Theme Park Has Ride That EJECTS People on It, Becomes Famous for the Worst Reasons

a ride where you control the action sounds pretty fun right well it may be a bit more dangerous than it sounds especially if like the brakes don't work you know I've got a quick case for you while I'm waiting on a fresh pot once so bizarre that even I had to check to make sure it was real so strap in and keep your hands and arms inside the ride while we roll in to action Park the parks first and most popular ride was opened in 1976 a full two years before action Park opened its gates proper and before the name had even been chosen the Alpine Slide as it was known was a pair of 2,700 foot long concrete and fiberglass slides that brighter 's would travel down in plastic carts there were no rails no harnesses no helmets just the ride a slide with a break that sometimes worked and a track that was generously described by one park regular as essentially a giant track designed to rip people's skin off that was disguised as a children's ride that is if your heart didn't fly off the tracks altogether with all this considered it shouldn't be surprising that the Alpine Slide was repeatedly listed as the parks most dangerous ride even earning a sign with photos of riders who had been injured asking riders to behave safely and that really set the tone for the parks history now I'm already not one for the outdoors there's lightning out there you know and the deeper I dig into action park the more I feel like staying home is for the best once the park opened fully in 1978 the Alpine Slide was joined by the tidal wave pool oh so charmingly nicknamed the grave pool because despite how normal it may seem it was actually one of the most dangerous attractions of the park this wave pool was filled with fresh water not sea water now on its own that distinction might not seem like much but when you consider that the density from added salt makes people more buoyant and that waves in the pool could reach up to 40 inches it might not come as a surprise that lifeguards had to rescue up to a reported 30 people a day during weekend and some hundred people on its opening day and keeping the theme up the grave wave pool was among the park's most popular rides more attractions were put together with an apparent fast and loose concept of safety regulations or to quote former head lifeguard frank de berry things were done off-the-cuff ride designs just thrown together they were building the plane while flying it action park would have three distinct areas for its resident thrill-seekers alpine center motor world and water world Alpine Center of course included the Alpine slide that started the park and added in a bungee jump and a later gladiator challenge a show of hands who remembers American Gladiator just me okay then the gladiator challenge featured a full obstacle course that concluded with a showdown with a park gladiator who would face challengers in a one-on-one combat with cushioned bopping sticks these battles could sometimes get out of hand moto world included Ryan's like go-karts and mini tanks which fired tennis balls at each other and took fire from players who fired tennis balls in from the edge of the ring and of course these caused injuries to after-hours employees discovered that they could increase the speed of the go-karts by plugging the speed limiter devices with tennis balls there are even stories of an employees taking them out for rides on the highway as for the tank ride well if an employee ever had to enter the ring they would soon find themselves at the mercy of players firing tennis balls at them and Waterworld Waterworld with rides like the wave pool a kayak adventure in the Tarzan swing there was plenty that could go wrong from the very start the Tarzan swing in particular saw some eyebrow-raising incidents with riders swinging in front of the waiting line leading to a fair amount of showboating and exposure and that's not even mentioning the most infamous ride enter the cannonball loop the world's only loop-de-loop on a waterslide how did that work well didn't not really but in theory a rider would enter the 50-foot slide and be pushed by water pressure through a 360 degree loop come out and flash into the water below in a reality riders would often lose speed smash their faces into the tube drag along or get stuck at some point in the loop [Music] resulting in the park later adding an escape hatch the cannonball loop operated for a month before being closed though it would operate off and on after that and this is on top of the fact that teens as young as 14 were operating rides in violation of New Jersey law you violated the law and that drinks were readily available lacks opinions on cut-offs underage drinking it couldn't get worse good now you might be thinking this sounds dangerous but after doing some research I can assure you it was a hundred percent I cannot stress this enough according to the New Jersey Herald there were a hundred and ten reported injuries over the summer of 85 by 86 that number was up to three hundred and thirty by eighty seven a nearby hospital apparently saw between five to ten action park guests visiting the ER every day with reports like that it might sound like a miracle that anybody made it out alive and sadly not everyone did over the course of action parks the years of operations six people lost their lives and the rides the first was a 19-year old employee whose cart flew off the alpine slide and struck his head on a rock the Tarzan swing claimed a victim due to the shock of icy cold water and the wave pool saw three victims drowning the last was on the kayak experience where a Nintendo flipped his kayak and placed his bare foot against a metal grate that was touched and exposed wire the resulting shock caused cardiac arrest while the ride was drained and closed the park was never fined for the incident in fact the park largely avoided fines for most of the time it was open though it couldn't say the same for lawsuits and insurance fees in fact insurance for the park crews so expensive that the owner created up and I quote fictitious insurance company in the Cayman Islands by 1995 the park collapsed under the years of accidents and lawsuits and went bankrupt but while that might be the end of action park there's a bit more to this story after shutting its doors action park lived on through its urban legend even being the subject of a documentary and a johnny knoxville film the park itself was bought out and transformed into a mountain creek water park today the park is open with much more attention to safety these days I don't think something like action Park could exist not for long at least I'm not telling you what to do to get your brush but personally I just don't think the possibility of getting injured is the attraction for me besides there's not enough sunscreen in the world to save me out there [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music]

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Views: 1,468,085

Rating: 4.9268804 out of 5

Keywords: investigation, investigate, discovery, brew, theories, solved mystery, unsolved mystery, unsolved mysteries, unsolved cases, mystery, unsolved, solved mysteries, theme park history, theme park crazy, crazy theme park, roller coaster, crazy roller coasters

Id: KV1lD15O7Oc

Length: 7min 27sec (447 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 28 2019