in case the Wikipedia article is too hard to read:
I had to look this up and here is the wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Park#Cannonball_Loop. That waterslide is bonkers.
IM THE FUCKING HIPPO GUY
Reference: The Dollop, a comedy history podcast with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds. The episode is “Action Park”.
Shoutout to Garrison
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.
They generally seem like fun people 😱
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
Gene didn’t want to do the same old shit, where you just get strapped into something or it twirls around. 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
the park eventually bought the township extra ambulances to keep up with the volume
But especially this:
The Bailey Ball was an Alpine Center attraction developed and tested, but never opened to the public, as 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, 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
There’s a documentary about this called Class Action Park that’s absolutely wild. They interview a bunch of former employees, and I can’t emphasize enough to people who don’t remember it how much the attitudes described epitomized a large portion of 80s and 90s youth culture in America. Which was simultaneously rad and a fucking nightmare, because so much of it was synonymous with just being a reckless shithead, lol.
I just finished watching that after seeing your comment. Damn, that was really interesting.
I grew up going to a similar, but seemingly much less dangerous (I assume…) park here in Australia called Jamberoo which looks like it’s still open. Like looking into a weird dangerous alternate reality world lol
