in place, as does the right-of-way through the village's miniature golf course. Action Park's Motorworld section consisted of rides based around powered vehicles and boats on the west side of Route 94, opposite the main part of the park. This area closed with Action Park in 1996 and never reopened; it has since been replaced with

4455-429: The same old shit, where you just get strapped into something or it twirls around," Andy Mulvihill, later the park's head lifeguard, recalls of his father's philosophy in creating Action Park. "He wanted to take the idea of skiing, which is exhilarating because you control the action, and transfer it to an amusement park. There's inherent risk in that, but that's what makes it fun." Action Park's most successful years were

4536-411: The skiing facilities. As 1995 progressed, GAR's financial woes continued to accumulate. First Fidelity Bank , who lent $ 19 million to GAR and some 15 other connected corporations, filed suit against them in an effort to begin the process of foreclosing on the debt owed to them. Law firms owed money for services rendered between 1991 and 1993 also began filing suit. As November approached, GAR negotiated

4617-471: The sleds traveled were made of concrete , fiberglass , and asbestos , which led to serious abrasions on riders who took even mild falls. The tendency of guests to ride in bathing suits made the problem worse. The path underneath the chairlift resulted in verbal harassment and spitting from passengers going up for their turn. Guests riding the lift would also often knock the sleds off, slowing down operations as employees had to retrieve them. The slide

4698-411: The slide and waited at a turn for their friends so they could go down together. 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. The Tarzan Swing in particular was known for outbursts of foul language (not always planned) and exhibitionism as people jumped off

4779-486: The slide returning their tube to the next riders. A variation of the half-pipe called a boomerang slide typically has a steep enclosed section that exits to a wider upward-rising section that the rider then slides back down the other direction to the end of the slide. A multi-lane racer is a ride where between 4 and 8 riders dive head-first onto a mat and down a slide with several dips. As an additional component of this ride, some offer an additional enclosed helix at

4860-503: The slide, with an inner-tube around their upper body for safety. The longest multi-person water-coaster (see below) is the 1,763 foot (537 m) long Mammoth at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana . The current longest water slide, "The Longest", is a permanent single-passenger tube waterslide located in Penang , Malaysia at the ESCAPE family theme park. Visitors access the attraction via

4941-445: The steep ski trails. 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". Action Park was formally opened on July 4 of that year, with two opening-day promotions: a Dolly Parton look-alike contest and a tobacco juice -spitting contest. The following year, more water slides and a small deep-water swimming pool, as well as tennis courts and

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5022-437: The television series American Gladiators , opened in 1992. It allowed guests to compete against other guests in an obstacle course and against park-employed "gladiators" in jousting matches. Former bodybuilders Michael and Vince Mancuso designed the attraction, and the employees against whom guests would compete in the jousting matches were found by scouting local gyms. The matches could lead to real violence. On one occasion,

5103-569: The top of the ride. ProSlide offer ProRacers, Octopus Racers, Kraken Racers and Rally Racers, while WhiteWater West have designed the Mat Racers and Whizzards. In 2016, WhiteWater West introduced the Mat Blaster, which combines the Whizzard model with elements of their MasterBlaster water coaster. Australian Waterslides and Leisure have also manufactured a standard multi-lane racer. A speed slide

5184-473: The top of the slide. Riders sat on small sleds that had only a brake/accelerator control stick and rode down the slide in long chutes built into the slope. The ride, and more specifically the sleds, became notorious for causing injuries. The stick that was supposed to control the sled's speed in practice offered just two options on the infrequently maintained vehicles: extremely slow, and a speed described by one former employee as "death awaits". The chutes in which

5265-493: The top of the tower. The attraction closed with the park in 1996. A skatepark briefly existed near the ski area's ski-school building, but closed after one season due to poor design. Bowls were separated by pavement, which in many cases did not meet the edges smoothly. Former park employee Tom Fergus was quoted in the magazine Weird NJ as saying that the "skate park was responsible for so many injuries we covered it up with dirt and pretended it never existed". The Transmobile

5346-410: The volume. In September 1989, GAR negotiated a deal with International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) that would result in the sale of Vernon Valley/Great Gorge, and Action Park, for $ 50 million. IBC later backed out of the deal, feeling the site was not suitable for their needs upon further inspections of the properties. In September 1991, GAR petitioned the township committee to put a referendum on

5427-431: The water park as Mountain Creek in spring 1998, they announced the slide would remain open for one final season, but riders were required to wear helmets and kneepads . The last day of the slide's operation was September 6 of that year, the day before the park closed for the season, as that year's Labor Day was rainy and the slide had to be closed. The chutes were torn out afterward, but the route can still be seen from

5508-527: The water park. Instead, Canadian resort developer Intrawest purchased the property in February 1998. It revamped the Waterworld section of Action Park, and reopened it for the 1998 season as Mountain Creek Waterpark , while the Alpine Center section had its bungee tower demolished, and Space Shot ride dismantled. The Motorworld section of the park remained in place, undisturbed, until at least mid-2000, when work began on Mountain Creek's Black Creek Sanctuary. The Gladiator Challenge attraction, loosely based on

5589-655: The water to get out themselves. Most were underaged, undertrained, often under the influence of alcohol, and generally cared little for enforcing park rules and safety requirements. Height- and weight-based restrictions were often ignored. 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. Many of them were often from lower-income neighborhoods where they had few, if any, opportunities to swim, much less learn how. The park greatly overestimated these abilities, and this

5670-408: The wave pool, renovated cabanas, additional bathrooms, new beach area flooring, and upgraded signage. (former name: White Lightning) World Waterpark also has two hot tubs: one double and one single. Concessions: Former: Tubes can be rented at a cost, while PFDs (lifejackets) can be borrowed for no charge at Sharky's Supply Shack. Water slide A water slide (also referred to as

5751-479: The whole park did not close down until mid-March 2020. It reopened on July 18, 2020. This wave pool has four active wave bays, each with 2 panels operated by a 1,100-kilowatt (1,500 hp) hydraulic system (8 total active panels). For many years, the 4 panels in the two outer wave bays have been disabled, apparently due to the waves being far too intense, resulting in injuries; guests were being thrown into each other when all 12 panels were operating, as they were in

5832-729: The world's first safe looping water slide, known as the AquaLoop . The company engineered a slide with an inclined loop rather than a standard vertical one. The slide is currently licensed and distributed by Canadian water slide manufacturer WhiteWater West . There are nearly 20 AquaLoop installations around the world. The first installation was in Slovenia in 2008. The largest collections are located at Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast and Raging Waters Sydney in Australia, which both house 4 AquaLoops that opened in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast

5913-577: Was a monorail that took riders from the Alpine Center across Route 94 to the Cobblestone Village shopping complex and the park's Motorworld section. Riders sat sideways in cars built for two people. Each stop had two stations, one for guests heading towards the Alpine Center, and one for guests heading to Motorworld. Rides were one way, and riders were not allowed to stay on the ride and travel round-trip without getting off at either end. This restriction sometimes caused conflicts between park staff and riders, who either did not understand or did not want to follow

5994-519: Was a factor in many accidents, as well as the drownings, according to park officials. 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. The staff's indifference to many of the park's own rules led to a similarly lawless culture among visitors, who generally liked

6075-501: Was accused of cutting corners to maximize its profits. For example, it was accused of building rides cheaply, sporadically maintaining many of them, and failing to renovate rides to take advantage of later safety improvements to its ideas made by other facilities. These practices took place in a range of its operations, including customer safety. In the park's last year, it kept part of the ski area open despite being unable to obtain liability insurance . Class Action Park also reported that

6156-408: Was also the first to install more than one AquaLoop at a single location. The AquaLoop uses a trap-door to release riders down a 17-metre (56 ft) near-vertical descent at a speed of up to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph). Riders experience 2.5  Gs in less than 2 seconds. The whole ride is over within 7 seconds. A bowl is a type of water slide where riders descend a steep drop into

6237-409: Was made by state regulators to address those issues, despite the park's history of repeat violations. GAR's management resorted to illegal financial schemes to keep itself solvent, which led to indictments of its executives, some of whom, like founder Gene Mulvihill, pled guilty to some charges. In its later years, personal injury lawsuits led to the closure of increasing numbers of rides and eventually

6318-445: Was one of the first water parks in the nation, pioneering ideas that were later widely copied. This meant that visitors were using rides that had not been tested through practical use for very long. Ride designers may have had insufficient training in physics or engineering . "They seemed to build rides," one attendee recalled, "not knowing how they would work, and [then let] people on them." GAR, as its legal troubles would suggest,

6399-448: Was pushed back two weeks, and then into mid-July. On June 25, GAR announced the cessation of all its operations, including Action Park. Following the demise of GAR, Praedium Recovery Fund purchased the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge resort, including Action Park, for $ 10 million. The investment group put Angel Projects in charge of managing the resort, and aimed to spend $ 20 million to upgrade the ski resort's equipment and trails and remodel

6480-450: Was the first live person to test the ride afterwards, which he did wearing his full set of ice hockey protective equipment. "The Cannonball Loop was not fun", he recalled later. "It was more like a ride you ride to survive than to have fun." 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. Those who rode

6561-484: Was the site of the first fatality at the park in 1980: 19-year-old George Larsson, Jr., who had previously been a ski-lift operator at Vernon Valley, was thrown from the slide when his car jumped the track, and his head struck a rock. After several days in a coma, he died. Action Park said that Larsson was an employee, it was nighttime and also raining when the accident happened. They also said that as an employee, his death did not need to be reported to state regulators. In

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