Harrowing details about theme park 'death trap'
A new documentary has pulled back the curtain on one of the world’s most dangerous theme parks which killed six people.
Action Park, a theme park which used to exist in Vernon, in the US state of New Jersey, opened in 1978 before closing in 1996 and gained a reputation for poorly-designed rides and a bad safety record.
It was founded by Eugene Mulvihill.
More than six people died as a result of using the attractions at the park including an employee who came off a slide, hit his head on a rock and died in a coma days later, NJ.com reports. A man also drowned in the wave pool.
Some of its rides included an enclosed tube slide called Cannonball Loop – an attraction which was tested first with a dummy which reportedly came out the bottom with no head.
Now a new documentary titled ‘Class Action Park’ has been released and delves into the infamous history of the park dubbed by some as ‘Accident Park’.
“To some, New Jersey's infamous Action Park was the most spectacularly fun amusement park on Earth: A place where unruly 1980s teenagers were given free rein to go gonzo on strange contraptions that seemed to violate the laws of common sense (and perhaps physics),” a HBO blurb on the documentary reads.
“To others, it was an ill-conceived death trap. One thing is sure: It's the type of place that will never exist again.”
It details many of the park’s management’s indiscretions including underage staff working rides, poorly and dangerously designed rides and a heap of injuries.
Journalist Seth Porges, who co-produced and directed the documentary, said while “a lot of people wish they could ignore rules” the park’s founder “actually did that”.
“Action Park felt like in some ways a strange social experiment,” Porges said.
“What happens when you take a bunch of riled-up teenagers, bunch of alcohol, bunch of dangerous rides and you put them into a place where there are no rules.”
To get around insurance companies who wouldn’t insure the park, Mr Mulvihill created London and World Assurance Limited.
He was later fined after the company was found to be a fake offshore insurance firm he created himself.
Alcohol was also served at the park – which led to patrons sometimes fighting each other and or staff members working the rides.
Comedian Chris Gethard, who also features in the documentary, joked “we would try to die for fun” when going to Action Park.
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel once joked “every member” of his family had been injured at Action Park.
“People would drown in the wave pool, there was an alpine slide which you could just go flying off,” he said.
“There was no rail at all.”
Class Action Park is available to view on Foxtel and Binge.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
